Meet the Bibliochaise, literally an armchair library for those who like to be “immersed in deep reading”. It can shelve five linear meters worth of books.
I like the concept, but the colours? fugly!
Month: April 2006
If ever I need one, I want me one of these!
http://www.tankchair.com/default.htm
People are annoying the hell out of me today
I've sent out a feeler email to people we'd like to be present at the wedding in order to start planning for how many people will be able to make it. So far, less than half the people have replied. I am less than impressed by this results.
My parents are coming but my sister can't make it for maternity reasons. My best friend is my best man, so he's coming. Shibl and Line can't make it because of the inherent problems of traveling with young children, Ata is undecided because he already has commitments to another wedding in Belgium in the summer and doesn't know if he can afford two trips (which is fair). Stephane can't make it because he's already going to another wedding, on the same day (poo on those unknown frenchies who are stealing our evil frenman!)
I'm really hurt by the lack of response from the boys though…
Sausages by post?
I knew that the British were mail-order shopping enthusiasts, but this is tops :)
Situated in the picturesque market town of Saffron Walden, Grayson & Start are a family butchers established in 1988 by Terry Start and Isobel Grayson. Our aim has been to continue traditional pork sausage making in the region and preserve a recipe which has been associated with the town of Saffron Walden since the early 1920's. Our Traditional pork and speciality sausages have been successful at major competitions throughout the UK confirming us as one of East Anglia's leading sausage makers.To celebrate our tenth anniversary we introduced 'sausages by post' using the latest cold packing technology. We have enjoyed great success with this service providing convenient means for people all over the country to buy the highest quality sausages.
Buying pig products by post: http://www.sausagesbypost.co.uk/
I must be in heaven :)
We are not amused
Because of the bank holiday store hours, the only delivery slot we could get for our grocery shop delivery was 9pm-11pm last night. At 7:30, we get a phone call from Tesco saying that their delivery truck broke down (again!!!!) and they had to bring our order back to the store. They were running 2.5 hours late. We could either wait up for it (until potentially midnight), pick it up tomorrow, or have it delivered again on Thursday. Not impressed, but since we couldn't do much about it, we agreed to have it rescheduled – even if it meant changing our plans for Thursday night. Blergh.
The night passes and we go to bed round 10pm.
At 11pm, we're woken up by somebody knocking on our door and calling on our phone. It's the Tesco delivery people. Magically, the truck got repaired but nobody bothered to tell them that the order had been rescheduled. The guys were falling over themselves apologizing about having woken us up (and I think I scared them in my slippers and bathrobe) but still, not on…
I called Tesco to bitch this morning and found out that our order was still scheduled for Thursday, which means that if I hadn't called to complain, we'd have gotten another delivery. While cool in theory, we don't have the storage space to keep it and a lot of it would have gone to waste.
Add that to the fact that our broadband was on the fritz last night and that makes for a generally shite evening.
wedding icon?
I realize that I have no wedding-centric LJ icon. Can somebody suggest/create one?
weekend update
http://www.flubu.com/various_pics/bradgate-apr2006/
Katy and I went to Leicester for the weekend. We left on friday, after going to the gym in the morning and made good time to get there, considering how late we left. The weekend was ok. I survived sleeping in that tiny bed better than most weekends, which was a good thing, although my back did make its feelings felt by the end of our stay. We went walking to Old John in Bradgate park. It was a nice, if foggy, day but good walking weather nonetheless.
We also went to see Stu's new kitchen, where I had my first cup of tea in… years, really. Since his kitchen is still in shambles, really, it was a bit funny to see him get teabags from one room, milk from another and sugar from a third one still :) We also left with the most hideous smily-face mugs that I've ever seen, but for some bizarre reason, Katy is enamoured with them and so now they hang on a mug tree in our kitchen… *shudders*
Back at work today, and hopefully it will be an uneventful week. We need to sort out the paperwork for my Certificate of Approval † this week, as soon as we get the forms. Once we have that, we can finalize the rest of the mountain of paperwork that is apparently required to get married in this country. Gotta love the bureaucrats…
†I don't know if I've mentioned it or not but we found out last week that since I'm not a British or EU citizen, I need approval of the Home Office to get married in the UK… You'd think that I wouldn't need to, seeing that Canada is part of the Commonwealth after all, but noooooooooooo. Also, it can take between 3 weeks and 3 months to get the paperwork filled out, and costs the nice sum of £135 just to get a small sheet of paper. Joy.
Stuffed russian-y goodness
I made piroshki this weekend. I saw a post in ![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
food_porn that made me drool and went recipe hunting. For a first time, they came out really nice!
MEAT FILLING:
1 large onion, finely chopped
bacon, cubed with the fat trimmed off
flank steak, minced
half a small white cabbage, finely sliced
olive oil
salt
pepper
paprika
chili powder
mustard seeds
cumin powder
SOUR CREAM DOUGH:
3 1/2 c. sifted flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. butter
2 eggs, beaten
1 c. sour cream
To make filling: heat olive oil and add mustard seed and onions. Add onions and brown slightly. Add bacon and steak and sautee until coloured. Flavour to taste with all the spices. Add cabbage and cook until tender.
To make dough: Sift together in large bowl, flour and baking powder. Cut in butter until particles like cornmeal. Stir in eggs and sour cream. Mix to form dough. Knead lightly until mixture is a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic and chill 2-4 hours.
Roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut 5 inch rounds, rerolling and cutting to make 18 rounds. Place about 2 tablespoons of filling in center of each circle. Using pastry brush, coat edges with beaten egg. Fold dough over and shape into moons. Press edges firmly together. Place on ungreased cookie sheet and brush tops with beaten egg.
Chill 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown. Makes 18 piroshki.
I cheated with the dough, really, as I didn't have any sour cream (substituted with milk and a bit of vinegar) and I found out the hard way that I didn't have any eggs (so I added more milk and more butter, which made the dough more crumbly but still damn tasty!)
All in all though, they are NUMMAY!!!
Who do I know that lives in Texas?
I just found an anonmous comment on my blog that is a) random b) rude c) completely makes no sense with the corresponding entry and d) made on an entry that dates back two weeks ago.
Being of a curious nature, I backtracked the IP to a broadband provider in Plano, Texas.
The fuck?
Touched by his noodly appendage
State Board of Education member Connie Morris took exception Wednesday to a picture of a made-up creature that satirizes the state's new science standards hanging on a Stucky Middle School teacher's door.Fellow board member Sue Gamble told The Eagle that Morris asked for the picture to be removed.
The creature, called the Flying Spaghetti Monster, is the creation of Bobby Henderson of Corvallis, Ore. It looks like a clump of spaghetti with two eyes sticking out of the top and two meatballs flanking the eyes.
Henderson created the entity and an accompanying mythology on the origin of mankind to make fun of Kansas' recent debate over the teaching of criticisms of evolution, including intelligent design.
In November, the board voted 6-4 to allow criticisms of evolution to be taught in Kansas schools. Morris, who voted for the new science standards, saw the picture during the tour. She did not return phone calls for this report. Gamble, who voted against the new standards and was also on the tour, said that Morris asked principal Kenneth Jantz to have the picture taken down.
Board members toured Stucky before finishing two days of meetings in Wichita on Wednesday. Gamble said that when she saw the picture during the tour, she knew that some board members wouldn't approve of it.
“When we went into that classroom, students were looking at rock formations,” Gamble said. “Connie stopped to talk to a teacher and I moved on. That was when I was aware of the flyer. I thought 'she's probably going to say something to the teacher.' ”
Gamble said that when Morris saw the picture, she asked the principal, who was on the tour, to take it down. Jantz did not comment for this report. Gamble said she didn't see Morris talk to Randy Mousley, the teacher, or to the principal, but that she later went up to Mousley and asked if Morris said anything to him about the picture.
That's when Gamble learned that Morris had asked the principal to take it down. The monster's picture has hung on the door since September or October and was put up there as a joke, Mousley said.
“It's a parody,” he said. “It's just making fun of anti-evolution.”
Mousley said he doesn't teach students about the Flying Spaghetti Monster.
Also on the door is a Doonesbury comic strip about science, said board member Carol Rupe, who represents Wichita. She also voted against the new standards.
“It was two little pieces of paper on the door,” she said. “It was poking good fun.”
Gamble said she told the principal that it was his decision whether the monster could stick around. “I advised the principal that Morris has no authority,” she said. “I told him to deal with his staff as he saw fit, not by what a state board member says.”
Board chairman Steve Abrams, who voted for the new standards, didn't see the picture but said he thinks that the Flying Spaghetti Monster is silly. “Personally, I think it's juvenile,” he said.
The picture was still on the door at the end of the school day Wednesday.