Puglia July 2010

A relaxing weekend in Puglia but all too short. Flew out late Thursday night - Alitalia via Milan - and arrived 01:30am Friday morning. 

It was a weekend free of maintenance activities but we still had plenty of stuff to do. Met with Pierdonato to top up the kitty for cleaning and management fees. Next on to the local hardware store to replace a couple of beach chairs that had been nicked by some opportunistic passer by. 

After lunch it was a trip down to Conforama (superstore at Fasano) to look for more sun loungers, replacement BBQ and cushions. 

The evening was a meal in our regular haunt, restaurant Centro Storico, calling in for a pre-prandial drink at Chris and John's on the way out. After the meal we strolled around the old town and sat in the Caffe Della Villa for some ice cream, live music and people watching.   


People watching at Caffe Della Villa, Locorotondo

Saturday was down at the beach interspersed with lunch at Rotonda de la Rosa 2. The original Rotonda de la Rosa is a basic beach shack serving good food and Rosa recently expanded into a real restaurant on the outskirts of Torre Canne.  Similar menu but linen tablecloth and glasses instead of paper and plastic. Starters inc. deep fried moscardine (micro-squid), spaghetti con ricci (sea urchin) and a nice glass of Falanghina. Followed by siesta on the sand. 


Deep fried moscardine


Spaghetti con ricci (sea urchin) and a glass of Falanghina

Late afternoon with met with an electrician to discuss lights. The uplighters set into the path round the building have proved problematic. They look pretty and provide useful light but the poor quality has meant the Allen-keyed screws have set solid and it is impossible to replace the bulbs when they blow. A major refurb. and recycling of the good lights is planned along with a new motion sensor light on the roof to illuminate the courtyard for al fresco dining and an additional couple of power sockets. Probably not cheap :-(

This weekend happened to be Divingusto - the Puglia Food and Wine Festival - held in Ceglia Messapica. You buy a book of tickets then wander around and exchange at the stalls for local produce. 

In the main Piazza del Populi a stage was set up for cooking demonstrations. Our friend Domenico 'Mino' Maggi was compere and also stood in for the chef of the Madrid Ritz who was not able to make it. 


Puglia Food and Wine Festival - cooking demonstration

Special festival guest was Carluccio who was wandering round mingling with the crowd so we all shook his hand. 

It was late by the time we got home. Sunday was basically get up, have breakfast and go. Still it is only four weeks till we go back out again. This time for the August bank holiday and a full week's holiday. Yay!
 
 

Trullo Azzurro: beautifully restored trullo in delightful, secluded valley near Locorotondo, Puglia, Italy. Available to rent on a per week basis, sleeps 4-6. For more information visit http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/trulloazzurro

A crowd of people I met way back in 1980 get together on an irregular basis. One of the triggers for such gatherings is a visit to the UK by Maureen who left for Australia in the early 80's and never came back except as a visitor.


Mary, Andrea L, Maureen, Natalie, Bill, Alan

As previously Bill hosted the event; as he lives in Chiswick we decided to cycle the five miles to get there. On this occasion we met for lunchtime drinks followed by a stroll to Chiswick House Cafe for a light lunch.


Mary, John, Andrea L, Maureen

As always it is like watching time lapse photography of our lives shown at high speed. People get married, have children, re-marry; hair grows greyer or scarcer; waistlines expand.


Natalie, Bill, Alan

It was great see everyone again and we would have stayed longer but we had another back-to-back social engagement. We cycled off to Kingston to celebrate both Chris and Sue's birthday, the former very belatedly the latter in advance. It was a hectic and steamy pedal along the Thames path and we had to keep the pace up to make it in time.

Previously:
Maureen is over from Australia...
Sunday lunch at Bill's
I come from a land down under

Upper left six molar - doubleplusungood

Adding to my collection of dental x-rays and not in a good way. A couple of weeks back one tooth felt a bit loose but thinking it was possibly a bit of gum inflammation I was assiduous in my dental hygiene and it seemed to improve. But then it got worse and a trip to Harley Street was quickly arranged.

Raj was away but his oppo, Lawrence, did the honours with an x-ray and the bad news. One of the roots under the crown had broken off and gone septic - now lying at a jaunty angle (to the left of the x-ray).


Upper left six molar with broken root

So it is a week on the Amoxicillin followed by a surgical extraction. Not something to look forward to - doubleplusungood.

For I have built a mighty cutlery tray

Sometimes DIY projects go, more or less according to plan. Mary wanted to de-clutter the living room by relocating the cutlery from the overcrowded canteen into the piano stool. Unable to find ready made cutlery holders of the correct dimensions in Homebase or B and Q she suggested that I could make a custom tray. With the enthusiasm dial turned low I agreed. Much to my surprise - starting with five slats, an electric jigsaw and copious quantities of wood glue - that is what I succeeded in building with minimal hiccups or cussing.  

 
Cutlery tray - gluing the dividers 

All manners of belts and braces were co-opted to hold the thing together while the glue set. 

 
Cutlery tray - gluing the base

The dividers were weighted down with magazines and whatever nearby heavy objects came to hand - in my case a variety of fine wines. 

 
Cutlery tray - in the piano stool

A snug fit with the intended 5mm clearance all round. 
 
 
Cutlery tray - complete with contents

And finally full of cutlery as intended. 

Look upon my works ye mighty and despair. 

The 60's Allstars at Cannizaro Park Festival

Saturday night we had nothing planned so when Mary asked what I fancied doing I said "live music". A quick google revealed the Cannizaro Park Festival featuring The 60's Allstars. Perfect for a warm summer's evening so we booked ourselves a pair of tickets.

Cannizaro Park is on the edge of Wimbledon Common and part of my old stomping ground. We got there early for a wander round and a light supper before the concert at Cannizaro House Hotel - which is where we spent our wedding night.


Cannizaro House Hotel

The festival was well set up with food stalls, bars, a picnic area and all in the beautiful surroundings of the park. The festival itslf was situate in a walled garden.


Cannizaro Park Festival

The 60's Allstars line-up was:

• Mick Avory - The Kinks
• John Dee - The Foundations
• Alan Lovell - The Swinging Blue Jeans
• Del Mandell - Crispin St Peters

The 60's Allstars

They did two sets of Golden Oldies whilst we supped a jug of Pimms. Half the audience was down on the grass in front of the stage having a good old bop. After concerts at the O2 it was refreshing to be able to stroll right up to the edge of the stage and be right there with the band. A damned fine evening :-)

cscalumni Drinks Tue 29-Jun-10

A beautiful summer's evening made The George near London Bridge a fine choice of venue. A small but select group made it for a number of beers including a welcome newcomer - Valter Johansson, formerly of CSC Index.


Anthony Bodle, John Patient, Valter Johansson

The pub had a good range of beers but unfortunately they were short staffed behind the bar - which may have been a good thing in slowing our consumption. After the usual chat and catch-up on news we dispersed - what more can I say :-)

Present: Bob Carlsen, John Patient, Anthony Bodle, Steve Jarvis, Valter Johansson
Apologies: Elizabeth Buie, Tony Korn, Jeanne Coates, Julie Irving, Tony Czarnecki, Carolyn MacDowell, Nalin Goonewardene

Ben and Vanessa's Wedding Saturday 26-June-2010

The cake is cut
Originally uploaded by markmclellan

Mike (tafka Ben) is my sister Jane's son, the eldest of my nephews and the first to get married. Mike and Vanessa's wedding was held at Middle Coombe Farm, Devon.

We went down by train to Tiverton on the Friday night for an informal gathering and barbeque.

We stayed at the nearby Globe Inn in Sampford Peverell along with other guests including long time friend Jane (Fuller) and husband Brock.

The wedding turned out to be - mostly - more formal than I had expected from an eco venue. The groomsmen were all in matching outfits with fancy waistcoats and cravats. The bridesmaids had coordinated range of anemone coloured outfits and the wedding breakfast included the standard set of speeches. Mind you it was the first time I have seen a Best Man's speech involving a ventriloquist's dummy.

What was different was between the ceremony at noon and the wedding breakfast at five o'clock. We all took a walk in the woods to an old oak tree where Mike and Vanessa addressed the assembled guests and there were readings from the two mothers, Vanessa's sister, Joanna, and Mike's youngest brother, Tom.

Then it was back for tea and scones and an opportunity to mingle until the hog roast was ready. We then ate, drank, applauded the speeches and various friends made up two bands for music and dancing.

It was an excellent day and Mike is clearly so much in love with Vanessa it was heartwarming to see - not a dry eye in the house - has anyone got a hankie please.

Full set of photos on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/markmclellan/sets/72157624378829404/

Helen and Carol Galashan - National Lottery Sat 19-Jun-10

Four years ago the twins were both competing in the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne as individual gymnasts [1], [2], [3]. Shortly after that they gave up gymnastics and switched to synchronised diving [4], [5]. This time they are hoping to make it all the way to the London Olympics in 2012.

We learned belatedly that they had appeared on the Lotto prize draw on prime time TV last Saturday. However thanks to the BBC iPlayer and the wonders of the interweb we were able to catch it later and here it is :-)



Previous posts:
[1] Galashan twins at the Commonwealth Games
[2] Carol Galashan placed 10th in Individual All Around
[3] Helen Galashan placed 7th in the Beam

[4] Galashan twins win 10m British diving title
[5] Helen Galashan get a gold medal

Or click on the label galashan to read all.

Charles Rennie Mackintosh Chair

Our sitting room has a CRM theme so when we saw this chair at the local auction house we decided to have a punt and put in a low bid. Guide price was £100 - £140 but we got it for £90 - FTW!


Charles Rennie Mackintosh style chair

Mary picked it up this afternoon and very elegant it looks indeed :-)

iPhone currency exchange rates

The iPhone stocks seemed like the most useless of the default apps supplied until a colleague showed how you can get exchange rates as well as share prices.

Add a new "stock" by tapping the "i" (bottom right) then "+" (top left) and then search for a stock code made up of the two three-letter currency codes followed by =X. For example UK Sterling to US Dollar is GBPUSD=X, then exit gracefully back to the main screen.


iPhone stocks currency rates

What I only discovered by accident was that turning the iPhone sideways gives you the full screen version of the chart:


iPhone stocks currency rates graph

For a list of the currency codes see http://www.xe.com/iso4217.php

Limitations of iPhone maps

The iPhone resolutely refused to believe that I can walk on water. I was actually on a Thames Clipper en route from London Bridge to Embankment so in the middle of the river.

The normally accurate map claimed not to know my true location as indicated by the wide uncertainty radius of the blue halo. Instead it skulked along the riverbank tracking me as we sailed and refusing to get its feet wet.



Is this a bug or a feature?

Art @ Work 2010

Guildford Arts - an umbrella for the arts in and around Guildford - organise, amongst other things, Art @ Work exhibitions. These run for a couple of months in the offices of two local firms and members of the public can view also by appointment.

Dad Exhibited there a couple of years ago and again this year. For more visit: http://www.michaelmclellan.com/


Italian Scene


Annunciation


Twin Babel Towers


Chanctonbury Rings


Trip to Cythera


Downs

These images © Michael McLellan

Mary does projects around the house

Got home to discover that Mary has *not* been imitatating a Jane Austen heroine. No counted cross-stitch for her, oh no! She spent the afternoon sanding the wooden kitchen worktop and is now applying Ronseal work top oil.


Mary sands and oils the wooden worktop

Next it was the turn of the bedroom. Having seen a picture in a magazine Mary decided that one bold blue wall and the rest white was the scheme. Eight match pots later the verdict was in - Farrow and Ball Drawing Room Blue and Wimbourne White. We are a team: Mary does the "slap it on with a roller", I do the ceiling, the careful cutting in along all edges and the gloss paint.


Mary paints the bedroom

Does that woman not understand the virtues of sloth and idolence?

CSC Alumni: Drinks: Tue 29-Jun-10 18:00 The George, 77 Borough High St, SE1 1NH

There is a Yahoo group for UK based CSC alumni: Past employees of CSC (primarily in the UK) who wish to keep in touch, exchange news, provide mutual support and share information on possible job opportunities. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/cscalumni/

We meet occasionally for socialising and networking.

The last couple of sessions there have been requests for somewhere that sells beer, not on a Thursday, not on a Wednesday and not while Bob Carlsen is on holiday so here we have it :-)

Date: Tuesday 29 June 2010
Time: from 18:00
Where: The George, 77 Borough High St, London, SE1 1NH
Web: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/43/434/George/London_Bridge

It is down an alley on the left as you head south from London Bridge.

Hope to see some new ex-colleagues there :-)

Weekend with the "girls"

This weekend three of Mary's friends from college came down to London for one of their occasional get-togethers. The girls were all at the University of Strathclyde and have kept in touch ever since. Indeed Geraldine was Matron of Honour at our wedding.

Geraldine and Alisdair drove down from Glasgow Friday night arriving at 2am the next morning, Christine flew down Saturday morning and Liz and Peter drove Saturday afternoon.


Mary, Geraldine, Christine, Liz

We assembled late afternoon for a glass of champagne, Billecart-Salmon 1996, before going off to Steam Bar for a meal. Liz and Peter had to go back that night; the others stayed and caught up on more news till the wee small hours.



The next day we went for a stroll round the local area including the River Wandle and the local auction house. This was followed by a beer at The Waterfront then a late BBQ lunch.

Geraldine and Alisdair went back that evening and Christine the next morning leaving us to recover and potter about the house.

Oobit, woubit

A while back my barber asked, at the end of the cut, if I wanted my eyebrows trimmed. While they are not yet at the hairy caterpillar stage it was a first time to be asked; the "joys" of getting maturer.



It reminded me of one of my favourite pair of definitions from the OED: oobit and woubit. But googling "define oobit" and "define woubit" did not return any definitions. So here to put the record straight are the relevant entries from the Shorter OED (without the etymological bumpf):

Oobit

See Woubit.

Woubit

A hairy caterpillar; a woolly bear.

Sapphire Bullets 2

Saturday saw the second Sapphire Bullets gig [previous gig], again at The Grey Horse in Kingston on Thames. And a fine set it was too.

This time sister Jane was not on the door so was able to join Mary and I for a meal at Jamie Oliver's Italian. Last time we had to queue for 25 minutes as JO's do not take reservations. This time we walked straight in - whether that was because the novelty has worn off or everyone was down at the river-side restaurants I could not say. We had a very enjoyable meal then off to the gig.



The pub is a proper pub and serves Young's Special so that made my beverage choice for the evening a no-brainer. The band had a different fiddle player who they were pleased with and they had put in a lot of rehearsal between the two gigs. I thought it was good last time but what do I know. Then home on the train.

A fine way to spend a Saturday evening.

Peaches and Blue sleeping

The cats' biggest decision of the day is where to sleep after a breakfast of Felix pouches.


Blue sleeping on the cushion

Blue's current favourite is on the cushion under the radiator. Peaches on the other hand is attempting, chameleon-like, to blend in with the carpet on the stair.


Peaches sleeping on the stairs

While fine for Peaches she does present something of a Health & Safety hazard. A good job pet owners do not have to conduct a risk assessment before taking on a new companion animal.

Everyday differences in Puglia: market vegetables

We like to support our local farmers' market and buy food that does not suffer from jet lag. 

The last time we went to Wandsworth Town farmers' market the veg du jour were sprouts and parsnips. When we went to Locorotondo market it was fava beans (broad beans in English) and artichokes. I know which have more appeal. 


Globe Artichoke (Cynara cardunculus)

I have never been sure how to prepare artichokes. By the time I have trimmed away the outer leaves to get at the heart the pathetic inner core in no way resembles those served up as part of the antipasti. 

Mary took the opportunity of her sabbatical to watch Zia and Carol showing her how to tackle this problematical vegetable and have a go herself. Of course we will now have to wait till next spring to put into practice this new found knowledge as by the time of of next visit some other veg will be in season.    

Trullo Azzurro: beautifully restored trullo in delightful, secluded valley near Locorotondo, Puglia, Italy. Available to rent on a per week basis, sleeps 4-6. For more information visit http://www.holiday-rentals.co.uk/trulloazzurro

Call My Bluff Wine Tasting

Steam Bar Wandsworth arranged an entertaining wine tasting in a novel - to me at least - format: Call my Bluff.

We were presented with six pairs of wine: three white and three red. Then two presenters the proceeded to give us their own descriptions of the wines, one true, one a bluff. We had to guess which was the true definition and, for bonus points, the vintage.

We went as a team of four with our friends Tim and Sarah. We got five of the wines correct and one vintage which was enough to earn us second place. Then we ate and drank some more wine.

Good fun but I would suggest to the manager, Crispin, that a slightly faster version would be better. It lasted two hours which is a long time to drink without eating - notwithstanding the nibbles at half time.

It is a sucessful tasting format with descriptions, both true and bluff, full of interesting factoids. The false definition was a true one but for a different wine.

The pairs were generally of the same grape but new world versus old which in itself is an interesting challenge to identify the stereotypically contrasting styles.