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EOY
End of year post! Precisely six things happened this month.
Doctor Who
On the third, Emily and I went to the Doctor Who Experience in Kensington (London), which is open until February and I would thoroughly recommend if you're looking to do something cool. It starts off as a (semi-)interactive tour, as the Doctor, trapped in the Pandorica, guides the tour group through various scenarios, including encounters with Daleks and Weeping Angels. Being a super nerd, I recognised some Dalek voice clips from some of the B&W classic stories, but either way, having Daleks creeping up behind you is super awesome.
After the tour, you find yourself in a museum that has some recreations of TARDIS interiors, display costumes for each of the eleven Doctors and the New Series companions, and recreations of Cybermen, Dalek props, and other (some rather obscure) classic aliens. It was all super fun.
Gingerbread
I made gingerbread biscuits the weekend before Christmas, using this recipe, and they turned out rather well! Emily helped me ice them the next day using a nifty improvised ... icing... squirt... thing... made out of greaseproof paper, and they were SO AWESOME.
Mushrooms
I bought some mushroom kits at the end of November and they've started to pop up some tasty toadstools. The Oyster mushrooms came up first, and the button mushrooms are in charge at the moment - they shall be joining a pizza tonight, most likely. The chestnut mushrooms seem to be taking their time coming through, but I have a few nubs so I assume something's working. They're not going to be cost-effective compared to buying from the supermarket, but opening the blinds every morning and seeing how much they've grown is fun enough to make up for that deficit.
Southbank Christmas market
This has been going for a few years now and it was here once again this December. There was a merry-go-round (which Emily and I couldn't resist going on), food stalls selling mulled wine, ostrich burgers, bratwurst, and a whole plethora of other foods; wood carved giraffes for sale, jewellery, stripy socks, and much more. I'm not sure how I can make that last part sound less like an advertisement, but we'll run with it.
Knee
I visited the physiotherapist again and I have some 'motivations' and 'exercises' to try to improve my knees, along with another appointment for the middle of January. I had one day over Christmas where my knee was a little too painful to walk about much on, but other than that I just get a tweak in it every so often, and sometimes my left shin and ankle feel like they're about to get pins and needles. At any rate, I'm impressed that the NHS is able to fit me in so regularly; I know it's what they're there for, but you hear stories. Hopefully in 2012 I'll be able to get back out and about more regularly.
Christmas & Birthday
Over Christmas I stayed at my parents' place, and so did my brother and his girlfriend. We had goose for Christmas dinner, a break from our usual tradition of duck. It was the first time I've had goose; it was a much less strong flavour than duck, and behaved a bit more like turkey. Also it was huge.
On the 28th I turned 27 and we went out for dinner in Greenwich, after seeing a short show at the Greenwich Observatory. I can now identify Orion's belt, and learned that all the planets are seen along one plane in the sky, which makes sense when you consider their orbits. It was a good show with a good presenter. Dinner, at a small place called Inside, was also good. I had Thai spring rolls followed by pheasant on a potato and spinach gratin, then pear sponge cake for desert.
My haul of gifts this year included Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Every Day and Veg Every Day from my parents for Christmas and Birthday respectively, in addition to Doctor Who new series 6 on Bluray for Christmas, and a small bay tree and rosemary plant for my birthday. James gave me House season 7 for Christmas and Bill Bailey's Part Troll for my birthday. Emily gave me the V for Vendetta graphic novel for Christmas (which is rather addictive reading), and for my birthday Songs of a Distant Earth (Arthur C Clarke) and the promise of dinner out at a rather awesome-sounding place that will make a following journal entry for sure.
Happy new year, everybody!
Spoiler: the world doesn't end. (The Mayan Calendar just loops back around to zero. It'd be like the Y2K or 2038 bug if the Mayans still existed and also had computers.)
Doctor Who
On the third, Emily and I went to the Doctor Who Experience in Kensington (London), which is open until February and I would thoroughly recommend if you're looking to do something cool. It starts off as a (semi-)interactive tour, as the Doctor, trapped in the Pandorica, guides the tour group through various scenarios, including encounters with Daleks and Weeping Angels. Being a super nerd, I recognised some Dalek voice clips from some of the B&W classic stories, but either way, having Daleks creeping up behind you is super awesome.
After the tour, you find yourself in a museum that has some recreations of TARDIS interiors, display costumes for each of the eleven Doctors and the New Series companions, and recreations of Cybermen, Dalek props, and other (some rather obscure) classic aliens. It was all super fun.
Gingerbread
I made gingerbread biscuits the weekend before Christmas, using this recipe, and they turned out rather well! Emily helped me ice them the next day using a nifty improvised ... icing... squirt... thing... made out of greaseproof paper, and they were SO AWESOME.
Mushrooms
I bought some mushroom kits at the end of November and they've started to pop up some tasty toadstools. The Oyster mushrooms came up first, and the button mushrooms are in charge at the moment - they shall be joining a pizza tonight, most likely. The chestnut mushrooms seem to be taking their time coming through, but I have a few nubs so I assume something's working. They're not going to be cost-effective compared to buying from the supermarket, but opening the blinds every morning and seeing how much they've grown is fun enough to make up for that deficit.
Southbank Christmas market
This has been going for a few years now and it was here once again this December. There was a merry-go-round (which Emily and I couldn't resist going on), food stalls selling mulled wine, ostrich burgers, bratwurst, and a whole plethora of other foods; wood carved giraffes for sale, jewellery, stripy socks, and much more. I'm not sure how I can make that last part sound less like an advertisement, but we'll run with it.
Knee
I visited the physiotherapist again and I have some 'motivations' and 'exercises' to try to improve my knees, along with another appointment for the middle of January. I had one day over Christmas where my knee was a little too painful to walk about much on, but other than that I just get a tweak in it every so often, and sometimes my left shin and ankle feel like they're about to get pins and needles. At any rate, I'm impressed that the NHS is able to fit me in so regularly; I know it's what they're there for, but you hear stories. Hopefully in 2012 I'll be able to get back out and about more regularly.
Christmas & Birthday
Over Christmas I stayed at my parents' place, and so did my brother and his girlfriend. We had goose for Christmas dinner, a break from our usual tradition of duck. It was the first time I've had goose; it was a much less strong flavour than duck, and behaved a bit more like turkey. Also it was huge.
On the 28th I turned 27 and we went out for dinner in Greenwich, after seeing a short show at the Greenwich Observatory. I can now identify Orion's belt, and learned that all the planets are seen along one plane in the sky, which makes sense when you consider their orbits. It was a good show with a good presenter. Dinner, at a small place called Inside, was also good. I had Thai spring rolls followed by pheasant on a potato and spinach gratin, then pear sponge cake for desert.
My haul of gifts this year included Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's River Cottage Every Day and Veg Every Day from my parents for Christmas and Birthday respectively, in addition to Doctor Who new series 6 on Bluray for Christmas, and a small bay tree and rosemary plant for my birthday. James gave me House season 7 for Christmas and Bill Bailey's Part Troll for my birthday. Emily gave me the V for Vendetta graphic novel for Christmas (which is rather addictive reading), and for my birthday Songs of a Distant Earth (Arthur C Clarke) and the promise of dinner out at a rather awesome-sounding place that will make a following journal entry for sure.
Happy new year, everybody!
Spoiler: the world doesn't end. (The Mayan Calendar just loops back around to zero. It'd be like the Y2K or 2038 bug if the Mayans still existed and also had computers.)