Miscellaneous social occasions...

Hello readers! I've decided to write an entry about our recent visits and visitors, as they are starting to add up! I still need to tell you about last Saturday, when we went to the Bognor Birdman Competition, but I will save those stories and photos for the next entry!

As a brief update (more details in future entries), the first two days of my new job have gone well. I've mainly been doing quite repetitive computer work, but that is because my boss (Declan) is really busy, and the lady I'll be working with (Aliya) has been away sick. Soon I'll start learning and doing lots more! I'm blown away by how huge and organised the company is though, and I think working there will be a great experience. By the way, apparently I'm actually a Training Coordinator (same as Aliya), not a Training Administrator! :) Ben's first few days have been interesting and he's currently very exhausted, but I'm sure he will tell you all about it sometime... now on with the guest gossip, social stories, party particulars, dinner details, etc!...

The Sunday before last

A week and a half ago, Trev and Sharon invited us back to their place for tea after the Lindfield gospel meeting. Another young couple, Len and Theresa, were also there for tea. They live in Hove (“Hove actually”), half an hour away, so we were really surprised that we hadn't known earlier that they were around! Len and Theresa are from Guyana, which is in South America, bordered by Suriname, Brazil and Venezuela (thanks Wikipedia!). They have been here for about a year and will be going home before the end of October. Len is studying a Master of Computing at Brighton uni, and Theresa is studying to become a CA! Anyway, we had such a great night getting to know them, eating tea and then ice cream out on Trev and Sharon's lawn, and later sitting around the lounge room until (as usual when we're at T&S's) it was a few hours later than I would have guessed!! They also told us the story of how they met, which was really interesting! Anyway, we definitely plan on spending more time with Len and Theresa before they have to go home – it was a really special evening! (Len has also been reading this blog and he told me he would comment – so you definitely have to now, Len, since you're featured!! :P)

Cooking Comp: Round 1: Girls

Friday of last week marked the kick-off of our “Boys vs Girls Cooking Comp” with Trev and Sharon. I had mentioned this idea to Sharon the day they came to lunch at our flat (see mustard anecdote), and she absolutely LOVED it... An hour later, my vague plan of “we cook for the guys one night, then another time they cook for us” had morphed into a competition with rules, rounds, a set number of courses, a budget, and eventually JUDGES!!! I decided to feel quite scared... Sharon is a VERY good cook and a total foodie, and I am not very confident about my cooking! :P Anyway, the date was set for Sharon's and my first turn, we secretly chose our theme and recipes from Sharon's stash of recipe books, Sharon did the ingredient shopping (I got a couple of missing things), and on Friday afternoon at 5:30pm, our kitchen frenzy began!

Trev wasn't yet home from work, so Sharon set Ben to work with some pruning implements and instructions consisting of “Trev hates that tree”. We then measured, mixed, stirred, fried, kneaded, mashed, poured, rolled, flipped, etc etc etc, until, at 7:30pm (serving time according to the rules), we were ready to serve up. Apron-clad, we carried our delicious dishes of Indian food to the table, accompanied by enthusiastic variations of “it smells/looks DELICIOUS” from the men. I can't remember the proper names of all the dishes, but there was corn on the cob in a yummy sauce for the entree, and the mains consisted of roti bread, coconut rice and butter chicken. In all our opinions, it was a very very scrumptious meal. :) See photo evidence below!

The date has been set for the boys' turn, and already they have a bigger challenge than we did: GUESTS! That was meant to happen on each of our second turns, but Trev and Ben volunteered to cook on Sunday week, when Matt and Katharina are going to be at Trev and Sharon's for tea after the Lindfield gospel meeting. The boys have already got some ideas for their meal... so in due course you will no doubt hear/read all about it!

Evening in Hindhead

On Saturday afternoon, Ben and I drove to Bognor Regis, a coastal town, for the annual International Bognor Birdman Competition. More about this festival in my next entry; right now I actually want to talk about what we did afterwards!

Having still not caught up with Matt and Katharina since we arrived, we had asked them if they wanted to go the festival with us. They had other plans during the day, so invited us for tea that night instead...

It was great to catch up with them! Their new place is really nice, although apparently a bit short on furniture as the removalists damaged a lot of it and it's currently in getting repaired! :S Katharina cooked a delicious dinner, we did lots of talking, showed them Ringo photos from their wedding and ours, and formulated a rough plan for a future trip to the snow!!! A very productive evening indeed. :)

Unfortunately I forgot to take any photos (same for the next two social occasions in this entry), but I guarantee I will do so next time we see them! Which is only 1.5 weeks away!

Malcolm comes to lunch

On the Sunday just gone, we invited Malcolm for lunch after the meeting. He's newer to Crawley than us, and he moved here for a new job (something to do with wireless networking...?). Although he comes from near Cambridge, he's originally from Zimbabwe! We taught him to play Rook, which he picked up quite admirably! Anyway, it was excellent getting to know Malcolm better, and no doubt we will be seeing him quite often as he is the friend who lives closest to us!

Dinner with the workers

Last night (Tuesday), the workers, Judy and Heather, came for tea. It was the first time they'd been to our place, and it was really nice to spend some time with them! They are currently staying at Steve and Anne's house while they and their two young sons are holidaying in Italy. (Steve is Terry and Olwen's son (people from earlier entry with the huge dogs), and also Trev's cousin, and they also go to our meeting.) Anyway, we showed Jude and Heather our wedding photos and some from our honeymoon, so we pointed out our families and friends and especially anyone we think might come and visit us while we're here. :) So that was a lovely evening too!

Well, time is getting on and it's already past the bed time I set for myself! Thanks for all your comments and/or emails, and happy birthday to the following people who have recently clocked up another year... Lachy, Tilly, Annalise, Uncle Owen, Grandpa, Kat, Monique, Gaylene, and Tim E. Happy 25^th wedding anniversary to Mum and Dad for Monday 3^rd, and a belated happy father's day to all dads especially mine! Goodnight! ox