Weekly Musings

2017 - Week Eight
'Nobody realizes that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal'
(Albert Camus)

Since Wednesday this week I've been on 'house arrest' (living at Aum's whilst his parents were at a conference in America) so on Tuesday I went on another date with W to try and enjoy what little time I had free. We went for food at Solita in Didsbury and then to the cinema at Parrs Wood. I had (a margarita and) the simple chicken burger, which was huge - I have a pretty healthy appetite and it completely defeated me - but was delicious nonetheless. I also scrounged a cheeseburger spring roll off W's starter, which was AMAZING, like a Mcdonald's in a roll! 

We were so occupied chatting that we totally lost track of time and missed our cinema showing (we were supposed to be watching Lion) so ended up seeing John Wick Chapter 2 instead, as there wasn't much left on. I haven't seen the first one but don't think it mattered; it was your typical explosions, violence and fast car filled action movie, but to be honest I was brought up on that stuff so it was easy viewing, and Lion is supposed to be really sad, so at least it saved my mascara. There's also got to be a positive to us both being too busy to pay attention to the time!

This week's track is another mainstream chart tune I'm afraid, but I have such a girl crush on Dua Lipa (I'm trying to blag tickets to review her Ritz show in April for Candid) that I couldn't resist, and it has a great drop! I also posted a new poem on my Instagram page on Tuesday, a twist on a traditional sonnet, which you can read here.

On Friday Aum and I went out for dinner to try out the fairly recently opened Côte Brasserie in Hale. We went fairly early at 7pm as it is quite an adult oriented restaurant, and had a choice of tables. The atmosphere was lovely and staff were very attentive, taking our coats and orders promptly. I had a glass of white wine and Aum went for a cloudy lemonade, and we shared a couple of starters; the saucisson sec (like French chorizo) and the reblochon (cheese and thyme) version of the pissaladiere (flatbread with caramelised onions). I had a simple steak frites with Roquefort butter for main, and Aum had the duck with gratin potatoes and cherry sauce. Everything was cooked to perfection, Aum particularly enjoyed the potatoes, I've never seen him eat so much! Portion sizes were spot on as well, small enough to eat everything but big enough to fill you up, although we still managed to squeeze in dessert (I'm a sucker for a creme brulee). 

Yesterday morning we went to the Runway Visitor Centre for a tour of Concorde to help with his project (I don't half do some random things because of my job!). I honestly thought I'd be super bored and itching to leave asap, but it was actually interesting, the amount of buttons and levers in the cockpit was incredible, and the speed and times it took to get to places was totally mind blowing - we got a certificate to say we'd been on board and everything, geek!

 

In the afternoon we went to Oxygen Freejumping, a trampoline centre next to the Trafford Centre. I didn't take part as felt like having a couple of hours to read and enjoy a coffee by myself - entertaining kids is exhausting! Aum seemed to have a fab time though which is always the goal. We got a few small dishes to share for dinner at Pesto at the Trafford Centre afterwards and then just had a chilled night in.

Today I finally got released! After a quick brew at home I met up with a few friends for a dog walk at Styal Country Park followed by a good ol' roast at The Ship Inn, I love having them both on my doorstep. The roasts at the pub are insane, my friend Laura and I shared a lamb shoulder for two with all the trimmings, and then had room for sticky toffee pudding for dessert. There were seven of us and we ended up staying for ages, sheltering from the horrible weather chatting and having a laugh, lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I am going out soon into Wilmslow for a few drinks since I have basically been teetotal all weekend, looking forward to a cocktail or two!