tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:01:06 +0000http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)Blogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-4003229112955268580Sun, 01 Nov 2009 08:40:00 +00002009-11-01T09:09:18.190ZsheetsLeedsMaltesershotelsYOU know me, I'm not one to say 'I told you so,' but..... I told you so.In my last post I mentioned that the dearly beloved had discovered the delights of eBay. I haven't yet had a parade of delivery men asking where they can put the 10,000 left-handed widget screws but we have had an 'incident'.The DB made a successful bid on an edgebander (no, I don't know what it is either. All you need to http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/otfEMqa-yRA/maltesergate.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)13<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/otfEMqa-yRA" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/11/maltesergate.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-2081645777911990965Sat, 26 Sep 2009 07:00:00 +00002009-09-26T08:08:00.296+01:00typinglaptopeBayI WAS so fed up with the dearly beloved asking me to look up things on the internet - exciting things like the price of a pack of 1,000 hinges from some site with a name like Bodgit and Runn - that I bought him a laptop for his birthday.Big mistake.Have you ever watched anyone who has never used a keyboard before trying to type? I have been typing for 30 years. I can touch-type. Smoke comes from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/OPHqvT0mqYk/have-laptop.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)12<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/OPHqvT0mqYk" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/09/have-laptop.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-8433990931043497296Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:47:00 +00002009-09-07T09:49:59.405+01:00Liz JonesJOURNALIST Liz Jones has been causing a bit of a furore in these parts. You may have read about the London-based writer who, following her divorce, upped sticks and moved to Exmoor.This fashionista vegan, who never goes on a date without having a Brazilian wax and dressing head to toe in designer gear, moved from her Islington home to a farmhouse bang in the middle of hunting, shooting and http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/nhV-RYfThw4/liz-jones-on-exmoor.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/nhV-RYfThw4" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/09/liz-jones-on-exmoor.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-5020561241365071726Sat, 15 Aug 2009 06:58:00 +00002009-08-15T08:08:49.982+01:00advertisementsEnglish languageI AM aware English is an evolving language, otherwise we’d all sound like a Chaucer poem (‘swiche glarynge eyen hadde he as an hare’ or ‘his eyes were as shiny as his hair’) but I get annoyed when people take too many liberties with my mother tongue.There is an advertisement on TV at the moment which sets my teeth on edge. Some vacuous woman is asking a car salesman to 'fact me' with information http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/PO3wo0ZIpeo/why-dont-you-come-up-and-fact-me.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)25<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/PO3wo0ZIpeo" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/08/why-dont-you-come-up-and-fact-me.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-2037961293912206374Thu, 30 Jul 2009 13:31:00 +00002009-07-30T14:49:50.123+01:00interviewsWE have been holding interviews at work for a trainee reporter. All these earnest young men and women troop through our doors, clutching their cuttings, and are put through their paces. We trust in providence – and the editor - that the best candidate has been selected… but you can never be sure.Intelligence, writing ability, interviewing skill and network of contacts all help but they are never http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/ahLdB39wJjw/we-have-been-holding-interviews-at-work.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/ahLdB39wJjw" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/07/we-have-been-holding-interviews-at-work.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-5977921702666669406Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:13:00 +00002009-07-19T10:49:28.623+01:00Craig Revel HorwoodStrictly Come DancingBruno TonioliAlesha DixonArlene PhillipsageismLen GoodmanI'M trying to release my inner bitch. Some people may say she's already out, loud and proud but, although my sharp tongue may run away with me at times, I lack the killer instinct.Small children know that at the hint of a tear in their eye I will willingly succumb to their nagging."Of course you can play with these scissors, honed to stiletto-blade sharpness, sweetheart. And later we'll go http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/Ve7GYwFa2-4/leave-arlene-phillips-alone.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)19<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/Ve7GYwFa2-4" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/07/leave-arlene-phillips-alone.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-5150719569866267325Sat, 11 Jul 2009 17:25:00 +00002009-07-11T18:35:40.477+01:00astrologyhoroscopezodiacDO you believe in astrology? I must admit I always glance at my horoscope in newspapers and magazines; believe them if they're good and dismiss them if they're bad. If you think about it logically, there are 12 signs of the zodiac so the likelihood of one-twelfth of the population having the same personality as you is somehow insulting and takes no account of the complexity of the human persona.Ihttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/HPlP2ZzVDUg/dark-side-of-astrology.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)18<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/HPlP2ZzVDUg" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/07/dark-side-of-astrology.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-9146162276186515335Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:40:00 +00002009-07-04T08:05:50.003+01:00liftscar sharingI HAVE heard all the dire warnings about global warming so to complain about car sharing seems inappropriate. But I’m going to anyway.Before I go any further, I should say I regularly give a colleague a lift to work and we get along just fine. We are both of a certain age (certain we’re past our sell-by date) and can be a pair of grumpy old women together.Generally speaking, though, I consider http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/Q7wVM_v5i4k/car-sharing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)12<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/Q7wVM_v5i4k" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/07/car-sharing.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-3301618296380377860Thu, 18 Jun 2009 07:47:00 +00002009-06-18T09:05:21.422+01:00Farrah Fawcettfake tanhairclothesfashionCharlotte Rampling I WATCHED a news item about fake tans this morning. Several young, overweight girls were convinced that looking orange was going to make them as desirable as Angelina Jolie.As I laughed in my own superior way, I suddenly remembered what lengths I went to as a young woman to try to look like Charlotte Rampling or Farrah Fawcett - a bit difficult for a Devonian stumpwort. But I had a go at trying http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/6vd3_hkR3U4/fake-tans-fringes-and-wooden-clogs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/6vd3_hkR3U4" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/06/fake-tans-fringes-and-wooden-clogs.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-1662916610885382819Sat, 13 Jun 2009 06:55:00 +00002009-06-13T08:14:33.288+01:00transvestitesThe ApprenticeJack LemmonTony CurtisDame EdnaBette Davies SOME of you men seem just that little bit too quick to leap into women's clothes, if you ask me. Carnival time? Oo, let me dress as a St Trinian's girl in school uniform with stockings and suspenders. Panto time? Let me be the dame with big bosoms. Fancy dress? No, I don't want to be Superman, I want to be Wonder Woman. To be fair to men (I can hear the dearly beloved choking on his cornflakes. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/j4qYu4ulE5Q/men-in-frocks.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)4<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/j4qYu4ulE5Q" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/06/men-in-frocks.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-9087575155156968016Thu, 14 May 2009 13:15:00 +00002009-05-14T14:19:40.444+01:00MPs expenses I’M thinking of being more creative with my expenses. The firm I work for allows me to claim for petrol used for business and for the occasional meal (with receipt) if work takes me out of the office for a long period. But that’s about it. With all the row over MPs’ expenses, I now see that I have approached the subject from entirely the wrong angle. Expenses are nothing to do with being http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/59DzBQ2Om_k/claims-to-rival-mps-expenses.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/59DzBQ2Om_k" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/05/claims-to-rival-mps-expenses.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-3201330002526513865Sat, 09 May 2009 06:26:00 +00002009-05-09T08:14:42.144+01:00Tescocredit crunchSainsburyMY better half, who runs his own firm, was asked: “How do you start a small business?”His reply: “Buy a big one. And wait.”The old jokes are the best.So, how are you all surviving the credit crunch? I spent days with my calculator, number-crunching, to see if I could manage if I were made redundant. I worked out that if only I could live a frugal life and the dearly beloved would shove a few quidhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/4jOGViLohkk/my-better-half-who-runs-his-own-firm.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)3<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/4jOGViLohkk" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2009/05/my-better-half-who-runs-his-own-firm.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-1810687976926100851Fri, 28 Nov 2008 14:53:00 +00002008-11-28T14:58:50.401ZSimon CowellPiers MorganJeremy ClarksonX FactorBritain's Got TalentlistsI ATTENDED a course at work where there was a brief section on time management. The conversation, inevitably, turned to making lists and prioritising tasks.Little did my colleagues know they were in the company of a list expert. I can hardly get out of bed in the morning without making a list (1 Turn off alarm. 2 Kick better half awake. 3 Block ears to swearing. 4 Swing legs over side.)I can http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/gfJ4DpiL-UQ/how-to-impress-piers-morgan-and-simon.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)8<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/gfJ4DpiL-UQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/11/how-to-impress-piers-morgan-and-simon.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-4901028894135284254Sat, 27 Sep 2008 07:32:00 +00002008-09-27T09:25:59.389+01:00Poseidon AdventureHot GossipJames Robertson JusticeHyacinth BucketTitanicCarry OncruiseI'M not sure I'm cut out for the high life. My better half was enthusiastically reading out the details of a cruise advertised in the Sunday papers. It went half way round the world and lasted over three months. The best cabins cost £33,000 ($61,000) EACH. You could get an inside cabin, a snip at about £8,000 per person. I refrained from raining on his parade, currently taking place in la-la landhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/y7nxZ0b1A30/cruising-on-high-seas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/y7nxZ0b1A30" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/09/cruising-on-high-seas.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-2352665395652789936Mon, 15 Sep 2008 18:40:00 +00002008-09-15T20:25:16.754+01:00Prince Charlesmad womanLEFT to my own devices without the steadying hand of my much better half I fear I would rapidly turn into one of those mad women who live on their own in a tumbledown cottage on the edge of the village, surrounded by books and animals.I can see it now. I will be the one about whom mothers warn their children. "Don't hit your brother or Mad Woman will come and get you.""Mcdonalds? No we can't go http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/8JcG7L6oTgQ/mad-as-bag-of-spanners.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)15<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/8JcG7L6oTgQ" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/09/mad-as-bag-of-spanners.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-7500604219744297886Sun, 07 Sep 2008 15:43:00 +00002008-09-07T16:57:16.114+01:00Keira KnightleyJamie Olivercottage piecookeryOprah WinfreyNigella LawsonMitfordI HAVE been on a stay-at-home holiday this week while the better half has been at work. These kinds of holidays are when I try to convince myself what a good housewife I could have been if only paid employment did not intervene to whisk me off to an office five days a week.I rather like this notion of being a domestic goddess, feather duster in hand while a beef casserole gently simmers in the http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/LosVJTu5Uu8/how-to-cook-cottage-pie.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/LosVJTu5Uu8" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/09/how-to-cook-cottage-pie.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-6887849229296585476Sun, 29 Jun 2008 07:11:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:00.457Z Picture: www.freefoto.comTHINGS I have been given in the last fortnight: a home-made Victoria sponge, rump steak, broad beans, spring onions, lettuces, radishes, two plates of fish pie, four venison burgers, a selection of sea-caught fish and a delicious home-made catalan-style sauce.I am very grateful for all this, even though there is a risk that when I die they will have to winch me out of myhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/VxIVM-AHxoM/picture-www.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/VxIVM-AHxoM" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/06/picture-www.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-7489858814691060015Fri, 02 May 2008 20:02:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:01.232ZAdrenaline Rush DeprivationExtreme SportsEVERYWHERE you look these days there’s a story about Extreme Sports. A young man on breakfast TV this week was talking about taking part in sports like mountain BMX and snowboarding.He seemed a nice enough lad but the dearly beloved scoffed mercilessly at his earnest interview.“Extreme Sports? Didn’t these kids ever have a childhood?” he sneered.Back in the days when it used to snow in the winterhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/0kP-Sjt19Fs/extreme-sports-and-adrenaline-rush.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)9<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/0kP-Sjt19Fs" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/05/extreme-sports-and-adrenaline-rush.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-6535937842244267495Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:13:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:01.730ZRaymond BriggspubsThe Snowmangrumpy old womanOH dear, I'm getting more and more like a mad old woman every day. And not just any mad old woman. A mad old woman with Tourette's.I began the week with a foul-mouthed tirade against a young van-driving oik with one elbow out the window and a gormless expression on his face driving two inches from my back bumper as I was on my way to work.Luckily, sealed in my metal tube with my back to him, he http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/cJOH07ilP-Y/not-floating-on-air.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)16<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/cJOH07ilP-Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/04/not-floating-on-air.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-153454756320322963Sun, 23 Mar 2008 12:52:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:02.262Zsexcondomssex education Photo: www.freefoto.comI BLAME my complete inability to chat nonchalantly about sex and, um, you know, women’s things, on the fact that at school I was never taught how to put a condom on a cucumber.My “adult” education began when I was just about to go to boarding school. My mother thrust a book in my hand called “You’re A Young Lady Now” which had been produced by Kotex. Things went downhill http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/lRFN3gFLv2M/sex-education.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/lRFN3gFLv2M" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/03/sex-education.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-4313176401026835408Wed, 12 Mar 2008 19:06:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:02.562ZageingID cardsunderage drinkingTHERE was a young man in the supermarket queue in front of me buying some beer. He seemed a decent enough lad but he looked young. The shop assistant was obviously suspicious that he might be buying booze to alleviate the pain of doing his history homework so she asked him for some ID. He looked offended and said, “But I’m 22!” Oh how I felt for that young man as he rifled through his wallet for http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/DezUCqhk3Jc/question-of-age.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)22<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/DezUCqhk3Jc" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/03/question-of-age.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-450689691930262631Tue, 04 Mar 2008 08:52:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:02.958Zlicensing lawsdrinkingI’VE always been somewhat cynical, even as a child. I can’t, for example, ever remember believing in Father Christmas. I knew all about a big kindly man carrying a sack - but that was my dad with a bag of horse feed over his shoulder. So when we were told, back in 2005, that relaxing the licensing laws would turn us all into continental clones, embracing cafe culture by nibbling on garlic-soaked http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/On6Q7Yuqb5Y/cafe-culture.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)12<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/On6Q7Yuqb5Y" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/03/cafe-culture.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-6313339020725363843Mon, 25 Feb 2008 19:50:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:03.269Zdomestic sciencecookerySO domestic science (good old D.S.) is to return to schools. My head tells me this is a good thing but my heart starts to thud in memory of my own dire days trying to do battle with flour and butter in a vain bid to produce the perfect Victoria sponge.It didn’t help that before being allowed within sniffing distance of an oven set on Gas Mark 5 we had to make an apron. Now sewing - as the dearly http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/6l3kW1PnU6c/cooking-on-curriculum.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)14<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/6l3kW1PnU6c" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2008/02/cooking-on-curriculum.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-6258903739893885079Sun, 02 Dec 2007 08:14:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:03.461ZvanitysurveysmirrorANOTHER of those daft surveys came out on Wednesday. It seems that some women admit to looking in a mirror up to 71 times a day. 71 times a day? That's about once every 15 minutes during their waking hours- a little bit excessive, surely, even for a narcissistic 20-something whoseone aim in life is to be the next Paris Hilton.I was trying to work out how many times a day I personally look in http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/QQZVbeCLk9g/vanity-mirror.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)25<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/QQZVbeCLk9g" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2007/12/vanity-mirror.htmltag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2170423875365707527.post-9044122668935798476Sat, 03 Nov 2007 07:19:00 +00002008-11-07T05:54:03.798ZBeautiful PeopletrollsA listgenesAS someone who is somewhat vertically challenged (5ft 2 and a half - don't forget the half - in my stockinged feet), I was at first upset to read that in a 100,000 years humankind could be divided into two sub-species – a tall, slim, healthy, attractive, intelligent and creative upper class and an underclass of dimwitted, shortarses.100,000 years time? I’m already there. Always knew I was a http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~3/7B1SLuMi0MY/fitting-my-genes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Around My Kitchen Table)23<img src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/blogspot/eDmP/~4/7B1SLuMi0MY" height="1" width="1"/>http://aroundmykitchentable.blogspot.com/2007/11/fitting-my-genes.html