Cold here!

Since the report got written yesterday, we've had today pretty-much to do what we want. (Though, to be honest, choices are a bit limited!)

We decided to go to the new art museum KUMU. It was about a 3-mile walk though the snow (see left) to a fantastic Finn-designed building. My photo does not do it justice.
We spent several hours looking round the Estonian art -- some very powerful images from the period before independence.

Then, of course, we had to walk back! Getting a bit tired by then (the herring & egg sandwich helped a bit). Still had to go and change Estonian Crowns into Euros.

I think the bit of the museum I liked the most was the 'Head Room' -- see left!

TALLINN

So, here I am in Tallinn. It's pretty cold and the journey wasn't as relaxing as it might have been. However, it's good to meet with old colleagues and also to make some new friends.

Dinner last night was in a Russian restaurant (frankly, better food than I've had in Russia). Hotel is fine, but over-heated.

Anyway, it's 08:00 so time to go to work!

SNOW!

We've had a week of snow now (worst for 18 years, apparently) and I'm getting a bit fed-up with it!

There's been a lot of disruption on the roads and the airports have suffered too. Since I'm supposed to be flying to Estonia on Tuesday, I'm rather hoping that there won't be a problem (only have a 90-minute window in Amsterdam to make the connection).

We'll se!

Eating Well!

I've been eating well (too well) over the last couple of weeks:

Last Friday was my mother's birthday (86) so we took her to Turners in nearby Harborne, which has just been awarded a Michelin star. Did the 7-course tasting menu, which really wasn't bad -- my favourite part was the scallop tartar.

Then this week was the wedding anniversary, so off to Edmund's in Brindley Place in Birmingham --- really good food and wine (nice to see some 1/2 bottles) == beef fillet was great.

The I cooked tonight: scallops with bacon and black pudding on caulfifower puree: pork fillet braised in apple juice with saffron bread sauce (sourdough bread, which was interesting) and french beans: cheese: creme brulee.

Next Saturday, we're taking Selwyn to Liaison in Hall Green (it's his Christmas & Birthday present) - so that'll be interesting too!

However, it's now confirmed that we're having the coldest winter for 13 years! The forecast for tomorrow ad tuesday is dire (lots of snow) so we'll see!

SNOW!

It's been cold lately, so I've been keeping an eye on the weather forecasts. Last night was supposed to be clear and not too cold.

This is what really happened!
Now I know that weather forecasting isn't an exact science but I do wish that they would explain why the forecast was wrong, rather than just pretend that it never happened!

New TV

I decided to get a new digital TV for the bedroom - the old one was really past it and I thought that an LCD panel would be nice. Eventually, I decided on a Samsung from Argos. Bought it on Saturday, spent 20 minutes connecting and configuring and it was done. Nice picture; good sound.

About 40 minutes after I switched it off last night, I was woken by a voice in the bedroom -- the TV had decided to turn its audio on -- but only for about 20 seconds! OK, took it back to the store and exchanged it for a new one. Same 20 minutes wasted setting-up: same problem - 40 minutes after switching it off, the audio comes on for 20 seconds! Samsung customer services were charming, but hadn't heard of the problem. The offered a replacement within 7 days, but I took it back to the store (where they had now had 4 of the same model returned for the same problem) and replaced it with a cheaper model made by Bush. So far, so good -- watch this space!

Welcome to 2009

In the words of Si Kahn "May the new year bring you freedom peacefully."

Quelle Surprise!

To my great surprise, I actually passed my French exam! I'd been irritated that the teacher had spent far too much time preparing us for the assessment and not enough on the sorts of learning that I'm interested in, so I had done no preparation and had tuned-out all her advice about what to learn/do beforehand.

We'll be in Nice in 12 days, too - so something to look forward to (even with the £ so low against the €)!

The New Car

So, this is my new car, a Smart Car Pulse. It's quite a change from the 6-seat Toyota MPV that I've owned for the last 7 years!

It's is quite a lot of fun, --- the ads say that you can get a tumble drier into the cargo space, but I'm not so sure. I am enjoying the semi-automatic transmission though (complete with gear-change paddles on the steering wheel).
Looking forward to 60 mpg.

Snow?

The snow we were warned of for last night came to nothing, really. There was a light covering at 5 a.m., but by 8 it was raining. Won't be much of a day, though - not convinced it will ever get light.

Worse than that, the Christmas shopping rush has started (aided by stores offering 20% reductions), so driving into Birmingham is fraught with more danger than usual!