In the desert with the Coyotes

We woke up early and packed the tent up quickly before heading off to Kathy's Kosmic Kowgirl Kafe for breakfast. People say that Austin is weird, but Terlingua comes a close second. Kathy's Kafe is a pink bus at the edge of the road. I choose a breakfast burrito with everything in it while Em had an English muffin. It is a really friendly cafe and we spoke to a few people who had again commented that "we weren't from around here".

The sun was bright in the blue sky as we heading off into the park with the first stop at the Grapevine Hills for a walk on the trail. It was weird to be hiking in the heat in November. Em even complained about the heat saying she preferred the Houston weather, though I was enjoying the dry desert air. At the end of the trail there was a balancing rock and then we returned the same way.








Today was a day of driving around the park seeing as much as possible. Next on the list was the Hot Springs near the South East corner of the park with other views of the Chisos mountains as we drove around. The Hot Spring is one of a number of hot springs on the banks of the Rio Grande and a man made 'bath' has been made to contain the water for a bit before it overflows into the river. While we were dipping our toes in the water a number of people decided to swim across the river to Mexico for a visit. We didn't feel like following as the water was icy and if you get caught there is a big fine.

Next stop, Boquillas Canyon which is as far South East as you can get in the park. Again it is on the Rio Grande. Walking along the river towards the canyon there was little piles of trinkets, gem stones, etc with notices of how much they cost. We then saw some Mexicans on the other side of the river watching the piles. We think that they sneak across the river, leave their wares and then swim back across the river until the end of the day before picking up their money.

It was a long drive (60 miles) out of the North East of the park to were we were camping that night and we saw some more javelinas crossing the road. The male one bristled up the hair on his back when he saw us, before gruffly herding his family back off the road. On arriving at Stillwell Ranch we found out that tent camping was 'primitive' i.e. in the middle of nowhere about a mile from the ranch. We pitched our tent while about 8 deer moseyed on by. As it got dark we built a campfire, though we didn't need it for heat as it was still very warm. We cooked chilli, beans and corn for dinner, proper cowboy food and sat out until late listening to the coyotes howling all around. Em didn't need a pee in the middle of the night, I wonder why!

A long 10 hours drive home with a mystery traffic jam about 40 miles from Houston. For entertainment we saw lots of impatient people driving over the grass ditch to get to the frontage road and then trying to rejoin further up. Its a wonder no one sunk in mud.

Round the Bend

Yesterday we were here in such good time - 10 hours not from speeding only a miss calculation on google maps. We pitched the tent in an RV park just to the west of the BB (Big Bend) in Terlingua. We said hello to one of our camping neighbours, who on hearing us said that "Ur no frum aroon ere" in a Scots accent. He was from Aberdeen. What a small world!

We went into the park and I said to Stuart that I wanted to see Santa Elena canyon. He was moaning about the distance - some 35 miles however on the map the was a short cut! Well we have 4x4 so off we went down the gravel road. It wasn't too bad and it meant I could get my car dirty!

The canyon is where the Rio Grande flows through and on the other side is Mexico. Well let me tell you there is nothing grand about the Rio Grande! It was a nice walk along the rivers edge, just enough to get the blood flowing after being in the car for so many hours..

We had Thanksgiving g dinner at the local pub (La Kiva) - housed in a cave! It filled us both to the brim so we slept off our turkey dinner well last night only waking when the sun came up - actually that is not true it was when the rain started to pitter patter on the roof of our tent.

Stuart prepared us a hearty breakfast of breakfast Burritos to get us ready for our walk up to Emory Peak. The rain was drizzling on and off but skins waterproof!

I nearly got done for speeding in the park. With my heavy foot I accelerated a little too hard away from the visitor centre. There was the park police coming towards us. She put her flashers on as she saw me - my immediate reaction was to slow down (to the 30 mile limit). She let me pass! Stuart was relishing in it and it is safe to say I stayed within the speed limit for the rest of the day :)

We walked up to Emory Peak (7825 ft), the highest mountain in the Chisco Mountains. It was overcast in the morning and we briefly saw the top of the peak as we climbed however at the top we had to contend with the cloud! We didn't see any bears or lions, although I did see a bear footprint and poo poo! At the top of the peak you have to rock climb the last little bit to get the views, which I can imagine on a clear day are even more impressive. There is steep drops off the wee rocky peak you cling on to. It took us 5.5 hours and was well worth it. The funny thing was we saw most of the wildlife around the car park on our return - three deer and two javelinas (they look like little pigs but are actually Peccarys in the same family as hippos!)

We went back to the cave bar for dinner this evening and enjoyed the live country and western singer. Now back at camp with a glass of vino under the starry sky.

Happy Thanksgiving

We managed to go four hours west of Houston last night and stayed the night in a small town just off I10 called Kerrville.

This morning, after scraping the ice off the windowscreen!, we got going for the remaining 8 hour journey. At 7am there was no one about and the sky was beautifully pink as the sun came up behind us.

The road is empty and straight and cuts through hillsides. Geologically the road cuttings are pretty impressive. The speed limit has increased to 80 mph - I haven't seen such a fast road ever in Texas!

We have people towing caravans and passing us - not the same issue as you get back home. If everyone had big trucks we all would be fine. We have seen groups of guys obviously heading off shooting. They tow little buggies and quad bikes. One of them had a chest freezer that we could only assume was for the kill!

We have already driven past Iraan and Sheffield!

We have now seen lots and lots of nodding donkeys and to our surprise there are also enormous wind farms - however none of them are turning as there is not a breath of wind.

The scenery has changed from large rolling hills with trees and bushes (some of the trees looking lovely and autumnal), to low bushes and cacti and now it is flat with low scrub and mesas and buttes giving topography. Stuart describes this as cowboy country.

Today seems like Christmas day in the UK as everything except the petrol stations are closed (oh and the odd Macdonalds!).

After a draw at I spy, we only have another 27 miles to Fort Stockton. We then leave I10 and head 4 hours to Big Bend.

Road Trip

Holidays are already on the mind as I packed my bag this evening. It seems only yesterday I unpacked from Rio, but the clothes selection is very different. It is Thanksgiving on Thursday, which means holidays - 4 days to do whatever we like. Stuart and I are heading off to Big Bend National Park to camp and hike. We will near the Mexican border - well the Rio Grande is the actual border, so we might need our passports!! The Rough Guide book is funny as they have a top tip - don't cross the Rio Grande otherwise you could face a big fine and getting imprisoned for up to a year!!

It is no short journey - it will take 12 hours to get there and 12 hours to get back - we have decided we might manage a whole talking book en route! It is the most remote National Park in America and apparently the scenery is well worth the drive. However, I should add that at Thanksgiving it becomes a very popular place so I don't think we are going to be alone. A lot of people travel with their families in their RVs. We will be in, Misty, my monster RV!!!

There are only a few scary animal we have to watch out for. Stuart has assured me the bears are small and will run away if I make myself look big! There will be no going to the toilet in the night though! The days should be nice and warm but I think I will pleased of my three season sleeping bag in the nights.

It is more than likely we will not have much mobile phone signal so you will have to wait for updates!

Icky Weekend

Stuart came and picked me up at ten to nine in the morning. I had flown from Rio via Atlanta, and although I hadn't slept brilliantly on the long haul flight, I passed out on the two and half hour flight from Atlanta. Keeping with tradition I watched a very sad film, My Sister's Keeper, on the flight and burst into tears!!! I think everyone else was asleep by then, well, I was hoping!

There was no rest for the wicked and didn't get much time to rest at home, as I went straight into work! Busy day that flew by although I felt a little icky when I left, but thought it was just because I was tired. But oh no! I was very sick most of the night. I blamed it on lunch at work (but having asked around today I am not so sure!).

The weekend was pretty much a right off as I slept most of Saturday. Mind you at least it was miserable outside as it didn't make me feel so bad! Basically food was certainly not on the mind for the whole weekend and this morning my trousers were decidedly roomier - so some good came of it! Stuart was a very kind husband trying to do everything for me. He even did a fashion show for me in his new ski gear. New, because he managed to leave all his ski clothes at home (actually I think they are in the attic at Glenlair!)

On Sunday there was a street art festival in downtown Houston - Via Colori Houston. It was held in the Sam Houston Park and a number of the roads had been blocked off so they had enough canvas for all the artists to work - yes it was artwork in chalk on the tarmac. They only had that day to do their picture so when we got there, they were are different stages of completeness. Some where really good and one artist was cheating asking passers by colour in a square, like a patchwork quilt.

Sam Houston Park has some of the oldest buildings in Houston, now just heritage buildings. The oldest one we saw was 1823! There was a duck pond with some very frisky ducks and a lots of turtles that also entertained us. Unfortunately, for Stuart, I was still not a bundle of fun and it was too long before we were heading home.

Today I woke up actually wanting a bit of breakfast before work and my meeting at 7am! Back to the trainer tomorrow night so I have to make sure I am back on form.

The Girl from Ipanema...

It feels like a lifetime since I have updated the blog, but due to one thing and another I just haven't managed to get to it. So back to Rio and the sun .....

Sunday night had a terrible thunderstorm and strong winds. It got so bad in the early hours I thought my hotel windows were going to blow in so I hid under the covers just in case they did. By 5am the storm had subsided and I managed to drift off again.

Once Monday came so did work and the reminder I wasn't on a jolly. Actually Monday wasn't too much of a struggle, as in true Brazilian style the conference didn't really get going until midday so we had the opportunity for a bit of a lie in - the last time that was going to happen. I got up at a reasonable hour and went for a run along the beach. But by 8:30am the sun was already hot and I thought I was going to melt along with all the other runners. There was no sign of the previous nights storm. However, there were some real sights of another kind. My favourite was the lady who decided running in her bikini top was a really good thing to do to ensure a good tan and minimal tan lines. Except she was having to run with her arms pressed against her chest to avoid it all falling out! By the time I go back t the hotel, an hour later, I was a wet enough to ring, and then to make it worse I had to stand in the tiny hot lift. My heart sunk when I had to stop at the breakfast floor to pick up another passenger. I was so embarrassed and just said 'sorry' with my head bowed. To my amazement it was a Brit and then I had to talk just to make it even worse! By the time the bus came to take us to the conference, I still looked like a beetroot!

From then on in we left for the conference at 7:30am, which was not too bad except for the fact by the time we had had dinner the previous evening it was after midnight and for my sins, not really, but I had to do normal daytime work which meant very late nights and too little sleep for my liking.

One morning while I was waiting for the bus I suddenly notice a naval vessel sailing past, and then realised it was not just one, but it must have been the whole Brazilian fleet. You could see them in size order stretching out to sea brought up in the rear by a submarine. They were all in perfect formation turning ninety degrees along Ipanema Beach and heading for Copacabana. Nobody seemed to know why, but I took some photos for Dad to enjoy!

Everyday on the way to the conference we were faced with horrible traffic and some scary driving. The amazing thing was the cars are less dented than those in Houston and people seemed to know the width of their cars down to the millimetre. We also drove past one of the largest favela's in Rio, housing in the loosest sense, 250,000 people. I spotted one of the favela's from the roof top of the hotel (orangy coloured buildings in th distance). The danger really comes on the roads if you have a favela on either side of the road run by different gangs. As they often start gun battles across the road. We had no problems.

So after the excitement of the drive everyday the conference was rather mundane! Actually it was very good and as with all big conferences there were some good talks and some really bad ones, but as long as the good ones out weigh the bad ones, it is good :) At the beginning of the week I didn't think I knew anyone except the people from the company and Laura, however, as time went on I bumped into at least three others I knew.

The last day and half of my trip were spent in meetings which was actually a nice change from all day sitting in talks. I got to see the office, and unfortunately I forgot to take a picture, but it has the most wonderful view looking over Sugar Loaf Mountain - beats the Sam Houston Beltway that I look at everyday!

Dorte and I just had time to celebrate the end of our meeting with a caipirinha on the roof top bar and watch the sun go down before, back in the traffic for an extraordinarily long journey to the airport. I would have to say the traffic did seem to dominate my trip, but at least the scenery made up for it.

Oh and one last comment if you are ever flying out of Rio de Janerio airport, leave yourself three hours to get through the security cues, they are horrific!!!!

Have any of you guessed the significance of the title? Well, it is the title of a song written in a restaurant, just behind the hotel, we went to dinner in on the Wednesday evening, all about a beautiful the girl the song writer saw as he was sitting at his table in Ipanema.

Christ - he's big!

The clouds were quite low this morning so we decided doing Corcovado (the Christ) early in the morning wasn't worth it. So after a nice breakfast - scrambled eggs - yummy - we headed off to the Hippie Market. Laura had been taken on her last visit and it runs every Sunday close to the hotel, within walking distance. The market was full of stalls selling jewelery, clothes, sandals, Brazil trinkets etc. It was nice to walk around but I never managed to commit myself to buy anything - poor decision making!

By the time we had walked around the market the clouds were lifting and we decided if we didn't go for Christ we wouldn't manage it. We flagged down a taxi and got my colleague, Rosalba, who speaks Spanish (so partially there to Spanish) to negotiate with the driver. He put us on the meter rather than giving us a set price. When we got in he said he did'nt speak Spanish but could speak English!! It s a rare thing for taxi drivers to speak English so this was great and quite amazing considering we thought at least speaking Spanish would get us somewhere near a better rate! It was the best fare we have paid the whole trip so Laura asked for his number - he is like gold dust! We took a train up to the top of Corcovado Hill. The train went straight up stopping occasionally as there are houses up the edge of the hill. You can drive all the way to the top but we decided the train was more fun. At the top the clouds had lifted enough for us to get some good photos and enjoy the scenery. I have to say I think Sugar Loaf has better view personally.

Christ is enormous as you stand underneath him. He is made of tiny mosaic tiles that must have been pain stakingly put on. As with all monuments the bottom was covered in skafelding, so we couldn't read the sign about his construction but Laura said he was made from soapstone. It is never peaceful up there with the crowds and the continual coming and going of helicopters with tourists. Chris had noticed at Sugar Loaf it was 150 Reais for just 8 minutes in the air (that is in the order of $110).

We got back the hotel to send Laura and Chris off to their next hotel, for the conference, and went for a walk along Ipanema Beach. Rosalba wanted to check out
the 'Rainbow' area of the beach! The gay portion. Well, we were lucky, Scott, another colleague joined us, as Rosalba said 'they would think we are lesbians!' Only two snogging men nothing too exciting! The beach was packed with all ages and the waves were quite big occasionally drowning all the swimmers. Apparently, the sand has been shipped in and what it means is there is quite a considerably shelf edge. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't quite some rip current. We never managed to swim, unfortunately.

This evening three of us went to the conference ice breaker, essentially a chance to get free drinks and eats and see the stands and talk to people. They are good, however the conference venue is really far from the hotel and it took us nearly an hour in the taxi to get there so we only had about an hour to walk around before having to get the taxi back to go to dinner with some of the others here from Copenhagen and folks from our Rio Office. At the ice breaker I saw one of my aeroplane neighbours, not the oil barren, the other one. Unfortunately we missed the opening ceremony that had scantly dressed Samba dancers, but there were a couple still going on one of the stands in the exhibition hall!

Dinner this evening was in a lovely restaurant not too far from the hotel. I have now eaten far too much and looking forward to sleep. It was nice to finally put names to faces for all the guys in Rio. The rain has now started and the streets are flooded, but we still have power - for now!

Tomorrow the conference begins.

Greetings from Rio

I arrived in Rio de Janeiro late yesterday morning after taking the overnight flight from Houston. I managed to sleep a reasonable amount but nothing compared to Laura who was on the same flight and who didn't wake up until our approach into Rio.

The flight was packed with a lot of folk heading to the same conference as us. I was stuck middle middle because my ticket was booked so late. However, I was next to two guys going to the conference. One sold printers for the industry the other was a true Texan oil barren. He was late 40's and an exploration geologist. He owns his
own company that started with his dad. He buys prospective acreage near Louisiana and drills wells. He was wearing his cowboy boots on the flight as he said there has to be one cowboy at the conference!
As we walked off the flight the heat and humidity hit. Who says it is only Houston with the unpleasant weather! The difference with Houston is that they don't air condition which is good and bad. At the long immigration cue that was bad!

Myself and a colleague were picked up by a driver and taken into our hotel in an armed plated car! My hotel, which Laura and Chris stayed at as well, is beautiful. It is situated on the beach at Ipanema. The whole topography of Rio is just amazing after coming from flat Houston. The mix of old and new buildings in really narrow streets just so exciting for the eyes.

The beach in front of the hotel was packed, as was Copacabana when we drove past! People just walk around in their teeney bikinis and speedos, and it doesn't seem to matter what size you are! The view from my hotel room is just glorious.

After, eventually getting into my room and showering, I met Laura and Chris at a British pub called Lord Jim Pub! We watch the friendly football game Rio vs England. There were a number of England supporters in the bar, but as with all true Scots, we supported the team playing against England!

Following a Brazil win, we headed off the Sugar Loaf mountain and there is a two
stage gondola up. Yup the views from the top are fabulous. We were there for sunset.

Laura has got Chris and I addicted to these cheesy bread balls that they do here.

I am just waiting for the lazy bones to get going and come down for breakfast :)

The Dude Abides

The last couple of days have been packed, hence the lack of a blog. On Thursday I managed to lock myself out of the house again. It is really easy to do. I had left my house keys in the car (and my phone), locked the garage on the snib and was stuck. It was already getting dark and there were swarms of midges everywhere. Arrgh!

Em had to quickly pack for her Rio trip on Thursday night before we were going out to meet up with an old colleague from Kerr-McGee days in Aberdeen whose husband is on a work visit at the moment. We were to meet them in a bar inside the Galleria (a big mall), but it took Em and I about 15mins to find it as we don't go to the Galleria often cause it is just so big. Jane and Kev live in Kuala Lumpur and while he has been in Houston, she took the chance to visit the UK, then come across to Houston and then they are both off to the Caymans before going back to KL. Jane will have pretty much done a round trip of the globe by the time she is finished.

Last night I took Em to the airport. Good job we left plenty of time as the traffic was really heavy and it took us about half an hour longer than usual. After dropping off Em I headed off to an outside 'Big Lebowski' event downtown with Andy and one of his colleagues from Aberdeen. The 'Big Lebowski' is a cult film by the Cohen brothers starring Jeff Bridges who plays 'The Dude'. When we got to Discovery Green it was already dark, a band was playing and there were lots of people who had made the effort of dressing up as characters from the film. At 10pm after the judging had finished of the best costumes, an inflatable movie screen was put up in front of the stage and the movie started. It was a great atmosphere and felt like a big party instead of just watching a movie. I think it is an annual event so next year I might get dressed up.

Got a text from Em this morning that she has arrived safely and now at her hotel. Em will be keeping everyone posted from Rio soon.

On my day off.....

It was the best thing knowing when I woke up this morning that I did not need to go to work, shame tomorrow morning isn't the same ;) Anyway, last night we planned our day and decided to head to Brazos Bend State Park.


It is about 1 hours drive south of us. The park opens at 8am in the morning so I said we should get there early to make the most of it. The alarm went off at 7am and we managed to be out of the house by 8:15am! To avoid rush hour traffic, as most companies do not have Veteran's Day as a holiday, we went all the way down Dairy Ashford putting up with the lights, pot holes and 20 mile an hour school zones. In a funny way I reckon it didn't take us much longer, and certainly less stressful, than fighting with the commuters. Since we had no milk in the house this morning, after I polished it off in last nights scrambled eggs, we went to Starbucks for a coffee and bagel, actually that was from Randall's and it was one of my favorites jalapeno peppers and cheese!

It was amazing escaping from the built up city limits straight into the countryside. Obviously it is utterly flat just huge field and sparse houses, that didn't have trees or hedges to show their boundaries. Some of the fields had crops in them, well corn, one field had some cows in it and the rest, not a lot. The road was straight except where you had to turn a corner at a field edge, like where the horses and carts turned in the past. It was tough staying within the speed limit along the single carriageway road. I must have been the only one because all the huge F350's (big double axle Ford pickup trucks) zoomed past me!

We paid $10 to enter the park for the day - you have to leave by 10pm when the gates shut! There was no one about which was lovely. It was only us and the man with the leaf blower in the car park. We first started off with a walk around Elm Lake, well actually we were meant to be doing the Horseshoe Lake trail, but turned the wrong way! There were plenty of signs warning us about the alligators. Apparently, there are 300 adult alligators in the park so I was hoping to glimpse at least one. The walk around Elm Lake was nice with lots of bird life, including quite magnificent herons, ducks with bright red beaks and much more - listen to me the twitcher!! Apparently, the swampy look of the park is just how Houston was before it became the metropolis it is today! There was a lot of algae on the water but the birds seemed not to worry, and the tortoises we saw were covered in it, so they obviously didn't mind it either. We looked for the alligators nostrils poking out of the water - but saw nothing. Not even one basking in the glorious sunshine. After Elm Lake we moved the car to explore the other side of the park along Big Creek and the Brazos River. The walks were through woods and it started to get really humid, not to mention annoying little flies following us - even the deet didn't put them off! I got stung by huge mosquito looking thing - so that was the last time we stood still for more than a couple of seconds. We saw absolutely no one for our whole walk - I can imagine at weekends it normally gets quite busy.

Still no alligators spotted!

The trees had lichen draping from their branches which look spooky - sort of and there were big creeper/vines just like Tarzan would have enjoyed swinging in!

OK the park warned you about the alligators, but they forgot to tell you about the wild pigs. We were casually walking through the trees on the path chatting when we heard what we thought was a dog, but it wasn't. We then saw next to us a light red brown pig get up from just beside the path and fortunately run into the bush, followed by another one. Both of us stood stock still in surprise and shock. The conversation that followed, was what do you do if a wild pig charges - stay still or run?!

Well in the end we were so sick of the little flies that we ate our sandwiches in the car, but there were picnic tables with BBQ all over the place that looked like fun. In the end we never did see an alligator, possibly it is the wrong time of year - so now we will have to go back!

The gardeners were here when we got home. I don't think I have ever seen them because I am usually at work. It is a team of three Mexican chaps, one is on the lawn mower, one with the strimmer and the other with the leaf blower. They cut our backyard grass with the strimmer!! But he does make a good job of it because the big mower is quite tight to get around the pool! The leaf blower man them came into the back and I notice he blew over Berty and Boris, the chilli plants, but give him credit, he picked them up. He then blew all our leaves into the neighbours yard -since they don't pay for them, I guess that is only fair?!!

This evening I had to go to the gym because it is a trainer evening, but I was extra good and managed a swim beforehand. Meanwhile Stu cooked us a yummy beef chilli with steak that was just falling apart - hmmm and there is plenty left of for the freezer.

No more pumpkins

Gosh, I am pooped tonight after going swimming this morning and then the gym this evening with Stu. When I was in the changing rooms this morning, about to go to the pool, a lady asked me if I was going to the master class. I looked at her blankly and said no I was just going for a swim. She tried to convince me to take part in the swim session, called master class, where they swim 2500 yards (therefore, 100 lengths!). I said I would be there for sometime to complete that! I did wimp out, but I was glad I did, as they were all much better swimmers than me and they had fins so they were all zooming up and down the pool! Tonight Stu and I had a rowing race and in just 4 minutes we both thought we were going to die - I pipped him at the post! We also went on the bikes, but this evening the bikes had there own TV screens so I watched 'The Office' (USA) while cycling away :)

The pumpkins have been finally thrown away after my one got increasingly like an old man without his teeth and Stuart's pumpkin became more evil looking, and was more of a cyclops by the end! The ants and flies enjoyed living in them as they rotted down. The funny thing is we were not the only ones with old pumpkins. Some of theirs have completely deflated!

Tomorrow I have got a day off as it is 'Veterans Day'. It is a bit weird to have a day off in the middle of the week, but it breaks up the week.

Curry Night

Stuart out did himself - putting on a magnificent spread for the first on our curry nights! The whole day was spent preparing and cooking. My only contribution was cooking the poppadoms at 8 am in my PJ's. We didn't want the house to smell of smoke (hot oil), so I had to do them early. However, Stuart came up with a fab idea of doing them on the BBQ, therefore no smell inside. We tried with just our gas starter, but unfortunately it couldn't get the oil hot enough so I had to do it in the kitchen. As I said that was my contribution, along with laying the table!

We managed our weekly hot yoga, which was not as tough as last week; less of the strange balancing exercises and getting you body to contort in ways that are just wrong! After yoga we had to go back to Target because the previous nights purchasing had been a complete failure, I don't know how we, or rather I, did it, but 50% of what we bought was wrong. I picked up the wrong size of table cloth and a fitted sheet rather than a flat one! Both of which I only realised were wrong after taking them out of the packet!! So I had to try and fold them back into the tiny boxes they came in - anyone who has tried to fold a fitted sheet neatly knows how difficult it is! The guy exchanging them couldn't of cared less.

In all, we had nine for dinner, a mixture from work and Aberdeen University! I said we had to sit to eat pretty much as soon as everyone arrived as I said it was going to take sometime! Well it did, with our four course extravaganza finishing with jelly and Neapolitan ice cream!! Stuart made three different curries, a chicken butter balti, for those that like no heat, a chicken tikka masala, for the bit more daring, and a beef vindaloo, for the really brave! All were fab, except Stu was slightly disappointed as the vindaloo as not killer enough, even with 5 spoonfuls of chilli powder, half a pot of cayenne pepper and a blob of Dave's Insanity sauce! Although, I think Danny would disagree that it wasn't hot enough!

One thing we have discovered is mint jelly sauce does not taste like it does back home. To go with the poppadoms, Stu made up a riata, basically mint and natural yogurt. As soon as he mixed in the mint jelly we knew it was going wrong. The rieta was a lurid green colour and I tried a bit of the jelly sauce and it tasted of spearmint chewing gum! Now the yogurt tasted of spearmint, and a little bit sweet. Amazingly, some folk actually liked it but I could not bring myself to eat it!!

We finally wrapped up the party around 2am this morning still sitting outside, although getting bitten by mosquitoes I have found this morning. However, big news, Stuart had the Vortex, the electric mosquitoes catcher and killer, on all evening and it had 7 bodies in it this morning!!! So it does work, technically, but just not that efficiently!

Poor Laura had to get up to go and play a soccer match at 11am, with still a lot of curry in her belly! We are just having a lazy morning sitting around the house having finished the dishes. I am not sure what the rest of the day entails, but probably not much :)

I see it is 3 degC in Aberdeen just now - brrrrrr...... Hope all the flood water has drained away by now.

Chef's in the kitchen

I feel like I haven't been on the blog for days. It is Friday night and we are both a home watching TV after a busy day, mine at work and Stuart's in the kitchen! We are having a curry dinner party tomorrow evening and it is all homemade, and the curry recipes are British Indian Restaurant (BIR) recipies. As a tempter, just look at the wonderful naan's that he baked today and will put in the freezer until tomorrow hmmmm :)

I felt like I had a day of running around at work I am not sure I achieved everything I wanted to, but I certainly didn't sit back and do nothing. I treated myself by going to Hollywood Nails for a manicure and pedicure. I was trying to be really brave when she uses the grater on my feet. I have now discovered the only way to deal with it is to put on their horrible massaging chair. It runs big plastic knuckles up and down your back, the pain makes me forget her tickling my feet! My nails were done beautifully, but within seconds of getting off the chair I managed to smudge them - grrr!

I met Stuart at Target because I needed a table cloth - my only one is a rather grand one from John Lewis's. It is cream and certainly wont stand up to curry stains. The new one isn't really dark, but quarter the cost if it gets spills on it! If you wonder why I didn't get a disposable one is because they didn't go with our colour scheme :)))

At HEB we got accosted by the wine salesman, who was a Brit. He tried to convince us to buy very expensive Pinot Noir to go with our curry! Stuart took the bottle from him saying thank you very much, and when he wasn't looking, we put it back on the shelf!! It took quite a long time to find anything suitable, and only the taste test will tell if we managed it. Stuart noticed one thing quite odd in the wine selection. Back home you get a lot of Chilean Shiraz, however, we could not find any Shiraz in the Chile section. Maybe the Brits consume it all!!

The house smalls amazingly spicy tonight so just imagine what it is going to be like by tomorrow!

Curry shopping in Houston

Mark didn't appreciate my blog about my snotty nose, so tonight I am going to write one about my juicy cough - only joking I wouldn't subject you to that!!

My trainer was nice to me tonight and because I cancelled Monday I have got him again tomorrow - no rest for the sick!!!

Today Stuart went off in search of an Indian supermarket to stock our cupboards with curry ingredients. Stuart went to the Indian Groccers on 59 and Hillcroft. He said an assistant stalked through the shop asking if he needed help. When Stuart rattled off the ingredients he wanted the shop assistant was a little taken aback, and left him alone. Stuart made curry stock, a base for many curry dishes - it tastes just like spicy tomato soup. He also tested out homemade onion bhaji, which we plan to serve at out curry night on Saturday. They were very good and healthier (oven baked), rather than the usual deep fried bhaji. Tomorrow night we have to try out the homemade naan bread.

Stuart also managed to find a brand of tinned tomatoes that are really only tomatoes. We have been caught out recently with tinned tomatoes containing a lot of added sugar and salt. The only down side is that they only come in huge tins, so like the tomato puree, we now have a a fridge of plastic boxes of tommy tomato produce.

Just a cold, not piggy flu!

I was out of action last night after Stuart's cold took revenge on Sunday night. Work was a real struggle and in the end I left at about 2:30pm with a head full of the cold and feeling very sleepy. Stuart enjoyed sending me jokes about having piggy flu :(
At home, I laid down on the sofa with my Stuart McBride book, to remind me of Aberdeen, and promptly fell asleep after 2 pages. Stuart went out and about, leaving me to sleep. The evening was very quiet night in front of the TV, watching Family Guy! I ate spicy pumpkin soup, as you always have soup when you are sick:) By 9pm I was beat so to bed for more sleep.

Today I was feeling better a little hoarse and snotty, but other than that, not bad at all. I haven't faced the gym for two days so I am dreading going tomorrow for my session with the trainer.

Our glorious days have continued and we managed a quick walk down the bayou before sunset. It is funny as the time change is a real pain here because now the evenings get dark sooner, so by about 6pm it is pitch black. I don't care about light mornings!

As you can see life has been quiet for both of us and very little to comment on.