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Sod's Law: the BBQ corollary

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Last Sunday was forecast to be a nice and sunny day, and so it was – for the most part. We had planned to assemble the BBQ that day, which we did (accompanied by a few members of the local the wasp population which decided to pay a visit and thus freaking me out). It was nonetheless a nice day out (but I was a bit to stressed out to enjoy it).

We went to get a canister of propane (making sure to take the gas regulator with us, because apparently, there's a bajillion types and subtypes, depending on what sort of gas/gas canister you want). Anyway, we got the gas, and it was still a lovely sunny warm day.

I spent part of the afternoon making homemade, garlic-free, spicy BBQ sauce (which is quite NUMMAY, btw). The sun was pouring in through the kitchen windows.

At 5:00 when I started making the kabobs, it started clouding up.

At 5:30 when I lit the BBQ, it started raining.

And thus is the archtypical example of Sod's Law.

We still got everything cooked, and it was enjoyed by all.

  

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That most wonderful time of the year

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My allergies are alive and kicking at the moment. My head feels like it's full of cotton wool. Quite fun. I only have one partly working nostril and my eyes itch like mad. Hooray! I'm going to the docs next tuesday to get a prescription of antihistamines, which will hopefully help.

I don't think that yesterday helped either though. We hired a strimmer and I spent two hours clearcutting the jungle of weeds that was our back yard. We can now actually reach the back fence! Now, it's just a matter of dragging all the weeds and foliage into a nice pile that we'll let decompose somewhere.

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Version 2.2, baby

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After weeks of blood, sweat and tears, I have finally deployed the refactored version of PRIDE to the production servers. This probably means Sweet Fanny Adams to most of you, but this makes me happy because it means that I can finally stop writing test cases and doing pain-in-the-ass fiddly stuff with raw SQL database dumps.

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Good thoughts, bad thoughts

Posted on By admin 4 Comments on Good thoughts, bad thoughts

Good thought: spend an hour on the phone with Michel last night, talking about wedding stuff and his newly-bought condo stuff.

Bad thought: I'm losing contact with a lot of people back in Canada. I expected the out-of-sight, out-of-mind deal, but it's still hitting harder than I expected, at the most random times.

Good thought: we're going to have a BBQ this weekend.

Bad thought: the garden still needs a cubic assload of work.

Bad thought: my shoulder is still giving me grief

Good thought: but it's getting better.

All in all, I still feel a bit meh.

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Busy busy busy!

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The next month will be hell. I have meetings coming out of the wazoo and people trying to shanghai me for even more meetings which, luckily or unluckily, clash with the ones I already have. If I'm lucky, they'll just forget about me. If I'm unlucky, they'll reschedule them and add more entries in my already groaning calendar.

In other news, I slept like crap last night. I do believe that stress is starting to be a factor in my life again. My shoulder, the classic indicator in my life, kept me up for part of last night and apparently, my blood pressure is again on the dark side of elevated (slightly, so I'm not overly concerned, but it's still higher than usual).

I just need to get through the next few months (until the next crisis comes along that is – am I being too cynical?)

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[Recipe] Treacle (a.k.a. molasses) cookies

Posted on By admin 6 Comments on [Recipe] Treacle (a.k.a. molasses) cookies

1/2 cup dark treacle
1/2 cup soft brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sour cream
3 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp sweet spices (cinnamon / clove / ginger)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1. Mix sugar, egg, treacle and sour cream until well combined.
2. Sift dry ingredients and add to wet ingredients, mixing until you get a dough that can be formed into a ball. You may need to add more flour to get this consistency.
3. Roll dough on floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness and cut into 2inch circles
4. Put on greased, floured baking tray.
5. Cook at 350F for 10 minutes.
6. Let cool on wire rack before eating.

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An update with some meat on the bone

Posted on By admin 1 Comment on An update with some meat on the bone

Haven't written anything of substance in a while, so I'll make this one count.

We're slowly reclaiming our back yard from its natural wilderness state. I cut the grass for the second time last weekend under the watchful eye of a suicidal sparrow who kept landing in front of the lawnmower to get at the fresh bugs, with Katy going “watch out for the biiiird!”. It's still looking rough so we bought a rake to try and pick up the grass clippings that are left behind. Katy was off on holiday this wednesday and had a go at it. The lawn won in the end, but she still managed to get half of it raked clean. It's slowly getting better. Our goal for this year is to get it in a clean slate state that we can use to make something pretty next year.

She also had a whack at pruning the shrubbery in front of the house. We can now get in and out of the house without being attacked by the bushes now (even though it looks like a WMD went off in the front yard)

We're in Leicester this weekend. Since I was supposed to be in Canada at the moment, I had the week booked off as holiday time but I'm only taking Thursday and Friday off. Since we finally got the paperwork from the Home Office, wedding plans are officially underway. We bought the paper and envelopes for the invitations we're going to make. We bought the wedding rings (well, they're ordered, at least. We're paying them over 3 months to lessen the pain) and Katy knows which dress she wants. We stopped in a bridal shop today to have a look at suit styles. I'm going for the top-hat-and-tails look, with grey pinstriped trousers with a charcoal tail suit, cream vest and burgundy cravat. I need to buy some cufflinks, but I've seen some nice mother-of-pearl ones at the jewelers where we bought the rings.

And now for something completely different, we bought a BBQ! It's a pre-emptive wedding present :) It was on sale for 20% off, so that's ok. We just need to assemble it and get a bottle of propane and suburbia, here I come :)

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[Recipe] BBQ sauce

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I've been looking for a garlic-free BBQ sauce. Of course, I can't find one, so I found a few recipes online and combined them into this one, which I will try as soon as I have my BBQ :)

Ingredients
1 can (28 oz.) tomato puree
1 can (28 oz.) chopped tomatoes in juice
1 onion, chopped
1/3 cup dijon mustard
1 cup orange juice
1 1/2 cups wine vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon Mace
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
muslin wrapped cloves and cinnamon (to remove afterwards)

In large saucepan, whisk together the tomato puree and mustard until smooth. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. When done, sieve and simmer for another 10 minutes.

In theory, it should last a few weeks in the fridge because of the vinegar, but I might pack it in sterile jars and see if I can make it last a bit longer.

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