Olympian

While I was working away this week, the Olympic torch relay came to the Thames Valley area. The torch was taken to Henley, Windsor (to be presented to the Queen), Ascot racecourse, Bracknell and finally overnighting at Reading.

LL got up early on Tuesday morning to go to the river bank at Henley to watch the proceedings, where he had to wait for 3 hours (poor boy) for a brief glimpse. His reward was a £2 LEGO Olympic Team GB mini-figure, he's easily pleased. Anyway here's his video (I've removed the sound so don't worry if you think your speakers have packed up!).

Later in the day, after school, he was taken into Reading to see the torch arrive there. Lucky boy.

Final

Birmingham City secured a promotion play-off position, with a win over visiting Reading yesterday. Having already gained promotion and the Championship title, many suggested the Royals just weren't trying in their last match of the season. Or perhaps Birmingham needed/wanted the win more and on the day were- more importantly- the better team..?

28 April Birmingham City 2 - 0 Reading

Today Reading FC were due to hold a parade through the town out out to the Madejski Stadium (pronounced Ma-day-ski Stadium or Mad Stad for short). Sadly Dad, who was up visiting with SM and the poor weather conspired to stop me going out to support. 

The Maths Of Winning

Despite being reduced to 10 men early in the match, the Royals managed to gain a point from their final home game of the season with a draw against Crystal Palace.

21 April Reading 2 - 2 Crystal Palace

Elsewhere in the Championship results went Readings' way, including second placed Southampton losing away at Middlesbrough. This left Reading in an unbeatable position and have tonight been crowned Champions.

Next Saturday Reading play their final match away at Birmingham. Obviously they will be wanting a strong finish but regardless of the result the Champions will take an open-top bus tour of Reading town on Sunday. Might have to go join the crowds :-)

Promo

Reading FC will return to the Premier League having won promotion with two games to spare.

17 Apr Reading 1 - 0 Nottingham Forest

Reading manager Brian McDermott









(Sorry Notts Forest fans, but at least you will likely stay up this season)

Top

13 April Southampton 1 - 3 Reading

The Royals leap frog Southampton, into the top spot and more or less guaranteed promotion. Only three more games to go.

Omen

Reading football club's run of good form has continued these past few games, with three wins from as many matches.

31 March West Ham 2 - 4 Reading
6 April Reading 2 - 0 Leeds United
10 April Brighton 0 - 1 Reading

The Royals are now on equal points with first placed Southampton, who they are due to play tomorrow night, Friday 13th. Hope that's not a bad omen LOL.

BST

Last night our clocks went forward an hour, into British Summer Time, bringing with it lighter evenings and the first outing of my short trousers and flip-flops (or thongs as the Aussies would say).

So I spent a good few hours today doing a few chores about the garden, having a bit of a tidy up before planting my first crop of seed potatoes, which should be ready towards early July. I had quite a bit of success last year and a whole lot of fun, finger's crossed for this year. In addition I've sown 5 varieties of Chilli Pepper, which are now in pots on my kitchen window sill waiting to germinate.

Judging by the weather we've had this past week, it looks like we may have a cracking summer in the UK. The flip side of that of course is that due to the lack of rain through winter, we have already been told hose pipe bans will be in place from early April. Oh joy.

Speaking of water, I got home from work on Tuesday to the sound of running water. Seems something nasty has happened to my toilet, which means that until the plumber comes on Wednesday I have to make do with using a bucket to flush. I'm just pleased this happened now, if it was going to happen at all, rather than when GFDU was here. I can just imagine the conversation: " Welcome to England. By they way we're so backward here, we have to use this to flush with." LOL.

Followers to this blog might also like to know I have uploaded images of three more pots to Webshots. You'll need to navigate your way to about page 15 for the latest stuff.

And finally the Royals continue their push for promotion.

24 March Reading 3 - 1 Blackpool

Here's how the top part of the Championship looks at present:

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	Diff	Pts
1	Southampton	39	23	9	7	72	35	37	78
2	Reading	39	22	7	10	56	34	22	73
3	West Ham	38	19	12	7	59	38	21	69
4	Brighton	39	17	11	11	48	40	8	62
5	Middlesbrough	38	16	13	9	45	42	3	61
6	Birmingham	38	16	12	10	60	41	19	60
7	Blackpool	39	16	12	11	66	56	10	60
8	Cardiff	39	15	15	9	57	50	7	60
9	Hull	38	16	10	12	38	32	6	58
10	Leeds	39	16	9	14	59	57	2	57

Doctor Who Just Got Prettier

Yesterday Steven Moffat, Executive Producer of Doctor Who, introduced the world to Amy Pond's replacement on board the TARDIS.

Step forward the gorgeous Jenna-Louise Coleman.

Mmmm. Need I say more? LOL















Screen husband and wife Rory and Amy Pond (played by Arthur Darvill and Karen Gillan) will depart at some point in the new series, which returns this coming Autumn. Jenna-Louise will apparently make her first appearance in the Christmas episode.



17 March Barnsley 0 - 4 Reading
20 March Peterborough 3 - 1 Reading

Second

The Royals unbeaten run continues with a draw away at Doncaster.

13 March Doncaster 1 - 1 Reading.

Reading move for the moment to second in the Championship, one point ahead of West Ham (who have one game in hand). If Reading can hold this position until the end of the season, automatic promotion back to the Premiership is certain.

Is that too much to ask for?

Just Like Summer..?

Did you see the weather in England today? It was 15 degrees Celsius in my back garden this afternoon and when I went out briefly to run some errands, I actually saw a man walking down the road with his shirt off. In March. I kid not.

Just for the record the warmest place in the UK today was in Nottinghamshire, where 19 degrees Celsius (around 62 degrees F) was noted. It's not even officially Spring yet.

(And yes I have today taken the precaution of retrieving the short trousers out of storage.) 

I've also been been catching up on recent episodes of Top Gear. Try to find the one with the jet pack Rocket Man racing at 120mph (193kph) against a Seat rally car around the Welsh hillsides. Just mad but totally riveting. It's also the one with Matt Smith. Quite a nifty driver.

And finally yesterday Reading FC pulled off a win against visiting Leicester. The Royals are now on equal points with second placed West Ham but thanks to goal difference remain in third.

10 March Reading 3 - 1 Leicester

One more thing: you can't beat home-made banana and raisin bread pudding. Mmmm. 

Ceramics

I've just uploaded images of my three latest pots, here. You'll need to find your way to the end of the album, at around page 15 but please take a look and let me know what you think.















Also today LL called me with two pieces of news: he's done well in his swimming class, passed the current level and will move up a class after Easter; and also he's had another tooth fall out. I'm not sure which in his mind is more important but I suspect the Tooth Fairy might have something to do with it LOL.

Elsewhere, the Royals have been doing well recently. They're now firmly in third, only two points off second place.

26 Feb Middlesbrough 0 - 2 Reading
3 Mar Millwall 1 - 2 Reading
6 Mar Reading 1 - 0 Portsmouth

Championship

The royals move up to third in the Championship on the back of today's result. Reading are now on 54 points after 31 games and 3 points behind second placed West Ham.


14 Jan Watford 1 - 2 Reading
21 Jan Reading 0 - 1 Hull
28 Jan Reading 1 - 0 Bristol City
11 Feb Reading 2 - 0 Coventry
14 Feb Derby 0 - 1 Reading
17 Feb Reading 1 - 0 Burnley

Sick

You know how you often hear parents telling their children not to bolt down their food? That they should take their time, chew properly and swallow before cramming the next fork load in or else they will be sick..?

Tonight I'm afraid I was proved right. LL was quite violently sick and the whole lot seemed to come back. Not nice.

Earlier in the day we had to spent far too much time on his homework. They've each been given the task for next few weeks of producing a booklet on an aspect of ancient Egypt, such as the Pyramids, Pharaohs or Mummies. You get the idea. Personally I think it's a bit of a stretch for most 8 year old kids, LL included. If they had been asked to research one new fact each week and then report back, I feel it might have been more appropriate. What they've been given instead is far too onerous and I suspect in many cases the work handed in at half term will be that of many parents, not their children.

I'll let you know if I get a good mark from Teacher LOL. 



2 Jan Cardiff 3 - 1 Reading
14 Jan Watford 1 - 2 Reading


The Royals are currently 5th in the Championship on 42 points after 26 games.

Goodbye 2011

There's quite a lot I wanted to say today regarding this past year- my own personal highs and lows and in fact I've been formulating ideas of what to say for a couple of days. The truth is that I've left it all too late and only now have time for a brief entry. I guess I could blog something in the coming days but I suspect it will all seem so "last year" by then LOL.

To business, I took LL out today for a trip to Henley on Thames, which was lovely. Very few people out and about by the river and the weather was quite kind. We even came across this lovely black swan, who was very keen to make our acquaintance and eat the bread we were carrying. The other ducks, geese and mute swans didn't really get a look in!

You don't see many of these around here.












And later we found out that his new LEGO boat really did float (in the bath). Until that is we learnt a new word: capsize.

Elsewhere Reading FC have put on a good show over the Christmas period and have moved nicely into 5th in the Championship.

17 Dec Leeds 0 - 1 Reading
26 Dec Reading 3 - 0 Brighton and Hove Albion
31 Dec Reading 1 - Ipswich

The Royals travel to Cardiff on Monday 2 Jan.


All that remains is for me to wish everyone a happy New Year.

Getting Round To Christmas

I know I've been a bit "Blog-lite" of late and haven't posted a great deal. There's no need to send out the search party- I'm still alive (and well), just very busy at work. Ah the joys of employment- long may that continue (at least until I win the Lottery).

Having made a start helping LL yesterday to decorate the tree where he lives, I thought it was about time I did similar here. I've spent today tidying up and then doing my best to make the place look festive, although I think I might have gone a tad overboard, with the lights throughout the house. Another story for another time perhaps.

You might recall last year the tree was treated to blue lighting, this time I have picked mostly reds. What do you think?

I have positioned the tree to the left of the chimney, for ease of pressie delivery LOL.
















No word yet about whether the office will be open over Christmas grrr. I hope it will be: I could do with working Wednesday to Friday that week and saving my leave for next year...



Elsewhere, the Royals have hauled themselves to 10th in the nPower Championship on 30 points from 21 games, after a mixed bag of results:

19 Nov Reading 1 - 2 Cardiff
26 Nov Ipswich 2 - 3 Reading
29 Nov Reading 3 - 2 Peterborough
3 Dec Blackpool 1 - 0 Reading
10 Dec Reading 3 - 0 West Ham

Hands Off?

There's been mixed reaction to the news BBC Worldwide (the commercial arm of the BBC) are planning a big screen film version of Doctor Who. Apparently Harry Potter director David Yates is one of the prime movers behind this announcement. Now I don't know about you but I thought he did quite a decent job with the later instalments of that franchise. However Andrew M Brown in the Telegraph even went so far in his blog to seemingly list many of the reasons often cited as being behind the series cancellation (in the 1990's) as reasons why "Hollywood" should keep well away. So because it used to be seen as fairly low budget- and I guess against the average episode of say Battlestar Galactica it still is- Hollywood money shouldn't be used to (possibly) improve these things? I dunno.

But this is not the first time Doctor Who has appeared on the big screen. Those two 1960's Peter Cushing films weren't too bad. Surely?

 Yes that was the Bernard Cribbins co-starring.

For me the jury is still out and I'll wait to hear more information before passing judgement. Perhaps a new film will be a welcome addition to the canon and assuming they move quickly maybe even a fitting 50th anniversary celebration in 2013...



1 Nov Nottingham Forest 1 - 0 Reading
6 Nov Reading 1 - 0 Birmingham

Big Bang

It's got round to that time of year again when the UK goes mad on fireworks to mark Guy Fawkes' attempt to destroy Parliament on 5 Nov 1605. The anniversary of this event is celebrated with fireworks and a bonfire on which a "Guy" is usually burnt.

As is tradition where LL lives, they celebrate on the nearest Saturday a whole week early, don't ask me why, so usually around Halloween. It seems to work and a great time is had by all. Here's a couple of images from this evening...

Great fun.



29 Oct Crystal Palace 0 - 0 Reading

The Smell Of Christmas*

Some readers may recall last year I had a go at baking a Christmas cake based on the Delia Smith kit sold in a well known supermarket. If you need to, you can refresh your memory here and here LOL.

Now if ever there was an example of how imitation is one of the best forms of flattery, may I present exhibit "A" below?

All that's missing from this image is 170g of unsalted butter.















At £10 (the same price Delia's was offered for last year) you can understand that I couldn't refuse the chance to give it go. And in fact it requires fewer additional ingredients; how can I go wrong? It's in the oven now and should be finished after 3 and a half hours at a relatively low heat, so a couple more to go. There's whole almonds in the mix so I'm thinking this year perhaps I might leave it totally plain and adorn it with some holly from the garden...

Either way I might post an image later as it cools. Do check back soon to see how it went.


18 Oct Reading 2 - 2 Derby
22 Oct Reading 1 - 1 Southampton

* Don't you just love the smell of spices and mixed fruit that has been soaked in a generous portion of Brandy? I know I do LOL.

Extra

Extra minutes and extra teeth.

LL has been feeling very much under the weather this weekend, complaining of headaches and a sore throat. It seems the route cause is a number of adult teeth pushing through. As you see, at least some of the new ones appear to be a little off target...

Ouch!












Meanwhile yesterday the Royals travelled to Burnley and ended up playing an unheard of additional 9 minutes, in lieu of injury time. Substitute Jem Karacan managed to score the only goal of the match right before the final whistle (at 99 minutes), winning Reading a vital 3 points. Following their no-score-draw at home to Middlesbrough last Saturday (1 Oct), Reading's unbeaten run now stretches to 4 games but they remain mid-table at 14th out of 24.

At Last

I've been waiting a good while to publish Reading FC's results, in order to actually mention a win. Well here it is:

23 Aug Charlton 2 - 1 Reading
27 Aug Hull 1 - 0 Reading
10 Sept Reading 0 - 2 Watford
17 Sept Reading 2 - 0 Doncaster

The Royals are now in 14th out of 24 in the Championship.

Elsewhere, yes I admit Torchwood: Miracle Day didn't quite resolve itself as I had expected/predicted. Nevertheless it was still pretty poor, with key moments conveniently occurring off-screen so as to manufacture suspense for the viewer. Can't see the point of the cliff hanger "surprise" ending- unless Starz secretly intend to make a US-only version with their own not-so-unique central character- because I don't see Torchwood itself returning for a 5th I'm afraid.

A friend and former work colleague has also this week shared some news of a not so good kind. I'm thinking of them all.

Oh and finally have you noticed I've avoided mentioning how poorly some countries are currently doing in the Rugby World Cup? Oops think I just have LOL...