Saturday 26 April 2008

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


We tried one of our new wine purchases with dinner this evening and it was a winner! Dinner was a steak, roast potatoes, tomatoes and artichokes followed by cheese and pears. The wine was from John's Blend- a Margarete's Shiraz. A South Australian Shiraz and was most enjoyable.
We delivered our box of bits and pieces to Masi and Walter this morning- much appreciated and I am looking forward to their visit tomorrow afternoon too. Masi is recovering quite well after her surgery and we are happy to hear that!
Our 4yo God-daughter Jacqueline told me today on the phone that she had been riding her bike without trainer wheels. She was pretty excited and I am sure that it will allow her to go a little faster and maybe keep up with her big brother and sister. In any case, the squawky parrot on the handlebars will mean that she won't be forgotten.

Thursday 24 April 2008

Another notch in the diary (one week closer to Christmas)


and sadly, not too much more to celebrate at the moment. It has been a tough week in the office so far and I can't imagine that things will change for the better on a Friday. I am very much looking forward to the weekend- it will be a chance to sleep and hopefully get out on a bike for a proper ride!!
Caro Enzo celebrated a birthday yesterday- we had dinner together on Friday to catch up (but as tradition dictates here, there was no mention of the birthday before the actual date) and I am sure that he had a great day with his wonderful child-bride.
We haven't managed to sell the sofa yet, but I am sure that the BBQ Queen will want to order the "Weber From Hell" in any case. I can see her already using the "if we don't order it now, we won't get it before August" line. August would be good for me- it is still summer :-)
How were the couple of days up the coast, Gazza? D'ya catch a fish??

Sunday 20 April 2008

A nice, relaxing Sunday


after a pleasant Saturday in town and dinner at the Chief's. Not too much going on here today but Catherine has visitors coming soon to look at our old sofa- I have promised her that if she can sell it, the money can go towards buying the big bbq that she is lusting for. It will be interesting to see how she performs with the saleswoman's jacket on. I guess that I will go out for an hour or two and leave her in peace as I would hate to put more pressure on her than is necessary!
Steven and co are back home from New Zealand after doing a successful rain dance and Gary and the kids are spending a couple of days up on the water this week too. Lucky for some!
Greetings to Mike and Simone- good to speak during the week and great to hear that you are doing well. It was also good news that Brett is on his way to Canberra to join the team too- it will be nice to have another old friend on the job.

Wednesday 16 April 2008

If the days are growing longer and summer is


on the way, why did we have sleet, rain and hail falling today? It was absolutely awful outside for a few hours during the middle of the day!
I have run into a "creative blockage" with my photo project. Still walking around with the camera almost all of the time, but at the moment I am unable to imagine any pictures that I really want to take and find myself struggling to capture anything at all. The obvious answer is to leave the camera at home and go out for a serious night on the booze- might be a good idea in the short term....... but I will wait and see how things turn out tomorrow.
Catherine is due back home from London later tonight- it will be interesting to see how much she has been able to boost retail sales in the UK during a very brief visit. They could certainly do with some help over there.
There is a 6 hour spinning marathon at our gym on Saturday week- sadly, I am not in any state to do the whole thing on my own and I'm not really motivated to try and find a partner to split the time with. Given a miracle, I may just manage to get organised.....

Sunday 13 April 2008

What a great weekend- sadly the end of our holiday


but at least today we are celebrating our 17th wedding anniversary. It has been a pretty relaxing day- early dinner and taking it easy now as we both have early starts in the morning. Dinner was a great slow-roasted chicken with garlic, onions and cherry tomatoes served with polenta. I am off to the office as per normal tomorrow and Catherine is going to London to spend a couple of days in the office there.
Had a good evening on Thursday with the young guys from across the way- ZSC won the hockey finals so we ended up celebrating in our local pub after dinner until late. Very glad that there was no school for me the next day!
My photo project is going well- I managed to get a few more shots in the bag this weekend and if I keep moving along it won't be a problem to finish 30 by the end of the month. These longer evenings are making it somewhat easier to shoot pictures after I get out of the office, so hopefully I will be able to take advantage of them.
Sächselüüte tomorrow- an old festival in Zürich. The bells are rung at 6 o'clock in the evening to celebrate the end of winter and an effigy of a snowman is put to the torch. A big day for all of the guildsmen!

Thursday 10 April 2008

After the disappointment of Basel, it was nice


to go to Geneva (SIHH) and walk around feeling like a King. The watch show has a completely different atmosphere and with only 14 brands showing, it is much smaller, intimate and soooo much more stylish. The new offerings from IWC were very interesting and it was great to be able to get our hands on them so early in the year. It will take a while for the new watches to hit the Dealer's windows which gives us all a little more time to save some cash :-)
I am enjoying my time off- another visit to the gym today and then some shopping for dinner this evening. We are entertaining a couple of the young guys from across the way and it should be good fun (again). A plate of antipasti, spaghetti and then a big steak before we tackle the cheese plate- all to be washed down with a bottle of prosecco and plenty of red....... mmmm.
Tonight in the 6th match of the Ice Hockey Playoffs ZSC have the chance to wrap up the title by beating Servette Geneva at home. A 4-2 series win would be a great result...... if they don't manage to do the job this evening, it will be very tough to try to beat Geneva at home on Saturday night. HOPP ZSC!!

Sunday 6 April 2008

After visiting the Basel watch show, my first impressions


have been confirmed and I found the new offerings to be, on the whole, quite disappointing. There is a new Rolex Superduperdeepdowndiver (which may set a record for the most text on a dial), a new Patek 5070 in Platinum (drooooool) and I even managed to find a new Zenith watch which appealed to me. The day was certainly more about catching up with people and making new acquaintances and in that respect it was a success.
It is a very nice feeling to be at home on a Sunday afternoon having already had a good exercise session at the gym, awaiting guests for dinner and knowing that I don't have to go to work in the morning.

Wednesday 2 April 2008

Press Day At Baselworld Today


and what I have seen so far is fairly underwhelming. I have some buddies arriving in town from the States tomorrow and hopefully we will be able to check things out for ourselves properly on Saturday.
I have managed to bag my first couple of shots for the month long photography challenge- April Fools - and might even try to grab #3 in the morning before heading off to the office. Will be out on the tiles tomorrow evening, so there will be no chance to do any shooting after finishing work.
Only two more days of work before I get to take a week's holiday. Looking forward to getting lots done, getting nothing done, sleeping, staying up late, entertaining etc.