The Lexden Crown, Colchester, review

Afternoon all.  

Have been celebrating this week.  

I went to an interview on Saturday and on Monday, found out that I got the job!  I broke the bad/good news to my work today.  Good from my perspective.  Bad from my current workplace.  I will have to take a 30% paycut to work there, but it is closer to home.  Among other things as well.

I have to admit, I did feel disloyal going for a job interview without telling my current workplace that I was going to do the dirty on them.  

I got it in writing on Monday when I got home from work, and told my work yesterday.

So today we celebrated.  We went out to The Lexden Crown, a really nice restaurant.  It is owned by the same people who own the Lemon Tree in Colchester, a place I highly recommend.  We have been to it before in the distant past before children.  I did not mind it, my wife did not like it though.  That was how it was in the past.

Now it is a great place to take kids.  It has good food, great food in fact.  The building has loads of character which I took the kids round.  It has a 'secret room' which was part of the old kitchen apparently.  But most importantly, it has a garden!  With a four year old (sorry, four and a half year old) daughter and a two year old son, they need to be kept occupied.  They played about in the garden, loved looking at the fountain in the corner (which takes away some of the noise from the main road which it is on).  Now as any parent knows time spent with your loved one while the kids are occupied is great!  You can talk to each other!  And did I mention that we liked the food?  Will be going back there again, and I do recommend it to parents in the area.  No toys or anything in the garden (it is not that big) but the garden is big enough and pretty enough for kids to run.

Uh Oh We're In Trouble

Well, once again I am knackered.  I thought I had got over my illness from last week.  But I am wrong.  Never mind, at least it is not the plague!


One thing though, the kids did make me laugh.  My wife telephoned me at lunch.  She was doing some cleaning around the house, and realised that she could not hear the kids.  
So she found them.  They were upstairs, where they had found some toys that can be used to kill up things with water.  And filled them up with water.  Upstairs.  In the small toilet that my daughter uses (it is easier for them to get to and turn the taps there).  There was some water in the toys.  Loads more on the floor though.  Her reaction was such that the kids knew that they were in lots of trouble.  Lots indeed.  The problem was that when she telephoned me to share this with me, I could not stop laughing.  Nor could her parents who had telephoned her to ask her something either!

Anyway, I hope this makes you laugh as well! 

This little guy is sitting at the bar just staring at his drink. He's been sitting there for half an hour when this big trouble-making truck driver steps next to him, grabs his drink and gulps it down in one swig. The poor little guy starts crying. "Come on man, I was just giving you a hard time," says the truck driver. I'll buy you another drink. I just can't stand to see a man crying." This is the worst day of my life," says the little guy between sobs. "I can't do anything right. I overslept and was late to an important meeting, so my boss fired me. When I went to the parking lot, I found my car was stolen and I have no insurance. I grabbed a cab home but, after the cab left, I discovered I had forgotten my wallet in it. At home I found my wife in bed with the gardener. So I came to this bar and was thinking about putting an end to my life, and you show up and drink the damn poison."

What's your name

The football part of me is down.  Arsenal let in three goals in the last ten minutes of a game when we were two goals ahead.  THREE!!!


But, my life is more important than Arsenal thanks to my children.  Worked on Saturday, and on Sunday, spent the time being ill and bad tempered (sorry again to my lovely and wonderful wife).  Today came back from work to find out what my kids had been up to.


My son, when asked by my wife, what his name is, will answer with any name but his.  So when she took him to the nursery, she asked the staff there to find out what if he knew what his name was.  He looked at her.  She asked him what his name was.  And he answered.  With his name.  On getting him home at the end of the day, she asked him what his name was.  Wrong answer.


She is amazed that he will keep this up for so long, but then she has refused to admit she sent me a valentines card sixteen years ago.  Well, she and her friends sent it.  But she was involved.

Anyway, time for me to finish this and I hope you like the joke...

No air travel, all sea and rail links "blocked," Britain is cut off. Sounds like a quarantine!



Or the BNP has won the election already!

The Freak show review & Clash of the Titans

Evening all.


Me, I am a bit tired today.  Right, a more in depth post about the weekend and last week.
I got to watch a film last week.  Clash of the Titans.  And for those who want to watch it, do not bother.  In fact, watch the original.  That was much better.  In fact, do not bother watching the new version, unless it is in a few years time on free-to-air television, or like this link to the original, on YouTube.


Anyway, Friday night, went to the Colchester Arts Centre to the Freak Show.  An 80's night that only features a few of the huge hits of that decade.  But then the title of the night should have given it away.  So after a few drinks at the Kings Arms we headed out to it.  And then realised what it was.  To be fair, the posters for it gave an idea of what it was, and some of the music was to my tastes.  If I had read about it, I would have realised that it was not for me.  But some of the group we went with came back to ours.  A quick raid on Tesco's to stock up on alcohol and snacks and then back to ours to take part in karaoke (only a few were insane enough to sing) drink and eat.


Come the morning, thanks to my mother-in-law keeping the kids, we were child free!  That meant getting up at a time to suit us, not being woken up at 0600, and then eating a breakfast in peace!  I had to go to work (doing a bit of overtime to pay for the extension) and after I got back, the kids were brought back by my wife.  Mind you it could be a crap job like that on the picture below!

Anyway, today, took the kids to Mersea Island where we froze on the beach while they had fun making sandcastles and the like.  Had a picnic, then took the kids back to warm up.  My son and wife went to sleep while my daughter and I did some gardening and took stuff to the dump.  She loved it as she got to sit (with her booster seat) in the front.  After getting back, her brother woke up and then he joined her playing in the garden.  They had a pretend picnic while my wife and I did other much more needed things in the garden.


Anyway, time for bed,  I hope you like the joke.

In the film 'Shrek', Princess Fiona turns from a super-hot princess to an ogre overnight due to the effects of a curse.

Or maybe it was because Shrek just sobered up.

Why is it called a 'bear' when it's clearly covered in fur?

Evening all.

I have spent a week, mostly alone this week.  My wife took the kids down to her parents as now it is Easter, there are less things to do for the kids up here.  There are still loads of things that they can do, but she used the break to teach them how to swim.  Well, my son being two years old can not learn to swim, but he can learn to like being in a swimming pool.
Anyway, they are back now.  Spent some time in the garden with them while I was mowing the lawn.  And my son now likes Doctor Who!

But time to go to bed, hope you like the joke in the meantime.

What's the best thing about having Alzheimer's Disease?
1: You can hide your own Easter eggs.
2: You are always meeting new people.
3: You never have to watch reruns on television.
4: You can hide your own Easter eggs.

Doctor Who

Arsenal 1-0 Wolves
Evening all.  Not much has happened since I last posted.  I have not had as much time with my family as I would like as I have been working.  In fact I was actually working when my daughter got to watch Doctor Who last night!
But I got to watch it for myself today, this morning in fact.

As for the kids, well, they are still adorable.  Took them cycling up and down our road today.  My son has a tricycle and is learning to pedal.  My daughter though has a bike with stabilisers (thanks to friends who have given us it) and she is getting more confident with riding it, being better able to do so the more she tries.  

And of course, they have loved Easter.  Something about chocolate...

Anyway, the Arsenal match.  We were lucky.  But in order to be really lucky, I need ManUre to drop points as well as Chelski. 

My girlfriend left me because I was forgetful. It all started yesterday morning.

...Or was it evening...?

I'll ask my girlfriend, she'll know.

The East Anglian Railway Museum

Arsenal 2-2 Barcelona

Today has been nice so far. Woke up today in a bad mood. My wife took me to the East Anglian Railway Museum. Having lived in Colchester for a while, I have wanted to go for ages. And of course, the kids were surprised by the trip as well. My daughter thought that we were going to go to a farm and was surprised to find that we were at a Railway station with an old steam engine outside. Even better, she actually met the Fat Controller!
It was a great day out and both the kids loved it. They got to ride on Thomas the Tank Engine, and Daisy. We had the option to ride on Percy and Toby, but as my son was getting tired, we decided to call it a day. Mind you, it does take time as the engines take it in turns.

My daughter is looking forwards to Dr Who tomorrow, and my wife is annoyed as at the moment, she is watching one of the old episodes from the past.

Anyway, time to talk about the match. I did not get to watch it because of my appraisal, but I did get to listen to bits on may way home from it. I still think that Arsenal can and will go through. To get knocked out by Inter in next round which will be a pity.

What do call a chip pan in Glasgow containing no chips?

Soup.