I think I am a lucky man sometimes, I mean, I have a job, reasonable health and a wonderful, beautiful wife …….

 

As a ‘lucky’ man.. I know that living in  Newport Beach, California is a wonderful piece of luck… we are a 15 min bike ride from the beach … so, this Sunday, we took the bikes down to the beach to enjoy the wonderful ocean. Last week we tried to do the same, because Mrs M’s bike was falling apart, we took the Jeep, and I spent 1 hr steadily losing my temper, teaching Mrs M some wonderful new expressions that even Maxi might not use… and came home …. I seriously inherited my Father’s anger and loathing of trying to park …. 

So, we rode down today, logically, it’s all downhill to the Beach, and we cruised down, and then cycled down the paths to Balboa island, one of my favourite spots in Newport Beach. I am a serious people watcher, and I marvel at a few things…

Thinking : “are they real ?”, ……. ”why would you wear that ?”,……. “do you have a mirror ?”, ……….”you should wear a bra fella? ‘ … etc …. but California is full of the beautiful people right ….. 

So, after a lovely ride, about 15 miles or so, we returned to the beach front, and spread out towels and rested. I am reading a wonderful book I can’t put down, and Mrs M is working on her tan. As I settled, my eyes wandered over the beach, I saw some interesting things….

1 – I must have counted 7-8 girls that were pretty gorgeous.. I even mentioned to Mrs M that one lass have wonderful lady lumps.

2 – 3 guys throwing a football (I know, that doesn’t make sense, but they are American ..).. fit, very healthy, and ripped ….

3 – One group of people had a cat with them on the beach … go figure ….

4 – One of the ‘cat’ group has the fattest arse exposed to the world, I could have keep a mars bar there…. get a bigger costume love, I believe a marquee might suffice

5 – The water is fucking cold

6 – Mrs M gets bored quickly

7 – The sand is very hot

8 – Some people are weird, they go all that way to the beach, and they want to sit within 5 yards of fat people …. walk 50 yrds and get some space

9 – I don’t like people

10 – my wife looks wonderful coming out of a cold sea in a bikini.

11 – Some Californians are stunningly good looking

12 – Some Californians are so fat they have their own Moon

13 – The sun burns

14 – The wind always blows into your face no matter what way your are cycling.

15 – My wife’s ‘lady lumps’ are far nicer than the girl in point 1

16 – Lots of people smoke ‘happy’ stuff at the beach

17 – Americans are very loud and liked to whoop a lot ..

18 – It’s always up hill on the ride home

19 – I burn

20 – Beer is nice cold after a day in the sun

This is mainly for Cortes (he’ll know why..) and EM, as a match for her fabulous recipes ………

 

Mrs M and her Amazing Gulas  (ghoulash)

 

Well… ehmmm… dear All. I hope I won’t mess this up, this is my first blog ever!!!! Moon has been asking me for ages to contribute to his blog. So finally I made myself available and under massive pressure, few gin&tonics I finally broke and decided to do it.. Do what? One of my favorite things ever. Cook.

Before you get excite it, run to fridge, cupboard or even to shop, now is the time to STOP AND READ. This recipe is not a rocket science but it requires time and your attention.  

So here you go…

Facts:

1. Take your time. Send kids to playground, your Mr. for beer and allow yourself at least 3 hours (ehmm you will still have time to have your glass you wine and read a book but make sure you checking regularly what is happening in the pot)
2. Choose  a nice piece of meat. You don’t want 100% lean meat. Gulas needs fat, natural meat fat. But not too much either.
3. Use as much vegetables (including potatoes) as much  meat you use
4. If you are brave enough to do it proper Slovakian way. How? Outside, over the open fire, with big pot, plenty of good beer and wine and bunch of great friends and family.

     

  

 

  

                   5. I ….. I don’t know what else. So lets start.

What do you need:

150 g of meat per person (0.33 lb). Don’t be worried to use a bit more.

1. Beef meat, cut to cubes , half an inch size
2. Pork meat cut to cubes, half an inch size
3. Onion – you need the same amount of chopped onion as much meat you have
4. Dice tomato, I advice to take skin it off. If you can’t be arsed, no worries
5. Chopped red and green bell pepper – don’t chop it too fine.
6. Potatoes –hard to say how much. About one medium potato per person.
7. Salt and fresh ground pepper
8. Gulas spice (dry onion 1 ts , dry garlic 1 ts, paprika sweet 2 ts, paprika chilly 2ts, chilly 1 ts, dry thyme 3 ts, dry oregano 2 ts).
9. Oil

 ts -tea spoon

Beef and pork meat with onion.

 TIP: if you dice onion and you cry like never ever before, place onion into the cold water for few minutes. The onion milk will dissolve in water and you stop crying

 

 

Heat large pot with little bit of oil, once oil is hot (not smoking hot) add chopped onion and fry slowly until onion is soft, glass looking and slightly brown. DO NOT burn it.

Add BEEF meat first (it takes longer to cook beef meat), stir fry until meat change color from red to brownish colour.

 

Once the meat is brown in color, lower the heat to minimum and cover. Cook under lid about 20 min. DO NOT ADD WATER!!!!. Meat will release juice itself. Occasionally stir.

 Once the meat is covered with juice add  pork  meat , stir, cover and cook for another  15-20 min until pork meat release the juice too. Again.. DO NOT ADD WATER.

Add gulas spicy and mix well. After few minutes add boiling water, around 1-2 inches above the meat. Cover and cook until meat is tender.

 

 

 in the meantime, drink wine and  dice vegetables and potatoes.

 

 

Chop one potato finely and rest into large pieces. Once is meat tender add tomato, pepper, finely chopped potato and add more water if needed (water should just about to cover veggie), cook for 15-20 min.

 

 Now add remaining potatoes, salt and fresh grounded pepper and  cook until all is nice tender.

 

Enjoy…

 

Note: there is 100s of varieties of gulas. Some people add beans and sausage (typical Hungarian), some don’t add any potatoes but enjoy it with bread (French stick style bread) or some substitute beef and pork meat for lamb (don’t be scared  to use meat on bones). If you use lamb meat make sure you use equal amount of onion to meat and add fresh garlic. Do not add any veggie. Eat with fresh baked bread directly from  a pot. Everybody will love it.

Well I hope you will enjoy, we did tonight. Let me know how did you get on. And don’t be afraid to ask if you are not sure.

Love,

Mrs. M

 

 

 

Genius ?.. well, yes in my opinion… and this is a sad day.

 

No matter what you may think of Michael Jackson, he and his music will remain with people forever. I don’t buy into this pop star, hero worship. Its music, some very good, most of it pretty average and poor. Some people cannot perform or sing a note, or write a sentence, but they find fame through the ‘talents’ of others and make millions. Some come through the farcical word of reality shows, and have centre stage for considerable less time than Andy Warhol suggested people might have. Some musical writers and performers are well worth the money and fame, and they stay for a lifetime. Their music remains with people, moves people, makes people smile and cry. These people do have a gift, and there are very few of them around. People that can genuinely sing, can dance, perform, hold an audience and have a talent for writing beautiful, soft, hard music. They entertain millions. They are special.

Going on from that, and this is very subjective, and only my opinion, there are a bracket of 3 maybe 4 people / bands that can fall into a class above all of those others. True superstars (a word used far too often) of the entertainment world. These people are icons, not just known in their own country, known by people who listen to music, known by certain generation; I am talking the very few who are true legends of entertainment and music.

The Beatles

Elvis

The Rolling Stones

Freddie Mercury

And finally Michael Jackson.

Michael Jackson was a hero of mine when I was growing up. I knew every word of every song from the incredible bestselling album the world had ever seen, Thriller. Only Srgt Peppers was probably better known. The man could not even move anywhere, in any country in the world without millions of fans and press documenting and watching every move.

He was strange, indeed, I think, mentally wrong. I will not go into things that can never be proved, and will always cloud the genius the man clearly is. My beliefs, for what it’s worth, is this …. He never ever had chance to grow up. From the age of 6, being in a world famous band, The Jacksons, with a life of purely performing to so many people, a father who had different plans for his 6 yr old boy that you might have. He never mentally grew into a man, and always had a Childs brain. Just an opinion, and not something we will ever know.

Take a look, and I am sure you will get chance to see the performances over and over in the next few days, look at that little boy who sang “ABC” “Blame it on the Boogie” … what a wonderful little boy, then take a look at the “man” seen recently… How on earth does this happen ???? Just bizarre and incredibly sad.

 

His music will be remembered by everyone in the world. Not just one song, not just one performance, but all of his music. In every country around the world. Never under estimate how powerful a song can be. A song will take you back to a certain place, certain emotions, and I can guarantee, one of those songs will be one of Michael Jackson’s. Only a few weeks back, English Mum mention the showing of Thriller as one of her all time favourite moments.

What can I say, you may well disagree with all of the above, but most of the world will not. Your cup of tea ?, maybe not… you might think of him as strange, unfortunate, weirdo etc .. I don’t care.

His music, his talent, his dancing, his entertaining will never be seen again, and I for one and very sad over that. I will be singing every note to Billy Jean, Thriller, Earth Song, ABC, Off The Wall over the next few weeks as the tributes pour out.

 

So sad that he will leave behind 3 children, but we should be happy that we have been entertained by a true Legend… not a 5 min wonder, who has a pretty face, a good songwriter and great publicity …

 

But a boy, then a man who wrote wonderful pop music, who entertained and wowed millions and will never be forgotten by this 12 yr old boy, who loved every second of Thriller.

We find all sorts in the back yard … Here’s Ronnie …

 

I sell …

I sell for a living. Not used cars kind os selling, but ultimately, I’m a salesman. I sell Accounts Receivable Insurance, Credit Insurance. I broker deals between the client and the Insurance Carrier. Some companies want to insure $2-3 million, my largest client insures about $1 Billion. Not really something you can sell from a street corner, but ultimately, I sell. I get introductions from banks lending on companies Account Receivables (2-3rd largest asset a company has, that is not insured, and lies in the hands of someone else) … see, told you I was a salesman … Our sister company gets me some leads, and my network of people also provide me with potential customers.

The other way I get leads and appointments is by hitting the phones. call after call, trying to get hold of CFO’s, leaving messages, re-calling etc until I get to speak to the person in charge. I invariably get told politely, ‘no thanks’ or rudely.. ‘no thanks’… I get Insurance Companies are crooks, long conversations of interest that ultimately say no.. and I get success.. appointments and policies. the point being that I make the calls, and I do my best to get the results. It’s no fun, part of the job I dislike, but all the same, it’s the job ….

 

So, just recently I have been getting sales calls in the office. that’s cool, I am polite, I know what these people are going through, and we are all just doing a job right …. ok..

So, **** off calling me with recorded, electronic messages when you cannot be arsed to pick up the phone and make the calls !!!!!!… NEVER EVER will I listen, call you back, take up your offer if you cannot be bothered to even call me. I even had a debt collector call the office with an electronic message for somebody I have never heard off ….. Surely this has to be illegal…. just bizarre selling technique…. *****

Stuck on the bloody 405, I was thinking  ..

 

I have circumnavigated the globe ….

 

London – Bahrain – Bali – Adelaide – Sydney – LA – Vancouver – London

 

Have you ??

Following on from a few days back, and the “I Love You” words … I thought I would write this.

I got a message on Facebook from one of my ex’s commenting on the last blog, and we had an exchange of messages. that’s great for me, and we have been good friends for a while, never really had any problems after we split, and she lived about 5 doors away a few years back. It made me wonder if I am unusual… (I know I am in may ways) …

I think, I have a good relationship with every significant ex I have had. that includes my ex-wife. My first ex, well, as I said above, we get on very well as friends. Another significant ex, I’ll call her P.. well, we went out for 18 months, and after a rocky break up, we still exchange the occasional email, and  we are good now. I am great friends with Mrs M’s ex husband…

Another significant ex emailed me just the other day, how she is doing with her 4 kids, husband etc… makes me feel good to hear from good friends ..

My first wife, although we have lost touch, have remained good friends, she has met and likes Mrs M, and I know that we both hold each other very highly in our hearts. I hope she is doing ok, and I would be so happy to meet any new fella she has… crazy people that can’t stand the new man in an ex’s life ..

I understand (and trust me I do, but that is not for a blog) the damage and hurt two people can cause each other, but somehow, I have managed to stay good friends with pretty much all of them. Maybe because I am very happy, so it’s easier… if I was in a n unhappy place, maybe I might be a bit more resentful of ex’s … but it hasn’t worked that way. I obviously ‘loved’ them all in some way, so, to me, they still are special people to me …

I have been thinking about this blog for quite a while, and now I seem to have the time to write it.

 

those wonderful words “I Love You”, always good to hear from someone. So, how often do you say it, and how often do you REALLY mean it ?

I am a big “I Love You’ person, and Mrs M and I probably tell each other a few times a day. It helps we are both the same with our emotions, and very open. I have also found myself over the last few years telling other people who I love exactly that. Since Dad died, I made sure I would start to tell my Ma that I loved her, and being away over here, when I speak to DBM, Timbers and Sis R, again, I make sure they know at the end of a phone call that I love them. Somehow, the death of Dad made me realise that I never told him that. I am sure he knew it, and at 19, I was too interested in playing sports and kissing girls to say it. Wish I had now.

 

I also wonder how many people say it, but don’t really mean it. “Love You” is so easy to say, but when do you mean it, of course there are different types of “Love You”… to you kids, to the smelly dog, to the TV when Robbie Keane scores against Chelsea etc ..

 

so, when and how do you use those words ?

So, to continue our ‘week-end’ away, we left behind the wonder of The Grand Canyon to pastures new for me and Mrs M. this happened to be the 24th of May, and my birthday, and can you imagine a day like this .. see 4, yes FOUR of the worlds greatest places on earth in one day .. The Grand Canyon, Bryce Canyon, Zion and finally Las Vegas… all in one day .. just amazing.

It was  a very long day as you can imagine. We left the Canyon at 5 am, stopping for coffee in a small town along the way. I mention this for one reason, we all had our morning coffee and the guys had a muffin, but I had my first birthday treat… Chocolate !!!, I don’t give a damn it was only 6 am, I had coffee and my first chocolate since 2008 .. I had kept my new years resolution !!…

Ok, so we had a very pleasant drive upto Bryce. The road climbing high as we followed the River meandering north. The pastures were beautifully green, and I was educating Mrs M about ox-bow lakes and meandering rivers !. We entered the park about 10 pm, and once again, in awe of the wonders of the USA. Bryce is different to The Canyon. The pillars of stone left by water erosion are just beautiful, and impressivebeyond my words. Also, they seem so more real than the vastness of The Canyon. I guess it’s because you are closer to them, and you have some depth perception and can relate to the size of the landscape. The colours were stunning, and we went from look-out to look-out marvelling at the wonders, just a beautiful Park, and a must for any visitor to this part of the world.

We sadly had to leave the park after about 4 hrs, and made the long journey back to Vegas. Fortunately, we had one more visit to make, and that was to Zion. I had no idea what to expect from Zion, having seen no pictures, or really talked to anyone who might have visited there. Well, I have never seen a landscape like it. Try to imagine soft clay, and someone has just scraped a large hand trowel through the clay, creating large canyons, and leaving marks like a large paintbrush with very thick paint. Kind of swirls on the rock faces. The landscape is different from the other parks, as the mountains are solid rock. So impressive, dominating and so powerful. We looked on in awe at this wonderful rocky scene. Apparently, the mountains (a few zillion years ago) used to be huge sand dunes. As a sea came inland and washed over the sand, the minerals in the water mixed with the sand creating a form on concrete, forming these incredible rock formations, and markings that define Zion … WOW, just wow ….

All three of these parks have made me feel very fortunate to be able to see them. I hate to say lucky, because we made our luck to go and see these places, early morning starts, long drives, and some cost, but yes, we are making the best of our chances and living here helps. The Parks are magnificent, truely awesome, impressive, huge, imposing and genuinely breath taking. I have been fortunate to see some amazing places in the world, and these parks are equal to all of those places. If you ever get the chance, you must come and see the amazing American National Parks, they truly move you, and make you stand in awe….

We still had a three hour drive to make Vegas that night, so sadly we had to leave the parks behind and go to the most amazing contrast. Man made, un-adulterated, entertaining man created, neon, fun ! Vegas is all I should hate, but I love it… and in the words of the wonderful Leaping Lemmings machine … Yep Yep Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaah……

 

We finished the night on the balcony of the Bellagio, drink champagne, smoking a cigar and watching the fountains, just the end to a perfect birthday…. Thank you Mrs M xxxxxxx

 

Sorry for the amount of pictures, but I cannot chose the best ones … go to my Facebook page if you want to see more, Sorry Baino if I have exhausted your bandwidth …

Yeah … we have two kittens, Salt n pepper in custody !

We caught them both last night, and they have gone off to find a new home, we are very relieved. We did have a big Raccoon about the last couple of nights, and they will attack and eat cats, esp cute kittens, so we are relieved they are safe, and will soon be on somebody’s sofa doing what cats do best …

So, we were having no luck at The Canyon.. we spent more time in the moring watching clouds, some tiny shafts of sunlight, and no bloody canyon. So what else can you do ??, go for some lunch and ask the big fella upstairs, or indeed, the warm bloke lower down.. to help you out …

 

Within 30 mins, look what appeared ..

 

I have no words strong enough to describe this scene, and when we had a rare Californian Condor soar above we, well, maybe we should get some lottery numbers on. The sheer expanse of horizon that keeps changing colour astounds me. Make me feel so very small. You have to keep looking away so your eyes can re-focus, and re-adjust to the maginutde and power of The Canyon… Enjoy these, because the following day amazed me even more …

What am I doing blogging live from the Canyon, when I should be sitting in wonderment of the vastness and creation of the damn thing … well, I would if I could see the chuffing thing. Certain things you can’t control, and the weather is one of those. Having arrived safely from the 8 hr drive, we have been struck with some bad luck, and mist, low cloud and rain has hampered our attempts to see the Canyon.

We arrived after numerous wee stops (Seems as if you are not alone EM with a peanut sized bladder) only for the rain to be coming down, the the Canyon hidden behind a curtain of fog. Such a shame, we managed to get some glimpses yesterday as the weather teased us, and made sure G&T did actually believe us that we had driven to see something, and not just around in circles !

After a shocking nights sleep, they only booked us one room, ’somebody’ snores, and some people do have a peanut sized bladder and insist on using the loo all night … plus the fact the noisiest heating turns on at 3 am ,,, grr, I know I am a light sleeper, but still… I just need some sleep people ! After that night, we were all awake at 4am again, so we though we would try to see one of the wonderful scenes the canyon can offer, sunrise… the noises as the birds and the canyon has as it wakes, and the silence of having nobody there …. arsebiscuits … foiled again by the weather ….

  

 

What can you do ??, just smile, and appreciate the small glances the canyon gives you ….. such a shame, as we know how beautiful it is out there, and G&T just have to believe us. We returned after 4 hrs of coffee drinking, pacing, glancing at the sky … I have learnt some new Slovak phrases for “It’s getting brighter”, “it’s ok”, “we are loving this anyway”, “it’s getting pretty dark over Will’s Mums” …. so we returned to the lodge, G&T and Mrs M recharging the batteries with some sleep, leaving me to be sat here updating from our trip….

 

 

We still have all afternoon for the weather to help us out, if not, well, we will head onto Bryce and Zion, and we know the weather will be good in Vegas ….

The feet are itching, and we have a great excuse to be back on the road exploring this wonderful country…

As I mentioned a few posts back, we have visitors over from Slovakia, and they have entrusted myself and Mrs M to organise some travel for them. It also happens to be a long week-end here, and I am due a couple of days off, so we have taken Friday and Tuesday off to give us a 5 day break… perfect.

Now the trip describe below is an amazing trip to be had over a long week-end. We realise that most people (G&T our guests prove this) only get this chance once in a lifetime, and it truly is a wonderful trip. We are so lucky to be able to do this over a long week-end ! That said, it is not an easy trip, and does take some dedication to some very early mornings, and some long distances driving. We are very happy to do that, so we have this trip organised for G&T ..

Friday we will be up at 3am, leaving the house here in Newport Beach at 4am to head to Vegas. We will have coffee in, hand we should be arriving there for a 8 am breakfast. Crazy you may think, but it’s the long week-end here, and the freeways are awful. Also, we get to see the sunrise as we head into the desert. If you have never seen that, then you should. Also, we have to get a fair distance, and make use of the day, so an early start it is. So via a Starbucks, we will have some feed in Vegas, then continue on our way to the wonderful North Rim, Grand Canyon. It’s a stunning scene, and probably the most beautiful, natural wonder of the world (open to debate I know …) We should arrive there around 2-3 pm, and we can have the afternoon just marvelling at the view. We will settle at the only lodge for sunset, and watch the changing colours of the Canyon.

Saturday morning will be an early rise again, this time to see the sunrise over the Canyon, again, the changing colour have to be seen. The advantage of the North Rim over the South (I haven’t been to the South Rim, but I have been told) is that the North is hard to get to, and there is only one Lodge to see and visit, so you do not get that many people about. You can wonder at the silence, and the tranquility that is the Canyon. We have all day here to look around, relax and enjoy.

Sunday morning will be yet another early rise. We will leave the North Rim and drive the 3 hrs to Bryce Canyon, then onto Zion. I have never  seen these two, and by all accounts are equally stunning as the Canyon, but in a different way. Sadly, we only have the day there, and Sunday night will will drive back to Vegas. It also happens to be my 24thBirthday on Sunday (I share this with Caesar, Queen Victoria and Bob Dylan) So, finally, after keep my New Years Resolution, I can have some Chocolate !!!!! We will also have a beer at The Belaggio, over looking the fountains… Not bad eh ?!?!?!

Monday will a day of showing G&T the amazing world of Vegas, including all the casinos we can… some walking to be done, and will be a tough day, but if you don’t have the energy for Vegas, go home !….

Tuesday is a day of driving home, but not until we have visited the amazing Hoover Dam, and this time we will do the tour down inside the Dam.

 

So, we are very lucky to be able to have this kind of trip, but over 1200 miles to drive, not a breeze, but worth every mile !!!

 

ps … Kittens 0, fucking possums 3 !!!, this was a large bastard I can tell you !!!!

That was the result of our first night of trying to trap Salt n pepper …. so, anyone want a possum ????

So, we have some guests arriving, again, on Tuesday, they are very special friends of Mrs M. So they are flying from Slovakia, via Vienna, and onto London Heathrow, LHR to LAX. Pretty simple really, and both G&T fly andtravel a fair amount around Europe, and certainly close to home … but …

and this is the part that for some of us is hard to imagine …. they speak no English. SHOCK HORROR to us that always expect the world to be speaking English, and to be fair to us, most of the world does ! I have travelled a fair amount, andwhen landing in Kathmandu, Cuzco, Thailand etc.. airport signs are in the local language, but also normally in English. There are not that many places you go to where you do not find a waiter, and hotel, and steward that will speak English, and will direct you to the right place. It does happen of course, but most of the time, we expect people to speak some English. The last time it happened to me where nobody spoke any English was a  restaurant in Mexico City, we had great fun, and it was so refreshing, we loved it.

However, it must be quite stressful, and nerve wracking to be flying into LHR Terminal 5 (for those who have not been there, it’s pretty impressive) to get a connection, then spend 10 hrs with noboby (I imagine no-one will speak Slovak) trying to get food, ask any questions, and simply getting the drinks you want …. not easy. This is the part I would least like, trying to get through US Customs and immigration. they are a fierce lot at LAX, zero humour, and they scrutinise every document, and ask questions of everyone. So, if you do not speak English… well, you can imagine that will be a nervous time. You and I can simply ask, be polite, but if someone is talking to you, sternly, and you have no idea what they are saying … it must be tough.

While they are here, Mrs M will be around, but they will go off on their own. Just trying to book into a hotel with zero English will be tough. If you didn’t know, you would fill up with petrol as normal, and then pay, or pay at the pump. But, here in the USA, if you don’t have a US Credit Card, complete with either your Zip Code, or PIN, you have to Pre-pay (the same in Canada I believe). Now imagine you can’t read these instructions, and you can’t ask … how would you know ????

we take it for granted that people will help us …… I feel the same when I go to Slovakia. In Bratislava, they do speak English enough to help you out, but as soon as I travel to Mrs M’s home, no-body does really, and it can be quite a scary time ..

so, G&T, I hope you get past LHR,a nd then the scrutiny of  immigration .. then I can tell you all about our plans for the long “Moon” birthday week-end …. !

We seem to have lost Salt n Pepper …….

Mum is still around, eating, but we haven’t seen the kittens for 1.5 days now. Maybe the lawn men scared them yesterday, and they are just not coming out……

 

I would have thought they were too old to be carried anywhere by Mum, and I think they are too young to be able to scale the wall or fence ……

UPDATE Sun, 5pm..

 

Well, no sign of them again today, Mum has been around, under the shed, and has eaten three times today, but no sign of the kittens, I think we have resigned ourselves that they are not here anymore. Sad to say, but I think something must have got to them, either an illness or something else. So sad, and we obviously  decided to get them trapped to late. Nature is a cruel thing if you ask me. We don’t know for sure they have gone, but whatelse can we think….

 

Monday 2.20pm …..

got home for some lunch, thought for one last time I may as well feed Mum… and Salt n Pepper appear to eat !!! yeah !!!, they have just been hiding from us !!!!!!

So, here you go…. Ma, Salt and Pepper …

 

A blog about nothing, sounds a little like Seinfield doesn’t it !

 

Well, we had a week-end of doing absolutely chuff all !…. it went along the lines of :

Got up early to watch football, and exchange meaningless texts with Cortes …. at the end, I sent him one say “enjoy youself, go hit those balls Tiger”, having re-read it, it did sound kinda gay. Cortes blamed it on where I lived ! anyhoo ..

Mrs M surfaced at about 11, which suits us perfectly, I get to watch football, she sleeps.. no hassles of “you watch to much football”

Coffee and more channel switching

Mrs M phones parents and her friends who are coming to visit us in 10 days times. They do not speak any English, and US customs can be a bit daunting. So Mrs M talked them through what they might expect.

 I just wander around, and practice chipping golf balls in the garden. Hardest part of the game you know !

We then go for a drive, and investigate buying a new lens for our up and coming trip to the North Rim, Bryce, Zion and Vegas. Also, thinking of buying a second camera body. This my seem excessive, however, two reasons for this. Currently our camera is at the menders, and we CANNOT go away without a camera. So, we thought about renting one, but by the time you have paid for 5 days rental, hell, you are halfway there to buying it outright ! Also, when you have to keep swapping lens, you really could do with a second body !

Then we went to Strawberry Farms, Mrs M to read her book and a glass or two of wine, I went and got very frustrated trying to hit the sodding balls  straight ! harder than you think I can tell you. Just because messers Poulter, Stenson, Tiger and Sergio do it with ease, I manages to create all sorts shots !

Short sleep on the sofa, short trip to go buy ingredients for Mrs M wonderful poppy seed cake, and some food for Mum, Salt and Pepper !… they are providing us with some wonderful entertainment !

Saturday night was a chilled out affair, and then to bed (lots of action there, but that’s not for open forum !)

Sunday followed a similar theme, no golf this time, but more time watching the kittens playing. They are soooo cute, but very nervous, you have to be so queit, but watching them play really is wonderful !

After a lazy day, watching the golf, and the Lakers lose, we got off our butts and went for a great walk on the beach. We always start at the doggie beach, and watch and fuss as many hounds as we can. Yesterdays “dog of the day” was a wonderful bull dog !… great entertainment, then a long walk, me on “fake boob watch” Mrs M on “shaggable surfer” watch !!!

Sunday night we settled down, and watched, for me, one of the great modern acting performances… Heath Ledger as The Joker .. brilliant stuff !

We have two kittens … well, we kinda have them, and no EM they are not stolen.

In our back garden we have a large shed that is used by our landlord. Just recently we have noticed a cat in our garden, often taking advantage of no Max next door, and we assumed she was just using the shelter and warmth of next doors open porch. Yesterday, as we were busy doing nothing, Mrs M yells out … “kittens” !!!! She is not just a cat, but she is a mother ! I know that they normally have litters of 4-8 kittens, so I can only assume these two are the only survivors for a street cat?? I think they are about 5 weeks old ish, and they slowly glimpsed out, and starred around for a few mins, before ducking back under the shed.

 

Us being the softies we are, we put some milk out, and went and bought some food for the Little ones.  Scared as they were, they soon managed to get out and devour the food on offer ! I am sure we shouldn’t feed them, but I don’t care. Mum could always do with some help, and who am I not to help here out. Late in the evening, Salt and Pepper (of course we named them ! even came out to play for a while, and who can resist two kittens playing in the garden. Who knows what will become of them….. but at least they went to bed last night with full tummys !!!

So, after the first day of ‘adventure’ and a very sleepless first night, I crawled out of the tent to discover that the wind had finally died off, and the sun was shinning. the desert of course of cool in the morning, so I brewed up some coffee, found a quiet spot and watch the sun rising. Perfect. This is exactly as I had imagined the week-end going. Some perfect peace and solitude. The birds had started to sing, just a few of them, no real tune, just chirps and hoots, and the soft wind blowing. Nothing else. no cars, no music, no phones. It so reminded me of my travels across Oz, the vast emptiness of a true wilderness.

Camping can bring you these moments. We could have easily stayed in a motel outside of the park for $50 a night, but that is not why we love the great outdoors. To be sat, on your own, with nothing to do buy lose yourself in the moment and the quietness of nature, just perfect. Mrs M arose soon after, and again, I lit the stove, cooked up some warming porridge, and we had breakfast planning the day. We have been to Joshua a few times before, but as a lazy tourist, so this time we donned our walking boots, and made plans for some treks. the first one we took on was a shortish trek, but finally took us away from any car parks and RV’s. We hiked along a deserted trail, slightly upwards into the desert. The desert this time of year is quite remarkable. Full of life, lizards, chipmunks, cacti blooming with flowers. Beautiful in it’s contrast with other natural forests and parks. Being a man, I needed to use the ‘restroom’ so I nipped of the path…as I did I finally heard something I always wanted to, but always dreaded hearing … the rattle…..HOLY MOTHER OF GOD !!, I jump a chuffing mile.. Mrs M did 20 yards in the opposite direction quicker than Linford Christie ! I did regain some composure, and managed a couple of pictures, but once he had coiled and was looking directly at me … time to move on. Wow, finally I had seen a true rattlesnake, in all it glory, in it’s natural habitat. The adrenaline was rushing through, and it set our conversation for our walk on nature, animals in their natural environment, and how and why people do get bitten, attacked, as they do not respect nature. We loved the walk, and returned back to camp in a wonderful mood.

The colours of the rocks, sand and desert flowers is stunning. The dominating boulders and rocks just amaze me, the way some of the rocks seemed to have been placed and balanced on each other is remarkable. They are so imposing, so enormous… just wonderful to walk between them, and marvel at the sheer enormity of this landscapes.

The evening passed un-eventfully, me cooking up a storm again, and giving Mrs M time to play with the camera. Sat by the fire, smoking a cigar, and Mrs M drinking a glass of red. The next morning, after a decent night sleep followed the same ideas. this time we found another trail, ending up at an old gold mine. Amazing how they found such riches in the middle of nowhere. We find that trekking gives us so much time to talk, discuss our childhoods of growing up with nature, our travels and of course our future plans. also, we saw another amazing site. Two large rattlers mating. What a spectacle. Observed from a safe distance, Mrs M having a small panic when taking a couple of shots and thinking they were as close as the zoom suggested. It was remarkable to watch these two creatures going through the mating courtship, and us being able to watch and listen to the rattles and the ‘fight’. Breathtaking.

Joshua Tree is a stunning National Park, looked after wonderfully well by the Rangers, and respected by the travellers. One of my favourite places on the wonderful planet.

Well, Mrs M and I decided that we had spent too many weekends at home, and we needed a week-end away from life.  So, we have newly aquired camping gear, all virginal, and it all needed to be tested before we hit Yosemite in June, and Joshua Tree seemed the perfect location to ‘test-drive’ the gear. Joshua Tree is about 2 hours from home, and we knew that if we had forgotten anything then we had a town within 30 mins drive of the park …. “if we forgot something ????” … us …. no way !

We left on our way, coffee in hand for the simple drive out to the desert. All was going marvellously well, both excited by the challenge of camping, and reminiscing our stories from camping and trekking in Slovakia, Nepal, Morocco and Peru…. when we quite literally ‘hit’ a problem…. I was driving sensibly in the middle lane of a 5 lane highway, slowing ready to turn off to the I60 to Palm Springs when we had a small obstacle in the middle of the road … a chuffing foam mattress !!!!! lying smack in the middle of the highway. The car in front managed to avoid it, but I knew that I couldn’t. It’s surprising how quickly the brain, well, how quickly my brain, works. I held onto my coffee, made the decision that the mattress was indeed foam and soft, checked mirrors and decided that to swerve and avoid the foam would have been dangerous, told Mrs M that I was going to hit it and not to panic. Amazing what flashes through the mind ! So, WAMMO …I hit it, and like I thought, we rode over the top of it… no worries…. So I thought. Well, the foam manged to get caught under the car, so I slowed, indicated and pulled over, discovering I still held my coffee. I did this all ONE HANDED !. classy eh !. So, we jump out and discover quite how much of a pain in the arse a foam matress can be. Luckily we were in the Jeep. The  clearance is quite high, and the mattress had indeed gone under. If we had been in the Nissan, well, I believe a load of damage would have been done. So, the mattress had become lodged under the car, and wedged around the wheel and axle. It’s amazing how a soft foam mattress can become rock solid when compressed under a car ! So… what do you do ?

Well, luckily we had our camping gear, complete with some knives, and we started to just hack at the foam until we could rip parts of it out. This was slow, the sun was very hot, and on the hard shoulder of the freeway, no much fun ! Eventually, I took off the wheel, and we finally, after 1.5 hrs, we freed the foam. I would like to point out here, two other guys stopped to help us, with one of the taking away all the foam to stop it getting everywhere. Thanks guys, we really appreciate someone stopping to help strangers !

So, hot, sweaty, dirty and very thirsty (didn’t get to drink my coffee did I !!!!) we headed on to Joshua Tree. Here we relaxed, joked about how much worse this could have been, and thankful for our helpers, and the fact we were in the Jeep. We found a wonderful spot to camp. The whole of the park has designated camp grounds, and this one our spot was remote, hidden within the rocks, and was perfect for what I imagined this trip to be. Well…….

 

The wind blew and blew…. not good…. We had also started to realise some of the things we had forgotten. Nothing major, but … no chairs… So, we could light the fire, but we could not sit and enjoy it. Ok, no drama, we can go out of the park and get a couple from the local shops. Damn… the pump for the airbed (luxury huh!) had not charged!, damn it. So, I started to blow… wooo hoooo that made me really dizzy ! We got lucky, the shop had some chairs, and remarkably, for a store in the desert, they had a pump for kiddies pool toys !. So, back to the site, airbed pumped up, and we could start cooking. The wind blew and blew….. The stove was excellent, and I soon had dinner on the go. I sat down for 2 mins into the new chair, and the chuffing thing ripped beneath me !, I am not a huge fella, and the average American likes the occasional pie !… crap ! Back to the stove, the fire burning behind me, and Mrs M yelled… Moooooooon ……… The chair !?!?!??!

Awwww, crap again, the wind had managed to blow the chair onto the fire, and melted the seat … !

Ah well, what can you do ? dinner was served, lovely it was too !, and I decided to wash up, did it all, grabbed the grill of the portable stove. HOLY MUTHER F***ER…. bastard things was still chuffing hot…. So, now I have two wonderful burns across my thumb and finger … what a dick !

 

Right, thats it, going to bed !… and the wind blew and blew …. We are not experienced campers, so this was quite new to us. We got into the tent, snuggled down to sleep, and the wind blew and REALLY blew…. we just knew the tent was going to end up in Phoenix …. I can honestly say we got hardly any sleep at all, all night that wind just kept us awake …. we tossed and turned, and the noise of the wind, flapping at the tent kept us wide awake. I think we might had drifted off for about an hour as the wind finally dropped and the sun broke.

Camping = Fun ….. ???? Well, to be honest … oh yes, we loved it…. Part II to follow…

Facebook is a wonderful thing,and I keep in touch with many old friends, that due to my location, I guess I would have lost touch with them by now ..

 

Well, this is a blog a mate of mine from yesteryear has started, and it kinda coincides with my new found love of the garden…. go have a look !

 

http://thewebbgarden.blogspot.com/

I think you might have realised that I do not like the press, I read zero newspapers, and I rarely watch the news from here, sometimes the BBC, but I don’t trust the press, and I think some of them are the scum of the earth.

So, we now have the 24hr tv press creating yet another scare tactic to make people believe what the say and do as a job is important. BREAKING NEWS, another case of Piggy flu has been discovered, schools are being closed, people in airports wearing face masks, and epidemic is on it’s way sweeping the nation … what a load for bollocks !

I feel for the 100 people of so that have died in Mexico, but do I feel for the 20 or so cases that have been discovered in the USA, do I bollocks. 20 or so cases, no-one has died, and some of these people are recovering without any treatment. They announced a ‘;crazy’ 5 people have the symptoms in California…. boo hoo !

Now, this is not the fault of the people, and I am sure the flu they have is not a nice thing. I am lucky, I very rarely get a cold, and in my life I have never had flu (even though some of my older sickness reports might suggest otherwise). But for the press to be reporting this 24 hrs a day, just scaring people into believing this crock of shit. I have even heard Mrs M’s boss from London making noises that he doesn’t want to travel to the USA because of the scare……Pussy !

A nice little fact for you… out of a population of roughly 130 million, 30,000, yes 30,000 people DIE of normal flu every year here in the USA, so having 20 people sick out of 130mil … is that worth the 24hr news, and the scare tatics they bring so people watch their station.

 

It’s a joke, and I hate the gutter press nearly as much as I hate Billy Mays !!!!!!!! (you might need to google that ****)

Well, I have been pretty quiet on the Jeff issue, and I have deliberately chosen not to blog about it, for a few reasons, one of them being that I found myself dwelling too much on the sadness of it all, and it was really getting to me. So, I tried to be more positive about other things, and tried to leave those thoughts private with myself and Mrs M.

However, Jeff decided that even though in Protective Custody, meaning he does not spend any time in the general population of the jail, he felt in danger when he was waiting for visitors, and after, before they took back to his cell. This has changed now, and I guess he feels a little more secure, and confident in his new environment. So, we put our own feelings to one side, and decided that if Jeff wanted visitors, we would go. Being honest, and I think I can with you mt bloggers, I didn’t want to go. Last time we saw Jeff it was an incredible emotional thing, and I am an emotional person, and tears were shed, and a feeling of helplessness etc…. However, we made the choice that it is not our feelings that count here, it is for our friend, and I think he needs visitors to keep his spirits up, and it can only help him keep in touch with a normal life. Visiting hours for the Protective Custody prisoners is at 8am only, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Only 2 people allowed at any one time. I was nervous of going, and not really knowing what to expect. Well, it was far simpler than I imagined, and the prison staff were helpful, polite and directed with empathy to where we needed to go.

I am sure you have seen on the TV the glass booths, with only glass view of your friend, and a telephone to talk to each other, well, thats exactly how it is. Not very personal, but what can you do?  So, we passed security, and were called into the room and Jeff came to talk to us. I honestly thought I would be in some tears, but I made myself not to go down that road, how in the world would it help Jeff to see us upset, that could only damage the hard work he has put in himself to be positive. It was remarkable easy to be up beat, I didn’t even think of the emotion, it was just good to be able to talk with him.

 

We didn’t discuss the case, we just talked about life, the beach, the boat and our lives. We did talk about a few things in prison life, and we were happily surprised how well he seems to be coping, and how he is very reflective of life. There was no denial, no ‘it’s not fair’ talk, just the ways in which he can cope, and the ideas he has for his time inside. Re-education, courses to prepare for his release, and looking into the future. He has his down times, but his free spirit is alive and kicking. We are thankful for that. We left the jail after our 30 mins feeling positive about our visit, and promising that we well 100% be going again as often as we can. He looks well, his has his smile, and he is passing his time safely. Reading the classics, looking at his faith, and looking at himself very closely. So, I believe he is being positive in a tough situation, that is the character that is Jeff.

As far as the trial goes, and news going forward, we still do not too much. Reports are being written, Jeff has changed his attourney, and we will wait to see how all this pans out. But, for today, we are happy to have seen our friend, to have been able to talk, find out  what he wants us to do, and how we can help him. A letter, a visit, some books, and our support are the important things to our friend.

Happy St George’s day to you all.

I am very proud to be English, and I feel it’s a huge shame that our nations flag, the St George’s Cross has been linked for far to long with extremist National Front idiots. We people are not allowed to celebrate being English because it offends too many others. As you know, I live in America, while I live here, I do all the things Americans should do, that is the right thing to do. I am in their country, if I don’t like it, then I shall go home.

 

We should be proud, we should shout from the roof tops that we are English, the Land of Hope and Glory. One of the most accommodating countries in the world, One of the most beautiful countries in the world, one of the most historical countries in the world. The English are so quick to complain about what we have, so quick to think of other countries as being more advanced, greater countries than ours. Well, I have travelled, I have seen a fair amount of other places, places I love, places I hated…. but England will always be top of the list of countries.

 

So, celebrate all the wonderful things that are Englaih, and the wonderful country we have. No moaning about things, look at what we have as a country, and you will realise how special it is to be ENGLISH. Not British, European, I am English.

It’s been a week-end of very hot sun, and hard graft in the Moon household. As the temps touched 102 Deg F (admittedly, I was on the golf course Sunday) we decided that we had to tidy up the ‘yard’ and become a little more inventive. 

So, Mrs m loves a nice rose, and my Grandfather was fantastic at growing them, we planted some roses. I dug out two new flower beds, we bought flowers galore, and even a Bird Bath … very nice ! 

We have also been asked by Jeff’s sister, and by Jeff to go around his back yard and save any plants we can, and to move them over to our place. We did this, and I have to say, gave me a very heavy heart, but after a day of working the land, I felt that maybe it was a nice thing to have Jeff’s Cacti settled into out new ‘desert’ patch. 

Sadly, we don’t have any photos from when we first moved in, the yard really was a dust bowl, and we have re-seeded the grass, dug our veggie patch, and created the desert patach to break up the rock solid, stone ground. The photos come from Sunday after all the hard work. although we do not own the house, we rent, we feel that we are here, and we want to be able to enjoy the wonderful weather, and to sit and enjoy the flowers. never EVER did I think I would be happy pottering around the yard, but I love it. I must have some of my Grandfather’s talents… we will see, maybe the talent comes from Mrs M and the muscles form me ??? 

We also have more and more visitors, some more welcome than others. I seemed to manage to disturb quite a few Black Widows !, but some were more welcome. We have humming birds around the place now, and even a little visitor pictured below. (A prize for whoever can tell me what he is, NOT YOU DBM !)… we found him struggling to find his Mum, and I know we have coyotes around, so I couldn’t leave him. Managed to get him onto my garden rake, and help him back on top of the fence where he could wander along, and hop back into his tree …..

 

A week-end of hard work, but worth every second !!

We have had a visitor, a fella I have known since 1997 when I slept on his sofa for about 6 months. I met Skully when I was playing cricket in Adelaide, and we have been firm friends ever since. Skully visited Emgland soon after my trip to Oz, staying at Ma’s for nearly 18 months, and then returning for my first wedding back in 2001. I last saw him in 2003  in Adelaide, in an Irish pub, watching England v Wales…. all quite bizarre.

 

So, 6 years later, plans in place, Skully arrives in America, 4 days with us, before heading out to see some of California. Lots of beers later, we managed to see 3 out of the 4 American Sports, and we had a blast. Two good friends, becoming experts in 3 different sports overnight… Mrs M loving the Ice Hockey esp, with her Slovak countryman, Handzus, scoring the first goal.

 

So, after some dark days, we celebrated seeing an great old friend, that I know I will be pals with for life. Time to rest the Liver now…….

Also, some final, smiles for us, and a great friend… The lady in his accident is going to be ok… a huge relief for us all….

I can always rely on Mrs M, and my great friend Skully, visiting from Adelaide to raise spirits …. also, The Lakers winning !!

I am normally a very positive person, and I believe everything happens for a reason …

But right now life is on a downer !

 

you obviously all know about our friend Jeff, no need to say anymore on that for now, his sister Penny has had treatment for Breast cancer

 

Another great friend of mine was very unforunate to be reversing slowly, and an old lady managed to get under the truck… again, a complete accident, with no blame attached, but this has really shaken him.

 

Another good friends young dog tragically died whilst playing with a ball, got stuck in her throat, and could not be saved

 

and we get hit with a $5000 tax bill … what a joke, we already pay more tax than I ever have before !… and get nothing for it……

 

so, we are not happy campers right now

So… Friday came and went ….

 

We actually do not much more than before the initial arraignment. The charges have been delayed for Jeff until the 5^th May.

 

That aside, it was awful, truly horrible for all concerned. To see your friend behind a cage, handcuffed, unable to talk to us, or do anything except stare through the cage, trying to make us see he was ok, holding up letters to try to tell us ‘thank you’ was soul destroying. We finally met the other members of the family, his sister , and his two brothers. So see the family trying to hold it together for when Jeff looked over to us, but seeing how the tears were flowing at other times really hurt me.

Jeff did manage through his attorney to pass out a handwritten note to say the simple things of thanks, sorrow, and embarrassment. To thank us for his support, and for us all to help and support his sister as much as we could.

 

I cried and cried, with Mrs M there as well, it was a hugely emotional time, full of sadness, and thoughts rushing around about how Jeff and the family would cope. We are not part of all this, we can only try to support, keep writing to Jeff, hopeful visit him when he is ready.

 

Bail was discussed, but the fee was set at $500,000, of which the court keeps 10% even if you return to court, this is not money that will be thrown away. We are pretty certain that, with the things Jeff is guilty of, DUI (his 3^rd DUI, one in 1985, and 2003), Leaving the Scene, Speeding, and a death involved he is looking at a sentence of around 10 years ……..

 

Can’t tell you how sad that makes me.