I think I left you just before Christmas with the tantalising thought of our Sainsbury oven-ready spread. Well I can report that the food was pretty good. The portion of potatoes was a "Victoria Beckham" size, so I opted to supplement it with some of my own. I used Jamie's recipe, meaning I returned to parboiling for the first time in a while. They were very splendid, and if you're reading this Jamie, thank you.
The meat was tasty, and the veg and all the trimmings were good too.
I also supplemented the meal with some roast carrots and "Aunt Bessies"
In the evening we all settled down together to watch "Inside Out" and then cheered ourselves up with the Amy Winehouse documentary.
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Boxing Day was spent at work (for Pheebs) and the afternoon at me mum's for a family buffet get together for the rest of us.
In the evening, Andy, Pheebs and I went to see the new Star Wars film. Which we all enjoyed. It was interesting to see what Pheebs thought as she'd never seen a Star Wars film before. It didn't seem to inhibit her enjoyment although she will have missed out on a few in-jokes.
She and I have subsequently watched Episode IV together which she found less exciting than VII.
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Monday saw a meeting of the clans, as members of the Murray family descended on Coventry (from Wilmslow, Stockholm, Brussels, Bedford and London) for a visit to Bridie and a meal. The whole thing went off very well. The food was fine, Bridie was in good form and the trip up and down the M6 was uneventful.
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Yesterday (Tuesday) found the weather to be clear and fine, so we went for long walk around Alderley Edge with Running Dave and Sally (hound). 5.7miles. Cracker.
Last night I went to the Belle Vue Stadium to see the greyhound racing. I can report that I will not make my fortune as a gambler. 9 races and not a single winner. Not much has changed at Belle Vue since my last visit other than the introduction of electronic signs for the trackside bookmakers, and a slightly more officious set of security.
Having been searched on the way in, I showed them my bag with my camera in it and they had no problems as long as I didn't use flash next to the track. I told them it wasn't a problem as I didn't have a flash.
We went in, I sussed out where I might get a few pictures, and then I set about taking some. I took some of the kennel area, of the bookies, of the scoreboard. Then we went back to the kennel area hoping to see the dogs being assembled before going out on parade before the race.
As we were standing there, this security guy came up to me (and I hadn't noticed, but three more behind me to form a semi circle) and they said I wasn't to take pictures of the dogs. This isn't something that was explained as I went in, and they certainly didn't stop other people taking pictures of the dogs. But not wanting to cause trouble I agreed and we wandered off.
I carried on having a (losing) bet on each race and taking the (few) opportunities to capture pictures of the event. After having lost our money mostly to the trackside bookies, we decided to go in and throw some to the Tote. As we entered the grandstand, we were, once again, stopped by a security man and told that "some people" "had concerns" and that I was to stop taking pictures of anything other than people in my party, e.g. Martin.
At this point it had become clear that there weren't the plethora of photo opportunities I'd been expecting, so while a little miffed at the small minded approach I wasn't minded to argue the toss, and put my camera away. If I was out to take pictures for some underhand or devious purpose, then I'd have used a less conspicuous camera and MO.
Anyway, here are a few images from last night:
Belle Vue Stadium
C&T Bookmakers, Belle Vue.
Photo Finish
Replay
Behind the Glass
Scoreboard.
By the Traps
Trackside Bookmakers
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