Hob Nobbing & Netsuke

This weekend Ian and I went to Chester to meet up with one of his clients for a meal, it's a ritual we've done for a couple of years, Ian spends all night talking shop and I bitch with his clients wife about what all the other women are wearing..It's usually quite good fun. We spent most of the day on Saturday shopping in Chester, a place I'd never been to before. What a suprise it's really quite nice.

On the Sunday morning as we were leaving the hotel I noticed a sign for an antiques fair which was being held in one of the hotel's function rooms. I mentioned it to Ian who naturally wanted to have a walk round.

While we were browsing the stalls, I spotted a piece of netsuke, which was a small sculpture of a cicada sat on a piece of bamboo, netsuke are small carved ornaments from Japan and were traditionally worn on a cord hanging from the belt or Sagimono (i think) of the kimono before western clothes were adopted. The piece I'd spotted was carved out of some form of wood, but often they are carved from ivory.

I've been interested in netsuke for years and have often seen them on sale for huge sums of money in America, but I'd never thought of buying one of my own. I asked the woman running the stall how much she wanted for it, I don't really think she knew what it was, she only asked for £20. Ian, knowing that I'd always wanted to start collecting netsuke, offered to buy me it. I obviously said yes. So now I'm the proud owner of my very first netsuke. Pictures to follow!!!

The wanderer returns...

Getting back from two weeks away is always a wrench, even worse is having to go back to work. My body clock is still out of sync as I only got home at 10am yesterday morning, I've had plenty of sleep but my body still thinks it's the middle of the night. Its still 1am LA time!

The holiday itself was great, the first week in Las Vegas was good and the second week in LA was fantastic. Both hotels were really nice, but the Bellagio in Las Vegas was a bit a of a let down, the rooms were not as clean as they should have been, but apparently that's normal from what a few people have told me.

The Beverly Wilshire in LA was a different story, the hotel is great and very clean. I'd recommend it to anyone, especially for star spotting! In just one week we saw Bruce Willis, Leonardo Di Caprio, Daniel Craig, George Lucas and Angelica Houston. Not bad eh!

A flying start to the holiday....

Just my luck, at 3.10pm this afternoon on the way home from work on Friday, the car hit a raised manhole, which ripped off the exhaust manifold from under the car, this has also resulted in the sump being dented and possible piston damage to the engine, which could mean a new engine is needed.

I had to organise for the car to be towed, inform the police, insurance company and get Ian to come and pick Dad and I up from the garage.....the insurance company was brilliant and by 5.30 everything was sorted with everyone.

At least I dont have to worry about that while I'm away.

15 hours and I'm officially on Holiday!

That's it I've just finished packing my suitcase, I've run through and checked everything, passport, tickets, money etc...

All I have to do now is endure a half day at work, thank God I'm finishing work at 2.30pm. I don't think I could stand a full day, and then have to drive over to the hotel in Manchester in rush hour traffic. The thought of being able to check in at the airport the night before you fly is fantastic, no rushing across to the airport 2 hours before you fly. At least we can stroll across and have a leisurely, relaxed breakfast without the hassle of standing in line.

I don't know if I'll have time to post before I fly out on Saturday, I'm not taking my laptop so unless I find an internet cafe in Las Vegas or LA, you won't hear from me until I get back on the 20th November.

I still don't feel excited...

Early frost..

It's happened, I had to spend 5 minutes defrosting the car this morning. Xmas is just around the corner, Sunday night is Bonfire night and the leaves have all but dropped.

The end of the year is nigh!

Time to finish packing my suitcase!!!