Both the children slept downstairs because of the coldness of the house, so I don't know what time they woke up as it didn't disturb me! I woke slowly at 9.30 and came down and both were happily ensconced on the computer, and didn't open their presents til after 10am. I was pleased to get a NewScientist book 'How to Fossilise Your Hamster' and a relative had given me a bottle of red wine... as usual... and I don't drink red wine, hardly ever. I do use it in cooking though...
An hour later I was getting ready to go to work down at the Novotel, just an hour or two of Professor Fiddlesticks, no Father Christmas this year, due to a mistake by the hotel, it seems.
I cycled down in costume, and was immediately surrounded by people gathering for their Xmas lunch, happy to be entertained. I did some circus workshops and balloon modelling... and met the 'impostor', a nice young chap called Andrew who did some close-up magic. He told me he'd never done Father Christmas before; I wished him the best of luck!
So I did a continuous stint from 11.45 til 2pm... had a lovely, fun but full-on time. I came back via Freshways, who open every day... as they are Muslim, they open on Christmas day too, as it's not a holiday for them. I bought batteries for our youngest who has had a K-NEX present which has a motor... but no batteries. They gave me a box of unsold mini-aubergines, which look very much like they'll make a good meal tomorrow, a moussaka probably.
I got changed and watched The Queen's Speech before going into the garden and sorting some of the accumulated compostables into several of my 'dalek' bins. I got very cold, and when it got too dark to do more compost heap building, I took some dry logs to the front of the house so I can start to rebuild the severely depleted front-door logpile tomorrow.
So, warmed up, helped Gill in the kitchen, watched a few minutes of Happy Feet which our youngest was enjoying, and then 'The Gruffalo' which is a book I don't know but I enjoyed the TV version!
We got a phone call from my little brother who is coming over from Sheffield tomorrow with his family, and we had to decide whether to meet up in town and eat out, or to come here and have food at home. Neither of our boys fancied going into town so we rang back and said to come here. So then Gill and I got busy making chunky vegetable soup...
I also sorted out a large pile of pears, definitely in a state where they couldn't be sold, but I tidied them up and got them drying on the stove!
Showing posts with label Novotel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Novotel. Show all posts
Friday, 25 December 2009
Thursday, 24 December 2009
Thursday 24th December 09
Gill woke me at 9.30 and asked me if I'd switched off the boiler last night as it wasn't working this morning. I told her that I'd put the thermostat down to 20 degrees last thing, but the central heating was still working when I came to bed. The pilot light had gone out and I couldn't work out how to relight it; there were no instructions or obvious places where to put a match or to press an ignition knob...
Anyway, we had to leave today so we stripped the beds, packed our bags, emptied the fridge, repacked our bags, worried about the time and whether the bus was going to get through today, worried about whether the pipes would freeze if the heating remained off, but got out of the house for 11.20, as Gill had looked at the bus timetable and told me that the buses were at 22 minutes past the hour. But the bus timetable at the bus stop said 52 minutes past the hour... so we waited. And waited... and the bus came on time! We got to Scarborough at the right time, 12.30, and were on the 12.47 train home and enjoyed sandwiches for lunch.
Back in York there wasn't more than 15 minutes to wait for the number 10 bus back to very close to our front door. The house was freezing! I lit both stoves and Gill went back into town to try to find some bits and bobs for the boys' Christmas presents.
I left the boys in the house, happy to be back on the computer, and went to Country Fresh to get some veg for Christmas meals and pick up the compostables before the three-day-weekend-closure. I decided to pop in to the Novotel, where I've worked for the past 5 or so Christmases, to check that all was OK for tomorrow. My agent had booked me for this in early spring, and as it was a repeat booking, I had expected it to go very smoothly. BUT... I'm so glad I went to say hello. The new manager told me that I wasn't booked and they had got another entertainer. But I knew that I had a contract with my agent. So I said that I would ring him and get back to the hotel... the manager said would I like to ring from the hotel. My agent wasn't at home, so I rang his mobile. He had just arrived at his son's house and was settling down to a glass of sherry. I explained the situation to him and he asked to speak to the manager. Ten minutes later, the manager appeared again and passed me a mobile phone and said that my agent wanted to speak to me. He asked if I could remember how much I was due to get paid for the gig tomorrow... and of course I remembered as it's one of the best paying gigs of the year. I passed the phone back to the manager, and a few minutes later, the phone came back to me and my agent asked me if I would be prepared to do a reduced gig tomorrow for reduced money? I felt that if I tried to hold out for my full employ, that might cause difficulties and might jeopardise future work at this hotel. So I agreed a short Fiddlesticks slot with no Father Christmas appearance for a very average fee, less than half of what I had agreed to for doing the full entertainment. The other entertainer would do some magic and do the Father Christmas stuff.
So, not very happy, despite not having to do Father Christmas which I don't enjoy doing. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have said that I wanted to do the work I was contracted to do and demanded my full fee? Not an easy decision to make.
I cycled back via Freshways who were glad to see me and were generous with their unsold limp herbs and over-ripe bananas.
The boys hadn't noticed I'd been away for an hour (!) and when Gill rang from town, she asked if I'd go to the Co-op to get some basics like cereal, milk, pasta and the like. I had put my bike away so I walked down, got a good pile of stuff and on the way back, the bus drew up and Gill got off, gave me a lovely kiss and we walked back together. We are just a great team!
We had a shop pizza for tea, with broccoli, and continued to keep the stoves going to try to warm the place up. A relatively calm evening.
Anyway, we had to leave today so we stripped the beds, packed our bags, emptied the fridge, repacked our bags, worried about the time and whether the bus was going to get through today, worried about whether the pipes would freeze if the heating remained off, but got out of the house for 11.20, as Gill had looked at the bus timetable and told me that the buses were at 22 minutes past the hour. But the bus timetable at the bus stop said 52 minutes past the hour... so we waited. And waited... and the bus came on time! We got to Scarborough at the right time, 12.30, and were on the 12.47 train home and enjoyed sandwiches for lunch.
Back in York there wasn't more than 15 minutes to wait for the number 10 bus back to very close to our front door. The house was freezing! I lit both stoves and Gill went back into town to try to find some bits and bobs for the boys' Christmas presents.
I left the boys in the house, happy to be back on the computer, and went to Country Fresh to get some veg for Christmas meals and pick up the compostables before the three-day-weekend-closure. I decided to pop in to the Novotel, where I've worked for the past 5 or so Christmases, to check that all was OK for tomorrow. My agent had booked me for this in early spring, and as it was a repeat booking, I had expected it to go very smoothly. BUT... I'm so glad I went to say hello. The new manager told me that I wasn't booked and they had got another entertainer. But I knew that I had a contract with my agent. So I said that I would ring him and get back to the hotel... the manager said would I like to ring from the hotel. My agent wasn't at home, so I rang his mobile. He had just arrived at his son's house and was settling down to a glass of sherry. I explained the situation to him and he asked to speak to the manager. Ten minutes later, the manager appeared again and passed me a mobile phone and said that my agent wanted to speak to me. He asked if I could remember how much I was due to get paid for the gig tomorrow... and of course I remembered as it's one of the best paying gigs of the year. I passed the phone back to the manager, and a few minutes later, the phone came back to me and my agent asked me if I would be prepared to do a reduced gig tomorrow for reduced money? I felt that if I tried to hold out for my full employ, that might cause difficulties and might jeopardise future work at this hotel. So I agreed a short Fiddlesticks slot with no Father Christmas appearance for a very average fee, less than half of what I had agreed to for doing the full entertainment. The other entertainer would do some magic and do the Father Christmas stuff.
So, not very happy, despite not having to do Father Christmas which I don't enjoy doing. In retrospect, I wonder if I should have said that I wanted to do the work I was contracted to do and demanded my full fee? Not an easy decision to make.
I cycled back via Freshways who were glad to see me and were generous with their unsold limp herbs and over-ripe bananas.
The boys hadn't noticed I'd been away for an hour (!) and when Gill rang from town, she asked if I'd go to the Co-op to get some basics like cereal, milk, pasta and the like. I had put my bike away so I walked down, got a good pile of stuff and on the way back, the bus drew up and Gill got off, gave me a lovely kiss and we walked back together. We are just a great team!
We had a shop pizza for tea, with broccoli, and continued to keep the stoves going to try to warm the place up. A relatively calm evening.
Thursday, 25 December 2008
Thursday 25th December 08 'Christmas Day'
Well, I justabout survived the day.
Up early as we had quite a bit to do before I went to work. The boys enjoyed opening their presents, our youngest pleased with lego and eldest pleased with money instead so he can go and buy a 'Wii'. Gill had found an unused table football game (quite a big one, about 3 feet long) in a charity shop for only £5, and they were pleased with that. They unwrapped the legs first and were just a bit bemused as to what they were for. Gill was pleased with her new frying pan (she'd dropped enough hints) and I was tempted to go and fill up my chainsaw's oil port immediately but just resisted! Probably the best gift was Simon's home-made pestle and mortar, created from sheets of reclaimed birch ply, glued together into a sturdy block and then turned and carved and sanded down. The pestle is made in the same way. We already have a pestle and mortar... it rarely gets used and it's small enough to fit in the back of the cutlery drawer. As for Simon's, it's massive and beautiful and I'm not sure where it will go or whether we'll use it... but it is lovely and home-made presents are definitely the best!
Gill made my sandwiches and I packed my bike trailer, and I set off for the Novotel to go and perform an hour of Fiddlesticks and then unknown amount of Father Christmas, a role I really dislike as it's not me..... Professor Fiddlesticks is more the real me than I can be when being just John, if that makes sense, whereas Daddy Xmus is acting and very hard work. David was just getting ready so I signed his 'release form' which allows him to use the images, and started unicycling round, devilsticking and making balloon animals. Several people recognised me from last year and were very friendly, kids excited and keen to do the various circussy activities. The hour went very quickly and I went for lunch in a bedroom, got changed and came down for 1.30, walking very slowly, making sure my beard and cushion didn't slip, and doing a variety of deep Ho Ho Ho's and assorted other merry greetings. I'm sure I pulled it off pretty well, but it was hard work! I only had about 10 presents to deliver, this taking only 15 minutes... and I was finished, Hooray!
I got changed back into John and packed all my gear into the trailer and panniers and came home via Freshways who were open, and I bought some Halva as a treat.
Found out no-one else likes it, apparently.
Gill had made a lovely Christmas tea... the boys wanted noodles, I had the rems of nutloaf, all with roast veggies and a tomato and leek sauce. Lovely and completely non traditional!
We watched the Wallace and Gromit 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit' film together but I drifted in and out of sleep until the news after which I escaped from the Dr. Who Christmas special and went upstairs with my laptop and did assorted things, including watching two extremely moving YouTube videos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mrOwvNnTeD4&NR=1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Z7rV7kKnI&NR=1
after which I joined the Aaron Fotheringham fan page on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38047288049&ref=ts
as he's someone I really admire. Totally inspirational!
Came back down for a family viewing of the new Wallace and Gromit, 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' which was ok. The boys eventually went to bed and I prepared a big pile of waste mangoes for drying. Each one has a one or two small bruises or bad patches, with the rest of the mango being very tasty and lovely. Did about 15 of them... Two cake-racks loaded with mango slices, balanced precariously on top of the 6 gallon pan on the stove...
Up early as we had quite a bit to do before I went to work. The boys enjoyed opening their presents, our youngest pleased with lego and eldest pleased with money instead so he can go and buy a 'Wii'. Gill had found an unused table football game (quite a big one, about 3 feet long) in a charity shop for only £5, and they were pleased with that. They unwrapped the legs first and were just a bit bemused as to what they were for. Gill was pleased with her new frying pan (she'd dropped enough hints) and I was tempted to go and fill up my chainsaw's oil port immediately but just resisted! Probably the best gift was Simon's home-made pestle and mortar, created from sheets of reclaimed birch ply, glued together into a sturdy block and then turned and carved and sanded down. The pestle is made in the same way. We already have a pestle and mortar... it rarely gets used and it's small enough to fit in the back of the cutlery drawer. As for Simon's, it's massive and beautiful and I'm not sure where it will go or whether we'll use it... but it is lovely and home-made presents are definitely the best!
Gill made my sandwiches and I packed my bike trailer, and I set off for the Novotel to go and perform an hour of Fiddlesticks and then unknown amount of Father Christmas, a role I really dislike as it's not me..... Professor Fiddlesticks is more the real me than I can be when being just John, if that makes sense, whereas Daddy Xmus is acting and very hard work. David was just getting ready so I signed his 'release form' which allows him to use the images, and started unicycling round, devilsticking and making balloon animals. Several people recognised me from last year and were very friendly, kids excited and keen to do the various circussy activities. The hour went very quickly and I went for lunch in a bedroom, got changed and came down for 1.30, walking very slowly, making sure my beard and cushion didn't slip, and doing a variety of deep Ho Ho Ho's and assorted other merry greetings. I'm sure I pulled it off pretty well, but it was hard work! I only had about 10 presents to deliver, this taking only 15 minutes... and I was finished, Hooray!
I got changed back into John and packed all my gear into the trailer and panniers and came home via Freshways who were open, and I bought some Halva as a treat.
Found out no-one else likes it, apparently.
Gill had made a lovely Christmas tea... the boys wanted noodles, I had the rems of nutloaf, all with roast veggies and a tomato and leek sauce. Lovely and completely non traditional!
We watched the Wallace and Gromit 'Curse of the Were-Rabbit' film together but I drifted in and out of sleep until the news after which I escaped from the Dr. Who Christmas special and went upstairs with my laptop and did assorted things, including watching two extremely moving YouTube videos:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mrOwvNnTeD4&NR=1
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A_Z7rV7kKnI&NR=1
after which I joined the Aaron Fotheringham fan page on Facebook
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=38047288049&ref=ts
as he's someone I really admire. Totally inspirational!
Came back down for a family viewing of the new Wallace and Gromit, 'A Matter of Loaf and Death' which was ok. The boys eventually went to bed and I prepared a big pile of waste mangoes for drying. Each one has a one or two small bruises or bad patches, with the rest of the mango being very tasty and lovely. Did about 15 of them... Two cake-racks loaded with mango slices, balanced precariously on top of the 6 gallon pan on the stove...
Tuesday, 25 December 2007
Tuesday 25th December 07 Christmas Day
Awoken rather early as at least one of our kids is still excited by Christmas and the presents that he recieves.... but went to sleep again and got up just before 9 to come downstairs to a happy post-breakfasted family. I had my usual branflakes and muesli, and the presents under the tree came out and were unwrapped. My favourite present was two packets of socks (yes really, I like useful presents!) or perhaps a rather cheeky present from Gill; a hardback book entitled 'The half-hour allotment' suggesting that it takes just half an hour's work each day of the week to manage an allotment, or an hour and a quarter on Saturday and Sunday. In the introduction it even mentions the letter I have recently recieved telling me to tidy up or get off!
Gill was very very happy with her tiny camera, and the boys immediately got into playing 'top trumps'.
However I had to get ready to go to work, so got the bike and loaded up the trailer with assorted Fiddlesticks stuff and my Father Christmas costume, wellies, and sandwiches for lunch. Only a short trip to the Novotel where I spent justabout 2 hours doing my circus and balloons to entertain the guests as they waited for their lunch. Then a half hour of sandwiches and getting into my St Nicholas persona, and then a short and sweet bomb round (sorry, slow walk round!) with a sack full of presents... all the same this time, so probably inappropriate for the older children (teenagers, embarrassed to get a visit from Santa!) and was finished at two pm.
Met several friends on the way home so didn't get in til nearly 3. I got unloaded and crashed out on the sofa.... and found myself watching Finding Nemo on TV... which I enjoyed considerably. Only one thing spoilt it for me.... the slight factual error of when the whale swallowed the fish and exhaled them out of the hole behind it's head.... but besides that it was a very enjoyable thing to slob out and watch...
Tea was delicious. Nutloaf made yesterday and baked in the oven tonight, roast potatoes and tiny carrots from Pocklington, sprouts also from East Yorkshire and gravy made on the woodstove...
Almost a traditional Christmas meal!
Had an evening of doing computery things and was DELIGHTED to get a sensible and kind comment from the anonymous Dr Evil. (see below) Happy Christmas to her and all of my readers.... if there are any other readers! Maybe I should install a counter....
Up late as watched a really good film about surfing called Riding Giants.
Gill was very very happy with her tiny camera, and the boys immediately got into playing 'top trumps'.
However I had to get ready to go to work, so got the bike and loaded up the trailer with assorted Fiddlesticks stuff and my Father Christmas costume, wellies, and sandwiches for lunch. Only a short trip to the Novotel where I spent justabout 2 hours doing my circus and balloons to entertain the guests as they waited for their lunch. Then a half hour of sandwiches and getting into my St Nicholas persona, and then a short and sweet bomb round (sorry, slow walk round!) with a sack full of presents... all the same this time, so probably inappropriate for the older children (teenagers, embarrassed to get a visit from Santa!) and was finished at two pm.
Met several friends on the way home so didn't get in til nearly 3. I got unloaded and crashed out on the sofa.... and found myself watching Finding Nemo on TV... which I enjoyed considerably. Only one thing spoilt it for me.... the slight factual error of when the whale swallowed the fish and exhaled them out of the hole behind it's head.... but besides that it was a very enjoyable thing to slob out and watch...
Tea was delicious. Nutloaf made yesterday and baked in the oven tonight, roast potatoes and tiny carrots from Pocklington, sprouts also from East Yorkshire and gravy made on the woodstove...
Almost a traditional Christmas meal!
Had an evening of doing computery things and was DELIGHTED to get a sensible and kind comment from the anonymous Dr Evil. (see below) Happy Christmas to her and all of my readers.... if there are any other readers! Maybe I should install a counter....
Up late as watched a really good film about surfing called Riding Giants.
Tuesday, 11 December 2007
Tuesday 11th December 07
Gill took the boys to school, first the younger one and came back for the older one who had not got ready in time. He was late in therefore.
I went to a meeting with my favoutite agent John Liley at the Novotel, where we met the Catering Manager to discuss the Christmas entertainment I'm booked in to do. The Novotel has had a refit and it was useful to see the new layout before the gig. The manager was very positive about my contribution to the Christmas celebrations and it was good that John was there to hear this.
I got home just before Gill left for Scarborough to go to her Uncle Tom's thanksgiving for his life ceremony in his residential home, and the scattering of his ashes.
I tried to write my column and it came slowly, but got some done before going to school to get the boys plus one, they came home very well behaved and I cooked tea whilst they were playing on the computer upstairs. Their friend's mum came to pick him up and went, boys ate tea and Gill came back having had a good day.
I went to a meeting with my favoutite agent John Liley at the Novotel, where we met the Catering Manager to discuss the Christmas entertainment I'm booked in to do. The Novotel has had a refit and it was useful to see the new layout before the gig. The manager was very positive about my contribution to the Christmas celebrations and it was good that John was there to hear this.
I got home just before Gill left for Scarborough to go to her Uncle Tom's thanksgiving for his life ceremony in his residential home, and the scattering of his ashes.
I tried to write my column and it came slowly, but got some done before going to school to get the boys plus one, they came home very well behaved and I cooked tea whilst they were playing on the computer upstairs. Their friend's mum came to pick him up and went, boys ate tea and Gill came back having had a good day.
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