Hi everybody, Well another week has passed and already we are about to get into the hopefully sunnier month of May? Maybe? Maybe not? It's gonna be my birthday next Thursday so I expect lots of comments from you all wishing me a great day. I will be 28....!!!!! Not too sure what to make of it yet. I'm well on my way to 30! Anyway...

I had a lovely day on Saturday. I spent the day with Nas. It was his Birthday treat. He turned 27 last week but we never got to celebrate until Saturday. I had a fun packed day planned for him with lots of surprises! Some of which I am keeping between him and me. We started off at Westminster in London. The aquarium was the first stop. The Aquarium is tucked away on the Embankment at the foot of the old GLC building. It is quite pricey at £13 quid a ticket and I'm not convinced it was totally worth that.... But it was something Nas and I had talked about doing ages ago. It is split onto 3 levels. All the levels revolve around the main tank that holds several big tiger sharks and lots of little fish. It was very busy as you can imagine with loads of little kids running around all over the place which was a bit unpleasant! The highlight was when they started to feed the fish and the sharks got a bit excited but I think overall I wouldn't recommend this place. It was very boring with very few species on display and it was very dark and smelly down there....

Then it was off to the British Museum. Now this is a brilliant place to go. I've never been before so it was pretty exciting. The main entrance looks like your typical average museum and I was expecting it to be your typical London museum but boy was I wrong. Inside is this amazing courtyard area. I couldn't believe it. Architecturally it is fantastic. It goes on and on up and up into the sky and reflects the light. Wow! I would recommend this museum to start with it's free! I really wanted to see the Egyptian stuff they have inside. I was amazed they even have mummies on display. I would really like to go back sometime and explore the place fully as we didn't get to see much stuff. It's Nas's favourite museum and I think if I spent some more time there it might be mine as well.

From there it was off for dinner. We ate at Nas's favourite restaurant which is called Thai Metro in central London down Charlotte Street W1. The food here is very nice but it is a very basic restaurant. I'm sure you remember me talking about it in previous blogs. The food is great though just quite spicy!

Next stop was another surprise I had in store for him. I got tickets to see the Lion King at the Lyceum Theatre. It was a typical old theatre with very cramped seats but the production made up for it. It was brilliant. Very colourful and the animals were wicked coming out into the audience, lions, elephants etc....

I think Nas had a lovely day anyway he seemed a bit speechless in the car home. I think he hadn't had some many surprises in one day before.

Here is a pic of Guys Mum and me just to cheer everybody up before I dash off to bed as I'm really tired.....Keep working hard and make sure you come back next week.....

Stu.

x

Hi everyone,
I really hope your weekend has been good. The weather down the South of England has been great! Sun all weekend! Today is was really hot. The animals on Stu's farm have been loving this weather. The Guinea pigs are having a wonderful time out in the garden chewing up the grass and the weeds, running around enjoying themselves.. Bobby too has fully recovered and seems to be back to normal.

I had to take him back to the Vets on Tuesday which was fun.... He really does hate the Vet but again he was a very good boy and didn't show me up at all. She checked him over and told me to slowly re-introduce exercise (thank God he's been driving me up the wall!) and to finish off the course of pills and to keep an eye on him in the future. As you can see I was getting the cold shoulder for the journey there and back and for a few hours after! He's such a diva! I'm not sure where he gets that from? Certainly NOT me!

Bobby and I have been having some lovely walks out in the sunshine. It is so nice to get outside and either go for some scenic walks or be in the garden. I am still caring for my veggies, which I must say are coming through very strong now. I have Beetroot and Carrots coming up. So I will keep you all updated when they get a bit bigger and keep you up to date on the progress.

I had a real drama on Wednesday. It was Tracy from works 40th Birthday...Happy Birthday Tracy! We decided to all go out for dinner and celebrate. We were all sat relaxing after dinner and I thought I would have a chewing gum. Unfortunately I chewed on the wrong side of my mouth and ended up pulling out my temporary tooth! It was so embarrassing! As you can see it fell right out. I think it put everyone off their desserts! I didn't really know what to do...oh apart from take pictures for you guys! LOL....second thing was to get onto the phone to the dentist, luckily Andrew fitted me in that afternoon and managed to file it down a bit and re-fit it back into my mouth. It looked really weird. I had to look in the mirror and it was strange to see this bit of metal hanging out of my gum. Really strange! It was a chance for him to also take out the stitches which I have to say were giving me grief. They hurt more than anything. The tooth's been back in there for over a week now and it's stayed in this time. I have to go back in a couple of weeks for an impression then a few weeks after that I can have the proper veneer put in. Hopefully it will be a bit more secure than this crown! LOL.....

Bobby was being very naughty today. I think he was rebelling because I hadn't taken him out until late this morning because I had to go to Tesco's. He managed to abduct poor Squidworth off my bed and run around the house with him and he wouldn't release him. He's such a little git when he's got something in his mouth. He won't drop it for anything or anyone. He did drop it once I persuaded him with a biscuit. Poor Squidworth is resting up now in my bed. His neck is a bit bent but he will be OK.

Finally I had a drama with the washing machine today. For the past few days it has been tripping the electrics out whenever I used it, which I thought was a bit odd. I didn't do anything about it until it has now become a problem. I come down from upstairs this afternoon to find water underneath it. So I pulled out the pipes and stuck it in the sink (after taking advice from my Mum) and then I went back to cleaning my bedroom. I didn't realise that the force of the water coming out the pipe would pull it from the sink and onto the floor! OMG I came back downstairs 20 minutes later to check on it to find the floor an inch deep with water. I was cursing myself for leaving it unattended. Never mind.....Lesson learned there I think! So after mopping up the mess and getting covered in water a few times. I managed to sort out the washing and leave it for my Bro to come round and check it out. I'm not too bothered about it because I need a new kitchen and want all fitted appliances so it will have to go eventually anyway.

That's about all for this week really. It's been work work work as usual with a little bit of a disaster sandwiched in the middle. Make sure you come back next week.

Stu

x

Hey everybody..... For those of you that don't know this is Beck4Me. Todd deserves a special mention for all of his special comments he puts on. Here he is from one of his better angles lol...only kidding. Todd is like one of my family. We have known each other for a long time and he is always there for me giving me advice and helping me not to make mistakes. He is my big brother.... Look out for the pictures in the June blog when he is coming to the UK to visit.

It's been a really traumatic weekend actually but I will go into that later in the blog. The first major event of the week was my visit to the dentist. I finally got one step closer to having the implant put into my mouth. Yipppeeeee, unfortunately it didn't appear to go to plan and I needed 6 stitches which have been giving me grief ever since. As you can see form the before and after pictures it looks good. Remember this is only the crown in my mouth, this stays there for another 2 weeks after the stitches come out. Then they take an impression of my mouth and then 2 weeks after that I have the permanent veneer screwed in. The whole mini op this time only took about an hour. He managed to drop the screwdriver down my throat in the process which was a bit traumatic for me, but overall it went OK. The pain has been worse than when I had the original operation but I guess that's because he has to cut open the gum with a scalpel again and screw in more titanium in order to attach the crown. I am really pleased with how it looks though. It feels strange to have a tooth there again after so long. The stitches are due to come out on Wednesday which will be a relief. I just hope they don't hurt too much! The last time it killed my mouth as he pulled them out!

With all of this going on I haven't felt like going to work much so I didn't... I think I only worked 2 days this week and then had a nice long weekend off. I have enjoyed it though seeings that the weather has been so great.

Whilst my mouth was being massacred Bobby and my Mum went for a hair cut. His hair had become so wild and long it was causing him so discomfort and it needed to be chopped especially now as the temperatures soar. He doesn't like the experience though and is a bit of a git! You really have to drag him into the beauty parlour. He hates it! I'm not sure why though? As you can see from the end result he looks lovely now and is so much happier that it has all gone.

I have amazing news fresh from the vegetable patch! Yes, I have growth! The first to grow has been the raddish's, then the lettuce and now today I have noticed that the carrot's are sprouting. I can't believe how quickly it has all been growing. I think the wet and then dry weather has been giving them a boost. I just hope all the other stuff grows too and that what is growing will be good and strong or I'm going to look like a spanner!

It was my brother James birthday on Sunday and we all went out Friday night to celebrate which was nice. He is 29 years old now. I'm not far behind. On the 3rd May is my big day. We had a nice meal and all the family came. So Happy Birthday to James!

He was a great help to me actually. As you all know I want to put a shed in my garden but at the back was a huge tree root which didn't want to come out. He spent his Saturday morning digging around it and pulling it out. As you can see it wasn't an easy task. (I only got in the pictures when he took a break, makes it look like I was doing the heavy work!)

I had a real drama on Saturday! I woke up and had made plans to go out with Tasha and Brooke. I had promised to take them to Bluewater shopping centre for the day. I got up as normal only to find my poor baby not very well. He has been whimpering a little bit since Friday night and I didn't really think much of it. It was only occasional and he didn't look in pain at all. On Saturday morning he looked in pain. He was crying when he jumped up and couldn't really walk properly. He was shuffling about the house like an old dog. Which as you all know isn't Bobby at all! So I managed to get an emergency appointment and also rung Tasha to cancel. (She was very understanding...thank you x) I was so terrified that something bad had happened to him. Maybe they had injured him whilst he had his hair cut and they hadn't told me? Maybe he had fallen during the night? Maybe he hurt himself playing ball on his own in the garden? I just prayed to God he would be OK. Bobby was very nervous, he was shaking like a leaf and really didn't enjoy the experience at all. He was such a good boy though and he made me very proud. The Vet checked him thoroughly and came to the conclusion that he has early stages of arthritis or possibly he has strained himself. She said he has a clicking in his back legs when you move them. Which would indicate joint problems. So she gave him 2 injections and a course of tablets. I have been watching him all weekend and he seems to be OK now. I'm due to take him back on Tuesday where we can decide what to do next. I don't think he will need an x-ray but we don't know yet.

I managed to go and see Nas today at his place of work which is Heathrow. I love it at the airport. All the people rushing around to get away on holiday. All the planes taking off, it's all very exciting. He is crew for British Airways and he loves it. It must be a pretty cool job. They get to stay in all the expensive hotels, travel the world and work for the UK's major airline. He showed me around the BA Compass centre. Which is the place where all the crew and pilots check in, have briefings, standby and stay etc.... It's an amazing building. Inside are shops, hairdressers, money exchange, briefing rooms, showers, beds etc..... Pretty cool. So thanks to Nas for showing me around.

Then finally and this is finally because my fingers are hurting from all the typing! I was in the garden doing some tidying up today when I had such a stupid accident I think you''ll all laugh! I only wish it had been recorded then maybe I could have made money out of the pain I feel now! LOL....I was sweeping the grass as you do. Trying to get all the bits off it. I was sweeping quite hard actually and then all of a sudden the broom handle snapped halfway up. The broom broke into 2 pieces and the top piece swung up missing my eye by about half an inc and whacking me right on the chin. It was so painful (and still is!). As you can see from the picture I managed to leave my skin behind on the boken piece. I now have a lovely lump on my face and am left with a chin like desperate Dan!

That's about it for this week. I do have a lot more to mention but I am tired and need to head off for bed. I'm on an early shift next week and need my beauty sleep. Make sure you come back next week and see whats been going on. Thanks for coming and reading what I've got to say it wouldn't be anything without you lot.

Stu

x

Hi everybody, I hope you've all been sunning yourself in this beautiful weather here in the UK. It's been great for a Bank Holiday. What more could you want. Sun and time off work! I must apologise for the late posting of the Blog but what with me being away in France I haven't had much time to do anything other than unpack and try and rest after a hectic few days.

The purpose of the trip was to go on the hunt for the Holy Grail. If any of you have read the Dan Brown Da Vinci Code books then you'll know what I'm talking about. Those that haven't well sit back and just enjoy the pictures of Paris. My trip started on the Euro star which I must say is a fabulous train. It is such a simple journey and so effortless and quick. So much quicker and convenient than flying. My journey began in London Waterloo where the Euro star whizzed off at high speed through the Kent countryside to the tunnel and eventually ending up in Gar Du Nord, Paris. It has been years since I was last in Paris and that trip was a disaster so I was going to try my hardest to make it a trip to remember.

As I made my way through the city in the taxi passing all the familiar sites and sounds of manic Paris the sun was blazing through the windows. The hotel was great. Le Meridien Et toile just a short walk from the Arc de Triomphe. Once checked in it was a case of dashing across Paris on foot to follow the Meridien line to the Louvre. For those of you that don't know the original Meridien line or 'Rose Line' ran through Paris before it was nicked by Britain hundreds of years ago and as I'm sure you know now runs through Greenwich.

The walk is long from the hotel and is probably about an hour on foot but the afternoon was so beautiful it seemed worthwhile. Up the Champs Elise and down through the Tuilleries gardens. Passing all the flowers and boutique shops. Until eventually you arrive at the massive courtyard where you see the glass pyramids rising up from the ground. I think they are fabulous but they are not every ones taste. Inside is where the story of the Da Vinci code began. The dead body of Jacques Saunier and the mysterious message. The paintings, the Mona Lisa and of course the work of Da Vinci. The picture on the right is where the Holy Grail or Mary Magdalene is supposedly buried, I'm very sceptical about all of the things in the book. It is hard to prove or disprove it.

Walking back to the hotel in the sunset taking in the Parisian air was great. The Champs Elise is quite an interesting place. With Shops and Airline companies all mixed up in there posh looking buildings (Oooops I just spilt my Pot Noodle, hang on). I just loved the Arc De Triumphe. It is such a wonderful building. One of the centre pieces of the capital. As you drive round it the mad Paris traffic rushes by in all directions and is so terrifying I don't envy any driver over there!

Day 2 and it was grab a quick croissant and then back on the trail of the Holy Grail. This time heading for the Latin Quarter to the Church of Saint Sulpice. This is where I mentioned before the Rose Line ends. It is also the part in the film where 'Sila's' sits outside in his car by the fountain in the square asking for God's forgiveness before he goes inside and kills this Nun. It again is a wonderful building. Quite run down but by the looks of it all the money from Hollywood is allowing it to be refurb'd which is great. Although I don't think the church like all this Da Vinci stuff.....

From there it was off to Sacre Couer and up to the Mont Martre. The view from up there is absolutely fabulous. You can see for miles and miles around. Pretty amazing if you go in the evening too with all the lights of Paris illuminated. This time for me it was a daytime visit. The church is strange in that the outside is so bright and loud and in your face and then you go inside and it's dark and eery.

A quick Crepe and it's onto the next site for my tour. Notre Dame. I always enjoy it here. Sitting on the banks of the Seine watching all the tourist boats float by. The church is again amazing piece of architecture. All of the gargoyles on the side make it authentic and even more interesting to me.

The final evening of my trip it was to be the best attraction that I think Paris has to offer. The Eiffel Tower. I love this place. There is no more romantic place in the world than here. To be walking around the gardens below the tower at night is great. The tower lit up in yellow and now occasionally it flashes white and looks beautiful!

Then after a good nights sleep it was back on the train back to the UK. What have I learnt from this little excursion. Well....that I would like to learn French. So watch this space my friends...

It's another hectic week next week. Dentist tomorrow and working on lates the rest of the week. Make sure you come back and check out whats been going on! Oh and thank you to all the 50 people who came and viewed the Blog last week. Remember to pass the address onto all of your mates and colleagues. Lets see if we can make it 60 hits next week?

Stu

x

Hey everyone. Although I guess by now it might only be about half dozen of you that read this (If I believe the comments) LOL.....Anyway how has the week been? It's been a kinda boring week after all the excitement of the last few weeks. I've been working very hard and then having been on late shift I haven't felt like doing an awful lot either by the time I get home, it's time for bed.

I had the entire weekend off though which has been great really. I've not a proper weekend off in about a month. So I decided to spend most of it in the garden. I managed to get around to planting all them lovely seeds for my veggie patch. So what did I put in?

So far I have sown the following:-
1. Radish
2. Beetroot
3. Lettuce
4. Onion
5. Spring Onion
6. Carrot

These are mostly veggies that will grow unaided which are the sort I thought I should start off with. Easy grow! It's hard work watering them everyday twice a day especially when your working too but I'm managing it right now. I have been so busy in the garden this weekend. I have been digging and chopping and just preparing for the lovely weather to arrive and give me a chance to have people round for a BBQ or a little party in the garden.

I don't think I'm going to need much help growing potatoes in my garden though...I pulled the fridge out this morning and look what I found! Yuk! It was gross....this poor little potato must have been there a long long time for him to grow a sprout that long!

Saturday I was up early and down the hairdressers by 9 o'clock. A quick trim and then back home to head off to Tesco's for my weekly shop. Then it was back home to do some digging and make the ground nice for concreting. I have decided to put a little shed in the back garden. I need more space to keep my garden stuff and all the tools I use and also more importantly I need somewhere to start off my little seeds. It's not really a good thing to just put them straight into the ground so a little home for them will be just the ticket.

Saturday afternoon me Nas came round and me and him went off to find a bite to eat. We ended up in TGI's not too far from my place. I had a lovely chicken meal. I think he had vegetarian fajitas (Did I spell that right?). Today being Sunday I did a lot more of the gardening and went to the Garden nursery and got some more wood chip and separated out all of the bed in the back garden. I have a lot of plants to put in there but it's a bit too early yet to put them in. When the whole thing is complete I will take a nice picture for you all to see.

This afternoon I managed to get round to see my Nan and Grandad. I haven't seen them in a while because I have been ill. They are fine and seem to be back to normal. It's weird how they have gone from worrying me to being normal again...I guess all the worry of my Grandad's health problems were too much for them to cope with...? Strange but hey, I'm not complaining it's good to have them back to there old selves...

Work has been good this week too. Although I was on lates. The boss has been away on his holidays so it was party time lol....... A couple of us managed to escape one lunchtime to the local Harvester restaurant for a 'morale' boosting lunch...he he. Here are Steve and Tracy after we had eaten all the salad cart and our main meals waiting for the big ice creams to come...lol

My sister came back on Monday after her little trip away to see her girlie friends....She is OK and seems a bit happier...As you can see her and Mum have been pestering me at home he he ( I will get into trouble for saying that). At least all my ironing has been done and some cleaning up too.

Well that's about it for this week. Next week I'm back in the office up at Victoria for a boring week of commuting! Yuk! I just hope it ain't gonna be too hot! I hope I might get to see Aaron at some point. Then it's the Easter weekend and I'm off to Paris! yippeeeee...... So make sure you come back and see what I've been getting up to in France!

Have a great week.

Stu

x

Hi everyone...Well I can't believe what a hornets nest this has stirred up. I think it should be called the StuRaks debate....maybe should get news night to do a special programme and we could have the whole audience there and a panel with the culprits sat there? hmmmm...maybe not...Seriously I'm drawing a line in it now. This matter is over. No more comments please. I have one more thing to say about it all and that is I think it's unfair poor Mannesh has become involved in this too. Afterall he only made the comment in passing when we were chatting. So if you want to pick on anyone then please aim your abuse at me.

My blog? Take it or leave it. Everyone has got it off their chests now so lets forget it. If you choose not to come back then thats fine. Thanks for reading it this far.

Stu
x

P.S. Thanks to my mates for all the support.....
P.P.S Reena I don't think Bobby is very happy his hair needs cutting and it keeps getting in his eyes!

Hi everyone this is a bit of an unusual thing for me, coming on here in the week and adding something to the blog but I felt I should regarding the whole issue of falling out with a mate. I have been thinking a lot about it and have received many interesting comments and feedback from you all. Actually it's probably the first time I have realise just how many of you out there are reading and seeing what I have got to say. I didn't really want to go into this but I think I should and put my side of the situation across so I don't get under-represented in the matter.

I want to start by telling you a little bit of history. When Raks and I first started to chat on-line a couple of years ago we were getting on like a house on fire. It was going great, we exchanged pictures and he told me all these great things about himself. As we got to know each other more and more I wanted to meet up. Nearer to the time we were due to meet up. He told me he had lied about who he was and that the pictures he had sent me were 'NOT' of him and that he was sorry. I forgave him and said to him at the time I didn't tolerate lies but I was happy to give him a second chance and that I was happy to be friends and that's all. Which I thought was fine and the matter was settled...

Then this whole situation arose a couple of weeks back and involves me and my friend Raks. When him and some of his mates from Leicester came to London we all had a really great time as you could see from the blog that week. Since then I had been speaking with Raks' friend Mannesh. Who told me that Raks had told him prior to us all meeting that Raks and I had been an item and had been dating for over 5 years and that he dumped me because I was having an affair with a girl from Tesco's! As you can understand I had already given him a chance and my mind was racing away with me....What else has he said? What do people think? Why has he done this? I thought the best thing to do was to just not speak to him and leave it at that. I was angry and cross about it all. Then Raks kept on calling me and calling me until I could take no more....So I told him to go check out Mannesh's blog because he was the one who told me the info and I really have more reason to believe him than Rak's seeings Rak's has a history of lying to me...

The next few days I received awful messages from Raks....I suppose he was angry but that was no excuse....I will post ALL of the comments I have received and you can make up your own minds about it. I even got text messages supposedly arranging for a couple of guys to come round my place and 'sort me out'... I mean I am not happy about all of this but I cannot excuse being told that I am a 'prostitute' and that I have 'aids'. I am a very tolerant person as I'm sure you can all tell. Those of you that have been reading this for some time will know the type of sensitive, caring person I am.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post ": I WANT U 2 REMOVE ALL MY PICS, MY NAME AND ALL THE PICS OF MY M8'S N NAMES AS WELL ON THIS FUCKING BLOG UR A FUCKING PROSTITUTE WITH AIDS. NO WONDER UR FUCKING SKINNY (I have published this is you go back and check)

Or Text's like this:
"I want u 2 remove my contact details on ur phone. Also I want u 2 delete my name, my pics, my wrk m8's names n pics from ur boring blog. Dont u eva ring me again. Ur 1 messed up skinny uneducated smelly trash".

"Steve, it's raks. I need u 2 'sort' out 2 ppl 4 me. 1 is in essex n 1 in london. Inform josh. will ring u 2mrow bout the details...."

Anyway, here is a small chunk of thing I mean I have'nt put on the really bad comments as they are too rude and I don't want to offend anyone reading the blog. The comments don't lie...I'm sure some things have been said in the heat of the moment but I cannot excuse this behaviour and so will not be making any efforts to re-build bridges as I have not done anything wrong and I certainly don't want to have anything to do with someone who says things about me like that.