The Time Bubble

We've been really spoiled for new restaurant openings in Bicester over the past few months. We've had several new chain outlets open in the new development, all of which I've enjoyed visiting, but nothing has excited me as much as hearing about the new independent offering, "The Copper Kitchen" which has recently opened up the top of Sheep Street opposite Denis and Shakil's. Unlike the other new openings, I wasn't aware of this one in advance. It opened quietly without a lot of fanfare a month or two back, but soon came to my attention as I began to read glowing comments about it on the Bicester Town Centre Chat page. I was keen to get down there and try it as soon as possible and so last night (Saturday 15th February) we booked in and headed up there to find out if it really was as good as everybody says. It was a three-pronged celebration last night. Firstly it was the day after Valentine's Day, secondly it was the day before my birthday and thir...

My birthday. How time flies. But lovely spending it here. It's almost midnight and I am sat outside the apartment tonight on the patio but it is so hot tonight, outside is the way. Now when you have a birthday in summer like bestie Lynda you don't have to worry much about the weather but nobody wants to party in mid February.   All good here though. The hottest day yet by the pool, and Claire surprised me when we got back with a cake, which she got from the Hiper Dino but then garnished in icing, maltesers, and various other lovelies. All ate well. I was going to offer some to our lovely Irish neighbours but unfortunately Ollie decided to lick the icing off the top of the remaining cake rendering it unsuitable for any further consumption by anyone else!   We went out for the evening, really wanting to enjoy a lengthy stay in a nice restaurant - tricky plan with fractious little ones, especially Jamie, but by a stroke of luck he fell asleep along the strip and by the tim...

Had a little bet with Ollie. Now normally he is not exposed to any alcohol drinking - any wine that comes out in our house is normally long after the kids bedtime. It's not just that I don't approve of drinking in front of the kids - it's just that I have no desire to pour alcohol down my neck halfway through the day - acceptable back in the college days, but not now. I just never fancy a drink until well into the evening. Even on holiday - though there are plenty that do, propping up the bar all day. Even at weddings and social events that take place during the day, you'll never see me touch a drop before the evening.   Anyway, on holiday, things are slightly different. The kids don't go to bed at 7pm, we don't have our tea at 5pm, dining is later, and can involve a drink - so a meal in a restaurant at 8pm may well involve sangria or red wine. So Ollie has picked up on this and noted that I've been drinking red wine, also that he considers it nasty - e...

Today was a day long looked forward to in the Ayres household as it as the day that our long awaited holiday finally came around! Now you may wonder why you had not heard much about this up until now, well that was quite deliberate really. It never ceases to amaze me how many people go bragging about their trips all over the internet. 4 more sleeps, 3 more sleeps, then it's pictures showing off on the beach or pissed up with some cocktails.   You might as well plaster all over facebook, "Hi burglars, come and ransack my house". I would imagine insurance companies might even refuse to pay out in the future if they haven't done so already. So apart from a few close and trusted friends, no-one knew I was going away and in fact my internet footprint has vanished altogether as I have closed my facebook account for the duration. You see even in my absence someone could let it slip. It's my birthday on Saturday so all it takes is someone to write something on my wall th...

Well, what are we to expect from a blog entry from me about my trip to Paris? A list of places we went, and things we saw, with pictures of landmarks, the sort of thing that everyone who has ever been to Paris has bored the life out of everyone they know since they got back with? (As suggested by the picture below). Can't be bothered to rotate it, so just imagine she's having a  little lie down. Or a wry off-the-wall look at the more amusing aspects of the trip, with a focus on Bicester Blogger's usual areas of interest such as food, drink and naughty stuff. Is that Bicester Blogger going in, or just a lookalike? I thought so. Right then - well let's get the logistics out of the way first. I don't go anywhere without doing my research first so was very happy to pay £420 for this trip which included Eurostar each way and 3 nights in the Lenox Montparnasse Hotel - chosen very carefully from research on Trip Advisor. #84 out of over 2000 in Paris ca...

So - trinity is no more - at least not in its current incarnation. What next for trinity? In case you're unaware, trinity is a or rather was, a restaurant and tea-room here in my very own Chapel Street. As of June 1st it has ceased trading. There was a sign outside suggesting it was to re-open as a restaurant only, but when, I am unsure - judging by the amount of junk piled up outside it won't be any time soon. And it seems the large function room upstairs won't be available either as a wedding I had scheduled there for early September can no longer be accomodated. Fortunately the bride has managed to find another venue, and I shall still be DJ'ing for her. However the loss of trinity is a disappointment to me, as I used to get a lot of work there - which was extremely handy as it was just a case of lugging some equipment across the road and setting up. It's a great shame to see this place close once again, but I cannot help but think that it is somewha...

So - having crossed Exmoor, newly repaired wing mirror still attached, we approached our next destination. Being self-catering though, we needed to stop off for some supplies, so in the newly acquired sunshine, google maps led us to Tesco at Ilfracombe. And what a momentous occasion this turned out to be. As finally my beloved Eastmans and I were reunited! Alive and well in Devon. Yes, indeed, it appeared that since leaving me so cruelly without warning earlier in the Spring, my beloved Eastmans had been living a well deserved retirement on the shelves of Tesco in Ilfracombe. It was to be but a brief reunion, just two packets, but I am glad we had the chance to say goodbye. She was very understanding too, and understood about my new relationship with the 15 pack multipacks of Wotsits from Iceland. Well a man has needs...and they were there for me when she wasn't. So - eventually after winding around lots of little roads with passing places, we arrived at Ruda Caravan Par...

Well, here we are, at last, the first of the much awaited holiday blogs. Just to recap, we spent 11 nights down in the West Country, 4 at Butlins in Minehead, followed by a week in a caravan in North Devon. So much to cover! Where does one start? Well in the time-honoured and linear story telling style that is chronological order. We set sail from fair Bicester in dry if somewhat cloudy conditions. But it was not long before we encountered stormy waters - quite literally. The journey was conducted in one of those strange climactic days where you could be driving through a torrential downpour one minute, before emerging into bright sunshine and ground dry as a bone, where literally it had been like a lake a mere mile earlier. Unfortunately our arrival at Butlins co-incided with one such monsoon period, leaving us no option to get soaked despite having our own personal parking space (as one gets in deluxe accomodation) just a few yards from the door we all managed to get comple...

I and countless other people have been saying for years that Bicester needs a proper English restaurant serving good English food. Now there is nothing wrong with the proliferation of Indian, Chinese, etc takeaways and restaurants - most people enjoy those things, but variety is good, and basically there has been nowhere in this town where you can go out and enjoy a decent English meal. And don't even get me started on the Hungry Horse, you may as well, as Basil Fawlty once memorably said "Put out a huge tray of baked beans and garnish it with a few dead dogs". So Maba opens - on the corner of my street. What could be better? Impressive looking menu, nice concept. Let's give it a try. So having returned from Legoland on Wednesday, a quick shower and shave later and in we go for our meal - the four of us, that's Duncan, Claire, Lynda and myself. Nice little cocktail menu to peruse and also a wine list as we waited for our table, booked for 8pm. They were extrem...

Well here I am safely returned from across, or should I say, under "La Manche". Luckily the old gits did not succeed in their plan! http://www.casttv.com/video/hkrq7f4/harry-enfield-old-gits-channel-tunnel-video Alex picked me up at 6am and we were set fair on the drive to Folkestone. Apart from the usual slowdown around the M25 we made it in good time, in fact we were able to get a train half an hour before the scheduled one. This was my first time for me through the channel tunnel, and how easy was it? Amazingly so. When I think of the aggravation of the past, getting on and off ferries, not to mention the horror of the airport experience these days, this was a piece of the proverbial. If you haven't been, you literally drive your car straight into a train, park up, sit there and crack open the flask of coffee, sit back and relax, off goes the train and about 40 minutes later drive out the other end, hey presto! You're in France! Inside the train ...

It never ceases to amaze me how the weather seems to amaze other people! Now we all know that talking about the weather is a national British pastime, but honestly, I can never understand the surprise that comes across people, the media, you name it, whenever what I would class as quite normal weather patterns emerge. "BIG FREEZE ON THE WAY" screams the headline on the Daily Express, on a pretty much annual basis. No shit, sherlock, it's January 30th. Now if you put that up on June 30th you might grab my attention. "OMG - it's -3c" comes a random status on facebook. "Can't believe it". Well I can - it gets that cold every year. I have seen statuses marvelling at the fact that rainfall is occurring. And similar such comments regarding the heat in the summer. Seriously people, how long have you lived in this country? Let's face facts in every year, we are going to get some exceptionally windy days, a few downpours of rain, some cold...