I stopped work in good time to get ready to go out. We’d timed it down to the minute but the plan depended on how fast we’d be served at the restaurant. The poet couldn’t find the cinema tickets and had to open up his laptop to make the email show on his phone, for some reason. And there they were right at the top, whereas before there was no sign of them.
We left at around 6:05pm and got to Pizza Express at about 6:30pm, which gave them a whole hour to serve us our main course. I had their Grand Chicken Caesar Salad, with extra mushrooms instead of anchovies, and the poet had one of their signature calzones. We’d finished eating at 7pm… still plenty of time to have a pudding if we wanted. Well, we wanted. And we were still away before 7:30pm.
This was probably the best service we’ve ever had from Pizza Express, and it was already pretty good beforehand. Also, the salad was one of the best I’ve had there too, and the puddings were, well, scrumptious. We gave our compliments to the chef (for cooking the salad…?) and made it to the pictures with time to spare. We’ve found a perfect parking spot that we thought was £1, but after 6pm it’s free. Even better.
Now then, the film… we knew that ARGYLLE was going to be a bit strange because it’s from the same people who make the KINGSMAN films. But it was one of those films that you thought couldn’t get any sillier, but sillier and sillier it got. Right to the end. It’s as though they did it on purpose.
“Aha! So you thought THAT was silly. Now hold my coat.”
All. The. Way. Through.
It was a bit overlong in places, where I thought they dragged things out a bit. But over all, it was good, light entertainment. And very, very silly.
I loved the premise and I think that would still make another good story. I’m just not sure I would have done what they did with it. Well, I know I wouldn’t.
My two favourite parts were Chip the cat, who played Alfie (Claudia Schiffer’s cat, Schiffer is married to Matthew Vaughn the director), and the opening number YOU’RE THE FIRST, THE LAST, MY EVERYTHING by Barry White.
The flowers in the picture were part of our Valentine’s Day treat. He bought 2 bunches, one each, and a massive cake that had sweeties on. We didn’t open the cake as we were going out for our meal. And while I’d carried on working for a bit, he arranged the flowers in a vase that belonged to my mom.
There’s a wonderful story behind the vase. It was on a top shelf in our local gift shop in the 1950s or 1960s. Mom liked it and the price said 4 shillings and 6 pence (4s 6d), or something like that. That’s less than 25p in decimal money. Dad asked the shopkeeper to get the vase down, and almost had a shock when the price actually said 46 shillings (about £2.30 today, but a big chunk of his weekly wage back then).
(It may have been that he thought it was 46 shillings and it was actually four old pounds and something, but you get the gist.)
Because the chap had gone to so much trouble, Dad didn’t feel as though he could tell him he didn’t want it after all. So he bought it, and it came out every time Mom had any flowers to display. (She did like her flowers.) It turned out to be a Beswick too, so a nice piece of pottery.
When my sister asked if there was anything in particular of Mom’s I’d like, the only thing I asked for was the vase. And now it’s mine. Or ours. And this is the first time we’ve used it.
It’s such a cheerful colour. We keep it on a windowsill in the kitchen and every time we pull the blind up, it cheers us up.
As the dog had been on his own for a few hours, we stayed up with him for a bit and ended up having a late night. And that meant we had a late start yesterday too. Once at my desk, I shared the gig list, ran my weekly tech scan, and started today’s blog post. Then it was back to the editing for a few hours.
I finished the pdf proof just before 7pm. The poet had already gone to band practice and the plan was to have a bit of a break before he got home again with tea.
Today I start work on the maps. I already edited 24 pages of maps and they were all discarded and replaced. Now I’m editing the new ones all over again. Another 24 pages. I’d also like to brainstorm a short story for an anthology. And I’d like to get a newsletter out…We’ll see how it all goes.
Oh yes, and today’s the day we complete on our late parents’ house sale… Eek!
Have a fab weekend!
Sounds like a fun night. The vase is lovely.
I hope the sale goes through smoothly! Have a great weekend.
Thank you! It all went through without a hitch. Very happy.