Nipple Pinchy

It has been a most amazing weekend indeed. Truly fantastic and remarkable. Tuxedokitteh and Crazy Bob (and he is crazy!!) visited us from Seattle and we spent the day chilling and showing them around the North of England.

They arrived on Friday and Wolfie greeted them to our humble abode. I was out at work and couldn't get back until late due to my shifts and the fact no buses appeared to be running. This necessitated a hang around outside Leeds Station forever but I eventually returned and met them in the Wetherby Whaler fish and chip shop. The food there is most wonderful, with rich creamy batter, dry chips (which are far better than soggy and mushy) and mushy peas (which are far better than dry and crisp). You can also buy as much bread and butter as you like and beer (both ale AND continental beer). We stuck with the tea. I got Crazy Bob an alsatian toy from the toy box and they thoroughly enjoyed their taste of England.

Another taste of England was soon at hand when we went to the Butchers Arms, the local Sam Smith's pub with an errant apostrophe, and we sampled bitters and stouts in convival Yorkshire atmosphere. There were no flat caps or whippets sadly but there was a nice Sixties shagpile carpet. After that, we went to ASDA where we bought them the very finest in British cuisine - pork pies, scotch eggs and Worcestershire sauce crisps. We also bought them more ale and retired to our house for a wee soiree.

Saturday saw us in York, where we met up with the wonderous darling who is known as Raul. We met him at the Railway Museum as Tuxedokitteh had a penchant for big engines that go woo-woo. I have been there numerous times before but it's one of those places where you notice something new all the time. Still, I have seen the same documentary about 1950s signalling so many times I can almost quote it verbatim. The museum is a treasure trove for the railway enthusiast and we spent four excellent hours moazying about (how the hell do you spell moazying?). We saw Axle and Relay, the cat and mouse duo who are always on the tracks (under a wheel probably) and we played the Flying Scotsman rap with all the voices reminiscing about it coming to York back in 2005.

After this, I thought it would be most grand if I showed them the Minster, which we did. We even went inside but at £8.00 for full admission, we thought it was a little steep. They were impressed with the grandeur of the building as I delightfully informed them that even our house was older than their country. They laughed. We grabbed some ice cream - mint choc chip and vanilla for me - and a Bakewell Tart from a hideously expensive ice cream van (the Americans did comment on the price of everything over here but they were surprised with how cheap the ale was in the Sam Smith's at less than £2) before we went down The Shambles and Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate which gave them amusement. I tried to fill them in on as much history as I could - particularly regarding Constantine the Great as it turned out - and they took lots of pictures of things, some with their fox mascot featuring prominently.

It was then a trip to Betty's to round off a rather fine day in a quintessentially English city. The atmosphere was prim and proper, the dress of the waiters was in sharp contrast to our scruffy attire and we even saw a man dressed like Hulk Hogan outside, striding purposefully and nonchalantly through a sea of bemused onlookers. The Americans had cake and afternoon tea whilst I had my traditional teacake. I even showed them how to use a tea strainer. We then walked on the walls for a bit as the sun went down and it got cold. I should have brought a jumper but it had been warm during the day so I just froze with my bare arms (as opposed to bear arms, which I don't have as I am not particularly hairy). They, like my Mother, also found the war memorials of particular interest.

In contrast to the genteel atmosphere of York, when we got back to Leeds we were greeted by a group of pissheads stumbling about and being loud. Two sides to every coin but as this is fairly representative of Britain on a Saturday night, at least we were giving them a full experience. We met up with Patterfloof who had pattered and floofed his way to see us and after a quick tour of the bars only to find them pounding with chav music and with chavs in them undoubtedly vomiting to the beat, we settled for The Brewery Tap - a nice continental beer pub near the station. The music here was ecclectic and not overbearing so we could have a good chat and we were entranced by the 1960s overhead shot of Leeds on the wall. It was a photo of what the city was like at the time the motorways were just being built and it was interesting to note the similarities and differences over the last 40 years. We also shared some jalapeno REAL crisps (as opposed to the fake ones we keep hearing about) before going back home to compete our English evening - by grabbing a takeaway curry and going home.

We introduced Tuxedo and Bob to poppadoms, chipattis and a myriad of different gastronomic flavours whilst we showed them Weebl & Bob (not to be confused with Tuxedo and Bob - they are not egg shaped for a start). In return, they showed us Family Guy's second Star Wars spoof Something Something Dark Side which was good to start with but trailed off towards the end. We also saw the Family Guy episode everyone was talking about last year - the one which is a furry's wet dream. As a result of all this, I spent most of Sunday morning running around saying "Nipple pinchy" like Peter Griffin does as Bobafet.

Sadly, the duo had to leave on Sunday morning and head back to London but it was a most excellent weekend and Wolfie and I both enjoyed their company. They will be at the London Meet this Saturday so be sure to say hi to them if you are going :-)

Nipple Pinchy

It has been a most amazing weekend indeed. Truly fantastic and remarkable. Tuxedokitteh and Crazy Bob (and he is crazy!!) visited us from Seattle and we spent the day chilling and showing them around the North of England.

They arrived on Friday and Wolfie greeted them to our humble abode. I was out at work and couldn't get back until late due to my shifts and the fact no buses appeared to be running. This necessitated a hang around outside Leeds Station forever but I eventually returned and met them in the Wetherby Whaler fish and chip shop. The food there is most wonderful, with rich creamy batter, dry chips (which are far better than soggy and mushy) and mushy peas (which are far better than dry and crisp). You can also buy as much bread and butter as you like and beer (both ale AND continental beer). We stuck with the tea. I got Crazy Bob an alsatian toy from the toy box and they thoroughly enjoyed their taste of England.

Another taste of England was soon at hand when we went to the Butchers Arms, the local Sam Smith's pub with an errant apostrophe, and we sampled bitters and stouts in convival Yorkshire atmosphere. There were no flat caps or whippets sadly but there was a nice Sixties shagpile carpet. After that, we went to ASDA where we bought them the very finest in British cuisine - pork pies, scotch eggs and Worcestershire sauce crisps. We also bought them more ale and retired to our house for a wee soiree.

Saturday saw us in York, where we met up with the wonderous darling who is known as Raul. We met him at the Railway Museum as Tuxedokitteh had a penchant for big engines that go woo-woo. I have been there numerous times before but it's one of those places where you notice something new all the time. Still, I have seen the same documentary about 1950s signalling so many times I can almost quote it verbatim. The museum is a treasure trove for the railway enthusiast and we spent four excellent hours moazying about (how the hell do you spell moazying?). We saw Axle and Relay, the cat and mouse duo who are always on the tracks (under a wheel probably) and we played the Flying Scotsman rap with all the voices reminiscing about it coming to York back in 2005.

After this, I thought it would be most grand if I showed them the Minster, which we did. We even went inside but at £8.00 for full admission, we thought it was a little steep. They were impressed with the grandeur of the building as I delightfully informed them that even our house was older than their country. They laughed. We grabbed some ice cream - mint choc chip and vanilla for me - and a Bakewell Tart from a hideously expensive ice cream van (the Americans did comment on the price of everything over here but they were surprised with how cheap the ale was in the Sam Smith's at less than £2) before we went down The Shambles and Whip-Ma-Whop-Ma-Gate which gave them amusement. I tried to fill them in on as much history as I could - particularly regarding Constantine the Great as it turned out - and they took lots of pictures of things, some with their fox mascot featuring prominently.

It was then a trip to Betty's to round off a rather fine day in a quintessentially English city. The atmosphere was prim and proper, the dress of the waiters was in sharp contrast to our scruffy attire and we even saw a man dressed like Hulk Hogan outside, striding purposefully and nonchalantly through a sea of bemused onlookers. The Americans had cake and afternoon tea whilst I had my traditional teacake. I even showed them how to use a tea strainer. We then walked on the walls for a bit as the sun went down and it got cold. I should have brought a jumper but it had been warm during the day so I just froze with my bare arms (as opposed to bear arms, which I don't have as I am not particularly hairy). They, like my Mother, also found the war memorials of particular interest.

In contrast to the genteel atmosphere of York, when we got back to Leeds we were greeted by a group of pissheads stumbling about and being loud. Two sides to every coin but as this is fairly representative of Britain on a Saturday night, at least we were giving them a full experience. We met up with Patterfloof who had pattered and floofed his way to see us and after a quick tour of the bars only to find them pounding with chav music and with chavs in them undoubtedly vomiting to the beat, we settled for The Brewery Tap - a nice continental beer pub near the station. The music here was ecclectic and not overbearing so we could have a good chat and we were entranced by the 1960s overhead shot of Leeds on the wall. It was a photo of what the city was like at the time the motorways were just being built and it was interesting to note the similarities and differences over the last 40 years. We also shared some jalapeno REAL crisps (as opposed to the fake ones we keep hearing about) before going back home to compete our English evening - by grabbing a takeaway curry and going home.

We introduced Tuxedo and Bob to poppadoms, chipattis and a myriad of different gastronomic flavours whilst we showed them Weebl & Bob (not to be confused with Tuxedo and Bob - they are not egg shaped for a start). In return, they showed us Family Guy's second Star Wars spoof Something Something Dark Side which was good to start with but trailed off towards the end. We also saw the Family Guy episode everyone was talking about last year - the one which is a furry's wet dream. As a result of all this, I spent most of Sunday morning running around saying "Nipple pinchy" like Peter Griffin does as Bobafet.

Sadly, the duo had to leave on Sunday morning and head back to London but it was a most excellent weekend and Wolfie and I both enjoyed their company. They will be at the London Meet this Saturday so be sure to say hi to them if you are going :-)