Puppy Dog Market!
Saturday was our 10th annual Eurovision party and it was probably the best so far. I feared we had invited too many people but nine - Stray, Luna, Marcus, Craz, Absolute, Adia and Wolfie's former colleague and baldy beardy man Adam - turned out to be just the right number. Wolfie also managed to rig the sound system so we could hear the songs and commentary despite people talking over it, which meant that I could engage with the contest while anyone else was free to talk if they wished. People turned up from about 6pm, with the full contingent being there an hour later. We then ordered a huge number of pizzas from Domino's and settled down to watch the action, with Graham Norton being on scintillating form once again. I must admit that I didn't reckon much to Portugal's entry - the eventual winner - but it was good that a new country took the title and I hope it put paid to the usual tedious talk of 'political' voting. I noticed that when Australia gave the UK 12 points, some of the people who drone on about the voting suddenly didn't seem to mind, which didn't really surprise me of course. Anyway, the UK finished 15th, which I thought was a little low really as it was quite a strong song this year, sung very well. It was a shame that my personal favourite, Azerbaijan, with the dancing horse head on the ladder didn't do as well as it deserved to, while as I have mentioned, the tedium that was Portugal's song was quite surprising in how well it was received. Considering it got a lot of votes from a lot of places, I guess I was just in the wrong. He did look a little like Salad Fingers though.
The highlight, as usual, was the banter on Twitter with friends from across Europe. This definitely adds a sense of togetherness about the event, and it is still one of my favourite nights of the year. After this, Adia headed off, but the rest of us stayed around to watch the NutriBullet Infomercial from High Street TV, a half hour programme that is always on in the early hours of the morning and something with which I have become worringly obsessed such is its general naffness. I can probably quote the whole thing now, and my love for it didn't really transcend to anyone else, which was probably also the case for the Chin Review, which we introduced Adam to afterwards. By this time, Wolfie and I had gone through a whole keg of pale ale that we had bought at a service station in Gloucestershire on our way back from JFTW last month while I had probably eaten enough snacks to give me a week's worth of calories. They are so deliciously moreish.
Craz had an appointment at 11am so Wolfie woke up early and drove her and Absolute home, leaving me to snooze. Adam had headed off when we all went to bed just after 3am, leaving Stray, Luna, Marcus and his holey anus pants he was flashing most of the evening behind. We awoke around noon and after a pleasant breakfast at Cafe Barthez, which is now becoming something of a post-Eurovision tradition now that we boycott Wetherspoons due to the pro-Brexit stance of their arse of an owner. After this, the trio disappered, leaving Wolfie and I alone to enjoy the rest of what has been a rather sunny day. Due to this, we decided to go out to Garforth, a place to which I had never been, where we had a pleasureable half hour stroll through the town centre. Along the way, we saw the flame for peace, a gas lantern standing near the station which underneath contains candles for you to light your own flame. This was probably the only thing of real interest in Garforth although we did gatecrash two staff members of a local cafe who were cleaning up while listening to loud heavy metal. I thought the bistro was open but alas it wasn't, but it was here where we discovered the existance of a local Garforth brewery called Quirky Brewhouse. They stocked two of their beers in the shop, and with an offer of two bottles for a fiver, we decided to purchase. They also told us that the brewery was just down the road and that they had a taproom that was open until 8pm. Seizing on this information, we decided to go, particularly as it was only a ten minute walk in the spring sunshine. It was situated in the middle of an industrial estate, tucked behind some iron warehouses, but once we got there, we saw a large number of people sat outside at tables. Inside, the bar was quite small but it was comfortably full, meaning we were only left with one table to choose. This is where we sat as we enjoyed the local ales and marvelled at the range of craft beer they were selling. They also have specialist gin nights and catering vans too, suggesting this is quite a serious place, so it was quite the discovery to find it.
With Wolfie driving, we could only really have a half, plus I wanted to go to the gym to try and work off a small fraction of the calories I had consumed during Eurovision. This saw us head off shortly afterwards, going back to the car, on the way discovering a local garden that had about 25 sculptures of humans made out of flower pots. It was all incredibly well done, with a little tube leading from the front gate to a money collection box for donations. It certainly cheered up my day, as did the picturesque Garforth station, where we parked our car so we could see the beautiful red wraught iron bridge. On the way back home, we drove through a number of pit villages before heading back into Leeds, stopping off at Thwaite Mills, a place we didn't even knew existed yet one we will have to visit sometime as it was sadly closed. A trip to Farsley was in order to see a local off license, which was once good, became terrible but has since upped its game due to the wide range of craft beers they now stock there. It was quite impressive and very near us, so something to bear in mind in future. This is one of the huge highlights of our Sunday afternoon trips out - we always tend to find surprising or interesting things while exploring.
Time was pressing however so we had to be quick as I really did want to make the gym. Fortunately, I just about made it, doing my usual workout before heading back home to cook fish finger sandwiches, vac the mess up from the night before and work on our partition screen for the Leeds Meet for the fursuit changing area. So all in all then a rather busy weekend, albeit reassuringly cheap and great fun.
The highlight, as usual, was the banter on Twitter with friends from across Europe. This definitely adds a sense of togetherness about the event, and it is still one of my favourite nights of the year. After this, Adia headed off, but the rest of us stayed around to watch the NutriBullet Infomercial from High Street TV, a half hour programme that is always on in the early hours of the morning and something with which I have become worringly obsessed such is its general naffness. I can probably quote the whole thing now, and my love for it didn't really transcend to anyone else, which was probably also the case for the Chin Review, which we introduced Adam to afterwards. By this time, Wolfie and I had gone through a whole keg of pale ale that we had bought at a service station in Gloucestershire on our way back from JFTW last month while I had probably eaten enough snacks to give me a week's worth of calories. They are so deliciously moreish.
Craz had an appointment at 11am so Wolfie woke up early and drove her and Absolute home, leaving me to snooze. Adam had headed off when we all went to bed just after 3am, leaving Stray, Luna, Marcus and his holey anus pants he was flashing most of the evening behind. We awoke around noon and after a pleasant breakfast at Cafe Barthez, which is now becoming something of a post-Eurovision tradition now that we boycott Wetherspoons due to the pro-Brexit stance of their arse of an owner. After this, the trio disappered, leaving Wolfie and I alone to enjoy the rest of what has been a rather sunny day. Due to this, we decided to go out to Garforth, a place to which I had never been, where we had a pleasureable half hour stroll through the town centre. Along the way, we saw the flame for peace, a gas lantern standing near the station which underneath contains candles for you to light your own flame. This was probably the only thing of real interest in Garforth although we did gatecrash two staff members of a local cafe who were cleaning up while listening to loud heavy metal. I thought the bistro was open but alas it wasn't, but it was here where we discovered the existance of a local Garforth brewery called Quirky Brewhouse. They stocked two of their beers in the shop, and with an offer of two bottles for a fiver, we decided to purchase. They also told us that the brewery was just down the road and that they had a taproom that was open until 8pm. Seizing on this information, we decided to go, particularly as it was only a ten minute walk in the spring sunshine. It was situated in the middle of an industrial estate, tucked behind some iron warehouses, but once we got there, we saw a large number of people sat outside at tables. Inside, the bar was quite small but it was comfortably full, meaning we were only left with one table to choose. This is where we sat as we enjoyed the local ales and marvelled at the range of craft beer they were selling. They also have specialist gin nights and catering vans too, suggesting this is quite a serious place, so it was quite the discovery to find it.
With Wolfie driving, we could only really have a half, plus I wanted to go to the gym to try and work off a small fraction of the calories I had consumed during Eurovision. This saw us head off shortly afterwards, going back to the car, on the way discovering a local garden that had about 25 sculptures of humans made out of flower pots. It was all incredibly well done, with a little tube leading from the front gate to a money collection box for donations. It certainly cheered up my day, as did the picturesque Garforth station, where we parked our car so we could see the beautiful red wraught iron bridge. On the way back home, we drove through a number of pit villages before heading back into Leeds, stopping off at Thwaite Mills, a place we didn't even knew existed yet one we will have to visit sometime as it was sadly closed. A trip to Farsley was in order to see a local off license, which was once good, became terrible but has since upped its game due to the wide range of craft beers they now stock there. It was quite impressive and very near us, so something to bear in mind in future. This is one of the huge highlights of our Sunday afternoon trips out - we always tend to find surprising or interesting things while exploring.
Time was pressing however so we had to be quick as I really did want to make the gym. Fortunately, I just about made it, doing my usual workout before heading back home to cook fish finger sandwiches, vac the mess up from the night before and work on our partition screen for the Leeds Meet for the fursuit changing area. So all in all then a rather busy weekend, albeit reassuringly cheap and great fun.