Weather permitting

Not too shabby a week all in all. C and I have appeared to do swappsies on the having of late nights. I finished 'on time' most of the week whilst she (being the socialite that she is) was out nearly every night. Had an impromptu after work drink on Wednesday, that turned into drinks which was a fun. Suffered the next day - I'm rubbish at work on hangovers...in fact my hangovers are generally pretty rubbish these days...listen to your body is the message there I think!

My old Harrogate friend Heather stayed over on Thursday which was great - the three of us had a right old catch up and made it to bed far too late and cidered for a school night - two in a row, doh! Luckily I was working from home on Friday (waiting in from 9-6 for the gasman) which saves having to endure the now summer heated tube with a sore head (not to mention the imminent lack of sympathy from colleagues)! Work have graciously given me a new IBM Thinkpad and a company mobile, so now I can work from home almost seamlessly (once I'd spent an hour on the phone to IT sort teething problems out). I was actually busier than if I had been in the office - I seemed to spend the whole day on the phone and answering emails. Also every workman in Wandsworth was working on our road, so it was pretty hard to concentrate above the sound of drills and stone blasting. Nice to sit around in shorts and t-shirt with the radio on and a decent cup of tea to sip on whilst I worked though.

C had driven to North Devon on Friday morning with the girls for Lucy's hen do - sounds like a right laugh. The plan was surfing, BBQs on the beach, games and liberal dose of pub time. I pitied the other people staying on the caravan site though! So I had another weekend to myself then. I'd arranged to meet Lou's boyfriend Chris and his mate Arthur for some drinks in town in the evening. We started at The Blue Posts, then as we were all a bit skint systematically searched out every Samuel Smiths pub we could in Soho (not hard, there's loads, plus the beer's amongst the cheapest and tastiest in the capital). Top night - talked the arse off every subject going and put the world to rights. Got kicked out of the last place (because it was closing, not because we were being naughty) and got home on auto-pilot. No more drinking for a good few days. Forgot to say - Banksy's latest piece was outside The Blue Post - the little tinker!

As per usual after a heavy night I woke up at the crack of dawn, so got up and after popping to buy the papers and polishing off brekky, I finished a bit of work that had been bugging me then carried on to enjoy my weekend with a 'clear' head. The sun was shining brightly and I fancied a good old hike so...got the train to Victoria, walked to Buckingham Palace then down The Mall; popped into the ICA; headed to Trafalgar Square, down Strand to Embankment; over the river to the South Bank (mooched around a bit), back over the river (watched a brass band near Charing Cross) walked through St.James' Park and back to Victoria. Train to Clapham Junction, bought pesto and herb plants at the Northcote Road farmers market then walked home though Wandsworth Common - great long walk and the sun shone on me all the way.

It poured down with rain most of today, so bar a quick visit to Kings Road I was flatbound. Did loads of experimenting with movie footage I had taken with iMovie - not bad for an entry level video app. Resisted the temptation to use most of the quirky 'filter' effects (as also resist with Photoshop). Can see the potential to do some great stuff, so watch out for more video on Flickr. Check out my latest photos also. Our TV died on Saturday morning and although it's been annoying not be able to watch Wimbledon I have listened to loads more radio than I usually would and really enjoyed it - Radio 2, 6, XFM and NME.

Top tune purchase this week has been The Bees - Sound Selection. An excellent album of covers inspired by the band's pre/post gig DJ sets. A band I only discovered a few years ago, but can thoroughly endorse their tripped out blues funk..er...stuff. Some choice versions on this album as well. Get it - it's great low slung summer music.

A fairly intense week ahead (during the day at least) - several deadlines to hit and a few lateys expected. Counting down the days to latitude - preying for some forgiving weather.

Pip pip.