PJBelfast

George's Great British Kitchen was our restaurant of choice for lunch today, thanks primarily to some great Tripadvisor reviews. My chum is over from the USA and had a craving for some authentic British fish and chips. The service was impeccable, with Faye the waitress taking the time to advise us of the best way to have a "share plate". The batter was light and the cod was perfectly cooked. We enjoyed a good breakfast pot of tea for two, some tartare sauce, lemon slices on top, mushy peas and great crispy chips. With temperatures plumetting here in  the UK, with snowy and icey  condition outside, this was a great heartsome way to spend lunch and say a final farewell to Nottingham. Maybe you've been to a great cafe or restaurant that you'd happily recommend? Feel free to share.

I have at long last invested in a reusable coffee cup. Not exactly a big thing in helping save our planet, but a small step nonetheless. At a special conference price of around £12 I have a collapsible Eco friendly reusable coffee cup. It has a silicone interior with a spill proof lid. It's portable, foldable and collapses (when empty) to fit in my pocket. You can get them on Amazon for around £7. Stats for disposable coffee cups in the UK confirm: The UK throws away 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups every year. Less than 1 per cent of coffee cups are recycled. Half a million cups are littered every day. Packaging producers only pay for 10 per cent of the cost of packaging disposal and recycling. Maybe your still loving your styrofoam or take away disposable cup? Or maybe you'll consider your daily waste footprint and convert to investing in a reusable, portable, foldable and collapsible cup. In the words of Tesco's slogan "every little helps.&

The 2007 movie co-starring Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson is called The Bucket list. Corporate billionaire Edward Cole and working class mechanic Carter Chambers have nothing in common except for their terminal illnesses. While sharing a hospital room together, they decide to leave it and do all the things they have ever wanted to do before they die according to their bucket list. In the process, both of them heal each other, become unlikely friends, and ultimately find joy in life.  Nicholson starts the movie in a boardroom drinking Kopi Luwak, one of the most expensive coffees in the world.  Well at 62/63 years of age we have done the same! Yes the boys are back in town. Tim, my old compadre treated me to Kopi Luwak from our  local coffee emporium. Forty three years have elapsed since we first met as friends in Portland, Oregon in 1976 and we are still together on a mission for holistic wellbeing. Our flight is  to East Midlands airport and on to Nottingham

One of my favourite couple-friendships from East Belfast are the Quigley's. Peter and Beryl are so easy to be around and have one of the most wonderful gifts of hospitality. My wife and I just love a nights craic with these guys. As they say here in Northern Ireland "they've been around a few corners", - meaning that they bring a wealth of wisdom to the conversation, from a rich seam of life experiences. Listen out for Peter's thought for the day talks on Radio Ulster. They are always a great way to start your day. Beryl's story is rather amazing. She is a woman whose husband was murdered by the IRA. She tells how she felt a spiritual compulsion to forgive his killers as he lay dying on the front doorstep of the family home. Beryl was saying goodbye to her 35-year-old husband, William McConnell, the deputy governor of the Maze prison, when two gunmen appeared and opened fire at close range on 6th March 1984. Mr McConnell, had been in charg

While my son's were growing up we didn't focus much on the importance of gift-giving. Since we've been empty nesters things have improved though. Rather than buy more 'stuff' for each other we have invested, particularly at Christmas, in giving gift vouchers that can be redeemed for wellbeing experiences. Mrs B has enjoyed massages and I've just this month experienced a calming facial and  a chillaxed reflexology session. So I come with experiential recommendations. If you get a chance treat yourself or your partner to these wellbeing experiences. You'll feel the better for them. For facial massage contact Jason Shankey's, Male Grooming in East Belfast https://www.jasonshankey.com/ For reflexology contact therapist Amanda Orr, near Newtownards. https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002408045432 https://www.willowmassage.co.uk/

It's the end of January and I've managed to live through Blue Monday, 21st January, which is deemed to be the most depressing day of the year. Some of my colleagues dressed in blue in support of people suffering poor mental health. Depression happens to one in four of us. As a former sufferer of acute depression I write this blog for the twenty five percent of you out there - my fellow-sufferers. Firstly, seek help . If your mood is low and maybe you're not sleeping please speak to your GP. You may find your concentration is poor and nothing brings you joy. It's best not to self diagnose, as you're probably not in the best frame of mind to do this. They may suggest medication which may help stabalize your mood. They may suggest counselling or talk therapies like CBT. All are there to support you never to shame you. Really low? Please call the Samaritans on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland. They are a safe place to talk if you are feeling suicidal. Second

Santa was good to me and brought me an all singing and dancing coffee bean grinder. It has all the ground bean settings, depending on which method you prefer for brewing. I mainly use the  cafetière  (French press) setting but with the recent acquisition of an expresso coffee machine also use filter setting. It has coarse to fine settings covering every brewing method eventuality including aeropress. It's a cracker piece of kit. January has therefore been a month of experimenting with a variety of beans from far-flung corners of the globe. Along with this new hobby I have the distinct advantage of having SD Bells literally on my doorstep. Established in 1887, SD Bells is Ireland's oldest tea importers and coffee roasters. This emporium is my go to place to check out the varieties on offer. I've tried quite a lot. Even the expensive Jamaican Blue Mountain. It's a matter of personal taste though. So I haven't got caught up in the speciality roast subscri

Stardate 12/1/19 Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, especially when it comes to shopping. Shopping on my own is so easy - you see, you try it on and then you buy - simple eh! Not if you are with a woman though. Living "on Venus" is very different than living "on Mars"! My wife has today  been looking  for a new handbag. After ruling out the usual suspects in House of Fraser, TK Maxx and Debenhams, yes, you've guessed it - back to House of Fraser for the one we saw five hours ago! Every handbag scrutenized, felt for texture & quality, zips tested for security and then each capacity checked to ensure it was able to fit everything inside ("everything but the kitchen sink"!) My wife says she isn't a "shopper." This word probably does here a great disservice. More like a 'scavenger', hunting down every option before she changes her mind to choose the one she had previously seen in the other shop. I'm outside an

I was on a train journey this morning and asked the conductor for a ticket. After he processed my free sexagenarian train pass, with unexpected dry whit he said "where did you steal that from"? I was for once quick out of the blocks and retorted "you've made my day", as the inference was I was too young to have a 60 something train pass. At lunch when my quinquagenarian wife (50 something) was about to order a carafe of wine, she was jokingly asked "Are you old enough to order that madam? My wife loves to be asked for ID! He then went on to insult me, quipping: "I see you are with your father today?" In Belfast we call that being a "cheeky slabber" - but in Northern Ireland banter and slagging come with turf. Go on complement someone today -make their day . Let me know their reaction.

In the words if the Archbishop of Canterbury " Creator of the heavens, who led the Magi by a star to worship the Christ-child: guide and sustain us, that we may find our journey’s end  in Jesus Christ our Lord." #Epiphany #FollowTheStar    # Todaywecelebrateepiphany #WisemenseekJesus #Bringourgiftstotheking2019