The Olympic Torch in Cleethorpes!

It's official, Olympics fever has taken over the nation; whether you like it or not, the summer's biggest sporting event is EVERYWHERE! I will be the first to admit I am not a massive sporting fan but I do like a good celebration and a bit of patriotism so I will be cheering on Team GB come July.

This Tuesday saw the Olympic torch enter North East Lincolnshire (my county) and to celebrate, the London 2012 committee and North East Lincolnshire Council hosted a celebratory event at Meridian Park, Cleethorpes. Tickets were very limited but DC's mother kindly offered us two of hers, so of course we couldn't turn them down! I booked Tuesday afternoon off from work to get myself prepared (although, I think I have made a couple of wrong wardrobe choices, I wasn't expecting rain!), and then we headed down to what is likely to be the county's biggest event this year.

Left: Queuing outside the arena Right: Tickets at the ready!

If you follow me on Twitter or Instagram, you will know I got a bit snap happy! Luckily, @ultimatecoddy was on hand to take some pictures on my trusty camera ready for this blog (so a massive thank you goes to him!) But be warned, there are plenty of cropped heads from the crowd and shamelessly branded merchandise in these pics...

Meridian Park upon arrival

Getting in position...

DC and I (looking very tired!)

It started...

Presenter Andy Akinwolere of Blue Peter fame.

The show started with community dancers and a street dance troupe.

This DJ got everybody dancing!

Twist and Pulse

The 'social media moment'.

Acrobats!

Tribes performing

The Mayor giving a quick speech

The torch arriving

Here it is! Carried by Jack, 92.

Lighting the beacon

Followed by a fanfare

The crowd.

Taking a piece of the flame to a secret location ready for the next day's relay.

This really was such a fantastic, feel good event; it made me realise that actually, this is a pretty big part of history! The whole ceremony, from the up beat music and live stream of the relay to the passing of the flame and lighting the beacon, really captured the celebratory sense of the whole event; I felt quite proud! And Jack, what a fantastic torchbearer! At 92, he is a WWII war veteran who has been active all of his life. My favourite quote of his speech: "Instead of paying money to watch football, get a bike." What a proud moment for him and his family.

After the flame was taken to the secret location for the night, it abseiled down the Dock Tower and made its way to the rest of Lincolnshire via my street.

The flame made its way down my street the next morning!

There is still some time before the torch reaches its destination so if you have the opportunity to catch a glimpse, I definitely recommend it!

A bit more Zumba Sentao!

Back in May, I blogged about the up and coming fitness craze Zumba Sentao - zumba with chairs. I've taken part in a couple of full length classes now and this really does work your muscles; you can definitely feel your efforts the next day! My next installment is tonight, straight after an hour of normal Zumba - there's nothing like having fun while getting fit.

I came across this video of my local Instructor, Rachel Blood, teaching the new class; for those of you who are a fan of Zumba or are intrigued by Zumba sentao, here is a quick sneak peek of what to expect!

Video sourced from here. Zumba with Rachel's Facebook page is here and the Zumba Sentao Lincolnshire Facebook page is here.

Homemade Chicken Fried Rice

A couple of weeks ago, I tweeted a picture of my homemade chicken fried rice and I got a lot of comments asking how to make it. Then that got me thinking, I haven't actually blogged about food in a while and so, here it is! I'll admit, I stole this method from @ultimatecoddy who found it somewhere on the Internet, and I'm sure that there is a more authentic method somewhere on the world wide web, but for a quick, easy chicken fried rice, this should do the trick.

This is what you'll need:

Spring onions, frozen peas, eggs, chicken, rice, vegetable oil, oyster sauce and soy sauce.

I made a meal for one so I only needed one egg, two spring onions and I guestimated the amount of rice and peas needed.

You start by preparing each part of the dish. So, scramble your eggs...

... defrost your peas... (DC told me to put a good handful or two into a mug of boiling water and leave to heat up - you don't have to keep checking on them so it really is easier!)

... chop the spring onions...

... slice and cook the chicken in one tablespoon of vegetable oil until golden brown and thoroughly cooked...
 

... and boil the rice. I like Jamie Oliver's absorbtion method; two parts water to one part rice, or half a cup of rice to one cup of water, in this example. It just means that there is hardly any water to drain once the rice has cooked.

Next, simply add once table spoon of vegetable oil, two table spoons of soy sauce and a tea spoon of oyster sauce (or a little bit more) to the wok and heat up slowly. Fry the rice and chicken in the sauces, mixing thoroughly to make sure all is covered, then add the egg, spring onions and peas and heat through for about five minutes.

Et voila! Very quick, very easy chicken fried rice!

The Brocklesby Country Fair 2012

On Sunday, DC and I went on a (very short) road trip to Brocklesby to attend the 27th annual Brocklesby Country Fair. I think I must have county show fever...


The Brocklesby Estate spans around 27,000 acres and was established by the Pelham family in the 1560s. Today, it is owned by the Earl of Yarborough  and consists of vast woodlands, a mausoleum, farms and gardens; more information about the site can be found on the website. There is quite a fascinating history here, so much so, I would love to go back and explore the grounds properly!

We arrived and parked the car, trudged through the mud and started to browse the trade stands. Of course, there were craft, clothing, charity and agricultural stores galore, including an older gentleman who was happily sat smoking a pipe, carving walking sticks out of pieces of wood; I wish I had taken a photo.

Unfortunately, because of the weather and the state of the ground, the time table for the Main Ring Attractions had been moved around somewhat. The first act we saw was Ben Potter's Birds of Prey Displays. *WARNING: I got a bit snap happy with the bird photos!*

It was incredible to see how well trained these birds were, although Ben did say how his eagle, Rosie, did like to perch in trees for a while! Luckily she was well behaved and the 'team' gave a fantastic show.

The next act we saw were Polo players, but because of the waterlogged grounds they couldn't perform properly. It was a shame really as I would have liked to have pretended to be on Made in Chelsea for that short time, imaging it was Prince Harry before me... (ahem!)

By now it was lunchtime, so naturally we had to have a foot long Lincolnshire Sausage bun, smothered in fried onions and plenty of tomato sauce - I know that the county recently lost its appeal to keep the name 'Lincolnshire Sausage', but let's face it, it will always be.

DC got a little bit peckish later on too, so he managed to scoff down a fresh Hog Roast roll. I had a bite - melt in the mouth goodness!

Then we headed back to the Main Ring to see the Parade of the Brocklesby Hounds. This is the oldest, private pack of purebred English Foxhounds dating back to the 1700s, and although the dogs do not hunt foxes anymore, they still take part in hunting exercises six months of the year. They really are so adorable! And seeing this act also reinforced my wanting of a horse... or at least to try horse riding...

What was great about this act was that people were actually allowed into the Ring to stroke to dogs and to speak to the hunters - now that is great public interaction for you!

We went for one last wonder round before heading home. The Brocklesby country Fair may not be the biggest show of its kind in the area, but it is truly a great day out for the local people. I only hope that next year, the weather is somewhat better...