Thursday

I saw my opportunity to do something new and took it with both hands; bought artichoke hearts for the first time.

Wednesday

Shell Garage between Watford and Rickmansworth. Lots of old things, but not much new.

Tuesday

New thing was cycling miles round the houses to get home - further along the canal. Around the golf club, past Denham station, and then through the outskirts of Chalfont in order to avoid the super-dangerous North Orbital Road.

Monday

The Bourne Ultimatum.

Sunday

Notting Hill Carnival. And a plate of curried goat. Don't think I can continue to claim I am vegetarian.

Saturday

The departure lounge at Knock airport :(

Friday

Rock and roll! New thing for today was going on the back of my dad's cousin's son's Harley Davidson along the twisty roads from Belderig to Killala where we hired a fishing boat. Stopped off for a cup of tea at the holiday cottage where the other side of the family were staying - bit more comfortable than our tents. Then after watching a car and a van crash into each other quite spectacularly, we went out miles to sea and caught loads of mackerel, and a cheeky pollock. Back to McHale's again for our last night to lament about how quickly the holiday went by.

Thursday

Been to the Western Sands in Belmullet before, but went into a couple of shops for my new thing. Also stopped in Glenamoy at a place called the Angler's rest. Visited the highly impressive Ceide Fields Visitor Centre - an attraction which brings 40,000 to Mayo every year, as it shows evidence of habitation from the Stone Age. The buildling is magnificent - beautifully constructed and totally in keeping with the landscape. The tour was fascinating, and brought to life by the fact that the man who started the work was my dad's teacher. We'll meet his son in the pub further on in the week - he's an expert archaeologist who teaches at UCD.
Also went to the Merry Monk pub in Ballina for my dad's cousin's daughter's husband's birthday. Brilliant craic.

Wednesday

Galway city - I can't for the life of me remember whether I'd been here before or not, so I guess it should count as a new thing. Also went to the beautiful seaside town of Clifden where I enjoyed a plate of fresh seafood at EJ Kings. Mabel had bangers and mash. Then we drove back through Connemara National Park which is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my life. Saw a pair of legs hanging out of a hedge at the side of the road on the way back. We stopped to find a woman in a hi-vis jacket swigging a bottle or whisky. One end of the pulchtridinous scale to the other.

Tuesday

Bruised knees all round after being driven around most of Mayo by my dad. New things:
1. Clew Bay Heritage Centre.
2. A place called the West in Westport (hang on - I thought we didn't go into this many pubs!)
3. The Seven Arches in Newport which we left after waiting to be served. The girl behind the bar watched the whole of Eastenders before electing to serve us.
4. The Clock Tavern for dinner in Westport.
5. Matt Molloy's pub in Westport - as you would expect from the owner (the flautist in the Chieftains) there was some amazing live music which kept us entertained until 2am.

Monday

I elected not to climb the mountain behind my family's house, so new things were the back of Doherty's pub, a place in Ballycastle called Mary's kitchen, my uncle's car, and Golden Acres in Killala where we had a monster game of darts.

Sunday

There's not a lot to do in Mayo, so struggling to find somewhere we didn't visit last time. These include the dining room of the place where we're staying for a massive fried Irish breakfast, and The Village Inn in Killala (a place name which makes me smile thanks to my uncle), for yet another massive meal.

Saturday

New things - all in Ireland as about 30 of my clan returned to the homeland.
1. Knock airport - the airport built in rural Mayo to serve the west of Ireland in the 1980s - overseen by Monsignor John Horan.
2. The Peugeot 207 hire car. Not much fun to drive. Absolutely no poke whatsoever. Smells nice though.
3. A record shop in Ballina - Tra wanted the Arctic Monkeys' CD. We also went into a pharmacy in Ballina. Everything else had been done eight years ago!
4. The Yellow Rose B&B. A tent-sized patch of grass outside served as our home for the next seven days.
5. The house where my uncle and his family are staying. It's to the rear of Murphy's B&B- stayed in the B&B eight years ago when I was last here.
6. McHale's Pub. It was Doherty's last time I was here, but counts as a new thing as it's undergone a significant refurb and although looks good, has lost most of its charm.

Thursday and Friday - put together cos they're so lame

New thing for Thursday was driving up a road in Harefield that I'd never been to before, and Friday's was driving through the roads of Sunbury as we were on our way to Chichester, but realised that thanks to the abysmal traffic that we weren't going to get there in time.

Monday

New thing was the Rasal Brasserie in Rickmansworth for a really nice meal. The waiter was polite, but wore a miserable expression on his face for the whole meal, so it was quite weird, when he asked us if we were enjoying our meal. Good thing we were, or I would have been too scared to say no.

Sunday

New things inlcuded through new parts of Leicester and stopped off at Sainsbury in Oadby. Also went to a pub in Bristol called the Horn and Trumpet to meet Richard and Martyn, my two housemates from when I lived in Toronto and had not seen since. Also went to a waterfront bar called BSB for a very garlicky burger before retiring to Lloyds (not new). The last new thing of the day, was coming off the motorway and round the roundabout towards my house to find someone reversing towards me up the dual carriageway. Very strange.

Saturday

New things for today including many of the shops of Northampton. And then Kettering in the evening, where we went to the Odeon, after eating scampi at a pub called Hobson's Choice where I was most amused to see that the health and safety csars hadn't got to the sizzling beef dish which the waitress carried over to the table, with molten bits of meat erupting all over the place.

Friday

New thing for today was the Star Bar in Wellingborough where Kate and I polished off the pub's supplies of blush cider, which came in bottles which made us look like we were drinking a bottle of rose each. In fact, after a few glances from the lady at the next table, she did lean over and ask us what we were drinking.

Thursday

Was really struggling for a cheapish thing to do, so after work I headed to a pub called the Artichoke in Croxley Green. On first appearances it looks like the sort of pub that defines Englishness, and would have been the sort of place I would miss when I lived abroad. Despite having a lovely beer garden and oak beams etc, the woman behind the bar was really rude (and she and I were the only females in the place), and there was only one beer on tap - Bombardier. And the music was too loud. The other new things for today were turning into a 45-year-old man, and driving towards Abbots Langley along country lanes. Very peaceful.

Wednesday

People talk about relying too much on technology, but there was no excuse for me to get lost in Watford simply because the satnav didn't recognise the address I was trying to find, which was the Vue Cinema at Woodside Leisure Park. I eventually stumbled on it when I had given up and had decided to get some vegetables from Asda. So the my new thing for today was going into Chiquitos for onion rings (bye bye Marge's diet).

The more exciting new thing was seeing an old friend, Canadian comedian Darren Frost's face 15 feet wide on the big screen, playing a cameraman in the film Hairspray. As well as letting out an internal cheer every time he spoke, I also really enjoyed the film; very heart warming. I nearly felt like singing when I left the cinema, but remembered I was in Watford.

Tuesday

New thing for today came recommended by my colleague Thomas. He told me about a scenic cycle route that I should take home that I'd never been along before. Despite his use of the word "uphill" more than once, I followed his advice, stopping briefly after walking my bike up the hill to pick more blackberries. There's a beautiful view from the top of the hill, and along the ridge, you can hear lorries and cars chugging along the M25 way before you can see them. The route then meets the country road (note: COUNTRY road to the ^%£* who was doing about 80mph, before skidding on some gravel about 10ft from me), before taking me straight into my road. Very satisfying, but I'm not sure I'll be doing it again!

Monday

New thing today was going for a run at lunchtime just off the canal path near work, and coming face-to-face with a great expanse of water that I'd never seen before. Once again, I'm quite annoyed at myself for working here for 18 months and not even knowing it was there. I'm also a little worried about how much pleasure I derived from picking blackberries while I was larking about off-road....

Sunday

New thing for today was going to the King's Arms in Wheatley for some hair of the dog action for my companion who was suffering (probably from my friend's terrible guffing as opposed to drinking). Also went to Asda there to get some food for our picnic at Denham Country Park since it was such a lovely day - also swung by (geddit) Buckinghamshire Golf Club.

Saturday

New thing for today was going to The Gardener's Arms in Oxford - my friend's local in Oxford. Had a lovely drink there, before going to Simple for a night's clubbing. I've been here before, but what I hadn't encountered here before was Clare's bat dance - a dance designed to waft away the appalling bats she kept dropping. Funniest thing ever, exceeded only when a bloke came up to her and said: "Was that you?"

Friday

New thing for today was being stood up! So instead of going home to cook for two, I went for a run along the canal path, which turned into a two hour epic which I think both my body and mind were in dire need of. I emerged at the Wagon and Horses Pub near Widewater place, ran through Denham, ran down the Oribtal Road, and stopped by the Waterskiing club (all new things). After nearly being hit a couple of times on the road, I ducked into the woods - not the cleverest thing since noone knew where I was.... and nearly ran straight into a fox cub. The other new thing I did when I got home was watching Anchorman....not the worst film I've ever since, but up there with them....

Thursday

Same old, same old today, so the only new thing was disappearing down a side street.

Wednesday

New thing for today was Uxbridge Cinema, and the Simpsons. The film is great; just like a funny, and obviously, longer version of the TV show, created by an army of people whose credits nearly last longer than the film itself. The other new thing was going to the Slug and Lettuce in Uxbridge with my colleagues Thomas and Simon, the perfect people to see the Simpson Movie with, and also going to Simon's house to pick up Anchorman on DVD - which will most likely be my new thing for tomorrow.

Tuesday

New thing for today was the upstairs office of a branch of my company in Chichester. Also watched I Heart Huckabees, but fell asleep in the middle, which meant that the end made no sense to me.

Monday

Some people chase danger for kicks; parachute jumps, bungee jumping, extreme ironing etc. I drove round new parts of Watford as my new thing for the day.