coldinengland.net

The ANZAC on the wall

ANZAC - I'm not sure how many of you know the passion that I support our (Australian) troups serving overseas. My upbringing had a close relationship with the military and I had participation in ANZAC parades for as long as I can remember. I stood with ARMY, AIRFORCE and NAVY from the early hours of the morning to late a night, offing my heart into the Last Post and Reveille when the time required. It is often at times when I am feeling a little homesick that these memories come back. I used to participate and had more cause to think on our forefathers that fought to save our livelyhood and it seems have to gotten further from my mind in recent years.

I came across a poem which bought tears to my eye while reading it, and made

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-25

Russian Science Fiction/ Fantasy

Sergey Lukanenko is currently one of my favorite authors. Having just discovered him and his literary works I am totaly consumed in his world of moral dilemars with a Fantasy twist. Obviouslly his name gives him away as not being an English author, he is in fact Russian. Now reading his translations I wasn't expecting there to be much of a difference in his books, however there is. It's a very subtle difference in the thinking of the Characters and in his style of writing his difference in thinking comes through. It's a refreshing change to read a genre of novels that is extremly established but come across as fresh and new even though the some of the themes are themselves not new.

I have just completed the first three books in the tetraolgy based around

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-20

Arthur C Clarke dies @ 90

Arthur C Clarke dies @ 90

The incredible scientist and science fiction writer passed away at his home in Sri Lanka at 0130 local time on 19 March 2008.

"The first dweller in the electronic cottage", was a dreamer, a visionary who took what he knew and learned in science and turned it into books that have captivated millions over his lifetime and undoubtobly long after it. Clarke was unique in that quite a lot of his writing included gadgets that gripped people and that we now see as common place today. He took a genre that was sometimes seen as fantastical and put a very personal and human touch to it, making it widly appealing.

Clarke enjoyed a varied 90 ye

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-19

War heros, but not the ones you usually hear about.

Woman Ears Silver Star in Afganistan

Original article can be found here.

Now I know this is an american article from an American website but quite frankly I don't know of a similar British or Australian site, so if anybody does please let me know.

All too often we hear of our heros serving in Afganistan or Iraq (or other parts of the world) however when we hear about them in the media it is when they have been killed or seriouslly harmed (although not so often in the case of the latter) in the corse of serving in t

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-14

Stonehenge and Sailsbury

Amazing, Sunny and Wet

This weekend saw the arrival of a couple of family friends from Australia, well actually it's my mothers friend from school and her daughter. Julie is here for 10 days helping her daughter get settled in for a 2 year stay in the UK working and travelling.

With the arrival of two more tourists in Windsor this weekend a quick trip into the town centre ensured, with a brief guide around pointing out bits and bobs for them to follow up in their own time.

On the Sunday however, we decided to go a bit futher afield, and we made our way to Stonehenge and to Sailsbury to see the cathedral (photos can be fuund on flickr.com

Stonehenge, although

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-10

Change Requests.

Original Article

I thought I'd share this with you all as this has been than bain of my life for the past 8-12 weeks. Take heed PMs and Developers

So, your project is up and running. You've defined Project Requirements and had them signed off in blood by the sponsor. All you need to do now is watch your New Model Army get on and deliver. Right? Ahhh no. Life is never that simple, and you can reasonably safely bet hard currency that the requirements will change during delivery. Managing those changes is a potential cause of massive disruption to your project and your relationship with the client if you don't do it well.
Never Say N

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-03-06

Prague in Feburary 2008

As some of you would have known, Jayne & I took a last minute trip to Prage last weekend (21-24 Feb). It was a chance to try and let our hair down and echarge the batteries a bit.

My Czech friend Tereza who lives in Prague very kindly lent us some books and we met up with her for an evening to have dinner and a catchup.

Besides spending the days wandering around the city, we also did a Day trip out of the city to Kutna Hora to visit the town and the main draw there which is the Bone Church in Sedlec. It was an amazing experience being in a church decorated with the bones of 40,000 Plague victims from the middle ages. There were candelabras and chandeliers mae from all the bones of the human body, and massive pyramids of skulls and femurs

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-29

Children of the State

Here's an interesting notion. Housewives and Househusbands are working for the state!

A reccent BBC article shows that the typical house mother was "worth" around £30K. So why isn't the state paying £30 for mothers that are rearing children for the next generation of Tax Payers, Workers etc (I'm not talking about a single mother with 3 children, pushing the buggy into Chav Central spending her benifits on Fags) (I also know this is an over generalisation but you all know what I mean). We have here, people, that are investing time and money into providing for the future of the state and certainly not getting their worth out of it. Families often have to struggle with one parent working and the other on "token" benifits, to be only

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-19

Live long and prosper

There is one remarkable scientific fact that sets Okinawans apart from the rest of us, they actually age more slowly than almost anyone else on earth.

"The calendar may say they're 70 but their body says they're 50," says Bradley Willcox, a scientist researching the extraordinary phenomenon. "The most impressive part of it is that a good lot of them are healthy until the very end."

Finding the cause of their exceptional longevity is not simple but the spotlight has fallen on one hormone - DHEA. It's a precursor of both oestrogen and testosterone and produced in the adrenal glands.

While scientists don't know what it does, they do know the hormone decreases with age and

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-19

Food for the day : Kimchi

taken from WIKI

gimchi or kimchee, is a traditional Korean fermented dish made of some select vegetables with varied seasonings, most commonly referring to the spicy baechu variety. Kimchi is the most common Korean banchan, or side dish, eaten with rice along with other banchan dishes. Kimchi is also a common ingredient and cooked with other ingredients to make dishes such as kimchi stew (kimchi jjigae) and kimchi fried rice (kimchi bokkeumbap). Kimchi often tastes better with age

he history of kimchi traces back to ancient times. References to kimchi can be found as early as 2600-3000 years ago.[1] The first text-written evidence of its existence can be found in the first Chinese poetry book, Sikyeong (hangul:시경 hanja:è©©ç&pa

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-14

Kimchi Recipe

There are probably as many different recipes for Kimchi as there
are Koreans, but nothing on earth tastes as good or is as good for you. (For
an explanation of it's health benefits, see What
Makes Kimchi So Healthy?) Kimchi can be based on a variety of vegetables,
but arguably the healthiest and most common version is based on cabbage.

This is probably the ultimate kimchi recipe. A lot of Korean foods
are too hot for the Westerner to enjoy at first. But this recipe blends a variety
of flavors and textures in a way that suits the Western palette. It also provides
a pleasing mixture of colors and adds a bit of fruit to sweeten the taste.

One of the interesting aspects of

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-14

La Papa es Peruana

The Potato is Peruvian

It's potato time again. We are nearing the time when the first earlies will be going into the ground but besides the limited number of varieties that are available in the UK I thought that maybe a bit of education may be in order.

The history of the potato has its roots in the windswept Andes Mountains of South America. It is an austere region plagued by fluctuating temperatures and poor soil conditions. Yet the tough and durable potato evolved in its thin air (elevations up to 15,000 feet), climbing ever higher like the people who first settled the region.

The tough pre-Columbian farmers first discovered and cultivated the potato some 7,000 years ago. They were impressed by its ruggedness, storage quality and its nutritional value. Wester

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-13

Constantly Amazed at Science

Reading this article on the BBC this morning, I am yet again amazed at the advances and the new ideas comming from Science. The practicle applications of being able to collect wasted momentum energy is boundless. Think about all the activies and devices we have that require motion or allow us to more and think about the ability to capture and harness that enery, from simple rocking motino in your office chair,. to cars, bikes and obviouslly from this article, walking.

View Here

This is yet another reason why the government cannot skimp on funding into the public and private sector for research and innovation. Think of all the new technologies and advances that

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-08

Can Japan's paper plane fly in space?

The fact that Japan is doing novel design, development and testing of the most common of materials in our everyday life and putting it under stresses of space flight says something of the differences between it and the rest of the world. Although it hasn't happened yet, it is only a matter of time that they come up with a modification to a lightweight everyday material that is capable of making advances in space exploration.

What I'm trying to get at here is that could you imagine a British academic experimenting on this? first off, putting in the proposal for funding, do you think they would get it? Well not now anyway with Science funding cut from the goverment because of their own problems with being able to account properly (sound familure, it's just not the

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-07

Greenpeace blockades government / coal industry love-in

and wasting my TAX money in the process

The views and goals of these people are completly laudable, I am contantly off-put y these organisations by not only telling people what they can'y do but not offering any constructive guidance or information to help the situation. All these people have done today for me is piss me off by making it difficult to get into my place of work. If they actually had some benificial guidance instead of propaganda sheets I may have given them more of my time instead of tell the girl to "shut up" and "let me get to work, I have bills to pay!". While protest certainly make a point and certainly get public interest, show me their efforts to actually HELP the global cause in Research and or helping to make technologies more afforable for the individules so we can all start t

Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-06

New Photos

@ Flickr

With a substantial ammount of decorating now finished in the house I'll take this oportunity to upload a whole load of photos. The list of new photos are as follows

• Christmas Party @ GBK


• Record Christmas Party


• ECB Christmas Party


• Renovation & DecorationPosted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-06
  
  

  Google Can't Find Chuck Norris

  LOL

  

  Please, go to google, type in "find chuck norris" and hit "I'm feeling Lucky", if this doesn't make your day, then there is something wrong with you! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-06

  
  

  Migrants' advice packs proposed (BBC)

  should this be for the whole of society????

  

  Immigrants should be told not to touch people without permission, spit in the street or play loud music, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has said.

  I'm pretty certain that this should be something that is done with the wider population as a whole, I meet a lot more intimadating and see a lot more English youths (as well as some adults) that could do with taking heed of some of this guidance. I personally do not think that this is an immigration problem (although there is a cultral misunderstanding that needs to be sorted out) there is more of a social problem here that needs tackling.

  The original BBC article that prompted me to write this (Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-04

  
  

  Nearly Finished

  but am I enjoying it?

  

  Good god! Decorating is driving me nuts. I have spent the whole week renovating the master bedroom, I've done the walls, inside the wardrobes, laid the new floor, and now that the ceiling is dried it needs to be painted. I had thought that the last time I was doing this that having some music playing or working with somebody else doing it as well made it alright. Well I was wrong, I'm in a bad mood, REALLY PISSED OFF, and do NOT ever want to do this again. When we do the downstairs areas, I'm going to pay for someone else to do it. Right I feel a bit better now I've have a little rant. Of that photos isn't from this week either!

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-02-02

  
  

  Bedroom under construction

  That's right I'm digging up the bedroom!

  

  LOL, well I'm doing work in the master bedroom this week, so far I have totally emptied it of furnishing and, well actually everything. I have removed all the curtains, skirting boards and surrounds on the windows, This left big holes in the walls which I have had to fill today. I did however manage to get the new skirting boards on and get a base coat of paint on.

  Tomorrow I'mm be doing some light sanding and getting ready for the plasterer to come and skim the ceiling. Can't wait! Then I'll be painting and laying the floor! Yipee, then it's all done, I'll post a link to the photos in due course!

  Oh and as an after thought we had a printPosted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-29

  
  

  iPod and ubuntu

  
  In Irish legend, a banshee wails around a house if someone in the house is about to die. There are particular families who are believed to have Banshees attached to them, and whose cries herald the death of a member of that family.

  This however is NOT what I'm going to go on about!

  How many of you know of my hatred of Windows? Well if you didn't know I don't use Microsoft products at home. I actually run Ubuntu. I have recently also got myself an iPod and have been looking for a solution to iTunes under this amazing OS. I have come across Banshee which does everything I need, has a miniscule footprint and I don't need to be running Microsoft Windows for it to

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-25

  
  

  Is you internet connection shit

  it's nothing compared to this

  
  It has just been announced that some hmoes in the UK will be recieving their internet connections via fibre delivered using the sewers!
  
  See BBC Article. I still can't believe that BT is not pressing ahead with this due to fears that there is no demand for the service. With contention ratios etc keeping bandwidth restricted and the distance from your local exchange a limiting factor, not only the face that the UK's reliance on old copper wire which has an upper limit anyway surely there must be the demand for the increase. Are we not also seeing new commonplace services delivering TV contetn via the Internet. I installed to watch programmes on the BBC iPlayer the other day. The program

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-25

  
  

  Cucumber's

  What's on the menu for the summer

  
  What I love about growing your own vegatables is that you can do the
  most amazing things with them that would be almost impracticle if you
  were buying all your product from the supermarket. The last time I was
  in Hungary I was introducted to the pickled cucumber, Hungarian Style.
  This was one of the most enjoyable way of eating pickles that I've come
  across and the process to make them is straight from the Farm House.
  Although almost all families will get around to making their own,
  sitting on window ledges, balconies or anywhere where the jars will
  fit. I have come across this great site that goes into a bit more
  details about the history and social traditions associated with it and
  one of the recipes on the page very c

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-22

  
  

  (Indian Flat Bread) Recipes

  Naan, Chapati, Roti

  

  Flat Breads
  
  Indian daily breads are called chapati, phulka and roti and parantha. They are made of finely milled whole wheat flour and water. Some recipes call for salt or oil but I like to make mine without them. The cooks that use salt and oil say it tenderizes the dough. For me the taste of salt and oil in Indian bread dough interferes with the overall meal as the bread does not stay neutral/innocent in taste. Pooris are fried breads that are usually made on holidays, festive occasions and for entertaining. Indian flat breads are used to scoop up curries and vegetables. I have not give

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-22

  
  

  renewable energy

  doing my part for saving the planet

  
  Well, Well Well. So far we (Jayne and I) are doing our best to reduce our impact on the environment. We have an allotment where we grow veg etc reducing our dependancy on the supermarkets. Not only that the allotment provides a means and the space for having a decent composting facility. So we compost just about everything we can. All our green waste from the house and quite a lot of the paper waste as well gets sreadded and composted, all going back onto the land to be locked up in the naturan carbon cycle. For those whom are interested I'll be doing a little more on the subject of minimizing our impact on the environment soon. Can't say much except watch this space!
  
  

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2008-01-20

  
  

  Terminator

  Yes there`s more and it more exciting than ever

  

  Terminator!There`s more! Terminator, bringing back memories of such a scary and terrifying film when you`re 8ish is coming back in all it`s glory. Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, is bring something to the small screen that T3 just wasn`t able to muster, Excitment. I`ve seen the trailer for the pilot episode aired by FOX in the US I think and from what I can tell there are the next 2 episodes as well. It was amazing. I throughly enjoyed it and can`t wait for it take make the screens in the UK. Good, old SCIFI with a decent amount of suspense and terrifying heart thumping sceens to keep even the most hardened thriller watcher rapted

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-17

  
  

  Old Times

  Bring back great memories

  

  Well I`ve just come across this and boy did it bring back memories. I couldn`t help but scan it and upload it to flickr. I also thought that I should share it with you all.

  My school years were so much fun, I had an amazing group of friends and we had the most amazing adventures. We helped shape each other and I1ll always look back fondly on those times

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-16

  
  

  Biofuels

  right or wrong and what are we doing about it

  

  sorting out global warming

  Lets for a moment forget the arguement about whether Global Warming is real or not (for the record I do). We are currently relient on a number of fuel sources that have a finite life time. They ARE going to run out sometime soon in the future. We do not have any viable alternatives. Biofuels have been touted in recent years of the savour of the Car industry and governments and organisations around the world have jumped on the bandwagon. Biofuel production has skyrocketed and more and more vehicles run on the stuff.

  What are we seeing now. MOre and more reports are comming in about biofuels doing more damage that the Environmental Benifits they had been promising. What`s this then. Governments and Large National and Multi-National C

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-14

  
  

  Paulownia

  my new venture

  

  Paulownia

  This incredible tree is one of, if not the fastest growing trees in the world. It is also the fastest growing hardwood in the world and has been used extensivly around the world in re-forestation programmes. It is said that they grow upto 15 foot in the first year!

  I have just purchases my first of these amazing trees, with the hope of purchassing more over time. My reasoning behind this investment is many-fold. I want to start woodworking, and also am looking for a quick growing source of wood for my (soon to come) wood burning outdoor oven and a few other applications I have in mind.

  Many people I know sometimes think that some of my ideas are quite potty I`m sure and I have no doubt that this one is going to be right up the top with the ot

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-11

  
  

  1st Full Week

  of 2008 is in full swing

  

  The End of year break did wonders for my health. Although I was working hard around the house, I did manage to rest a bit and shook off my cold and my lingering cough (from earlier in the year when we went to Scotland). I was looking forward to going back to work being healthy again and feeling great.

  We are now into the first full working week of 2008 and guess what, I have my cold back.

  I`ve well and truely had enough of this now, and I`m not sure what the solution is going to be.

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-08

  
  

  First Day Back

  (in the office)

  

  Back at work! And god am I not digging this at all. My eye`s are not used to the strain. Even wearing my glasses, so I think that I'll wait a week and then go off and have my eyes tested again.

  Not only my eyes but my back as well. After having spent the last 2 weeks doing work around the house, my body is not used to sitting in my chair. I've spent quite a bitof today standing behind my desk. The only saving grace is at least I can still work with my music playing!

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-03

  
  

  2008

  Is Here

  

  2008 is here and like everybody else in the world I`ll be making new years resolutions. New Yesrs resolutions are like gambling.
  
  If you go into a casino with 50 quid in your pocket you need to think that that is money you no longer have, it lost as soon as you walk through the door.
  
  The idea with new years resolutions should be the same. You are going to break them, deal with it. So this year I`ll have the normal resolutions like, do more exercise, eat more healthy food. but realistically the only resolution I`ll be trying to keep is to spend more quality time at my allotment. (Oh and finish the house as well- LOL).

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2008-01-01

  
  

  XMAS

  IS OVER!

  

  Well the crazy season is over for another year. Now, I`m not a real humbug you see but boy does some things about Christmas wind me up big time! One thing is the over commercialisation of it all. Have things in our day to day lives gotten so bad that we need to spend so much time and money in the retail sector? Have we become so materialistic that we've all lost sight of what Christmas is primararily about? It is so surprising the total lack of manners that most people have and the total lack of common sense in how to treat other people

  Posted by CSMKELE (HUMBUG) Read more 2007-12-27

  
  

  BEING UNWELL

  HOW LONG IS IT NOW

  

  Well, it`s now been months, I cannot seem to shake off this bloody cold! Well cough anyway. It is driving me nuts, the doctors seem to think that there is nothing to be done, lots of people are having the same problems. Cough syrup and keeping warm is the only recommendation that they seem to have.

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2007-12-11

  
  

  WEEKEND AWAY

  Record XMAS Party 2007

  

  The weekend just gone has just seen the Record XMAS party for 2007, it was held at the Trader Vics in the Park Lane Hilton. It was an amazing experience and the room was wonderful. Dinner was excelent and the company of friends, old and new was great. Many thanks to Record Currency Management for extending the invitation for their Christmas party to partners. I had a great time.

  Posted by csmekel Read more 2007-12-07

  
  

  WEEKEND AWAY

  BATH

  

  Another weekend away, and guess what. It rained! Yes, it seems to happen quite often. Bath however is a beautiful town, the Avon is an amazing river intersecting the City. Our hotel however was crappy and the room not meeting the cost. We cancelled our second night and came home.

  Posted by CSMEKEL Read more 2007-11-30

  
  

  this weekend

  I'll be filling up a skip

  

  smek the builder, can he fix it? smek the builder, yes he can! With the help of Robert Jan Klop though, thank-you Jayne for organising that. I finally got the skip ordered and delivered on the back drive ready to move all the concrete I have been pulling u pin the front garden for the last couple of weeks.
  
  I have already planted the hedges so they will be fully established ready to grow like mad in the Spring time. You can actually see where they`ve done a bit of growing in the mild November we've had so far. But I`m sure they`re looking forward to the new year when it`s nice and warm and sunny. I know I am.

  Posted by bob the builder (well smek anyway) Read more 2007-11-22

  
  

  Wedding Photos

  on flicr

  

  

  Are the happy couple beautiful or what?

  Posted by C SMEKEL (snappy snappy) Read more 2007-11-19

  
  

  Mark and Anu`s Wedding

  Indian Style

  

  Well it`s the morning after and boy was it a long day. It must have felt even longer for Mark and Anu though. The Indian wedding ceremony yesterday afternoon and into last night was a colourful affair which actually brought home the fact that it`s not just two people being joined, but it's the whole family that is comming together. The family play a much bigger role in the ceremony, being introducted to each other and parents and brothers participating as well throughout the ceremony.
  
  I think though that the most enjoyable part for me was the face that as part of the Groom`s party wee had to dance up to the hall with traditional drummer playing for us.Mark and Paul were giving it large, I and the rest of the congregation of people were trying to match their enthusiasm and energ

  Posted by C SMEKEK (snappy snappy) Read more 2007-11-18

  
  

  Mark and Anu`s Wedding

  First Part Over

  

  Well the church service is over and the bride was looking incredibly splendid and the bridegroom hansom. The service was beautiful and very traditional. All my experience in public speaking over the years, talking to small and large crowds alike came to nothing. I don`t get nervous but reading at Mark and Anu`s wedding service the words were catching in my throat.
  
  The reading was Marriage Joins Two People In The Circle Of Its Love
  by Edmund O`Neill
  
  Marriage is a commitment to life, the best that two people can find and bring out in each other. It offers opportunities for sharing and growth that no other relationship can equal. It is a physical and an emotional joining that is promised for a lifetime.
  
  Within the circle of its love, marriag

  Posted by Dapper Smek (looking fine!) Read more 2007-11-17

  
  

  Allotment

  growing for the future

  

  I have now had my allotment for just over a year. I have had a enjoyable time working on my own bit of land. Sometimes I have not had the spare time to spend the ammount of time I would have like to spend down there but none the less we have got quite a substantial yeild off of it this year.
  
  The biggest crop this past year has been potatoes. But I also managed to get Cougettes, Peppers, Leeks, Onions (Red and White) Garlic, Corn, Brocolli and I think that`s it. I also got quite a lot of weeds. I am going to be putting more planning into the land next year and try to make it yield much more and a wider range of produce. I am also going to be learning how to preserve some of the fruits as there is an abundance of Apples and Plumbs that just get eaten by the wasps. Hardley fitting

  Posted by FARMER SMEKEL Read more 2007-11-12

  
  

  coldinengland

  new look and feel

  

  To the consternation of many people, I am changing the look and feel of my site once again. I know that people have gotten used to seeing the cie website with me in my farmers hat at the top with the autum leaves in the background but times are changing I`m now ready to move on. Many thanks to Mark Caudell for the previous design, it has served well.

  This design has had some of my handy work in it and to be honest I am quite proud. I have put a bit of effort into making this layout my own and the next step for me I think will be doing the whole template from start to finish.

  Let me know what you think.

  Posted by C SMEKEL Read more 2007-11-09

  
  

  Guy Fawkes Night 2007

  Cookham exhibition

  

  Well of the few UK customs still allowed to be celebrated, Jayne, Ant (her brother) and myself made our way out to Cookham last night to see the firework display and the huge Guy. we had a fantastic time and the display was fantastic.

  Posted by Sparky Smek (in Marlow) Read more 2007-11-05

  
  

  travel

  just a brief look

  

  As you can see from the list in our travel section, Jayne and I have done quite a lot of travel. I have tried to break down the travel that we have done into the countries we have been. Some contries we have only ever been to one area and some countries we have been to many places.
  
  We are gong to try to get up our travel stories online so you can match our photos with our little stories. On each of the travel pages, which will contain our stories, will also have a link directly to the relevant photos as well as a map of the region that we visited so you can see where in the world we've been.

  Posted by CHRIS SMEKEL Read more 2007-05-09

  
  

  freelance

  what I do in my spare time

  

  Over the years coldinengland has built up quite a portfolio. We are in the process of trying to migrate the majority of work over so new and perspective clients can see an extensive range of work we have carried out.

  All new client work and some older client work can now be seen at our dedicated client portal area at My Project Site. The new client portal site will also incorporate a section to allow clients to add comments, notes and any other messages that might need to be logged against a project. This will also allow the ability to audit what has happened along the development process. Users will be able to upload document attachments as well as image/marketing material that should be included in the development process.

  Posted by C SMEKEL Read more 2007-01-15

  
  

  cie:cook

  one of my passions

  

  Cooking is a huge passion for me. I find a lot of pleasure in creating new dishes and even the mundane task of preparing meals most evenings for Jayne and I.
  
  There is a remarkable history of culinary skills in my family and both from my Mother`s side and my Father`s. Jayne`s father (being Hungarian) has a lot to offer towards my growing collection both in my head and non-cranial recipes.
  
  Recently I have also completed a 10 week Indian cooking course, where I learnt the very basics of Indian cookery, from the basic uses of spices and what other ingredients they should be used with all the way through to making complex dishes.
  
  As I start to put together my own collection of recipes and collate my family`s recipes so I don`t loose some of the dishes I enjoyed as

  Posted by Chris Smekel Read more 2006-12-01

  
  

  Autum coldinengland

  thanks Mark

  

  Well it`s happened again. There is a new look and feel to the coldinengland.net website. It is hoped that this new design will bring a new turn to the coldinengland.net brand. The coldinengland.net brand is turning away from being a personal place for me on the internet into being a one stop shop for everything coldinengland has to offer.
  
  The coldinengland.net brand is now going to be providing the following:* personal information about Christopher Smekel* Projects Portfolio* Demo Web Software I have written* Freelance enquiry

  Coldinengland has come a long way from being a hotmail address to being a fully fleged brand. Skills and experience has been gained along the way and coldinengland.net is now in a position to market itself and provide a quality service and deliver q

  Posted by Chris Smekel Read more 2005-12-01