where art collides philosoperontap

Today is Tuesday. Ordinarily it would be a Monday but that was yesterday. I say this because it feels like the start of the week but yesterday we were at the cricket and it felt like a Sunday even though it was the last day of the test match.

Twas a wonderful day’s cricket. Cricket as it is meant to be. John and I enjoyed every minute without a drop of beer passing our lips until the tea interval and that started 30 mins later than planned as India were by then down to nine wickets. As you know in those circumstances tea can be delayed for up to thirty minutes to give the bowling side a chance to finish the job.

In the event it took longer and in the meantime John and I treated ourselves to a pint. What an ending. Even THG joined in as she called to find out which train we would be on and whilst we were talking Bashir took the last wicket. I can remember seeing it happen almost in slow motion at which point Bumrah collapsed over his bat.

It is a long walk from Lords to Baker Street tube and with no chance of finding an Uber we made a start. We did stop for a mo at bus stop P but the first bus that went by did not stop as it was already rammed. At that point a black cab rolled miraculously by and having flagged him down we were deposited at Kings Cross Station whereupon we repaired to the Parcel Yard for sustenance and refreshment.

I was reminded that the food there is crap but it was in a handy spot. The crap food was accompanied by a glass of sauvignon blanc as they were running down beer stocks in advance of a month’s closure for refurbishment. I didn’t think the place particularly needed refurbishing. They are bound to put up their prices even more as a result.

The train back was tres confortable. We had a table to ourselves and the staff kept plying us with gin in recognition of the fact that we were celebrating a famous victory at the home of criquet. I had made a point of mentioning this to ensure they had the opportunity of recognising the fact.

All in all a good day out. A good weekend in fact, what with George’s stag do and then watching our Joe’s jazz gig in Regents Park for which I shelled out £16.50 for the hire of three deck chairs. Worth every penny. We periodically moved the deck chairs as the sun moved around and we lost our bit of shade. Each time we did this the girl taking the money came up to us to try and charge us again. Good job I’d kept the receipt.

The week ahead is more what you might call a normal week. Our John is home for a few days so I’ll have an assistant to help get some jobs done. Log chopping, shed spraying, pond digging. Stuff like that.

I’ve started the week with what some of you might consider to be the mundane domestic chore that is switching on the washing machine. This is not as straightforward as you might think and involves staring at the control panel for some time and experimenting with a few button presses before alighting on the right setting for washing my extremely smelly sandals. I’m sure they will be like new when they emerge with one of those gleams you see in the adverts (one imagines that to be the case – don’t recall the last time I saw an ad for Square Deal Surf or Persil Automatic etc).

No swimming today as I don’t have the car but will be glad to get back in the pool tomorrow innit. Also you do sometimes need time to come down from a weekend such as the one just past.

Mustn’t forget to mention that our pal Martin Levy joined us for breakfast yesterday at Flemings. Was great to see him again. He was in town for his mother’s book launch. Breakfast at Flemings was high quality fair play. I judge a hotel by their breakfast. After brekkie THG departed for Kings Cross and I to Lords.

Tharrldofornow. My tea needs pouring. Ciao amigos.

Busy, busy, busy day. We have a skip in the drive and Darryl the plasterer has mostly finished putting his stuff in so the rest of the space is ours. We have been having a sort out. 

The Kadai firebowl is being chucked. I began emptying the sand, ashes and various bits of metal into a couple of buckets and it was clear that the Kadai has seen its last evening of singing around the campfire. A load of miscellaneous rubbish is also being disposed of although some of the old paint tins are being put to one side to be taken to the tip.

We will defo want to replace the Kadai. Not with another Kadai methinks. Am thinking stainless steel or similar and perhaps a slightly smaller footprint to make winter storage in the wood shed a possibility.

Then off to Total Fitness for a swim. Upon arrival I decided to chill out in the caff for a while as the pool was rammed. People tend not to stay in the pool for that long and I knew the sitch would improve. Ordinarily 11.15 is a good time to get in there but today it was after 11.30. I think the sunny weather has brought people out of the woodwork. After a few lengths Ajax rocked up and when we had finished our swim chilled out in the spa for a bit.

Needed to dash off after the swim to pop to Hackthorn to pick up my framed antique map of Carmarthenshire which is going to hang in the shed. Only issue is that the label telling me about the map/date is hidden under the backing of the frame. I’ll be able to work it out. 1738 or simlar. Bit of salad and a bit of sport later I carried on with sorting the crap for the skip and we are now mostly finished until after the weekend. Busy weekend ahead with no possibility of skip loading.

See you in the Morning Star for early doors?

Another incredibly nice day ahead. My first job this morning was to point the hosepipe at the camping chair I leave out on the deck. Effin pigeon had left its mark from the tree above. Chair will soon dry out. Golf later. Good job I am currently using a buggy as it will be extremely hot work walking around in this heat. We are likely to be a six ball today. A full turnout of the regulars.

The next job on the list, and I’ve just started this, is to empty what was the “old fort” and turn it into a kindling store. I built the fort “for the kids” many moons ago but when they left home I removed the top “palisades” and turned it into a garden store. It’s really just been a dumping ground so now, with the skip in the drive, it is a good time to sort it out. The door needs a bit taking off the bottom to make it more easily openable.

There are a few tarpaulins and similar in there that want storing somewhere. Perhaps the potting shed which also needs a sort out. The fort is going to become a wood store. A load of buckets left over from the festival need sorting. 2025 is a year of sorting things out. It is a bit like painting the Forth Bridge. Always something to do. It’s one of the reasons we sold our house in the Isle of Man. A house needs to be lived in. Plus I don’t believe in the concept of a holiday home. If it was in a purpose built “holiday village” etc that is different.

I think I’m going to skip the swim today especially as I’m playing golf, as you know.

Another extremely pleasant day in prospect. I have around 2 mins of work to do and otherwise I’ll be enjoying the summer weather. The deck in front of the shed, being mostly in shade, is the ideal place to chill out during a heat wave. Cricket doesn’t start until the morrow but there is tennis.

Some time after ten thirty it has become my practice to head to the pool. Yesterday I did 43 mins front crawl followed by ten mins relaxation in the hydrotherapy spa, as it is known. 45 mins is about my limit for swimming. Whilst an element of this is currently due to fatigue once I’m totally up to pool fitness the time limit will be more down to boredom. I need to work out how to totally get into the zone. Long distance swimmers manage it so it must be doable.

Up and at it earlier than normal as we are expecting Darryl the plasterer at eight. When I say earlier than normal I don’t man earlier than the five thirty I sometimes get up at during the summer. Earlier than the time I’d get up after taking THG up a pot of tea.

The heavy rain of the weekend has moved on having given the garden a good soaking. Whether it was enough water to sort out the greens at Laughterton’s 18 holer I doubt. The dyke that they normally take water from had dried up a while back with the club resorting to temporary greens. 

There was a short time yesterday evening where I was stranded in the shed watching the tennis. Just before the time I needed to fire up the barbie. Turned out ok. Being stranded in the shed is good as long as you have plenty of supplies to keep you going. Not sure that was the case last night.

Back to the pool this morning. Body/temple etc. I am feeling the benefit although next weekend is going to be a challenge with George’s stag do, ELO’s last gig and the fifth day of the Lords test in rapid succession. Life is short…

I wouldn’t ordinarily consider going on a stag do but this is the “nice” one with family and old friends. The one to avoid is the rugby club job that will be some other weekend.

Heavy rain is falling on the jardin de THG. A beautiful, steady, vertical, soaking summer rain. I won’t have to water the borders today. I like summer rain. I don’t think the forecast for Edgbaston is too bad this morning which means we will need to bat out the day to avoid defeat in the India test. It is doable.

V pleasant afternoon with THG at the Lincoln Jazz Festival. My previous observations about the fact that jazz needs to be accompanied by beer and thus a church not being the ideal venue for such a gig were unfounded. They were selling beer in the chapter house.

Liane Carrol was great as were the Edgar Macias Quintet playing Buena Vista Social CLub tunes. Afterwards we moved to the caff to see Dom Pipkins playing some N’awlins tunes. Dom was v good but the venue was not. You could only hear him properly if sat outside where there weren’t enough tables for everyone to sit and eat. We ate inside and then moved outside. 

The only other observation was that the acoustics in the cathedral are always crap and it was no different yesterday. These places were designed for lofty choirs rather than modern music needing PA systems. Woteva. Anyway we had a good time. Nice to get out with ma gurl.

This morning will be a time of graft. Need to get the garage cleared and tidied in preparation for a week of plastering that lies ahead. We are having what was the old single brick garage properly lined and insulated and my work bench is moving in there from the garage as is the rowing machine which is currently in the attic. The presence of a skip is also going to be v handy for chucking out a lot of old crap that has been designated for disposal.

Still a bit of wind around after last night’s storm. Not sure it was a storm particularly but it rained enough to force us inside for the bbq. Lots of food left over. I’m sure it will get eaten. Going to treat meself to a bacon roll this morning. It is the weekend after all. Apparently.

The person doing the weather forecast on the beeb slipped in the word “sadly” when it came to the bit about rain being expected. Sadly?! We’ve all been looking forward to a bit of rain. Well gardeners have anyway. And the water companies. And farmers though it’s probably a bit late for them.

I suppose we could specifically ask for rain overnight, or during the week, or at least when we aren’t planning to have a barbecue but it doesn’t really matter. I quite like heavy vertical summer rain.

We have a relaxed day in prospect. Lions game at eleven, plus the criquet plus tennis aaand we are off to the Lincoln Jazz Festival for the afternoon session. Lincoln Cathedral Chapter House 2pm til 5pm followed by more jazz in the cathedral caff with dinner. Shud b gud. Feels a bit odd holding a jazz festival in a cathedral. You associate jazz with boozy bars. I can’t see them letting you take beer into the Chapter House though they will be serving it in the caff apaz. See how it goze.

Then THG wants to watch the women’s Euro footie. The cricket will have finished for the day by then. I’m going to have cricket and rugby on two screens this morning so that I won’t miss a minute of the action. If anyone wants to join me just swing by the shed. Cricket on the big screen and rugby on one of my monitors.

Noticed yesterday btw there was a poppy growing in the middle of what would once have been termed the lawn. V pretty. Then this morning THG remarked that she’d seen other flowers a growing in a similar  fashion. Must have seeded from the wild flower meadow. Unfortunately the meadow itself has very few blooms in evidence this year. I have been watering it. The suggestion was made that we dig up the ones growing in the lawn and move  them to the meadow. Feels high risk but THG knows what she is doing.

Shortly after five ey em it is twenty degrees. It is actually a good time of day to be up. The birds are all chattering away contentedly. Shed doors open. Another good day ahead.

Yesterday was very much a Wimbledon watching day. We got our respective exercise out of the way in the morning and by mid afternoon were back watching the action. Don’t really look at tennis any other time of year but that is ok. I won’t have any purists look down their noses and say I’m not really a tennis fan. I’m not but I do like a bit of Wimbledon.

Time was our John would win Wimbledon tickets in the ballot at the Eastgate Tennis Club of which he was a member. THG and I would take it in turns to go with the lad. The tickets were almost always Centre Court. We would take a picnic and gorge ourselves on strawberries and cream. 

The latter was very much not sourced inside the All England Lawn Tennis Club itself, not at a pound a strawberry, or whatever it was. I’d buy a large punnet from a supermarket and a large pot of double cream. Then I’d whip a couple of plastic pint glasses from a bar at the tennis and some sachets of sugar and we were away. A pint of strawberries and cream each.

Harry Dunn met us  there once. Harry always had a temporary job there during Wimbledon fortnight. He would look after Rafael Nadal while he was at the ground. Harry brought us bars of chocolate from the men’s changing rooms.

We would always have to leave before the end of the action to catch a train back north. The one exception to this was in John’s last year of membership where THG and I both went leaving the lad at home to watch it on the telly. On that occasion we stayed in a hotel somewhere in Kensington. We were too knackered after a long day in the sun to have much of a night out but at least we didn’t have to rush to catch a train.

Back in the pool this morning. I’m trying to make it a regular morning activity. Still fine tuning the best time to get there. Eleven thirty is looking sensible.

…

10:06 E11. Just the two of us on the table. Headphones on. Fave tunes entertaining. Lovely start to the day in the metropolis although somewhat sluggish on a personal level having been to two parties and finishing off with a somewhat nondescript curry. Was at a party on the Middle Lawn of Middle Temple last night. Amazing place. Never been before. V historic. Oozed money. Used the gents only to find that that particular convenience was reserved for judges only 🙂 huh 🙂 

Uber driver’s name was Abelrahman. Don’t think that’s how he spells it but hey. Talked non stop. Doesn’t like to drive in London but you have to earn a crust. My words not his. His sentiment. At least the conversation only had to last until Kings Cross.

Bloke pushes a bike along platform 7. Looks like he fell off it decently, I mean recently.

Woman sat diagonally across on the same table had up until Peterborough been unobtrusive enough. I’d taken my headphones off for a break but had to put them back on after a while as she started typing on her phone and she had it making a noise every time she touched the keypad.

THG and I listened to the shipping forecast this morning. I’d like to say it’s one of the things we ”do together” but twould not be the case. We are rarely both awake for it and I have not tuned in since the heady days of my convalescence from the hip op when I was often awake at night due to having to kip on my back.

The shipping forecast came immediately after the weather forecast. A several things stuck in my mind. First of all there were gale warnings, despite it being high summer. There always seems to be a gale somewhere. Then the wind direction almost everywhere was sou’westerly. The prevailing wind around these shores. We are in for another scorcher and I guess this is ably assisted by a southerly oriented wind, blowing, no doubt, in from the Azores. 

Made me think I need to get booking another trip. Got tons of Avios and a premium cabin companion voucher that want using.

The final observation from the shipping forecast was the absence of a mention of temperatures. The SF is all about wind with observations on the likelihood of rain thrown in for good measure. After the SF it was prayer for the day which was definitely the cue for me to get up.

I’m now in the shed. It has rained overnight in the garden which is good but I don’t think it was all that much of a downpour. Still, we’ll take it innit.

Today I’m off on a bit of a jolly to town. The annual Summer Forum of the Comms Council UK. A goodly crowd and this year and a get together in celebration of our 20th Anniversary as an industry trade association. I remember the first meeting!!! These occasions are v good networking events and a chance to catch up with pals.

Some of us are off to Danny Prieskel’s Summer Party which is on the Middle Temple Main Lawn. Danny also has a Christmas bash. I get invited to both every year but have never been able to go. The Christmas one is always the week after trefbash. Takes too long to recover from a trefbash and another trip to London so soon after doesn’t work.

Anyway, should be a good day ahead. With soaring temperatures in prospect everyone will need to keep their fluid intakes up. My normal business attire of Hawaiian shirt and shorts should also work to my advantage. I recall that one year the Summer Forum was held in the conservatory at the Barbican. It was the hottest day of the year and everyone was wearing suits except me. I felt v superior stood there in my shorts and Hawaiian shirt. I was even able to crack open a beer before the talkie bits had finished.

Anyway, gotta go. The tea tray doesn’t carry itself upstairs yanow.

…

Sat opposite my booked seat on the London train. There is method here. The seat next to mine is booked from Newark but the one next to where I am now sat only has a booking from Peterborough to Stevenage which is only a 25 mins or so leg of the journey. This means I will have most of the table to myself for most of the journey and the peterborough to Stevenage person might decide it is easier to sit in the empty single seat across the aisle. The little games we play eh? I often sit in E2 which is never reserved because it has no window but is a snug little spot at the front of the train. It’s too nice a day today not to have a window. 

Someone has come on who was booked from Newark to London in E4. E4 was also booked by some scruffy oik from Lincoln to Newark. There was method in his madness. He happily accepted the ploughmans lunch, crisps and the chocolate pud before getting off the train at Newark.

Listening to my faves playlist set to random. Very much in a holiday spirit. All work and no play and all that. I try not to do any work at all though yesterday I spent half an hour chopping kindling in preparation for the winter that lies ahead. Preparation is everything. Not work work anyway.

During our tidying session last night I came across a load of maps which now just about fit in the shed map box. An old Eley Ammunition box I picked up from an antique warehouse in Stamford last year. We must go back to Stamford. We stayed at The George and had a nice time. Also found some books and there is a map shop though I’m not really in the market for an more maps unless they were very specific to the commote of Mabudrud in Sir Gâr. I still like to have paper maps even though everything is now available in digital format.

Went to see Sting last night. Met the boys in the Castle Hill Club which was practically empty and which is conveniently located just outside the castle’s Eastgate. The queues to get in to the gig were mahoosive and it made a lot of sense to sit sipping cold ones until just before Sting came on. We skipped the support acts which I’m sure were v good. Probs. Was a good gig. Sting observed that he had never played Lincoln Castle before and that he lived in a castle but it was “bigger than this one” 🙂 

In consequence I am taking a relaxed approach to the start of the day. Tea has been consumed and the shed doors are open to the benevolent elements of summer. Birds flit by and butterflies flutter.

I’ve discovered that the optimum time to get to the pool is around 11.30 so there is no urgency to the day. I do plan to do a short gym session in future concentrating on upper body strength. Went through it with “trainer Dave” yesterday. Today is not the right day to start however. Not after a night out. The hard core amongst you will disagree and say that after a night out is absolutely the right time to get to the gym. I am not hard core. 

I do like to get in the pool though. Get in a rhythm. I will go for a walk before driving to the pool. Need to do more of that. Found out yesterday that the jacuzzi is actually called the “hydrotherapy pool” You learn something new every day. I spend ten minutes or so in said hydrotherapy pool. Trainer Dave recommended it and I was pleased to inform him that I this already did. Had to wait to get a spot on one of the recliners though. You lie there with the bubbles gently massaging your, presumably, aching muscles after a hard session of physical activity.

In the meantime got a few bits to do and it’s looking like a beautiful day.

Out and about early running an errand or two and because I was already there nipped in to Waitrose to buy bread and a packet of fish fingers. I’m sure I have previously mentioned my penchant for a fish finger sandwich and tonight I am indulging myself before going out to see Sting in Lincoln Castle. Don’t want a big meal as there is a distinct likelihood that a beer or two will be on offer.

There was, conveniently, an entire end of aisle section dedicated to fish fingers with a large sign indicating the fact. V handy I thought and proceeded to said end of aisle. Now the thing is I hadn’t quite realised how many different types of fish fingers there are on offer. After a brief moment of confusion I opted for the safe bet of 32 Birds Eye cod fish fingers (ic 2 free) for £9.75. Then I thought to meself when am I ever going to eat thirty two fish fingers. I put the packet back in the freezer and took out a smaller pack of ten Waitrose Essential cod fish fingers for £2.60. Result.

Said fish fingers are now safely in the freezer in the garage and I have repaired to the shed to let you know all this. As I got home the green bin lorry was about fifty metres from our house and will by now have consumed the contents of our own green bin. I will bring it into the drive just before I set off for the gym this morning. I have an introductory session with trained David before I have a swim. I have discovered that around eleven thirty is the optimum time to get in the pool as most of the morning dippers, if I can call them that, will have got out or will be wallowing in the jacuzzi. There is a very big jacuzzi in the gym.

The only thing left to tell you is that THG and I cleared out the right hand cupboard in the snug last night. There is a lot of stuff to chuck but we also found a few “lost” nuggets, one of which was my custom OS map of the Davies family heartland in Sir Gaerfyrddin.

Hwyl.

Dawn, summer solstice. No meaningless arbitrary numbered date but a day to mark time. The druids have gathered outside the shed to watch the sunrise over the rooftops of the Tesco superstore at the far end of the Wragby Road allotments. Lincoln archaeologists believe that the ancient ceremony that accompanies the solstice predates even the building of the Tesco on its present site. We shall likely never know for sure as the vast tarmac carpark that surrounds the emporium prevents any serious investigative dig.

Last night a wild boar was sacrificed for the feast that always accompanies the solstice celebrations. The meat was steeped in a barbecue marinate using a recipe as ancient as the ceremony itself and reconstructed after much painstaking research with the help of the great god google. The resultant kebab, assembled with locally grown ingredients since identified as onion, mushroom, tomayto and red pepper, ingredients still to this day to be found in the fruit and vegetable section of Tesco, was roasted in the traditional way over fire.

The skills required to perform the sacred cooking ceremony are handed down through male druidic lines. The culinary task is accompanied by the consumption of, sometimes, large quantities of an alcoholic beverage. Two variants of this beverage have been identified as a type of beer known to have been brewed using the finest local hops, and a drink produced out of grapes grown on south facing Lincolnshire slopes and left for years to mature in wooden barrels built from specially selected oaken boughs.

The resultant dish has a slightly charred outside with a perfectly moist interior that together with a nice bit of salad is consumed with serious intent on the deck in front of the shed.

Revelries continue late into the night with the partygoers finally going to their beds after the ten pm conclusion of a rugby game, in which one team is dressed as lions, is broadcast across the Sky to practitioners of the ancient religion. The feasting will continue for weeks until the nights begin to draw in and folks withdraw to their home areas to prepare for the next round of ceremonials, the Autumn Internationals.

At this point, on the morning of the solstice, a druid is dispatched to make the tea. This ritual is celebrated all year round in households across the land. The tips of tender leaves of the tea plant are picked at dawn, dried and left to rehydrate in boiling water in a traditional ceremonial vessel known as the teapot.

The pot is then reverentially carried on a special tray for presenting to The Head Gardener for a blessing before being mixed with semi skimmed milk and sipped slowly in purposely procured mugs to the satisfaction of all concerned.

Ciao druidos.

Oh five fifteen. Shed doors are open wide. I woke up at three forty to the dawn chorus and dropped off to sleep again. Woke again an hour later. The birds had quietened down a bit. Figured I might as well get up and get on with the day. Slooking like thirty one degrees this pm. Hotter than yesterday. Not complaining.

Didn’t play golf yesterday. Laughterton was closed due to drought conditions affecting the course so a small hard core group switched and played Pottergate. I didn’t. Spent some quality time with ma daught. Threw a bit of protein on the griddle. We have a great barbecue set up. Will do the same tonight.

Nice to be back home after a few full on days away. Yes I count lounging by the pool as full on 🙂 Will be back in London for one night next Thursday but a chilled time up until then. Oh apart from the Sting gig at Lincoln Castle on Tuesday. 

If we had a pool I’d probably jump in for an early morning dip. We haven’t got a pool. It ain’t worth it where we live. I think I’ll go and water the garden. 

Ciao.

The birds started their chorale at twenty to four this morning. May have been even earlier but I wasn’t awake. Nodded off again, lulled to sleep by sweet blackbirds singing in the dead of night.

Off on a bit of a jaunt today. Site visit to a conference location in Sorrento. You have to put your best people onto jobs like this so after much deliberation I chose myself. It will be quite warm in Sorrento so I’ve packed a few Tommy Bahama silk shirts and a pair of swimming trunks. Good job I have the shirts innit.

It’s warm enough in Lincoln. Ordinarily I wouldn’t bother arranging a trip like this at this time of year but it has to be done so I’m going. I’ll be back in time for dinner in London on Wednesday evening and golf in Lincoln on Thursday.

I’m currently en route to Newark where I change trains.  Don’t often get a train that involves a change these days but the direct ones weren’t at the right times for me. Want to be in Gatwick by about one thirty. The train is not particularly full. In fact Lincoln seemed quite empty on the way down to the station. Not much traffic. Maybe everyone has gone on holiday. Or Skegness for the day.

As we approach Swinderby we pass a massive field full of potato plants. I wonder how many portions of chips you get to the acre. Standard sized portion. Not large. Usually large portions are so large they do for two or three people. Trying to think when I last had a chippy tea. After golf sometime I think, poss when TGH was away.

Most fields are still very green but the wheatfields look quite ripe and ready to harvest and one hayfield had been cut leaving the hay to dry on the floor. Was recently reading about eighteenth century farming methods and specifically the art of building haystacks. It isn’t just a question of stacking the hay in a big pile. The centre of a  haystack can get very hot to the point that fires can self ignite. Obvs this is not good so the technique is to get enough airflow through the stack to keep the centre cool enough. Makes sense innit.

Didn’t bring a book with me on this trip which with hindsight was a mistake. No matter. It is extremely doubtful that there will be anything I want to buy at the airport bookshop. These places usually only stock best sellers. Gawd knows who reads that stuff. Ditto magazines.