where art collides

The most interesting news this morning comes in the Guardian where it states that visitors to Copenhagen are being offered free drinks and skiing as part of the city’s efforts to lure tourists. The caveat appears to be that you have to be well behaved and use public transport or ride a bike. Simple enough I’d have thought although the ride a bike bit could involve an element of personal risk. 

Being a pedestrian in Copenhagen, as I recall, involves having eyes in the back of your head as you not only need to avoid cars but trams and cyclists as well. As a cyclist you have to avoid other cyclists, trams and cars but also tourists who have been on free drinks and are unfamiliar with the road system.

Not much else of note happened over the weekend. 

Today though is a different ball game. The sun is shining and our excellent meteorological office tells me that we can expect the temperature to rise to a sweltering twenty one degrees on the deck outside the shed.

This should mean that not only can I expect to have assembled the new lawnmower but also deployed it. I might also reasonably expect to do a bit more sorting in the garage and perhaps even a trip to the tip. Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves though. There is tea to be consumed.

The milkman came at five oh seven and it was still light.

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A kettle has been installed in the shed and there is milk in the fridge. This is important because we have a load of Spanish kids in the kitchen this morning and I don’t want to have to engage with them. They’ll be gone soon.

In the meantime the lawn mower assembly turned out to be a doddle. All I have to do is stick the batteries in and my uncle’s name is Bob.

The law states that Sunday mornings should have a relaxed start. These start the day posts are getting a bit repetitive but you gotta tell it like it is 😀Already done a few stretching exercises. I use PhysiApp to keep track of my progress. I need to get a lot more supple. Movement, exercise, stuff like that. Got a slightly dodgy hip innit.

Waved THG and Janice and Jamie off. The former to her place of worship and the others to their place of abode in a far away land. Up for Clarkie’s sixtieth bash last night. THG was thrilled to meet some folks she knew from Uni she hadn’t seen for forty years.

The day ahead will be one of quiet composure. The weather is mildly inclement making the completion of outdoor jobs unlikely. The assembly of the mower can wait until tomorrow unless I get a rush of blood. It is unlikely to see deployment before tomorrow anyway. I will however harvest the pea crop. I am hoping to get half a small cup full but let’s see how it goze.

The afternoon and evening will be filled with sport. Men’s final at the All England Tennis Club and the European soccer final in Berlin which has some local representation. I imagine the James Joyce Irish Pub in Madrid will be rammed. Having been there once I must have followed them on Facebook and periodically get to see their posts. Silly really as I have no plans to return there. It’s a shame the cricket finished early as that was due to end today. Classic British summer action.

THG and I do have a swimming slot booked but I realise now that this clashes with the tennis. We can decide nearer the time. An hour’s swimming slot probs represents just one set of tennis for the men so could still go without missing much action. This is slightly different to the time I saw Serena Williams win her semi final in fifty minutes or so. She was a machine. Devastating.

My latest read arrived yesterday pm. Buck Compton – Call of Duty. He was in Easy Company. Band of Brothers. Doing a lot of reading in advance of our visit to Normandy next week. It is interesting how everyone’s memory of different events differs. Buck doesn’t remember that much about the attack on Brecourt Manor, for example, in which he won the silver star. If you haven’t read the book or watched it on TV this will mean nothing to you.

I sense a week of (relatively) frenzied activity ahead in which I try to clear the jobs list before we set off. I also need to get my hair cut. My god life is exciting isn’t it?

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Been pottering around in the garage. Tidying the garage and other jobs of national importance need to be approached in an unhurried manner. First you pick up any obvious bit of rubbish and deposit it in a suitable plastic bucket or bin. Doing this reveals other obvious next steps such as replacing a drill bit/screwdriver/spanner in a relevant container or box.

There will come a time when a whole shelf of miscellaneous bits and bobs gathered over decades really needs tidying, finding a new home for or chucking. I would guess there are three man days of garage sorting ahead. To some extent this requires a sunny day so that I can move stuff onto the drive before

The law states that Saturday mornings should have a relaxed start. Had to turn off the wireless set. Everyone getting too excited about tomorrow’s football. It usually all ends in tears.

On one of my recent trips to a local market I purchaysed a tin of espresso cawfee. I will shortly open it and stick a pot on the stove. A minute by minute account of my morning. Left one or two things out. Would have been too much information.

The only issue with making espresso is you have to prepare the pot. I realise this is not really a big deal but it is currently what is keeping my backside firmly affixed to the pew that runs the length of the wall next to the kitchen table.

Turned the rugby on. All Blacks v England. The commentator just mentioned Gareth Southgate. There is no escaping!

Coincidentally I have booked a hotel in Berlin. End of September though, not this weekend. Couldn’t make it this weekend anyway. Got Clarkie’s birthday bash.

Breakfast this morning is a full Lincolnshire. Might have to make a pot of tea to go with it. Not getting on with this espresso.

The law also states that after a full Lincolnshire you have to sit down with a cup of tea and watch the rugby.

Feels like a Saturday, again. The highlight of the day ahead is the delivery of our new lawn mower. Depending on what time it arrives (sometime before ten tonight according to DPD) I might get it deployed although the batteries will need charging. Probs tomorrow, realistically. 

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not particularly excited about getting a new lawn mower. Not in the way I am about going to Trent Bridge next week to watch the second Windies test or going to Paris to see the Olympics the week after. The lawn does need a mow. There could be a scenario where we left it to “rewild” but that would require an unanimous vote by the committee and it ain’t gonna happen. I like a bit of lawn anyway plus I have a strip of wildflowers in front of the shed.

We’ve had some good parties out on that lawn and when we have a crowd round for a barbie we stick the Kadai fire pit in the middle and burn some old fence. We still have a lot of old fence to get through. Need the weather though.

Last week of school term next week. We live over the road to a school.  In some respect this is a sad milestone as it heralds the beginning of the end of summer. The kids get a long summer holiday but at the end of it we are into autumn. Enjoy every moment while you can.

04:16

Le lawn mower est arrivee. Batteries are now charging. The lawn itself  will wait until tomorrow. No point rushing these things and it’s started raining anyway.

Yesterday’s relatively small shopping list included a cauliflower. I bought two as they were very small. Suspect it shows what a cool spring and summer we have had. Either that or someone bought up all the big ones!

I didn’t buy everything on yesterday’s list as I quite like going to Waitrose and will nip there again before the weekend. Today probs. Also need to buy a new handle for the leaf rake (think Trigger’s broom) and a lawnmower. Not from Waitrose obvs. Our mower has finally finished throwing its toys out of the pram and stopped working completely. No point in getting it serviced as it is falling apart. It’s probs twenty five years old so it’s seen a lot of service. Being held together by gaffer tape, string and a wood splint.

The other must do job today is to renew the sealant around the base of the shower. It’s a job I don’t like doing. Fortunately this is not a frequent job. Maybs once every ten years. Worth doing well innit.

The news this morning is all about the England football team winning against The Netherlands at the Euros, or European Cup of Nations or whatever it’s called. There is even talk of a knighthood for manager Gareth Southgate. The English are such a fickle lot. One minute they are slagging him off and throwing beer at him and the next it’s all wine and roses, so to speak.

I’ve never seen a nation travel so expectantly. So full of hope that is normally dashed on the rocks of the team’s inability to perform as well as the players do for their own clubs. See how it goes in the Final on Sunday. THG is v excited. A happy THG is a happy Tref. Although being a sporting kind of guy I do watch the Premiership I don’t like the culture associated with football. The disrespect for the referee, the cheating to win at all costs. It’s because the stakes are so high. They need to introduce the concept of the sin bin.

Outside it is a dull, drizzly kind of day. A contrast with the brightly lit kitchen. Typical British summer weather really so no point in blaming Global Warming. I may skip the lawnmower purchase as it wouldn’t be put to work today anyway. Needs a bit of research. 

I started looking a couple of times but was filled with indecision. The best looking one, at the top of the recommended buy list on some website, was twelve hundred quid. I can’t bring myself to spend that much on a lawnmower especially considering the last one was probably only a couple of hundred a quarter of a century ago. I do quite fancy one with an electric starter. Stay tuned.

The Lords test has started. Jimmy’s last. End of an era. Our John, now aged 24 was only three years old when he started. I took John to his first test match at Trent Bridge in 2004. Jimmy wasn’t playing then. It was v India. A very hot day where the young lad fell asleep under the seats in the stand. A classic low scoring day of attritional cricket.

Off to see them again at Trent Bridge next week. Did offer the lad a ticket but he is managing a stage at a music festival. No idea which one. Can’t be Glasto as that’s already happened 🙂

John has been with us for a week or so on holiday. Always nice to have an offspring home for a bit. Was going to say “a kid” but whilst we still call them kids they ain’t really, no more.

NetUK1 day two has commenced. Rob Barnes from Rolls Royce talking about “Secure by Design” nuclear power stations. V interesting fair play. 

Wonderful location. IET Savoy Place. We are in the Riverside Room looking out onto the Thames. I can see The Shard from where I am sat. Our Tom’s office. Chucking it down outside mind you.

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She may be the chill that autumn brings.

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On the northbound nineteen oh six direct train to Lindum Colonia. I have a gin and tonic and Meic Stevens on Spotify to keep me company. Baled out on my reserved seat in favour of the two unreservable end seats providing me with privacy and comfort and pole position for being served. The other three seats around the table were occupied. Far better off where I am now. I’ve ordered some crumpets.

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Ysbryd y nos

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Rolling patchwork of greens and yellows

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Kjhkljhl

Broken sleep. Always happens when I set an alarm. Off to da smoke for a couple of days for the Netuk1 conference. Now sat on the train waiting to set off. The seat next to me is reserved from Peterborough. Huh! My wits are not quick this morning. Need a cup of tea and a bacon roll to energise the brain.

Could have caught a later train I suppose as the conference is not until this afternoon but the timings of the direct options were not particularly good and I couldn’t be bothered to change at Newark.

I’ve stuck the news on. The Today Programme on Radio 4 has a suitably soporific effect. I can filter out the political crap. Will probs lose signal between Lincoln and Newark anyway. Bandwidth.

Tis a beeootiful day. Summertime and the weather is fine.I’m wearing the shirt I bought in Cape Town. Colourful. Classic African collarless design.

The growing season is in full swing. Just passed a deep green onion field. I like onions. Very fond of them actually. Didn’t bother growing any this year. Went for peas instead. Won’t have much of a crop. Might harvest them before we go to France.

The difference between peas and onions, apart from the obvious, is that you can buy perfectly good onions in the shops. You can’t buy very fresh peas. They have to be frozen. Don’t get me wrong I like frozen peas. They are one of my fave veggies. There is, however, nothing quite like freshly picked peas. From garden to plate in half an hour or less.

Now passing wheat fields. Uniform green. Not a weed in sight. Plenty of chemicals in that field.

In the news is a heatwave in Vegas Baby. Fifty degrees Celsius. Goodness me, too hot man. It’ll hit eighteen in London today. V comfortable.

The algorithm. Heard on the wireless. Our lives are governed by it. It is the new big brother.

The milkman came at three forty one.

A few moments of reflection and repose. THG is tucking into breakfast but I am waiting for George to rise as he has been promised a full English before setting off dahn sarf. I Vow To Thee My Country is playing on the wireless. Sunday Service. Sounds a bit muted. Perhaps the enunciation could be better. Need more clarity. Now the vicar has kicked in. Talking about votes. Time to switch off. Classic FM maybs.

A dullish day ahead which we hope will not detract from Rob and Jen’s garden party. There’s no such thing as bad weather…

Before then I have a trip to the tip planned. The old freezer is going. Always assuming we can fit it in the car. If not I might have to buy some welding gear and break it up into smaller chunks 🙂Not really.

Emma Raducanu is playing on Centre Court at around three thirty. I’ve lost interest in her since she blew out our Andy denying him one last appearance on the hallowed turf. Lawns really but turf sounded better. Couldn’t imagine our back garden lawn being as pristine as those at Wimbledon.

Twas a wet start to the day. Fortunately Daz & Caz’ wedding anniversary bash is in their village hall so won’t matter what the weather is like this pm. Afternoon tea. A nice change from an out and out booze up which tends to be the form with our crowd of pals 🙂

Bit of running around on errands this morning and then back to start sorting our camping gear. We have lots of stuff accumulated over the years that needs disposal. Some of it is straight chuck in bin stuff but there are lots of plates and cutlery sets that might be useful to someone. One or two things that might be worth flogging. The front room is now full of stuff sorted into piles. Further processing will now wait for another day.

Australia v Wales now on’t box. Feels wrong really. This is the criquet season. England narrowly lost to the All Blacks earlier. I was out and about. The game isn’t on’t box as such. It is on a monitor. I doubt anyone has a “box” anymore. You know what I mean though. Innit.

I’m a great believer that the season for winter sports such as rugby and footie should not start before September. When I was playing rugby this was basically to give the ground a chance to soften up a bit but I’m sticking with my stance. Summer is for cricket and tennis and golf and athletics etc etc etc.

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Well a goodly afternoon in Careby Village Hall. Good company & craic, good buffet. Two cups of tea, two diet Fantas and a glass of water. There’s only so much of that you can drink in a five hour period.

We watched England v Switzerland. One all at full time which meant we had to stay for extra time after which it was still one all. England won on penalties. THG was relieved and happy.

Email arrived from American Airlines this morning. 535 miles (basically all of my miles) are about to disappear from my  account. Oh. Ah well. Had a similar one from BA the other day. I’ve dropped to bronze status. Ah well. I don’t fly that much these days anyway and when I do I go at least business class so that status doesn’t really matter. Unless it’s with Easyjet where we push the boat out and pay for priority boarding anyway (blows on his finger nails and polishes them). I’m in my last year of diamond status with Hilton Honors. Hey. Life is moving on.

Much bigger news is that I read this morning that Sean Connery used to wear a toupee when playing James Bond.  Gosh. Could have been fake news I suppose. I remain open minded about this. There is nothing to say that Bond has to have a full head of hair I guess. 

Milkman came at 05:15 ey em. Presumably waited for the Election Exit Poll numbers before setting off on his round. Not every Tory MP gone and some of those I’d been planning to dance on their political graves remain: Cruella and Priti for example. Ah well.

We will in any case have a celebratory bbq this evening. I made the marinade yesterday afternoon and was going to joint a chicken for overnight marinating but we had a slight hiccup when picking up the curry from the Castle View Indian. 

We arrived at the appointed time of five fifteen but the stove “was broken”. Hannah, who had gone in to pick it up whilst I waited in the car, only discovered this when, after sitting in the reception area for a quarter of an hour,  she overheard a conversation between two members of staff.

At that point we made the strategic decision to wait in the pub and eventually picked up the takeaway at six o’clock. As a result the window of opportunity for chicken chopping went away. I’ll do it this morning after brekkie.

While we waited for the voting to finish we watched the Blues Brothers movie. Never tire of it. Then went to bed and fell asleep listening to the wireless.

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This afternoon’s big news is that I don’t seem to be able to start the lawn mower. It is falling apart and I did mull over getting a new one at the beginning of the season but then it started to start again, so to speak. Now it doesn’t. It’s come to the point where I have to have a go at starting it a few times over a half hour period and it eventually fires up.

Been making restaurant reservations in Normandy. Utah Beach to be precise. Now I need to arrange a taxi. Hotel passed on the deets of the local firm. On this occasion I’ve submitted an online request. Last year in Montaigu de Quercy I got into a one way conversation with a cab company in deep gutteral French. The guy at the other end didn’t speak a word of English and kept repeating himself in French. I assumed he didn’t understand my own French. It wasn’t until later that i was told it was an answerphone and that the staff were all on holiday!!!

Figured it would be easier to do it in writing this time.

Well I’ll be a Yanky doodle dandy, it’s the fourth of July. American independence day and the day the UK choses its next government. You won’t get good odds on who is likely to win but I daresay there will be some dancing on political graves in the wee small hours with a cohort of unpopular politicos likely to disappear from the Westminster scene. Yay. Good riddance.

Our Tom was on the Jeremy Vine show on Radio 2 yesterday afternoon talking about his Fantasy Election Game – fantasyelection.co.uk. Jezzer gets over seven million listeners and Tom’s appearance resulted in a spike in registrations on his site. Shows you the power of the media.

The outside of the shed is a hive of activity this morning with our John having been contracted to clean it and apply its annual spray of wood treatment. Probs need to nip to B&Q later for supplies. Also on the cards is the painting of the back fence, digging up the bamboo and chopping back the growth that has crept in between the trellis around the bbq and the back of the potting shed. All go innit.

Otherwise for me it’s generally a day of calm after yesterday’s funeral. We eventually ended up in the Morning Star. Fortunately the rain of the morning had given way to perfect summer’s day for sitting out in the beer garden. Good crowd. The funeral itself had people queuing out the door at the back of the crem. A fitting send off.

Two of our visitors are busy working in the house. The spare desk in the shed, which is where Hannah normally plonks when she comes home, has got too much crap around it. Incentive for me to get sorting – all in good time 🙂

Chinese takeaway 3rd july

Prawn crackers 
Chicken satay starter x 2
Beef curry fried rice
Salt and pepper chips
Shredded beef x 2
Singapore noodles
Curry sauce
Vegetables with green pepper in black bean sauce
Plain rice

Milkman came at 05:04. Left two pints and the bill. Cost five pounds ninety four for six pints. First time I’ve seen how much it costs.

Wildthing’s funeral today. Steve Wildman, or Wildthing was a close friend and neighbour. We met at ante-natal classes thirty two years ago when we were both preparing for the birth of our first born children. Our wives were there as well obvs.

Our second born children, @Hannah and @Lois have been best buddies since the womb. Steve was a regular visitor to our house. We would have occasional jam sessions, he on trombone and me on geetar with Joe on trumpet and had a couple of public performances over the years at the various royal wedding and jubilee celebrations held around the corner on Curle Ave.

Steve retired a short few years ago from his job as Commercial Director of Siemens Energy, or Oil and Gas, or similar. They kept changing the name. I’m really not sure what his title was either but he did spend a lot of time overseas negotiating multi billion pound contracts.

Steve was one of the few people responsible for maintaining and being able to drive the Rustons Car, a vehicle manufactured in Lincoln circa 1922. He was a mechanical engineer by trade and a motocross enthusiast, sponsoring his pal Dick’s Team Tett racing outfit.

I went along to one race meet in Monmouthshire last summer where we both kipped in the awning they used to fix up the bikes. Steve owned a large collection of Husqvarna bikes and was an occasional visitor to the Isle of Man for the racing.

He was a larger than life character who lived life very much to the full. He was a volunteer at Joefest and he and I ran the bar at our daughters’ various joint birthday celebrations.

Steve was a regular visitor to the shed when lockdown restrictions eased. You could almost see the level of the gin in the bottle drop as you looked at it.

It is hard to believe that Steve is no longer with us. He is a big loss. He was a great guy and highly respected. Steve’s attitude to life was an example to us all.  

We plan to arrive an hour before the funeral to make sure we get a seat. Our thoughts are with his family, Eve, Lois and Kester.

Grey, grey, grey, grey, grey day today. Ain’t no sunshine and she ain’t even gone. Snormal British summer weather really. Sokay. 

Another day of progress with the garage, hopefully. Inshallah. There is so much crap in there. The accumulated detritus of the twenty seven years we have been in this house. Old, not quite finished tins of paint, a bag of sand (!), a huge paella dish that I bought in some market that we have never used. If anyone wants a party sized paella dish now is the time to ask. Ten telescopic flagpoles (yup), campervan ramps, never used, two bike stands, never used, or maybe used once.

This is just the stuff I can remember without having to look. My visualisation of the garage is one of those pristine tidy spaces with everything in its place. Clean shelving with contents in clearly labelled boxes. Ditto the playroom that was never really used as a playroom and is just a dumping ground. With a bit of work that could be a workshop. A lot of work. Unlikely.

Then there’s the potting shed…

So plenty to be getting on with.

In the meantime I’ve put my clean clothes away, tidied up the top of the chest of drawers next to my side of the bed, fitted the new thermometer to the gas bbq and pumped up my bike tyres.

The tyres were completely flat as the bike hasn’t been used for a couple of years but I am about to change all that. The inflation process wasn’t totes straightforward and I had to resort to YouTube for assistance. Turns out the valve has a little metal bit you have to unscrew before attaching the pump. Who knew? All my other bikes, well my other bike, had the same valve as you get on a car tyre. Sup now anyway and I’ll be picking a time to go on a bit of a ride.

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taxi requirements for the cricket

Friday 19th 3 persons

Tref, Shannon and Max from 118 Wragby Road to Trent Bridge – 8am

Return pickup 7pm – drop off Max in Burton, Tref 118 Wragby Road Shannon Heighington

150 round trip

130 without drop offs

Sat 20th 4 persons

Pickup Wragby Road 8.am then Hamilton Road near South Common

Return 7pm

Drop off Skelly, Hamilton Road, Wragby Road and Welton

159 round trip