Goodness me it is warm in the shire. Got to the shed around one thirty and the doors are now flung wide open. Tis a beautiful afternoon. The birds are chirping contentedly and a very gentle breeze is wafting the lilac coloured hostas in front of the deck.
Very good albeit as usual, exhausting weekend in Sherwood Pines with our camping buddies. Nile Rodgers was great. Sting was great. Both very different gigs. Weather turned out perfect.
Sting’s most streamed track is Every Breath You Take with over two billion downloads. Next one is Roxanne at three quarters of a billion. Not shabby. Nile Rodgers’ Get Lucky has nearly one point six billion streams between two versions.
Both artists were a big part of the musical wallpaper of my teens. There were many others. We are off to see Paul McCartney in December. Including the Eagles last month it is a big year for watching all time great acts.
Others on the list are Donna Summer, Bronski Beat, The Jam, The Clash, Madness, Squeeze, the Vapors, ELO, Joe Jackson, 10cc, Supertramp, Queen, Bob Dylan, Door, Simon and Garfunkel, The Crusaders, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The list is endless.
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Am now in the shed with an iced drink enjoying my fave tunes by some of the aforementioned artists. At some stage I will fire up the bbq as THG has requested salmon for dinner. I will be happy with a simple salad.
It is set to be hot all week. This is something to take note of as we have a planned day out in London on Thursday. A light silk shirt is called for with plenty of drink, a hat and maybe even some sunscreen. I quite like a day out in town on a nice summer’s day. I think the Panama hat that @Wayne brought me back from Ecuador will be perfect. Will be avoiding the tube. Bus or taxi.
Meeting the kids for beers later before we set the guidance computer north. Maybe have a small picnic on the return train. There is a handy Waitrose in Kings X Station and they serve sandwiches on the train. The beauty of the 19.06 is that it is one of the few direct trains home from London.
I have quite a few train home stories. There was the occasion when I must have been celebrating something and bought a bottle of Moet & Chandon on the train. It was a brand new Azuma train. The weather was atrocious and the train’s windscreen wiper was working overtime. Unfortunately it broke. New train teething troubles ?!?!
We were all turfed out onto the platform at Grantham and I still had half a bottle left. I finished the champagne on the platform and deposited it in a raised plant border. There were no bins.
The next train to arrive not only didn’t go to Lincoln meaning I’d have to change at Newark but it already had two trains worth of passengers due to another cancelled train. This meant standing room only in first class.
Fortunately when I got off at Newark I bumped into Ian Cleary who lives near Market Rasen and who offered me a lift home. Result. I’d have had to hang around for a connecting train or tried to get a taxi which ain’t necessarily straightforward at Newark Northgate.