where art collides philosoperontap

We are off on a jaunt to Beddgelert today. Looked at the steam train timetable for options. Bloody typical. They don’t start running until tomorrow. Tomorrow we are in liverpeul. Ah well. At least we are off out for a curry tonight with Rhys and Eirian. Bengal Spice which has apparently improved. The last time we were there,  Iolo from Springwatch was in with what looked like a couple of his film crew. Someone from the next table started chatting with him about stuff. Wildlife presumably. We left him alone. People need their space. I guess it’s a problem that comes with celebrity. 

So because we are going for a curry, breakfast will very much get pared down to a simple bacon sandwich . Brechdan bacwn, or cig moch, you choose, they both mean the same thing. Good quality bacon here. With HP sauce natch. And a glass of milk.

There’s a nice walk along the river in Beddgelert. It’s a regular of ours. Places you can stop to skim stones and shouldn’t be too crowded being just before the Easter holidays. Everywhere will be rammed next week. We will be away from it all in Peel. Fenella Beach, far away in time. 

Heard on the wireless that today is the spring equinox. Of course I knew that but it was useful to be reminded, I suppose. Dunno why they bother changing the clocks though. I’d be tempted to leave ours as is but expect there would be pushback from other members of the household. Also my pesky devices will automatically change the time anyway. They like to conform. Sheep.  Plenty of sheep around Beddgelert. Baaaah.

Back in the room I have to report that as well as the aforementioned simple bacon sandwich I also had a weetabix and a raspberry yoghurt together with a glass of milk (well two actually), an OJ and two cawfees. See vid in previous Facebook post on how to apply HP Sauce to a bacon sandwich. Of its time. I have a post on philosopherontap on how to make the perfect bacon sandwich. Google it if you are interested. This particular sarnie was not perfect as the bread wasn’t quite right but the bacon was good quality. I’m not complaining but I am unlikely to leave a review. I usually only leave a review if the experience was good or if it was particularly bad. Something like a bacon sandwich is very objective anyway.

We need to think about timing for leaving for Beddgelert. No point in getting there too early. Beddglelert will be part of a circular route that takes us around Y Wyddfa to Llanberis and back to Caernarfon. A well trodden path stopping at the occasional scenic view point to take photos. We have quite a few of them from over the years. Same scenic viewpoints. The shame nowadays is that it is virtually impossible to park at Pen y Pass. The car park is always rammed and I think they may even charge. Might get lucky. Seehowitgoze.

Goodbye Lincoln we must leave you. Again. This time the delights of Caernarfon and Peel beckon. A two centre break designed to blow away the cobwebs and freshen up the soul. Can you freshen up a soul? They can be saved, I know that. Maybe a spot of spring cleaning. An airing. Anyway, suitable attention will be devoted to the soul even if it is simply done by taking in the airs of my spiritual homeland and frequenting establishments known to offer refreshment designed to individual tastes.

I say two centre but we have found it convenient to break our journey to the Island with a stop in Liverpool where a reservation has been made at the Hilton opposite the Albert Dock. Family visits beckon plus perhaps a suitable detour to the Bridewell, now a tavern but formerly a police lockup. Funnily enough we met a chap in Gibraltar named Brian Wilson who had once, in the folly of his youth, been thrown in the cells there after a very boozy night out on the town that ended up in a brawl.

Sunday night will see my last stay in the Hilton as a Diamond member of their loyalty scheme. As of the 1st of April I am being downgraded to Gold. A further decline in status. A status that really doesn’t matter anymore. It is almost a release. A release from the shackles of the corporate system where status was more relevant. The reality is that if you spend half your time jetting around the globe then having the ability to jump queues, relax in the comfortable surroundings of airport and hotel lounges and generally make life easier does matter. Now I just pay for these conveniences anyway and am able to take a more leisurely approach to it all.

Anyway I leave you with a little AI generated ditty. It’s not bad fair play and took nanoseconds to generate. It’s still pretty cardboardy but if all you want is something that rhymes then it is fine. The danger is of course that a lazy society will change to reflect the capabilities of AI rather than the other way around.

(Verse 1)

Goodbye Lincoln, we must leave you,
The cathedral fades into the grey.
Though the cobblestones might grieve you,
The road is calling us away.

(Chorus)
Oh, the hill is steep and the wind is cold,
With stories new and stories old.
We’re trading the towers for the open sky,
With a heavy heart and a last goodbye.

(Verse 2)
We walked the path of the Roman wall,
And lingered where the shadows sleep.
We saw the Imp within the hall,
And parchment secrets we will keep.

(Verse 3)
So keep your lanterns burning bright,
Above the Brayford and the Bail.
We’ll carry memories through the night,
Until we reach the end of the trail.

(Chorus)
Oh, the hill is steep and the wind is cold,
With stories new and stories old.
We’re trading the towers for the open sky,
With a heavy heart and a last goodbye.

(Verse 4)
But the Stonebow stands and waits for us,
To welcome back the wandering feet.
Through the winter rain and summer dust,
Again one day we’ll walk your street.

(Chorus)
Oh, the hill is steep and the wind is cold,
With stories new and stories old.
We’re trading the towers for the open sky,
With a heavy heart and a last goodbye.

Use these chords. I leave the actual tune to you though I could help if you really wanted.

Verse:
G – D – Em – C

Chorus:
Em – C – G – D
Em – C – G – D

Not a patch on
Goodbye-ee! Goodbye-ee!
Wipe the tear, baby dear, from your eye-ee
Though it’s hard to part I know, (I know)
I’ll be tickled to death to go!
Don’t cry-ee, don’t sigh-ee
There’s a silver lining in the sky-ee!
Bonsoir old thing, cheerio, chin-chin
Nah-poo, toodle-oo, goodbye-ee!

Written when AI wan’t even a figment of the imagination. Shows you the difference doesn’t it?

Up early to set the fire. Just like in the (good) old days. Our flippin remote control boiler thermostat is knackered.What did we do before central heating? We lit the fire that’s what.

Now much later and the fire is lit. Crackling away in the hearth. Just like the old days. I wonder whether people used to gaze into the flames thinking primordial thoughts. Probs. They would probably be huddled near the fire trying to catch its warmth. I’m sat on the nearest bit of settee but that is partly because I can then put my can of beer down on the radiator shelf. 

Hazy Jaipur from Thornbridge. V good. I bought two cans. Now that I am officially on holiday again it’s ok. Feeling quite windswept after the golf. Bloody freezing and bloody windy. You had to adapt your game to the conditions but that was ok. It was ever thus. Keep it low into the wind.

I took the money. Longest drive and best front nine. To call it a drive is taking a bit of a liberty. Mine was the only ball on the fairway. I was a gnat’s crotchet off the green with my second but managed to four put. The greens at Laughterton are not normal greens.

The bypass was totes rammed on the way home. Going in the other direction fortunately. Ya gotta have some luck in life.

I herewith offer two photos proving the existence of spring.

Something caught my eye on Facebook. A new bus timetable for the number 56 Lincoln to Skegness service. I drilled down. Three quid each way. That’s totes ridiculous. The downside is that it takes two hours with a stopover in Horncastle. If yer going to Skeggy for a day out on the bus it seems natural that you would want a few beers. That makes for an awkward return journey. Makes more sense to me to catch a train which is 25 mins quicker and has an on board loo. A lot more expensive though at £31 return with a senior railcard. Lincoln to Cleethorpes return is even better at an hour and seven minutes and £16 return. That’s that sorted then. Mind you there is more to do in Skeggy. Hmm. This needs some careful consideration.

I’ve been wanting to go on a day out to the coast by public transport for ages. Can’t get anyone to come with me. It’s just over an hour by car so that would be an option if someone else was willing to drive. I suppose I could drive if push came to a shove. We did go to Skegness in campervan Betty once. Just for the day. Not far off the time we will be getting her out of storage and taking her for a spin. I guess.

Usually we have fish and chips in the clocktower chippy. I have a small haddock and chips with mushy peas, tartare sauce and bread and butter washed down with a cup of tea or two. If we have a chippy tea at home I am more likely to have a jumbo battered sausage with curry sauce,  and chips obvs. No vinegar. I don’t do vinegar on my chips. Only salt. I do like decent olive oil and vinegar, balsamic. Not with chips though. Nice bread. If im making a vinaigrette I use white wine vinegar not balsamic. They seem to call it white condiment these days. Use the best quality oil and vinegar you can. Makes a big difference.

Listening to the wireless right now. About the rising cost of taking your pet to the vet. We don’t have a pet. I quite like the concept of having a dog.  Man’s best friend an all that. It’s the practicalities that don’t do it for me. Add in big vets bills and it’s a wrap.

On a separate subject I casually glanced at BA long haul flight options for next year. A business class return to Cancun is £500 plus 200k Avios. So that would be £1,000 for two people plus 200k Avios and using a companion voucher. Long haul used to be the sensible way of spending Avios and vouchers but it is rapidly becoming less interesting. Am starting to think we should be spending them on European flights. The Algarve maybe or Greece. Organising these trips isn’t helped by the fact that the BA website is useless.

This page isn’t working

www.britishairways.com redirected you too many times.

• Try deleting your cookies.

ERR_TOO_MANY_REDIRECTS

Well I deleted the cookies but it made no difference whatsoever.

Anyway tharrldofornow. Got a trip to pack for.

Blessed are the pure in heart. Bit of a boring hymn mind you. Only just noticed the wireless was still on. Sunday Service. Repetitive blurb. Time for a bacon sarnie methinks. Mind you I had a chippy tea last night on the way back from the Club Sporting de Lincoln RFC. Still a bit full and we are doing lunch today. Seehowitgoze. Some choral piece on now. It’s okay but not massively memorable. The wireless has been switched off and I have removed to da kitch.  A dull outlook to the morning, observed from the vantage point of the butcher’s block. Dull as in no sun rather than dull as in a boring conversation. All is calm in the house of Davies.

I quite like the relaxing nature of Sunday mornings. Most mornings are thus but Sundays particularly so. Bearing in mind we are not supposed to do anything on the Sabbath, lest we rot in hell. Eternal damnation. Not fair really. Someone has to do the washing up. Can’t just let it stack up in the sink just because it is a Sunday. In our house we got around that problem by installing a dishwasher, something I can heartily recommend. In fact I’d prioritise a dishwasher ahead of a cement mixer even. You can always hire a cement mixer if you ever need one. Tbh if we are ever in that sitch, which we have been on occasion, I usually pay a builder to come and do the work in which case he brings his own mixer. Obvs really innit. 

Blessed are the cement mixers, for they shall never be set in their ways. Blessed are the dishwashers, for they are always in hot water. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Yeehaw it is a Saturday. We all know what that means don’t we. The Banana Splits will be on the telly. And Champion the Wonder Horse, Swapshop aaand Tiswas. Oh, no, it isn’t 1976 anymore is it. Don’t think I used to watch Tiswas anyway. Defo watched the Banana Splits. I wonder what’s on Saturday mornings these days. Mind you I’m not interested enough to look it up. If someone told me I would nod my head in acknowledgement though.

Spotted a hedgehog ambling by the lake yesterday. Eight minutes past midnight. Fair play. I wasn’t up at that time. The lake cam saw it, said to itself oo that’s a hedgehog, Tref would be interested, I think I’ll make a fifteen second video recording the event for posterity.

Coming back to the Banana Splits, goodness gracious me that was fifty years ago! How can that be? Someone tell me. The meaning of life as you know it 🙂 

THG informs me she used to watch the same programmes. We are sooo compatible. Mind you I don’t often watch the same programmes as her these days. Mostly University Challenge and footy. We will unfortunately miss the Liverpool early kickoff today as we are having lunch at Club Sporting de Lincoln RFC. Wonder what’s on the menu. Usually v good innit. Nowt fancy, just solid Lincolnshire fare. We are playing Southwell. 

There’s a ladies game first. Lincoln Ladies v Broughton Park Women. What’s the difference I wonder. Ladies v women. Perhaps Lincoln are more refined. Doubt it somehow. Aspirational? We will be able to watch most of the first half before taking our seats for lunch. Lincoln Ladies are a strong side. Favourites I expect. League leaders. Two points ahead of Sheffield Tigers women. Broughton Park Women are actually a close third. Should be a good game.

In the meantime I have to decide when to open my tin of spam. Spam fritters for breakfast maybe. Trouble is we are off travelling again in a few days and might not use all the spam before we go. Caernarfon, Liverpool and Peel. Almost certainly a signal for the weather to change! We have much experience of this. There are two solutions. The first is take plenty of layers including a waterproof. Then be prepared to spend a lot of time in cafés and, of course, the pub. The pubs I should have said. There are seven in Peel: The Whitehouse, Creek, Royal, Central, Several, Marine and Millers T’Ale which is relatively new and serves craft beers. Our local was the Whitehouse. The Manx Legion shut down though I never went there. There were a lot more pubs in the heyday of the fishing fleet when there were up to 1,800 fishermen working out of peel. Gawd knows where they all lived.

These are the ones i could find online:

* The Central – Located on Castle Street.
* The Creek Inn – Situated on the Quay at Station Place.
* The Crown – Located on Castle Street.
* The Highwayman – Located on Poortown Road on the outskirts of Peel.
* The Marine Hotel – Situated on Shore Road (historically the corner of Castle Street and Crown Street).
* The Peveril – Located on Crown Street at the Quay.
* The Royal Oak – Located on Castle Street.
* The Royal – Located on Atholl Street.
* The Whitehouse – Located on Tynwald Road.
* Peel Castle – Historically located in the Market Place.
* Caledonian Hotel – Historically recorded in the Market Place.
* Manchester – A historical inn on Love Lane (formerly Cottier’s Lane).
* Black’s – A historical establishment said to be on the Quay or the corner of Queen’s Road and Shore Road.
* Kewin’s – An unidentified establishment mentioned as being opposite the Crown.
* Sloane’s – A historical tavern that also operated as a barber’s shop.
* Sammy Holmes’ Tavern – A historical establishment adjacent to Sloane’s.

When you started reading this post I bet you never knew it would be so educational. Neither did I. Would have been one hell of a pub crawl. All dayer. 

Reminds me of the round the TT Course pub crawl I organised after our ALevels. I found the list of people who went a few years ago – posted it here – historical document. Note the cost. £1.50 each paid for the hire of a coach. In those days beer was 35 pence a pint and two quid got you a night out.

Excellent first round of golf of the season yesterday. Finished just as the sun went down. I had a poor front nine but started to get back in the groove and had a much improved back nine. Woodcocks afterwards for a couple of beers and a burger. It ain’t particularly good but it is on the way back to Lincoln and therefore a convenient place to stop.

This morning I have a meeting and a swim this pm with the potential for an early doors meet wi’t lads in’t bail. THG has a cauliflower mac’n cheese planned. Then a busy weekend ahead with lunch at the club sporting de Lincoln RFC tomorrow and nine of us for lunch on Sunday. That’s the weekend wiped out. I’ve cooked a beef casserole for Sunday so that’s taken the strain away. Just needs another hour or so to hit perfect consistency.

A soft layer of pale pink merged with the pastel blue of the sky above providing a background to the silhouetted trees and bushes lining the garden, motionless. The pink was also splashed on the vapour trails that seem to be an ever present feature of the modern skies.

Five thirty. I had lain in bed for a minute or three but as the early morning light filtered through I decided it was time to get up and get on with the day. Interesting how you naturally wake up with the daylight. I did anyway. It wasn’t so long ago that this was nature’s alarm clock. We didn’t have clock radios. Your body must have told you what time it was. Time to light the fire, time to eat, time to get out and check the farm, milk the cows or go hunting.

I still drink milk. The stuff we buy from the supermarket easily lasts over a week, if you only use the occasional splash in a cup of tea. The unpasturized milk of old would only have lasted two or three days. If you were drinking milk it would have been very fresh. Most of it would have been turned into butter and cheese. No cornflakes or cocopops in those days. Just oatmeal. The good old days!

The pink has already disappeared. It wasn’t a red sky warning. The forecast is for a sunny day ahead. Third or fourth in a row. Wossgoinon? A busy day here. Admin, compost bin building and golf. I’ve got some tedious forms I need to fill in and now the new blades have arrived for the circular saw, there is nothing to stop me from getting on with the compost bin construction.

I quite like the idea of removing all the clocks in the house as an experiment. Some of them wouldn’t need removing as their batteries have already run out and others would just need turning off. This also means no electronic devices that contain a clock, so no phones, iPads or laptops. No radio or TV. Would be interesting wouldn’t it? I’d have to keep a notebook and pen with me as I like to record things, often in real time. I did a Facebook free January once, fwiw.

It was all quiet on the fox front yesterday. We had our hedges trimmed the day before. I wonder whether the temporarily reduced cover has put it off. I doubt it. Seem very brazen when I’ve actually encountered it in the garden.

More vapour trails appearing in the sky. We are obviously on a flight path. Never really thought about it before. Flight DL48 is currently flying by at 39,000ft en route from JFK to AMS. They will be in the middle of serving breakfast. During WW2 German bombers used Lincoln Cathedral as a navigation aid en route to places like Birmingham and Coventry. The Red Arrows are almost a daily sight.

The garden has emerged into full colour, the clock says six thirty and the kettle is on. Time to take THG a pot of tea. 

Ciao amigos.

Oh forgot to mention I have a dental appointment at 10:40. Aaah.

Went to see an excellent lecture yesterday pm given by Dave Gilbert who I used to work with in the old MEDL days.  Long time ago now. How they built the IBCC memorial. Bought his book. We also had Tom the Tree Man’s team around to do some work. Takes two blokes most of the day to trim the hedges. Ready for the growing season now.

First thing I did this morning was to strain the beef stock wot I made yesterday when I came back from the lecture. Picked the bones up at Foster’s when I bought the meat. Worth putting the effort in. We now have a good base for Sunday’s beef casserole which I will probs make this morning and leave in the fridge ready for the weekend. Long slow cook makes for a good casserole. Or stew. Call it what you want.

Tis a sunny Monday morn in March and I am sat sipping tea in the conservatoire listening to birdsong. The singing is having to compete with traffic noise this morning. I don’t normally notice traffic noise so perhaps the wind is coming from a certain direction or summat. My Merlin bird app has seen action since we returned from Italy and has identified the presence of goldfinch and chaffinch in the back garden. Not particularly noticed these before, perhaps occasionally. It’s usually blackbird, wren and robin with some magpie thrown in. Also the everpresent and irritating whoop of the wood pigeon. We aren’t being visited often enough by the peregrine falcons who dine on the pigeons. Maybe they have too many options around the cathedral.

Quite pleased with yesterday’s gardening efforts and may even make a start today on the compost bins. I do have a conference call at nine (yes, gulp, that early!) but it should still leave me with plenty of time to get going. 

Will also be back in the pool today and plan to join the Yarborough Leisure Centre under its new management. £270 a year off peak (9am til 4pm) membership with no joining fee and full access to pool, gym and classes. That is a seriously good deal.£22.50 a month! I ditched my total fitness membership as it was getting v busy even off peak (10am til 4pm), was a five mile drive away and cost £54 a month, albeit on a no contract basis. Looking at their online busyness charts their off peak times were almost as busy as their peak times and more than twice the price of Yarborough. As the weather warms up I’ll be cycling the mile and a half to get there. 7 mins according to google maps. Less if you have an ebike I guess.

The ebike must start seeing some daylight exposure this summer. Not used it for the past couple of  years. This is to a large extent due to the arthritic hips but also because I used to go on occasional cycle rides with my pal Steve who sadly passed away and had given his bike away when he became unable to ride it. The hips are no longer an excuse. If anyone wants join me on the occasional pedal lemme know. Weather permitting obvs. No point in going if it is raining.

The golfing season, I sense, is about to get underway this week. My clubs are positioned near the garage door and ready to rock and roll and I won’t be able to blame my hips for not playing well. I’ll never get back to the heady days of thirteen handicap but feel as if I should be able to string together decent enough rounds if I get enough playing in. I’ll keep you posted obvs.

Gotta go. Need to complete the three esses before my 9am call.

My mam, Eileen, died on 1st May 2015 aged seventy seven. I’ve not written about her since her death. I’ve always felt it to be a very personal thing and didn’t particularly look for sympathy in the way that an announcement on Facebook can engender. We are all different. However seeing as today is Mother’s Day it has made me think about her even though I can’t go and see her.

I guess most of us, though perhaps not all, are lucky enough to have fond memories and feelings about our mothers. It is only with hindsight that you begin to understand everything she did for you. It’s only after she died that I applied for an Irish passport. I wish I had done that whilst she was still with us. Doing so made me feel closer to her, able to identify more with her.

There is a lot of mam in me for which I am very grateful. It’s only after she died I realised how many friends she had. She would chat with the staff at the Shoprite supermarket in Peel and couldn’t walk down the street without seeing someone she knew. When I visited the florist to order the flowers for her coffin the lady in the shop was visibly upset when she found out who they were for. I think mam still holds the record for how long it takes to go shopping in Marks and Spencers in Douglas. It was at least three hours. She bumped into three friends at different times and went for a coffee with each of them in the M&S caff. Mam knew half the people on the Isle of Man as she worked in the blood clinic at Nobles Hospital. They all went through her hands at some time or another.

Her Irish playfulness was also used on my dad. She would occasionally ask him to pass the fork’n knife with a glint in her eye. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for us kids, including coming to pick me up from the pub in Crosby on dark nights when the mile and a half walk home, the second half in pitch darkness in winter, felt unattractive. I remember she would occasionally bash her Citroen 2CV on the gatepost coming home from work. I had to hammer the dent out and push the gatepost back into place. Mam would blame the scratch on “some bastard in the car park at work”. I suspect dad really knew the truth 🙂 

She was a very generous soul and we knew, on visits home, if we went out for a trip to the shops with her there would always be something in it for us 🙂 Some of it came I’m sure as a reaction to her very poor background. She came from a place called Mohill in County Leitrim where her father worked at the local train station. The youngest of 7 children she was one of the few of them to stay in the parental cottage – a 2 room place called Tullybraddan with an acre of land out the back where they would keep a cow. 7 kids would not all fit in the “house” and the older ones were farmed out to relatives as another came along. Mam remembers driving a donkey (might have been a horse) and cart into town to deliver the milk.

I’m not going to give you her whole life story here. Just to tell you that mam was a wonderful woman and I am lucky enough to have been her son. I’m sure my sisters have the same sentiment. I am also lucky to be married to THG. I see a lot of similarities between her and mam. As the mother of 4 children today is also her day.

Hugs to all.

Feels as if it’s a nice day out. Gonna get out and do some gardening. Trellis to put up. Get started on the compost bins. Stuff like that. After sitting in front of the TV from 12.30 till ten yesterday. 4 games only the last of which didn’t go to plan. I either needed France to absolutely slaughter England or lose to them. As it is Wales came bottom and Ireland second. I suppose France were worthy winners of the tourney. 

Feels as if I should also give some real attention to putting in an irrigation system. Something I was thinking about last year but made no progress. Now that I can walk it might happen this year. Also the wildflower meadow needs sorting out. The grass needs properly digging up and the area reseeding. 

Today, as you probably know, is Mothering Sunday. The maid has been given permission to go and see her mother who lives a fair old walk away. Hopefully there will be a bus. It’s the only day off she gets though she has been whinging about being allowed to go on the church picnic. I am a good employer and will of course give her permission. As long as she gets all her jobs done before she goes.

That’ll be sometime in the summer. It’ll be OK as long as it doesn’t clash with the harvest. The runner beans don’t pick themselves yanow. THG said don’t worry she can sort the runner beans but I said hey, why do we employ a maid then. Then she replied that I live in a fantasy world and we don’t have a maid. Well she is spot on. Knows me well. No harm in dreaming. 

THGs phone this morning has been ringing off the hook, so to speak. Mobile phones don’t have a hook per se do they? Offspring calling her to wish her happy mother’s day and apologising they couldn’t make it home. The pressures and pace of life of the modern world. I will have to be the surrogate kid. Already got up and made the tea. What more could a mother ask for?

The Sunday Service has got off to a good start. So far so good. I’ll let you know if it’s thumbs up or down very soon. Takes more than an opening hymn for me to be able to pass judgement. It’s coming from Antrim and has already mentioned St Patrick’s day aaand mothering sunday. I’d listen to it. I am. In the background.