where art collides philosoperontap

stays mainly in Lincoln

It’s horrible wet day out there. Opted to go to the gym this pm rather than a swim first thing. Healthy fruit and fibre for breakfast. Working on a quote on behalf of Netaxis and also trying to sort out the DNS for joefest.co.uk. Email account is working but struggling with the A name redirect for some reason. On live chat with Namecheap person right now.

The beech hedge is looking decidedly rusty. The hedge doesn’t lose its leaves in winter. They just turn a rusty brown which is a good thing. Not only is it a nice colour but it means it never loses its opacity. Never thought of a hedge in terms of opacity but that is what it is for. Cover. Privacy.

Quiet morning in the house. Mondays alway are. Anne has her Monday Group and she listens to kids read at Eastgate School. After that she is off downtown. She has a very full schedule. DNS sorted btw. natch.

yawn

Another 5.30 am start. Sat here in the TV room doing a bit of work on JoeFest. Had a glass of wine at the Southwells when I went to pick up Anne, Erica and John last night. Then got home and set up the JoeFest email account. Had forgotten to do so during the day as promised to Tom and Joe. Done now.

Dinner was successful. Burgers, chips, peas, caramelised onions and mushrooms. Bread didn’t rise very well in the tin though. Need to continue practising. Lamb casserole however is looking like a hit. I stuck it in the garage fridge before hitting the hay last night so the flavour will be even more developed. Just got to do the dumplings now plus Cyberdoyle has recommended slicing some onions and soaking them in vinegar. I will give it a whirl.

Finding myself hungryish sat here on the settee but it’s too early for breakfast. It’s even too early to make the tea although time will pass quickly enough.

The capital of Albania is Tirana. Do readers have any other interesting capital cities to share?

There’s been a bit of cricket action over in India. India got 455 in the first innings with England at 255 in reply. Unless I am very much mistaken india could have enforced the follow on. Just. India were 204 all out in the second innings leaving England with 405 needed to win. Ain’t gonna happen. There are 5 sessions left to play. That’s a day and two thirds.

Updates as they happen. Tea time now. Time for tea. For two. T 4 2.

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08.49 and it is chucking it down in Lincoln. I’ve probably mentioned it before but I like the rain. The best perspective is gazing out at it from the window of a warm and dry room mind you. There is nothing wrong with a nice walk in the rain with the caveat that the specs have to stay dry somehow. This can either be achieved by the wearing of a waterproof wide brimmed hat or by taking the specs off. Contact lenses may be used if desired. The experience is only pleasurable in the absence of wind which ruins the effect.

I will make the dumplings in a bit. Took a look at recipes and was amazed to find that almost every one was different and often didn’t use suet. Will use the one on the Atora pack. Simple and safe.

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16.42 lamb casserole was brill. John’s team won 7 -1 in the U18s hockey v Boots. Bit of a yucky pm but back in the hoose now before heading out to the Morning Star with Anne.

2rly for that sort of question

8 teams in the pub quiz at the Eastgate. We came joint 3rd. I think we were only 2 points or so behind the winners. As usual I didn’t get many answers. I’m totes rubbish at “pub” quizzes. Wasn’t on top form anyway and drank orange juice instead of wine. The late night the previous evening did for me I think. My virulent cough seems to have abated though which is good news.

Today Anne is off with Rachel to the borough of Pete. She is also going out tonight and I am taxi driver both ways. Doesn’t seem unreasonable although it will feel strange for me to have a quiet night in on my own on a Saturday night. Won’t do me any harm. A few quiet nights wouldn’t do me any harm. Next timetabled “occasion” is Wednesday in London for my Working Lunch.

Downstairs pre dawn again. Eyes are somewhat sleep filled and the heating hasn’t yet kicked in so it isn’t exactly warm. Not quite refrigerator like but that may be only because I have two blankets draped over me. I’ll get up and make the tea in a bit. It’s a Saturday so it doesn’t need to be quite as early as a school day. On the other hand Anne is being picked up at 8.45 so she will be wanting to be up and at it.

Some of these early morning posts might be getting a bit repetitive but they do represent the state of play at this time of day. All quiet in the house, the sound of the clock ticking and the occasional car on the road.

In other news my droid upgraded its software last night. I woke up at just before six and entered the passcode which prompted it to then upgrade all the applications. I quite like it when that happens. At least when it happens without a glitch and I have to say I don’t seem to have ever have had a glitch. Fingers crossed eh? Makes me think the great god Google is looking after me as I sleep:)

Tea time…

Featured pic doesn’t really do justice to the red sky this morning.

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Back in bed and having a lie in. Anne is up and sorting stuff. Our bed is very comfortable. Today it has been determined that I will cook a lamb stew for tomorrow. This task has been accepted and will require some consideration. The issue is how to make the liquor in the stew thick and tasty. Lamb stew can turn out quite thin. Root vegetables and leeks will be involved. Also dumplings. A stroll around Waitrose beckons. What’s the hurry?

Good word btw don’t you think? 2rly – twirly – too early.

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My last shave was Wednesday morning. Just realised. It is Saturday. Not going to shave this morning. It is a Saturday. Historically I have never shaved on a Saturday. All down to the days when I played rugby. Shaving on a match day was weakening the skin. It was also normally a sluggish start after a night on the pop on a Friday night. I would shave after the game before the Saturday night out.

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Lamb casserole prepared and in the oven at gas mark one. Next up ham sandwich or simlar. This afternoon breadmaking followed by Wales v Japan at the Millennium Stadium.

still the leaves fall

Gentle start to the day. Anne has taken John to school and is then off downtown so I am going solo this morning. Her parting shot was “there are some sausages that need using up”. What a wonderful wife:)

There is also bacon and tomato but no bread and no mushrooms but a quick sortie to Tesco soon rectified that sitch. Going ot make some bread today but the breakfast couldn’t wait for that. I considered investing in only a small loaf at 70p but the large sandwich loaf was only 30p more so that’s where I ended up. We can always use the bread for breadcrumbs if nec. It won’t go to waste.

Ole Nathaniel Rateliffe was good at the De Montford Hall in Leicester although we didn’t know any of his songs. Competent entertainment anyway. Great Italian meal at Oggi beforehand. Was stuffed afterwards so glad we had seated tickets and weren’t down in the moshpit.

In other news ripped a bit of my jeans at the crotch. There was a small hole and it is now a bigger hole. Levi 501s button up fly. Bit of a nuisance as they cost $40 in Orlando but will be £70 or more here. Will consider the position.

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Breakfasted and now in the office/conservatoire with the heater on. It is cold outside and there have been reports of snow in Sheffield. Not much here. A few little jobs to do today. Also need to chivvy people up to sign up for the LONAP workshop and Xmas bash.

The back lawn is now mostly leaves. Still they come. Not sure when they will be cleared up either. Anne does it and tomorrow she is off to Peterborough with Rachel to meet Alison McD. Check out the video – Still Live. There is some action at the 14 second mark.

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4.40 pm and it is pretty much dark out there. There is still some light in the sky but it will not stay long. I’m sat in the conservatory with only the light from my laptop to see by. Feeling ok. Done some work and had a video call with Tom and Jose. Now considering popping out t’pub for a swift one. We are off out tonight to the Eastgate school quiz night. Yes you heard right. I’m rubbish at quizzes but hey… Before we go we will be having a pizza. Simple fare, with lots of hot dried red chillies. I like a bit of zing to my pizza.

Radio Cymru

Nice int with Beti George (@bethdimoyn) yesterday at BBC Radio Cymru although my my Welsh vocab wasn’t really good enough to explain my position on politics and religion. Never mind. It’s going out a fortnight this Sunday. I’ll let you have a link nearer the time.

Afterwards met Steve Jones in the Halfway at the end of Cathedral Road in Cardiff. I had a couple of hours to kill before Nest got back from work. Time killed, Nest and I went out for Tapas at Bar 44. Just had 10 days of Tapas in Madrid but hey no probs 🙂 Afterwards Nest fixed me a hot lemon and honey with Lagavulin as a cure for my cough. She is a doc so it must be right.

Chucking it down this morning so I abandoned my plan to go in search of a croissant and headed straight for the motorway. Home in time to take Anne to her saxophone lesson at 2pm. Laptop straight out to catch up with some jobs that included sorting out two lots of menus for various bashes and publish an interview with Matthew Hare of Gigaclear. Blow me down if I didn’t discover that I’d left my laptop charger in Cardiff.

Shortly off down the West End Tap for a 4pm meet prior to going to see Nathaniel Ratcliffe (saw him at Latitude) in Leicester. Here we go again…

The Online Arts Festival

Up at 5.30 am this morning. A comment made by Colin Dudman last night made me think. Colin was debating whether to have one final glass of wine before going. It was getting late. He had to be up at 7am. I queried why this was so. Colin is in his 70s and is mostly retired (musicians never really retire). His answer was that he was at the piano by 7.30am, practising and composing. Life is short. You gotta cram things in. He is right.

Colin was round our house for the first Philosopherontap Online Arts Festival. This started at 7.30 pm and officially finished at 9.30 although people were still posting after that. It was a great success. I don’t really know how many people came along. The live jazz stream with Colin and subsequently son John has had 288 views at the time of writing. Some will be viewers watching more than once but it gives us an idea of attendance numbers. Got some very complimentary feedback on the live broadcast. Also had one by Neil McRae demonstrating a pinball game.

There were over 50 posts of quite a variety of material and I think it was generally considered to be a success. Going to have to do another.

Before it started I took a call from Betti George whose programme I am appearing on BBC Radio Cymru (rad dee oh come ree) in the near future. I’m off to Cardiff later today to do the recording. Staying with Nest. Was staying with Sue but she informed me she had to jet off to Toronto on Monday so that was out the door. It’s a 4 – 5 hour drive including a stop en route so I’ll need to set off early for a 3pm slot in the studio.

So now I’m downstairs. The house is dark apart from two dim lights in the conservatory. I took the empty wine glasses from last night into the kitchen and it was near pitch black. This is good. Means not much light pollution. The street lights will be on out the front.

Anne had her first meeting as chair of the Friends of William Farr. She had a good turnout I think and has enough volunteers to do the drinks at the Christmas Concert which we unfortunately will miss as we are in London for the LONAP Xmas bash. Also yesterday booked a table at Fortnum and Masons Ice Cream Parlour for a bit of a treat on my birthday on the following day, 9th December.

Good night’s kip. Awake at 6.15 and downstairs to book a hotel for Tom in Sheffield using my HHonors account and Amex. It’s  all about avios and Anne and my first class jaunt somewhere far away in 2 years time.

Now back in bed with a cup of tea and a cuddle. Not at the same time obvs. Oh and clearly there is a laptop involved somewhere. Anne has already got up to begin the process of taking John to school.

This is one of the benefits of a home office. It only takes two minutes to get ready for work. Plus breakfast. Today I have options: bagels, toast (home made bread), bacon, sausages, weetabix, banana pancakes. Will let you know but doubt there will be meat involved.

Today is the big Philosopherontap Online Arts Festival. I put a few quid into Facebook yesterday to advertise the event. Already had a few contributors turn up. I need to nip out today to buy some cheese and wine for the evening. I have three posts in mind.

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You won’t have noticed but I am now up. Also my timetable has altered slightly as Anne has just reminded me that I am doing the school run today. Oops. Don’t worry. I’m onto it. Banana pancake and toasted bagel in the machinations.  Means a shower will have to wait until later though. Pooee. Outside it is quite a bright morning albeit still cloudy.

En route home from school I will be stopping off at Waitrose. There is a small shopping list. Anne is off to Newark for a Retired Teachers trip to the Civil War museum. Followed by fish and chips. She won’t be wanting much to eat tonight. Probably nibble at my cheese. She also has a Friends of William Farr School meeting. This year she is Chairman. Chairperson?

The first pancake was binned. An abortive attempt. The pancake cookers amongst you will know that the first one is the hardest to get right. I’m assuming it’s all about pan temperature. Finished my bagel. Now just waiting:)

While I wait I notice that there are still roses on the bush around the archway in the back garden. They last well.

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Bought 6 tickets for Trent Bridge next July. 3rd day v South Africa. Friday and Saturday were pretty much sold out but I don’t have a problem with Sunday. Potentially a good day’s cricket. Only £60 each. An Ashes match would have been more like £85.

Picked up 2 bots red and one white from Waitrose with three cheeses and a French stick. Now all set for this evening.

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Booked table for 9 at Fortnum & Masons Ice Cream Parlour for my birthday. The schedule is  V&A Museum, Fortnums, Waldorf for cocktails and then Cafe Pacifico for a Mex. Mortgage applied for. Featured image is not the aforementioned rose but one in the front garden.

early to rise?

Up at 6.15 to make the tea. Nice cuddle in warm bed. Now up and at it. Weetabix with blueberries. A day of getting bits and bobs done ahead of me. VAT return. Apple picking – still a load on the tree at the bottom of the garden. Rearrange tomorrow’s train journey as meeting has been pushed back a week. Out for a walk after lunch. Did consider going to the pool this morning but not sure it makes sense with this cough. A second cup of tea is in prospect.

Today’s big news is the “supermoon”. Supposed to be 7% bigger than normal. Oh. The weather forecast is cloudy with some rain. I doubt that we will see anything earth shattering. Miserable git eh? It’s newspaper hype. 7%? Nobody will be able to tell. You would at the very least have to have the two moons side by side for comparison. Aint gonna happen is it?

New Zealand has had two major earthquakes within a day of each other. Another historical reference point. 100 year old woman pulled out of the rubble alive. Good news. Her time is not yet up.

Really here we live a dreamy existence. What are our daily concerns? Whether I have the right yeast for today’s bread? Was given a wodge of fresh yeast by a baker in Tesco yesterday. The result is a definite improvement. Not quite there yet. Need to figure out how to get the best rise after knockback. Done it before. Need to be able to do it every time. It’s about warmth. Lurve:)

I can see a career in baking ahead of me. Amateur of course. Just for personal consumption. Just need to crack the basic techniques right at the start. Once you are up and running to doesn’t take much effort to make nice bread or cook nice food. Most people just don’t put in the time to crack the techniques up front. Bread takes 15 minutes to get going. 5 mins of grabbing ingredients and 10 mins kneading. Maybe I’ll add another 5 to the kneading to see if it will make a difference. John is up. Yesterday’s load has been given the thumbs up.

Good bread is a real luxury. Good food generally. Much of the stuff in supermarkets has lost the quality that made it great pre globalisation and the era of the supermarket. Bacon is generally poor quality, unless you pay top dollar and even then I’m unsure it matches the product of old. I’m sure there are other foods that sit in this category. Out of season fruit and vegetables. Tomatoes grown in industrial quantities without ever seeing soil.

Anne and John are gearing up for the school run. I am sat in the TV room in my pyjamas. Tapping away. It’s a good job we have the word processor these days. My handwriting is very bad. I’d never have been able to churn stuff out at an useful rate had I had to rely on pen and paper. Maybe it would be less voluminous but higher quality. Dylan Thomas wrote over 200 versions of Do Not Go Gentle Unto This Good Night before he was satisfied. I rarely look at something twice.  Not in the same league obvs. I am however still alive and he is dead, albeit it he was of an earlier generation. He was 39 when he died. At the peak of his creative ability.

They have gone now, Anne and John. Engine roaring. The first time the Peugeot has  been used on the school run. Gosh. I have to clear up the breakfast things and get stuff lined up for my day.

This morning I have put out the call for a decision on the Christmas Dinner meat. It’s going to be beef but I thought I’d give them the opportunity to choose. Anne is still very much a turkey lover so I feel a little guilty that she doesn’t have the chance to have it on Christmas Day. Maybe I’ll do a chicken or a turkey breast as well. We always have the relevant trimmings anyway. Pigs in blankets etc. Maybe even stuffing.

This year because we aren’t going off anywhere on boxing day I might invest in a bigger beef joint as we will be around to eat it afterwards. Nothing quite like cold roast beef, medium rare. You only get it when you cook a large joint.

Enough of this. More in due course…