where art collides philosoperontap

white batch

Lateish start this morning due to yesterday’s very long lunch. Met Gary Stobie and Adie on the Prince at 1.30 and got home at well gone 9pm.  The route was Taphouse > Prince > Duke > Strugglers > Taphouse > Morning Star > Peacock (for Steve Wildman’s leaving do). Presented Steve with a lottery ticket as his present. Kept one for meself with identical numbers. Couldn’t have him win with a ticket I’d bought for him without me sharing in the winnings:)

Nia from BBC Radio Cymru rang me whilst I was in the Prince and we have arranged to have a longer chat at 2pm today. They have a programme coming up in January that they’d like an input to.

Terry looks like he won’t make it up tonight for manflu reasons so a welcome quiet night in is in prospect. It’s the last night before the hordes begin their pilgrimage to the home hearth. Joe is coming back tomorrow in time for the Lincoln v Tranmere top of the table clash. Lincoln trail the visitors by one point with a game in hand so this is an important game.

Hannah arrives next Wednesday in time for the Morning Star Carol Session (together with Aunty Sue), Tadcu, Sarah and Ann (1 night only) are coming Thursday and then finally Tom arrives at 21.01 on Friday on the direct train tron Laandan. A gradual build up to the frenzied crescendo that will be Christmas.

Yesterday’s mixed seed loaf turned out ok but I’m still looking for the magic button to get the bread to rise to my liking. Not many more opportunities if I’m looking for the perfect loaf for Christmas. See how we get on.

at the West End Tap

The central heating has just kicked in. It must be 6.24am and nearly time to stick the kettle on. I woke up around 5am and took a look at my phone. Unfortunately it wasn’t on silent and loud video from last night started playing, waking Anne up. Feel bad about this. Hopefully she got back to sleep. I eventually came downstairs to do stuff.

We had a great night at the West End Tap Christmas Quiz. Our team, which had 8 people in it, only came fourth out of 6. I’m crap at pub quizzes. Anne drove which was most convenient. I sat at the bar next to Steve from Jazz Orbit and had a nice chat with him.

The road outside sounds quite busy. It’s amazing how many people are out and about at this time of day. A lot of people obviously start work early. Workers of the world unite. Up the revolution etc. I‘m glad we don’t live in the South East. Early starts are quite standard down there. It’s no life. People are trapped in the system. Afraid to break out from London.

I feel that if we were able to own a chunk of the allotments out the back we could convert them into a small holding. Keep a pig or two. Hens, ducks etc. The ultimate escape. It would be more of a hobby than anything we would rely on and we would have to be disciplined in getting the pigs slaughtered every year. We need to survive.  Actually that contradicts what I was saying about it being a hobby doesn’t it but you know what I mean. I’m not about to start getting sentimental about a pig. Especially when you know how much I like a bacon sandwich.

A thought for you. When I was a kid in Waunfawr I remember we always had to tip the milk bottle upside down before opening it to distribute the cream that had floated to the top. You also needed a stone or bit of slate to cover the milk bottles to stop birds from pecking at them to get at the cream. We don’t get that nowadays. Ok partly it’s because we are drinking semi-skimmed milk but I don’t think it happens even with full fat. Full fat must also be partly skimmed. I dunno.

…

Alistair is taking the kids to school this morning. They normally get the bus home on Thursdays and John goes straight to his saxophone lesson with Colin. Usually Anne or I then pick him up from Minster Yard in front of the Cathedral to save him having to walk home with his school bag and the sax, both of which are heavy. Today I am having lunch out with Adie. It’s Anne who is the normal luncher-outer. The point is at the time of writing I’m not sure whether Adie has managed to offload his picking up from school duties and therefore whether beer will be involved at lunchtime. If there is beer I won’t be picking up from the Cathedral.

This evening it is Steve Wildman’s leaving do. Again. It is becoming a traditional party. He isn’t leaving anywhere but it’s a good excuse for a party. At the Peacock. Got a a few bits to sort out this morning before the day is written off.

behind the hedge

My bread turned out well. White bloomer. Used it as part of a toasted bacon sandwich for breakfast. Last night was chatting to a chef at the Wright Vigar do. He had made the quarter finals of Masterchef a few years ago. Gave me some tims. Butter is definitely better than olive oil and fresh yeast is better than dried. So I’m going to up the amount of butter, I think I wasn’t using enough, and up the quantity of fresh yeast to 20g. Let’s see where that gets us. I’m trying to home in on the ideal recipe.

The Wright Vigar do was good as usual. Also as usual mostly populated with suits. I guess that’s the name of the game. Bankers, lawyers, solicitors etc. Clients too. Stayed for a few beers then went on to the Taphouse and Kitchen to meet Nige. After that ended up at the new Castle View curry house. It’s where Tito’s used to be and prior to that the Castlegate Indian. Have to say it’s a good start. Food was good. Will get the Christmas takeaway from there.

One year we had curry for Christmas Day. Except Anne and John who shared a turkey leg. Made a change. I picked it up the night before and reheated it on the day. It was surprisingly difficult to coordinate getting all the dishes hot enough. It was ok but we won’t do that again. It’s beef again this year as you know.

With 8 working days to go until Christmas there is now very little happening. Not that much happens anyway but now there is even less. Richard is coming up next Wednesday for our regular LONAP 121. Last one of the year.

…

Last night’s curry has certainly had after effects. I won’t elaborate. I’m now sat in the conservatory with the Dyson fan heater on. It is a bright day out there and I think I’ll go for a walk later on. Maybs check out a few bits and bobs for Crismus. Round the Bail perhaps.

…

Words. These are what come out when you stare long  enough at a page. If you stare long enough something just appears. That’s how it works. It’s a bit like a cricket match. You start off slowly, maybe scoring nothing for a long time and then gradually the runs come. Sometimes you play a blinder and the runs start to come at a fast rate and in great style. This is just the same as when you are writing.

Sometimes a piece of writing comes from an idea you have when you are nowhere near a computer (or notebook). If you can capture the idea at the time and revisit it that can result in some good words. If there is no means of capturing, or remembering, the idea is likely to be lost. How many great ideas have blown away in the wind like this?

I imagine Archimedes, when he was having his bath and shouted Eureka, had to get out of the bath straight away, pick up his chisel and start writing that word down. He would have had to be quick because he’d have got cold quite quickly having just stepped out of the water. Although it can be pretty warm in Greece in summer, if that was the time of year, so maybe he would have been ok. Perhaps he quickly got into a dressing gown before picking up his utensil.

During a cricket match an interruption can change everything. Break the flow. This can be the lunch break, tea or stumps at the end of the day. In the case of the modern day writer it is more likely to be a Facebook message interrupting the streaming of content. You stop to check out the message and are further distracted but other stuff in the timeline. It doesn’t have to be like this. You can disable notifications on your laptop but in my case a) I can’t be bothered and b) I’d have to look up how to do it.

I’ve never thought of cricket as being a metaphor for life. It probably isn’t a great model but we can pick and choose aspects of the game that fit the bill. The game ends in a win, lose or draw. That could reflect how an individual has lived his life or how lucky he or she has been. On the other hand it could mean nothing. We all die in the end. You know. Nothing or nobody is immortal. Even these words will get lost or destroyed. Will there be anyone around to read them? Will the language have changed so much that only niche academics will understand them? Questions questions. Have you considered the structure of sentences like that last one? Two repeated words but still a perfectly good sentence. Good grammatically. Not necessarily good subjectively.

Words are an interesting subject in their own right. Someone died recently. A well known journalist. The eulogies have flown thick and fast. What a great wordsmith. I didn’t like his stuff meself because I thought that he used complicated words for the sake of it. I’m more into using simple language. Discombobulation is not my game:). Simplicity doesn’t have to mean not as good as sophisticated or complicated. Simplicity is an art in itself. I’m gonna move on.

Leonard Cohen died recently. Lots of stuff was broadcast about him at the time. I hadn’t realised that he spent 10 years living simply on an island in Greece. His routine involved writing three pages of words in the mornings and then chillin out for the rest of the day. Maybe good. Maybe not. It’s a lot of time wasted. The rest of the day. Maybe it doesn’t matter.

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Walked into the Bail and hand delivered a couple of christmas cards en route. Coffee in Lincoln castle cafe. Cafe dans the cafe du chateau. Oui. Not queit le meme.

In other news ever wondered what was behind that hedge. Well the featured image provides us with a tantalising glimpse of what lies beyond.

to dear life

Good kip. Woke up to hear that Trevor McCaskill the weather forecaster has died – yet another bit of bad news to add to the pile for 2016. We must surely be in for a bout of good news between now and new year. Maybe we will just switch off all sources of news. Trouble is people share these things on Facebook.

The consequence of a good kip is I wasn’t up before dawn to write the diary so that’s all you’re getting for now. Gotta go for a swim and need to get my stuff together.

…

Hardly anyone in the pool. Had the slow lane to myself until the last five minutes. People get in towards the end to arrive early for the over 50s swimfit class, or whatever it’s called.  Mostly very large ladies who spend their time chatting. Both men’s shower still cubicles managed to find themselves occupied though so I went in the communal shower. Only problem there is I don’t like to shave in the open shower. Not sure what people would think. So if you see me unshaven after being swimming you now know why.

Now I’m chewing my way through a bowl of fruit and fibre. Do have some jobs to do today. Gotta nip downtown to do some Christmas shopping. Maybe. Trouble is I can’t find the right thing online. Rewind. Rang the shop. They haven’t got it either. Ordered from Amazon with free Prime delivery.

Only 12 more days to go until Christmas yay. Had a Facebook video call with sister Ann in Holt and a chat with Dad. Cleaned the grate out and brought some more kindling in but probably won’t use it today as we are off out tonight. May not need it now until Sunday. It’s not cold.

There is no bread to make a sandwich for lunch. I am making some more but it won’t be ready in time. Still on its first rising. This time I’m using a Paul Hollywood recipe. Replaced a knob of butter with 40ml of olive oil and giving it a longer initial rise time. Let’s see if it makes a difference. This is something we have to crack:)

Outside we are heading into deepest winter. This isn’t snowbound icy wastes of winter. It is miserable neither here nor there insipid colours everything has stopped doing anything for winter winter. The evenings are the best bits at this time of year. Fire crackling in the grate. Welcoming lights inside the pub. Chinks of glasses etc. I see a small bird diving occasionally into our beech hedge. Assuming it nests there. It’s too fast for me to spot its plumage. We have had wrens, robins and hedge sparrows in there plus I suspect blackbirds. At least the bronze plumage of the hedge appies a bit of contrast to the insipid yellow green of the rest of the garden.

It’s 12.47 and it already feels darker out there. A gentle drizzle has started to brush the conservatory roof. It isn’t a drum it’s a brush. A very gentle tapping of the finger tips. I’m glad I’m not a wild animal. Ok they don’t know any different . I like the idea of popping out to the ub for a couple early doors. Wild animals don’t do that. They don’t play the piano or listen to jazz on Spotify. There are too many things that they don’t do so I won’t/can’t list them all. Pretty much everything really. What they tend to do is get eaten by other wild animals. It’s a wild animal eat wild animal world. A bit like being a human but totally different.

The lunch issue still needs resolving. I will need something inside me before heading to the Wright Vigar Christmas drinks reception at 5pm.

Like it or not this is a time of death and decay. The hedgehog that appeared dead on our front lawn is still there. At least physically. Mentally he has totally gone. Gone to the place where hedgehogs go when they die. I don’t expect any hedgehog has ever given it a thought. Otherwise we would see hedgehog religions all over the place. The unknown over why we are here and what happens when we die seems to be why most people turn to religion.

Meself I’m just riding a wave. Trying to stay balanced for as long as possible before being engulfed by boiling waves, dragged under and shipped out to sea for my limp, lifeless body to be torn apart by sharks in a short frenzied attack on just another piece of carrion. They know not what they are doing. Don’t waste that life. Learn to surf.

Wake up and smell the coffee, or some totally random and unrelated saying. What’s your favourite saying?

Check out the featured image of the same apple from only a few days ago.

crammed into our conservatory

The choir of King’s College Cambridge are singing away in the background. They are all crammed into our conservatory. It’s a professional performance despite the fact that there isn’t really room for them all to fit in. I hear Gloria in excelsis Deo. Religion has provided us with some wonderful music over the centuries. Time was when the church was the only outlet for creativity, be it painting or music. Contemporary carols are rubbish. In my view. If you are a Christian you will no doubt defend the genre out of loyalty to your religion but in reality they suck. So much so that you never hear them sung. Maybe there aren’t even any?

I’ve only got nineteen days left of writing this diary for 2016. After that it gets turned into a book. I’m not sure what I will do with the time after 31st December. I’ve grown so use to devoting the time to it. Reality is I need to start getting off my backside and being more active. Right now I’m sat on one of the sofas next to the fire. Not good enough really although Christmas is a time where people sit around a lot just eating and drinking. We aren’t quite there yet though. Twirly.

There is something that needs doing before the book can be compiled. The app I’ve identified needs a more recent version of php to work with. This means moving server. Hassle. Will have to decide what to do over the Christmas break. Might look at alternative apps.

The fire is a great companion. Who needs a TV when you can stare into the living flames. I think of the logs. Their purpose in life to grow and be slowly consumed by fire. Who’d be a tree? Anne is in the house somewhere. I haven’t seen her since she came back at lunchtime. That was two hours ago. Ours is a good sized house.

The choir has moved out to be replaced by a different one singing Handel’s Messiah. HWV 56. Was looking for the Huddersfield Chorale version but Spotify brings up some anonymous outfit. It is fine. We always had the Messiah playing at home at Christmas when we were kids. It is part of the Davies culture.

It’s a bit of a contrast being sat here in our front room listening to Handel compared with the intensive two days in London. You can only sustain that level of activity in short bursts. The house remains quiet this week but will begin to fill up come Saturday when Joe returns from Newcastle.

…

We have a tree. A 7 footer purchaysed from Fillingham. It’s erection in place in the tree stand was a piece of cake and it now awaits decoration from an expert. I don’t consider myself qualified in such arts. I’ve done my bit. I can now sit back and relax until it’s time to cook the Christmas Dinner.

I will have to get involved in putting up the lights and there needs to be an extension socket in place to cope with the number of illuminations that hopefully stiff work. That is of course skilled work and a task I accept responsibility for. My degree in Electronic Engineering qualifies me for this.

We are also converging on the menus for the Christmas period. Still needs some work but it’s fore rib of beef on Christmas day and gammon on Boxing Day. The beef has been ordered from Fosters. 3 ribs worth. 4 is overkill I think and 3 will be expensive enough. There is at least one day where we have a takeaway curry. Yay. I’m still looking for a curry buddy for tomorrow night after the Wright Vigar drinks.

never rings

I can tell you that today, Monday 12th December the milkman came at 05.33 because that is the time and he has just been. I can hear the scraping as the drops four pints off in the crate in the porch. He drives his milk float over from Newark. They shut the Lincoln dairy down a few years ago which is a shame. We continue the support them and get four pints every Monday and Friday. Normally top up with some milk from Tesco in the week but not always. Depends who is home.

I am sat in the living room because there is in my mind some residual heat from last night’s fire. Didn’t sleep particularly well. Wasn’t tired when I went to bed and kept waking up during the night. Going to go swimming later as I need to get back into the exercise routine.

Did a bit of a Waitrose shop yesterday afternoon. It was partly something to do but also doesn’t do any harm to get some of the Christmas stuff in. Got mostly non perishables such as cheese biscuits, crisps and chocolate etc. Have to say I gave in and bought a tin of Quality Street despite having told myself I wouldn’t since the bastards stopped including toffee delights in the mix. Left a message on their Facebook page telling them I wouldn’t be buying a tin this year for that very reason. A lot of people did the same. Won’t tell them I gave in. Problem is that it is traditional in the Davies house to have Quality Street at Christmas- since I was a very small child (yes that small).

We have a nice living room and we as a family don’t sit in it often enough. This is because the TV is in another room, the TV room. The room formerly known as my study. Yesterday John came in and sat with me because of the fire. That was nice. Then at some stage Anne came in to practice her saxophone wich drove me into the other room. It is very loud when you are in the same room. Still I’m proud of her that she is learning the instrument.

Today Jackie Gordon is swinging by with the wine. She ran out of time last week so is making a special trip this week which is good of her. Stayed with her brother in Leeds last night so she tells me. It breaks the back of the journey from Middlesborough.

My pork in cider casserole was a real hit yesterday. It is easy really. Slow cook with the right ingredients and you are there, the slow cook being the most important bit. Had it with roasted root vegetables. There is still one portion left plus three pork steaks I cut from the joint. They will have gone in the freezer. Afterwards I watched the second ever episode of Time Team on 4OD, the Father Ted Christmas Special and Planet Earth II with David Attenborough. Not a bad evening’s TV although two out of thee were repeats. Father TEd was competing with the X Factor so no competition. Who watches that crap?

The week ahead is easy enough. No real work although I will do some Netaxis stuff and may take a look at the LONAP budget for next year. There is the Wright Vigar Christmas Drinks party at the Cathedral Chapter House to look forward to on Tuesday night pus Steve Wildman’s leaving do on the Thursday at the Peacock. Steve ain’t leaving his job but he did establish this party as a tradition ten years or more ago. I’ve never been so am looking forward to it as it is apparently a good night.

The rest of the week is going to be spent getting ready for Christmas. We need to buy a tree. I got a lot of the decs down last night. I don’t get involved in the decorating. It used to be the domain of the kids but now it will be mostly Anne. My duties lie in getting the tree up. We will head out to Fillingham after school one day this week. Bought some Lindt tree chocolate decs yesterday at the Waitrose shop. There wasn’t much of a choice. I hope that tradition isn’t dying out. Not that I seem to get many of the chocs that get put on the tree. Such is the way of things.

Just noticed my VPN connection has stopped working and it won’t let me disconnect. Started up again now but it’s a bit odd that it won’t just let you cut it off. I have the VPN working all the time now. It probably won’t stop GCHQ from spying on me but it is at least a token attempt to retain some privacy. If they want to know what I’m up to they just have to read this diary and spy on my Facebook activity. It will be a waste of their time. I doubt they are spying on me but my issue is that one day someone will hack into a server somewhere and publish all these records that are being collected.

Anyway I don’t really like to talk about that sort of thing on this site. This is a happy place:) One where life is wonderful all the time.

I’ll be making the tea again this morning even though it isn’t my turn. Might as well seeing as I am already downstairs. I like making anne a cup of tea.

all present and correct?

Interesting dawn light over Lincoln prison this morning:) Not the sort of place you associate with art or beauty. In fact art doesn’t have to be beautiful. The notion that those high walls are there to contain an evil concoction of badness is art in itself. We walk past in safety oblivious to the chain straining growling hounds within, volcanic red lava spewing from Satanic eyes, their gaze never leaving you.

Good morning all. A quiet day at home in prospect yay. I’m making a pork casserole for tonight’s tea. May even have a go at another loaf. Rather hoping there is still some baguette left from last night to service a bacon and mushroom roll for breakfast.

There was.

Now listening to Aled Jones on Classic FM. Stress free. Cup of tea steaming on the table next to me. Anne pottering around the kitchen. Some post arrives. The Post Office is working overtime in the run up to Christmas. Fair play. A shiver of relaxation runs between my shoulders and down my spine.

It is exactly two weeks until Christmas. The preparations are moving up a scale. Actually they aren’t. I’ve not really given it much thought other than gaining consensus that once more we will not be condoning the killing of a turkey but going for a bull instead. Probably sadder but that, my friends, is life. We are a carnivorous species. Omnivorous actually remembering that we like a bit of veg on the side of the plate.

I will be cooking Christmas dinner. This comes with a huge burden of responsibility, especially considering how much these large joints of beef cost. The beef has to be perfectly cooked. That means very much pink in the middle with even a hint of blood in there. The vegetables are of secondary importance but this shouldn’t be considered permission to not get them  right. The roast potatoes should be fluffy to the right degree and I think there will also be glazed parsnips and carrots involved. Maybe even parmesan coated parsnips a la Delia.

The gravy is another important factor in the success of the meal. Really with gravy it is just a question of getting the ingredients right. Poor quality ingredients results in a substandard sauce. On the other hand you can over do it and have too strong a taste. I’m sure you can understand the pressure here. Feel it even. I’m a fairly good gravy cook so I’m sure it will be ok.

The situation is complicated by the fact that champagne will have been involved. Too much champagne before lunch and the enjoyment of the food is diminished. Your staying power is affected. The ability to sustain consumption of wine and brandy until well after the meal has been finished and everyone slumps on a sofa in front of the fire.

Looking around me I reckon we have sofa capacity for everyone. That’s us six plus my sister Sue, Anne’s sister Sarah and dad. We are lucky to have a house large enough to lose a few people in it and therefore there is the space for folk to not get on top of each other. Quite often when calling John to the table I have to physically go upstairs to his room or the attic to fetch the lad. Especially if he has his headphones on and is involved in a campaign of global domination or some such activity. There will be mass murder involved. Or an innocent game of football. I may be doing him an injustice 🙂

This year I will have to step up the pace on my campaign to improve my bread making skills. It would be nice if we were able to rely on just using home made bread. This is something I can make a call on at the last minute. Very handy that I can just rustle up a loaf in the event that we run out of shop bought stuff anyway.

In other news there has been a bomb attack on a football stadium in Istanbul. Why does the world have to be so full of dangerous nutters?

Gotta go now. A pork casserole to make. Featured image is “dawn over Lincoln prison”.

…

Bugger. Overdid the par boiling of the spuds. The pork casserole however has turned out perfect. Mwaa mwaaaa.

Titanic flotsam

It is 13.04 on Saturday 10th December in the year 2016 of the common Era. The train was supposed to depart at 13.03 and in fact is leaving the station right now. As I speak, metaphorically speaking. My Bose phones are on and I’m starting off with Hotel California. Feels right.

I’m going to take my time with this post. Probably jump about a little. The last three days and two nights have been one of those wonderfully memorable times.

Worth starting on Friday morning when we went to the V & A museum to see a wonderful temporary exhibition called “You Say You Want a Revolution? Records and Rebels 1966 – 1970”. Recommended by one of Joe’s lecturers. What a recommendation. Hugely inspiring. Made me want to step up the pace of “doing stuff”. In one sense I’m sorry I left it until my late forties to start going public with my creative writing. You are at your most creative when you are younger.  On the other hand there’s no point in worrying about it. Get on with it.

Hannah described this exhibition as the best she has ever seen. I have to agree with her. I’m quite impressed with Hannah. Whenever we have been somewhere and gone to a museum she has always taken a great interest in what’s on display. That’s when you realise that the child you have reared is no longer a child but an adult with a brain and her own ideas on things. I realised this when she and I visited the Louvre during our flat hunting expedition to Paris two years ago.

If you can get to this exhibition you have to go. Especially if you were around in the sixties. My first time in the V&A and will not be the last. We had a nice family get together there with most of the Lincoln Davieses, John not coming down until the afternoon, Ann and Sue and Terry. After the exhibition I bought two badges to sew onto my denim jacket. I never wear the denim jacket but I’m going to have to now. It’s the only one “I” can sew the badges on to. One of them was a Beatles Rubber Soul badge.

Afterwards we had a drink and a bit in the cafe at the museum and sat outside in the courtyard. The weather was unusually warm. I was overdressed in my Black Yak fleece hoodie. The Piccadilly line was suffering “severe delays” dues to some maintenance work. This also resulted in overcrowding normally only seen in rush hour during the week. Not great considering I was dressed for Artic weather. We got off one stop early at Green park and walked along Piccadilly to Fortnum and Masons for an ice cream at the Parlour.

Fortunately I had booked. It was heaving. I had not been to F&M before either. A day of firsts. We had some great ice cream sundaes. I had a banana split. My face. Didn’t see the point of having anything else when your fave is so good.

Before I forget there is an American girl sharing the table with us on the train. When she sat down she announced that she had just ”been dumped” 10 minutes before getting on the train. Another chink in the curtains of life.

After the Parlour we all went our own ways and Hannah and I wandered around the shop for a bit before heading back to the Waldorf for a rest. Tom Joe and Anne got there at the same time and we crammed into our room. Not sure I’ve mentioned but it was my 55th birthday and there were presents and cards to open. The kids got me a copy of the Guardian newspaper from the day of my birth. 9th December 1961. Scanned it for an announcement of that fact but I guess it came too late to make the earlier editions.

The train is passing dull, winter coloured fields with hundreds of birds on the telegraph wires. Waiting to head South one assumes although surely this is a little late to be migrating. Maybe it’s just a crowd of birds hanging out in a field on a Saturday afternoon.

Let’s head back to Thursday night. Worra fantastic party. This was the 7th ‘trefbash’ in a row and another huge hit. The theme this year was What I was wearing when the Titanic went down. See the Google Album for pics and vids. Those that turned up in business suits were given kids inflatable rubber rings to wear. We went through 50 bottles of Laurent Perrier champagne and the bar bill was the usual “longer than the height of a human” impressive print out.

Apparently I was quite well oiled although I suspect most in attendance were in that condition. Joe brought his trumpet along and joined in with the band for a couple of sets. He was great and very much held his own. Got a lot of positive comments. He went off to Ronnie Scott’s with the band afterwards. Home after kicking out time which I suspect is 2am. We Ubered it back to the hotel at around 1am. Could have walked but didn’t feel inclined to mess about at that time of night, especially with my buoyancy aid in tow. Google album here including videos.

Breakfast with Manuel the next day. Discussed a bit of business for next year. Was a slightly sluggish start to the day but I was ok. Taxied between hotels – we moved from the Doubletree to the Waldorf. Left the gear with the concierge and headed to South Ken to meet the gang.

We finished the trip with a few drinks at the Waldorf before heading off to Cafe Pacifico. Ajax and Sue and Simon Forshaw and Nicky were off to China Town. We tentatively arranged to finish the night off at the American Bar at the Savoy but Anne and I didn’t make it. We didn’t hear from the others so I suspect they didn’t make it either. The story from Cafe Pacifico was 4 jugs of Margaritas. We had only intended to have three but when I asked the waitress for another glass for Joe she brought another jug! We also ended up with one bucket of Corona (6 bots) too many as I ordered another without realising that we already had one on the floor that was untouched. Was a bit of a struggle to finish them all but hey…

This morning we had breakfast at the Waldorf. Was a little cramped for space but the food was a notch up from the Double tree. A walk around Covent Garden, a lounge around in armchairs back at the hotel and now here we are on the train headed Nowf.

…

15,53 Sat in front of the fire with a cup of tea aaaahhhhh.

Birthday day out pics here.

Partay time

All go this morning. Complicated logistics. John off to school but can’t find his oyster card. Needs three different bags. School bag, an overnighter for staying at Finn’s tonight together with outfit for school Christmas Concert and a bag for bringing to London. Taxi is picking him up from school at 13.50 tomorrow afternoon to take him to station via our house (drop off and pick up bags).

We set off for Newark a little later than ideal so I get worried about whether I’ve left enough contingency time. Roadworks in Newark and full carparks at the station. Only just squeeze into a spot about as far from the station as you can get. Do get to the platform with time to spare and train is 4 mins late.

London is gridlocked. Roadworks building cycle lanes causing chaos. Credit card doesn’t work either in taxi or at hotel – I find out later it’s been accidentally cancelled. I pay cash for the taxi and use my amex in the hotel.

Central Line is rammed and I am dressed for the Artic winter. At some point i am unable to reach a handrail so flowing with the crowd. I can’t see the tube map from where I am stood so also not sure which station to get off at. I end up getting off at Bank and walking the rest of the way.

The Gamma offices are comfortable and I treat myself to an espresso because there is a conveniently placed machine. The workshop begins.

At this point I should tell you what lies ahead for the rest of the day. It’s the LONAP Christmas party, formerly known as trefbash. The theme this year is What I was wearing when the Titanic went down. I have tails and a life jacket. I’m sure there will be plenty of good photos to share tomorrow. There is zero chance of an update after the workshop. I have ordered 50 bottles of champagne. This party is always a humdinger. We have a dance band and a 5 course meal (see yesterday’s post).

In other news watched the Ipcress File last night. My name is Harry Palmer. It’s a classic. Had sausage chips and peas for dinner accompanied by a couple of glasses of wine. Just warming up.

Weather in London is dreadful. Anne is meeting Joe at the hotel and doing stuff around Covent Garden. Tom is joining them later. Hannah can’t make the bash as she has her own “office move” party at Colt. Hopefully she can come along after that. Ajax and Sue are having lunch at the Ivy – they are coming tonight and it’s Sue’s birthday (mine tomorrow). Adie and Zara were aiming to hook up with the Forshaws and Hoolie will be in a pub somewhere.

The workshop is scheduled to finish at 4 but will probably finish earlier than that.

btw picked the featured image up off the web somewhere. No idea where so can’t attribute but I imagine it’s out of copyright by now.

wescot and tails

Picking up my fancy dress this morning. Tails. Then lunch with Jackie and Paul Gordon who are swinging by with some bottles from their vineyard in California. I worked with Jackie in my first job at MEDL. Then lunch at the Wig and Mitre. Also have to pack for London tomorrow. Two days of partying. Actually quite a lot to do – bit of work too.

Last night’s loaf turned out a little dense. This doesn’t matter so much. I recall that at university in Bangor I used to buy a dense wholemeal loaf. Couple of slices were a meal. This morning I thinly sliced the bread for my bacon sandwich. A lot easier with a denser loaf as is the spreading of butter, especially at this time of year.

We have 155 folk signed up for tomorrow’s Christmas bash. This isn’t quite as much as at the peak where I think there may have been over 200 but it is still a good crowd. People flying in from France, Holland, USA and Sweden. Not bad. Bit of a bop. I’ve ordered 50 bottles of champagne. Menu is based on that in the First Class Salon on the Titanic on the night it sank:

The First Course
Mock turtle Soup, served in a Shot glass

The Second Course
Cold Poached Dressed Salmon, Garnished with Cucumbers & Salmon Caviar

The Third Course
Seared Scotch Sirloin Steak, Pink Peppercorn Sauce, Garnished with Foie Gras

The Fourth Course
Woodland Mushroom & Ale Vol au Vont

The Fifth Course
Truffle Oil Roasted Chicken Lyonnaise, White Wine and Parsley Cream Sauce

Legumes
Pomme Parmentier & Rosemary
Vichy Carrots
Petit Pois a la Francais

The Titanic menu was ten courses. Wouldn’t have made for easy swimming would it? I suspect these are only small courses but it is a bit of fun and there is something for everyone.

…

Jackie called to say they were running late and would have to swing by next week. Also fancy dress lady rang – the waistcoat dropped off the hanger and she still has it! Will have to pick it up en route tomorrow. At least I will be skipping the boozy lunch which rescues the afternoon. May pop out for early doors.

…

The featured image is one I took whilst waiting for John to meet me after his sax lesson. Down the side of Lincoln Cathedral. Innit.

and a Lincoln City win

The big, community uniting, sporting exciting news is that Lincoln City beat Oldham Athletic 3 – 2 in the 2nd round of the FA Cup. They were leading 3 – 0 but Oldham improved in the second half and it was a tense final 30 minutes. John went with some pals. I thought about it but it was a freezing cold evening. 7,012 people did go including a handful of Oldham fans who rattled around in the Stacey West stand. When the side does well it really lifts everyone. Things are going well for Lincoln this season. It’s been a few years wince they were demoted from the football league (see a night of deep reflection) and time the club returned to the fourth division:)

A freezing fog descended on the pitch towards the end and at times it was hard to see what was going on. Now, at 5am, that freezing fog is lying heavily over Lincoln. Normally we can see the lights of Lincoln prison from our back window but not tonight/this morning. I feel for the homeless out there in the alleyways and am thankful that we have a nice warm home to return to.

It wasn’t a particularly early night for me last night but I am awake well before dawn again. Not that dawn is early at this time of year. 8.01am google tells me. Lying in bed I figure I might as well get up and do stuff. Looking up I notice that one light in the fitting in the TV room is brighter than the other two. Fwiw.

Had my annual checkup at the GP surgery yesterday. Very pleasant and chatty practice nurse. Half worried that the extremely boozy weekend would have an effect on the checkup but nothing to report other than I still need to lose weight. Probably wouldn’t tell you anyway:) I did lose 10kg in the run up to the coast to coast but such is my lifestyle (conferences, dinners etc) that it all went back on again. One day…

It’s interesting to sit here typing in a room with the curtains drawn. All I see is the inside of the room. Ok there is stuff to see in the room but it is all very constrained and anything you read here largely (light bulbs excepting) dependent on the imagination. Ideally I suppose the room should have bare with walls and one reasonably comfortable chair. Walls don’t have to be white but definitely neutral coloured. Maybe I’ll try it. It’s another idea for a ph1losopherontap event together with the “picture says a thousand words” and the session night. Not sure where I’ll find a room with bare walls and just one chair to sit on (in?).

This room is full of books. Around 450 of them. All the fiction. Other rooms have poetry and plays, history and Anne’s dad Keith’s collection that includes his railway books. The room also contains three cupboards. One with dvds that we never watch, one with mostly photos and the other where the miscellany of stationery items and files are stored. There is also a laser printer on the table underneath the wall mounted TV, a small filing cabinet with small lamp, a small “bedside” table on which stands a ECT phone and a lamp, a standard lamp, a built in desk (wide shelf really) a comfortable L shaped settee with pouffe and a two seater settee, small cream coloured clock, smoke alarm, waste paper bin, paper rack and a stand alone set of dolphins that my sister Ann brought back from New Zealand many years ago. The wall is adorned with 18 or so family photos a print of some reddy pink flowers and a vertical arrangement of wooden letters spelling RELAX. I’ve not considered whether RELAX is an anagram of anything useful. You can try it yourself if you like.

Getting peckish now but we have no bread for toast. Got carried away with the football last night and didn’t get around to making a loaf. Won’t do me any harm I suppose. We have cereal. Weetabix and fruit and fibre. I’ll light the fire again and the hearth will be a good place for the dough to rise this morning. I’ve just got a few bits and bobs to do this morning. I quite like fruit and fibre. It has chewy bits.

It’s now 6.10. That’s roughly 730 words in 70 minutes. 10 wordsish a minute. Dunno if that is good or not. I guess sometimes they rattle out of the brain, as fast as I can type them and other times not.

Time to make the tea.

… 

The kitchen was pitch black except for the light of the clock on the microwave. 

apple cycle spins

Alarm has just gone off at 6.15 am. I’m taking Joe and Charlotte to the station. In my pyjamas. Just with my new Black Yak hoodie for warmth. Obviously I’m assuming the car doesn’t break down en route. Joe decided he would stick some bacon on before going so now I’m sat in the TV room waiting.

Went to bed early last night because I was snoring away on the settee during Planet Earth II. I’d not long got back from lunch at The Taphouse and Kitchen. Had an excellent roast beef with trimmings, fair play. Nice and rare in the middle. Also had two pints of Timothy Taylor landlord, a pale ale, red wine, gin and tonic and champagne before trundling home through a Christmas market that was in the process of being dismantled.

…

Hard frost on the car this morning. Dropped the kids off at the station and went back to bed with a cup of tea. At ten to eight my phone buzzed and told me I had  a conference call at 8am. W00t! Ah well some things just have to be done. I’ve now consumed a bacon sandwich and am sat tapping away. Slow start to the morning. There are jobs: move Stella Artois fridge from kitchen, take glasses back to Tesco, pick up parcel from Firth Road depot, send glasses to Joe in Nukassle – left them behind this morning. Stuff like that. Will also light the fire again. We have the fuel.

Big week this week. On Wednesday we have Jackie Gordon and her husband Paul swinging by to deliver some wine from their vineyard in California. I used to work with Jackie in Product Engineering at MEDL. Thursday it’s the LONAP Christmas Party at the Phoenix Artist Club. Then it’s my birthday day out in London on the Friday. Back Saturday afternoon.

…

Someone btw has nicked my toothbrush. It’s a good job I’m going to Tesco this morning innit. I’m now showered and sat by a roaring fire. Just what is needed on a cold day like this. It’s currently 1℃ outside with a promise of a high of 4℃ at around 2pm. Dress up warm everyone. A log has just shifted. Living fire.It’s no different to a person changing as they grow old.

Just had a spam call. These calls are initiated by machines and a real person picks it up if the phone is answered. I’ve taken to picking the phone up and saying something straight away such as yo or yup. Usually this is before the human has engaged at the other end. Then I typically hear silence and they as often as not hang up themselves.

Featured image, which i think has turned out well, is “decay” on one of our trees. A piece of glowing ember falls out of the fire.

…

Posted the specs to Newcastle – large queue at the PO. Picked up two parcels from Firth Road sorting office. Only two people in front of me in the queue. Traffic was terrible in town. These city centre roadworks are causing chaos. It’s a lot easier to drive downtown as long as you haven’t got stuff to carry back. Front room is nice and warm since I lit the fire.

Wragby Road Bowl

Must be said I think that last night’s Davies Christmas Market Party was the best to date which is saying something after 26 or so years. We had a good crowd of mostly regulars but with a few new faces to swell the ranks. Some folks cried off with manfly and simlar which is only to be expected at this time of year.

This was the first year the event was live broadcast, on Facebook. This had mixed results largely due to the difficulty of placing the camera in a decent position combined with the fact that Facebook live only works in portrait on Android phones.

We had two carol singing sessions with some excellent descant from the ladies present. There was also some wonderful jazz with Colin Dudman on the keys, Joe on horn and John on Sax. As a parent it gets you very emulsional to see two of your kids up there playing some fantastic music. They all got massive cheers. Finally we finished off with a short acoustic set by the Pylons which everyone really appreciated.

We had a very amusing start to the carol singing. Barney, the Pylons’ lead singer whose dad is a vicar, agreed to sing the first verse of Once in Royal David’s City. Unfortunately he sang it to the tune of Hark The Herald. We only realised at the end and had to start again:)

We got rid of the final lot at around 2am when a taxi arrived for Nige, Terry and Jenny. That’s the latest finish for a long time.

This morning I cleared out the grate, scrunched up some paper and stuck in some kindling newly fetched from the woodpile at the bottom of the garden and the fire lit in seconds without the need for matches. Yesterday’s hot ashes did the trick.

This morning has been mostly about sticking stuff in the dishwasher. I’ve had a fry up and Tom and I are now sat in front of a blazing log fire chillin a bit and typing stuff.

Today we start all over again. I’m meeting Terry in the Strugs at around 1pm before a 2pm lunchtime booking at the Taphouse And Kitchen. Looking forward to it.

10.45 am and  everyone has been seen except for John. Joe is playing some choons on the piano. Autumn Leaves, Have yourselves a Merry Little Christmas. Hannah is looking for a lift into town but there are no offers. It would take one of us the same amount to time to drop her off and come back as it would for her to walk in.

11.15. All the settees around the fireplace in the front room are now occupied and I even heard the word “John” coming from the kitch. We must all be up.

and the coathanger that never was

Clean out grate and reset fire – bring logs and kindling in
Move office stuff out of conservatory (Tref)
Shift conservatory table to side and set up PA (if considered necessary)
Move settee around in front room and set out chairs for party in conservatory and front room
Move tables in kitchen
Clear away worktops in kitch (move intrays out of way upstairs)
Move all coats to landing upstairs
Bring stella fridge down
Buy eggs
Buy booze and ice

It’s all goish in the Davies house. Actually quite a slow start but it will build up. Wearing my new Black Yak cardigan/hoodie/whatever you call it today and shortly off to Tesco as alluded to in the above jobs list (see last two items).

Goish is a good word innit. It obviously has to be correctly pronounced and would benefit from a hyphen but from an artistic perspective it is better that the reader be left guessing. I doubt it will ever make the Oxford English Dictionary but you never know. I’d quite like a copy of the OED but don’t want to shell out the hundreds of pounds it costs. I bought the Shorter OED about 30 years ago and it is still perfectly useful. Not that I ever use it. Tinternet. Now waiting for Jose and Charlotte to get ready to go to scote (anag). I may be waiting a while.

Had a very pleasant day out yesterday as guest of Wright Vigar at the lincolnshire IoD Christmas lunch. Most of the attendees were either lawyers or accountants with the accompanying grey suits. I noted only 7 or 8 people out of 150 at the lunch were wearing the party hats out of the Christmas crackers on the tables.

Afterwards met up with Matt Russell, Daniel, Plia and Dean at the Strait and Narrow. Had 4 pints of strong lager whose name subsequently escapes me and then walked through the rain up Steep Hill. Did a quick round of the market, looking for a bag of chips and curry sauce.

…

Back from Tesco. Sussed the champagne deal. Veuve Clicquot £5 off at £30 plus a further 25% off for a case of 6. £22.50. Not for tonight but we will consume most of it over the Christmas holidays. Also bought some disgusting looking strawberry and lime Rekorderlig cider. I’m told the yoof like it.

Hannah back and off with her to Waitrose for more stuff. The house is now busy and noisy, I have to sit quietly out of the way. Next to the fireplace where the coathanger burns. It will soon disappear from our consciousness. The coathanger that never was. Despite the video evidence clearly displayed in this post  there will be conspiracy theories about this coat hanger. Is the video faked? Is it a different coat hanger? Was it ever a coat hanger. Where is the coat proof? Let us move on…

In the kitchen tonight’s chili con carne is in preparation for tonight’s pre party meal. Dunno how many people we are expecting. Between 35 and 70 if previous years are anything to go by. We don’t feed them but there will be plenty of booze. Even have a £12 bottle of vodka bought with our last Zlotys and brought back from Polska.

Tesco trip.

1. Ended up not buying the booze due to time pressures – these things don’t want to be rushed. Instead will get it with the kids tomorrow morning. Having the kids help you buy booze doesn’t sound right does it? 🙂
2. Greenhorn yooth behind the customer service desk ignored me for a while whilst he was fiddling with his till. When eventually he decided to begrudgingly acknowledge my presence it was with a “what do you want” or some such remark” I smiled inwardly.
3. Said youth, in response to my observation re their insistence on cash as a deposit for the glass hire that it was lucky I’d just been to the cashpoint  because I didn’t normally carry £45 around on me, said it was more cash than he had in total.
4. Returning to my car I waited with the full trolley for a person to reverse in front of my car. It was a high pressure sitch because the driver knew that I was watching as their car approached mine. No incidents, I’m pleased to report.
5. Taking the trolley back to the trolley park area I noticed that someone had left a banana skin in the one in front of me. Nice.
6. Had intended to chat to a baker at tesco to discuss dough rising techniques but there wasn’t one in sight and was not sufficiently bothered to hang around given my time constraints. The smaller 8 ½ inch tin is making a difference.

Now home, unpacked, writing diary entry and then a quick change in time for the car that is booked for 11am to take me to the Wright Vigar offices on Newland.