Today is the joint third longest day, I assume, seeing as Friday the twenty first is the longest. Friday stands alone. We’ve never particularly celebrated the longest day, the midsummer solstice although I feel we should. It would help if the weather was nice, which I suspect it will be this year, at last.
On Friday we are off to Sherwood Pines campsite for the Forest Live festival. Nile Rodgers on the Friday and Sting on the Sunday. It is a year of gig watching like no other having seen The Eagles two weeks ago in Manchester. Nile is phenomenal.
Forest Live should be different to the last festival we went to in that part of the world. This was the Eighties Flashback festival in which practically all the eighties bands playing only contained one surviving member of the original line up. Hot Chocolate played despite the singer having died two weeks previous. They wheeled in a replacement pronto (as they say). Jimmy Sommerville stood out as by far the best act at that show and being a soloist represented himself otherwise he would have been a tribute band 🙂
That weekend we had planned to pitch our tent next to our campervan owning pals but the security gestapo wouldn’t let us, saying we had to use the same campsite as the great unwashed, some distance away. We ended up kipping nearby in the back of the Jeep Commander which with the seats laid flat would take a full size double blow up bed.
Those days are over. These days we seek comfort and have hired a motorhome for the weekend seeing as the lodges were all booked up. Picking up the moho Friday morning. Most of our pals own MoHos but we wouldn’t get value for money if we bought one. It would be sixty grand just sat in the drive most of the time. Cheaper to stay in hotels and cottages or as is the case on this occasion, rent one.
The traffic has just started on Wragby Road. Six fifteen. The lawn needs cutting, I notice. When you’ve been away for a while it takes a while to get back on top of the garden. Part of me thinks we shouldn’t bother going on holiday in the spring and summer and save it for times of the year when it is wet and orrible. Ok that’s most of the year 🙂.
My mind is starting to think about warm destination getaways in the winter. Not so much in the run up to Christmas as I really like that time of year in the UK but certainly in Jan/Feb/March. In those months we wouldn’t need to worry so much about the garden.
This morning the milkman came at oh three oh one. Wildly different to Monday’s five thirty. England weren’t playing the night before. Eat yer heart out Sherlock Holmes.
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In order of priority this afternoon’s jobs are mow the lawn. I’m not saying the grass is knee high, although this will certainly be the case for some, it isn’t for me but it does need doing. We have returned to perfect spring day weather, two days before the summer. This wouldn’t be bad as summer weather either.
In the garden the birds are happy and I’ve been able to do a few bits and bobs: thinning the apple tree (cooker) and putting a stick or two down for the peas to grow up.
You might have expected more than one job seeing as I was determining an order of priority but I won’t look at the next job until the lawn is done. Focus, Tref focus.
Just received an email telling me my ESTA will expire in 30 Days/ The last time my ESTA expired I only found out when trying to check in at the BA desk in T5. Spent an hour and a half at the check in desk applying for a new one. The SLA is 72 hours but fortunately mine came through quickly enough for me to grab a couple of swift cocktails in the Concorde lounge. Missed the massage though.
I have no immediate plans to travel to the USA on this occasion so it matters not. My Global Entry expires in November. I may never go to the USA again. Mind you the same can be said of Russia and China so I’m not picking on the Yanks in particular. Am off to France though. I like a nice croissant.