where art collides

I wonder how long Monday will stay as the start of the week? I realise that in many countries, not all, offices close on Saturday and Sunday. This is based on a combination of hard fought trade union victories which we don’t want to discard lightly and the oppressive rule of law that forbade working on the Sabbath forcing people instead to attend church where they could be controlled with establishment propaganda. 

Monday therefore has always been the start of the working week. I am now sat in the shed contemplating the day ahead. I have a newsletter to work on. Shouldn’t take long. Someone else already wrote it. I just need to improve the English and make it more readable. Chuck a few lines of poetry in. Stuff like that. Not really poetry. It’s a techy audience across many countries. If they start seeing us being a bit flowery with the prose they will wonder what’s going on. 

This is the last couple of weeks before lots of good folk start going on holiday. Schools here break up on Friday 21st July. I always think the the start of the school summer holidays means the clock has started ticking for the end of summer. Enjoy it while you can. Cram in those summertime activities. Wear shorts.

It is certainly a good time to avoid travel. Ferry ports will be rammed. News programmes will already have scheduled stories about the length of the traffic jams backing up the motorway out of the Port of Dover. Times to get through passport control lengthening. Government ministers blaming the French.

We have a couple of ferries booked. At the end of August it is Holyhead to Dublin and then after that weekend Dublin to Cherbourg. Am optimistic that we won’t see the same problem as the south coast. I have no idea when I’m coming back from France which will be fun.

In the meantime it is a Monday morning and newsletters don’t write themselves you know…

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Sixteen forty nine and tools have been downed for the day. Got quite a bit done including packing away the gazebos from the weekend. Still need to find out what I did with the peg bags though! Problems problems. These are industrial strength pegs for industrial strength gazebos. Also found Adie’s specs that he left behind after the barbecue on Saturday and managed to squeeze in a swim. 

All this as well as ghost writing some stuff. I quite like the idea of ghost writing. Yonks ago when I started the philosopherontap.com website I wanted the nom de plume of Hugh O’Rourke for my poetry but some bugger, presumably called Hugh O’Rourke, was already using it. I just stuck with Tref and actually I’m totes ok with people knowing that it’s me wot wrote something.

Gorra take me daughter Han and her boyf George to the stayshun in a bit. They stay until they’ve eaten everything and then go back to London. Only kidding. We like having them up. No sooner will they have gone when another kid will arrive. It’s John. Will need to restock the fridge 🙂

A tea-long post. THG has just delivered a piping hot cuppa. I like to leave tea to cool a little before imbibing so figured it would be interesting to write a post. The time spent writing will be the amount of time it takes for the tea to cool and for me to drink it.

This is not a particularly scientific activity. I don’t have an optimum temperature at which I like to start drinking. Also the time taken to finish the cup will be a combination of the size of the cup together with how engrossed I get with the writing. If I am in full flow the drinking time could well be longer, to the point where the tea might go cold and no longer be particularly drinkable.

It is lunch at Headingley and the test match is finely poised. At lunch I had decided to clean the gazebo canopies which might yet get done. However the rest of the household has also decided that they want a curry tonight so I do have to devote some time to that. We shall see, rhymes with tea. If I can I also want to squeeze in a swim but that may depend on how the cricket is going.

When it comes to cooking a curry it is important to put in the right amount of effort. It is too easy to rustle up a dish that fits the description of curry but is not a good example of the genre. We are after tender meats in rich gravy with just the right amount of spice and flavour.

I also quite like the idea of knocking up some naan breads but that’s a bit of hassle. Well worth it if you can be bothered. They only take ninety seconds or so to cook on a bakers steel on the barbecue. It’s the prep time that is the issue.

A simple curry with pilau rice will suffice. One lamb and one chicken. Washed down by a cold beer and perhaps some red wine that is left over from last night’s barbecue and which needs finishing. Back on the diet tomorrow.

Thassit. Tea is finished and I have jobs to do. 

Ciao.

Back on the LNER, 
You don’t know how lucky you are, boy
Back on the LN, back on the LN, back on the LNE are.

Not set off yet but weirdly looking forward to my bacon roll. Bey a con as we say in the dialect. They don’t do butter on the train but hey…

I will leave the flatlands of Lincolnshire for the great metropolis that is the City of London. Heart of empire. Beating heart. In times gone by, pre empire, this would have been an arduous week’s travel on horseback. I would have to have found some companions heading in the same direction and would be carrying a sword. Egad.

Now it is two hours by Azuma with a bacon roll, a cup of tea and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice (joking). I get there earlier than necessary. On these occasions I am wont to repair to the British Library whereupon a lah tay may be consumed. You are welcome to join me. The treasures room is well worth a visit.

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We race by large golden fields of wheat that suggest harvest time is nearly upon us. Our tomatoes are nowhere near ready 🙂The onions are coming along ok though.

At Cottage Lane the cars line up at the crossing whilst the train speeds by and we, in turn, wait at the signal outside Newark for the go ahead to roll into Northgate station. A few people board at Platform 3 and someone slides into the seat opposite. I have already put on my Bose phones and put up the shutters. It is too early for conversation.

Carriage E is unusually busy. Not full but only one or two seats showing availability on the journey to Kings Cross. Everyone must be cramming in the meetings before the summer break.

I get mixed signals about how the economy is doing and therefore people’s willingness to spend. The telecoms business is doing well but other sectors are definitely showing signs of slowing down. Campsites, for example, are very much down on bookings for the summer. Phones have stopped ringing in the automotive business. People hunkering down trying to pay their mortgage and energy bills.

Food as well. Four tins of Heinz Baked Beans costs four quid in the supermarkets. Wasn’t so long ago they were going for two pounds fifty. Can’t say I’ve noticed other prices because I never really look at the cost. Just for some reason remember the price of beans 🙂

My attire today is Hawaiian shirt and shorts. Summertime and the living has to be easy. I also have a track record of this at industry events which is where I am off to this afternoon. Folks would be disappointed if I rocked up in a suit. I do own a linen suit which is what I will be wearing for a funeral tomorrow. Not today though. It is the summer for goodness sake.

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Hit the ‘burbs. Nearly there now. Meeting Tom for a cawfee off the train. British Library probs.

All is well in the house of Tref. Avocado toast with a side of bacon consumed and now sitting in the conservatoire with a cup of tea. The door is open to the garden where a gentle breeze flutters across the border. THG has been out surveying her domain. It is good drying weather and the clothes line is already loaded.

The luxury of the Sabbath. My first Sunday at home in ages. What do others do on a Sunday morning? Wash the car? This is what the hand car wash around the back of Tesco is for and there is always a queue on Sunday morning. Did those queuing used to do it themselves on the drive? Is washing the car on a Sunday morning a compulsive thing? Mine gets done perhaps three or four times a year. Defo need to get the inside valeted. Don’t think it’s ever been done, properly at least. In three years! Will get it done before our big trip to France.

It is only the beginning of July. Height of summer but plenty of summer left to go at. The holiday season very much approacheth. I went through a phase of not bothering to take holiday during the summer. When I used to work in an office the month of August being in the office was very much like being on holiday. Half the people would take the first two weeks off and the other half the last two weeks. In consequence there was never anyone around to get anything done.

Now I work, albeit part time, with a Belgian company they don’t take two weeks off. It is practically the whole month. Cool. People need to have a good break. They work hard. I try to do as little as possible although there are times when I do get v busy. Not in August though.

Wimbledon starts tomorrow. I like this. I never used to be a Wimbledon fan. It was always this thing on the telly for a couple of weeks every July. Then I took our youngest son John and discovered that it was a great day out.

John was a member of the Eastgate Tennis Club and used to get tickets every year out of their allocation. It was a little hit and miss but most times we got something and it was usually Centre Court. Anne and I used to take turns to go with him, except for his last membership  year where we both went and stayed the night in London.

Instead of paying a pound a strawberry I used to buy a large punnet or two together with some double cream from a supermarket en route. We would then pinch a couple of pint glasses and plastic spoons from the catering concessions inside Wimbledon together with some sugar and have a pint of strawberries and cream each. Retail value about fifty quid from official Wimbledon sources. It wasn’t so much the money. Who on earth wants only five strawberries 🙂

Over the years we saw all the big names of the era: Murray, Nadal, Djokovic, Venus and Serena. Loads of others. We were even there the day that the longest lasting set happened where it went to a ridiculous number of games. Didn’t see that one but saw the scoreboard. It was on an outside court.

A slightly disappointing day was the ladies semi finals. Serena won in around 52 minutes. Both matches were quite short. Best value is men’s semi finals where you likely get to see two matches lasting a good four hours each.

I would consider going to Wimbledon on a corporate jolly if someone else was interested in going. Not this year though. Too much on. July and most of August are our quiet months during 2023 and we need the time at home. Anyway I will have Wimbledon tennis on in the shed in the background. It is something I can occasionally glance up at whilst doing other stuff.

Something else I’d consider going to is the British Formula 1 Grand Prix. Never been. The problem, I understand, is the traffic getting in and out. Still I’d quite like to go once. A helicopter could be the answer. Find somewhere local ish to stay down. I typically don’t watch F1 as apart from the start I find it quite boring. The start is only interesting because anything can happen. Crashes, overtaking etc. Maybe next year. Already a lot in the plan for next year!

So Saturday has arrived. Samedi est arrivé as the revolting French would put it. Who knows what the day will bring. A dramatic about turn in the England cricket team’s performance on the pitch at Lords! Hopefully. Not sure I can look. I’m a lightweight like that. Hide behind the sofa. A bit like when Dr Who was on when I was a kid.

Got a bit of shopping to do this morning Fosters for a chicken and some lamb then Waitrose for posh balsamic vinegar, asparagus and a few other bits and bobs. Also need to take my linen jacket in for cleaning. The one I wear to go and watch cricket matches. Not sure it’s ever been cleaned! About time.

Some days a jacket can be seen as over dressing, especially in these times of unusually hot summers, but I have to have somewhere to keep my wallet and phone n stuff.

The French are indeed revolting, again. They do have form when it comes to revolting. All I can say is just get it over before the Rugby World Cup in September. Regime change, whatever. We don’t care who is in charge as long as the bars remain open for watching the rugby. And the restaurants and the little boulangeries down the street where we will be nipping out to buy our pain and croissants for breakfast.

I’m currently researching duffel bags. I have got a big North Face one somewhere that I used for the Coast to Coast walk but I’m blowed if I can find it. It must have been left somewhere. Worranuisance.

I’ll be away for six weeks so need some storage capacity. Not that I have six weeks worth of underwear so will have to get some cleaning done en route. Can’t imagine I’ll be wearing the same pair of shorts for six weeks either. Or t shirt 🙂

This will be the longest trip we have undertaken. Timewise. Kids are taking it in turns moving into our house in the meantime. At least someone will benefit from the tomato harvest, and the raspberries, apples and anything else going. It’s a bit of an adventure and although still two months away we are starting to get excited.

Everything is planned for the first month. Then Anne flies home with some of the girls and I hang around  for a couple more weeks, at least until after the Japan v Argentina game in Nantes at which point us lads will amble back at a comfortable pace.  I daresay you will be hearing a lot more about this trip when it happens.

Ciao for now mes amis.

…

The morning shop has been done. Some fresh produce from various markets as previously discussed.

I feel I need to do something today although the criquet is on. At lunchtime i can trim the bits of lamb shoulder purchaysed from the butch. They didn’t have fillet but tbh what we have is fine. Spending time cooking is one of the luxuries of the modern society. 

Back in the cave man days the time would have been spent looking for the food but obvs that isn’t the case nowadays. Not totes true as I do like to meander around the aisles in Waitrose checking out the food action. If you get the timing right you can pick up some good reductions though that is not my primary motivation in Waitrose. 

I do sometimes stop for a coffee but am very conscious that most of the people in the caff are old farts with whom I don’t really want to be associated.In their old caff I used to occasionally treat meself to a bacon roll. When they opened this new one they changed the bacon from back to a few measly bits of streaky so I stopped that. They may well have changed it again now but I’ve not tried it out to see.

Bought a book yesterday: The Living Mountain (Canons): A Celebration of the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland: 6 by Shepherd, Nan. Arrives today. It was mentioned on a TV programme about the river Dee. See how it goes. If I don’t order these things there and then I forget. 

I don’t always read all of a book. Sometimes i just read a few early chapters and decide the rest of it can wait on the shelf. My recent purchases about the Manx Electric Railway are good examples. There is only so much you can absorb about changes to the per way between 1906 and 1914. Nice to have though.

Someday soon I’ll sort my bookshelves in the shed. A quick glance to my left identifies the follow books on display:

• The Fighting Ship of the Royal Navy 897 – 1984
• The adjustable Spanner (definitive guide)
• Manual of Seamanship Vol 1 1932
• The Great Eastern Railway, Cecil J.Allen
• The London & North Western Railway, O.S.Nock
• The Ultimate Guide to Knots
• Llyfr Y Tri Aderyn, Morgan Llwyd
• The bartender’s guide
• Spitfire, Portrait of a Legend
• Collins Bird Guide
• Blacksmith
• Bradshaws 1863

I think you will agree there are some gooduns in there. I have yet to open the book of knots. It includes some bits of string/rope with which to practise my knot tying. May happen 🙂

Meanwhile the cricket is trundling along nicely, for the Aussies.