Swim 30 minutes. Bran flakes, banana and grapes.
Stunning day here in the shire. Perfect spring weather. T shirt in the conservatory with the doors open to the garden.
Darren the plasterer played the role of hero this morning. He stuck on a pair of gloves and rescued the pigeon that had fallen down our chimney yesterday. It lost a few down feathers and was a little flustered but mostly ok and off it flew.
Bought a new set of walking boot inserts, spare laces and a whistle. Did some online research on the whistle front and the only one that they had left in GoOutdoors turned out to be much louder decibel-wise than the ones being reviewed online. Also ordered a spare pair of Montane walking trousers which are brilliant.
I’m still short of a decent pair of gaiters. None in the shop fitted. And I need a drybag. Otherwise I’m mostly done. Ordered a couple of 12 packs of Clif Bars from Amazon yesterday.
En route from GoOutdoors I stopped by Ajax’s office to talk coast to coast. Going over kit lists he mentioned that we needed at least 6 pair of walking socks. I maintained that three was the going rate: one on , one spare in the day bag and one in the wash ready for the next day (or at least having been washed from the previous day). We called little Stu to arbitrate and he came down on my side:)
To keep Anne happy I rattled off a number of jobs. We now have a new (turquoise) toilet seat in the shower room, the odds and sods I needed to sort through for recycling have been put in the boot ready for the tip and a bag has been emptied.
Some all of the stuff being chucked is pretty historic. A hat from NSREC 95 for example. The heady days of the space business. I remember NSREC 95 being in Madison Wisconsin, the dairy capital of the USA. Hence the cow print hat. The trip there was fairly eventful as the connecting flight from Chicago couldn’t land due to the weather. We tried to fly around the storm but eventually landed elsewhere and were bussed to Madison.
The NSERC conferences were always great events. Nuclear and Space Radiation Effects Conference. They didn’t shout out their presence as you might imagine.
Decided that perhaps I should get this tooth looked at before going on the walk. Called John Hill’s surgery only to find that he was off until Friday and that it was unlikely that there would be time now before the walk. I’m popping in to see him on Friday morning.
Had a beer in the Morning Star whilst John was at Colin’s for his sax lesson. Their machine wasn’t working so I owe them – will swing by later on the way to pick up from Jazz Vehicle. John and I had a most acceptable meal of bbq ribs tonight. Anne is off out to a charity handbag auction!
Mains choices for my periodic Exec Dinner at Barrafina next Tuesday.
CRISP PORK BELLY with a red wine sauce. Patatas a lo Pobre, Baby Gem Salad, Botarga, Walnuts & Manchego
or SEA BASS with Fennel, Radish, Comice Pear & Dill Salad, Gem Lettuce Salad, Bortaga, Walnuts & Manchego
Couple of vids for your entertainment
Tags: diary