where art collides

Man walks dog. I’ve been half meaning to go through that gate. There is a stream at the bottom, past the trees. Probs won’t get there. Currently sat in the car swigging away at the carton of Tropicana original orange juice with bits.

Slightly annoyed that I forgot to plug the fridge in yesterday after moving it back inside the tent. Two sausages and three bits of bacon are at risk 😉 I wasn’t intending to cook this morning anyway as I’m decamping back to the Wirral and was going to avail myself of the use of the burger van that is parked up near the showers.

Bloke has now let the dog off the lead. Fair play.

I’m pretty impressed with the tent. V cosy. It’s a Berghaus Cairngorm 3. Plenty of separation between inner and flysheet so no issues of water ingress when you touch the sides as one is wont to do. I’ve even worked out the optimal technique for getting in and out  during the night.

Although people are awake inside their caravans it is pretty quiet. As I walked to the portaloo I could hear someone play the penny whistle or flute or similar. Fortunately I can’t hear it from the tent. Not really what you want to hear at 8am in a field.

Bit the bullet and began to pack up the tent. Not that much to do really. The dishes will wait until I get home 🙂The tent itself was not going to dry anytime soon so that just went in the back of the Defender and as I write is draped over some bushes at our AirBnB in Bebington.

As I packed, the ‘peace’ of the morning was somewhat interrupted by a bloke in a nearby caravan sticking his hungover head out of the window and retching unceremoniously. I left him to it. I also avoided looking his way but tbh it is extremely unlikely that eye contact would have been made.

I set the navigation computer controls to East and meandered through the back lanes, often single track, of the Pen Llyn peninsula. The wonder of Waze.

Three detours were made. As I passed Trefor I turned off the main road and drove down into the village. Seemed the right thing to do seeing as they named the place after me. Didn’t stop. Not much to it. Maybe they didn’t name the place after me 🙂

Then I turned off to swing by Dinas Dinlle. Not been there since I was a kid. We used to go to the beach there when we lived in Waunfawr many moons ago. I thought you could drive along the coast to Caernarfon but it turned out to be a dead end once you got past the airport. Yes Caernarfon has an airport.

Finally I drove over the bridge to Sir Fon to stop at the the viewing point on the Menai. A totes brilliant view that I never tire of seeing and, as you know, am happy to make a detour to see it.

Pic is of Cymdeithas Yr Iaith Joy Formidable gig last night. Got in at 12.50. It was very wet out but the tent was cosy fair play.

Have woken up this morning to a beautiful sunny day. Perfect for sitting outside the tent catching up with the world.  My phone is telling me it’s detected moisture in the charging port. Inside the tent is very humid. My specs for example steam up.

So I’m sat outside on my laptop whilst the phone sits on the car dash performing its duties as a hotspot. That, combined with the sun’s rays should drive out the pesky moisture.

A better night’s kip last night. This was partly occasioned by the fact that my neighbours weren’t partying and partly because the Bangor University reunion began at 2pm. It finished when I departed the Maes at around 10pm. Discovered this morning en route to the portaloo that I’d put my pyjama bots on back to front. Ya gorra laugh ‘aven’t you. The only difference is that the pockets face the wrong way. Who uses their pyjama bot pockets anyway?

Yesterday was a wonderful day. We sat for a couple of hours in Ty Gwerin, staking our place to see Sian James’s concert. I’ve never heard her play before. I knew her at University forty years ago. She was absolutely brilliant. It isn’t just her voice. Her harp and piano playing was amazing. Almost an element of jazz entering into the Welsh folk culture.

All in all it was a great day out and wonderful to see some friends I’d not seen for forty years. Not headed to the Maes today. Rhys and Eirian are picking me up around 11ish if it is the will of Allah. We are headed to Nefyn and tonight the Cymdeithas Yr Iaith gig with Joy Formidable. Check em out. This, I understand, is JF’s one and only Welsh gig of the year.

The Manx flag is flapping splendidly in the light morning breeze. I’m not in a major rush. At some point I’ll get going with breakfast and then take a shower. The showers aren’t bad fair play albeit a bit of a hike. No dishwashing facilities though. I guess this is a field after all.

The one element of disquiet in this field is (are?) the massed ranks of caravans. The Welsh are big caravanners. Each to their own and they almost certainly have a far more comfortable time of it than us humble tenters. Tent just feels right to me. I could have brought a campervan apart from the fact that they are all hired out and it made more sense to come in the Defender anyway. It’s a long old trip to Bodeuan.

Front room of cottage. Next to TV. THG is watching the Women’s footie but I am facing away and can’t see the action. I have a call starting in ten minutes and was kicked out of the dining room to make way for a yoga class.

Having recovered from  sleeping on an airbed for two nights when moving Hannah and George into their new home I now find the bed in the cottage to be quite bouncy. Every time I turn over THG gets bounced up in the air. Well almost. Sfunny how you get used to your own bed and mattress innit.

This morning we are going to the local Aldi to purchayse provisions. If you’ve never been to an Aldi you will be amazed at how difficult it is to spend money. You can go to Waitrose and buy the same stuff as in Aldi and find that you’ve only spent a bit more. However Waitrose also dangle other higher cost items in front of you which seem to have an uncanny knack of  finding their way into the trolley. ‘Shrugs shoulders’.

My biggest decision this morning is what to have for tonight’s tea. I have been given free rein by THG. This is not a decision to be taken lightly.

…

So this morning we have been around the value supermarket houses on the Wirral. We started off at Aldi in Bebington. They didn’t have any white wine vinegar and their pan au chocs looked pretty dismal. Also I needed a 4 pack of Carling lager to replace the ones I consumed from the fridge where I only found out afterwards that they wanted £2 each for them. Aldi sold 18 cans for £12 which I’m sure is a good deal but no way did I want to get left with 14 cans of Carling.

Next up we went to the Coop in Bromborough where we bought 4 cans for a fiver. The Coop however didn’t have any wine vinegar either. There is an excellent deli/butchers in Bromborough called Muffs. The presence of such an establishment in Bromborough is somewhat a surprise but there it is and we bought bacon, sore sedges and some lamb kebabs and chicken for tea tonight. No wine vinegar. Forgot to look.

Moving on to The Asda. In Bromborough Asda always has the word “The” in front of it. Not sure this is a global thing. Anyway The Asda didn’t have any wine vinegar either although it did have the pan au choc and a bit of fish for THG.

Finally we stopped off at a brand new Lidl in Bromborough. Lidi did have the vinegar together with everything else that had been on our list, except for the bacon and sausages. They almost certainly do have bacon and sausages but not the kind of quality I’d be interested in.

Bring on click and collect I say.

…

Pleasant enough afternoon. Managed to squeeze in the monthly finance meeting and then set off for a cuppa with THG and her blood and blister. After that we went for a stroll on the front at Parkgate. Got me binoculars out but not that much to see really. Most of the birds must have been chillin’ in amongst the reeds.

Sat in the front room of the cottage in Bebington listening to Miles Davis, ‘Round Midnight. Genius.

The cupboard is bareish. We are doing a big shop tomorrow morning. This isn’t to say we have no food in but it is mostly ‘store cupboard essentials’ Pasta, oil, vinegar. Stuff like that. 

Not that we need anything to eat ce soir. We had a long lunch of tapas at the Bluebell Inn with Barbara and Geroge. V pleasant. Ended up catching a train back to Bebington at around five pm. That’s how long the lunch was.

I had some peanuts with a couple of beers at the Rose and Crown upon our return. Magnifico. The pub not the peanuts.

The speakers on the macbook pro are v good fair play. Perfectly adequate.

It’s a quiet night in here. We are both doing our own thing in the front room. All is quiet. After thirty five years of marriage we don’t have to talk to each other all the time. I will say however that normally we enjoy a nice level of conversation. THG is one of the few people who consistently laughs at my jokes. Maybe the only one 🙂

Breakfast in Bebington. A groundbreaking novella not modelled on anything written by Truman Capote. The patio doors are open. The rain has stopped. The deluge. Forty days and forty nights. Unprecedented(?) 

After the rain the planet comes back to life. People emerge from their shelters,  blinking eyes in unfamiliar sunlight. A dove appears in the garden picking up twigs, presumably to repair its nest.

Last night Wales, Ireland and Scotland won their respective world cup warm up matches and we royally dined out in The Refreshment Rooms. I had chicken liver pate followed by ham, egg and chips. The pate was very nice, fair play. Home made. It came in a small ramekin covered with a layer of fat. Could have done with less fat and more pate. I managed. Simple fare.

Today we are off to Chester on the train. Merseyrail. Meeting Barbara and George for lunch. Tapas. I daresay we may stroll to the Rose and Crown this evening. Sample the best that Bebington has to offer. If you are in the area, swing by.

We are off on our travels again today. The Wirral, The Eisteddfod and The Isle of Man. It is chucking it down here but fortunately I don’t have to pitch the tent until Tuesday afternoon. The forecast for Nefyn on Tuesday morning is also wet! If it really comes to the crunch I can kip in the Defender 🙂

We don’t need to set off before lunchtime as we can’t get in to the AirBnB until after three and are already mostly packed so no rush for anything this morning. We are even plugging the cool box in to a 12v socket en route. How organised is that?

…

Arrived at the AirBnB at 3pm. Uneventful journey ably assisted by Waze which took us around what seemed to be huge congestion on the M60/62 near Manchester, fair play. I have Waze on even when I know where I am going, purely for this eventuality.

Lovely cottage and an internet connected telly that has the Amazon Prime app. Logged on to watch the rugby. Mustn’t forget to remove the TV from my account when we leave.

Headed to the Refreshment Rooms in Rock Ferry tonight with cousin Jeff and Glenys. Booked it last time we were over when we went in there for a cawfee. Have to book well in advance, apaz. Rock Ferry is a dump but you can tell from the size of the houses lining the riverfront that it was once v posh. Had a gated community with guards to keep out the hoi polloi. Riff raff. Undesirables. You know the type 🙂

The riverfront at Rock Ferry is what you would call post industrial. Relics of Liverpool’s past as one of the world’s great ports. We won’t go into what trade it was built on. 

The White Star Line was based here. The offices have distinctive red and white bands in the brickwork and the sinking of the Titanic was announced to the assembled masses from a first floor window. Long time ago now.

We do love coming over to Liverpool. Drop me a line if you are here and fancy a cawfee, or an elderflower cordial or simlar. You would have to give me some notice re the latter. It is extremely unlikely we have any in.

The biggest question of the day is when to crack open a tinnie. They have left us some lager in the fridge.The only issue is that it is Carling which is one of my least favourite lagers in the whole world. Honestly I can’t understand how anyone drinks the stuff. I’ll probs wait until the Mighty Wales come on for their game against Angleterre. Just getting ready for the Rugby World Cup in France, as you may have noticed. 

You may not have noticed of course. You might be one of those people who switch languages without even realising you’ve done it. Bit like me, clearly.

Back in Lincoln the members of the Shed Appreciation Society are congregating to watch the match in the Prince of Wales. I understand that they do serve Carling there but also Peroni which makes it ok.

Thassitfornowcyalater

Pleasant game of golf with Jezzer and Ajax yesterday afternoon. Dropped the clubs and cars off at home and met in the Strugglers for a couple of beers before heading to the Castle View curry house round the corner. It was rammed and I’m glad I had the foresight to book. There have been after effects!

This morning it is yet another relaxing start. Got a few errands to run and packing to get on with. Specifically I need to pick my Macbook up from the menders and stop off to buy some steak for tonight’s tea. Expecting my car back today as well but don’t know what time that will be.

I feel that my approach to today will be low stress and casual. Seems like a plan.

After breakfast each day I have a cup of tea and then move operations to the shed. I do this whether I am working or not. It is my space. Peaceful. Right now I’m sat reading and listening to the birds. All moments in life need savouring. Enjoy it while you can.

…

In keeping with my approach to the day I had a relaxing bath after dinner. Still had some radox bubble bath left. This is unusual for when we are visited by offspring some of them are known to take baths as they only have showers in their london flats. The little darlings normally use up all the bubble bath. Result.

I have a book to finish off. May nod off doing that.

Goodness me it poureth down in Lincoln. This was foretold. By the good folk at the Meteorological Office. Wherever that is. Near a field of cows somewhere deep in the country. Unless it’s been sold off to foreign investors. You wouldn’t have thought they would sell such a strategic national resource to the Americans. Or the Chinese. The cows are how they decide whether it is going to rain or not.

I quite like it when it rains steadily. Apart from the fact that one of our gutters needs repairing. It’s very relaxant especially when sat in the conservatoire waiting for my tea to brew. Tea to brew, brew to tea, just like that.

Just noticed a snail trail on the mat by the conservatory door. Hmm. Should track it down. Can’t have gone far. Not sure I can be bothered right now. Later.

Still the rain falls. It is set for the morning. Good job the cricket finished on Monday.

The small trolley table in front of me is painted white and grey and has wine and spirit labels pasted to the flat surfaces. Alva Finest Brandy, Walkers Fine Old Cognac, Grand Seal Port, Lemon Gin, Caveau Cognac amongst others. 

These are facsimiles of originals we have that were collected by THG’s dad during his years as a Customs and Excise officer. It is a treasure trove of brands that you never hear about these days. I scanned them all in. No way we would want to stick the originals down.

THG’s dad Keith was a solid chap. He was chairman of his local allotment holders’  committee and at one time ran two separate plots. Sunday dinners at the Websters often involved fresh vegetables from the allotment and their back garden was always a riot of colour during the summer months. He is the source of THG’s horticultural expertise. 

I have no idea how she got to be so good at University Challenge 🙂 Just naturally brainy 😀One of the reasons I married her although I only found out about the University Challenge bit many years into our relationship.

The interior of the shed is brightly lit. Raises the spirits on a dingy wet day. I prefer to have the doors wide open but right now it is jumper weather. Sometimes I’ll stick some classical music on in the shed in the morning. Haven’t today but there is yet time.

Righto that’s the day started. Off to see what the rest of it brings…

Two themed day today. Bit of work stuff this morning. Have been writing a very interesting article (obvs) on CLI Authentication and will finish that off. Then this pm I’ve said I will clear the garage out.

Clearing the garage is no small task really. In theory it involves emptying the garage, chucking a few bits and then replacing everything more tidily. Not sure an afternoon is enough but we shall see. Today is the only day the weather will allow me to do it. It’s golf on Thursday, the other non rainy day in the forecast. Also I don’t have my car right now as it is getting a slight scrape to the paintwork addressed so if I need to nip down to B&Q or similar I won’t be able to.

The slight scrape occurred whilst reversing into an impossibly small gateway at our rented cottage in the Isle of Man. Won’t do that again in a hurry, probs, maybs. Off to the IoM again a week on Saturday as foot passengers. The Steam Packet wanted silly money to take the car on Saturday sailing. That’s what you get when dealing with a monopoly. As it happens my dear sister Sue will already be over with her car and can pick us up from the ferry terminal.

We will be travelling light, for once. There is already a kitchen sink in the house in Peel. I quite like the idea. Footloose and fancy free, ish. Not really done that since I was a student. September will be similar except we are taking the Defender to France, with the kitchen sink no doubt, because we can.

Outside the shed it feels autumnal. Plenty of red apples on the tree, runner bean crop in full flow. The blackberry picking has been very successful. They’ve just started to come through and all the rain we have had has resulted in large juicy berries. We will be picking most nights this week, Thursday apart when I’ll be playing golf. The freezer will need filling to get us through the winter. 

Nothing quite like THG’s blackberry and apple crumble with Ambrosia Devon custard. Hot crumble, cold custard. Custard is a dish best served cold. A pudding that brings light to the darkest winter months.

As I clear out the garage I will be picking out my camping gear for next week’s expedition to the Eisteddfod in Pen Llyn. I have booked a caravan pitch with electric hookup at the Cae Mawr campsite. My small Berghaus tent might look a bit incongruous amongst the monstrosities that are caravans but it will do me. We have no spare campervans and in any case it makes a lot more sense to drive over in a luxury Land Rover than in a fifty year old campervan.

The electric hookup will keep my coolbox running, power the phone charger and the teppanyaki grill that I will be using to cook breakfast. Seems right really. My tent is a three man tent which really means it is perfect for one person. The inner is lined in black so that the early sunrise doesn’t wake you up at the wrong time, ie before 9am 🙂Truth be told I am an early riser. 

…

It’s three pm and I’ve downed tools where the garage is concerned. Much progress made but still more to do. It’s already a lot tidier. I need to stick some more brackets on the walls so that I can hang stuff up out of the way. For example we have three or four spare golf bags and clubs. These do get used very occasionally when the lads are home on holiday so they do want keeping. There’s also a camp bed. Again not often used and so wants sticking out of the way somewhere.

My camping gear is starting to come together. RAB 4 seasons down sleeping back dug out of the cupboard. Essential for the unpredictable wilds of Pwllheli. I figured I might take a flagpole with me as well. Put up my Manx flag (salutes).

Hannah and George moved into their new home in Chelmsford over the weekend. It’s a major milestone in life. It felt exactly the same as when I moved into my first house on Waldeck Street thirty nine years ago!!

The major difference is that when I moved it all I had was my “stuff” and a double bed and a fridge that had been left in place. H&G had two full transit van loads and two Land Rover Defender with the seats down loads.

Team ‘family’ kicked into action and we got them in. Knackering though especially the two nights on an airbed and the lengthy periods of driving. We went for the airbed option rather than a hotel because we wanted to be in the middle of the action. Was the right thing to do. 

We left them late yesterday afternoon to get on with their lives. V exciting.

This morning, after a good night’s sleep in our own bed, the discomfort of the spare room floor has been forgotten. Coincidentally I will be spending some of next week in a tent in similar conditions. Somehow being in a tent makes all the difference. The main issue tent-wise is the late night/early morning trip to the facilities, especially if it is raining. We are talking North Wales here. I’m hoping my pitch will be next to a hedge but not totes confident. It’s a roll of the dice.

We are due some heat. July has been a washout, mostly. Pretty much normal British summer weather. There is no sign of change. This is far preferable to the forty odd degree temperatures they have been seeing in southern Europe. Why would you go there on holiday? This is where we are bound in September but I’m very sure things will have improved by then. Probs. Praps. Maybs 🙂

Got an email from the Apple dealer whilst we were away. They have ordered parts for my non-charging Macbook Pro. Didn’t say what but unlikely to be cheap. Hooray for my foresight in taking out AppleCare. Will renew it when the cover is up, if they do that sort of thing.

The garden is very green. Hardly a surprise considering my comments on the month of July. Tomato crop, though bountiful, still not ripe. The shallots and onions however might well be lifted this week. I have time at the back end. Looks like a reasonable crop of eating apples. They do still need to grow a bit more which is something out of our control. ‘Cookers’ not as plentiful this season.

The kale crop has been very successful this year. This is all well and good. Whilst I don’t mind greens with my dinner the kale has been very prevalent, entering the menu both at lunchtimes and for evening meals. Reminded me of the second world war where at certain times of the year there would be a glut of particular vegetables. Carrots for example. Different era.

Meanwhile I have to drop the car off at the garage. See ya later.

…

Having not been able to pay the Dartford Crossing toll over the weekend as their website was down for maintenance (for four days!) I am now in a queue to get onto their site as four days worth of motorists try to pay. The experience has not been great with either the tunnel (massive congestion) and now the website (massive congestion!).

The rain has gone. The gutter on the store room/potting shed needs fixing but that is another story.

There is something quite special about a garden after the rains have gone and the sun begins to shine. I was going to say romantic but I don’t think that’s quite the word. The shed doors are open and a slight breeze moves the seed heads on the grasses near the deck.

In the greenhouse we will today be trimming back the foliage around the tomato plants to encourage growing and ripening of the fruits. Looks like being a good crop after what seemed like a slow start.

Today is a day for getting stuff done as tomorrow is somewhat of a wipeout being the lads boating trip from Burton Waters. Jezzer bought the trip in a charity auction a year ago so we thought we should get it in before the next Burton Club hog roast and the next auction.

The trip starts at 10am and will involve the trading of much nautical banter and the consumption of grog. Suspect they don’t sell grog in Waitrose so we may have to improvise. The biggest issue I foresee is the absence of a refrigerator on the boat. Even if there was one I doubt it would be big enough to hold all the supplies we are likely to be bringing along. 

The last thing you want on a lads boat trip is to run out of supplies. Look out for the movie: six men in a boat. No Montmorency though. Apart from me they are all dog owners and it would be a recipe for disaster if it were six men and five dogs in a boat. I doubt there would still be eleven passengers by the end of the voyage.

There is limited scope for exploring distant horizons on a boat from Burton Waters. Turn right and you get as far as Torksey Lock. I think there might be one pub, maybe two in that direction.

Turning left, sorry to the port side, takes you past Carholme Golf Club and into the City of Lincoln’s great harbour that is the Brayford Wharf. Here you will find a multitude of hostelries eager to sell you refreshment and sustenance that will keep you going for your return journey.

We need to book a cab out but THG has said she can provide transportation back. It is unlikely that the day will finish there. When sailors hit port they like to let their hair down after a long voyage in cramped conditions.

I suspect that, apart from the decision on which pubs to visit, the hardest bit will be to find a volunteer to drive. Personally, despite being the holder of an RYA Inland Waterways Helmsman Certificate, I would prefer to sit back and enjoy the journey rather than have to navigate the perils of the Fossdyke Navigation, at 5mph!

I daresay you will hear more of the jaunt at least when you go to see the film and in the meantime I have a Macbook to take to the menders. Ciao…

…

The rain hath returned. Not quite in biblical proportions but heavy enough to render my trainers, left drying on the conservatory step, unusable for tomorrow. I am sitting in the front room avoiding the television. THG and I could not agree on a mutually acceptable programme.

Instead I am listening to some jazz classics, currently playing Summertime with Ella Fitzgerald and Satchmo.

I am ready for tomorrow’s voyage into the unknown. Suitable clothing laid out: shorts and t shirt and all relevant food and beverage items cooling in the refrigerator. Taxi is booked for oh nine thirty. Prior to departure I have an eight thirty conference call to discuss changes to the website and I need to cook and eat a sausage sandwich. You can’t go on a long sea journey without suitable fortification.

We cast off at ten o’clock shortly after which the sun will officially be over the yardarm. This is a later start than when we are off to the cricket or the rugby. We are clearly approaching the trip with suitable deference to to health and safety, it being a waterborne adventure.

Nobody has any real notion of what lies ahead, none of us having previously been further than the horizon. Will we encounter seaborne Leviathans? Scylla and Charybdis? Dark haired sirens with the body of a fish and hypnotic screams designed to draw us onto the rocks? We must remain strong, resolute, hiding our personal fears and drawing deep on the false confidence induced by navy rum.

Shipmates one and all. Jolly Jack tars. A lifelong bond of friendship that can only be created out of hardship, common experience and being cooped up for six hours on a small pleasure boat on the Fossdyke Navigation. We are prepared for anything that Neptune can throw at us.

I recall earlier this year when walking along a beach on the Yucatan Peninsula in the Caribbean seeing a coconut washed ashore and thinking to myself such is the way that desert islands become a lush green paradise. There was plenty of evidence of palm trees seeded in this way.

This feels very similar to the anticipation now being felt in advance of tomorrow’s great voyage. I will shortly repair early to my hammock for hopefully a good night’s sleep to prepare myself for the journey.

Goodnight to all adventurers out there.

This morning I’ve been shredding the evidence. Well, just loads of old receipts and snailmail. Also been for a swim, had two conference calls and popped to GoOutdoors to buy some new sandals. Had to order them in as they didn’t have my size. Snorraproblem.

After lunch I will mow the lawn.

The onions are doing very well. I’d say potentially harvestable in the next week or so and certainly before the end of August. Also the blackberry picking season has just got going. THG is a dab hand at blackberry and apple crumble, yum.

Hannah and George have just moved into their new home.

V exciting. I remember the day I took possession of my first house. All it had in it was a double bed and a fridge. It’s all a 22 year old bloke needed really. Somewhere to keep the champagne and somewhere to drink it.

Macbook is booked in for some TLC

Was a bit of a result really. I was pondering whether being two years old it was still under warranty. Upon investigation I discovered that I had the foresight to take out Apple Care at the time of purchase. Were my middle name not Trefor it might be Foresight. 

I realise that many of you will now say there is no such name but I would like to bet that somewhere in the US of A there has in the last few decades been someone born whose parents named him or her Foresight.

Didn’t have my size in stock.

The sandals that is. This will be my third pair of Merrells. They don’t last forever but they are very comfortable and good for walking in. The idea is not to have to use socks all summer. I also need some new flip flops but GoOutdoors stopped selling them. 

Popping into town tomorrow.

When I pop into town tomorrow with my Macbook I’ll swing by Sketchers. My old pair were Sketchers and v good. Bought em in the Sketchers store in San Francisco during Nanog before the world closed down for business for two years.

Didn’t know we had a branch of Sketchers in Lincoln.

This shows you how often I go into town. Hardly ever. I often pick a family member up from down there. There’s a handy spot near the Cheese Society which is a great shop but one I only visit at Christmas whereupon a small fortune is laid out. Difficult to know when to stop when it comes to cheese innit.

What a week that was. Royal Albert Hall, Ronnie Scotts and the grand finale at the Eirias Stadium in Colwyn Bay to watch out lad John play with Josh Barry in front of a sell out crowd, in the rain. Torrential rain. A penetrating, soaking wetness that followed us around in puddle filled trails even when we made it to the sanctuary of the Marine pub after we left the stadium.

The gig was a triumphant success. A hugely responsive crowd reacted well at all the right times. Must have been a real buzz playing on that stage. I took 202 pics and vids, all characterised by a curtain of water in front of the lens.

We met John by the sound desk afterwards for a family hug and some proud congratulatory noises. After staying for a couple of songs by the headliner Rag n Bone man we headed to the hostelry and some warming tots of whisky.

Most of us will never get to play music in front of five thousand cheering fans. As parents we are glad to be able to live again though our sons and daughters and boy did we do that last night.

The band were staying locally last night and stopping off at Home Farm on the way home today for some rest and relaxation. Living the rock and roll dream 🙂

…

Working out of the iPad right now. MacBook looking a bit dodge. Battery needs a service. Not sure what that’s all about. It ain’t that old.

We are sitting quietly together. One finishing a jumper and the other jotting down some thoughts. Notes. Musings. The tapping of the keyboard has replaced the scratching of quill on paper.

The guitar stands quietly in the corner of the room. Motionless. Doesn’t feel quite right. A guitar should live an active life. Not necessarily frenetic although it could be. Certainly upbeat. Sometimes melancholic.

Photographs look down upon me from the walls and books sit silently, waiting, knowledgeably. I can hear my breathing.

The golden hour is in full flow in marked contrast with the grey deluge of yesterday. A battleship could have hidden itself in plain sight. Bump! My god what was that? Oh it was a battleship!

Good companions.

Featured image courtesy of Josh Barry.

Whilst enjoying a bit of downtime I’ve been bringing my philosopherontap posts up to date. I stick most of what I write on Facebook on philosopherontap.com, often a superset. It started as my creative writing site but nowadays as often as not I just update the diary bit. I typically upload them in batches every couple of weeks or so.

Websites are not very permanent records of things as no doubt one day for whatever reason it will no longer be maintained. Folk will have to rely on the wayback machine or whatever it is called, assuming that keeps going. I do periodically back it up and someday will print the lot. That will take muchas ink and paper!

In the meantime the news is my macbook pro doesn’t seem to want to charge. This is not good. It’s stuck on 28% battery. The charging light comes on as does the battery charging symbol but something ain’t right.

After our walk this morning we stopped by Gray Thomas’ caff for a cuppa. One the way back to the Black Boy I popped in to Ty Becws to but some bara brith and Welsh cakes. Unfortunately they’d sold out of the latter so will nip back after breakfast to get some to take back to Lincoln. The siop opens at oh eight thirty.