where art collides philosoperontap

Lincoln was quiet at 5.30 this morning, silenced overnight by a two inch blanket of snow. I was awake at that time but not tempted to leave a cosy bed. The wireless went on at five past six but didn’t listen, drifting in and out of dozy consciousness. Missiles, war, angry farmers. 

Now traffic noise coincides with the magical arrival of the tea tray. Hey presto.

On the radio a farm notionally worth nine million pounds is only generating nineteen thousand pounds a year. Looking at it objectively either the land is overvalued or the farm isn’t a good business. I guess farmers don’t always do it for the money although I’m sure if they are only pulling in £19k they would rather it be higher.

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Had a good breakfast and now taking tea looking out over the garden. Pleasing to observe that whilst I left the heating on in the shed overnight the snow on the roof has not melted suggesting v good insulation. Ditto our kitchen roof which until we redid the tiling last year had no insulation. 

I’ll be dropping THG off at the gym at 9.30 so will need to be up and have cleared the snow off her car before then. Just letting my breakfast go down at the mo.

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Clearing the (3 inches of) snow off the car was a bit of a doddle. It just brushed off. Will have all melted by this pm anyway I reckon. I like the cold weather. I should caveat that by saying it’s nice when you are toasty and warm as is the case in the shed. My new tropical trefbash sign has added a bit of colour this morning and I decided it would also be appropriate to switch on the Lagunitas IPA sign. Normally that only goes on when the sun is over the yardarm.

The shed is a haven in the snow. The only things missing are adequate supplies for the eventuality that I couldn’t make it back to the house. There is always deliveroo I guess. Always assuming they would come down the side of the house to the back garden. I quite like that idea 🙂. Their motto should be ‘Deliveroo always gets through’. Might offer it to them, for a consideration. Not sure I’ve ever used them mind you.

Standing on the landing looking out of the window onto the back lawn this morning I was met by a confrontation of colour. Came right up to the window and looked me challengingly in the eye. ‘You can’t talk to me like that’ I responded silently. The leaf blower stays in the garage.

In the kitchen of Tref and THG a state of calm exists. The wall clock audibly reminds us that time moves slowly on. The frying pan, retrieved from its hanging home sits patiently on the stovetop. Its time will come. A second pot of tea is considered. 

With five weeks to the winter solstice a low sun streams through the kitchen window. Long shadows on the pine table. The wireless sits quietly awaiting orders. None come. Lights out.

Bacon beckons.

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Heard on the radio there is a National Shed Association. Quite excited about this so immediately googled. Disappointingly it wasn’t quite what I had in mind. It is a men’s support organisation. Don’t get me wrong. It is a good thing I’m sure. Just not what I had in mind.

Now I think about it I did sometime ago look up sheds in relation to their use as meeting places where like minded individuals could come together to drink beer and discuss deeply interesting matters. My initiative was stopped in its tracks when I found that the idea, or at least the name, had been stolen by well intentioned individuals unknown. 

I’m sure the Lincoln branch at the time appeared to be held in a happy clappy establishment near my accountants downtown which immediately put me on my guard. However, just looked again now and that branch must have closed as they don’t seem to have a Lincoln outlet. Maybe it was some other entity based at that church.

I parked the idea but it is still a goodun. Just need to find a different name. Must include the word shed. Sheds Anonymous. Shedsrus. Sheds with a fridge.

Youda thought that a fridge was a prerequisite for any self respecting shed. Certainly is in my book. Also a bookcase 😀 My fridge does need defrosting mind you and a bit of a clean. Just a wipe down that’s all.  The bookcase probs needs dusting. The books need reading.

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No shave today. I never shave on a match day.

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Need to nip to a local market at some point to buy some food for tonight’s tea. THG has gone off to Sleaford or Spalding or somewhere for the day with some pals to watch an amateur production of Guys and Dolls and is having lunch before the show. One of my all time fave shows as I was in it thirty odd years ago. CAODS.

The point is as a result of the, presumably not insubstantial, lunch she won’t want much to eat tonight so I am sorting myself out. Ordinarily this is a cause for celebration. Eat what you like Tref. This would often be a steak with side salad and a decent bottle of red. I’m not in a steak mood. 

I don’t know what mood I’m in. It isn’t a bad mood. Just not a steak or chinese or curry or pizza mood. Needs some consideration. It may be the only way to sort it is to go and see what’s on offer. Check the melons for ripeness, smell the avocados, that sort of thing. Do people smell avocados? I know they smell some things. I’m sure I’ve seen Rick Stein do it when out and about sourcing ingredients.

I’m not particularly in a ‘spend a lot of time cooking mood’. Normally I quite like cooking and typically only get to do it at the weekend which actually is fine. I do need to buy some beer as tomorrow the menu includes something that will benefit from a slosh of beer in it. Purely culinary purposes obvs. 

Am thinking a salad with small spuds and a few nice bits of ham and cheese maybs. The food agenda has been complicated by today’s sporting timetable. Turkey v Wales at roundball at 5pm and then the second half of the England v Sprinkboks game that starts at twenty to six. 

The rugby has been starting at strange times and not the usual on the hour or half past. Presumably TV driven but I dunno. The point is the rugby won’t be finished til nearly seven thirty which is a bit late to start cooking. Late for me anyway, any road up, ‘appen.

This realisation is causing more anguish foodchoicewise. Wellavetowaitandsee.

A sunny morning out there. Not many walkers along the Aldeburgh sea front yet. Perhaps it is still early. Seven fifteen. A couple of smokeries on the beach have a truck outside so I imagine preparation for the day is ongoing. 

We will have gone by the time the day trippers get here. Taking in a visit to Southwold before stopping off at the Wards in Moulton for tea en route home.

A man with two sniffy dogs has arrived. He is content to allow progress at the speed of sniffy dog. There was no discernible dawn chorus, unless I slept through it, but the gulls are now starting to chatter. The tide is in and still at the place I last looked but all that tells me is that I last looked twelve hours ago.

The meal in the hotel Brasserie last night was pleasant enough. We just had a main course each. I had gammon egg and chips. Gammon was a bit on the thin side but it was ok. There was a family sat on the table behind us. Kid had a pink ipad or similar and was watching cartoons and the grandad spent most of his time gazing into his laptop and his phone whilst eating fish and chips. The grandmother eventually took the kid away to change the nappy. No sign of the mother.

Had a shower and popped out to enjoy the sea air. Met the man with the sniffy dogs coming in with a bag of what looked like bakery items. Not having breakfast in the hotel one assumes. Then sat at the bench by the petanque court and hit the jackpot.

Fishing boat LT1018 was being towed out of the sea by a tractor and then unloaded. Twenty yards from me. The sun was right behind so the pics and vids were somewhat in shadow. They had been out at oh four hundred to catch the fish. Looked like a load of crabs, couple of lobsters, lots of sole and then some large dogfish. No idea how much that lot would go for. I guess most of the catch would be sorted ready for the shop to open a bit later on.

Back in the room for a conf call. Considered doing it from the bench as the hotel wifi reached there but there was a drilling noise coming from somewhere so would have got in the way. Conf call now over and headed down for breakfast.

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Pretty countryside. Lots of signs objecting to Sizewell C. Husqvarna dealer. Village green. No mobile signal. Westleton? B1125. Free range pigs. Spa sign in state of disrepair.

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Arrived at Southwold Pier to a large and fairly empty car park. Immediately blew £2 between us in two pences on the amusements. Had to wash our hands afterwards, as usual. Those two pences carry the grime of thousands of tourists over the decades. Disgusting really 🙂

Walked to the end of the pier and then stopped for a cuppa in the caff. Took off my specs. Without my specs the world is a different place. Smaller. There is an element of retreat to doing this which I quite like.

Just passed a country church on the B1127.  Ancient edifice with brick flying buttresses. Couldn’t see where we were on the car sat nav and have now moved on. Possibly Wrentham? Not too far from Hulver Street. St Nicholas’ Church, Wrentham.

Anyway back in Southwold we strolled up the hill to the green. There was an Adnams pub there called the Sole Bay Inn. Made me realise I’d not had a pint of Adnams this trip despite being in the brewery heartland. Then I realised the pub was directly in front of the Adnams brewery. Was likely going to be the best pint of Adnams you could get.

No good. Far too early in the day. THG would not have approved 🙂 We bought nothing at a retro shop in the Methodist Church Hall and returned to the car. By the time we left, the car park had filled up and the seafront was teeming with people on a bank holiday day out. 

We pointed the Silver Bullet north and have now crossed the border into Norfolk.

The village of Thurton has three car parks. Two are just laybys on the edge of the village and with no footpath serve no real purpose other than as places for people to stop and stretch their legs. The other car park is handily placed outside the pub in the centre of the village. 

I mentioned to THG that Thurton was given permission to have laybys by royal decree in 1185 but I was told to shut up because she was concentrating on the driving. Clearly I am not driving and have time for a bit of banter. Bants as the kids would have it.

We are now in traffic on the A47 23mph. Who would want to drive in the UK!  We need to find a place to stop for lunch. I am in the mood for a sausage roll. Dunno if it’s going to work out. You rarely find decent sausage rolls in garages. Usually cardboard crap.

In the meantime the news has been switched on. I am not in control of this. In our car the driver decides. There is never any good news. Either that or they keep it for right at the end and it only lasts thirty seconds. 

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We are home and it must be said things are pretty idyllic in the back garden.  Our first greenfinch  of the season is tweeting away. THG is watering. The grass, only mown on Thursday, is going to need doing again soon. It is the growing season.