where art collides philosoperontap

Goodness me it is warm in the shire. Got to the shed around one thirty and the doors are now flung wide open. Tis a beautiful afternoon. The birds are chirping contentedly and a very gentle breeze is wafting the lilac coloured hostas in front of the deck.

Very good albeit as usual, exhausting weekend in Sherwood Pines with our camping buddies. Nile Rodgers was great. Sting was great. Both very different gigs. Weather turned out perfect.

Sting’s most streamed track is Every Breath You Take with over two billion downloads. Next one is Roxanne at three quarters of a billion. Not shabby. Nile Rodgers’ Get Lucky has nearly one point six billion streams between two versions.

Both artists were a big part of the musical wallpaper of my teens. There were many others. We are off to see Paul McCartney in December. Including the Eagles last month it is a big year for watching all time great acts.

Others on the list are Donna Summer, Bronski Beat, The Jam, The Clash, Madness, Squeeze, the Vapors, ELO, Joe Jackson, 10cc, Supertramp, Queen, Bob Dylan, Door, Simon and Garfunkel, The Crusaders, Frankie Goes to Hollywood. The list is endless.

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Am now in the shed with an iced drink enjoying my fave tunes by some of the aforementioned artists. At some stage I will fire up the bbq as THG has requested salmon for dinner. I will be happy with a simple salad.

It is set to be hot all week. This is something to take note of as we have a planned day out in London on Thursday. A light silk shirt is called for with plenty of drink, a hat and maybe even some sunscreen. I quite like a day out in town on a nice summer’s day. I think the Panama hat that @Wayne brought me back from Ecuador will be perfect. Will be avoiding the tube. Bus or taxi.

Meeting the kids for beers later before we set the guidance computer north. Maybe have a small picnic on the return train. There is a handy Waitrose in Kings X Station and they serve sandwiches on the train. The beauty of the 19.06 is that it is one of the few direct trains home from London.

I have quite a few train home stories. There was the occasion when I must have been celebrating something and bought a bottle of Moet & Chandon on the train. It was a brand new Azuma train. The weather was atrocious and the train’s windscreen wiper was working overtime. Unfortunately it broke. New train teething troubles ?!?!

We were all turfed out onto the platform at Grantham and I still had half a bottle left. I finished the champagne on the platform and deposited it in a raised plant border. There were no bins.

The next train to arrive not only didn’t go to Lincoln meaning I’d have to change at Newark but it already had two trains worth of passengers due to another cancelled train. This meant standing room only in first class.

Fortunately when I got off at Newark I bumped into Ian Cleary who lives near Market Rasen and who offered me a lift home. Result. I’d have had to hang around for a connecting train or tried to get a taxi which ain’t necessarily straightforward at Newark Northgate.

Up at seven forty five to a cuppa. Sgonna be a scorcher. Already warm. One or two campers sat outside their vans/tents but none of our crowd. Sat outside the moho meself. The flag that yesterday flew brightly now hangs limp with barely a breath of wind to stir it.

Slight nuisance last night as our water pump stopped working. Nowt obvious but I have a message from CamperUk with a few things to try. Could be beyond the capabilities of a Tref but there are blokes in our party who are skilled at such things. See how it goze.

Chiffchaffs and robins chatter noisily, joined now by a wren, chaffinch and nuthatch. The latter is a new one for me and am quite pleased to hear it. Forest living. The occasional sound of a gunshot is heard. This was also evident yesterday but I suspect it is a bird scarer rather than an actual gun.

Anne Marie was apaz very good. Some of the ladies in our party went and returned just as I was hitting the hay. The mattress on the bed contains no hay. That turn of phrase presumably goes back a while. Sting tonight. Full turnout.

No shade on this side of the moho. Suppose I could move but the door is on this side. Not too warm yet. If it stayed this temperature all day I would be happy.

Today is Sunday.

In a break with camping tradition I had a shower before breakfast. Breakfast can wait. There is no rush. What’s the hurry? Relax and don’t you worry. THG is making a cuppa.

First night in the moho. This van sleeps six but really it is only comfortable for two. I wouldn’t try squeezing two of us into one of the double beds. Fortunately we have two of them. Slept ok I think, assisted ably by the fact that we cracked open the beer at around three o’clock yesterday afternoon.

Today, after the packing, travel and Nile Rodgers gig is a day of rest. It is already nine o’clock but no thought has yet been given to breakfast. I am sat outside the moho having consumed a cup of tea and am enjoying the morning. It is still very much shorts and tee shirt weather, at least for some of us hardened campers. Ah the life in the great outdoors.

The flag of Lincolnshire flutters brightly in the breeze above the moho next door. The flag is a relatively new creation, certainly since I moved to the county. Maybe in the last ten years or so. Twenty at most. There are five Lincolnshire vans in our party with another rocking up tomorrow for the Sting gig.

We don’t own our own moho. Hired ours for the weekend. Can’t say I’d see us buying one. Wouldn’t get enough use out of it, for the money. Don’t think I’d buy a Carado A464 anyway. I reckon hiring one a couple of weekends a year would be fine, if we were unable to find a suitable luxury lodge.

We are at Sherwood Pines, a Forestry England campsite. Spacious plots in a large open field surrounded by woods. The classic oak, pine and birch forest of the area. You can almost imagine Robin Hood and his merry men camping just over there. The smoke from their fires dispersed by the greenwoods,invisible to the dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham. Nottingham is a fair way away in anycase. 

The others in the group have stirred. Dave is eating toast in front of his van. Karen has wandered off for a shower. Life in the great out doors begins again. Another day, another bbq. Before leaving home I made some bbq marinade for the chicken. So chicken it is tonight, with a bit of salad and gallons of red wine. Well, a glass or two, or three or four or more.

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I can hear sound check type noises coming from the Forest Live venue. Anne Marie is on tonight. Not heard of her meself but looking at Spotify she gets a lot of plays so she must be popular/good. The campsite will empty, probs whilst she is on cept for us. Some of the girls in the party are going.

The milkman came at four thirty three this morning. I heard him. It was already light out. He was wearing a short sleeved shirt.

It is a mild source of dismay that the days are now getting shorter. This happens every year for some reason After the mid winter depression we rejoice that the days are lengthening and before we know it the process goes into reverse. The message here is that you need to enjoy them as much as possible while you can. Get that bbq going. Wear shorts. 

We will be eating al fresco this evening prior to the Nile Rodgers gig. Am taking the teppanyaki grill with us to Sherwood Pines. Not quite the same as a portable bbq but more generally useful as it can be used to cook breakfast and takes up less space. Hopefully someone will have a bbq with them. 

The space isn’t so important in a moho compared with a VW campervan but that’s why we don’t have a portable bbq. We have a small charcoal one but that isn’t quite as good as a gas job and a lot messier.

Before we go I have a few jobs to do. Need to make some salad dressing and some bbq marinade. Bought some nice olive oil and white wine vinegar yesterday so the dressing will be a good un. Makes a big difference using quality ingredients. I also bought a variety of salads and we will pick some lettuce from the greenhouse before setting off. 

Plus I have to pack the car as we are driving round to Camper UK to pick up the moho and don’t want to bring it back to ours. Too big for comfort to get it through the gateposts. Mahoosive, especially compared with THGs little Peugeot. I no longer have a car of my own.

The one car family bit has not been the slightest imposition. We live in town anyway and most places are walkable. Must get the tyres on my bike sorted – just need inflating.

It’s one of those summer mornings with a great smell to it. When you know it’s going to be a lovely day ahead. The birds are singing away happily. My wildflower strip is growing nicely, contrasted by the fact that yesterday I mowed the rest of the lawn. A mown lawn is a tidy lawn.

The day began with an energising granola, berries and yo’gurt. A mix or our own home grown strawberries and shop bought blueberries. THG makes a terrific granola. Now early to the shed to do some admin.

Busy enough day ahead getting ready to head off to Sherwood Pines tomoz. Stock up in Waitrose. A few basic essentials. Posh balsamic vinegar. Tomatoes. Stuff like that.

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Swung by to check out the motorhome we are hiring for the weekend. Dunno if you’ve ever driven one of thee things. It’s mahoosive. A first time for me. I’m not going to try and get it in our drive! Still it will provide us with a bit of comfort at the Forest Live festival and have enough space in the fridge and freezer for all the drinks, ice and bbq stuff.

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.

He’s back. He came at five thirty this morning, two pints clinched firmly in hand. I was awake and heard him. Forgot he was coming.

It’s been a month. We’ve been away. A lot. This is the latest he’s ever been, at least when delivering to us. I reckon he was late to bed last night watching the England football match. I assume he is English but have no basis for thinking this other than we live in England and the dairy is based in Newark.

Sat in the conservatory and the birds are quite vociferous this morning. The usual crowd: blackbird, robin and wren. Sgood. There is also a wood pigeon but I don’t count that one. Don’t like em. V noisy lot. 

It was light by four thirty. Not far off the longest day now. Doesn’t feel as if we have done much summery stuff yet. The Isle of Man was mostly freezing. This week is supposed to be warmer.

THG was v excited about the football. They did win but as usual you always felt they could have done better. I have only a passing interest in this but did sit with her through the game to provide moral support. Also it was part of the deal when I bailed out of going to see Lenny Henry at the Hay Festival and went to watch the FA Cup Final with Rhys instead.

In the back garden the grass is desperately in need of a cut. I’ll get that done today, probs. The towels we hung out after yesterday’s swim sway gently in the breeze. They will be dry by now.

Time to make the tea.

Door Handles R Us. That should be today’s destination. I opened the back door to the garden and the flippin handle came off in my hand. Before you get any ideas we can still lock the door. It’s just another job to stick on the list. A time consuming one as, having just looked online, there are thousands of different designs. I’ll have to properly research it.

Having written yesterday that there were no jobs on the list THG spotted my post and as she had lots of time on her hands waiting for the train at Liverpool Lime Street stayshun she used it productively to itemise a load of new jobs. They will all get done, obvs.

This presents a dilemma. Today is the Sabbath. My 4G grandfather the Rev Daniel Davies was excommunicated from the  Penybont Baptist Church near Llandysul for allowing his farm hand to work on a Sunday. Particularly grating as he was one of the founders of the church. They let him back in after a few years but there was clearly something going on there. A back story.

Not doing jobs on the Sabbath is not really a problem nowadays as I only do three days a month of what might be termed “gainful” employment and am therefore mostly available for other projects. Job list apart I know what these projects are and will properly get going on them once the summer is out of the way and I am more used to mostly not working.

I can’t conceive there would ever be a moment when I wasn’t doing something useful with my time. You can’t drop off a cliff when you stop working. It’s a recipe for oblivion. Brain death.

In the meantime I have to nip to the local food store and try and make some progress with my team selection for Fantasy Election – a bit of fun created by our Tom. Have a skeet. It is going to make the night of the election that bit more interesting and I may well see how late I can stay up for it.

The trip to Tesco was not associated with the Fantasy Election btw. Bought a few ingreds for tonight’s tea. A leek, cauli, celery and apples plus milk and eau de tonique.

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Went for a swim with THG. Whilst I was getting changed some kid kept shouting at the top of his voice “mum do you want a lift home”. The mother wasn’t being particularly responsive. Made me wonder what the story was. He then kept saying I can hardly hear you. I thought about shouting out “no but we can all hear you”. Didn’t.

Listening to the news on the wireless. Making it a slow start to the day. Already hung the washing out on Siegfried and assembled the breakfast ingreds. Can’t find the tea bags though. Did come across one manky looking one of uncertain provenance but needs must. In fact I’ve just poured it and the tea is an insipid white liquid. Ah well. Turned out to be green tea but THG has pointed out where the breakfast tea is and all is well.

Dunno why I’m listening to the news. It’s all politics.

It is a Saturday morning and I am home. Been away for a fortnight. I dare say there are things I need to get on with but I’ve checked the jobslist and there is nowt on there. Other than build a hedgehog house which is a project rather than a job. No way am I clearing out the garage today. Anyway that’s a two person job.

I’ll mosey along to Waitrose a bit later to buy more teabags and milk. No point in rushing. Glad to be home though.

Great night at Quaglinos for @Charles send off to the USA. Baled out early. I must be getting to be a lightweight. Thing is I know Charles and @Wayne will have had a late one and I can’t do it anymore Now sat in my room before meeting @Dave for breakfast. Funkypancakes on the menu If you know you know.

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V enjoyable catchup with Dave at breakfast. Sbeen ten years. Now sat on’t train ready to depart having caught the bus to Kings X. The seat I had reserved had three other people sat on the table so I took the executive decision to move to the next, empty one. The girl sat at the window looked the spitting image of that one from Little Britain. Her bag laid on the seat next to her. Bloke moved it up to the overhead luggage rack in order to sit there. She complained saying it contained her tablets. Glad I moved to the next table.

In the news is the $56Bn pay award for Elon Musk. before anyone says anything you should bear in mind that we are talking dollars here not pounds sterling so in reality it is quite a bit less. As the sole shareholder in my own business I might give myself a similar award, subject to available funds obvs. Will check later. I don’t look that often. Should be careful what I say here. I don’t want a load of spongers sending begging letters

Bloke with a hangover sat across the aisle from me. He has removed his shoes and buried his head in his arms slumped forward on the table. Late one. Pink socks. In the seat in front of him a girl has two phones, a newspaper open at the sudoku page and a Robert Peston book. I am wearing my new IoM TT 2024 tee shirt (dark blue).

Looking forward to a spot of mundanity when I get home. Get a load of washing on, water the garden. Stuff like that. V therapeutic. Pile of post will be waiting for me which should include my latest book purchayse. You will have to wait to see what it is but itsagoodun. In the same genre as the History of The Adjustable Spanner, Wood Identification and other classic reads.

Now had to don headphones. A woman further down the carriage is talking loudly on her phone “what’s your membership number?”. She had reserved a seat opposite me but fortunately moved elsewhere to be able to keep her eye on her suitcase. Listening to Stairway to Heaven which doesn’t quite drown her out. Might need to up the tempo a little.

Hungover bloke has changed position. Now slumped back in his seat, head forwards, chin on chest.

Oh joy she is getting off at Peterborough.

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A v pleasant heavy rain is settling on the shire. Hung the washing on the airer in the utility room. What foresight! Doubt we will be sitting outside in the Strugs later but who knows?

A nice few beers with the Jameses in the Vernon Arms last night. Always good to meet up with them. Afterwards I picked up a dirty kebab from the shop around the corner from the hotel. I was in two minds about this as the reviews were not good and in fact the kebab lived up to its reputation and was eventually thrown in the bin. The one redeeming feature was that the hot chilli sauce was indeed very hot chilli sauce which is quite often not the case. Not that I often have a kebab and almost always regret it afterwards.

Couple of hours to kill in my hotel room now before setting off for Lime Street and a fast express to London. Fortunately the aircon in the hotel room has just kicked in. The symbol for “heat” was very similar to that for “cool” so nothing worked for a while. Doh.

We love stopping off in Liverpool. It is a vibrant city with loads of “action”. Yesterday I strolled to the Oxfam shop in Bold Street in the hope of picking up an interesting book or two. They have a large book section including a few stands of history books. Nowt of interest on this occasion.

Lots of homeless people on the streets which is an unfortunate aspect of modern day city living which shouldn’t need to be the case. I was coming up to a woman sat on the floor outside a shop who with no warning threw the cardboard coffee cup she was using to beg for money across the road shouting “shock horror”. It only contained a few coppers. What’s her story I wonder? V sad whatever it is.

Back at the hotel I spent the two beer vouchers we were given at check in before heading to the Vernon Arms.

The hotel barman was Italian. He had been in Liverpool 3 weeks and admitted the accent was difficult to follow eermknoworrameanlike.

Easy enough start to the day, considering we are headed back across the water. Ordinarily the morning boat leaves at the ridiculous time of oh seven hundred or near as dammit. Today the boat left at ten. Luxury ou quoi? The Fletcher’s guests were a lot earlier at eight forty five and were asked to check in two hours before departure. Urgh.

We packed yesterday and all we had to do this morning were a few last minute bits and bobs. Sue dropped us off in Doolish. Heavy commuter traffic going into town and interestingly a highway board lorry was making its way around the road speed limit signs flipping them from the temporary 40mph put in place for the TT Festival back to the “unlimited” that is a feature of some of the island’s roads.

Long queue for foot passengers. Longest I’ve seen and we passed a sign saying the waiting list was full so presumably the boat is fully booked. We have seat reservations in the premium lounge. Sfine.  In the lounge I bumped into old schoolmate Nicola Fletcher.

Now settled in the lounge and on the way to the Peul where we will spend a night. I like Liverpool. This boat enforces downtime. The Manx don’t call it a ferry. It is the boat. The telly is showing daytime TV with subtitles. Doesn’t make the programming content any more interesting. I have some stuff to watch on my phone but that is really a last resort. 

There is a very long advert for Dormeo mattresses on the box. This must be a feature length advert unless we are tuned in to a shopping channel. Sigh.

On my third cup of tea in forty five minutes. Also third pack of stem ginger and dark chocolate biscuits. A nice dunk. Listening to my fave tunes on random play. Adds that little frisson of excitement, not knowing which tune is coming up next  

So we’ve left our house on the Isle of man probably for the last time. The sale isn’t totally in the bag yet but it is looking that way and if it does go through as planned then I probs won’t be back before then. The house has served us well. 

We had fantastic family holidays visiting mam and dad and the kids will all look back at the place with fondness. It is however time to hand it over to another family. I don’t do holiday homes.

This trip we visited most of the pubs in Peel we wanted to although the Miller’s T’Ale always seemed to be shut when we wanted to go there. Did make it once early in the hols. Also visited the Whitehouse,  Royal, Peveril, Black Dog Oven and the Creek Inn. All very fine establishments. A pint of ale in the Royal is only three pounds twenty and he (Roy) chucks in free nuts!!! That’s nuts!!! The Peveril does a great pint of TT Landlord and I discovered Kaneen’s Pale Ale in the Creek. We used to get our petrol from Kaneen’s Garage in Union Mills. The Crosby was closed when we called by on Monday. Exhausted after two weeks of TT I guess.

It must be said the Jade Harbour chinese restaurant was two and a half stars at best. I’ll try to remember that for next time but there comes a time when you get fed up of pub grub and want something different.

A smooth crossing helped by some convivial conversation with our travelling companions. Bumped into old school friend @Nici Fletcher on the boat and had a nice chat. When we landed all car passengers left the Premium Lounge leaving only four of us to wait for our call. Then there was a bit of a scrum to pick up the luggage but an Uber was pleasingly very easy to pick up and we are now comfortably installed in the Doubletree. Thassit for now innit.

Great afternoon out yesterday. Lunch with Paul and Wendy at Green’s Restaurant in St Johns was a nice catch up. Had we arrived any later we would not have found a table and quite a few people were disappointed.

The Tynwald Inn over the road was interesting. No longer just a pub it is a village shop, pub and restaurant modelled along Irish lines. The landlord was indeed Irish. In the car park was an interesting steam “vehicle”. Check out the pic.

Headed north to Maughald to visit the Celtic crosses and the lighthouse. Never been to either before. See pics. The cemetery/cemeteries in Maughold seemed very large for the size of the place. Shows how old the church is.

The bikes have left. The town is a lot quieter this morning. It is amazing the difference. Yesterday afternoon the prom was rammed. Lots of people kicked out of lodgings and campsites and hanging around waiting to go to the boat. The queue for the ice cream parlour was the longest I’ve seen. Still lots of motorhomes around. I suspect that they couldn’t get a booking on the boat until later in the week.

Peel is getting back to normal. We have a couple of days left before we head back across the water ourselves. Seats booked in the Exec Lounge on the ten ey em Mananan to Liverpeul on Wednesday. They give you unlimited soft drinks and lots of biscuits What’s not to like?

Lunch with Paul and Wendy at Greens restaurant in St Johns today so had a light breakfast. Then we are pondering heading to Maughold to look at the Celtic crosses. Quite excited about that. Been thinking about doing it for years but Maughold is a bit out of the way, if that can be said for anywhere on the Isle of Man.

Years ago when I had a summer job working on the Manx Electric Railway there was a guy there, a coach painter, who mentioned that he knew the mayor of Maughold. We all laughed at the time but hey. Who knows? Maybs there is a mayor. There can’t be more than a few houses there. I’ll let you know.

The summer employment on the electric trams was a plumb job. Probably the best holiday job you could get on the Island. It paid union rates and in a good week in the summer of nineteen eighty I could take home eighty five quid. That was a lot of money in those days for a kid with no overheads and a pint of lager costing something like thirty five pence. A night out cost two pounds. Those were the days. 

Dad used to drop me off on the prom on his way to work and I’d either walk or blag a lift off a horse tram. I knew some of the tram conductors – one or two of them were in my year in school. The horse trams were the second best summer job. You did have to work a lot harder though. On the electric trams you mostly just sat at the back keeping an eye on the overhead trolley. It was a great job.

Not been on a tram this trip. Tomorrow is the last chance. We shall see.

The baby crow is still hanging around our back garden. Yesterday one of its parents was hovering in the vicinity being quite vocal but no sign of it this morning.Given up! I’m surprised the little critter has survived this long. Presumably can’t fly.

Sue has made great progress with scything the lawn. The harvest, should we be bothered to gather in the hay, will keep the cattle going over winter. Except we don’t have any, and it wouldn’t anyway as the lawn ain’t that big. Nice idea though.

We didn’t use a scythe. @Mike lent us his strimmer. Thanks Mike.

As I write the parent crow has returned and is watching over the youngster. I can see now the kid has a broken wing. Nature at work.

Great day out yesterday. Down south to the Sound then Port St Mary and Port Erin. Ended up at Sue Moore’s house in Cronk y Voddy with a perfect view of the racing. Sue was the perfect host. The first race, the Supertwin, was red flagged during the second lap. The rider came off at Handley’s Corner, just a mile or so down the track from where we were stood. Chopper landed there and spent some time before taking off again. The rider is apparently in a stable condition.

We stayed for the first three laps of the Senior TT. The race was curtailed from six laps to four due to the need to squeeze in a couple more races delayed from yesterday and a couple of “parade” laps. There is a massive difference in speed and power between the Senior and the Supertwin. By leaving with one lap to go we were able to avoid the rush hour crowds leaving the farm field at Cronk y Voddy and were back in the nearly empty Whitehouse pub within minutes.

We were joined by Mike and the Fletchers with their guests but opted not to head off for the pizza afterwards.

Another leisurely day ahead. Cooking a leisurely breakfast followed by getting a leisurely beef stew going. Ah the life of leisure. It is a Sunday, apparently. Too early for the bells of St German’s to strike up. Our house is in the shadow of the cathedral.

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Beef stew going on top of the stove. I normally do it in the oven but we ain’t got the right pans in our house in Peel so saucepan on top of the stove it is. Means I’ll have to watch it awhile until it can prove to me it is on a stable simmer.