where art collides philosoperontap

Pinch and a punch for the first of the month. Blimey we’re in July already. Rained last night. If it stays dry I’m going to give the shed its annual treatment spray. Currently clear blue sky. Figured I’d also get started on the compost bins. Seehowitgoze.

I was up shortly after five, as one does. My eyes are still somewhat blurry but that might have something to do with the conservatory door being open and hay fever. A bit watery. 

This morning THG and I are going for a coffee in the cathedral caff. This is partly because we are now “Friends of Lincoln Cathedral” which not only brings unlimited free entry to the cathedral itself and a floor tour but also a ten percent discount in the caff and the shop. What’s not to like? Tbh it’s just a caff and it can get packed but that’s where THG wants to go who am I to object.

At least the ten percent discount is totally legit. The last time I got a discount I asked the server whether they offered a discount to members of the clergy and the guy promptly knocked ten percent off the bill. I didn’t say I was a member of the clergy. THG was embarrassed but I was highly amused. I’m sure I’ve told you that one before but it is worth repeating.

Then we are off to the Usher Gallery to “do culture”. We used to be semi-regular visitors to the Usher Gallery when the kids were small. It was something to do on a Sunday afternoon. Ditto the Lincolnshire Life museum. Saturday mornings often involved a walk to the castle and a look at the Magna Carta. You have to pay to see that nowadays. After the castle Tom and I would go and visit the Joseph Banks Conservatory but that is unfortunately no longer there. We could easily spend half an hour in there playing hide and seek or just chillin’ amongst the undergrowth. It was like a jungle. I’d let Tom get on his hands and knees and mess around near the pond. There were lots of carp in there. It was a good place to take a newspaper. Not any more. The Dawber Garden is still there. That’s worth a visit. I might pop in to The Collection after the Usher Gallery as THG is “doing” lunch with some of her mates. The caff there is closed apaz. Shame. 

Not often I go downtown. It’s full of shops, and people.

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You can ignore the Usher Gallery and caff bit. We are going tomorrow not today. Doh.

Taking tea on the deck this morning. Not only were three of my plants knocked over in the lake but also the fountain was completely underwater. Fortunately yesterday afternoon I moved the Raised Beds cam to the deck and have conclusive proof that it is pesky pigeons doing it. I’ll have to secure the plants a bit better. Effin pigeons. Where is the peregrine falcon when you need it? Fox 03:22.

A day at home yay. Actually I’m at home all week and all next week, until Thursday at least when we are off to Woodhall Spa for the Forties weekend. I plan to spend some time watering the garden. Very therapeutic, watering the garden. I did half consider going to the NetUK meeting in London and had booked a hotel but cancelled it. A week or two at home will do me good. Get some exercise in.

This Wednesday THG and I are going to the Usher Gallery to see the Lincoln papestry. The drawing of all the buildings in the uphill area that’s been in the making for months. Before that we are going for a coffee somewhere.

Today feels like a Monday even though it is a Tuesday. This is because the weekend was a three dayer at the cricket. THG is off running. Good job it’s cooled down a bit. I’m not sure the club actually ran last week. Certainly not in the evening. If it looks as if we are going to have more days in the mid thirties I’m considering getting some AC installed in the shed. The shed is very well insulated but if you leave the doors open the inside rises to the same level as the outside. A bit obvious I know but the house stays cool in the same circumstances although we do shut the curtains at the back.

Ten past ten and quarter past three. I’ve rotated the camera a little to see if I can catch more of him.

Jenny wren being quite vocal in the beech hedge at five thirty this morning. Clear skies forecast until noon but lots of cloud up there. It’s the same forecast for Trent Bridge, more or less, but whilst it is nice to have a bit of shade (it’s going to be another scorcher today though, at 31 degrees not as hot as yesterday’s 35+) we don’t want the ball to start swinging at Trent Bridge.

Schedule for this morning is bacon rolls at eight thirty and taxi/minibus picking us up at nine to head east for Trent Bridge. Looking forward to a great day at the cricket. Great three days actually. Fingers crossed 🙂 

Very successful christening of the new table last night. We had a full house and a bit of a bbq. Joe had invited his Lincoln mates around so the rest of us, inc guest cricket visitor @Andy Rawnsley sat around the table for the first shift and moved to the deck so that Joe’s pals could take over for the second.

Meanwhile made a tweak to my transcriber code and this morning it is like lightning. Ran through Llanllawddog in seconds. Rewind. It downloaded the images in seconds. Transcribing is a lengthy job.

Foxspotted 01:46 and 2:07, raised beds.

Another glorious day in prospect. Golfing this pm. Got a buggy as it will be a killer walking in the heat. Will take a couple of flasks of iced watter. Jose already set off for Trent Bridge  with his mates. It is truly glorious sat out here on the deck. Yesterday evening after Jose arrived we moved the new table into position. It will need further placement as THG was not involved in the move but this is possible 🙂 It also needs screwing down. I’ll see if the opportunity arrives today.

Today’s other job is to reinflate THG’s rear tyre and see if I can fix the brakes. I daresay it is doable. The issue is whether the rear tyre will stay inflated.

Bit annoyed with myself this morning. I forgot to change a keyword in one of my python scripts and it’s transcribed the wrong set of wills. Ones I had already done That’s an overnight run wasted. The AI resources feel a bit like internet access was in the early days. You set something downloading and returned half an hour later to see if it had finished. Today of course it downloads in the blink of an eye. Will be the same with AI in future.

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Next up, off to B&Q to pick up some angle brackets and American Golf to get meself a golf shirt. Can’t find the other one. I need two anyway for when we go golfing in Malaga in September.

Fitten in haircut ar American Golf btw. Babers been there for 7 years apaz.

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Fox at five past midnight. I’ve moved the Raised Beds Cam away from the undergrowth that had overgrown its field of view. Nowt at the lake though.

I took longest drive btw.

Up before five. A bit bleary eyed but that might be hay fever. Didn’t want to lie in bed on such a beautiful morning. Walked to the shed and now sat there, doors open. I wanted to check a spreadsheet I’d added to last night. It’s sorted now. Somehow I had copied and pasted my Llanllwni will extracts into Llangeler. Just redid using the Llangeler results. Phew 🙂 Thought I might have made a mistake with the code.

The fox is back. 05:38. I do have a video clip where it can be seen through the foliage at the raised Beds cam. The lake cam is currently us as the battery hasn’t charged. Need to clean some bird droppings off the solar panel and the cable connecting it to the cam might have worked a bit loose. Not sure. It isn’t as if it hasn’t been getting enough sunshine. Will report back obvs.

The wildflower meadow is approaching full bloom and is a wonderful swathe of colour. Peak summer. Strawberries and cream are called for methinks. Test cricket in play and Wimbledon about to start.

We have two sons arriving today. Converging on Lincoln for the cricket this weekend at trent Bridge. The other son has a gig at an electronic music festival somewhere in Poland. Plays the sax and produces electronic content. Gotta be done.

Now on hold to HMRC. I had a demand for an overdue payment but I paid it yonks ago. Turns out I didn’t put the full reference number in! The system knew it was from me but put the payment in limbo. I actually rounded up the payment to the nearest pound to make it tidier. Tharrl learn me. Next time I’ll pay them the exact amount. I am now 56 pence in credit with them!

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It is a truth universally acknowledged that on hot summer days in the UK a man should attempt to stay cool by spending most of the day sitting on his deck relaxing. This what I am doing although I did pop to Waitrose to buy some fennel seeds, plus a few bits and bobs whilst I was there, including ice. I had planned to go to Fosters for bacon but remembered that the sink hole on outer Circle road is causing traffic chaos in that direction so figured I’d get that from Waitrose too. However the bacon section was shut due to a chiller problem or similar and they don’t do it on the meat counter.

So once I got home and had deposited the ice somewhere suitable I went out again to try a few alternative butchers’. The new one on Burton Road had no parking nearby so I moved on to the Bail. Figured I’d try both Rednill and Curtis’. Rednil looks to be good but expensive and curtis’ looked to be crappy catering packs and expensive, and not dry cured so full of watter. Anyway I bought some in each shop for a taste test later in the week.

Back now on the deck and decided that today is the day I add another layer of wood treatment to the top of the table base. I’ve already tightened some screws on the table top to make the scaffold planks more universally level, if that’s the right way to put it. Needed Tom’s help shifting the table top as it is v heavy. Also run the orbital sander over the table top of the little hardwood table that sits on the deck in summer, Might give it a coat of wood preservative before I start the bbq going later on. Mind you we must have had it 20 years and it’s never been done. Wood looks v good.

05:15. A bit bleary eyed but awake with the conservatory doors open enjoying the start to what is forecast to be a “scorcher”. Clear blue skies. Perfect bbq weather. I have a marinade in mind for the chicken. Doubt we have all the ingredients but we shall see. Might need to pop out to a suitable market.

Terrible golf yesterday and everyone was quite knackered towards the end as it was a warm day. We did sit outside for the meal at the Woodcocks. It was mostly shandies all round. Just the thing after a hot afternoon pounding the fairways. I actually lost a ball. A good one an all. Titleist 3. I don’t often lose a ball but the rough was knee deep and, like I said, the golf was terrible.

The garden is dead still. No wind. The only movement is the occasional flight of a bird. A robin hopped onto one of the scaffold planks that have been drying out, held up by various bits of furniture and a couple of saw horses. Today is the day they will be assembled. The resultant table will easily seat twelve and will be a good addition to the patio. Got a couple of benches to sand down too but they can wait until the table is finished.

The hedgehog just ambled down the garden path moving away from me. Must have been foraging nearer the house. We haven’t seen the fox for some time. It is no more. Went out for a wander meself. Heavy dew on the scaffold planks.

The batch transcriber I set in motion last night has a long way to go until it finishes. In seven hours or so it has only managed 28 out of 250 wills. I suspect moving from Pro version of Gemini to Flash has slowed it down but it also makes it cheaper. Will have to see when the batch finishes. It isn’t an urgent job. And only needs doing once. At this rate it will Sunday before it is finished. Looking at the logs it paused several times during the night. Once for three hours. Maybe shows the capacity management issues facing this new technology. Maybe some people are hammering the AI servers hard overnight. It’s no wonder they are forecasting massive AI driven data centre growth.

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An hour and 45 mins later I’m up and checked the logs again. I’ve just found out that my mac shuts down wifi if it thinks it is inactive. I thought if I leave it plugged in and with code running that would be enough to keep it awake. I was wrong. I have now discovered the  “caffeinate” command to keep the mac from going to sleep. Ya learn something new every day. Now my tech pals will say “huh, you’ve only just found that out?” I say it is never too late to learn. I’m churning through one will every two minutes so should all be done by this evening.

Was racking my brains trying to decide what to have for breakfast when THG came up with the offer of half an avocado on some sourdough. Good idea. Will slip in a couple of rashers of pig.  Breakfast on the deck in front of the lake. V pleasant. The deck is in shade at this time of day which makes it doubly pleasant in this weather. The robin is back to keep me company. THG has gone to the gym.

Twill be warm work assembling the table top later. Gotta be done. Next week I want to move on to the compost bins.

Idyllic scene this morning in the jardin de THG. Sat here drinking an admittedly somewhat stewed cup of tea. I left it too long before pouring. Notwithstanding this the sun shineth, the birds singeth, it is pleasantly warm and the wildflower meadow is starting to bloom. The gentle burbling of the fountain at the lake adds to the relaxing aural backdrop.

Joe and Lucy said they saw a dead fox on Wragby Road yesterday. Not seen ours for some time now but I guess it might have been it. I wonder if our fox episode has ended. Normally another fox will turn up to fill the void. Not seen the muntjac deer in months either.

Looking up I see the branches of the sycamore heavy with seeds. The little blighters. Adds to the story anyway. The garden is looking v colourful. Thinned a few apples yesterday. Looking like it will be a good crop, not only for apples but also grapes. It’ll be our first proper grape harvest. Tomatoes looking good, beans and courgettes looking good. Ditto the spuds, cukes and even the chillies. We shall have plenty in the store cupboard for next winter.

Enough of this winter talk. We have a summer to enjoy. A squirrel just strolled past. I assume it knew I was there. If you just sit still the birds and animals ignore you.

Last night we had Joe’s mates Tom and Laura around for a bit of a bbq. A good time was had by all. Left them to it in the shed at nine thirty.

My plan for today is to stick a new blade on my circular saw and make a start on the new table top for the patio. I’m using scaffold planks plonked down on top of the old table. I will have a look to see if I can take the old table top off but not so sure. The scaffold planks will need sanding down. My sander is rubbish and I might look to see what could be the right tool for the job. See how it goze. 

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Old table top now off. Almost took itself off but the base looks to be firm enough. New sander blades on. I’ll saw the scaffold planks down to size sometime today.

Up and at it well before thought for the day came on the wireless and already done some jobs and polished off a bacon roll by eight. In fact it was Orangeudon who prompted me to get out of bed. He didn’t say so in so many words. Just the sound of him makes me instinctively reach for the off button.

Rained quite a bit yesterday which was badly needed. Could do with intermittent heavy rain over the next few days really. Raining now in fact but just a few drops on the conservatory roof. Just enough to make rain noise. I’m sat in here waiting for my pot of tea to finish brewing. THG went swimming at some unearthly hour so I have the house to myself.

The last three days have been a lot busier than usual. The whole of May has in fact as activity levels ramp up for the conference I’ve organised in Sorrento next week. We are setting off this afternoon. Staying at the Sofitel in T5 tonight as we have to check in around nine ey em. I don’t do early starts these days. Though having said that our flight to Rome in March was at five to seven in the morning. Was the only flight with reward seat availability. In the week or three before the trip I did look at changing it and was prepared to pay but not the seven hundred and fifty quid per person they wanted. For an economy seat!. To Rome!

So yesterday I fixed the greenhouse irrigation system. In reality all that was wrong was a pipe had come adrift at the end of the run and there was therefore no water pressure to push anything out through the drip feeders. Gave all the nozzles a clean out anyway, using an old toothbrush and some hot soapy water. Will need to top up the water butts that fed the irrigation system. There won’t have been enough rain to fill em up. I also repotted my chilli plants. Fingers crossed I’ll get a harvest this year. Birds Eye, Habanero, Jalapeno and one that @shannon gave me whose name escapes me right now. I think it is labelled.

Still a few jobs to do this morning and gotta finish packing. Might as well make a start. Ciao amigos.

Oh, fox came at thirteen minutes past two (am), eleven twenty one, three minutes to seven in the evening yesterday and two thirteen this morning.

Terrific game of football last night in the battle to see who will be playing Lincoln city in the second division next season. Most people I know want it to be Spurs. Whether the standard of football itself was terrific is another issue but that is incidental. It’s quite funny/unusual to be watching a game quite dispassionately with bemusement at the misfortune of others. Still 2 games to go and all to play for.

Had a v busy day on the work front (I know wtf?!) and still more to do today and tomorrow before we set off on Thursday. A man’s gotta do…

10 years ago it was our last day on the Coast to Coast walk. It included a break at the wonderful Grosmont Railway Station to see the steam trains. A tough one to finish with a one hour one in three incline to climb out of Grosmont which I am proud to say I managed without stopping. Couldn’t do that now! We were met by a fabulous welcoming committee at the pub down by the harbour in Robin Hood’s Bay.

Eight fox visits yesterday and one already this morning before eight thirty.

Effin cold again this morning. Fleece weather but still ok for shorts. Town was already busy at 8am when I dropped THG off at the train station. Kids on their way to school/college and folks walking to work having got off their bus or train. Lots of traffic. On the way home I noticed a builder already hard at it putting up a new stone wall near the Lindum Sports Ground. Must go and watch a cricket match sometime. Got the NZ test at Trent Bridge at the end of June.

Talking of shorts, four new pairs arrived yesterday. Refreshing my summer wardrobe innit. Amazon essentials or similar. Ranged between £7.50 and £16 a pair. What’s not to like?.

So today will mostly be devoted prepping for the forthcoming trip to Sorrento. I’ve organised a conference at the Hilton Sorrento Palace, as you do. It’s a bit more than that though. Afterwards we are headed to the Hay on Wye Literary Festival with @Rhys and @Eirian and their clan and then to Caadiff to see me blood and blister, Sue. Theeen we are headed west to do some more family tree research. I’m meeting cousin Gareth Morgan to compare notes and if we have time on to Pencader and Gwernogle to rummage around some more gravestones. After that I’m off to Aberdyfi with Sue for a couple of nights so that I can spend time in the National Library. I like doing that kind of thing.

Another long day on the hoof on the Coast to Coast ten years ago today. Across the North Yorks Moors from Clay Bank Top to Glaisdale with the final destination being the Arncliffe Arms. The highlight was lunch at the Lion Inn, a remote walkers’ pub. Lots of relatively tame grouse to be seen. Plenty of feeding stations. Didn’t really feel right to me. The other notable point was the fact that we were in a Middlesbrough postcode. The contrast between the wild beauty of the moors and industrial Middlesborough sprang to mind although we couldn’t see the town or any industry other than agriculture. The Arncliffe Arms was pretty basic but I guess it did the job. It was the penultimate day of the walk. The end was in sight.

A busy time for the fox. He came through at 6pm, ten past seven, twenty five to two in the morning, six thirty and seven o’clock. I never see him with any food in his mouth. I assume he just eats it there and then and can’t be taking anything back to a den to feed cubs. Maybe that’s solely the vixen’s prerogative.

Returned at 09:27, 09:49 and then 10:27 during which visit he came around the back of the shed.

Well, a good day indeed yesterday. A fairly chilled out morning followed by a stroll to the Lincoln Hotel to watch the Imps open top bus parade and thence to the Morning Star for a couple of beers with @guy. THG joined us having watched the bus with the hordes down the high street. An historic occasion indeed. The bus was late getting to the cathedral area as apaz the crowds ignored the safety barriers and it had to slow right down.

All the pubs were rammed. There were two long queues in the Lincoln Hotel which I think was taken by surprise by the demand. The bar I ended up at didn’t have a till and they trusted you to go and pay at the other bar!

Fox came at 09:59, 10:02, 11:11, 20:09 and 20:16. Clearly just passing through. We were in the shed during the last visits .

10th May 2016 was one of the highlights on the Coast to Coast. Ingleby Cross to Clay Bank Top. Tom and I took the long way round to avoid some of the steep jarring descents (and climbs!) as I was still protecting my knee. There was a v handy caff at the halfway point. It actually meant we got to the B&B earlier than Luke and Ajax who took the up/down route. The B&B owners at Westcote Farm, Judy and Stuart, were great and the breakfast was great, if out of the ordinary. A range of Wensleydale cheeses was on offer which actually worked really well.

The farm was on its own in the middle of the countryside so Stuart dropped us off at the Buck Inn, a mile or two away and picked us up again afterwards. The Buck turned out to be a real result. It had a German chef/owner called Wolfgang and a German menu. I think I had schnitzel. We were slightly disappointed by the wine list but Wolfgang nipped to the cellar and brought out some decent stuff that wasn’t on the menu. He came and enjoyed a beer with us afterwards whilst we were waiting for Stuart who also stopped for one. Good times. This was Day eleven out of thirteen. The end was in sight.

Beeootiful morning in the shire. What’s more, it is a Saturday! Yay. We should celebrate. I’ve opened the conservatory doors and the sun is warming the back of my head. I should turn around and face the garden really but the chair is pointing the wrong way. Being serenaded by a cacophony of birdsong. Includes a Great Tit which we don’t get every day, at least not when I’m recording.

Two fox visits yesterday. Nothing by the lake. The day before it was five visits. He seems to mainly use our garden for transit. There was a time he would sniff around the shed and greenhouse looking for grub but I assume he hasn’t found the spot particularly fruitful. THG did mention to me that she’d heard that someone in the area was feeding it.Not sure how I feel about that. 

It is a lovely day for the Lincoln City FC open top bus parade. THG is heading down the high street to watch it with her cousin Helen but I’m staying local and will pick a viewing point near the cathedral. Might even grab a celebrator beer. I understand the team is headed for STACK afterwards. STACK will be rammed. Not even worth thinking about going there. And you can’t reserve a table, apaz. I’ve never been. Anyway we are having a nice bbq in our back garden, THG and I. A quiet night in with the one you love the most. Bit of chicken and a couple of sheesh kebabs from Fosters.

I’ve noticed btw that only one of the “automatic” vents in the greenhouse is working. The two others need new hydraulic arms, or whatever they are called. They weren’t working last year either but I couldn’t make my mind up which parts to buy. I might get the step ladder out later and see if they have a part number.

Much improved golf yesterday btw. Knocked seven shots off Wednesday’s score. Still not hitting the irons well at all. If I can sort them out my game should be back on an even keel. My back is a bit stiff and I don’t think I can get in a full swing any more. The bigger point is that I am now walking a full eighteen holes. This is huge progress after the pre hiphop lack of mobility.

Ten years ago today we walked from Richmond to Ingleby Cross. It was the day walk of the trip and my feet were in a hell of a state afterwards. They were most days actually but day 9 involved walking along lots of stone farm tracks which hurt your feet. We also had to take our lives in our own hands by crossing the very busy A19 just outside Ingleby Arncliffe. It was like a motorway. The B&B had tea and scones waiting for us when we arrived which was v nice. Most of our overnight accommodations were good on the Coast to Coast. The one exception was the penultimate night in a pub somewhere which was very basic indeed.

Gotta go. It’s a nice day out and not to be wasted typing in the kitchen.

Friday, 8th May, 2026 CE. On this day ten years ago we had our easiest walk on the Coast to Coast when we went from Reeth to Richmond. It was only a ten or eleven miler. Something like that anyway. After checking in to our B&B Tom and I continued a few miles to break the back of next day’s walk which at 23 miles was the longest of the trip and turned out to be a real bastard. I think that’s the day we started using that prefix when mentioning the lovable Alfred Wainwright. We met Phippo and his mum in a pub somewhere around the three mile mark and they gave us a lift back into town. The previous night we had stayed in The Old Manse B&B in Reeth which was one of the best of the trip and gave a phenomenal breakfast. The landlady was Irish. I looked a few years back and I don’t think it is a B&B any more.

Today we are off to play golf, again. Welton Manor, gain. Make hay etc… Jezzer is now a member so we go along as guests. 4 ball inc Adie and Ajax. I quite like the course and at £15 with a member is great value. Yesterday we are at the Laughterton par 3 which is cheap and does provide entertainment but the only thing that identifies a green as a green is the flag. The average number of puts must be at least three. I finished off the round with a hole in one on the 18th. Now you have to understand that because the greens are so bad our society rules are pin and in. If you hit the pin it counts as having gone in. This is what happened on the 18th. My ball did drop ten feet or so from the hole and I narrowly missed a birdie but the card says it was a 1.

Fox already been twice this morning at 05:53 and 06:52. I’ve stopped recording hedgehog visits as they are too numerous.

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I took the money in the golf. Knocked 7 shots off my last round. Driving was generally good but irons were crap. I am optimistic that improvement will continue. I think I am still very stiff. If I keep playing at welton then I’m fairly sure I’ll get back in the swing. Quite exciting really. The Welton Manor golf course is seriously good value.  Quite hot today. 

Once my irons are sorted I’ll be back in the groove. Whether I’ll be able to do it is another matter. I’m pretty stiff. This is partly because I’m years old and partly because my back is v stiff. Whether this is because of my hiphops or general atrophication, if that’s a word.

Cracking afternoon at Welton Manor golf Club. It’s actually a nice course and the greens suited me. Not too fast. Had five pars which isn’t a bad start considering I hadn’t played a proper course in a longish time. The place we play at in Laughterton can’t be considered proper golf. Gonna get some regular rounds in and see how my game improves. It’s mostly just sorting out the driving. Had to cram a day’s work into the morning in order to get there and was still working on the golf course! Sacrosanct I know but my conference in Sorrento is coming up hard on the rails and there were a few things I needed to nail. All good.

The conversations we have on the golf course are very blokey. To the point that I couldn’t tell you what we talk about. Not because I don’t think you should hear. It’s because it’s mostly such drivel I can’t remember any of it. I do remember discussing the very different conversations our wives have and this morning THG proved it. She was doing something on her phone and started emitting aaawwws and aaaahhhs. Someone had just sent her a pic of their new grandchild. Don’t get me wrong there’s nowt wrong with it. Maybe that’ll be me someday but I’m not quite there yet with pictures of babies.

There is landscaping news on the lake front. The three aquatic plants purchaysed from Waterworld on the Wirral have been installed together with a new fountain (eat yer heart out Lake Geneva). The fountain has been discretely plumbed in and the wiring clipped down securely around the base of the deck to the power point around the side. I did toy with the idea of a solar powered fountain but mains seemed more reliable.

Plenty of fox and hedgehog action. We are now often seeing four or five separate fox visits and loads of hedgehog, to the point where I’m stopping downloading the videos and may even stop recording the visits of the latter. The other garden news is that vine growth continues apace. I’m giving it another week and will then trim the ends to encourage flowering.

Very much nip in the air in my conservatory at five thirty this morning. Was cold enough last night for the heating to go on. Anyway up early, although we have no larks here to benchmark the time, so to speak.

Last night I went along to St Mary Le Wigford church to audition for a play that included rendition of Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood. There were nine of us there for 8 roles but the director had yet to hear some others so we won’t know until perhaps June. The performances are at the end of October. Broadbent Theatre. It does require a Welsh speaker and I was the only such candidate so I’ve probably got a good chance. Fingers crossed eh?

Dyl is one of my fave poets and his prose is fantastic. If you’ve never read the play it is worth a skeet. He was a perfectionist and famously wrote 203 versions of Do not go gentle into that good night before he was happy with it. He liked his pop. Personally I can’t write anything creative if I’ve had a drink. Need a clear head.

Back home from Liverpool. Just over a week until our next jaunt which is going to be a biggie, Didn’t plan to go on all these trips this year. They just seem to come out of the woodwork. We are around for most, if not all of June and July. 

Ten years ago today it was Day 6 of the Coast to Coast. Kirby Stephen to Keld. At this point we were approaching the nicest bits of the walk and far easier going than the first few days of the walk. Swaledale was very beautiful and the Keld Lodge Hotel, which represented the half way point on the trip, was probably our fave of the fortnight. It wasn’t posh, just very friendly with everything we needed and in a lovely spot. You walked outside to a cacophony of birdsong and the bleating of sheep. We met a bloke who had just retired from the Police force and was treating himself to a walk from Lands End to John O’Groats. He carried everything in his pack and his wife would ring ahead and book accommodation for him en route as he progressed.

One fox visit last night at nine fifty eight and a few hedgehog. Downloaded the vids but not yet made a note of the times. If you do it every day it is easy to keep on top of but when you have to record a few days on the trot it is a bit more work.