Archive for the ‘collisions’ Category

Good news

Saturday, March 9th, 2024

Good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news, good news.

Can you believe it?

Bad news

Saturday, March 9th, 2024

Bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news,bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news,bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news, bad news.

It’s all bad news

food rankings

Thursday, March 7th, 2024

For some reason I started to think about how I would rank my favourite foods. Probs cos I was frying a bit of bacon for breakfast. Mushrooms, toms and egg. No carbs. Bacon would definitely be up there although in the guise of a bacon sandwich as opposed to a full English. Nowt wrong with the latter. Just doing a bit of ranking.

Then there is a good curry. Not sure I have a specific one in mind but it would almost certainly have an aloo gobi accompaniment and a selection of starters. Not too many or I wouldn’t be able to finish the main which might not be a problem as it will keep in the fridge and be even better the second time around, for lunch.

I’m in two minds as to whether steak is up there. It probably is but I have to be in the right frame of mind and it does have to be a ‘good’ steak. Rare to medium rare. To be accompanied with a very decent bottle of red. You can choose whether you want salad, chips etc.

From a Sunday roast perspective they are all up there though if I had to choose I’m torn between a nice moist chicken or pork with crackling. Both have to have the right trimmings, especially the stuffing which I am a dab hand at making.

A nice salad is also in. Strong cheese, maybe a pate foie gras and some decent hand carved ham accompanied by crusty white bread and some good butter. None of the mass produced stuff the supermarkets churn out (geddit?). My  homemade spicy pickled onions and plum chutney also goes with it.

Crispy duck mustn’t be missed out. Man can live on crispy duck alone.

I didn’t rank these in order but I suspect that the order in which I wrote them down and must therefore came to mind is probably it.

From a drink perspective it’s probs just water, milk and tea. The rest, nice as it is, doesn’t really matter. Even that cognac I brought back from the shop in Carcassonne which is the best I’ve ever had and amazingly still have some in the bottle is neither here nor there really.

Whaddaya think?

Aix en Provence

Wednesday, September 13th, 2023

There is a slight freshness to the morning here in vieille Aix. I am sat on our terrace watching a builder opposite do his preparations for the day on some scaffolding. I’m going to call him Jean Pierre but he will not feature further in this post so it doesn’t really matter.

V pleasant evening. I had a couple of sherberts around the corner in O’Sullivans whilst THG went for a stroll and did the sights on behalf of the two of us. WHilst she was away I discovered that Aix en Provence’s top rate curry house was just around the corner and it was to Le Maharaja we went.

The Maharaja was fairly empty at seven fifteen but the good sign was that the other occupied tables were populated with people of clearly sub-continental heritage. I had a simple lamb madras with pilau rice, a plain naan and a bottle of kingfisher.

We were early heading back to the hotel but were content with the prospect of a couple of cans of Punk IPA from Monoprix whilst sat on the terrace outside our room. Only had one of them before dozing off.

Looks like they are rerendering the facade opposite. You can tell where they have already done it and slapped on some yellow paint in keeping with the style of the old town.

Right, off to breakfast. I have a conf call at oh nine thirty.

Breakfast wasn’t much cop btw. The receptionist took the oomph when I asked her for a cereal bowl for breakfast. All they had out were tiny ones for putting jam in. She brought three out! One for me, one for an American woman who had been standing around wondering how to go about getting a bowl and one other in case anyone else was daft enough to want one.

When I tried filling the milk jug with hot milk from the machine it wouldn’t fit under the dispenser so most of the milk went all over the place. Huh.

Cassis this morning. It is a forty nine minute drive. An hour if we go the long way around. Will be nice to get there and be able to chill for a bit. I’ve booked a parking space at the back of the hotel. Hopefully will be ok. They don’t have many spots and I’m not that confident in the hotel booking system. When I booked, sometime last winter, the hotel was closed and the response times weren’t world class. The English version of the booking system didn’t seem to have what I needed to book the parking slot.

This is a pretty basic room but the hotel is in position A in Cassis. The balcony is just big enough for one person. There seem to be fewer people out than earlier when they all poured into the port for lunch. Probably all home sleeping off lunch before starting again this evening. Makes sense to wait for the heat of the day to subside before a night out.

Big field Bodeuan

Wednesday, August 9th, 2023

9 am Wednesday. Sat in the big field in the locality of Bodeuan. It genuinely is called Big Field. Well actually Cae Mawr. Same thing. I’m surrounded by caravans. Not totes my thing. I am in a tent. I do have an electric hookup which is powering the coolbox, and now my phone. 

It will in time power the teppanyaki grill when it comes to breakfast. However I am in no hurry for this. I am slightly annoyed that I forgot to bring matches so will have to pop up to the pop-up shop to source some. Either that or rely on the generosity of nearby caravaners, some of who have already started cooking.

I only need the gas ring to boil the kettle and in reality could do without if it comes to the crunch. I have plenty of cold milk which is my breakfast tipple of choice when cooking a fry up.

I sense that three nights in the tent will be enough. It’s a three man tent but really just right for one person. The toilet facilities are pretty basic. Portaloos you find at festivals. Not surprising really. The Eisteddfod is a festival.

Yesterday afternoon I sat in the Babell Len for a while. They have poetry competitions running all week. Englynion. Pretty amazing fair play. I sat there with a big smile on my face.I don’t often get to immerse myself in the Welsh language and mine could do with a lot of improvement having lived outside Wales for most of my life. I mentioned to Nest that I struggled to follow some of it and was to some extent relieved when she said she did too.

This afternoon is the Bangor University reunion session. When I say session I really mean session. Whilst the official timing is 2pm to 3.30 the drinking carries on until close of play apaz. Suspect I won’t stay the pace. We shall see.

More anon. Breakfast to cook.

Sunday morning and the rain has stopped

Sunday, May 7th, 2023

Sunday morning and the rain has stopped. Looking out into the garden it feels as if the new grass has shot up significantly over the last couple of days. I’ll pop out to inspect the onions in a bit and feel confident of similar progress. Today should be dry but back to normal British summer weather tomorrow.

Had a surprise birthday party for the Head Gardener yesterday round the corner at Eve and Steve’s. THG thought it was a coronation party but that was just the front. Was a wet old afternoon but Steve’s double sized gazebo came in very handy. A good time was had – thanks to our excellent hosts.

It being the sabbath the morning will be spent avoiding work of any kind. I don’t think I could stand being excommunicated if I was found to have broken the law. The shame of it. I sense that time spent in quiet contemplation and introspection would be appropriate. Some focus on my own spirituality. Maybs.

The blackbirds are out hunter-gathering. Plenty of worms in that lawn. Mostly males so I imagine the ladies are sitting on their nests. Were I to take the lid off the compost bin the blackbirds would have a feast. Lots of worm and insect activity turning the waste into fine compost. I prefer to leave this worms to their excellent work.

Strawberries are fruiting, or at least in full flower. The grape vine is coming into leaf. All is well.

Sunday Sunday, feels good to me.

Stan Getz, Girl from Ipanema. Went to Brazil decades ago. I’d visit the Amazon but otherwise feel no compulsion to return.

Halfway through the weekend. Interesting to observe how the BBC toes the royalist line. All wine and roses in the kingdom. The succession reassured.

Alternative guide to coronation day.

Thursday, May 4th, 2023

Alternative guide to coronation day. How to make the most out of Coronation Day. Have a good breakfast then go and play golf. Do not under any circumstances turn on the telly or the wireless set. If you end up in a pub after golf try to make it one that doesn’t have a TV (I realise this will be a hard one to get your brain around if you are from Amurica). Get home around tea time and fire up the barbie.

early start to the day

Wednesday, April 5th, 2023

Up and at an early start to the day, largely occasioned by the arrival of three electricians at eight am. Avin some work done, largely to finish off the cabling to the shed. Calming classics courtesy of Spotify soothing my furrowed brow.

The brow isn’t particularly furrowed mind you although yesterday’s trip to Clearview opticians has made me ever conscious of the size of the onscreen text. I’ve zoomed in on the page this morning to artificially increase the font size.

Although I only have one call in my diary I do appear to have quite a bit of stuff to do. Once I get going I’ll be able to rattle it off quite quickly. It’s just the getting going bit that sometimes takes an effort.

Got the onions and shallots in yesterday. Still a few onion sets left but most are down. My onion crops have been moderately successful although once harvested they are quickly consumed, or pickled. Amazing how many onions you get through. An essential part of most recipes one way or another. Not desserts obvs. I made four batches of pickled onions last year. Will take me years to get through them all. After the first lot I used shop bought onions and shallots. Home pickled onions are miles better than the mass produced branded stuff, if for nothing else than I add chillies to the vinegar in mine.

I was born in sixty one

Sunday, March 19th, 2023

I was born in sixty one and am sixty one years old. I think 🙂. Couple of things spring to mind. I’m a lot stiffer nowadays and I have to scroll a long way down when inserting birth year online. The two are unrelated apart from the age link. 

Just looked and apparently a pint of beer was 2s 1/2d in 1961. That would have been of no interest to me at the time, particularly as my birth month was December as regulars at trefbash will know. Presumably we are talking ordinary bitter here. A pint of beer nowadays is a lot more and is very much dependant on where you are.

A pint of milk was 8d, something a lot more relevant to me at the time, I’d guess although I’m pretty sure I was breast fed.

The scrolling down might be annoying had I not had 61 years to get used to it and it has crept up on me over time. It does however annoy me when I have to scroll down to select ‘United Kingdom’ when the country at the top is ‘United States’.  Tossers. There, you can see I’m annoyed.

Marcia Ball at the Funky Biscuit

Sunday, January 15th, 2023

Great night out at the Funky Biscuit last night. Marcia Ball gig. Marcia is 73 years old. The average age of her audience also looked about 73. In consequence they were a fairly inanimate bunch although there was plenty of clapping after each song.

The FB was an hour’s Uber away. Seems a normal kind of journey in the USA where distances are so large and people think nothing of hopping on a plane for 5 hours. In Lincoln I rarely make it as far as Nottingham because it’s an hour’s journey.

Quite fancy strolling out somewhere for brunch. Question is where. Ordinarily I have breakfast in the hotel but the Hilton deal these days in the USA is not as good as it used to be. Nowadays you get a “food and beverage allowance” of $15 a day per room. Doesn’t go far when you consider yesterday’s breakfast for two was knocking on $80 inc tip and it isn’t as if we went over the top. An expensive place to visit is the US.

As a result it doesn’t really matter where you  eat, assuming time is on your side. The question then is where? I am travelling with our US Sales Director Charles but there is no sign of him yet this morning! Might just head down as I’m now quite hungry. Didn’t have dinner last night!

Ciao.

Now chillin poolside. Only three others here. Could be something to do with the unusually cold weather I suppose although the skies are clear blue. An azure sea is visible in the gap between the Ritz Plaza and the Delano hotels. Ocean really not sea.

It’s one of those days for total relaxation. Would help to be a few degrees warmer but it doesn’t really matter. The pool itself is warm albeit quite shallow. It’s an infiniti pool and as such designed for wallowing as opposed to exercise.

I find that life continues to be surreal. Yesterday we had lunch in a supercool joint called Ship Wreck down a Key Largo side street. Couldn’t really call it a street. It was a road that took you to one of many inlets in the area. We actually looked for downtown Key Largo only to find there wasn’t one. Bit disappointing. Gave up after a while, when every road we turned down was a dead end. Got a couple of t shirts. 

The pool is attracting some rather large people. Four beer toting bearded  ‘good old boys’ wandered in, sat awhile and wandered out again. One of them had a baseball cap with a gun emblazoned on the front.

Aircraft pass by overhead. No sign of British Airways as yet but it is twirly man. A midday arrival here would mean a 7am takeoff from London. Our return flight is not until 21.30 on Wednesday. Figured we would get some dinner and a few sherberts before flying out and that time departure means I will hopefully get a decent kip on the plane.

Ordered chips at a bar. Waitress asked if I meant fries.

aodksjhfodjfhoa

Wednesday, January 11th, 2023

aodksjhfodjfhoa

The title of this post is a collection of letters in lower case typed randomly without looking. Not sure what the chances are of replicating that ‘word’ would be via the same method but that is of no significance whatsoever. Safe to say this word will not make the OED.

It is wonderful how words, originally just means of communication, are a form of art. One of my fave opening lines in a book is

“Snowflakes the size of old pennies were falling in the top left hand corner of Wales.”

That is a fabulous opening line. Beautiful. You can just picture the scene. It’s probably one of the few opening lines to a book that I can remember, it created that much of an impression on me. The other one is 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” 

That is a famous one. It has its own different beauty to the first. They both describe a scene in completely different ways. That’s art for you.

I have some favourite poems but no favourite pictures. Maybe it’s just me. Years ago when my dad retired they went on holiday for three months and he asked me if I could recommend some reading material. I struggled. Basically my own judgement and reputation was on the line. If dad didn’t think much of the book it would reflect on me. Or that was my thinking at the time.

I only managed to find 5 books out of the hundreds I had on the shelf (this was maybe thirty years ago – I have a lot more now) that I felt comfortable with recommending. Can’t remember what they all are now though I could probably put my mind to it.

It probably wouldn’t have mattered to dad who had different reading tastes to me anyway. Also in those days my books would have been mainly fiction. Nowadays it is rare for me to buy fiction; probably just don’t do it at all. My reading is growing increasingly niche. Each to their own 🙂

The inside of the shed is covered with pictures. Posters, signs, photos, maps and the occasional drawing and print, notably a limited edition print of the Black Boy Inn in Caernarfon which is a particularly favourite haunt of ours. Lots of maps. How else would I find my way around?

Now watching snooker in the shed. V colourful game is snooker. The masters is on. I quite like watching snooker although I’m totally rubbish at it meself. I suspect it is as much to do with the fact that I wear specs than a lack of ability. Difficult to focus when looking over my specs down a cue. 

Anyway I digress. Not sure from what, but digress I do. Sounds like the title of someone’s autobiography. ‘Digress I do’. Doubt anyone would want to read it. Who would want to read a book that kept jumping about from subject to subject. 

Could call it ‘aodksjhfodjfhoa, the art of digression’. An alternative might be ‘aodksjhfodjfhoa, the art of just about anything you like’ on the basis that it isn’t really a word. Because it doesn’t really mean anything it could be applied to many situations. However it does have some artistic merit. Not much but some.

aodksjhfodjfhoa isn’t in the same league as philistate which is of course a real word. However I don’t like to chuck words away so I will not hasten to discard aodksjhfodjfhoa. I will leave it here as a record of a moment in time. I could even put it in my google docs dictionary but I won’t. I have as little faith in it as you. Totes waste of time. At least I got a post out of it.

Some people might wonder why I write this drivel. Well it isn’t drivel in my book. You know the one: ‘aodksjhfodjfhoa, the art of.’ Coming to a book shop near you. In due course.

Philistate

Tuesday, January 10th, 2023

Philistate is a new word I invented whilst lying in bed this morning. I have as yet no idea what it means or whether it is a noun or a verb but I’ve googled it and the word did not previously exist.

It’s quite pleasing to have come up with a new word like this. There are very few avenues of adventure and discovery left to us so to find something new is v exciting. America and Australia et al have long since been found and someone, Amundsen, has already been first to the South Pole.

The few places left are in our imagination. Let your mind run riot, out of control even, and see what it comes up with.

Untitled document

Monday, November 7th, 2022

Untitled document

Type @ to insert

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Watercolours

Friday, October 21st, 2022

One misty morning in October. Thank God It’s Friday. Frankly my dear I don’t give a centime. RTYUI. Part of the charm. Why so much traffic? Firenze frenzy. Untitled document. Amazingly my diary has cleared today. It’s as if a bow wave has run through the calendar pushing all meetings aside. What shall I do? I could paint a picture. Watercolour. Watercolours. Or sort out dad’s tax. Finish my book. Not much left to read. Mourt’s Relation. V interesting. Listen to a symphony. Beethoven. One of his finest. Breakfast is something to look forward to. Must order some logs. Haircut? Avoid avoid avoid. Bury head in sand. Put on thick jumper. I’ve been in Southern California after the rain. You can see the mountains. Someone unplugged my Sonos. Heavy rain here. Lightning and thunder. The correct order. Avoid, avoid, avoid. The shallow politician. All shallows in short. Swirling words struggling with focus. Weeeth foe cus. A day of a gratuitous nature. It’s not about champagne it’s about which champagne. Look down upon the high sierra. Fighter or quitter? 😁 Switch off ears. Bruce bonus. Body pump booked. Class. I like fried bread but have no bread to fry. A fry down. No bread to fry. Fry away Trefor. Which tomato 🍅. You say tomato tomato 🍅. I say tomato tomato 🍅. Suffered a one off shock. Every other sentence. Life sentence. Significant other. The manager has been sacked. It’s a brutal business. I. Aye. Eye. Why? It’s about the party. Don’t slip on that skin. Slip me some skin. High four. Hi there, hiya. Steak  for dinner. Let us break bread. I. Who did you kiss in the moonlight? Wait and see.

I like the concept of breaking bread. Eating a meal can be done alone but breaking bread has to be some with someone else. It goes with drinking a beer or opening a nice bottle of wine.

What constitutes “a nice bottle of wine”?

No bread to break, no bread to break, no wine in the bottle, no bread to break.

Salad with a steak, salad with a steak, no wine in the bottle, no bread to break.

The youngest drinkers in town. Hannah and I were in Waitrose and repaired to the caff for a peppermint tea and a lahtay. There was a queue. They were all blokes. Old blokes.Their wives were sat holding spaces at tables. As was Han. I like going to Waitrose and occasionally frequent the caff if I’m with an offspring or pal but I never want to get into a habit of going there especially when all around are preparing for death. The slow but steady decline into a care home and oblivion. Maybe Friday morning is OAP morning. I dunno. It’s a mental thing. Preparing for death.

Ren

Saturday, October 8th, 2022

Ageless, forever young, liver of life, lovely tiki loving Joe lover, disc spinning colourista, friend of many, wine drinker, foodie, traveller, Shiraz appreciator, Devotee.

Happy Birthday Ren