where art collides

go Pat go

It’s a calm Sunday morning. We are having brunch today as Tom is off back to London on the 14.50 out of Ronaldsway International. I am planning to get him a taxi for 13.20 as there is a soap box derby on in Peel at 14.00 and I don’t really want to miss that if I can help it. Tried a couple of taxi firms first thing but no response – perhaps not a surprise. This is Peel and it is Sunday. If it comes to the crunch I can still take him.

Anne and I are up but nobody else by the sound of it. Some of them may have stayed up late to watch Mo Farrar win the Olympic 5k. Well done Mo. Proud of ya:)

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Magnificent brunch even though I say so myself. Now we are working on a roast pork joint for dinner tonight. Crackling.

Taxi booked for Tom. Terry’s Taxis. Now have to nip out and get him some cash to pay for it:)

The weather has picked up this morning after a couple of wet days. If you take a look at some of the videos of this trip you will see a huge contrast between Peel in the wet and in the sun.

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Magners 1935 cider purchased for the gravy. Clutching at straws now mentioning this kind of detail for the diary. Maybe not. The cider will go in the meat pan with the juices and the onion cooked under the meat and a peeled and chopped small apple. Stick a bit of stock with flour, reduce for a little and hey presto you have a rich gravy to go with the perfect meat and crackling.

Watching the Mo Farah race for the third time. Lots of repeats on the Beeb. Fair enough.

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Been a good day. Tom left us at 13.20 and we then strolled down to watch the prom action. Joe had a go on the water slide (ten  quid for charity) and we watched some of the practices of the Soap Box Derby. Not much going on there so we strolled around to the breakwater for a cuppa – saw a v good T2. John then went up Peel Hill whilst we went home to stick the pork on.

Eventually we ended up in the Whitehouse for a couple and home for a roast pork dinner. I have to say the gravy was fantastic and the dinner went down very well. Still not getting on with the damn fan oven though. Pork was a little dry. Didn’t detract from the overall experience.

Joe and I played a bit of music after dinner. I need to up my game really. They are now watching robot wars whilst I tap away in the dining room.

Been a good couple of weeks at home. Just one more night to go after tonight. We are off home on Tuesday.

Featured image courtesy of Joe Davies – worth clicking on it to see more. 

man cannot live on bread alone

Saturday came and went. Dad and I nipped up to Shoprite to get supplies for the bbq. That seemed to take up most of the morning. We watched reruns of the Friday night Olympic action with Usain Bolt  winning his 9th gold in the 100m relay.

After a light lunch we headed to Tynwald Mills and hit the jackpot in the shoe dept. They were selling shoes off with a 70% reduction. We bought 8 pairs between us. I got two brown leather jobs.

Thence back home to get going on the bbq. Due to the wind and rain it took over three quarters of an hour to get it going but did it in the end. Chicken marinaded in peri peri sauce and lamb fillets in Delia Smith’s apricot glaze were a huge success. John and Tom were pitmasters.

Had Liz Chester and Peter and Elaine Kissack round for the meal. The featured image is entitled “man cannot live on bread alone”.

Let the video speak:

Rain in Peel…

The weather has broken. It is a wet and miserable day here in Peel, although miserable is purely a state of mind and in these circumstances simply a description that is traditionally used for this weather.

The lads are playing Monopoly. I have been out and about taking pics in the wet. Unfortunately the phone seems to have started backing up pics from earlier this month. This is a bit odd as they will already have been backed up. I wonder if they have somehow been deleted from the cloud and are therefore backing up again.

I’ve had to turn off the wifi as I don’t want to hammer dad’s connection unnecessarily. It could mean the end to my daily video from the IoM as I may have to wait until I get home to our 12Meg upload to back up. I’ve been backing up from phone and then downloading onto my laptop.

I did pop down to the prom to make use of the free wifi there but the high speed “Sure“ network seems to be down and the Harbour Lights wifi is only ADSL with a paltry few hundred k up.

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The news is our broadband connection has ground to a halt. I’ve used up all the bandwidth. Called Manx Telecom and paid £13 to get unlimited data for the rest of the month. The pleasant surprise is, and I hadn’t realised this/had forgotten that we did the upgrade last time I was over, we have FTTC here. 80 Megs down and 10Megs up. I’ve set the photo backups going again and once complete will be able to start publishing the vids I’ve been making. Next time I come over I’ll just buy the unlimited bundle from the off and not worry about the usage.

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The bairns are out, Anne is out, dad and I will be off out soon for his hospital checkup. All is quiet.

board meeting with a view

LONAP board meeting in the breakfast room of the Waldick B&B this morning followed by lunch at the bowling club cafe next door. We do things in style innit. Much cheaper than having it in London and more fun.  We watched some crown green bowling whist eating. Not top class sport but it was a moving backdrop for lunch that provided some entertainment.

Long board meeting so chilled a bit with my book (Great Eastern Railway) back at the house.

Swift beer sat outside the Creek, dinner at Filbeys and then bed.

a good day in Peel

Down onto the prom for brekkie with Joe and John. Croissants and milk from the Coop again.  Need to pick up the railway book I bought from the 2nd hand bookshop but he is shut. Ill health. Hope all is ok.

Then into Douglas to buy a guitar from Peter Norris music and then along to the end of the prom to see the trams.

Back in peel waited for the LONAP boys to turn up and then to the Harbour Lights for a spot of lunch. Had intended to climb Peel Hill but Andy spent half the afternoon on the phone so eventually contented ourselves with a few beers in the Peveril and the Creek before heading to the Boathouse for dinner.

Ended up on Fenella Beach with guitar and trumpet where we played some tunes until it got dark and Terry’s taxi turned up to pick up dad. Anne, Joe and I also got in and cadged a lift home.

I’ve left the others downstairs watching Georgie Twigg and the GB womens team in the semi final against NZ. Tense stuff.

The family cometh. Am excited. It’s been good being here with just me and dad but here comes the next, slightly noisier phase. All except Hannah who is still meandering around Italy with Sarah. She is in Pompeii today.

Slightly later start today designed to time it so that the Coop will have opened and I could purchase croissants and milk for breakfast on the prom. Breakfast was thus enjoyable and I am now home. We have time to prepare for the rush. Anne’s flight lands at 16.25.

The weather continues to persuade us that Peel is really a Mediterranean port. Last night we sat out the back enjoying cold drinks and eating, appropriately, sun dried tomatoes. The gin bottle level is dropping as rapidly as the barometer is rising. Must be evaporating.

Called Peter Norris Music on Bucks Road in Douglas. They have some second hand guitars in. Will pop in tomorrow with the other musicians in the hoose.

Lunch outside again. Perfect conditions. Bit of ham, bit of cheese, salad. Water.
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Had a mooch around Castletown before picking Anne up. Nautical Museum and Castle Rushen. Not been in the castle before but was v interesting.

Couple of beers with the troops sat outside the Creek and then a takeaway from the Royal India. Lovely evening.

Peel swelters

Today is a fantastic summer’s day. Took my usual stroll down to the prom and Fenella Beach and thought it might be a good idea to buy  couple of croissants to have for breakfast on the prom. Unfortunately I was too early for the Coop whose croissants have proved to be very tasty this week.

Plenty of overnight Olympic action to catch up on. Usain Bolt won gold in the 100m.

Lunch at the caff at Niarbyl. Gorgeous in the sunshine. Cup of tea now and then out for another stroll. I think I’ve given up on the idea of uploading my vids whilst here. They’re too big. Might as well do them when I get back.

Found out this morning that my passport, the one sent last Thursday on a guaranteed before 1pm delivery, hadn’t arrived at Richard’s. It’s arrived now but am a bit cross. It’s my passport. Rich is taking it to the Chinese embassy tomorrow to get the visa sorted. Only 11 days before we go now.

Swung by the post office to get a refund only to find I have to fill out an extensive form and send it off to Douglas. This is rubbish. I will do it out of principle but it will also serve as a trefor.net blog post. It’s rubbish service.

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Lovely walk around Peel in the sunshine this afternoon. Had a honey comb and malteser double scoop ice cream from Davisons on the prom. Then walkded around to the breakwater as some fishing boats were coming in. Peel 400 genesis landing 60 sacs of scallops and PL1 landing crabs and lobster. Plenty of videos.

Had an interesting chat with the wife of the Genesis skipper. They are only allowed to land 125 sacks of scallops a week which is basically 2 days a week work. They get something like £34 a sack which is basically around 4 grand a week. The boat cost £280k this spring.  He was a crew member and bought it off the previous owner (obvs). It isn’t a massively lucrative game. He has 2 crew to pay plus the running costs of the boat. Still it’s a magnetic lifestyle.

She works as a barmaid in the Peveril which apparently is where the fishermen drink. I’ll pop in on Friday evening to see her.

Also happening today was a lifeboat callout. I missed both the launch and the return. It was called to a cruiser whose engine had packed in 12 miles out. Never mind.

Got back to the Grove and had a few drinks with dad in the back garden. He had mown the lawn and was already tucking in to a gin and tonic. Our back garden is a real sun trap at this time of day.

Dad has now nodded off in front of the TV. Cycling is on. Manxman Mark Cavendish in the Omnium.

The rest of the clan, apart from Hannah, arrive tomorrow. Exciting. Short vid below of lobster being landed – also full day’s coverage.

Up early to upload

It’s 8.30 and I’m sat on the prom to the left of the cafe/kiosk Came down because they have free wifi with at least 25Mbps upload. Thought I’d upload the first 4 vids of the trip to YouTube.

Have already been sat here 15 minutes. Should have worked this one out in advance. OK there is 25Meg upload but the videos are mostly around 5GB. This one is taking over 25 minutes which had I thought about it was pretty obvious. I have another 3 to upload so I’m just going to finish this one and then head back for breakfast. Still 10 mins to go.

Still there is something nice about writing a diary entry on the prom. It’s getting busier the longer I wait. Busy is a relative statement. Not that many folk around. Saw the swing bridge close this morning fwiw. A yacht named Wildwood heading out of harbour. Spoke to them – they weren’t sure where they were headed. Just wanted to make it out of the marina whilst the tide was in. They were from Ireland. If I were them I’d head for the Western Isles. Beautiful at this time of year.

Overnight Mo Farrar has won the 10k and Jessica Ennis Hill got silver in the heptathlon. Not bad after stopping her sporting career to have a baby after the last Olympics. We are all proud of her:)

Today I have to nip out and buy some sage and parsley for the stuffing. We are having roast chicken for dinner. Otherwise it’s a day of relaxation around Peel. Couldn’t find said ingredients on Michael Street so I’m off to Tynwald Mills to see what they have. I can get it in Shoprite up the hill if necessary. We did consider buying it all when purchasing the chicken but dad wasn’t sure what he had in the cupboard so we deferred the decision. No problemo. What’s the hurry:)

I’m quite looking forward to cooking the chicken although I always seem to struggle with timings on dad’s oven which is fan assisted. We have gas at home. I seem to over do the meat slightly so will have to see how I get on with this one.

Also on other mundane issues I’ve stuck a load of washing on and tomorrow we will be going to Lights of Man to buy dad some light bulbs. He could do with a stock.

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Tynwald Mills shut – not open until 1pm on a Sunday. Was drizzling whilst on the way there – we are supposed to be getting a heatwave! In the end found all the fresh herbs I needed at Shoprite. Now the chicken is stuffed and some extra stuffing boxed up and put into dad’s freezer. Carrots and leeks also chopped and some veg simmering to make some stock. I’m a dab hand at gravy:)

Washing out drying on the line round the back of the garage.

MER trip to Laxey

Fresh as a daisy this morning. Not been out for a walk. It is a Saturday after all. I think. Just enjoyed a doze and a lie in bed listening to the wireless and catching up on last night’s Olympic action. Bradley Wiggins got his umpteenth cycling gold in the team pursuit.

The plan today is a bit of brunch and then head into Douglas for a trip on the electric railway. I also need to buy a micro SD card for the phone. I only have 5GB left on this new one and need the extra external 200GB. Amazing really isn’t it? 200GB SD card. In years to come people will read this and laugh at it but 200GB of data on something the size of your fingernail is today quite amazing.

The videos are what takes the space and I’ve been taking more of them. Problem is our data bundle here is only 50GB a month which is more than enough for Dad but totally inadequate for me and then the rest of the gang are coming over on tuesday.

Just heard the cathedral bells strike quarter to the hour. We live right next door to Peel cathedral. The organist lives in the house next door to us. Don’t think dad sees much of him. Normally the prevalent sound here is seagull. None today which is why I noticed the bells. Maybe the wind is in a different direction or something.

The seagulls are buggers anyway. Last summer one dived down and stole an ice cream out of Hannah’s mouth as she was taking a lick. Wot? Not had a Davisons ice cream yet. They are the best. Will rectify that in short order from the ice cream parlour on the prom. Hannah is currently in Firenze on her grand tour with Sarah Ward.

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Bought a 32GB 80GB/s micro SD card from Tesco for £11. It was the only one they had in stock. It’ll do the job. I’ll get a 200GB one when I get home. Also went to Laxey with dad on the electric tram. A good time was had by all.

Now back in Peel and watching a bit of cricket before heading out for a stroll. Pakistan are doing well. Swung by Shoprite to get stuff for tonight’s tea and a chicken for tomorrow.

lunch at the Boatyard

Woke up to a nice fresh morning here in Peel. Quick shower and out for a walk for an hour or so. Usual route. Down to prom, across the harbour footbridge to Fenella Beach, around to the breakwater and back via the quayside. I never tire of it.

Lots of improvement going on in the town. The breakwater caff now has a posh patio area. It’s the same spot, just posher.

Today we are watching Olympic sport on TV, cricket (last test v Pakistan at the Oval) and indulging in a long lunch, hopefully at the Boatyard. I left a message requesting a table for 2 at 1pm.

I have been putting together a video each day I’ve been here. These are typically 4 minutes long and are almost 5GB in size. I’m posting to Facebook but will wait until I have the luxury of unlimited data back at home before posting to YouTube and embedding here.

Ramsey

Thursday was initially characterised with a somewhat sleepless night due to toothache. Called dad’s dentist first thing and went to see him at 12.15. Conclusion is the tooth is toast and the choice is extraction or root canal treatment. He quoted me £200 for initial root canal prep work and wanted me to do a week’s worth of deep antibiotics first. I opted for the antibiotics then make an appointment with John Hill to whip it out when I get home. It won’t show and is the twin of the other I had out before the coast to coast.

On the way back from the dentist bought a gammon joint from Safeway which will serve us well for sandwiches for the next week or two. Also took dad to Safeway earlier for a bit of a shop. He doesn’t get there otherwise as it is too far to walk and he needs a car to cart the stuff back.

This aft we went for a drive – Ramsey, Mooragh Park where we had a cup of tea, Laxey, which had too many roadworks due to bridge repairs, and then back to Peel where we had a couple of beers in the Creek and then I had one on my own in the Whitehouse. Didn’t quite drive around the TT course – missed the mountain as it was looking cloudy and we wanted to do Laxey.

Now I’m back home and getting ready to cook queenies and bacon.

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Stick a wodge of butter and a slurp of olive oil in a frying pan with garlic and chopped dry cured streaky bacon. After the bacon and garlic has cooked a bit add a whole pack of queenies and fry for a little while. Season with freshly ground black pepper and sea salt. Add a few slurps of white wine (a couple of glasses of sauvignon blanc maybe) and reduce for a few minutes. When it feels ready pour into two equal portions and consume with fresh brown bread which will allow you to mop up the winey garlic buttery juice.

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Watching a bit of Olympic action then will stroll down to the prom to take in the evening air and catch a few snaps.

There’s a Manx cat in this video btw

Hooray

I needed to take the bike to the tip. The cost of repairing the gears was more than the cost of a new bike so it no longer served any useful purpose and took up valuable space in the garage. I did go to the tip yesterday but there was no room for the bike.

So I left the bike in the drive in the hope that it would be stolen. It was. Objective achieved. We do live on a main road and get a fair bit of footfall outside the front gate. Job done.

My initial jubilation at a plan well executed is tempered with a certain tinge of regret that there are dishonest people out there who seek to steal from me. At least it endorses the maintaining of the cctv and burglar alarm. I won’t bother looking to see who it was on the cctv recording on this occasion although there is a slight element of curiosity there.

Moving on, today I am off to the Isle of Man. Anne is taking me to the station at 9.45 for a 10.16 train. Exciting eh? I’ll have a week on my own with dad before the noisy ones turn up. I am mostly packed. Have to throw in the waterproof coat and a few other bits and bobs. Although the forecast is mostly hot hot hot this is the Isle of Man we are talking about here. Be prepared eh? We have many photos of us all sheltering under the canopy of Laxey tram station in the rain – taken over a number of years.

Hope you like the featured image. It’s Lincoln central station platform 3a. Looks as if two pics have been stitched together doesn’t it?

The other thing to observe here is that trains always come in on platform 3a which is a short walk along from where the turnstiles are. Most folk however just stand near the entrance and have to walk along when the train arrives. Hence the fact that there is a gap between me and everyone else on the platform in this photo. I move along to platform 3a and am usually the first on to the train with the pick of the seating (for what its worth).

Worth a mention is the “chink” in conversation I picked up when walking past two taxi drivers outside the station – “she can’t even get the dusting right”. Ooo.

More updates as they happen…

Arrived at London City Airport at 1pm. My flight is at 4.20. I’m afar too early. Can’t even check the bag in! What was I thinking 🙂 Probably built in a huge amount of contingency. As it is its far too early to even have a pint. Don’t want to arrive in the Isle of Man three sheets to the wind.

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The wait at the Airport

There is a skill to waiting at airports. Normally it involves sitting in the BA club lounge eating and drinking but on this occasion not only am I flying Economy class with humble Bronze Exec Club status but I don’t want to arrive in the Isle of Man sem- inebriated.

That said I do have a pint of London Pale Ale on the table in front of me together with a tiny dish of mixed nuts that cost £3.95. They are probably the most expensive tiny dish of mixed nuts I’ve ever had. I don’t know what it works out as on a per nut basis but it will be a lot.

What’s more this table is wobbly and when I sat down I spilt some of my beer. Doh. It’s not a particularly comfortable seat either. Hmm.

The pint was £5.95 as well. Still, cheaper than paying for a business class ticket to sit in the lounge for 90 mins.

I do normally fly business class if it merits it. Not if the fare is massively more or if the length of the flight isn’t worth it, both of which being the case on this occasion.At least where I am sat I can see the Olymics coverage on the box. Fwiw. I have grown to like the olympics. I probably didn’t watch them for 30 years until the London 2012 games which I really enjoyed. Partly I guess because for much of that time we didn’t have a TV. We had been married or at least living together for almost 20 years before a TV came along. Not sure it was really worth the wait.

a trip to the tip

Another classic summer’s day here. Not too warm but still shorts and t shirt weather. Lovely breeze with the occasional bit of clouding over.

Been doing lots of tidying up of things this morning in anticipation of heading to the Isle of man tomorrow which I am really looking forward to.

Finished off some Anne’s Vans user guide stuff for van hirers – how to erect the awning etc. Then did some emails with worky bits. My out of office reads as follows:

I guess I’m a lot more on holiday now than not on holiday. As such I will be focussing on relaxing, strolling to the beach, eating ice cream, drinking beer, sleeping and generally having a good time.
This isn’t to say I won’t be checking my emails but at least I’ve prepared you for my speed of reaction. I may get back to you before 25th August but there again I may not 🙂
Have a great summer.
Tref

Then I got my North Face Base Camp Duffel Bag out to get packing for the trip. This took me a lot less time that I thought. In fact only about 30 seconds as I threw in a load of tshirts, underwear, shorts, a pair of jeans and, well that’s about it.  Jumper and coat can get thrown in sometime. I’m taking the bag to China with me at the end of the month. It hasn’t got wheels but does have rucksack straps and is a v convenient piece of kit.

Off on the 10.16 train tomorrow morning to catch the 14.30 out of LCY to IoM.

This pm I’m taking the van down to Coops and will be working on some marketing stuff. I noticed last night that we are now on the first page of google searches for VW camper van hire in Lincolnshire. Needs to be up nearer the top but I can work on that and it’s an improvement as the last time I looked we were on page 2. In fact it’s something I can easily do whilst with Dad in Peel.

Had a bit of an idea whilst lying in bed. It’s about events on facebook. I set up a facebook event and invite people to participate. Participants post their own creative stuff as status updates on the event page and spread the word to their own networks. When the event starts people will be around to discuss their work via comments on their own posts.

Already a few pals interested so will look at when would be a good time to schedule it – towards the end of August I’d say.

Car is now loaded up with stuff to take to the tip. I have a system. Metal stuff in first so that is is last out. Then rubbish and then rigid plastic as that will be the order it needs disposing at the tip.