Life's rollercoaster

I've often said that my life is like a rollercoaster, one day positive, the next negative and often having to learn to hold the good and bad in tandem.  This week has been another of those rollercoaster rides and coming to the end of it and trying to process it all is quite a challenge.

Monday I spent back up in the North East with the Queen's Terrace Girls (how soon before that becomes shortened to The Queens?).  Linda, Toni, Kathy and I all shared a house in Jesmond, Newcastle back in the early 80's and have kept in touch and been firm friends ever since. Indeed they are my oldest standing friends over 30 years later.

Lately our trips up to Newcastle have been condensed into a single day, not even staying over night so there has been little time to catch up with friends, only family.  I had to make a concious decision to put aside a day just for my friends and we scheduled it in for December and a little Christmas celebration.  As most of the girls live out in Northumberland, Morpeth was chosen as the place to meet.  It was lovely to catch up again, and also to see Sue, one of our other friends who has been around through the intervening years although never actually lived with us.  We shared some prosecco and had a lovely meal at the Electrical Wizard, shared our joys and woes, with a sad departure of a husband having walked out for one of the girls, and the joyous news of an impending wedding in around six months for one of the other girls.  See, good and bad in tandem. Always.

Afterwards we managed to have a quick tea at a local Italian restaurant with my sister Eileen and her boyfriend Richie.  Too quick although I know I will see them later in the week when we will have more time together.

Tuesday I spent haring around the house cleaning everything that didn't move, although I think the cats may have had a spray of furniture polish and an accidental encounter with the hoover along the way.  I had set aside two days to sort out things for some lovely friends who were staying over later in the week, but as we shall see, unforseen events took over and I was left with making the most of one day and getting as much as possible done as I could.  I also had a slimming world weigh in, and after my indulgences of yesterday thought I would have blown it, but I guess the exertion of the housework worked in my favour and I lost two and a half pounds, bringing me to my lightest weight for some years.  Hurrah.

Sadly Wednesday saw me undertake numerous trains (6), cars (2), metro (1) and taxi (1) journeys to travel to and from Northumberland again for the funeral of my cousin Linda who has unexpectedly passed away.  She had been in hospital the fortnight before with COPD, discharged as she was getting better then re-admitted last week as she took a turn for the worse.  Deaths of loved ones are never easy, and sudden, unexpected passings leave you particularly unprepared for the impact they inevitably make.

It was heartbreaking to see my aunt who has dementia, wheelchair ridden and unrecognisable from the time I saw her last.  Having worked on a farm for most of her married life it was really difficult to see such a strong, capable lady reduced to a shell of her former self.  Im not sure how much she had taken in of the circumstances, but she cried when she saw us which was heartbreaking in itself. 

The service was beautiful and conducted by a humanist who outlined much of Linda's life and the people and things that she loved and held dear.  Such a sad day.

It was a long day, and we didn't stay for the wake, which I now chastise myself for, we don't get to see our wider family very often and really should have stayed longer.  A trip up in the New Year will definitely be on the cards.

Thursday was up bright and early to finish some last minute chores, make the beds for the guests and a quick visit to the supermarket.  Then it was off on the train again but this time to Nottingham to meet up with my friend Kim who had flown over from California to catch Frank Turner's 2000th show in Nottingham.  We met at the train station, then headed to the bus station to put her luggage into a locker and to meet with Amy.  We wandered up to the Old Jerusalem Inn for a spot of lunch before meeting up with Simon and Richard our friends from Wales.  After a bit of sightseeing we wandered down to Turtles, a Caribbean eatery where we met up with Lauren and  Steve, which almost completed our little band of merry people.  Simon had been working all day so met up with us just before going into the gig, so we were all there, our little circle of friends complete,

The show was great, crowd was in good form and Frank sang his heart out and gave it 150%.  I'd not done any of the dates on the current tour as I had gotten a little Franked out over the past few years, but I enjoyed this one immensely, up on the balcony looking down at the frenzy of the audience beneath.  It was a good show, although I was a little disappointed to learn that he hadn't much varied either the set or the adlibs between songs from the whole tour. I know its a strenuous life-style touring, and must be extremely tiring  but would have liked to have seen something a wee bit different for what had been built up as a very special event. Not so much for myself more for those who had taken in a gig or two of the tour.  Still, I've never done the job so I guess I shouldn't criticise.

Friday Simon, Richard, Kim and myself headed to Bakewell for a meet up with Rue and his adorable son Elijah, before Simon and Richard headed back off to Wales. We had a wander around, and a lovely lunch in the famous Bakewell Pudding Shop, one of my regular haunts when in Bakewell.  After leaving the lads, me and Kim headed off to Chatsworth for a tour of the house and gardens, which was lovely. Every Christmas the house has a theme and this year it was the Nutcracker Suite so the rooms of the tour were decorated with toy soldiers and ballerina paraphenalia, multiple christmas trees adorned with sweets, some a little on the tacky side, some very well executed, and also a real life ballet dancer performing her piece on one of the great stairways.

Its always lovely to catch up with my music friends, we never have enough time, especially when some of them live so very far away.  I'm pleased to have been able to see so many friends and family this week, albeit in very differing circumstances.  Relationships are the most precious things we have, especially when we don't get to see some of our friends and family on a day to day or even weekly basis and I don't want to take any of them for granted.  After a very lazy morning on Saturday I drove Kim to the train station for her onward journey to London before her flight home to Santa Cruz on Sunday.

Sunday has been a slow starting day after the busy-ness of the week.  With the house suddenly empty again, and feeling a little bereft my thoughts turn towards my family once again. It's the 5th anniversary of another traumatic week up in the North East which saw the end of Sylvia's illness and her passing out of this life.  I  miss her more as the years go by and still catch myself almost reaching for the phone to call her up for a chat every now and again before reality kicks in and the sense of loss that inevitably brings with it.  She was the best of sisters, and today is a time for reflection and remembering and thankfullness for being able to share a lovely person for the years that we had.

Another goodbye

Today we said goodbye to my Uncle Jimmy.  He was the youngest of my Mam's siblings a funny guy who lived his life completely on his own terms, uncompromisingly, unapologetically and lived it to the full.

Family funerals are always very emotional. For the goodbye to the deceased and for the time we have catching up with relatives we haven't seen in way too long.  A reminder that time marches on  regardless of our circumstances and a reminder to hold your loved ones close.

Sleep well Uncle Jimmy. 

This is nowhere

I love this song by Malojian from their new album This is Nowhere.

It speaks to me of the need to connect with our fellow humans.   We have a social media structure that can give us the means to interact on a daily basis, but oh how it falls so far of the mark of physically connecting with one another.

I don’t like the way
My feelings are falling
Everyone’s a robot these days

I know what you’ll say
The black pot is calling
At least I’m tryin to free my hazy head

It’s tearing up my soul
And wearing out my heart
I’m trying to get home
Cos don’t you know
This is nowhere

A social disease
And everyone’s got it
Help me find the cure now won’t ye

I’m down on my knees
I think that I’ve caught it
So much to endure now don’t ye

It’s tearing up my soul
And wearing out my heart
I’m trying to get home
Cos don’t you know
This is nowhere

I’ve been waiting for you brother but you don’t come round
So I’m going undercover to the underground

Who are you
Where are you
I’m lonely
Aren’t you lonely

It’s tearing up my soul
And wearing out my heart
I’m trying to get home
Cos don’t you know
This is nowhere

Malojian - 2016

Black Sheep and Wensleydale

Friday we saw the amaze-anti turned down somewhat. Our last full day of the holiday and our first stop was the Black Sheep Brewery in Masham.  Smaller than I thought it would be yet no less impressive for it we arrived an hour early for the next available tour so took advantage of the restaurant and beer tokens you get on entry.

The Portobello mushrooms with blue Wensleydale Sauce were out of this world but I was glad of the deep cut fries that I shared with Simon as they weren't particularly filling.  We washed them down with our free three thirds each. I had a microbrewery third chosen randomly at the bar by Simon, a blonde brew and the dark Riggwelter which I later found out meant 'rolling over' and at 8.5% I can see why. It was my favourite being smoother and having a less bitter taste than the others.

The tour takes just over an hour and is well worth doing.  The family history is interesting with Black Sheep being set up by Paul Theakston who is part of the Theakston brewery family who still have a brewery in Masham also.

We'd not visited Masham itself so far so drove into the centre and had a wander around the town square and visited the church. Simon had his wits scared half out of here when a horse came up behind him and nudged him whilst he was taking a photo.  We had locally produced Brymor  ice cream from the local cafe which was just lovely and so creamy.

We headed back to the cottage for a few hours and to see where the owners recommended eating for an evening meal then headed out to The Three Horseshoes in Wensley itself another place we had only driven through thus far.  The pub was bristling with folks, one of the locals remarking to me that they'd never seen it so busy. On leaving later on we spotted the 'happy hour' sign which not only explained the pubs popularity but also why the 2nd round of identical drinks cost nearly £3 more than the first.  Had a lovely veggie pizza which was huge and I ended up asking for a doggy bag and Simon a steak and ale pie he said was out of this world. Well he would have said that if he was one for superlatives but he isn't so I'm translating for him :-)

We took the long road home over the tops and parked up on the top of the Moors to watch the swifts and swallows again. I sat and finished off the pizza whilst overlooking Wensleydale in one direction and Coverdale in the other.

Soundtrack today was Springsteen then Simon's shuffle which included Bad Company, The Kinks, Dr Feelgood and Echo and the Bunnymen.

Haven't managed to find out what this is yet but by its weather beaten appearance it looks very very old

St Mary the Virgin, Masham

'That's easy for you to say!

So we've somehow managed to get to Thursday in our holiday already. The week is flying by. 

Today we decided to take things easy and mostly chill around the cottage. My phone is warning me it's almost out of storage space so Simon downloaded my photos to his laptop and cleared my phone of the unnecessary apps and other bits and pieces that were slowing it down.  I did a bit more embroidery.

We decided to venture out mid afternoon to go look at Jervaulx Abbey which is just this side of Masham so about a 15 min drive away. We've passed it every day whilst out and about so had it on our list of places to visit.

As you enter the grounds from the roadside, and walk over the grass to the ruins the small part of the Abbey you can see from the wrought iron gate barely prepares for what is to follow.  The site is way larger than first impressions show and is a meandering wander through ruinous rooms carpeted with grass and walls adorned with wild flowers. It truly is a magical place and so romantic. The perfect place for an outdoor summer wedding.

That the Abbey is privately owned and not administered by a heritage organisation is apparent by the arbitrary use of crumbled wall and pillar sections stacked upon each other to make the boundary wall of the site. It's as sacrilegious as it is enchanting.  As a civil engineer Simon was appalled that some of the remaining great walls of the Abbey are  supported with very little in the way of weight bearing stones with very thin sections supporting gigantic pieces of wall above.  The site is free to visit and open from dawn til dusk. The literature about the Abbey says that it's the proceeds from the  provision of an honesty box that is the only source of funding for the upkeep of the Abbey which is much in keeping with the promoted air of romance, although I did read somewhere that grants from English Heritage have been forthcoming in the past. 

A true spectacle in the Yorkshire countryside,  this corner of the county has produced daily delights which had made our holiday truly magical and a perfect foil to the distressing events reported around the world on a daily basis at the moment. Next week I will be back to reality with my job at the hospital and unprecedented political debacles abounding but for now it's good to unwind, relax and partake in some much needed recharging of the human batteries.

After our lovely walk through the Abbey we visited the tea shop adjacent. I had the most wonderful piece of sticky toffee cake. I'd have bought multiple slices to bring back with me except I don't want to blow my weight loss efforts completely this holiday. Washed down with organic Dandelion and Burdock whilst discussing with Simon alternative ideas for the distribution of land and hereditary laws, which was quite amusing.

On the way back we stopped off at Holy Trinity, Coverham another little ancient church we'd passed daily. It's set back from the road amongst a cluster of trees, it's approach by foot hidden until you almost touch the stonework.  Norman built with its square tower it has some amazing stained glass windows but the surprise and piece de resistance for me was the pristine tiled sections behind the altar and under one stained glass window.  The tiles looked as new as anything yet the border declared they were installed in 1878.  Stunningly beautiful and well worth the visit alone.

On leaving the church and wandering around the graveyard I noticed that my necklace had come undone and the small hand made heart pendant had fallen off. I was upset as it was a present from Simon on my last birthday. It took some doing but we eventually found it nestling amongst the grass. I was so relieved. The silver chain had snapped close to the clasp so I'll need to replace that when I get home.

I spent a lot of time in the conservatory this evening just watching the rabbits playing in the field their little white tails bobbing up and down. The swallows and swifts swooping and gliding outside the window are enchanting. I will be sad to go home on Saturday.   I'd love to see these views in the different seasons so hopefully we can book a long weekend in the autumn. Despite getting out and about every day it has been the most relaxing holiday ever with so much to do just a short distance away. We will leave having a list of things we didn't get to do but that's ok because we will be definitely be back.

Today's soundtrack was Pauline's shuffle including Future Kings of Spain, TV Smith, The La's and Jason Isbell.

York

We've had a brilliant week so far but today was the day I had really been waiting for.  Forecast for light rain we packed our Kagools and suncream and set off in a southerly direction on the hour's drive to York.

We used the park and ride and got the bus to the station then wandered down to the National Railway Museum. The museum is a great resource housing some amazing trains and carriages. The Mallard, an engine and carriage of a Japanese Bullet train, old Royal Mail train and a Euro Star carriage amongst them.  There's loads of memorabilia too, signage, furniture, stained glass panels and even a decorative cast iron toilet screen.  We enjoyed wandering around although it was very hot and we only lasted about an hour before heading into York for some light refreshments. 

We had a leisurely lunch at a small cafe called Burr which I'd highly recommend. The falafel wraps were lovely and they have an extensive home made cake section which Simon partook of.

We did a bit of browsing and some clothes trying on but that didn't last too long as it was way too hot for those sort of shenanigans so we found a pub and indulged in more liquid refreshments. It had greyed over and looked like rain and the covered courtyard of the Old White Swan was a perfect choice.

On one of my solo visits to York a few years back I'd done the Snickelway trail which follows around 3 miles of ginnels and alleyways throughout the town. Some of them had revealed hidden gems and the pub was right next to one which housed a 12th Century church that I had happened upon on that visit.    Holy Trinity on Goodramgate is one of 45 mediaeval churches in the parish of York and has rare stained glass windows the oldest dating back to 1470. It's the closest you will get to a post-reformation church.  Since my last visit there has been the addition of a huge bell situated outside the main entrance with the words 'Ring for peace' carved into its wooden frame. I must investigate how and why it's there.

We had another wander heading towards the Minister and found the entrance to the gardens of the Treasurer's House which are open to the public and truly are an oasis of peace and quiet.  We sat there for a while soaking up the sun, the threatened rain showers having failed to materialise. We then headed off through the shambles in search of a needlework shop for some black embroidery thread as a finishing touch to the cacti designs. However that little quest was fruitless so we made our way to The Hole in the Wall pub for, yes, more liquid refreshment and an early tea.  Its become my traditional evening meal pub whilst visiting York,  and the food is good so was keen to take Simon.

We got back to the cottage around 7.30 so had a full day out with my York cravings satisfied until the next time.

Today's soundtrack was mainly alcoholic ramblings with a few ouches thrown in here and there.

Forbidden Pleasures

We had a slow start to what looked to be an even hotter day than yesterday.  I started the 2nd cacti cross before heading out for today's adventure.

Our destination was The Forbidden Corner.  Set in acres of stunning countryside Forbidden Corner is a myriad of trails, tunnels, staircases and ramparts. All are littered with statues, sculptures, fountains, giants, devils, skeletons, crystals, animals and revolving floors for you to find and tick off the accompanying leaflet. Beware though none of them are in order and for each trail or passageway there are three others you could choose. 

The fantasy playground was built by C R Armstrong as a folly to entertain his friends and family but was soon opened to the public due to overwhelming demand. Additional parts have been added over the years making this a truly extensive treasure trail and no expense spared on the buildings and artefacts littered throughout.

It really is an amazing place, suitable for all the family. I was a bit worried it would be child-centric and that we would look out of place without any kids with us but that was totally unfounded as there were people of all ages enjoying the adventure. You just need to be young at heart and have a sense of fun.

It took us just shy of three hours to complete the challenge although we were short of 4 ticks from our list. To say Simon is a completist is an understatement yet he was happy to let the last few go. Once out through the exit though there were still a few surprises to find.

Forbidden Corner can be found at Coverdale in North Yorkshire.

We headed out to Leyburn to get some supplies before making our way back to the cottage to put our feet up for a few hours.

For tea we headed into Middleham and ate at Richard III.  The interior was very shabby and the décor littered with photos of successful horses from the local stables. The home cooked food was really nice though and it was a good way to end a brilliant day.

Today's soundtrack was mainly laughter.

Richmond

Was up fairly early so finished the first of the cross stitch cacti.  Didn't feel so good with a poorly tummy so we got off to a slow start and left for a planned trip to Richmond about 1pm when I started to feel better. We parked alongside the river which looked so welcoming on what turns out to be the hottest day of the year thus far. 

We walked up the steep winding road to the castle passing lovely cottages.  The castle was built just after the battle of Hastings by Alan of Brittany, a relative of William the Conqueror to strengthen the Norman hold on the north of England.  Overlooking both the river and the town it afforded some cracking views of the surrounding area.  I particularly loved the garden and it was easy to imagine courtiers relaxing there on a similarly sunny day in years past. The garden is still well maintained although full of flowers and the area which would once have grown vegetables to feed the residents of the castle and herbs for medicinal purposes is now a very neatly manicured lawn.

Afterwards we wandered into the town for a late lunch and settled on the Red House Hotel.  I had a gorgeous halloumi in beer batter sandwich with roast vegetables, fries and coleslaw. I'm not too keen on the current trend to serve things in brioche buns which are too crunchy and not easy to eat. I'd have preferred a soft bap but other than that it was lovely and washed down well with a Golden Sheep bitter shandy

When we got back to the cottage we drove past to see what was further up the hill.  The village is literally two streets at right angles to each other.  Beyond that is glorious Yorkshire moorland full of sheep and nesting birds and we could see a lot of the route we'd travelled earlier in the day.

We turned round to come back to the cottage which is when I noticed the red telephone box we'd passed on the way up. The other side had a sign saying 'Book Swap'. I was very excited as I've seen these things posted on Facebook but never encountered one in real life before so once we parked up I picked up my phone and camera and wandered up there to take some pictures.

It was a delightful surprise and the perfect way to finish the day out.

We watched The Intern after tea with Ann Hathaway and Robert De Niro Alot of De Niro's recent films are about the challenges facing older people post-career and family raising and decry a bygone age of chivalry and snappy dressing. The Intern touches on those as well as the role the more mature person has to play in a society so geared up to youthfulness. A lovely gentle watch.

Today's soundtrack was the Pauline ipod shuffle which included Skinny Lister, Jason Isbell, John Fulbright and Don Henley.

Mostly Masham

Today started off dull but quickly brightened up.  Headed off to Masham for their Steam Rally.  Lots of stalls selling strange and wonderful things. Bought a cast iron  rail sign from Sheffield for our next door neighbours as a thank you for feeding our cats while we are away. They are big rail enthusiasts and have a few such plaques in their home bar already.

Two stall holders stood out. one chap collected oil cans complete with model of the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. He was impressed I got the connection. Or maybe more that I was the only person all day who mentioned it. He must have had a couple of thousand different oil cans there which are a mere fraction of the 15,000 that he owns.

The other chap I spoke to collected gramophones. He played a couple of his cylinders which he explained were made from wax with grooves in and worked with a stylus much like vinyl records do. Like vinyl they are easily damaged and also prone to cracking.  Given that both systems he played were over 100 years old they sounded remarkably clear.

Took loads of pics of the vintage vehicles, fire engines, motorbikes, trucks and caravans but they need downloading from my camera so I'll add some when we get home.

Wandered back to the cottage mid afternoon and so started some embroidery for Becky and Rob's spare bedroom (cacti designs to fit their Mexican theme!) whilst Simon listened to the golf on the radio.

Made pasta with pesto, mushrooms and parmesan with garlic flat bread for tea which we ate in the conservatory while watching the rabbits in the garden chasing each other around and counting the different birds that were visiting the garden.  So far we've had sparrows, wood pigeons, starlings, wagtails, doves, blue tits, swallows and swifts.

Simon proceeded to whoop me at Backgammon. Boo.

Tonight's soundtrack was mainly Ryan Adams.

Holidays at last!

After 3 months of work, study and house renovation we are finally on a week's holiday. I guess we could have chosen anywhere. A last minute break in Italy, Spain or the English Lake District did appeal but when I cleared my head and listened to my inner voice I was longing for some North Yorkshire countryside. No idea why but driving over to Wensleydale/Coverdale I was getting the big feels in my tummy which I'm taking as a good sign.

The non-working  'farm' cottage we have rented is delightful. Just the right size for the two of us although it sleeps 4. With a beautiful small entrance conservatory with stunning views over the nearby hills we're already planning our first trek from here.

This weekend there is a Steam Rally just down the road and we passed a few vintage lorries and tractors on the way here who were signing out for the night. I think that will be tomorrow's excursion. Hopefully it will include a beer tent :-)

Simon, who apparently can't live without music,  cough,  has bought some ipod shuffles each containing various play lists. Tonight we're  chilling listening to Bruce Springsteen on shuffle and demolishing the 3 bottles of wine we picked up en route.

Bliss.

Meeting Bob

It's funny how things turn out.  I like to take a photo or two when I go out on my walks around the town but short of a pink shoe on a wall there wasn't anything that inspired me today.  I missed a turn off on my route which would make the walk shorter so deviated towards the end and headed home from a different direction than I intended. I'm so glad I did. 

There was an old chap at the top of the lane near our road who said hello and remarked on the view. We got chatting and he said he was born in Dronfield 74 years ago. I said he must have seen some changes in that time. What followed was a delightful local history lesson. 

He told me that the place we were standing used to be called Scrater's Lane, scrater's being an old word for 'at the bottom of the tree' as in 'very poor' and the lane is where the poorest people of Dronfield used to live.  Here's a picture of the lane now.  Behind the hedge to the left of the photo are a few large detached houses. It's quite a little secluded enclave and so very different to how Bob remembers it.

 

There's a house at the bottom end of the lane called The Monkey House and I have vivid memories of pushing the girls in their prams up there and stopping to look at the cage of monkeys they had in the garden. The house is under different ownership now, has been spruced up and the monkeys are long gone. People usually think we are making it up when we tell them about it, it was very strange thing to have in the middle of our small town.

Bob walked me to the top of the lane which is adjacent to the top of our street and told me that our road used to be a field with horses. Bob grew up with one of my neighbours Frank, and he remembers when one of the horses bit Frank on the chest when he was around 7 years old. Amazingly Frank now lives almost on the exact same spot so I guess he wasn't too traumatised by it.

 

There are two really old cottages at the top of our road that I must have passed a thousand times over the past 30 years. I knew one used to be a local shop as someone pointed out the thick glass windows in the wall which were serving windows. What I hadn't paid attention to was the boarded up window and door and the dilapidated shop sign which were still there. The sign said 'SMELTS', and if you get really close up to it you can still see the faint outline of the writing.I'd walked passed it so many times and just not seen it. I can only guess my focus was on the post box when going down the hill, and on looking forward to getting to the top of the steep hill when climbing up it! It just goes to show that looking at things from a different vantage point from normal can be quite revealing. Here's what is left of the shop now turned into two cottages. The cottages are privately owned and it's a wonder that the owners haven't bricked the old frontage up by now.  I'm really glad they haven't though and hope that future owners leave it too as a sign from an almost forgotten past.

I was such a pleasure to meet Bob, as much for it being unexpected as for the stories that he told me.   I learned a little more about my locality and  got my interesting photos in the end. 

Tempus Fugit!!

It flies, it flies

Can hardly believe how fast the past few weeks have gone.

I've been so busy.

Done some pottering on the house which is good. We have the electricians in today until the end of the week. Quite excited to get this bit done because then we can go almost full steam ahead on painting and creating and seeing some of the fruits of our labours.  Plasterer is booked for next week and he is going to do the rendering at the front of the house too, which is a relief as the first chap never got back to us.   

My very final Heritage assignment was submitted last week amidst much jubilation on my behalf.  Tomorrow I start revising for the exam my last hurdle to get over this year.  Then I can assign all of these lovely books to the bookcase where they shall sit and look pretty gathering dust.

I received a very thoughtful gift from Lily a few weeks ago that I had meant to post about. I saw the book when it first came out and meant to get around to buying it but like a lot of things it slipped my mind. So it was a delightful present to receive.  There are some great tips in there for would-be runners like myself, not just about running, but about nutrition and having the right mental attitude. A very useful gift indeed. 

The end of April saw two wonderful gigs. The first being Richmond Fontaine at the Greystones in Sheffield, which, despite being about 7 miles away from me,  is fast becoming my local in that it's the pub I've spent most time in this year.  All band related I quickly add.  I don't often go to gigs on my own but sometimes there is someone who I really don't want to miss so I bite the bullet.  It's times like these that mobile phones and social media come into their own, something to do in the interval when everyone else there seems to be in a group and there's no-one to chat to.  Anyway, back to the gig.  The support was Fernando, a stocky grey haired troubadour  originating from Argentina.  He played acoustic guitar backed up by Daniel Eccles on electric guitar. A worthy support with some great tunes and lots of interesting banter between songs.  Best part of the set was Fernando and Dan really digging into the music with an intense face to face play down.

Willy Vlautin

Dan then joined the line up of Richmond Fontaine for their set which consisted of 3/4 of the new album 'You can't go back if there's nothing to go back to' and some back catalogue tunes.  It was great to see Willy Vlautin, Sean Oldham and Freddy Trujillo who I'd seen in the same venue last year in their Delines incarnation.  Whilst Willy writes songs for both the bands, and his subject matter is the down and out and less than angelic there's a very different feel to each of the bands.  Willy is lead vocals for Richmond Fontaine, I love his voice, which has a  kind of southern, slow, adolescent vibe to it.  As well as the stories in the songs there are plenty of anecdotes in between to keep us smiling.  Rumour has it this was their penultimate tour, with a few last dates coming our way in October. I'm sad I only really just got going with them, although finding some consolation in the hope of some more Delines shows in the future and happy that Sheffield is one of their go back to places.

The second gig of the month saw the return of the much missed Milburn.  A local Sheffield band who parted company around 8 years ago.  Any subsequent gig that any ex-member of Milburn undertook would hear the crowd shouting 'Milburn, Milburn, so it was thrilling that they decided to do a four night residency at the 02 in Sheffield.  Becky and Rob went to all four shows, Simon made three, and despite me having tickets for two I decided to restrict it to just the one night. It was a great night too, so good to hear all the old songs and Sheffield celebrated so well. It was great to see the smiles on the lads faces too as they performed on stage, so obviously humbled and happy that the Milburn legacy has lasted so long.   

Milburn

Work has been extremely busy and tiring recently. We are way behind with letters, which means those of us who are fairly up to date have to help out other departments.  I don't mind helping, sometimes its a nice change to type about  people with  ailments other than arthritis. It's slower work  getting used to new voices and new terminology and consequently a lot more intense.  We barely come up for breath and I swear our little fingers have smoke coming from them some days. Perhaps not surprising I've not felt up to blogging much recently, sometimes the last thing you want to do when you get home is sit in front of a computer screen again. Still, tomorrow sees the end of this shift pattern although it will be straight into revision mode for the next lot of days off.

Just three more weeks though!!

And on the house front!

We have most of the prep work done on the house now.  I sanded down the woodwork in the living room at the weekend, and both me and Becky have done some painting.  The airing cupboard, under stairs cupboard and back porch are now brilliant white, making them a lot brighter than they were.  None of which were high priority jobs but much needed relief after all the wallpaper removal. 

We're close to appointing an electrician and have taken the decision to have the whole house rewired. I think this is wise on two fronts, firstly the house still has its original wiring and the house is as old as me  so that's an no brainer really. Secondly if we leave it a year down the line (which was an idea) we're causing ourselves more decorating work on top of what we will have just done.  Which will be disruptive for Becky and Rob if they stay there longer term.  If they decide they want to move on in a year or two and we decide to rent it out then by law we need a Part P Certificate and we might as well get that now rather than wait when we don't know what the situation will be in a couple of years time.  Financially we need to bite the bullet and just get it done.

We've also been talking to a guy about the rendering at the front of the house which has a gaping hole in it.  His unofficial quote is a lot less than we expected it to be but we will see what he comes back with when he's actually looked at the pictures we sent.

So there isn't too much that we can be doing at the moment until the re-wiring is done, hopefully that will be done and dusted in the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile we get a wee bit of time off from renovation work before we head into full scale decorating mode.  Which I'm really looking forward to. Seeing the house transformed into something livable will be really rewarding.

As an aside but kind of related, I've been thinking a lot about coincidences and synchronicity the past month or so.  On the day that we picked up the keys for the house, I bumped into my old landlady and friend Janet who I hadn't seen for  couple of years.  Turns out they had done exactly the same as us, bought a house to decorate and for their son in Leeds to rent, and picked their keys up the day before.  I need to start a book of these events.  Timing really is a strange and wonderful thing.

 

Between the heart and the head

Got my assignment mark and comments back this morning.   A middling 63% which is two points more than my previous assignment which is something I guess and another pass (pass is 40%).  I'm happy enough with that.  On this module I open the comments with one eye half closed and my body language screaming 'do I really have to read this?'.   This one was more positive insofar as I finally understand where I could be doing better.  I love the case studies that we are looking at and find them fascinating, and I will never view heritage sites in the same way again.   It's the theory behind it all that I'm struggling with.  The values attributed to why a particular monument, site, or community are considered worthy of heritage.  There are so many layers to it all!   I 'get it' on an instinctive level, but trying to translate that into a workable essay is where I find it really difficult.  Hopefully now that I realise that, it's something I can focus on for my last assignment and, more importantly, the revision for my exam.

Two more weeks left of reading to do, one assignment and then revision time.  One step closer to finishing this year though ... hurrah!

Freedom!

So I've have finally come to the end of my working week and I start my work week off. I can't remember the last time my time off didn't involve studying for assignments.  Whilst I have one week's reading to do for Uni, my next assignment isn't due in until the beginning of May and with the end of this course in sight, I have an increasing sense of freedom!!   That said, I have a list as long as my arm of things I need to/want to/could be doing.  

Must do's are sorting out the craft cupboard downstairs and finding another home for the bits I keep. Long overdue and will make Simon very, very happy!!

We'll be spending the weekend at Crispin Drive, moving onto the next stage, which is sanding down the ceiling and woodwork.  I hope to spend a bit of time there before then if possible to strip the wallpaper off the walls in the  hall, we will see. One whole side of the wall is artexed, and after reading up on the best way to remove it discovered that pre-1980's artex was made with asbestos.  As we have no idea how long the artex has been there (it looks pretty old though), we've decided the best option is to get a plasterer in to skim the lot.  A few of the ceilings in the house are artexed too, not my choice of covering I must say, but Becky doesn't mind it, so we will just paint them. The asbestos is harmless so long as it's not disturbed by scraping so a lick of paint should suffice.

On Monday night we acquired another piece of furniture for the house, or rather three!!  Freecycle came up trumps this time and Becky found a nest of tables, free to a good home, in Chesterfield so I dutifully picked them up for her on the way home from work.  The chap who gave them to us said his father had brought them over from India many, many years ago. It's nice to know they have a little bit of history.  They need a little bit of attention and I suspect they will end up painted over some trendy colour, but I love the shape of them, especially the legs.

Bodgy the Builder

Simon and Becky went to do a couple of hours work at Crispin Drive tonight.  One of the fittings on the towel radiator in the bathroom was loose so Simon decided to investigate why.  Like in many semi-detached houses of its age, it turns out that the toilet and bathroom had once been separate rooms and someone, somewhere along the line had knocked them into one.  Except this is how they tackled the hole where the toilet door use to be.

Yes, they left the door in situ, tiled over it  on one side, the stuck some blocks  on it to attach the radiator screws to on the other.  They boarded the whole thing up with a sheet of plyboard and wallpapered over it. Typical of the DIY efforts that we keep finding in the house.  Looks like Simon's wall building skills will be put to use again soon.  We're gonna have to source some tiles the same as those already in the bathroom, which was one of the rooms we weren't intending doing much too, but I guess we could have found worse DIY disasters.  We still might!

Arctic Chills

I expected to wake up full of aches and pains after the walk we did yesterday, and after intending to have a long lie in, actually woke up at 7.30.

Left Becky and Rob to sleep whilst I did a bit of housework, which I'd been neglecting due to all the other stuff that has gone off this week.

Spent the afternoon at the new house. Took the paint steamer this time wow, it make much lighter work of getting rid of all that wallpaper.  So now we have 3 bedrooms and a living room stripped and ready to sand down and poly-filler.

When we finished, I was just about to get into the car when I noticed this unusual daisy on the grass verge. Never seen anything like it before and none of the other daisies around it had the same marking on it. At first I thought it was a little ladybird snuggling into the flower, so took this pic.  It was only when I zoomed in on it later on that I realised that it was part of the flower.

Went for some tea with Becky and Rob before dropping them off home - delicious pizzas with really unusual toppings. Highly recommended:

There we were, sat minding our own business when Becky spied an Arctic Monkey out of the window.  There he was!  Casually going to the corner shop for a pint of milk!  Well, we just had to didn't we? Rob and me legged it out of the restaurant and laid in wait for him to come out.  Rob (and Becky) are HUGE Arctic Monkey fans, and whilst Becky has met some of them already, Rob hadn't so we couldn't let the opportunity pass.  Not sure what Nick thought about being accosted outside of his local convenience store but he was very gracious about it all.

Brilliant end to a really great weekend.

Super Saturday

Had  fab day out walking with friends.  The weather was glorious - sunny but not too warm - perfect walking weather.

We did just short of 7 miles of easy terrain as one of the lads had a bad knees, so we didn't want too many inclines.

 We saw some lovely Derbyshire scenery

And Monty came too!!

We stopped for a pint at The Grouse at Froggatt and sat in their lovely beer garden

Then finished the walk and drove to The Travellers Rest at Bradwell for a well earned lunch/tea. I'd definitely recommend it for somewhere to eat if you are out in the Peak District.  Great food and great value.  And lots of wine :-)

How crazy is our English weather though?  After that wonderful sunshine we'd had all day, it started to hail on the way home!  Madness.


Another great day out with our walking, talking, drinking pals.

Fooked Friday

Another day at work and I was knackered by the time I got home.  Friday night consisted of binge watching Nashville (I am so far behind) and drinking wine.  In bed.

I have to say, I can totally see what Raynor sees in Deacon.

Shocked at the complete cliff hanger ending to Series 3 though.

Thrifty Thursday

Was intending going for my run once I got home from work but we had an appointment with a roofer at the new house at 5.30 so that didn't happen. I consoled myself that doing a couple more hours of wallpaper stripping still counted as exercise so that'll do for today.

Roofer gave us a good quote for sorting the ridge tiles, some of which you can see daylight through, and he should be able to do it in the next couple of weeks so that's a goer.

Finished stripping the front room whilst Rob tackled the spare bedroom and Simon and Becky went off to pick up a second hand IKEA bed frame from Hillsborough for £20.

Its similar to this one, only the slats on the bedhead are higher up and it's white. It needs a coat of white spray paint, but is sound as a pound otherwise.