Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Published Tuesday, May 30, 2023 by with 0 comment

Andy and Em's Wedding - Late May Bank Holiday 2023

James, Amy and Madeline had arrived on Friday but as I got home late from Rotterdam I didn't see them. Got up early on Saturday and we all went into town in the morning. In the afternoon we started our exploration of Reading's revamped childrens play equipement with a trip to Coley Park. All good except the swings which have very short chains.
I did a BbQ for tea. On Sunday I went to RSAC to do a bit of an audit of the sound equipment. In the afternoon we went to the Robert Hewitt playground which in the past has always been  empty but now its been done up it was very busy.
We went down the big slide. M cooked a roast chicken for tea. Watched a good film called WALL-E.  On Monday morning me and Amy took Madeline to the new soft play area at Palmer Park where we did more sliding. Then we went to the nearby outdoor play area. Chilled out a bit in the afternoon and played with duplo. Amy cooked a tuna pasta bake. On Tuesday morning I was looking after Madeline by myself and went off early to the Robert Hewitt playground only to find it closed. Had to head for Coley Park instead and stopped off at the Dover Street playground on the way back. There were 3 Asian women using the gym area at Coley Park which surprised me. M and James took Madeline out in the afternoon so I took advantage and did a bit of guitar practice. On Wednesday I took Madeline to the Robert Hewitt playground and this time it was open.
There was a playground inspector checking the equipment which included measuring the distance between the toadstools for some reason.
Madeline managed to climb the stairs to the slide but I couldn't video it as my phone wouldn't unlock. I googled how to unlock but my phone wasn't set up correctly to do it and I didn't know my Samsung account password. I tried their chatbot and it suggested restarting my phone which you can do by pressing on/off and volume down for 10 to 15 seconds and that cleared it. I also got a response about my password issue query so pretty good customer support by Samsung I reckon and I now have my phone setup so I can unlock it. JAM went to visit Josh, Vicki and Isla in the afternoon so an opportunity for more guitar practice. M spent most of the day at BRO. On Thursday morning I took Madeline to the Courage Park where there is a good slide. We popped in at Robert Hewitt on the way back. She's getting good at climbing. Had a band practice in the afternoon. Went well. James and Amy went to The Biscuit Factory via Blue Collar. So M was looking after Madeline and put her to bed. She also cooked a fine beef casserole. A good time was had by all. On Friday me and M walked to RISC with Madeline and bought a few bits and pieces for her then walked back via Coley Park. JAM went to the Last Crumb late afternoon to meet up with the Caversham gang. I went to RSAC where I was doing sound with Graham. It was one of Sid Siddle's Club Velocity gigs and excellent as usual. Only 2 artists as opposed to the normal 3 but both really good. First up was Darcey Hope. A singer song writer with a guitar. Great voice, a bit like Joni Michell and really good songs. The headliners, Sean McGowan and his band, were very different. Like Billy Bragg with a really good punk band backing him. All really friendly, helpful people too. I also learnt a few things. They wanted their guitars, bass and drums (just the kick) miced up. Mainly so they could get everything in the monitors. I'd always thought this to be a real pain but it was actually quite good on the desk as I had more control. On Saturday morning JAM went to the Robert Hewitt park and Madeline had crackers and cheese when she got back.
They then caught a train to Bristol for Andy and Em's wedding. Meanwhile I drove to The Chequers in Berrick Salome for a Cracking Up gig. We were playing at Rokefest.
They had a professional sound man there so all the instruments were miced up and coming through the monitors. The first time we've had that. Only one monitor channel though. We did get a sound check as we got there early and the first act was just a singer with backing tracks on a laptop. Me and Mike both found it difficult to here our guitars. I kept asking for more of mine in the monitors.  We did OK though. Had to get off really quickly so the next band could get on. Seemed like a nice event, it was for charity. Everyone was very friendly and helpful. I then drove to Bristol to meet the Ounsley clan in a restaurant. Managed to park right outside. After the meal I drove M and Tom and Sally to a pub where a lot of the Kelly clan were watching Luton vs Coventry in the Championship playoff final. I dropped stuff off at the hotel and got to the pub just after the Hatters had won on penalties so everyone was in high spirits. Unfortunately Reading Women were relegated that afternoon as well. Sunday was the wedding at an amazing deconsecrated church called The Mount Without.
After the ceremony we were led by a brass band to a nearby park for drinks and games. Unfortunately the Kellys lost to the Smiths at tug of war.
We then went back the venue which  had been laid out for the reception.
The food was excellent provided by a local Italian restaurant. Andy had proposed using a ring made of tin foil so to mark the occasion they provided some for us to decorate ourselves. 
Afterwards there was dancing in the crypt.
A great do. Got up early on Monday and was back home just after 9 30. Tom and Sally popped in on their way back so we chilled out in the garden and then had pizzas cooked by Tom with little help from me. Great way to round things off. Unfortunately we heard from Jeannie that Andy is seriously ill in hospital with Guillain-Barré syndrome. He"s in intensive care and is sedated. Bad news indeed. JAM left about 8am on Tuesday so spent the day putting the house back to normal.
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Saturday, May 20, 2023

Published Saturday, May 20, 2023 by with 0 comment

Rotterdam - May 2023

Spent Monday house cleaning and preparing for Madeline's arrival. Sally has been for another scan and her baby is 6 12 which us already heavier than his or her dad and the same as Madeline when she was born. On Tuesday got Eurostar to Rotterdam for our cycling trip. Good journey with no hassle. We were staying in the same hotel as Tom and Sally a few months ago. 
Its got swings
Its just opposite the  cruise terminal where they get some pretty big ships.
The picture also gives an indication of the wakey architecture round here.
Did a walk in the evening and sussed out some bikes for hire from the hotel. Had a beer in a place Tom had recommended, good pizzas in the Happy Italian followed by a beer in the Food Hallen. On Wednesday we did a ride out along the Rhine to Hoek van Holland and back via Delft. It was a bit tricky navigating out of town but well worth it when we got down to the river.

They were getting ready for some sort of festival on the beach.


The centre of Delft was very picturesque with a slight lean on the church tower.

Had a couple of tasty local beers in a bar near the church and had a pleasant ride back a lot of which was along canals. It was gone 8 when we got back so this time had pasta at the Happy Italian. Rounded off with a beer in the Food Hallen. It was hard to say how far we'd cycled but given we were un the saddle for about 7 hours even at 7 mph that's 50 miles. On Thursday we cycled the other way along the Rhine (but not very close to it) until we reached a ferry over to a nature reserve.
We had discovered it was a bank holiday fir ascension and lits of places seem to be shut so we stopped off at a supermarket we found open for lunch supplies that we ate by a lake. We stopped off in Dordrecht on the way back and had a beer by a harbour in the old centre. Got back quite late again and tried to find somewhere different to eat clise by but ended up in Happy Italy again. This was followed by the obligatory beer in the Food Hall. We probably did about 45 miles. We spent Friday was sight seeing on our bikes. We startes off near the hotel with the New York Hotel where people stayed before emigrating to the states.
There's also this monument about the same thing
We then followed recommendations from Lonely Planet. We started off in the museum park which had this.
You can see us in this one. Were in the 7th square up left of centre. Kelvin has a white hat.
The museum we'd come to see was closed and house we'd come to see was no great shakes. We poked our noses in at a couple of other museums but you needed to pay to get in so didn't bother. Nice area though.  Next was the Rotterdam Museum which was about the bombing and  occupation in 1940 to the liberation in 1945.
Then headed off along a canal to Van Nelle Fabriek, a disused factory.
It was opposite this building which is actually a prison.
We then headed back into town to the market hall.
Had pinchos for lunch inside. There are other interesting modern buildings around and an old church.
We then headed off back to the hotel to return the bikes and got a tram to the station. As we were only making the one relatively short trip the conductor didn't charge us. We had a bit of time to kill so found a beer garden and had a really nice pint in the sun. Straight forward journey back and got home just after 11pm. 

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Monday, May 15, 2023

Published Monday, May 15, 2023 by with 0 comment

Sunday 14th May 2023

Went on a fishing trip with Howie and Eddie on Tuesday.
Howie is a member of the Trafalgar boat club in Portsmouth so we went out from there. It was really interesting just visiting all the fishing spots seeing the sights. We were primarily lure fishing for bass. Howie caught one early on but it was too small to keep. I also nearly landed a small one but it came off at the last minute. We were using barbless hooks. We bottom fished at lunch time and I caught a dogfish and also lost one. Howie also caught one and a nice black bream that he kept for eating. Here's a few of the sights.
The Spinnacker

Old fort that was a hotel for a while

HMS Queen Elizabeth I think

HMS Warrior

A pilot boat

Obligatory shot of the wake

Weather was good apart from a brief light shower around lunch time. A great day out. Dodged the showers on Wednesday to put up new lights by the back door. Played around with some acoustic blues ideas in D tuning. On Thursday I stripped the ivy off the judas tree in the morning. It was a very sunny afternoon so I did the Fobney Meadow walk. On the way I spotted they'd put the plaques on the posts in Holybrook Nook.


It was quite flooded in the meadow but I figured as I was wearing shorts it was only my boots and socks that would get wet so I went for it.

I decided to start keeping a record of birds I've seen, so here it is. Today's highlights were a whitethroat and a greater spotted woodpecker down by the Kennet. Did my Playhatch ride on Friday morning then worked on my blues song. Lazy day for me on Saturday, recorded my song. M spent the day gardening and then made an excellent homemade pasta dish. Then settled down to watch Eurovision. Won by Sweden. Did a society walk on Sunday organised by Andy based mainly in the woods around the Cherry Tree at Stoke Row. Lots of bluebells.
Had a drink in the garden when we got back.

Put up the stair gates later in preparation for Madeline's visit.
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Tuesday, May 02, 2023

Published Tuesday, May 02, 2023 by with 0 comment

Coronation Bank Holiday - May 2023

Did my 5 hills ride on Tuesday but unfortunately got a puncture. I think it's time for some new tyres. Cleaned up the blue metal chairs with the jet wash in preparation for painting. Cooked a nice tea of smoked haddock gratin but unfortunately dropped it. Painted the chairs on Wednesday then went up to King's Place to see Chris Smither. Got the Elizabeth line to TCR and walked from there. Its always interesting walking through London. Came across TUC, British Museum, RADA, Birbeck College and lots of other university buildings. This included Endsliegh St which I assume Endsliegh Insurance was named after which was done by the NUS back in the day. In fact its still going. Had a pint in The Rocket where James used to frequent.
Then headed of to explore the area round the back of Kings Cross. An amazing development of bars, restaurants, flats a large Google office. Starts at the back of the station and continues the other side of the canal. Anyone thinking people have moved out of cities because of covid should pay a visit. Chris Smither was pretty good but I'd forgotten what a sterile venue Kings Place is. Good sound but just no atmosphere. Managed to catch the delayed 22 48 so was back home just after 11 30. I had an embarrassing start to the day on Thursday as I was woken up by my bin day alarm. I spent a couple of minutes trying to switch it off and even eventually unplugged the alarm clock but it kept going. At this point M pointed out the alarm was on my phone. Went to vote in the morning before breakfast. Jet washed the log box and we've now moved it.
Went for a bird watching walk in Fobney Meadows to try out my new bins. Apart from the regular stuff saw a shoveler, little egret, black cap, sedge warbler, swallow, sand martin and swift, the first of the year. M also heard swifts here. A boardwalk has been put down in the boggy section making it easier to get back to the disused railway line. 
The footpath back to Coley has also been fenced off. Not sure whether thats an improvement or not.
No cows yet but I assume this is caused by badgers.
It was first Thursday drinks in the evening in the Greyfriar which was fun but slightly overshadowed by the fact that Huddersfield beat Sheffield United so URZ are now relegated to League 1. Bit of housework and a swim on Friday. A good start to the day on Saturday, got 8 in the Guardian quiz. It was the Are You Listening festival and as I was doing sound at RSAC I went down to St Lawerences just after 12 to pick up wristbands and T-shirts etc for everyone. Tom and Sally arrived just after I got back. I went down to RSAC at 2 30 to start setting up with James. We got it all done and the first band sound checked before doors at 5. It was really busy for the first band, Gag Salon, who were Indie Rock I guess. Slightly less crowded for the next 2, Tiece and the Pieces and Ashkat. Tiece is a great singer so it's all about her voice but great songs and excellent backing band. Ashkat started off quite ethereal but got a bit more funky later on. It was their first gig. All 3 were excellent. James is the top sound man (he even has his own key) so he ran the show once we'd got set up. We handed over just after 8. Walked down to St Lawrences with Kevin and Adrienne to see TVAM. Met up with Jack, Anna, Ewan and Charlotte and later Tom. Then Penno and Matt. Moved to the front where it was surprisingly roomy. They are a 3 piece, guitar, drums and keys with quite a spacey sound. Also back projected films with lyrics. After that moved to the Turtle for Shelf Lives. I'd played a bit fir Tom and he predicted it would a singer and guitarist with backing track and he was spot on. Good though but we didn't catch much. Stayed for DEADLETTER. Kieth and Fiona were already at the front so we joined them. They were brilliant. A 6 piece, 2 guitars, bass, drums, sax and a very charismatic singer.  A very full sound that sometimes I dont like but they make it work. Some nice interplay between sax and guitar. A bit Yardact like. Singer kept roaming into the audience. It got a bit lively towards the end. Top stuff, they'll go places. After that me and Tom went back to the church for Blood Honey. We met up with Tom's make Jo and his partner and Adam who Tom used to work with. JR was also in there with one of his lads and a few people from RSAC. They were good especially when we got diwn the front as the sound was better. Very popular and people obviously knew their songs as they were singing along. Couldn't top DEADLETTER though. I went home after that. Great day. M also went to Cote with Sally for dinner. On Sunday Cracking Up were playing at the Checkendon Coronation party. We were on at 1:15 just before the dog show at 2:15. 
There weren't many there for the opening act but it filled up when the sun came out. We played OK but there were a few cock ups.
The dog show judges were Lord and Lady Woodhouse. It could only happen in Oxfordshire. The compare seemed to think they were something to do with Barbara Woodhouse who was a TV dog trainer but there's no relation that I can see. Tom and Sally were at a Wise family do and got back about 11. I then probably had one too many nightcaps. They went to the Lido for a swim and lunch and then headed off. We had a quiet day.
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