A Stunning Victory

L has an infection but manages to get a GP appointment and antibiotics on a free pensioners prescription. As I am cycling later, Daughter helps out by walking the Lad but he’s not happy with that arrangement and downs tools on her. Mind you he does always cause a commotion when L walks him on a Monday, he really doesn’t like me cycling. 

Tuesday is Race Three of the Grand Prix series at Colwick where I find the speed bumps really hurt my knees until I have the bright idea to run around them on the second lap. It’s a shame that didn’t occur to me on the first lap. I have also gone back to my old training shoes for the extra cushioning for my knees but instead I get blisters. Now I remember why I bought the new shoes. This time I easily beat my rival. L comes to support and is looking a lot brighter. 

So much brighter that she is work, at the Gulag, briefly on Wednesday with a boss who clearly would rather be watching the cricket. By the way, England won the toss and are bowling. I’m sure L has a good book to hand and she does manage to escape to the gym by early afternoon. 

Thursday is the final race of the Grand Prix which is back at Holme Pierrepont as they are not able to use the Embankment this year. So, it’s yet another lap of the rowing strip but as it’s just 5k only one lap this time. I again beat my rival and easily beat him overall. I’m happy with a time of 26 minutes without a dog to tow me round like he does at Parkrun. Three of my runs have been slower and just one faster but I’m happy with that. We then go to the Embankment pub for a pint. 

On Saturday morning a really strange thing happens. The Lad doesn’t nag for his breakfast at 6am and we all oversleep. Then we realise why. He’s got himself stuck under the bed. I’m tempted to leave him there as a lesson for his own stupidity but we release him. We have to lift up the bed to do so. 

We then Parkrun at Clifton, I visit my dad and we have a night out at the Wollaton British Legion where there is a beer festival. Nottingham Brewery’s Obsidian at 7.2% is the highlight and seems more immune to the heat than the other beers, some of which seem to be on the turn. 

On Sunday we are back at Bilsthorpe for another Dog Show and where the Lad stuns everyone, especially me, with a clear round in the Jumping class. This included the twelve weaves which he does correctly at the first time of asking and at approximately 90 miles an hour as is his style. Given his blistering pace it is no surprise that he wins the class and we get our first ever win. 

He continues to be hopeless on the Agility runs and we get two Es there but he then has a very good Steeplechase, stays on the right course but has two poles down. He comes 5th. So it was well worth the trip to come home with 2Es rather than 4 and a winner’s rosette. Back home I crack open the best bottle of red wine we have.

(Sunday 6^th July) 

Brexit Boston

On Monday L does a little WFH as she has a bit of work which is a rarity. Then she actually goes into the office on Wednesday but, predictably, her boss doesn’t turn up. So she comes home very pissed off. 

Later I cycle and on Wednesday we do double dog training. On both days I drop in to see my Dad. 

On Tuesday it is the first race in the annual Grand Prix running series which I again take part in. Race One is at Rushcliffe and is 4 miles. I find it hard and I’m slower than last year, appearing on page 6 of 7 in the results. I come in just one minute ahead of my key rival. 

Thursday is the second race, the notorious 10k at Holme Pierrepont. That minute gap ahead of my key rival evaporates and I come in just one place ahead of him after a ding dong battle. Time wise, I am slightly quicker than last year which is his fault obviously. L and I then go to the Navigation pub on Meadow Lane for a recovery drink and then pick up a Chinese takeaway. 

L has a busy Friday. She runs 3k early, walks with the Lad and I, walks with her friend, does her second session with her new PT (he’s not quit yet) and then meets Daughter for lunch. 

Then at 5pm we leave for a weekend away in arguably the capital of Brexit Britain, glorious Boston, where we are staying at the White Hart Hotel. As it’s late we eat and drink there on the first night. 

Naturally we are also here for Parkrun for which it is incredibly hot. There are a few grumbles about me running with a dog but the Lad has two long dips in the river as we amble round in 31 minutes. Then it’s back to hotel for breakfast and a rest between the sheets. 

When we re-emerge, it is for a very hot stroll through rundown Brexit Boston. Boston has lots of lovely old buildings and narrow streets but it’s all a bit neglected like an unwealthy York. Sadly, they all voted for the wrong solution. Far from being overrun by immigrants it’s one of the whitest places we’ve been and our lack of tattoos make us feel a bit out of place. 

We have to abort our stroll as it’s now too hot for the Lad and for us. So we dive into the Carpenters Arms, a Batemans pub that sadly doesn’t have any XXXB so I'm on the lesser XB. Then we move onto the Eagle which is Castle Rock pub and I have a Screech Owl. Then it’s back to hotel for an hour before a meal in hotel and another beer. 

After breakfast at the hotel on Sunday we visit more of the sights, the Maud Foster Windmill and Drain!, which is really a canal. We then drive to Fishtoft and the Pilgrims Fathers memorial which is disappointingly small and down a dreadfully potholed road. Then before heading home we visit another Batemans pub that doesn’t have XXXB, the Red Lion at Fishtoft. I vow to get L a bottle so that she can see what I’m talking about.

(Sunday 29^th June) 

Earlier And Earlier

On Monday L leaves at 6am to get the bus over to Derby to take her Mum to hospital for some tests while on the park we have to change the route of our walk to avoid the currently very aggressive deer. 

At cycling everyone is very impressed with my tan and asks me where I’ve been on holiday. They don’t believe me when I say I’ve only been to a dog show in Bilsthorpe. 

L runs 6k on Tuesday and we dog train, trying somehow to find a way of improving on Sunday’s 4 Es. 

L is in work on Wednesday but home just after lunch saying she’s finally been given her notice and will finish in August. If she could do handstands she’d be doing them in the front room. 

Later L and Daughter go to a local owl talk. I’m tempted to join them but stay home to dog sit and do preparation for the Dog Club’s upcoming show. 

L runs early on Thursday, slipping out of my clutches at some unearthly hour before I can start anything romantic. Then she’s in Derby for the usual political debate with her mother. I have a committee meeting in the evening, which only lasts for an hour because we are so organised these days. 

The mornings seem to get earlier and earlier because on Saturday there is a Summer Solstice swim at Colwick at 3.45am. This is obviously not my idea but the idea of L and Daughter but the Lad and I tag along. The Lad is well confused going out before his breakfast and is relieved to be back home by 5:30am when he gets fed. Then it’s Clifton parkrun for L and I while the youngster in the family, Daughter, goes back to bed. 

I then visit my Dad and burn him a pizza again. I really must stop trying to do pizza. We then visit the New Inn to wash the burnt taste away. Later we are back in the Plough. 

In Sunday L swims as usual at Colwick while I am booked onto the NOC Orienteering that is also taking place there. I do Course A with the Lad which is 3k long with ten controls. Then L joins us for Course B which is also 3k but with eight controls. L has forgotten her compass, her dibber and her sports bra. I could have supplied two of those but not the third. Which is why we walk the course as the forgotten third item is in the car and we don’t have time to fetch it. We end up being only four minutes slower than when the Lad and I ran Course A as it took me a whole ten minutes to find one control. Perhaps slower and more focussed is the way to go. 

Back home I cut the hedge and the front lawn. After which we’re all creased. We get a takeaway and start to watch Outrageous, the story of the Mitford Sisters.

(Sunday 22^nd June) 

Jinxed?

I cycle on Monday, L runs on Tuesday and is then in Derby on Wednesday rather than Thursday because she has book club in Wollaton on Thursday. I dog train on Wednesday. 

Thursday is busy for L because she runs before our walk, then has book club and in the evening there’s a swim at Colwick. The Lad and I go to support as usual where a group of girls are all over him, telling him how gorgeous he is. I’d get thumped if I said that to them. 

Then it’s Friday the 13^th, the day L starts her new PT. Who says her PTs are jinxed? The poor chap doesn’t yet know he’s probably going to be moving on. She then swims at Harvey Hidden. Later we get a Friday night in. 

Saturday’s Parkrun is at Watermead. As with last week at Beacon Hill it’s my first run there as I spectated last time. I then finish the lawns I started at my Dad’s last week. This is again followed by a pint in New Inn but this time to celebrate Father’s Day. 

L is in Mickleover and is late back so she doesn’t make the gym before our trip to the Plough where they have a surprisingly good range of strong 5% beers for what is a hot June day. 

On Sunday, the Lad and I have a dog show so we miss out on the trip to Colwick where they are swimming in the other lake due to algae in the main lake. 

At our show the Lad’s first run wasn’t horrific and in fact it was my error that got us the Elimination but then he did mess up his weaves. Then he did completely lose the plot on the next run after spectating for a while really wound him up. We were slightly better after that but we still came home with our usual four Es and a spot of sun burn.

(Sunday 15^th June) 

Motor Show

L steps her fitness campaign up. She runs 4.5k on Monday morning and then 5.5k on Wednesday. She has also signed up to some Personal Training sessions with her former Physio. She says she'll have to live on bread and water because of the cost of it. The problem with that is she can’t live on bread and water unless she actually starts drinking water. Toast and tea is probably more appropriate. 

It is exciting that she is starting with yet another different personal trainer. I plan to fund our retirement on the proceeds of the book I plan to write about her experiences with various personal trainers. Most of them have left their jobs once she started with them although that is obviously just coincidence. 

I have a mad rush to get to cycling after working late but make it. Then visit my Dad afterwards. 

The Red Arrow breaks down on L on Tuesday on her way back from Derby where’s she’s been meeting a friend for coffee. She is briefly in work to meet her boss on Wednesday afternoon but doesn’t have any work so she is soon home again. 

We do a ‘joint but not joint (e.g. not actually together) gym session later. L is back in Derby on Thursday hopefully with a working Red Arrow while I am also over there for a Brunswick lunch with my retired ex-colleague. 

We are thwarted on Friday morning’s dog walk because the park gate is being repaired so we can’t get on the park and have to walk the streets instead. It's perhaps no bad thing as the deer are getting really aggressive on park at the moment. L then heads off to do a triathlon of gym, swim and a haircut before coming home for a nap with her head in her book. 

Saturday’s parkrun is at Beacon Hill. It's my first run there and L’s second. Then I head to my Dad’s where I manage to get half of the lawns cut dodging the rain as I go. Then we nip to the New Inn for swift pint. 

In the evening, we leave the Lad at home and go to Organ Grinder where a rowdy group are in but they eventually leave for the Hand & Heart. We’re not following so instead we go to L’s least favourite pub the Borlase. 

On Sunday after our usual trip to Colwick, the Lad I go for a sniff and a wee up a few vintage cars at the Motor Show on Wollaton Park. The show pretty much ends almost as soon as we arrive as the site is deluged by heavy rain. We shelter for a while under the trees before giving up and heading home. 

(Sunday 8^th June) 

A Shitty Night

We had thought we were going to need a new washing machine because it isn’t spinning but L fixes it herself, by cleaning out the filter. Maybe she has a new career there. Not that her boss is letting her go just yet and he has her in work all day on Wednesday. 

The Lad is at the Vets later for his annual booster. I had scheduled this for Tuesday night but they’d moved it because they had a power cut on Tuesday. That’s fair enough but I had tried to avoid one vet who I don’t particularly see eye to eye with and now we get him. My opinion of him isn’t enhanced when he completely forgets about us and leaves us in the waiting room. We have to remind the receptionist that we are still waiting. He apologises but this has now made the whole night a rush. We dash home, feed the Lad who doesn’t get a walk then I need to grab some shopping for my Dad, quickly visit him and then head off to dog training where I am now too late to see my brother. 

Thursday night is mad in a different way. We are at the Curve Theatre in Leicester where I have willingly volunteered for another musical. We are here to see ‘Six’. 

Now I’m not against musicals. I thought the Jersey Boys was good, historical and an obvious musical. The Everley Brothers one wasn’t so good but still an obvious choice for a musical. However, the tale of Henry VIII’s wives is not an obvious musical to me so you have to give credit for the sheer nerve of the people who wrote it. This turns out to be a bunch of students from Cambridge University who devised it for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2017. 

The concept is great. All six wives of Henry VIII are brought back to life to compare their experiences and argue about who had the worst time with him. Which they do in turn and in song. It is also very short at just eighty minutes long and comprises of just eight songs. 

We have a recovery drink afterwards in the Ale Wagon pub which was acquired by Hoskins & Oldfield as their first pub in 1999. The interior features photos of the former Queens Hotel which was across the road and was also the old Hoskins Brewery. 

I drunk a lot of Hoskins ales when I visited Leicester as a student back in the day. However brewing at Hoskins & Oldfield ceased in 2002 but the beers have continued to be brewed at other local breweries, currently that is the Tower Brewery in Burton. 

On Saturday we parkrun at Vicar Water, our second time there on what is a really tough course. This is then followed by a really slow coffee and breakfast at park cafe. We won’t go there again, we went to a much quicker local one on the main road last time. 

L then goes over to Mickleover and I go to Aston. She then meets me later in Derby at the just reopened Market Hall which is great, stays open late and has a bar that sells Jaipur. 

We then continue our cultural week at Quad for a talk on Shitty Cities or rather ‘Shitty Breaks: A Celebration of Unsung Cities’ which is a book written by Ben Aitken which he is talking about as part of the Derby Book Festival. His list includes many cities we’ve done and certainly ones we will do. Derby hasn’t made his list yet but he’s clearly been doing his research while he’s been here. 

Then we head back to the Market Hall for a Biryani, and where they now have a singer on, then to the Smithfield for another beer. 

Sunday is the Colwick swim\walk and then in the afternoon, after cutting half our lawn until the battery dies, we head up to visit Daughter’s allotment or rather her partner’s allotment. I think she's taken ownership of it.

(Sunday 1^st June) 

The Hay Festival

On Friday we drive to Wales for a weekend at the Hay Book Festival. We have been treated to a cottage by Son and Daughter. Daughter comes with us in our car, while the not terribly well-kept surprise is that Son and his wife are joining us there. Well-kept or not, it’s great to see them. 

On the first night we go for a drink in nearby Presteigne village at The Radnorshire Arms Hotel in their beer garden. Then we pick up a Chinese from The Cabin which throws us as they only take cash which means a hasty trip to find a cash machine. 

Naturally we need to fit in a Parkrun on Saturday which we do at Groe aka Bluith Wells which is about thirty minutes away. L, the Lad and I run it while the three youngsters walk it. After a local breakfast we go to the Hay Festival. Son manages to not only get there before us but also manages to leave before we get there as well. We see some friends of ours there and then L and Daughter head off to see Philippa Gregory. 

The Lad and I walk around the town and along the river taking in two coffee stops. Then a third when we meet up again with L and Daughter. I have pint at Kliverts Inn while they do the shops. Then it’s L and I at a Ian Dunt and Dorian Lynskey talk on conspiracy theories while Daughter looks after the Lad. We also dine out at the festival. 

I am back on dog duties on Sunday as L And Daughter have two book talks. They go see David Lindo and then Elif Shafak. The Lad and I have a leisurely late breakfast at the Blue Boar café bar followed by another river walk, in the opposite direction this time. We stop for coffee at the Treehouse and a pint at the Swan. 

Interesting there is a second festival on in Hay at the same time called ‘HowTheLightGetsIn’. All one word apparently. It’s the world's largest philosophy and music festival. I quote ‘a weekend of mind-expanding ideas with political icons, revolutionary philosophers, and era-defying physicists as bold thinkers explore reality, society, and the human mind.’ But they don’t allow dogs, which is not very revolutionary, so the Lad and I skip it. 

We then meet the girls back at the Blue Boar where we meet up with our friends again before eating back at the cottage. 

We head home early on the Monday as Daughter is at work. So, I am back in plenty of time to visit my Dad and take him out to the New Inn for a beer. Then back home for a very unconventional Friday Night on a Monday with a rare takeaway from the Savera.

(Monday 26^th May) 

Diverted Again

It’s a normal Monday with L in the gym, the weekly shop at Sainsbury’s and then my cycling at the velodrome followed by a trip to see my Dad. L does a 4k run early on Tuesday and a swim. 

I am out with my friend from school on Wednesday. We meet in the Furnace for a change and the Furnace has a beer festival on. Result. Then we eat at the Silk Mill where everything that doesn’t come without chips is off. So their famous ‘Pie 3’ and chips it is.

But back to Tuesday when I was in Birmingham in the evening to see Pixies. 

It’s a surprisingly easy drive there but coming back is a nightmare. The multi storey car park next to the Academy only has one exit gate and that’s where most people have parked. So, I queue for an hour to get to the exit and then as you get to the barrier you discover that your payment is now not enough to cover your ‘extended’ stay. An attendant has to let you out. This is clearly standard practice as the attendants are stood there doing exactly that.  

Then the Aston Expressway is closed so I am diverted. Then the M6/M42 junction is closed so I am diverted again. 

(Tuesday 20^th May) 

Pixies

So this is my sixth Pixies gig. I saw them five times first time around up until 1991 but then they split up in 1993. I've seen them only once since they reformed in 2003, that was at Leeds Festival in 2005. 30 years ago... Where does the time go? but to be fair they never come to Nottingham any more like they did in their heyday, so here I am at the Academy in Birmingham. Not one of my favourite places but it's going to be great to get reacquainted with Black Francis and co.

First though are local lads Big Special who say they met just around the corner at Matthew Boulton College. They seemed to consist of just a drummer and a man with his thumbs up. Turns out he’s the singer but doesn't have an instrument. Yet there is a secret guitar playing somewhere and some keyboards as well... Yes, we have another karaoke merchant.  

That aside... they are nice lads who are clearly delighted to be supporting the band they described as the best in the world and they do make quite a good 'manufactured' sound. I particularly liked the secret saxophone on what they described as their new song. 

Pixies take the stage without a word and ease into the instrumental ‘Cecilia Ann’ perhaps a sign that they are simply going to let the music speak for itself because there is no banter, no theatrics and no attempt to involve the crowd in a singalong just a tightly wound set of one relentless classic song after another. 

Song two is one of those classics ‘Monkey Gone to Heaven’ but obviously without Kim Deal. Emma Richardson, of Band of Skulls fame, takes on the vocal and the bass guitar that is so fundamental to their sound. She nails both. 

'Wave Of Mutilation' and 'Planet Of Sound' hurtle along in the Monkey's wake. Then we are treated to material from albums I am less familiar with along with tracks from their new and tenth album, ‘The Night the Zombies Came’. This pattern of old and new continues seamlessly throughout a generous 28 song set.

Of course, the ravages of time meant I wasn’t expecting Black Francis to yelp like a lunatic as much as he used to but even at 60 he still howls his way through the magnificent 'Caribou' and commands the stage throughout. Although he does have to keep reaching for his reading glasses to read the set list. Which is great really. So he's not a God after all, he's just like the rest of us. 

Then there's Joey Santiago, whose guitar used to shred my eardrums for days after one of their gigs. Then again... I might struggle with my hearing at that work meeting tomorrow. The ears are also not helped by the volume of David Lovering’s precision drumming.

Other highlights... a brutal 'Gouge Away’, the wonderful ‘Hey’, the brilliant 'Here Comes Your Man', an amazing ‘Where Is My Mind?’ and then there’s ‘Debaser’, still snarling and shredding ears after all these years.

The finale comes via a particularly unhinged ‘Tame’ before Richardson’s take on the hypnotic 'Into the White' ends the night. There is no encore and instead the band then come together centre stage to show their appreciation to us as we show our appreciation to them. 

I was a little sceptical of how good they would be after all these years but I needn't have worried because while it was different they were still once again immensely special. 

Spaghetti Junction

I’m still ill on Monday so I cancel cycling and even leave the Sainsbury’s shop until Tuesday. I do manage to walk the Lad and do a day’s work but I’m again in bed early when L goes up. I’m only slightly better on Tuesday but I do at least manage to stay up until my usual time. By Wednesday I’m just about back to eating normally and I manage to take the Lad to dog training. 

L has Wollaton book club on Wednesday and also fits in a swim at Spring Lakes with Daughter then on Thursday after her usual day with her Mum in the UK’s award winning worst city she’s at a book event to see Laura Bates at Nottingham Waterstones with all her book pals. 

 

Sheffield’s Leadmill finally announces its closure after the management lost their final appeal against eviction by their landlords. The venue which opened in 1980 has been in dispute with its landlord since ownership changed in 2017. They have to quit the building within three months and will now host a series of farewell events. All its future gigs will transfer to other venues in Sheffield while the venue itself will be relaunched by the new owners. 

On Friday L and her family are at Markeaton Crematorium scattering both her Dad’s and her Brother’s ashes. 

Daughter meanwhile is now dog sitting for a friend for a week so we have the house to ourselves but I have to turn down L’s offer of a Friday night because I’m too ill to manage it. I have a few medicinal beers instead. 

I do manage to Parkrun on Saturday which we do at Long Eaton where sadly the Rugby club café is no longer open so we go to the café Spring Lakes instead for coffee and a breakfast roll. While there I get a call from the Fire Brigade who have been round to my Dad’s to do a safety check. They have condemned his plug collection which does look like it’s been styled on spaghetti junction. I get him a new ten plug extension lead to replace what he had before. 

L is over in Mickleover in the afternoon and when she heads back I meet her off the Red Arrow which is stopping at the back of QMC due to the roadworks on the island. From there we divert to the Johnson’s Arms for a few drinks which this time manages to stay open. 

We get home in time to catch the end of Eurovision where the general public again give the UK zero points. After a decent jury vote we were 10th but the public dump us down to 19th. Even more bizarrely second placed Switzerland are also given zero points by the public while Israel who were nowhere in 15th get all the public votes and end up 2nd but Austria win. 

On Sunday we are at Colwick again for the swim and walk where we fail to get any coffee or breakfast from Wired on Wheels due to their massive queues. We ponder doing Sunday lunch somewhere but, in the end, we go home for toast and then we do the gym together. It’s L’s first gym session of the week as she’s spent most of the week swimming. 

(Sunday 18^th May)