Reinvigorated

Despite her skiing injury L manages the gym on Monday and then has a brief flurry of WFH which she didn’t expect but her boss has actually done some work. He’s now away on holiday. I cycle then go round to see my Dad. 

By Wednesday, she's managing to get in and out of the swimming pool and also getting up and down off the floor at yoga. The Lad and I have tunnel night. 

L is over in Derby on Thursday with her reinvigorated Mum who is now able to walk much further with her stent fitted. 

On Saturday Parkrun is at Forest Rec with Daughter while the injured L Parkwalks. I do an extra 1k around the field with Daughter as she is training for the Longhorn at Thoresby Park in a few weeks’ time . We were all supposed to be doing 10k at the Longhorn but I don’t think that L will be joining us now. 

L then does lunch in Derby and cuts her Mum’s lawn. I do lunch at New Inn with my Dad and then cut his much larger lawn. Later we are in the Plough but were contemplating moving on because there was no decent beer when Roses Stout appears. 

The clocks go forwards on Sunday and L swims at Colwick Lake where the water temperature is a barmy 11.3 degrees. Clearly too cold for some people are we managed to get served at Wired on Wheels. 

(Sunday 30^th March) 

Sweden

Sunday starts off with us dropping the Lad off at Kennels and he doesn’t look at all happy about it. Then we have to navigate our way down to London by train, which isn’t easy. The line to St Pancras is closed so we are already going to Kings Cross via Grantham but our chosen train cancelled. So, another rethink and we take the Norwich train and change at Peterborough where we have to stand on the London train obviously. 

Then once in London we take the Piccadilly line to Hounslow Central where we have a decent hotel, the Continental, for a very decent £50 in a very un-decent area of London. It’s also a total beer desert so end up in Wetherspoons which, to be fair, has some decent dark ales and draught Leffe for L. Then we go to an Indian Restaurant next to the hotel where they talk me out of all the exciting new dishes as they’ll be too hot for a mere mortal like me. They are probably right. The food is good but we order way too much rice, not helped by the fact that L’s Egg Biryani is simply that - just two eggs and almost plain rice. A bit odd. 

On Monday we get the tube to Heathrow Terminal 2 and after breakfast at Jones, our flights go well. We have two flights on SAS changing at Stockholm and only an hour to make the connection. This sounds rushed as we have to do passports and security again but in the end we have ten minutes to spare. Even our bags make it. 

Our hire car is ready but upgraded again to something too big as is always the case. Then we drive the short distance to the Best Western at Östersund where we are staying tonight. It’s a nice town on a lake which is frozen and where we see people cycling and skiing across it.  There also a decent bar, Bishops Bar, where we go for Swedish beer and Sausage Casserole. 

 

In the morning the super fit L does a short run before we have a decent breakfast with mustard herring being the highlight. Then we drive to Åre which is 100km in a straight line with no turn offs. We park up and get our ski gear before taking a funicular train up to the slopes. 

The weather isn’t great; its drizzling and visibility is poor although there is plenty of snow. The terrain isn’t that easy and the train has spit us out in the middle of all the red and black runs. When L falls on only our second run of the trip it all looks very innocuous but she’s hurt her leg and has to retire for the day. We stop for a beer and then I do a few more runs before we go find our hotel and park on its roof. 

Our room is a bit like a prison cell with no windows but it’s otherwise quite posh. We eat at the hotels Italian Restaurant with wine and Bombardinos (basically eggnog super charged with Advocaat) as recommended by Daughter. Daughter is on her second ski trip of the year and her third Bombardino of the evening. Our Nutella pizza dessert turns out to be full pizza and is huge but somehow I manage it with a bit of help from L.

We check the Kennels’s Facebook group and there is a photo of the Lad who looks well pissed off. 

For the rest of the week L is unable to ski and is confined to the cell with her books while I ski. She seems happy enough even though she can’t work the coffee machine that serves very small expensive measures.

 

On Wednesday evening she manages to hobble to the Parkvillan bar where they have a decent selection of beers and Swedish delicacies to eat.  By Thursday she’s a bit more mobile and meets me at the top of the funicular for a late liquid lunch. We are back at the Italian Restaurant later, which is a shorter hobble, were I have proper pizza without a chocolate topping. 

Friday is sunny and I make it to the top of the mountain for the first time from where there are Ski dos taking people even higher, if you’re willing to pay extra. I ski until 1:30 then we drive back to Östersund where we stay in the same hotel and have another night in the Bishops. 

The only problem now is Heathrow is closed after losing power following a fire in a nearby electrical sub-station. Perhaps we won’t get home? Perhaps we’ll get a night in Stockholm? 

Breakfast doesn’t start until 7:30 on Saturday so leave without it, missing out on more mustard herring. We arrive at Östersund airport which is near deserted. We are the only flight on the board and we’re really early. We Manage to do the self-check in process and get coffee from a machine. 

Our flights are again seamless despite an even shorter 40-minute connection time and we arrive at, sadly open, Heathrow on time. Our last stop is the Holiday Inn near Regents Park which is handy for Daunts bookshop and the Jackalope pub which despite rubbish staff serves a decent pint. We eat back at the hotel. 

On Sunday, we have breakfast at the hotel then we walk to Kings Cross because L hates the Tube and it’s a pleasant walk. We get on another totally rammed train (apparently people don’t use the trains or so we’re told) sees us standing for most of it. We again have to change at Grantham because the St Pancras line is once again closed. We manage to get a seat back to Nottingham only because we let everyone else get on the first train that came while we waited for the second one. Once back home we collect the Lad with Daughter who greets us with gifts of Mozart’s eyeballs from Austria. The Lad seems to be considering forgiving us for dumping him. Then we go see Daughter’s allotment or rather her other halves allotment. 

(Sunday 23^rd March) 

Labyrinth

L works Tuesday morning and then visits her Mum who is still in hospital as they decide whether she can have her stent or not. I have a match in the evening as Frank Lampard returns to Derby in charge of Coventry City. Derby win 2-0 which is their second win in a row after not winning for thirteen games. My Dad watches on TV from home with my brother. 

L is back at the hospital after work on Wednesday where her Mum is still waiting to hear about her operation. I drop her there then visit my Dad before going dog training where the trainer attempts to inspire the Lad through his weaves by putting liver at the end of them. Naturally, being a smart dog, he knows that the fastest way to get to the liver is to skip the weaves completely. So that’s what he does. 

L is back at the hospital on Thursday and then again on Friday when her Mum suddenly has her operation swiftly followed by a Chow Mein. Apparently, the catering has been pretty good throughout. 

In the evening, we are in Lichfield at the Garrick to see the author Kate Mosse talk about her book ‘Labyrinth’. Obviously not my choice of evening but I’m willing to give anything a go perhaps in common with many of the men here because when Mosse asks who’s read the book… it’s all the ladies and the ones who haven’t… us men. 

Mosse tells us about archaeology, the middle ages and southern France aided by many props and visuals. I think even L found it all a bit heavy going. 

L’s sister is up again on Saturday so we do Markeaton Parkrun. With the pre-run briefing at Markeaton, unusually for Parkrun, not at the start the Lad and I can head straight to the start to grab a good position near the front. This means we bag a quick time 25:45. 

As we are sat having a coffee afterwards L’s Mum comes out of hospital and has to be talked out of getting the bus straight into town. That’s one pensioner sorted. I take the other one, my Dad, to the New Inn for Scampi and chips with Pavlova to follow and a pint. 

We stay in later to pack as we are off skiing. Daughter has already departed, heading off to Austria for her second ski trip of the year. 

(Saturday 15^th March) 

Doves

Support tonight is from Preston duo Joey Cobb and Katie Drew known as White Flowers who appear as a three piece tonight. Their sound is somewhat ethereal and they are very good but sadly they don’t hold the majority of the crowd’s attention. Their set maybe spoilt by the chatter of the crowd but not by their own; the lead singer does speak at the start but then after a short 25-minute set they just finish and walk off without a word. So not chatty themselves and maybe miffed at the inattention of the audience. 

To be fair, Doves aren’t very talkative either but then they do open with an instrumental ‘Firesuite’ and will later close with one.

It is largely just great to have Doves back after a very troubled few years. The tour for their last but one album ‘The Universal Want’ back in 2021 was side-lined due to Covid and then cancelled because frontman Jimi Goodwin was struggling with various health issues. 

Now four years on they are back with ‘Constellations for the Lonely’ which not understandably they describe as ‘dark’ but they are still without Goodwin, so the Williams brothers drummer Andy and guitarist Jez take centre stage. They are bolstered by the addition of four other musicians. 

So, they have not one but two new albums to promote although they still somehow end up playing a set mostly of their classics. A gorgeous 'Snowdon', the wonderful 'Winter Hill' and a brilliant ‘Pounding’ among many others. 

Jez steps up to take on most of the vocal duties. He has the added issue, he tells us, he's struggling with his voice - not that you can tell. 

Andy vacates the drums on occasion to do vocals as he does on 'Last Year’s Man' from the new album and on 'Kingdom of Rust' in the encore where he starts up front on vocals before returning to his drumkit halfway through. 

‘Here It Comes’, a classic from their debut album ‘Lost Souls’ in 2000, is dedicated to the absent Goodwin who they assure us is here in spirit. 

After set closer ‘Black and White Town’ they return for a four-song encore that ends with the instrumental 'Space Face' from their Sub Sub days.

Old And Knackered Racehorse

Tuesday is a very unproductive dog training session (don't ask) before which we drop in on my Dad who has been left in the dark by one of his carers. On the positive side they have provided me with an App where I can keep tabs on what care he is getting. It turns out the App has been provided by the company I work for and it’s not that great! 

L heads into town on Wednesday morning to pick up our race numbers for Sunday’s Nottingham 10k. Despite getting distracted, and indulging in a book shop browse, she’s in work for 10am. 

Thursday is L’s usual trip to Derby and then in the evening we are at Attenborough Nature Reserve twitching with Daughter and a very confused Lad. We are there to see the Starling’s do a murmuration. I think that’s the terminology but it poses me many questions. Such as why here, why over water and why now? 

On Friday we are out with our friends from Mickleover in the Viceroy, which is my favourite dodgy Indian. L and I have a pint in the Alex first. 

Saturday is Forest Rec parkrun because Wollaton is off due to the Cross Country races being held there. Later at the match, Derby score twice in the first seven minutes against Blackburn Rovers and hang on to win 2-1 for John Eustace’s first win in his third game in charge and against his old club. 

Sunday is the aforementioned Nottingham 10k on possibly the hilliest course ever in Nottingham. Possibly even hillier than the half marathon course. It starts in the Market Square then immediately heads up hill all the way up to Forest Rec, then there is a long down before it heads upwards again for the last 2k through the Park estate before an uphill finish in the Castle grounds. Perhaps I’m just getting old. Perhaps it’s time for me to be put out to pasture like an old and knackered racehorse. 

Yet somehow after that I find the energy to give the lawn its first cut of the year. Then later we’re in the Plough where all the beers gradually run out until I end up on Legend. The church crew are in and are largely to blame. 

Monday is Oldies Day. I go over to Aston where my Dad has a physio appointment. I meet yet more professionals who know how to handle belligerent pensioners and seem to enjoy doing so. Meanwhile L’s Mum is in hospital for a stent which has got us all on edge. L’s sister is up to supervise as she is on pre-Op blood thinners but then of course the procedure is delayed but they keep her in hospital. L goes over but all is well it seems. 

(Monday 10^th March) 

200 Up

On Saturday we are at Alvaston Parkrun along with L’s sister who we successfully manage to divert from Markeaton which is the only Parkrun she usually considers when she’s up here. Today is, of course, a very special occasion as it my 200th Parkrun. 

I spend the afternoon with my Dad and another Derby defeat where I cook him fish and chips followed by out-of-date apple pie and custard with a beer. 

Meanwhile L starts her new online PT and then we’re in the Plough where the IPA trail is on. So the beer is pale but at least it’s strong. 

L's sister is still in Derby so we meet up again on Sunday, this time at Darley Park where we do a run along with the Lad. We run an impressive 7.6k. L and I head back to the Wollaton for breakfast where I seduce her over a bacon cob and secure an afternoon in bed. 

L is running again on Monday morning, this time 4k with Daughter, before she heads off to the gym to do her online thing. They do the same run again on Tuesday morning. 

On Monday evening we spend a fascinating evening at Broadway where Alex Dowsett is interviewed by fellow cyclist Michael Hutchinson. He’s written a book, so even L’s intrigued. 

Dowsett has managed an impressive career in cycling despite living with Haemophilia A, meaning that any accidents would be very bloody and possibly fatal. He was the only elite athlete in the world that has taken that risk. 

Despite that he won many time-trials, stages of the Giro d’Italia, six British national titles and broke the World Hour Record. 

(Monday 3^rd March)