Final Communiqué

Monday has L running and me cycling before Tuesday sees her last day ever at work. Cue huge fanfare.

She ends a couple more associations on the same day, although there’s always a chance of a return with these. She ends her memberships of both JD Gym and Harvey Hadden pool. Instead, she making a return to David Lloyds and has signed up for a year from 1st August. 

I get all this in a final email communication from the Gulag. It all feels a bit scary but also very exciting. I will miss the heartrending communiqués from the incarcerated prisoner who has now finally tunnelled her way out.

In the evening England again come from behind to beat Italy and move into Sunday’s Euros final. 

The rest of the week is taken up with my club’s annual dog show. Wednesday and Thursday are setting up and Friday through Sunday are our show days. 

As usual we have a catering crisis. Our Pizza man cancels on the Thursday as he doesn’t like the fact that we have a Pan-Asian Street Food van coming for a few hours on the Sunday. We notice that he’s quickly advertising on his Facebook that he’s at a music festival somewhere. It all looks very pre-planned to me. 

Then on Friday, our main caterer cancels citing van problems. Funnily enough he’s a friend of the pizza guy. Not connected, I’m sure. Then the girl who runs the doughnut van locks herself out of her van and disappears home for half the day to find her spare key. 

So, on Friday the only catering we have is a savoury pasty stall, who do great business, and ice cream, which they are giving out free to club members. Every cloud has a silver lining and all that. Afterwards I have chips with club and then head to see L who has been commemorating her late Dad’s birthday at the Crematorium. 

The catering is slightly better on the Saturday as our Street Food van turns up and does good trade. However, the real action is at Colwick Lake where L does a naked swim with Daughter. You miss a week at the lake and look what happens! No photographic evidence was taken but I hope they got another badge for that. Not unsurprisingly this was scheduled really early in the day so L has plenty of time to get back to Parkrun at Wollaton. 

The Street Food van comes back again on the Sunday and makes an excellent video of the show. He also sends me home with free noodles. Later L, I and the Lad have a relaxing night in the Plough. 

(Sunday 27^th July) 

There's No Sticker For Dog Walking

L isn’t having much luck of late with injuries and her latest one, her bag packing back injury, keeps her out of the gym on Monday, out of work (she was very pleased about that) and curtails any ideas I had of a passionate start to the week. I am uninjured thankfully as my cycling in the evening is with the Derny e.g. very fast. 

L is much better by Tuesday and manages gym and swim, although she gets soaked by a rare rainstorm in between. She also runs Wednesday morning before hitting the gym and going into work for the next to last time. She comes back with Champagne and flowers. She officially finishes at the end of month. 

Later I meet my old school friend in Five Lamps in Derby before we head to the Spice Lounge for a curry. 

On Thursday, England beat Sweden in the worst penalty shootout ever. After their Women’s Euro 2025 Quarter Final finishes 2-2, nine penalties are missed as England scrape through the shootout 3-2. 

On Saturday we Parkrun at Clifton. I then drop L in Derby before visiting my Dad and taking him to the New Inn for a pint. Having just back from Derby, L then heads back in later with me on the bus as we meet friends of ours in the Viceroy for a curry. We have a drink first in the Alex before we indulge in the restaurant’s now almost permanent £22 meal deal. The problem with the deal is that you are practically full after the poppadoms and a huge platter to start. The food was also very average. L rated the place last time we came, now she’s no longer sure. 

We’re at Colwick on Sunday for the swim and Daughter joins us. The two girls get stickers for doing a Platform Bomb and Swimming in the Rain. I don’t get a sticker for my dog walking. 

Later we are at Splendour on Wollaton Park. It’s not L’s thing but she gallantly manages about five hours before the threat of lightning disrupts everything for over an hour and L takes the chance to escape. 

(Sunday 20^th July) 

Splendour

My other half and I arrive around 4pm and start with the tweeness of the failed Eurovision project that is Remember Monday. I am told they do a bad cover of a Sabrina Carpenter song but I wouldn’t be able to recognise a bad version of a Sabrina Carpenter song. We depart before they finish with their big Eurovision song ‘What the Hell Just Happened? 

Then we head to see Fratellis on the Main stage. This is less to my partner’s liking and she heads to a quiet corner with her book although I suspect she will still be able to hear them from there. A very secret fan perhaps? They open with a lively Henrietta and a huge many personned presence on the stage including saxophone and trumpet players. 

 

Amongst all their usual stuff they cover Baccara’s ‘Yes sir I can boogie’. Yes sir, really. It’s actually very good but they don’t attempt any Sabrina Carpenter. At least I'm pretty sure they don't.   

A problem with Splendour is that the beer usually runs out, yet this time the wine runs out first much to my partner’s chagrin. We have some noodles while watching Kate Nash from a distance. She seems to have an awful lot written across her dress but I can’t read any of it from this distance. 

Then we catch a bit of a very green looking (as in a very sparkly dress) Sophie Ellis-Bextor on the Main Stage as the rain starts to fall before we move across, at my insistence, to see the Levellers on the Confetti stage.  

 

This is the eight time of seen them as one of my friends used to be heavily into them. This includes my one and only foreign gig when I chanced upon them in California. However, all of this was a very long time ago and I haven’t seen them in 29 years. They haven’t changed any, to be honest. I think they are very entertaining but the person next to me is by now looking very bored.  

As we wait for Echo & The Bunnymen to appear on Confetti, the sky starts grumbling and the threat of lightning curtails Travis on the Main Stage. We are asked to retreat three meters from the metal barrier. Note to organisers - go plastic. Although these look like the actual ones from Rock City. When a delay in proceedings is announced my partner bails and heads home.

The Bunnymen come on an hour late and despite being outdoors still manage to disappear behind a cloud of dry ice. They play a shorter set of just under an hour including a one song encore of ‘The Cutter’ for which they bring out a chair for singer Ian McCulloch. As there’s no one due on after them, I’m not sure why they don’t play a full set as the site curfew is 10:30 and that’s still half an hour away. Perhaps they hadn't got enough chairs for the rest of the band 

As I head over to the Main Stage the Kaiser Chiefs appear to be playing Travis’ ‘Why Does It Always Rain On Me?’ 

 

When I get there, I realise they have Travis with them, who didn’t get to play their big song. Then we’re back on track with ‘Ruby’ while they also play a great cover of the Ramones’ ‘Blitzkrieg Bop’ and they go way beyond the 10:30 curfew and without chairs.  

Worcester And The All-Action Girl

It's a normal Monday with L also at home WFH, Sainsbury’s then cycling and visiting my Dad but this was followed by a mad Tuesday for L. Morning coffee with her friends in Derby, then in work for the afternoon and then finally her new grown-up book club with wine at someone's house in the evening. This is actually a group she's been to before a few years ago from which I pick her up afterwards. 

Then it’s more book stuff on Wednesday because she’s at Waterstones for a book talk while the Lad and I are at dog training. 

The all-action girl is up early for a 5k run on Thursday before joining us for the morning dog walk and then heading off as usual to Derby. 

On Friday I get my annual Wellbeing Day off work during which I cut our lawn which totally flakes out the Lad as it’s getting hot again. Meanwhile L is at her PT. 

Then we then head off for a weekend in Worcester which involves the usual incredibly slow crawl along the M42/M5. Finally, we get there and to our accommodation, the Ye Old Talbot, which sells Abbot Ale of which we both indulge while we eat there. Then we walk to the Oil Basin pub for Thornbridge Mild at 5.5% and a walk along the river. 

Saturday is Worcester parkrun but I parkwalk with the Lad as it’s so hot. So hot he dives in the lake before we start. The start is right by the closed County Hall. This impressive collection of buildings has been closed since last June after first legionella bacteria and then RAAC concrete were found in the building. They say it will never reopen. 

The lad and I sneakily jog the second half of the second lap in the shaded woodland before finishing off with another dip in the lake before dripping across the finish line. We don’t often say this but L beats us. 

Then we head off to the park cafe for a breakfast sandwich. We follow this with a visit to Plot Twist bookshop before a parkrun debrief between the sheets back at the hotel. 

Later in the afternoon we find a shaded café by the canal for a coffee and then we get to watch the town carnival go past followed by a trip to the Dragon Inn which is pleasant pub owned by the Church End Brewery. 

We head back to the hotel in time for the Lad’s tea and then sit outside the Thai restaurant on the High Street for ours. It’s an excellent meal. Then it’s back at hotel where we are both in bed for 9pm. 

On Sunday, L injures her back packing her case. This is probably down to the additional weight caused by the books she bought on Saturday. She is fit enough though to make it down to breakfast. Then before heading back home, we go back to the parkrun park for a shaded walk in the woodland. Then we drive home via Redditch to avoid the M5. That works but then we still get stuck on the M42. 

Back at home I spend the evening catching up on the Tour de France and England 6 Wales 1 in Women’s Euro 2025. 

(Sunday 13^th July) 

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)