Time For An Eye Test

Dominic Cummings plays a Bank Holiday Monday gig in the garden at Downing Street to attempt to explain himself. He is heckled by the assembled press and although they are probably tempted to bottle him off sadly they don’t.

It sort of makes you feel sorry for the Neil Ferguson, the epidemiologist who was forced to resign from the Sage committee for not leaving the house but for having his lover round. Perhaps it was because Ferguson was testing more than just his eyesight.

Meanwhile, never one to miss a marketing opportunity, Brewdog launch a new beer 'Barnard Castle Eye Test' a 6% Hazy IPA.

I have a bit of a dodgy knee, so I do tonight’s run without the Lad. I run over the new bridge that connects University Boulevard to the Boots site. It’s quite an interesting route but my knee doesn’t seem to like it and I limp home. A rather disgusted Lad sits on the stairs the whole time waiting for me to return.

As I think I’ve said before, L and I may come out of all this more intelligent. We have now watched the entire first three series of ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ along with countless later repeats on the Challenge Channel.

Thursday brings the 10^th and last Clap for Carers. While L's sister is now working as a contract tracer or rather not working because the system doesn't appear to be ready yet.

On the night when I may well have been off to watch Gene Loves Jezebel on their 40th Anniversary Tour instead I am sat at home watching one of those annoying Meerkats introduce a virtual gig involving four fifths of Take That. I suppose beggars can’t be choosers in Lockdown.

Mercifully they keep it short, to just six songs, with Robbie Williams turning up late and only joining from the third song onwards. Mark Owen, for some reason, sings with a ladder which may or may not have been the replacement for the permanently retired Jason Orange.

(Friday 29^th May)

Hot Dogging Streak

I’m not sure where it came from but MD is on a hot streak at the moment. He wins another Grade 4 Agility today, so he's earning his promotion in some style. He also gets two second places, although they weren’t so hot, one with five faults and one nearly ten seconds behind the winner. The standard is lower here and the fields smaller. So it was definitely nice to get the first win that counted in a large show like our own last weekend.

In the evening we eat and drink at the Old Well Inn in Barnard Castle, a place we have visited a few times when we’ve been up here before.

(Saturday 1^st August)

Nerve Settling Beers

I packed the car for our holiday this morning, although I had to keep removing Doggo from the boot. See he can get in unaided when he’s thinks we’re about to set off without him. He’ll have to bite his nails for a few hours yet because we’re not leaving until after work. 

I send L a list of last minute packing items as she will be picking me up from work. When she arrives home to collect the car she finds they have started the insulation work and the house is now adorned with insulation panels. 

We have a very successful drive up to a field near Lartington just outside Barnard Castle, where we are stopping over on our way north and to see if MD can win any more trophies at the agility event being held there.

We nip into the nearby Camra listed Red Lion at Cotherstone for a few nerve settling beers ahead of tomorrow's competition.

(Friday 31^st July)