Sniff Sniff Bloody Sniff

Perhaps luckily, because it was icy, Monday morning’s dog walk was painfully slow. Sniff sniff bloody sniff. It’s not just MD either, I think the Lad was getting his revenge for me not taking him on my run yesterday.

If that was his tactic then it doesn’t work. On Tuesday I run without him again but only 8k around the University.

My gig on Wednesday, Blood Red Shoes at Rescue Rooms, is cancelled. I’m not doing terribly well with gigs at the moment.

While at work my old PC appears to be terminally broken but my new company laptop hasn't arrived yet. I’m not doing terribly well with computers at the moment.

Thankfully it does arrive on Thursday. So I make a flying visit to work, collect it and then bring it home to configure it.

L has a cough which everyone probably thinks is Covid but it’s not keeping her from her morning swim where the pool is often close to empty anyway. Of course that could be because they’ve heard her coming.

On Friday the legend that is (or now sadly was) Meatloaf dies. I knew he hadn’t been well for a while but it had, I thought, mainly been back problems and he was supposed to have a new album coming out.

Sadly also L’s Mother’s cat has gone but to be rehomed. So hopefully that will have a happy ending.

In the afternoon we head over to Rugby where we are holding our Winter Agility Show having been kicked out (sort of) of our old venue in Newark.

We had originally been told we could set up from 5pm but during the course of the day that morphs into 6:30pm. The show is actually at Onley and on the way I drop L off at the Holiday Inn close to the motorway where she intends to have a swim and a gym session probably followed by some reading with a glass of wine in her hand while I’m lugging agility equipment around.

I eventually make it back to her after completing setting up just before the hotel’s food curfew at 10pm.

The next day, the show itself goes well although it isn’t as popular with our own members as it’s further for them to go. The Lad has a wild time competing and even occasionally does something I ask him to.

On Sunday I run again, 10k around the University.

(Sunday 23^rd January)

Capricious Collie

On Monday I take a trip into work which doesn’t go well as the main purposes of my trip - to nick a monitor for home working and to bring home my beer don’t look likely to happen as neither are at work.

Luckily a few hours later things improve when my beer arrived. Only a week after I got the email saying it had been delivered. Hopefully a monitor will materialise next.

I did try to set up our old TV as an additional monitor at home, which worked well for a few days until it packed up completely.

The world’s most famous anti-vaxxer aka Novak Djokovic turns up for the Australian Tennis Open unvaccinated and to everyone amusement they lock him up in a detention centre.

On Tuesday I am back to working from home. After ‘work’ I go for a 16k to Stapleford and back. I even take an audiobook to keep me company. Slow Horses by Mick Herron. I pop the run on my running spreadsheet. As for the book... I don’t have a reading spreadsheet. Not that they’d be much on it if I did.

On Wednesday I have an online meeting with my new boss who is based in Huddersfield. He tells me that I could work from home as much as I wanted to. Yippee. He says he’s only been into the office, which granted is a long way south in Loughborough, once since he joined the company eight months ago.

By Friday the weather has turned really cold again and our morning walk is treacherous underfoot for those attached to a capricious collie.

On Saturday it’s Parkrun at Wollaton and then later Derby beat Sheffield United but with no progress on the takeover front several players are let go which will make picking up future wins more difficult.

I run again on Sunday extending my Stapleford route slightly to 18k.

(Sunday 16^th January)

Lights

Tuesday is the first day back at work after the New Year Bank Holiday. That is if I get there as I have been summoned to the dentist first thing. He had advised me that I needed a wisdom tooth removed not that I was even aware I had a problem with it.

Twenty minutes after my 8:30 appointment I’m back home and still have my tooth. He did an x-ray and decided the tooth was too difficult for him to remove. He therefore needed to refer me to get it done in hospital which will apparently take months. Then he asked me whether it is giving me any trouble, to which the answer is no. So he said if I wanted to I could leave it in, see how it goes and then we’ll review at my next check-up. So it was all a damp squid really.

L is back at proper work, in an office, where she says it’s cold as the heating has been off throughout the Christmas break. A bit like having the kitchen door open at home where ironically we have it shut.

Sadly the Christmas Lights at Wollaton Hall are about to come to an end. 

 

Not that we actually attended as such but it meant the park was open in the evenings and we could walk the dogs up there and see some of the lights anyway.

Talking of Christmas lights, my Dad finally gets his working just as Twelfth Night arrives.

Our milkman who has been coming at increasing weird times, anything from 11pm at night to 8am in the morning, now seems to have disappeared completely e.g. absconded with his Christmas tips. We currently have a different chap in a different van.

On Thursday is snows or something that could have been snow... but was more like sleet... that then turned to rain... Sadly I didn’t get to have a snowball fight with the boys. L got all excited and went for a lunchtime walk in it but just got wet. That’s probably our lot now for the year.

On Saturday I run Wollaton Parkrun which, with L not running at the moment, MD gets a damn good bark out of while the Lad gets a damn lead biting session. MD also gets a new food bowl after he somehow put his foot in his old one and snapped it in two.

Then on Sunday it’s the New Year 10k at Sherwood Pines that L and I ran when I was last marathon training two years ago, for the same race I’m now training for e.g. Brighton. Only last time she was training for it too but now she isn’t. She would have done this 10k though if she’d not had her foot injury.

It’s a two lap course which this time they seem to have measured properly as last time it was well short. This time it may actually be slightly long. It’s a two lap course and last time we did an extra training loop with the Lad but I was younger then. So I don’t do that this time. 

(Sunday 9^th January)

New Year

We are back at my parents’ again on Monday as the traditional Boxing Day football match arrives, as now appears to be the tradition, a day late. At least the game is on after the last one was covid-ed off.

For the first time we are asked to show Covid passports which necessitates the club providing extra staff, which they can barely afford, to check them. Not that they were really reading them, you could probably have flashed your library card and got in.

Anyhow Derby beat West Brom and my Dad enjoys his post-match pint as much as usual, if not more. Overall he’s having a really good Christmas.

On Tuesday I get out on a run and do 9k but on Wednesday I’m back at work, well WFH, and L has my cold/flu/dog allergy but is also testing negative on LFT.

This means that she is free to be coerced into going into Nottingham for New Year’s Eve where we have a few drinks around Canning Circus in the Good Fellow George and the Organ Grinder before I drag her down to the Market Square to see what’s happening there. No one is clear whether the council has banned New Year and cancelled the fireworks in the Market Square due to Covid or because they’ve got no money or just because that's the sort of thing councils do but plenty of people turn up to find out anyway.

There are still fireworks but no one seems to know where they came from or who was responsible for them.

On Saturday I do the New Year's Day Parkrun at Wollaton Park but L doesn't as she is once again struggling with an injury. Then the next day I put in a 14k run around my nice and boring old faithful of a route out to Stapleford.

(Saturday 1^st January)

Christmas Served Pink

On Thursday, the day before Christmas Eve, I am back at work. WFH. Which is good apart from the fact it’s raining and someone wants the back door open. That is despite the fact they’ve just had a walk.

L was been walking MD in the Lakes without his halti on now when I put it on him this morning he looked quite put out. Maybe he's growing up and he really doesn’t need it any more.

The locksmith arrives again, as pre-arranged, and fits our new letterbox.

Aside from bring back from the Lakes all the presents, a pickled liver and a halti less dog, I also seem to have acquired a sneeze, a cough and a runny nose. So I do one those dreadful LFTs which was negative or faulty obviously. Maybe I've just developed a dog allergy after a whole week with the Lad.

After being certified negative (or faulty) I head off to Asda to shop for my parents. Which is even more horrible than usual given that it’s nearly Christmas. They’d ran out of baskets and trolleys. Everyone was having to queue for them to be returned.

On Christmas Eve I do another LFT which is again negative for Covid/Omicron/cold/flu/dog allergy etc then I finish WFM at 1pm. So many acronyms. We spend the evening in the Organ Grinder which is about as busy as we’ve ever seen it on Christmas Eve.

Daughter does the night shift and then crashes at our place at 7:30am on Christmas Day with tales of rescuing a deer from someone’s kitchen. Which is impressively festive although it didn’t have a red nose.

I do another LFT which is once again negative before we Parkrun at Alvaston. The Lad is a pain, of course, but our time isn’t too bad.

We then visit L’s Mum for a coffee. Sadly her Christmas Day at L’s brother’s has been cancelled due to his wife having Covid but she seems happy enough spending it in front of the TV. Son will also later test positive which will disrupt the rest of his Christmas.

Then we go to my parents' where my brother is also visiting and we exchange presents. My brother will be taking them a meal round later.

I take my Dad out for a pint (or two) in their village at the White Hart where a pint comes with free port.

 

At which point I think it’s wise to hand the car keys over to L and then as we head back home we pass my mate on his bike on his own way back from a Christmas Day pub trip.

We cook another non-standard Christmas Lunch, not that Daughter is surprised at our weirdness any more. We serve a platter of meats and cheeses then prawns with chorizo in red wine with fried potatoes. It was supposed to be scallops but naturally Sainsbury’s didn’t have any.

Daughter exits early on Boxing Day and we take our meals on wheels service to my parents' where we put our leg of lamb on to cook while we head to L’s Mum’s again to take her to the care home to visit L’s Dad for lunch.

Then we head back to my parents to serve lunch and meet my brother there again. At which point their oven fuses all the electrics in the house. We do manage to get the power back on to everything bar the oven which means the lamb will have to be served pink and, after several failed attempts in the microwave, without Yorkshire Puddings.

(Sunday 26^th December)

Old Haunts And New Places

On Wednesday we head off to the Lakes for what is a frequent pre-Christmas treat and this year is longer than usual as I’ve been told to use up holiday from work. Which is not a problem.

A Wednesday to Wednesday schedule makes a cottage impractical so we do a mini road trip taking in three dog friendly hotels. Two of which we’ve stayed at before and one we haven’t.

First up is two nights at an old haunt the Watermill at Ings. We have really seen this place grow and develop since we first visited over 20 years ago. The car park we park in appears to be the latest new development as we don't recall it being there before. We have a pleasant couple of nights on their dog themed beers which in our case are mainly A Winters Tail and Ruff Justice. 

Our days are spent rather touristy e.g. Christmas shopping in Kendal, Bowness and Hawkshead with a spot of walking at Coniston Water, a morning run at from the hotel and then a trip to visit the Sticklebarn in the Langdale Valley.

Then we move to Grasmere and the Travellers Rest for three nights. This is somewhere we’ve long wanted to stay but we might not return as L is convinced that they kept serving her vodka and tonic without any vodka in it.

 

The weather is cold, misty and frosty but sadly L doesn’t get her wish to be snowed in somewhere.

Of course there has to be a Parkrun and we do the one at Whinlatter Forest on possibly the hardest course ever in preference to a three lap easy one at Rothay Park in Ambleside. It is incredibly hilly with evil downhills that my knees don’t like one bit. It doesn’t help that when they start unexpectedly, the Lad and I get left behind and have to catch up hindered by his usual lead biting as we zigzag down one of the downhills. Perhaps Ambleside might have been nicer.

 

There is more touristy shopping in Keswick and a walk near Bassenthwaite Lake as well as trips to Glenridding and Ullswater. We also fit in another morning run.

Then we move to another old haunt in the Mortal Man at Troutbeck. Where we do a pleasant walk from hotel and visit the nearby Queens Head for post-walk mid-afternoon coffee, whiskey and dog treats. Finally the trip home is via some final Christmas shopping in Ambleside and a pint in the Hawkshead Brewery at Staveley.

(Wednesday 22^nd December)

The Muffin Stealer

Saturday is the Locko Park Christmas 10k which is a new event and the first time I’ve raced at Locko Park. L and Daughter run it too. The course isn’t great being basically three laps of the lake with an off road section up a track.

This particular section was eventful on the first lap to say the least. Once you got to the top you were asked to do a U-turn and then go back down it. Except there wasn’t room to separate the runners going up from those coming down. Those coming down had to run to the side of the path in long grass which wasn’t good for anyone’s dodgy knees or ankles let alone my papier-mâché ones.

This is part of my excuse why it took me 54 minutes, which is worse than it sounds because it was quite a bit short of being 10k as well. I did consider doing old un-favourite the Bolsover 10k on Sunday instead but then if I was serious about marathon training I’d probably be doing both.

In the afternoon Derby beat Blackpool 1-0.

The next day L is visiting Son in Leamington. So I join them. I take the boys for walk while they’re Christmas shopping and then gate crash their lunch. Son hands me a mysterious barrel shaped thing that is my Christmas present. I look forward to finding out what it could be.

Monday is my first day back working from home which nicely coincides with the locksmith chap coming to fit a new barrel inside the lock on our front door. Having changes the lock I best make sure I’m in when L comes home.

He’s also replacing our broken letterbox but we haven’t got that yet as he only had one in gold and that would have looked a bit daft on our white front door. So he’ll be back after our holiday to fit that.

One advantage\disadvantage of being back at home is inadvertently sharing my breakfast with the Lad. I was looking forward to my toasted muffins this morning but then found that one had disappeared off the worktop while I was on a phone call.

Bizarrely Tuesday’s Libertines gig at Rock City has been cancelled even though Tuesday is the day before vaccine passports come in and they have it rearranged for February when there may be even less chance of it going ahead.

So having cancelled my dog training session I quickly un-cancel it. At least the muffin stealer will be pleased.

(Tuesday 14^th December)

This Party Is Actually A Business Meeting

L's pool is very quiet at the moment which could be due to the latest Covid scare or it could just be because a lot of people seem to down tools their fitness programs at this time of year until after Christmas. That is assuming you’re not training for a spring marathon. In an attempt to keep up with L’s superior fitness regime I head to the gym.

The assumption that now that L’s Dad is in a care home that visiting would be much easier and more frequent than at the hospital turns out to be a bit naive. They allow only two visitors on the premises at a time and each resident is only allowed one 30 minute visit a week.

By Tuesday the weather has turned decidedly icy. It would be nice to have some snow but that doesn’t look as if it’s going to happen. It is windy though which may be why the Covid testing tent near L’s work isn’t there this morning.

I have a night out with my ex-school colleague after work. Drinks in the Alexandra and the Brunswick before food in Silk Mill which was much better than last time in the Exeter.

There’s sad news from dog training as I hear that the Lad’s ‘mate’ from training has been rehomed after he attacked his owner and she needed to have stitches. He was handful but didn’t know he could be violent. He’s now at a rescue centre in South Wales.

L wants me to ask if they want a cat as a replacement. She wants to offer everyone her Mum's cat as it’s about to be rehomed for the somewhat lesser crime of being slightly annoying.

By Thursday, the Government is again advising everyone to 'work from home where possible'. At work our new owners tell us we can do so starting immediately. Our old owners advise that we must have a dedicated work environment which does not include sitting on a bed and we must have a webcam for face to face meetings. So I now have a webcam, courtesy of the company.

Thursday is also, by some weirdly ironic fate, our Christmas Party at a new Indian called Nicco Restaurant and Cocktail Bar on Pride Park. Did I say party? My mistake. This fictional party is definitely not a party it is actually a business meeting.

So it won’t be wild and certainly not as wild as the Lad’s fourth birthday party back at home where I’m sure they’ll be sausages.

Our business meeting is followed by the now traditional post-event long walk to somewhere to have a drink bypassing many places where we could have had a drink. This year's long distance venue is the pool club in the centre of town. No, I have no idea why we went there. I stay for one more beer then get the bus home with a pocket full of birthday naan for the boys.

On Friday I decide to spend one last day in the office before starting working from home again. Two staff don't turn up at all, last seen asleep in the bus station after last night's business meeting.

(Friday 10^th December)

Advent

L asks if I’m basking in post-race glory at work. I’m not sure glory is the right word. Celebrating survival more like.

Mask wearing has always been high at Sainsbury’s and on Monday, ahead of Tuesday’s compulsion, it is back up to around 90%.

In the evening Derby have a home match which they unfortunately lose 2-1 to QPR while Tuesday is dog training in sub-zero temperatures.

Sub-zero doesn’t put L off swimming in the outdoor pool in the morning, which is presumably heated, but it appears she has a hard time persuading Daughter to go alfresco when she joins her.

Daughter’s race numbers meanwhile have now arrived for last Sunday’s race. A little late perhaps.

I bike despite the cold, the wind, and a brief shower of rain.

Wednesday is the first day of December and therefore the first day of Advent. What better way to celebrate the festive season than a pair of Advent chocolate nipples (or whatever they’re supposed to be) to share with your significant other every day for 24 days.  

The dogs have their own Advent calendar which comes without nipples but with a horrendous amount of plastic packaging every day for 24 days.

On Thursday I take the bus to work which was really quiet, which surprised me, and on time, which surprised me even more. So much so I do it again on Friday. 

I get my Covid booster on Thursday at Midland House in Derby where I’m straight in and out, aside from the ten minutes you have to wait afterwards to see if you get an allergic reaction.

L has a totally different experience at Forest Rec on Friday where they are queuing around the block even if you have an appointment. They have those signs that say you ‘reached the 30 mins to wait point’ like they do at Alton Towers. She has more patience than me, I’d have come back another time.

On Saturday after Parkrunning at Alvaston and taking L’s Mum for an eye appointment we have a meal out with some friends at Anoki on the A38 near Burton. I have never been there before and this is partly to make up for the fact the dog club have arranged a night out there next week when we’re away and also because we haven’t been properly out with these friends for about 15 years!

Sunday is the dog club’s AGM which is very sparsely attended and then in the evening we have a few beers in the Borlase and the Organ Grinder.

 (Sunday 5^th December)