Countryfile visit to Blenheim Palace

Worked out in the garden again in the morning and took the rubbish down to the dump. They’re charging these days but it’s for anything that’s not household waste and is DIY, there’s a bit of a hoo-har as you’d expect but all the stuff I took was fine and not an issue. When we got back Charlotte came with Tash and I, Miles didn’t as he had some family thing he’d forgotten about, and we went to Blenheim Palace as I’d managed to get free tickets for the Countryfile event that was taking place there. We went last year so knew what to expect and it wasn’t any different to be honest!

We parked near to where Jack played football for Woodstock and walked through, long bloody walk but it saved car park fees!!

Charlotte was really surprised by the scale of the set up and we just wandered round loads of the stalls and took our time – it was hot again, when is it not hot these days?? Saw a few decent things and at the Blacks store there were two for £30.00 camping chairs exactly like what we’d listed that we’d like to buy…so we did! That also helped because when we were walking round it meant we weren’t relying on seats and could just bang out the chairs and plonk ourselves down. I had a couple of pints – one at the Craven Arms of course and we watch an amusing (but informative) presentation by a bloke with sheep and then that was pretty much it, we made our way back to the car and home.

I did a BBQ in the evening and Sue came round so that was nice and then that was it, had a few more drinks and relaxed and reflected on a decent and productive weekend, the garden and garages look good!

Saunton Sands Day 3 – pissing down with Rain!!

Last night was mental!! We experienced really heavy storms, thunder, high speed winds and tons of rain. I was awake nearly all night because of it. At one point (3.30am) I had to go outside and sort out the pegs and some of the loose fittings that were flapping about making an unbearable noise. In the morning I did wonder how things would look and luckily it was okay, the wind-break hadn’t broken, and I’d had the foresight to take the flag pole down – else that would have snapped!

The rest of the day it just rained and was miserable weather. So instead of going to the beach and just getting cold etc we jumped in the car and went to Ilfracombe, that was after I’d cooked eggs and bacon for breakfast..hooray, no way I couldn’t have a fry-up at some point!! Ilfracombe is a decent seaside town and we wandered around, it was good actually. We managed to find some free parking and then wandered down the High Street popping in and out of shops etc before stopping for an afternoon tea in a Candy Shop. That was interesting, we’re pretty certain it was under new ownership and it was two gay lads getting going with a new venture, they took an absolute age to serve us because there was a bit of a rush of people (6 or 7) but we were patient and glad to sit and chat and relax. They asked us to write a nice review as we left, which of course we did!

Down to the harbour and walked round there before deciding to go to a pub for a pint (well I had two of course) and then drove home for dinner.

We decided we couldn’t be bothered to go surfing now and just spent the night in the tent again, but we treated ourselves to fish and chips so Charlotte and I drove back into Braunton and they were fantastic chips and sausages and fish – so that was worth it.

We then shut down the tent as it was raining and windy again and played games and drank a bottle of wine and a couple of beers. Nothing too exciting but another enjoyable day and evening just taking it easy

We then had another night of thunderstorms so that was a shame and a frustration!!

Saunton Sands Day 2 – Charlotte coming down

Up nice and early this morning and another morning of fresh fruit etc for breakfast, none of the usual fry up which I can’t get used to!!

It rained last night and this morning so we decided to take things easy and dawdle about, so we walked into Braunton to give Bess a decent walk and look around the shops to kill time before needing to go and get Charlotte. She got the 10.30am train and was due into Barnstable around 2.30pm but there were complications so she was delayed an hour. We got everything ready and then drove down to collect her, by now the weather was better so we went straight down to Saunton sands again (about 4.30pm by now) and it was great.

The sea had come in, but more importantly the waves were huge! We sorted out the windbreaks and all that and then piled into the water, Tash and I were bloody useless with surfing, I could just about do some body boarding, but Charlotte was up on the board and away the first time and thereafter!! I had a couple more attempts but nose-dived each time and just gave up!

We must have been in the water for over and hour and then went back to the base and I had brought my portable BBQ grill so I cooked dinner there on the beach, and though I say so myself, the steaks I’d bought (and cooked) were delicious!! We also opened a bottle of bubbly so it was lovely just sat there watching the sunset, eating and drinking and having a laugh.

As it got dark we made our way back to the campsite and washed up the suits etc and walked Bess and then played card games etc sat out having more drinks!!

Another nice day and it was good Charlotte came down, it’s very much appreciated that she made the effort, sadly the weather isn’t going to be nice for her, or us for that matter!!

Saunton Sands Day 1 – on the beach

Woke up early but so nice not to be bursting for a wee or have a hangover!! Sad but that’s the usual feeling when camping!!

Took Bess out for a quick walk and then had a very nice (healthy) breakfast before potting around for a bit. Went into Braunton to get some cash for the car-park and then drove down to Saunton Sands – it doesn’t change, thankfully, and we parked up and made it down to the beach. It was nice weather, very hot, and a little more crowded than it has been on the webcams that I’ve been looking at in the last couple of days.

Set up and simply sat on the beach relaxing and reading, managed to get through most of the Private Eye magazine for the first time ever!! It does wind me up because it highlights all the injustices and cheating that’s going on in public life, everyone is on the make and ripping off the tax-payer in the main! Anyway, it was nice and easy but very hot, although the sea breeze was good.

We went out to the sea after an hour or so and Bess absolutely loved it, straight in the sea, no fear and jumping over and through the waves, Tash and I took it in turns to go in on the body board and I was amazed at how warm the sea was. I really don’t want to sound like someone we know “warmest ever!”, but I genuinely can’t think of a time and place in the UK when the sea has been that warm, it was so surprising. Didn’t do much else other than relax, catch up on social media and read (or eat and drink!)

Back in the sea for a second time and this time because it was coming in we didn’t have to go the half bloody mile to get wet and the waves were a lot better and higher and more fun!

That was it, packed up and made our way home for about 7.00pm! Some new neighbours had turned up with loads of kids playing football but it was fine and we had a couple of drinks and a nice dinner. Walked the dog, wrote this diary entry and then off to bed for about 10.30pm!

It was actually really quite cold last night which surprised us – had to snuggle together for warmth!!

Off to Sunny Devon…me, Tash and Bessie!

So Tash and I are down here in Devon! Worked at Raintree today, normal day, busy but got a lot done and then got home as soon as possible once the day finished so that we could finish the last bits of packing and get on the road to Devon. It’s just the two of us and then charlotte is coming down on Friday by train which is good of her. The drive down here (setting off about 5.00Pm) was a fantastic idea, admittedly the traffic on the A420 was a bit shit and busy but once we were past Swindon it was plain sailing, honestly there was hardly any traffic and we flew down her – we were pitching our tent at 8.30pm and completely finished and starting our dinner at 9.30pm.
It’s great down here in Braunton, we think it’s our fourth, possibly even our fifth time of coming to the campsite (Lobbs Farm) but it works so well for us because it’s a 3hr 20mins drive, dog friendly and close to a great beach and also town, Perfect!
So we got all sorted, we’d had practise at the weekend so were dab hands at this now and then had spag bol and a few drinks. Tash wants this to be a detox weekend so healthy eating and drinking and all that…we will see!
Not much else to do in the evening so sat around chatting and then around 11.00pm off to bed for an early night!
I do have things to do with work and will aim to deal with those over the next couple of days, but I really do relax and switch off from everything, I shouldn’t but I can’t help to do so. I definitely think there are better things in life than working all the time..however, how the fuck can I pay for it all if I don’t work!!
I have to work on getting the balance right, and also lose some weight and get fit at the same time! Hopefully this will give me that impetus!

Family Camping trip in Standlake

Really slow day at work, hardly got anything done, bit of a nightmare at the minute, just not doing the work I need to do – have to snap out of it before I start losing business I really do, yet here I am writing my diary and procrastinating again!

Anyway, Tash finished work and when she got home we drove off to Standlake for our family weekend camping with the Bulls. They were already there having had the time off work and relaxing – it was just Nikki, Gaz, Victoria and Danny tonight and we set about erecting the tent and everything else. They helped with the shelter and we were all done and sorted in just over an hour – not bad at all!

We then just sat around drinking, eating and chatting – took the dogs for a walk by the lake of course and later it absolutely pissed down with rain, really heavy thunderstorm that lasted a couple of hours – we need it so we weren’t complaining and we were fine under the event shelter! Earlyish night and then up and at them in the morning – I made breakfast as usual, loads of fry-up and gradually everyone started turning up – Jack and Charlotte, Emily, Tom, Katie and Oscar, then Sue and the Foxes. And yes..the drinking continued.

We eventually made our way down to the lake and took the massive cool box full of beers and wine and also the kayak – both of which were very much appreciated! The lads and kids loved the kayak and were in the lake for ages, really good fun.

Nice meal in the evening and everyone left near the end of the night and left the 6 of us alone again, seems strange just being me and Tash if I am honest. But it was nice

In the morning Tash was throwing up everywhere – nightmare!! I was heavy-headed but fine, made another breakfast and she couldn’t even smell it without retching.

Packed up and was gone by 10.45am – crashed out at home and watched TV and took it easy and gradually everyone came to life, so we decided to take Charlotte and Miles out for dinner to celebrate their end of year results at Uni and we went to Mowgli in the Westgate centre. It was really nice, the food is lovely and tastes/smells great. We did well and obviously paid for it and it was a nice end to the weekend.

All good fun, we’re away next weekend to Devon so we didn’t really unpack the car and no doubt we will organise the trip to Standlake for next year as always!

Speedboat on the Thames

We went off to London today to use Mum’s 70th birthday present, a speed boat ride down the Thames! We left a little later than I had planned and picked Mum up whilst Lewis and Jack went and got petrol and we then caught up with them on the M40. We had to be at the pier (right by the London Eye) by 10.45am, we somehow got there with minutes to spare, I was stressing, it shouldn’t have been like that..if we’d left on time!

Anyway, after a quick safety briefing and putting on the life belts we boarded the boat (12 people) and were off, initially it was a tour at a slow pace along the river and getting information on various landmarks which was interesting (I knew quite a few of the facts being raised but also learned some new ones so that was good.) And then after Tower Bridge we were allowed to put our foot down, and he certainly did just that, it was excellent. They had music blaring out as well so it worked really well. Everyone loved it, twists and turns and it was exhilarating, didn’t last long (about 15-20 mins) and then we were turning round to return home, but definitely worth it. Mum loved it, in fact we all did.

When we got back we then walked along the South Bank heading towards Giraffe restaurant but before we got there we found the Italian restaurant, Strada and went there instead. We sat outside but I wasn’t in shade, wow, that was hot! The table and cutlery were absolutely burning hot, I couldn’t pick up the knife and fork! Anyway, really nice meal, then walked along and got an ice cream and we all crashed out asleep for 20 minutes under a tree and finally got ready and left.

Lewis was going back up to Huddersfield which is why he’d driven so we waved him off and made our own way back through Chiswick and dropped Mum off and back in time for the World cup

The World Cup final was between France, strong favourites before the tournament began, and Croatia who beat us in the semi-final. It’s been a great World Cup this time and the final lived up to that as well and was a great spectacle. Croatia were hard done by with two goals conceded that were very harsh indeed, a penalty decision using VAR that the ref got completely wrong I feel – but France ran away with it in the end and it was a comfortable 4-2 win, but it was a decent game and I really wanted Croatia to win it…ah well.

That was it then really, pottered around at home and had an early night after a long weekend.

Still bloody hot!

Jack at Eminem

Strange day today, woke up hungover and not in the mood for speaking with Tash after the hassle last night so I just got on with replacing the lining on the shed roof which was a shit job that I hated doing. Jack wanted to leave early to go to Eminem at Twickenham so I agreed to take him on my own meaning Tash could stay at home with Lewis, although I think he went out in the evening anyway! We didn’t want to let Jack drive there on his own as he’s not been on the motorway yet but I did let him drive and we collected Max around 3.45pm and off we went. He was fine as expected and the trip was uneventful, they jumped out near to the venue and I drove off looking for somewhere to set up a camp to work – that was not successful. I drove round all over the place and ended up in Hounslow, and wandered round there for a couple of hours to kill time and go to MacDonalds.

Jack texted me to say that he’d managed to bluff his way into the VIP area and was about 30 yards away from the main stage – absolutely delighted so he was happy. I then continued my drive around places and eventually ended up in Hampton Court and sat in a park for a while before making my way back to Twickenham, what a nightmare that turned out to be. All the roads were closed and I couldn’t get where I needed to be to pick them up. Then it was gridlocked, I was getting so pissed off. Eventually after loads of phone calls with him Jack we caught up and then I tried to drive through as many backroads to get out of the town, it worked to some degree and then I was out in the open and we got home about 1.00am in the end. He’d really enjoyed himself so it was worth it.

Kept saying that it was the best concert he’s been to and how good Eminem is and what a showman he was – he was also pleased that 50 Cent was there as well and it likely to get tickets to go and see him as well asap

I still can’t believe he managed to get into VIP – he’s a jammy git!!

Nice meal at Victors in Oxford Westgate

It was Chloe and Paul Holden’s birthdays today and we were invited out with them all to go to the Victors restaurant that Nicole works at. Tash and I got there at 5.30pm and got a drink and everyone then turned up and it was a really nice evening

Had quite a bit to drink and the food was really tasty and kept on coming out, we let Nicole lead the way and choose all the dishes and they were loads of tapas type meals, it was expensive though!

At the end of the meal they did this huge desert with loads of sparklers and that and we then had the bonus that they gave Nicole 50% off the total cost because of her being an employee, even better, Wayne and Kerry refused to let us pay our way saying this was a 25th anniversary present from them! Really generous as it was £50.00

We paid that back when buying drinks at the bar for the rest of the night, we stayed where we were and then around 11.00pm they left to get the bus home. When Tash and I came to leave she got really funny with me for some reason so I just thought ‘Fuck this” and walked off. She then started calling and texting me so I just turned the phone off, I was drunk but I was also sick of being treated like this whenever she has a drink, it’s horrible.

So I went round to the Living Room and had a pint in there and then to Hanks for an hour or so, just stood there having a drink people watching, and then Tash turned up in there about 1.30pm I reckon!! So got dragged out and Jack gave us a lift home, don’t remember much more than that but it turned a nice evening really sour, need to think about what’s going on when we go out and what’s being drunk.

England out of the World Cup

Well it was fun whilst it lasted but Englad fell to Croatia this evening 2-1 after extra time, it was a deserved win for Croatia after we were strong in the first half they took control and battered us for the rest of the game. England dropped deeper and deeper and I said that after the Columbia match and the same happened. No one is really to blame, there was no injustice, or cheating or anything like that, just beaten by a better side, but the fact is we were so close to getting to a final, such a missed opportunity, so I’m disappointed

However, I had a nightmare of my own!! I ran late for my training session and panicked getting a taxi to the train station but I made it with minutes to spare meaning I’d get home to the pub to watch the football at 6.45pm – perfect, I got on my train, made a woman move as she was in my reserved seat and then got working for the 2.5hr journey home to Banbury, only slight problem was that after 2 hours the train stopped at its final destination and they said “Welcome to Newcastle!” – I’d got on the wrong fucking train!!!!

So I was now over 5 hours away from home…I was going to miss the match afterall. There was another train at 6.35 back to Doncaster and then on to Birmingham and Banbury and I’d then drive home for midnight, I was so very disappointed. Nothing I could do about it, posted and update on Facebook and everyone obviously took the piss out of me and thought it funny! I managed to get some coverage on the train but it kept buffering and was very frustrating. Got home and was absolutely knackered and drained.

So it’s been an enjoyable tournament but it does feel a little flat today and I don’t think we really gave it our best shot yesterday when it really mattered, especially with the clear cut chances we missed in the first half when we could have easily gone two or three ahead.

So another tournament over…

England in World Cup Semi-Final!

England are in the World Cup semi-final tonight, I am on the train to Doncaster writing this and hopefully should be back in time to see it all. It's been an incredible summer of football, the tournament has been brilliant, so unpredictable with the big teams missing out (Germany didn't even get out of their group!) and it's been enjoyable.

So it means we've been up to the White Hart a lot to watch the England matches, that's a tough one to take really because there are always going to be a couple of pricks that have no idea what they're talking about, and for some reason they stand next to me!! Drives me nuts. But it's slowly got busier and tonight will be mad I reckon. England are against Croatia, I think it's very close indeed, both teams will fancy their chances of making it to the final. As could be expected, the mood and enthusiasm around the country is completely overkill but everyone is so excited by it. It does bring back memories of 1990 in Italy when we lost on penalties in the semi-final, I really hope we can make it.

However, a VERY strong France side are waiting the winners of tonight's match, and they look formidable.

Anyway, it's been a good and enjoyable tournament whatever the team achieve tonight…

Silver Wedding Anniversary Milestone reached…just… :-)

Wedding anniversary today, 25 years we've been married, amazing achievement, it really is. Tash bought me some lovely silver cuff links and I gave her the presents I'd bought her, not as nice at all but she pretended to be pleased with them! I am useless, I really am, I don't deserve her.

Anyway, posted a couple of Facebook messages and the comments and love from people was amazing, really generous and loads of people wishing us the best and saying nice things! Normal day other than that, we both had to work, I was in Banbury so not too bad and it was a good day.

Back home in the early evening and we opened a bottle of Champagne and relaxed before cycling down to Gee's restaurant to use the voucher that the kids had bought for us. They provided us a glass of champagne on our arrival and we had lots of starters instead of a main meal and that was a really good choice to go for. Halfway through, Katharine and Pete Casey turned up meeting some friends…so we were there on a very special occasion and they were there just for a normal Tuesday night!! How the other half live!!

When we finished we came home and finished off the half bottle of champagne from earlier and relaxed in the garden reflecting on our time together and what we've achieved and other things with life, it was nice and made us appreciate where we are with our lives at the minute…we're doing ok!!

Anyway, a lovely day and now to start again to get another 25 years under our belt!!

Jack has passed his driving test!

So today was Jack’s driving test, I must admit I wasn’t not too sure whether it was too early for him as there are a few areas that need more work and experience, roundabouts for example. Anyway, it was at 11.11am and about 45 minutes later we got the news that he had passed with only one minor (clipping a kerb in the tight roads around Wheatley!)

He phoned me before I went into a training session in Banbury and he was buzzing, I was so pleased for him, so well done to him! He will be out and about in the car constantly now so we won’t be seeing that for a while.

Another milestone passed in his life.

Weekend Diary

1. Friday - meal out with Wayne and Kerry - Spiced Roots – nice meal and good evening. Drinks before and after…
2. Out and about and working in the garden, Jessica's birthday meal at Joe's - awkward because of money, Eurovision in the evening and watched Black Panther on DVD
3. Working on garden in the morning/afternoon - walk to Perch, drinks at home, Zoe round Prosecco and gin & tonic and vodka and tonic - bit drunk (again) - Graham Norton on tv

Jacks football…shocking standard!

I’m going to sound like a right football snob..but there you go – I am!

For the last two nights I’ve taken Jack to play football for Woodstock Town, reserves this evening and first team last night. I have to same I am shocked by the standard of football, it’s shit, it really is. And yet they take themselves so seriously it’s laughable, I have to bite my tongue when watching from the sidelines, I enjoy watching Jack play and when they actually give him the ball he’s exciting on it but they can’t pass! The pitch yesterday for the reserves at Adderbury was astonishing as well, I think the meadow would have played better, it’s certainly got shorter grass on it! Bob Pratley once described a pitch as undulating but this was positively mountainous!

Anyway, both games they’ve lost, I’ve been videoing the matches to get Jack’s involvement and it’s really hard to do so because of trying to keep up with him and in focus.

Ah well, I am so pleased that I never dropped down to the level, in saying that, maybe one day so I can have a match with Jack I will have to get fit and have no choice but to play…but I seriously hope he’s playing for a better team next season – I couldn’t pay to watch this garbage!

Jack is a Learner Driver!

So Jack is now learning to drive, he had this first lesson today and it went really well. He’s gone with the same guy that taught his mate Cory, he went out for 2 hours and it said he enjoyed it and was travelling around Oxford. So emboldened by news we agreed to let him drive to Abingdon for his football training…that was an experience! When we reversed he went too fast and we so very nearly rammed Pete’s car next door – we must have stopped with 5 inches to spare, I shit myself!

Anyway, the rest of the drive to Abingdon on the A34 was fairly uneventful and he did well, stalled a couple of times but no-one gave us hassle so that was okay. When I got to training I must admit my heart was pounding, Id got quite nervous with his driving. I wasn’t going to let him drive home but I did let him and again he did well and was better.

To be fair, he’s done well because he’s only had an hour or so with me and Tash and a first driving lesson so to be out on the road with us is good!

So he will sign up for more lessons with the instructor and we will allow him to drive whenever we can…I hope the blood pressure survives though!

Woodstock Social Club disco…first and last time!

Worked from home today and had a good chat with Jack about his focus and school work and we tried working on Pomodoros throughout the day and it appeared to work for him, I think he enjoyed the focus but was also surprised when he’d completed so few

Went out with Katherine and Pete Casey this evening to Woodstock, it was some charity disco function that was organised, Charlotte took us to the Woodstock Arms and we met with Sarah and Darren who are their friends, Sarah (Hazell) is the one I know from school days and there were a couple of other women there as well, one of which went out with Mark Gee and knew Tosh and loads of other lads from my football days so that was interesting speaking with her. Had a couple of drinks and then went over to what can only be described as a social club, it was quite rough (for anywhere let alone Woodstock) and we were dressed up quite smart of got a lot of looks and attention as we walked in! Anyway, only one thing to do…drink!

I must admit I got quite drunk, I wasn’t overly bothered about dancing but it was a laugh and we had a good time until right at the end of the night, some woman they all knew who was a bit of a pain was talking to us and her boyfriend/husband was stood close behind Tasha and her face dropped. She came over to me and said this guy was really feeling up her bum! He came back and did it again and she was looking straight at me pulling faces pleasing for help, not much I could do so kept quiet and watched. He then for some unknown reason walked round the group to me and held out his hand to shake my hand, I kept my hand in my pocket and looked at his hand and then looked him in the eye and said ”No thanks”.

He asked “What?” and held out his hand again

I replied, “I’m not shaking your hand, I saw exactly what you were doing with my wife!”

He then walked away as quickly as possible – I was shaking!! I hate confrontation and he was a big chap. We joked about it in the car home (Dan came and picked us up) but it wasn’t a nice experience. We had to drop Pete off before us as I think he was the worse for wear with the drink he’d consumed, we were fine expect I had terrible hiccups when I got in and in the morning I was knackered with quite a heavy hangover. But an amusing night with a story to tell!!

Madeira – weekend away with Nik & Gaz

These are notes from the weekend away – I didn’t update the diary well enough

Delay flying – gate wouldn’t let us through, flight cancelled because of weather so we got drunk in Crawley town centre – great day and night!

One of the most dangerous airports in the world – often gets cancellations

Ronaldo’s home/bust

Casino – travelling around, meals and drinking

Jeep journey

Fennel

Peppercorn

Citronella

Bay leaves

Off road road block

Cold summit

£5 drink stop

£10 lunch stop. Lovely

1 mike walk along water channel

Other stop first r strong drink

Charlotte’s JR Placement follow-up

Charlotte sent a WhatsApp message message to the Dark Dickheads family group today saying that she was so embarrassed! Her tutor put an email on the main projector in her lecture from the JR Hospital saying how fantastic Charlotte was during her placement in the last four weeks and commending her attitude, work ethic and interaction. Absolutely glowing it was and everyone involved in the course from her Uni are delighted with her, it’s been sent to the course manager and even higher up than that, Charlotte cringed but some of her friends on the course actually clapped her!

It made us very proud indeed of her, that is such a great achievement and like the Uni people said, they tend to only get emails and letters when something goes wrong – not when something goes so right!

So a huge well done to Charlotte, very proud of her

Early Mothers Day & another one of my 50 Things ticked off

We took Mum and Grandma to the Cotswold Lodge this afternoon as an early Mother’s Day present as we are away in Madeira this weekend and it’s a nice easy thing to manage. Grandma had slipped on the way in just before we got there so she was complaining that her skirt was wet the whole time but otherwise she was fine.

We had an afternoon tea menu which meant sandwiches, scones, cakes and tea/coffee. It was lovely and we were in the tearoom on our own so shouting at grandma to be heard wasn’t embarrassing or an issue! Completely full up and too much coffee but it was such nice food. We paid for it all which was appreciated of course.

It was lovely to spend time with them both and it was a good catch up.

As mentioned in the title of this post, this is something that was on my list of things to do so this is another one that we’re able to tick off as done!

Tucks over for the week

Andrew, Alison and the two girls (Grace & Olivia) were over in the UK this week, Tucks was in Cardiff the whole time and we only got to see them on Saturday evening. Jack stayed home and babysat the girls and we then went over to Jacob’s Inn, had a nice meal and a good catch up with them which was really nice. Jack had a girl from Kidlington come over called Hannah, bit random and out of the blue but it was nice for him to have some company.

They’re doing really well and Tucks has a new hobby now which means buying cars! Nice hobby to be able to have…fair play to him though, he’s enjoying it. When all done we went back and Jack & Hannah were in control and it was nice to spend some time with the girls – they look identical, it’s uncanny.

Not sure when we’ll see them all again next but they’re looking forward to us coming over in October, hopefully we will catch up before then.

Alison gave Jack £20.00 which was very generous and he gave Hannah half of it which she didn’t expect at all but was pleased to get that of course.

So a nice evening all told, nice and calm and great to see them

Mortgage done and dusted!

What a weight off our shoulders and a sense of achievement!

On 1st March we were able to transfer all the money over to the Nationwide and call them to say our mortgage is paid! They were pleased for us and asked how we’d celebrate, strange feeling. We didn’t really do much as a celebration but both felt pleased with ourselves having paid this off 4 years early and now have that money to spend. Well, for the first year we will be saving like mad to build up the car money we delved into so as to make up the balance, but that won’t take long to do.

We intend to review how best to deal with our finances now and will have a think about the best savings options. There is always the temptation to get another mortgage and buy a second home, I really don’t know if that’s something we will seriously consider, we shall have to wait and see I guess.

So that’s it – no more mortgage…for now!

Oli’s Thai Restaurant

This was a very nice treat indeed! I worked at Raintree today but I had time accrued so I left at 1.30pm having done the rep training in the morning and came home and pottered around until we got a taxi with John Bampton to the Iffley Road, there is a restaurant there that is a nightmare to book – something like a 3 month waiting list! We’d missed two trips here for one reason or another so it was good to finally get together with John and Pauline (she was waiting for us as her work is nearby) to have this meal. So the table was booked for 5.30pm – they do two shifts and we obviously were on the early shift.

Ordered the food and some drinks and the beers flowed a little too well! But when the food came out I can see what the fuss is about, it was lovely, really, really tasty and enjoyable. We had plenty and it was an excellent meal, I would definitely encourage anyone else to go and visit for certain. What was nice is that we were finished at 7.30pm for the next shift but it was quite strange feeling a bit tipsy so early in the evening

We then walked around the corner to the pub called the Rusty Bicycle and had a couple more beers before getting a cab home. John and Pauline went straight home and we crashed out

A very enjoyable evening – looking forward to the next one!

Mortgage–we’ve done it!

Received a cheque in the post today for £56,477.60 which will go towards paying off our £62,882,37 final balance! So we will use £6.4k of saving that we will replenish over the coming 12 months!

So pleased to have finally got to this point – 4 years ahead of schedule and before we’re 50 years old!

The fact we have to delve into some savings doesn’t worry me as we will recoup that and all the money we now have is our own and not going towards interest payments and the bank!

Might treat ourselves to a drink later – although Jack’s schoolwork is suffering so I don’t think the atmosphere at home is the best when I get there!!

Ah well – it’s not going to dampen my spirits

Logical Office up & running

Did my first training session for Logical Office today and I think it went okay, I have received feedback advising that I received positive comments from the client to Rod so that is obviously a relief. There is still so much more I need to know and understand with the system but it’s pleasing to have got the first one done and under my belt.

I have got quite wrapped up in understanding the software though and need to take a step back and get other work done as it’s taking up so much of my time and attention.

Anyway, one down!

Mortgage Pay-Off proceeding with–oh dear!

So we decided to send the surrender instructions over to Abbey Life and since doing so in the last 3 days the shares have dropped by over £1,000.00! Isn’t that bloody typical. I just hope that the letter gets to them asap and the shares are sold at not so much of a loss. I am trying my hardest not to let it concern me but it’s pissing me off that we have to do it via post and not over the phone – it does seem incredibly out-dated. Especially as they send me a cheque for the monies raised, very antiquated!

So at the time of writing I don’t know how much the final amount will be – I just hope it’s close to £55,000 still!

Lewis home for the weekend

Lewis has come down for the weekend and brought amber with him who is is latest girlfriend. They made good time travelling and were here by about 7.30pm. It was great to see him and she seems a nice girl and very confident. Likes travelling and appears to be very organised with planning and things she wants to do. Very much like someone else we know…

We had a nice dinner and a few drinks and just sat in the front room talking and chatting and drinking, very relaxed nice evening. I stayed up a bit later once everyone went to bed because I wanted to watch a film and then bed by about 1.00am – a bit light headed!!

It’s a shame Charlotte is in Nottingham with Miles as she has missed out on seeing them, but she’s having a nice time out partying – looks like she’s gone to the beer cellar!

Lewis Pay-Rise

Lewis sent through an email today saying that he was called into the office with two managers and since he’d had a couple of awkward clients the previous day he was a bit nervous, but they told him how pleased they were with him and gave him a pay-rise from £22k to £28k – that’s huge. Not bad for a 22 year old University drop-out!! Really pleased and proud for him. We are encouraging him to save for a mortgage at the minute and hopefully with this few hundred pounds a month extra he will be disciplined – we’ll see!

Well done to him!

This was his email:

Before you open the attachment read this:

So today is our team meeting day and this afternoon all of us have a big meeting together discussing the last 3 months of work.

Just now though, I got taken to a side office with my two bosses. (Was terrified)

Turns out they have had a discussion and have been so pleased with me and my attitude towards the work they have given me something.

Now look at the picture.

I got a bit emotional because they hadn’t given me any form of warning that they were doing it and I have been told this all had to be done earlier and that it had been missed!!

They laughed and now I go back to work.

Am so happy and just needed to tell someone because I obviously can’t say anything to anyone here!!!

Love you both!! xxxx

Mum shaken by return of a ghost

So Mum sent me the email below – I called her and she was really shaken up about it, such a shame. But she left it a week before telling me. I think I made her laugh and get over it a bit, but I was really quite surprised by how hard she took it. She must really despise him. I told her we’d seen him about 20 years ago more out of curiosity to find out if there were any hereditary things that we needed to be aware of, but also from Tasha’s perspective of losing her father when really young, she wanted to be certain that I wouldn’t regret missing out on knowing my dad. As we’ve since found out, there wasn’t really anything to miss out on and we’ve had no contact since then.

==============================================

Hope you are O.K.  I just wanted to let you know what happened to me last Friday night.  I’ll try to keep it short.

Man stood on my doorstep, said hello and grinned.  I said “I don’t know who you are”.  He replied that he was Michael (my ex) and was visiting all his exes, all four of them.  So shocked, we asked him in.  The next twenty minutes was all about him!  He had 45 years to moan about!

He had been to see his physcho nurses and decided he should visit his ex wives/girlfriends.  He gave me a card thanking me for taking him in all those years ago, when he was down “the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me” along with an extract from a suicide note that he had written previously.  I said I didn’t remember the event.  Then we had to listen to him saying he has had depression for years, has had a heart attack etc. etc.  At no time did he ask how I was doing, how you and Louise were, how his grandchildren were, I don’t know why that should surprise me as the only person he ever loved was himself.

At no time did he apologise for all the hurt he caused, sleeping with other women, stealing all my money that Dad had given me for the future, paying a pittance in maintenance which he tried to stop by dragging me through the courts, only seeing you both a couple of times before completely deserting you.  I always tried to encourage him to see you and at no time did I bad mouth him or run him down to you both.  He said he had visited you and Natasha and when he realized that I didn’t know he was very smug.

It has all been very upsetting and I don’t need all that crap to be brought up again after all this time.  Sorry to go on but I am so shocked at the sheer arrogance of the man!

You can get on with your work now!!!

=============================================

Oh My…Our Mortgage Situation

We received our statement a week or so ago and reading through it I was surprised to see that we’re very close to completing it! I spent a while on Sunday night doing the maths to see if paying it off 4 years early and dipping into a few savings was worth it and also whether the endowment plan would increase enough to keep hold of it and keep paying into it. I phoned the Abbey Life earlier today and got and update and then spoke to Mark O’Hara on whether there were things I was missing. I think if there are no tax issues then we’re going to go for it and pay it off in the next few days!

WOW!! If that’s the case I can’t believe it, what a result that would be - £600.00 per month better off as a result and money that we can save and spend on ourselves

Will speak to the bank again tomorrow and then make a decision..I’m excited

Lumberjack!

Today was a ‘doing day’! Up and out in the morning and got the chainsaw up and running, got through loads of the stuff out the back and filled the coal bunker for the next few weeks. Sorted out my office and the garden, sorted monies and the like and then daydreamed looking at log cabins because Tash said she’d like a bar at the end of the garden, I would definitely be up for that! I then spent an hour or so working through our mortgage statement and calculating if it’s feasible and cost-effective to pay it off now, I think it might be, that would be amazing!

Sue came round for dinner and that was nice, watched some TV and then when she left we watched a film – Now You See Me 2 – it was enjoyable nonsense so that was nice

Anyway, having done some rowing as well I am now aching!! Only managed 5 minutes – bit pathetic really!!

Mansfield away…good game

So today Jack had a match away to Mansfield that I thought was 12.30pm kick off so didn’t need to leave until 9.15am so as to get petrol, I was up early and pottering around when Jack told me the lads had said the game was brought forward to 10.45am kick off – we’d not been told! I wasn’t best pleased and after checking we were in the car and bombing up the A43 and M1!! Got there in time for him to start the match and I ended up doing the line for the first half. It was a very good and competitive game, I was enjoying it and I think Jack was, he was getting a good challenge out of it.

Unfortunately we lost the game 2-1 but Jack had a really good performance and got the Gold award from the other manager – I wasn’t surprised, great clearance at the end off the line when tracking back. Had something to eat and made our way home, was tired so stopped for 40 mins for a snooze and coffee and then home for about 4.15pm.

Didn’t do anything in the evening except watch Silent Witness and then to bed, it was then that Jack texted me to say he was staying out at the party and didn’t need a lift home – I could have had a drink!!

Brian Blessed Autobiography Completed

I finished this on the train this evening, really enjoyed the book and it was a good read, he’s had an exceptional life. I am glad it didn’t disappoint.

Now to move onto Tom Baker’s book – hopefully that will be just as good but I get the impression it’s not quite what people expect it to be

In saying that, I’ve not finished my Private Eye magazine yet and the new one is due in a couple of days so I need to get up to speed with that one now

Gaz’s Birthday trip to London

Got a few things sorted in the morning first thing and then were ready to leave when Nikki and Gaz arrived at 11.15am – off to London I drove. The hotel was on Knightsbridge and you could see Harrods from where we were, there was also the Victoria and Albert museum and other amazing buildings to see, our hotel, the Rembrandt, was top notch as well. We dropped the girls off and then found a parking place before making our way back to the hotel and had a sharing platter, beer and Prosecco – a nice start indeed!

Dumped our bags and then set off for the pubs we had in the book we were using and because it was pissing down with rain got a taxi. First up was the Nag’s Head, this was busy and very friendly and welcoming and we had a nice pint in there. Loads to look around at in there and Gaz got his book signed by the landlord so he was pleased. We then walked round to The Grenadier…that was a little harder to find, really strange, we were going round in circles, it was a nightmare. Eventually a local pointed us in the right direction and we made it. Again it was an interesting pub but the serving girl wasn’t in the best of moods so less welcoming. The ceiling was covered in money left by tourists to pay the debts of the ghost Cedric, we watched a Russian girl staple some whilst we were there. Finally, we walked round to the Star Tavern, I liked this one but we only had 20 minutes because of my car parking running out so downed our pints quite quickly there.

Managed to get back to the car and move it to a different spot without incident, back to the hotel to freshen up and we there then out the door again by 6.15pm getting a taxi into Chelsea to a wine tasting office called Vintners and a chap called Tom who Tash knew from her work because he supplies the wine to Harris Manchester. He was extremely personable and a really nice bloke and we had two hours of his time and it was brilliant, really enjoyed it. Informative and useful and we got to try so many different wines, Tash thinks we were there longer and he expected but it didn’t feel like he minded, I feel a bit more knowledgeable now but more to the point was that it was just a really nice evening and time well spent. Leaving there we got another taxi and went to a place that Tom had recommended called Sophie’s Steakhouse – it was an excellent recommendation! Had some cocktails to start and then shown to a table, but the waiter didn’t like the table we were at so moved us as soon as he could so that was nice.

Had a great meal there, I had tuna but Nik and Gaz both went for £30.00 steak – looked nice but not very big! They made a fuss of it being his birthday and we sang when his pudding came out and it was a good evening – couldn’t believe it but Nik then paid for it all – very generous.

So, where next?? Well, we got yet another taxi and went to a casino near the hotel, can’t remember the name but it wasn’t very welcoming at all – even as I walked in a guy asked if I was going to order coffee for Tash because she was ‘wobbly’, cheeky fucker! Anyway, just had a few drinks and wandered around watching people gambling away, didn’t have a go on anything at all, it doesn’t interest me, Gaz on the other hand was enjoying himself and by the time we left he was up £150.00 so that was a success for him, paid for his night out! I don’t remember whether we had more drinks at the hotel or not, I think we just went straight to bed knackered and drunk, but it was a really great day and evening and one to remember.

Very hungover on Sunday! Tash kept being sick but we just spent the whole day relaxing and slobbing out in front of the TV with a fire on. Charlotte game home from Nottingham having seen Miles and it was a nice day.

Well, that was another thing ticked off the 50 Things list – now to organise something else.

What an absolute disgrace!

I just went for a run after dropping Jack off to football, only a steady pace to get myself out and about and see if my back and groin would hold up. I managed to “run” for 30 minutes before stopping but this was my slowest pace but I was glad to just keep ticking over and get my breathing sorted. I walked a lot on the way back or did exercises as it was getting cold. I feel ok and better for doing this. I thought I’d add it to Runkeeper as I didn’t turn it on and checked my last run – this was May 2017!!! Can you believe it? I am shocked and disgusted, it’s no wonder I’m a fat fuck if I haven’t been out running for 6-7 months – I am gobsmacked.

So, if that’s not incentive enough to get back on track I don’t know what is – I am so surprised. Anyway, sat in the car waiting for Jack to come out of training and starting to stiffen up already!

Mum’s Birthday Celebration Meal with us

Decent day today actually, Jack had football in the morning and played against Dagenham & Redbridge – they were a decent side and it was a competitive match. Jack played really well at left back and I enjoyed watching him play. The lads did well and they won in the end, 3-2 it was in the end, very good game.

Had some food afterwards and then went home, Tash, Me and Lewis walked down to the Perch and had a pint and walked home again and relaxed as we were going out in the evening for Mum’s birthday.

Drove down to Tash’s work and left the car there for the night, and made our way to the pub that used to be The Living Room – never remember what it’s called now. Everyone was there already and we were planning to get drinks and then within 10 minutes the bouncer is over saying that u18’s can’t be in there after 7.00pm. We didn’t make a fuss but Tash took him and Peter and his girlfriend (as she didn’t have ID) to Malmaison and then to Prezzo to wait for us. We finished our drinks and then went next door and got on with celebrating Mum’s birthday all together.

I was sat with Louise and Molly and it was nice and good to see her and catch up with things. Molly seems to be happy with her University and Psychology course. Meal was good as usual and Mum enjoyed herself as you would hope and expect. When the meal finished I went and sat down the other end of the table and chatted (or more to the point) listened to the boys chatting, Peter didn’t stop talking, it was really nice and he and Luke have both grown up as good lads. Their girlfriends appeared nice as well, Lily and Maddy, Lily was very quiet but Maddy, who is a drama student, was very outgoing and good fun – as you would expect from a drama student!

At the end of the night we didn’t want to risk going anywhere new so we managed to get another drink out of the place before finishing the evening, Louise had booked a taxi for them all and we persuaded Jack to go with them and they dropped him off. Me, Tash and Lewis decided to stay out for a bit longer and ended up walking to Hanks. That was a bit of an experience, Tash was drunk and had a go at me about something, I can’t even remember what it was that she was angry about but it was interesting for Lewis to see her turn on me like that. I didn’t take too much notice and she was alright once it passed.

We stayed for a couple of drinks and it was good fun, we then got a kebab and a taxi home – a late night and we were all a bit pissed!

It was nice for Mum and she really enjoyed it so that was pleasing.

Diary Post from Notes – Mum’s birthday

1. Diary for Mum's 70th - Jan 2018!
   1. Sunday Go-Karting & Ten Pin Bowling & Harvester

It was nice because Louise and the boys came over – not Trevor – but it was fine. The lads brought their girlfriends as well and they enjoyed themselves

Go-Karting was great fun, challenging but really enjoyable

Nice meal afterwards – Mum enjoyed it as having everyone around was important

Mum’s 70th Birthday

It’s flown by but today is Mum’s birthday and she’s 70 years old. Called and spoke to her this morning and we’ll be seeing her later this evening before she has a meal with the ‘oldies’ and then we’ll be celebrating properly over the weekend. What’s pleasing is that she’s still active and social enough to be involved with activities and holidays that we want to organise. For example on Sunday we will be go-karting which isn’t a normal activity for a 70th I’m sure!

She doesn’t know what the present from us is yet, I think she’ll be pleased with it because it’s a trip down the Thames on one of those high-powered speed boats, and then a meal afterwards. Should be fun.

Anyway, I am sure she’ll get loads of attention at work and through Facebook today and thoroughly deserved, there’s not much I think anyone could find not to like about her which makes me proud.

The kids are also lucky that they have a grandma that can still be involved with them and they love her for that. We popped out to Sturdy’s Castle this evening for an hour before their meal and she opened some presents and enjoyed herself and we then left them to it

A few photos to share from her Facebook feed today

Brian Blessed Autobiography

This hasn’t disappointed! I was reading the page in the image below and was in fits of laughter, the only problem I was on the train and the woman next to me had to ask what I was laughing at!

It just tickled me and I could envisage him doing exactly what he said in terms of running around shouting ‘Bang!’ each time he shot someone!

Very amusing – nearing the end of it now, it’s taken me an age to read it because I started it in October!!

Private Eye Subscription

Delighted to receive the first of my year’s subscriptions in the post today! Thanks Mum!

Spent 20 minutes reading through it and I think it’s going to wind me up quite a lot because it is just article after article of injustices around the country and the world. Councillors getting back-handers, politicians scamming and lying through their teeth, businesses avoiding tax etc. It’s not going to be good for my heart as these things really frustrate me!

Anyway, I am still delighted to have got this now and been able to tick off one of my 50 things!

New Year…New Me

Yeah right – that’s going to happen is it?!

No new year resolutions or anything like that this year, other than a heightened desire to lose some bloody weight! I completely pigged out in December and over Xmas and found at one point I was 14 1/2 stone – mental! Anyway, I’ve lost about 5 pounds just this week by not eating all the crap that’s around the house…just need to exercise a bit. That’s a bit of a problem at the minute because I’ve got a real issue with my back. I am hoping to see Chris Perkins in the next couple of days to sort me out, but I am also worried that it might be more serious and even a hip issue. In fact that just reminded me to text Chris and get an appointment!

2018 is panning out to be mental already – below is a list of some of the things that we have lined up but yesterday evening we sat down and in the space of about three hours we booked a weekend skiing in La Plagne and 5 days in the US (Boston and New York) for us and friends for our 50th birthdays. It should be us, Millars, Holdens and possible the Carrolls and Wards – but we’ll see about everyone else.

January

Saturday 6th January – Junkyard Golf with Pauline Bampton birthday

Thursday 11^th January – Mum meal for her & family

Saturday 13^th January – Mum birthday meal with me, Louise and family

Sunday 14^th January – Mum go-karting & ten pin bowling

Saturday 20^th January – London for night with Nikki/Gareth – Wine Tasting (and hotel)

February

Friday 9^th February – Miles 21^st

Friday 16^th February - Sunday 18^th February – Nikki’s weekend away

March

Friday 9^th - 13^th March – Madeira

Thursday 29^th March – 3^rd April – Skiing

April

Saturday - 14^th April – Grand National – Liverpool (and hotel)

May

Saturday 5^th May – Tears for Fears – Birmingham (and hotel)

Saturday 26^th - 27^th May – Common People – Oxford South Park

July

Tuesday 10^th July - Anniversary

August

Friday 17^th August – 1^st September – Japan

September

Sunday 9^th September – 3^rd Day of Test Match- England v India – Oval (London)

October

Saturday 20^th – Thursday 25^th October – Boston & New York

*Need to book the following:

Meal in London from Kids – has to be used before May

Red Letter Day – end of year?

Meal at Black Boy in Headington – end of year?

Oxford Bus Tour

Oxford Morse Pub Tour

Other items from my list on the larder

More items added/achieved in my list of 50 Things

So Xmas turned out to be very productive for adding to my 50 things… we’re going wine tasting in London with Nikki and Gareth in January, Natasha got me Tom Baker’s autobiography, we decided we would go skiing, Mum got me a Private Eye subscription and Lewis & Jack bought me tickets for the 3rd day at the England v India Test at the Oval.

So pleased with all of these, very lucky and spoilt to get these present. It was perhaps a good idea making the list as it does provide a focus for the year and presents

Can’t wait to experience all these things – should be fantastic fun

Diary Post that was in my notes–nothing much to add…

1. Diary over Xmas and NY - 2017!!
   1. Hosting neighbours
   2. Xmas Day hosting
   3. Boxing Day hosting
   4. NYE at Cardiff

Xmas celebrating in earnest

Great day yesterday. Got a few things sorted in the morning and then I took Jack to a trial for what we thought was Carterton but was actually the GPS JPL side. He impressed, I was really pleased with, and for, him. He did shine out and was noticed by their main coach so they’re keen to get him on board with is really pleasing for all of us. He did look off the pace though because he’s not been training with any sort of intensity but he will soon get match sharp again. Hopefully today at Woodstock he’ll get a full run out – we shall see.

It completely over-ran so we got home as quick as we could and then me, Jack, Tash and Nathan went down to Eastleigh to meet with Wendy and all the families. I drove a bit fast and we experienced a bit of road-rage from a chap in front of us who thought I was going to undercut him – all very sill and dangerous, I wasn’t, he was being a first class prick! Anyway, got to the Beefeater in the end and it was a lovely meal. Graham was working so wasn’t there but he made a surprise 10 mins visit that was lovely, but there was Mark, Danni and Herbie and then also Mark, Svetlina and the kids, there was also Simon from Tasha’s work who was there. We all got on well and it was really lovely just to sit and catch up. Was there a couple of hours and then made a move home – they’re all staying at Wendy’s so that will be great for her – she’ll love that!

Drove home – without incident this time, sat at home for a few minutes and then me, Mum and Lewis went round to the White Hart where they had carols and that was a great evening. Some good singing, not by me of course and it was so busy. We stayed round by the fire and were with Nicky and Matt Henderson and we had a good laugh. Drank far more than we should have done but it was hard no to! Not too sure what time we left, it was quite late, I then had a couple more beers at home but fell asleep on the sofa, as did Lewis. We tried to watch Peaky Blinders but I can’t remember any of it so will need to start again!

So, a really good day…first of many this Xmas I hope!

Another Xmas, another Xmas cake!

Charlotte and Mum work together to decorate the Xmas cake every year and this year was no different. They did a really good effort and were rightly pleased with their effort. Although I was looking at it from the wrong angle so thought it was balloons! Only when it was turned around did I realise it was baubles!

Top class!

Quarry Rovers on Tour–1982?

Love this photo so much

Panto fun

The annual trip to the panto took place this evening and it was the usual and expected event. There was over 20 of us this year I think and it was good fun. Andy Collins was the person involved and it didn’t let down. The only shame about it was that we were right at the very back of the stalls so we weren’t as involved as normal – we need to get the tickets sooner and be at the front!!

Anyway had a meal in spoons before we went in and that was nice

Same again next year!

Dark Xmas Party & YouTube Night

We hosted friends and neighbours this evening and it was a real success. So it was mostly friends that we made via the kids going to school and then also people from the village. Loads turned up and it wasn’t a quiet night, people let their hair down and the drinks were flowing, Wayne, Kerry and Sharon Millar (and the kids) all came as well.

Really enjoyed it and late in the evening Pete and Katherine Casey also arrived, Katherine was steaming drunk so that was amusing

Everyone left around midnight but I’d not finished my evening so I decided on a YouTube night and carried on drinking and partying on my own with my headphones on…sad maybe but I loved it. Then Lewis came in from clubbing at about 4.00am so we carried on and videoed it etc – I think we gave up about 6.00am! Hungover Sunday but worth it!!

I also posted an update on Twitter – loads on there!

Quarry Rovers Boys – Cup Winners 1981

Not 100% certain of the year but we were all young! This appeared on Facebook the other day and it brought back such fond memories. Very lucky to have played at a good level, really fortunate

Back Row - L/R - Raheem Hayat, Ellis Spearpoint, Richard Mellis, me, Andrew Gardiner, Maurice East, John (Speedy) Icot
Front Row - L/R - Glen Anthony, Matthew Elbro, David McGrath, Martin Harris, Anthony Penge & Wayne Holden

English Cricket disappointment in Australia

“It’s the hope that kills you!”

Never a truer sentence uttered! I’ve been keeping up with the Ashes Series in Australia and it was the second series today and – Day 5 and England had the faintest glimmer of hope so I set the alarm for 3.30am to watch the match because this time it’s on BT Sport and not Sky so I’ve been able to watch loads of it so far. Quite quickly I wished I’d not set the alarm…that familiar batting collapse happened and by 5.00am it was all over so I went back to bed and had a couple more hours sleep.

I seriously think this could be a 5-0 whitewash this time, we don’t have the penetration from the bowlers and in two matches none of our batsmen has yet made a century. It won’t stop me from continuing to push my body to early morning watching or even midnight slots (when it’s not a day/night match).

Anyway, we will see…

Night out with the Caseys

Went out this evening and caught up with Katharine and Pete Casey and had a really nice evening. Had a couple of beers whilst waiting for the taxi and then collected them and went to the new Westgate centre to the Alchemist restaurant and bar and was really impressed. Big queue but we had a reservation so straight into the bar and they made these great cocktails. The signature thing being that they used dry ice which meant steaming/smoking or bubbling concoctions – it was very good!

Had a really good meal and loads to catch with them about, and then more cocktails afterwards, sat in the bar bit at the end I saw Jermaine Ferreira and said Hi and then we made our way home and got a taxi back

It was a really nice evening – both Tash and I were a bit tipsy it must be admitted!!

A Close Shave!!

I have probably mentioned this before but before my 49th birthday Tash and I sat and made a list of 50 things to do before I am 50 years old – although I’ve only managed to get to 40 so far so still 10 more to add to the list!

Today I was able to tick one of the #50Things off which was a proper cut throat shave at a barbers

I was really looking forward to the experience, it’s something that Lewis had paid for my birthday and I took my time booking the right place which was Youngmans down the High Street. I didn’t shave for a week before today and even dressed up quite smart. I dropped the car off at Tash’s work and then made my way down there and Craig was the person dealing with me. I was having the Youngmans luxury experience so I got my hair cut, washed, face scrubbed and creamed and then the shave with the cut throat razor. I didn’t take a photo as it would have been odd but I really enjoyed it all – except for having to talk all the way through!! No nicks or cuts etc and then that was it done – I was there for 1hr and 45mins.

I went back to Tash’s work and sat there for a bit and it was then that I realised the shave wasn’t as close as I would have expected or indeed as close as I could manage with my own blades, I have to admit to being a little underwhelmed by that side of it. I don’t want to let on and I almost want to try another barber to see if this is normal, but it’s now 5.00pm and I feel as though I need to have another shave to tidy things up, bit sad really!

Anyway, I’ve ticked off the event on my list so that’s good – one down!!

Before:                                                                                   After:

                                      

Jack Football – Old Woodstock Town FC

Sat in the car typing this out waiting for Jack’s football to get going – he’s stepped into a vacant position for Woodstock today having texted the manager last night saying he was available. I don’t think he will even get a game but he’s at least involved so will wait and see what happens. I’ve been watching the warm-up, he looks tiny compared to the lads he’s playing with!! I feel real pressure about his football situation, the whole thing has been such a shame as it sounds like the rest of the u17’s at City are going to splinter and go elsewhere. Very sad.

Anyway I had a quick snooze and updated a few other entries in the diary and will now wrap up warm and cheer the team on…or more likely watch and get very frustrated by it all!!

We shall see.

So that went well – Jack wasn’t brought on until later in the game but got at least 25 minutes and he did well. As predicted the football wasn’t the best but I kept my comments to myself although I did shout a few suggestions for better movement etc. The opposing team (Shrivenham I think) were on a run and Woodstock are not so I think the opposition were expecting an easy ride, this didn’t happen and Woodstock rose to the occasion and did well – eventually somehow winning 5-0. A very surprising result.

I was pleased watching Jack, he’s quick and very skilful – I hope he doesn’t lose that ability.

We stayed afterwards and I had a couple of pints in the bar.

An enjoyable afternoon in the end. Still think I could do a job if fit…!

Oxford City ex-Players Day

Well this did NOT disappoint. I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time, in fact as soon as it was announced I was like a kid again excited about catching up with loads of old faces and having a day and night on the beer and having a crack!! Got down to the ground with a bit of a hangover from the previous night having been to Emily’s 18th birthday pub crawl celebration around Bicester and took it easy to start with. In fact even started with a coke – okay because the options were Stella!! Everyone was worried by that…
So gradually more and more players and managers turned up and it was really enjoyable seeing old faces and catching up. We stayed in the classroom side and when the matched started (Wealdstone) some of us went out and watched a bit but after 20 minutes I’d seen enough so went back to the bar and just stayed and chatted. We went out onto the pitch at half-time to have a photo – below – and then back in the bar!!
After the matched we were all the last ones there as you’d expect and then organised lifts into town. Alan Foster drove a group of us down there so that was good of him, I got a round in to say thanks, and we met up in the old Living Room. That was quality because there were all the lads from the Marston racing day down at Cheltenham so loads and loads of ex-footballers on show – it was mad! Everyone is drunk about now so it was such a great atmosphere, I loved every minute of it. At some point, and I don’t know why, there was a decision to leave the Living Room (Slug and Lettuce?) and go to All Bar One – so went there and half were there and the other half were at the old Brewhouse pub – never know what they’re called these days do I? All Bar One was fun and we took some other photos and then some of us (you know I have to be last man standing!) went to the new bar which is what Maxwells used to be. Can’t remember who made it – I think it was me, Paul Creed, Shaun Bradbury, Tim Bowley and Specky. I was flagging a bit in there and just wandered round or were dancing – bumped into other familiar faces, Chris Jones and a few others. By the end I was on lemonade and lime and water – left about 3.00am when it closed and Tash is texting me throughout! Got Shaun Brads to a taxi, he was falling asleep on me at the end of the night and then got a kebab and bus to the cemetery and Tash came and picked me up from there, sat on the sofa watching MOTD eating the kebab and went to bed. I think she was very surprised that I wasn’t completely and utterly bollocksed..in fact I think I was surprised!
So then, a really, really good day and night – loved it!

Some faces/people I was really pleased to see included:

• Eddie Inness (he’s not too well)
• Andy Lyne (down here from up north)
• John Sheppard (he looked really old – he’s 84 I think he said in the bar afterwards)
• Keith Knight
• Lewis Craker (haven’t seen him in years – moved to Radley about a year ago – hasn’t changed a bit!)

Iceland Family Holiday – Day Four – Last Day

Walked to town

Whale watching cancelled because of the weather Bus tour Sleep

No hurry with getting up today so no alarms or anything but we were up and out by 10.00am. We planned to be out all day so walked towards town and made our way along the waterfront. Quite bracing is how you’d probably describe the weather. Sun was out and it was beautifully clear and fresh but there was a cold wind coming through.

Saw a couple of the sights and then had breakfast at the deli we did yesterday and went down to the Old Harbour area to go to the Whale Watching area but not before popping into a flea market

Sadly, all out good luck had been used up and when we got to the kiosk there was a sign on the window announcing that our tour had been cancelled due to the weather. This was such a surprise and obviously a disappointment to all. Nothing we could do about it so tried to sort a refund and then made other plans

Walked further along the harbour to the Viking Centre they had set up called the Saga Museum. We decided to go in and it was fine. We had an audio tour through their history of Vikings settling in Iceland and then had costumes at the end for a photo opp! All a bit of fun

Left there and jumped on the Hop On/Hop Off bus tour that we had tickets for. Did the full one hour tour but we all slept through HJ it!! Everyone was shattered. We did a full circle and got off right next to the brewery and went in for a drink

That was nice and the others had hot chocolate and that. We then walked through the old harbour once more stopping at another bar for a local beer before making our way into the main shopping street where we went to the Chuck Norris Grill. Only two options in the menu, burger or double burger!! Along with beer and chips. Lovely!!

That was us done then, got a cab back to hotel and packed and crashed out. Everyone so tired. Also, because of lack of food the beer went straight to your head, I felt a bit pissed!! Anyway, as disappointing as it was to miss out on the whales we turned it into a successful day.

We’ve had a great time here. Very interesting country and very unique. Would definitely recommend other people to come and visits that’s for certain

Iceland Family Holiday – Day Three

Pouring with rain when we woke up, didn’t have anything organised until 1.30pm but were determined not to ease time so we stuck on the waterproofs and planned to walk to town centre but once outside we realised how much it was raining so we got a taxi from the hotel back to the bus terminal that we knew

That was quick into town and we walked round in a bit of a tour to the church and then the lake and back through the main area. Really nice walk although it was pouring and windy!

Stopped at a nice deli for brunch and then walked down the main road the same as last night and made our way home. Saw a really nice watch that I liked but I doubt we will get it. The walk back took about 40 mins which we expected and we crashed out for 40 Mins before being picked up for the Blue Lagoon trip. I’m on the transfer minibus now typing this and we’re not sure what to expect as it’s cold, raining and windy and we’re basically going to an outdoor swimming pool!!

So this was interesting!! Into a modern spa type facility, very nice set-up. Changed and then out to the lagoon. It seemed quite busy initially but once out there into the lagoon itself it was spacious and free.

So out we went into the cold and walking towards the water and in...bliss!! It was so very hot in there, it was amazing

Very salty water but so nice just to wade around the area. It didn’t disappoint at all. In fact the opposite, we were all so pleased and surprised with how good it was.

As part of the package we went up to one of the side bars there and applied silica compounds to our faces which was supposed to act like a face pack. It was quite amusing gliding round the pool with this white face pack on looking like Mrs Doubtfire and loads of other people exactly the same!! It caused a lot of mirth!!

The hard thing was washing it all off!

After that we then went to a bar that was located in the lagoon and we had beers and smoothies and that was relaxing.

The rain and wind didn’t affect the experience at all, what was cool was that often you couldn’t see anyone because of the steam coming off the water being so think. It really was a surreal experience.

After about 90 minutes of this relaxing we decided to make a move, there was no time limit at all and then got ready and caught the bus home

Quick change at the hotel and back into town!

We stopped at the Boston bar on the Main Street as it was just happy hour and in there we discussed other ideas for my 50 experiences which was amusing and we made some additions. Even with this pint because we’d not been eating all day I felt quite light headed. We then went down town and found a pizzeria and had a lovely dinner there. Huge great 16” pizzas that went down well

After that we found an Icelandic bar and had a couple of pints in there, I’d happily have stayed out but I think our new guy was done. We were all knackered.

Walked down the Main Street again and flagged a taxi again and got home

A great day and evening.

Iceland Family Holiday – Day One

Up at 5.45am and got everyone sorted and on the road towards Mums by 6.25am travel to Gatwick was no problem at all and we made really good time.

Through customs and a nice breakfast and then onto our Wow plane. Their service was fine even though we fell foul of the baggage size so had to pay for two items to go in the hold

Flight was about 2.5hrs and then we were here in Iceland. Had a coach organised that took us to the hotel which is basic but fine for us

We wandered around our area after a quick freshen up and found a lovely restaurant to eat. It was like a cinema club and was excellent. Really nice bloke in charge and Lewis and I had our first taste of Viking beer.

One thing about Iceland is the cost, it’s ridiculously expensive here. £8 a beer is cheap. Food is through the roof! Went back to the hotel after that and waited for pick up for our first excursion of the holiday.

We were taken out for the Northern Lights tour and we’d been told there was a good chance of witnessing them tonight...they were not wrong!!

Out we went away from Reykjavík into the wasteland and stopped a couple of times until we found a really good place to witness it happening. It was incredible to be honest.

It started in slow motion and expanded across the sky, it appears white to the naked eye but when captured on camera the blues and mostly the greens become apparent. I got pissed off with trying to take photos of it because I just could not get the right settings but I think I got two good photos out of god knows how many I took!!

We travelled round a bit more but the main place we stopped was the best one and soon the light show was no more. Since then the weather has been appalling and the trips have been cancelled so to have got the view and success we did on out very first day was incredibly lucky.

It was quite tiring in the bus travelling around and what with a long day anyway it was no surprise that we nodded off.

We were dropped back at the hotel around 11.00pm and everyone collapsed in bed in minutes.

A great start to our short break already!!

Melanie & Brendan over from Canada

So I tried downloading a new voice recognition app called text to speak and as good as it seemed I think this OneNote voice recognition might just be as good anyway it is a case of decent annunciation and speaking proper.

I found that when I was in the car the interference and noise meant that some of the text that was written was utter garbage.

What was disappointing with the text to speech application was that when you stopped talking and saved your work it would then over-write what you had written when you spoke again which was mad.

Charlotte has come home today and she is home all weekend and next week for my birthday and going to Iceland so that it is lovely to have her back here.

I am about to go and meet Mum and the family at the turnpike pub because Melanie is over here from Canada so we are meeting up with her however it is only me that is going because the kids and as it is Natasha meeting with a friend. Should be an interesting evening but that should be nice.

In fact it was really nice evening, everyone was there which was nice and Melanie brought along her son Brendan with her and he was very interesting. They were sat at the end of the table and only had Roger and Sue to speak with so after my dinner I picked up my chair and went and sat with them and it was appreciated and I was glad I made the effort

Brendan was something else, I suspect he's had/has drug issues if I was to guess by his manner - that's not a negative at all, he was very engaging and I said to Tasha afterwards I really liked him. Full of tattoos and gold jewellery and swearing loads - very amusing in my family's circle. Anyway the evening ended and I went back to Wolvercote and it was 10.30pm so I went down to the White Hart as Tash was still there and had a couple of pints with her, Nicky and then her partner Matt - that was a nice way to end the evening.

Lewis in Germany on a training course

Lewis has been away for a fortnight so far and is in his last week over in Nuremburg in Germany as part of training for his new job. It’s been going really well and he’s made friends and enjoyed the course. What’s been nice is that he’s phoned and checked in with me a number of times and he’s done so again today to chat about how things are ticking along and so on. Very sweet of him but very much appreciated.

He’s going to find it tough going on Tuesday because he comes back to London about 10.00pm and then comes home and we’re off the next morning to Iceland!

Anyway, it was nice to get a call from him today and hopefully that will continue!

Alison, Grace and Olivia over for the weekend

We pottered around in the morning getting jobs done before setting out just after 11.00am to go and collect Alison, Grace and Olivia from Bill and Junes house. They were over here for a couple of days before flying out to Italy to meet up with Andrew who is working. It was surprising to see Grace grown up as she was only a year old when we saw her last year on holiday and she is lovely, very chatty, very friendly, very social - she and also Olivia were incredibly lovely girls.

Alison was so very relieved that Natasha and I were taking her out for the day because I think she was going a bit stir crazy around Bill and June who are of course very lovely but getting a little forgetful and I’ll say a little deaf, sadly, that’s what always happens with old age.

So we drove out to Millet's farm which they have been to before but it worked out perfectly when we were in the play ground and also with the animals, Grace was very active climbing trees, climbing the frames, running around - it was lovely to see and it reminded Natasha and I of what Jack was like. She is pretty fearless!

It felt strange walking around the playground looking after a one and two year old, when we obviously have 22-year-old children, I said to Natasha that I felt a bit like a granddad. We stayed at Millet's for about two hours which flew by and then we made our way home and took Alison and the girls out to Jacobs Inn for dinner.

The food was good and we had a nice time and Jack joined us for dinner which was amusing because he had worked at Jacobs Inn for over a year which meant he knew the staff and the menu. I managed to only have a gin and tonic again and we then took them back to Cowley to drop them off at Bill and June's, however, when we got there we went in for about an hour because Steve and Sue were there as well so we stopped for a chat and a catch up.

That was that, we said our goodbyes and Alison later texted to say how much she enjoyed coming out and we went home watch some TV and then had an early night because of school and work next week.

Shopping & Concert in Birmingham

We had training in the morning at Cutteslowe Park, there was only seven lads so I had to train which was fine and I work hard but it was a very enjoyable session. I made it a good laugh to try and encourage and find our team spirit again. We then rushed around doing various jobs around the house and the took Jack and two a friends to Birmingham for a J Cole concert that they had tickets for

We got to Birmingham just after 3:30 PM and wandered around the bull ring shopping centre and managed to find me some birthday presents which was nice.

Natasha and I then made our way towards the arena and found the Café Rouge restaurant that we had booked a reservation for and had a really good meal there. I went for steak and also we had gin and tonic‘s which were excellent.

At the minute Gin and Tonic is my go to drink as I feel I have gone off lager a bit - especially this month that I have managed to stay pretty sober and not drink much. It's Stoptober but I am not actively participating, just coincidence really

We were worried about the time the concert was going to finish because we asked to security guards and they said most likely 11:30 or midnight, so we were getting ready to find a pub to kill the last hour but thankfully Jack came out at 10:45 so it was normal time and we got home at 1 AM.

He was buzzing saying that the concert was absolutely brilliant so a good day overall.

Working in York

Worked in York today having come up on the train last night. The session went okay but I’ve done better. It was hard work and if not prepared very well so I need to learn from this experience and ensure I’m better prepared in future. I do leave things to last minute and then panic about the data set up etc.

Came up the train and that was really good. 3 and a half hours working etc and it was productive and I did the same coming home. Typing this now on The was from Banbury station so will be home shortly. Long day though

Charlotte has been doing data entry work for me and it’s been really hard work. We’re both spending hours on it when we shouldn’t be. I need to get more or explain the situation with how much EdCo would charge.

It took an age to do some earlier and it’s not worth my time to do it!!

I’ll make sure Charlotte gets paid properly though

Right, home for some food. I’m trying not to drink this October and it was so tempering at the train station as I had an hour to kill and knew I’d not be driving when Home…I resisted though so I’m pleased with myself…also resisted buying crap food or sweets-that hurt harder!!

So this is my latest attempt to lose some weight and get in shape. Again!

Charlotte’s Birthday–what celebrations!!!

Where to start???

I will update this one day but we managed the following:

• Trip to London for great meal at the walkie talkie building after having an alien experience in an escape room
• Zorb football on her birthday on the Saturday
• Surprise party at the wig and pen in the evening

Fantastic time had by all!

General Update

Been busy with the family.

Quick recap of things we've done

Went to Brighton for Katie's birthday. It was a surprise and we'd hired a minibus to take us down there. Very nice bus and even though we hit bad traffic it was still a great day. Sat on the beach drinking and eating. Some of them went on the zip wire and we had a game of cricket which was a laugh. Actually it was rounders. On the way home we decided to go out and ended up at Raouls with Charlotte, Miles and Lewis. That was good fun

We then had centre Parcs in Woburn for Sue's birthday. Great weekend.

I played football the other day in an over 50's tournament that was hard work. It was incredibly hot and we didn't have enough players and I had an appalling hangover. True to form for Sunday football I was sick in the bushes after the first game. Absolutely hanging

It was good and we made it to the final where the Welsh beat us a second time. I could barely walk!! Enjoyed it all the same.