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