... and me first. It's too f*ckin' hot! I know, I know, its a typical English attitude, nes pa?
But its horrid when it's like this, you can't sleep, you can't concentrate at work, and you can't get into your rubber incontinence pants without heavily applied talcum powder.
Still, according to reports, it's gonna rain soon, so it should be a little cooler at night.
I played the best round of golf I've ever played yesterday... I was 1 over through the front nine... (for those who don't know golf that much, that is a good score, believe me). Unfortunately I collapsed a bit on the back nine, but still finished with a score of 79, which is the first time I've broken 80. So I was buzzin on the way home from the course last night.
No plans tonight (I'm not going to that leaving do I mentioned...) and I think it'll be a day of housework and cleaning and shopping tomorrow, as Sunday the family are off away to the in-laws for a few days.
I have been practicing a new song which I am really enjoying playing, so I might be recording that this week.. (yes, I'll post it up for your enjoyme.... your punishment).
In the words of a 90's rapper - Peace Out Y'all....
Friday, 25 July 2008
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
OK, this is winding me up now
I so want to start sketching / drawing (maybe even painting) but I just can't get started!
I don't know where to start, what my subject(s) should be, what media to start with (pens, pencils, chalk, charcoal...) but I know I have this urge in me to create. And yes, there is still that fear of producing something that a recovering stroke victim could better, and have me left feeling inadequate and miserable. (No sex life jokes please).
I have a few days coming up when I am alone, so hopefully, maybe, I can start something then. I also want to record a few more things AND try and finish this song I'm working on... so much to do! I could do all this anytime I want, I know, but when the house is full and there are other people to put first it's hard getting enough of my own time and space.
Jake had a good last training session last night - we now have a break from football until September, and I know he's going to be driving me up the wall in about two weeks with "When am I playing football again?" - never let it be said my son isn't a football fan!
Playing golf tomorrow after work...
Oh - there's a leaving do on Friday after work. Now normally, I don't go to these things, because I pretty much despise the people I work with (in a good way) but I am thinking of making an exception this time as the girl who's leaving has been here since I started and I've done a lot of work with her. So maybe I'll go.
Soundtrack of the day: The sound of silence given to me by my noise cancellation headphones... soothing.
I don't know where to start, what my subject(s) should be, what media to start with (pens, pencils, chalk, charcoal...) but I know I have this urge in me to create. And yes, there is still that fear of producing something that a recovering stroke victim could better, and have me left feeling inadequate and miserable. (No sex life jokes please).
I have a few days coming up when I am alone, so hopefully, maybe, I can start something then. I also want to record a few more things AND try and finish this song I'm working on... so much to do! I could do all this anytime I want, I know, but when the house is full and there are other people to put first it's hard getting enough of my own time and space.
Jake had a good last training session last night - we now have a break from football until September, and I know he's going to be driving me up the wall in about two weeks with "When am I playing football again?" - never let it be said my son isn't a football fan!
Playing golf tomorrow after work...
Oh - there's a leaving do on Friday after work. Now normally, I don't go to these things, because I pretty much despise the people I work with (in a good way) but I am thinking of making an exception this time as the girl who's leaving has been here since I started and I've done a lot of work with her. So maybe I'll go.
Soundtrack of the day: The sound of silence given to me by my noise cancellation headphones... soothing.
Wednesday, 16 July 2008
I'm not a hero, anyone else would have done the same
Sunday was a lovely day weather-wise, a lot better than Saturday. Clear skies, warm temperatures. The worry, whilst we were getting ready to go back to the beach, was that there would be no surf (hark at me, using the terminology... two days on a boogie board and I sound like a surf bum, brah)...
Anyway, we got ready and hit the beach again, the plan was to surf a couple of hours in the morning, go get some lunch, then take part in a coasteering course, which is basically a three-hour long assault course climbing rocks, abseiling, and diving into pools. Sounded brilliant.
As we arrived on the beach, we saw the tide was out but the swell was good, so in we went and caught some decent waves.
Unfortunately, after a while, it all went a bit pear shaped. At around the same time, we all noticed we were a little further out than we thought, and that none of us could put our feet down on the sea bed anymore. The swell had dragged us out over a drop in the shelf, so it was a lot deeper than we expected. Most of us were OK with this, as we were strong swimmers, but a couple of our group got into a bit of trouble. I will not name & shame here, but one of my friends started to panic a little as he is not a strong swimmer at all, so instead of pushing him under and nicking his board, I stayed with him, swam along side him, tried to keep him calm, and got him back to where he could stand again. We then got out to have a breather.
However, at the same time, the groom-to-be's future brother in law was also having trouble, and he was a little further out than us. The groom-to-be saw this, and as he is a strong swimmer also, he went out a little to try and help him in. But unfortunately, as he was swimming, he was hit at the wrong angle by a wave, and his left shoulder popped out. It was already weak, as he had dislocated it last year (at the same beach, ironically) and so it came out a little easier than it should. This meant that he, and his future brother in law had to be rescued by the coast guards that were on the beach. Obviously he was in quite a bit of pain, and we all thought "Shit, thats the weekend f*cked!"
At first they tried to put his shoulder back in in the back of the ambulance that had turned up, but it wouldn't go, so he had to go to hospital with his brother. The rest of us went and got some lunch and went back to the chalets. We waited around, had to cancel the coasteering, and then decided to go back to the beach for a couple of hours. I didn't bother with the wet suit or anything anymore, I stayed out of the sea with my mate and we just chatted and watched the others flailing about. The groom-to-be finally turned up at around 17.00... after spending four hours in the hospital. Poor bastard.
So, we headed back to the chalets, got showered and changed, and decided to go into Padstow to get some dinner. We went to a fantastic sea food restaurant (just round the corner from Rick Stein's place, but according to my mate who's been there, the one we were in had better food and better value). After dinner, we went back to the chalets and spent the evening drinking a few cold beers, chatting, with me gently strumming my guitar. A very nice end to a strange day.
Monday, we were up at the crack, and back on the road by 07.45 for our journey home. So all in all, a good stag weekend, but commiserations to the groom-to-be. Luckily, he's not getting married for about 6 weeks, so he has plenty of time to recover.
Some lasting thoughts and memories from the weekend:
Lee Stevens MASSIVE feet
The groom in a bikini (I have photographic evidence)
Smashing my left knee on the car door as I was packing up the car to leave on Friday afternoon - and then smashing my right knee on a bench on Sunday night
Discovering that Parmesan cheese isn't suitable for vegetarians as its made in calves stomach or some such bollocks (groom-to-be's brother in law was a vegetarian...)
Not looking as bad in a wet suit as I feared
Two men in one chalet bedroom over night after beer = the smell of the opening to the gates of hell.
Mussels in red wine vinegar and spring onion are gorgeous
Diving into a cold sea after too much wine the night before is bliss
Anyway, we got ready and hit the beach again, the plan was to surf a couple of hours in the morning, go get some lunch, then take part in a coasteering course, which is basically a three-hour long assault course climbing rocks, abseiling, and diving into pools. Sounded brilliant.
As we arrived on the beach, we saw the tide was out but the swell was good, so in we went and caught some decent waves.
Unfortunately, after a while, it all went a bit pear shaped. At around the same time, we all noticed we were a little further out than we thought, and that none of us could put our feet down on the sea bed anymore. The swell had dragged us out over a drop in the shelf, so it was a lot deeper than we expected. Most of us were OK with this, as we were strong swimmers, but a couple of our group got into a bit of trouble. I will not name & shame here, but one of my friends started to panic a little as he is not a strong swimmer at all, so instead of pushing him under and nicking his board, I stayed with him, swam along side him, tried to keep him calm, and got him back to where he could stand again. We then got out to have a breather.
However, at the same time, the groom-to-be's future brother in law was also having trouble, and he was a little further out than us. The groom-to-be saw this, and as he is a strong swimmer also, he went out a little to try and help him in. But unfortunately, as he was swimming, he was hit at the wrong angle by a wave, and his left shoulder popped out. It was already weak, as he had dislocated it last year (at the same beach, ironically) and so it came out a little easier than it should. This meant that he, and his future brother in law had to be rescued by the coast guards that were on the beach. Obviously he was in quite a bit of pain, and we all thought "Shit, thats the weekend f*cked!"
At first they tried to put his shoulder back in in the back of the ambulance that had turned up, but it wouldn't go, so he had to go to hospital with his brother. The rest of us went and got some lunch and went back to the chalets. We waited around, had to cancel the coasteering, and then decided to go back to the beach for a couple of hours. I didn't bother with the wet suit or anything anymore, I stayed out of the sea with my mate and we just chatted and watched the others flailing about. The groom-to-be finally turned up at around 17.00... after spending four hours in the hospital. Poor bastard.
So, we headed back to the chalets, got showered and changed, and decided to go into Padstow to get some dinner. We went to a fantastic sea food restaurant (just round the corner from Rick Stein's place, but according to my mate who's been there, the one we were in had better food and better value). After dinner, we went back to the chalets and spent the evening drinking a few cold beers, chatting, with me gently strumming my guitar. A very nice end to a strange day.
Monday, we were up at the crack, and back on the road by 07.45 for our journey home. So all in all, a good stag weekend, but commiserations to the groom-to-be. Luckily, he's not getting married for about 6 weeks, so he has plenty of time to recover.
Some lasting thoughts and memories from the weekend:
Lee Stevens MASSIVE feet
The groom in a bikini (I have photographic evidence)
Smashing my left knee on the car door as I was packing up the car to leave on Friday afternoon - and then smashing my right knee on a bench on Sunday night
Discovering that Parmesan cheese isn't suitable for vegetarians as its made in calves stomach or some such bollocks (groom-to-be's brother in law was a vegetarian...)
Not looking as bad in a wet suit as I feared
Two men in one chalet bedroom over night after beer = the smell of the opening to the gates of hell.
Mussels in red wine vinegar and spring onion are gorgeous
Diving into a cold sea after too much wine the night before is bliss
Some random pics from the weekend
Above: view across Padstow harbor
Above: The restaurant where we had dinner on Sunday
Above: Another view across Padstow harbor
Above: A third view of Padstow harbor
So I'm Back
Hello listeners.
Where to begin? We finally got down to Cornwall at about 22.00 - 22.30. The journey out of London was crap (heavy rain, loads of traffic) so we were really delayed in actually getting going. It didn't help that I got car sick (I know, how old am I, 8?) so we had to stop so I could take over the driving. Once I got behind the wheel, I was fine. (My mate was so good about it, he's brilliant... he even let me drive all the way home to save me feeling ill again. Some people might say that driving four hours straight is mad, but I much prefer driving to be a passenger... anyhow, I digress...)
Didn't do anything Friday night apart from watch a bit of TV and then hit the sack as we were knackered.
Saturday dawned cloudy, but warm and dry, so we hit the surf shop to get me my wet suit and boogie board.
(Excuse the jabbering mental patient in the background)
We then went to the beach for my first taste of body boarding. The first 'session' was pretty crap, I couldn't catch a wave and it wasn't really very windy, but after a short break and a drink the wind picked up and we went back in... and then bang, got one. It was hard to stay on the board because I was laughing so hard. It's weird, you kind of jump up onto the top of the wave just as its breaking, and if you get it right, you get a massive surge that flies you forward toward the beach... and I just found it hilarious. One of my friends who's been before said the same, he was giggling like a school girl the first time, and I can see why. It was even funnier the first time for me because as I was flying through this wave I looked to my right, and there was my best mate... he had caught the same wave! I couldn't stop laughing, I must have swallowed a gallon of sea water...
Anyway, this continued for another couple if hours... catching waves, laughing, it was a fantastic time. We then decided to call it a day around lunchtime, played a bit of beach football, then went off to get something to eat.
After lunch (fish and chips... nice) we went back to the chalet, and the three people who were staying in the chalet with me went off to get some cash and provisions, as I relaxed with a book.
That night, we went to a really nice local pub, where we had some drink, played pool, and generally relaxed... for a stag weekend it wasn't very raucous but I think thats down to our age. We still had a really good time though. Then, Sunday dawned, with near drownings, life saving, hospital visits and mussels in red wine vinegar...
Where to begin? We finally got down to Cornwall at about 22.00 - 22.30. The journey out of London was crap (heavy rain, loads of traffic) so we were really delayed in actually getting going. It didn't help that I got car sick (I know, how old am I, 8?) so we had to stop so I could take over the driving. Once I got behind the wheel, I was fine. (My mate was so good about it, he's brilliant... he even let me drive all the way home to save me feeling ill again. Some people might say that driving four hours straight is mad, but I much prefer driving to be a passenger... anyhow, I digress...)
Didn't do anything Friday night apart from watch a bit of TV and then hit the sack as we were knackered.
Saturday dawned cloudy, but warm and dry, so we hit the surf shop to get me my wet suit and boogie board.
(Excuse the jabbering mental patient in the background)
We then went to the beach for my first taste of body boarding. The first 'session' was pretty crap, I couldn't catch a wave and it wasn't really very windy, but after a short break and a drink the wind picked up and we went back in... and then bang, got one. It was hard to stay on the board because I was laughing so hard. It's weird, you kind of jump up onto the top of the wave just as its breaking, and if you get it right, you get a massive surge that flies you forward toward the beach... and I just found it hilarious. One of my friends who's been before said the same, he was giggling like a school girl the first time, and I can see why. It was even funnier the first time for me because as I was flying through this wave I looked to my right, and there was my best mate... he had caught the same wave! I couldn't stop laughing, I must have swallowed a gallon of sea water...
Anyway, this continued for another couple if hours... catching waves, laughing, it was a fantastic time. We then decided to call it a day around lunchtime, played a bit of beach football, then went off to get something to eat.
After lunch (fish and chips... nice) we went back to the chalet, and the three people who were staying in the chalet with me went off to get some cash and provisions, as I relaxed with a book.
That night, we went to a really nice local pub, where we had some drink, played pool, and generally relaxed... for a stag weekend it wasn't very raucous but I think thats down to our age. We still had a really good time though. Then, Sunday dawned, with near drownings, life saving, hospital visits and mussels in red wine vinegar...
Friday, 11 July 2008
Stags away
Yes, today is the day I leave for my friends stag weekend down in Cornwall.
My best mate and I are working today, and then leaving after work (around 16.00 ish).
This means a lot of travelling but I think we're gonna share the driving so we should do fine.
I'm due to come back on either Sunday or Monday (probably Monday) and I expect with a sore head. It should be a good time though... some of the activities planned are;
Surfing
Sea fishing
Cliff jumping
Drinking
I might be taking my guitar as well.
So, should be a pretty manic weekend. I'm gonna be trying to take lots of pics, and I might post the most embarrassing ones here.
Have a nice weekend listeners.
Soundtrack of the day: Aerosmith albums...
My best mate and I are working today, and then leaving after work (around 16.00 ish).
This means a lot of travelling but I think we're gonna share the driving so we should do fine.
I'm due to come back on either Sunday or Monday (probably Monday) and I expect with a sore head. It should be a good time though... some of the activities planned are;
Surfing
Sea fishing
Cliff jumping
Drinking
I might be taking my guitar as well.
So, should be a pretty manic weekend. I'm gonna be trying to take lots of pics, and I might post the most embarrassing ones here.
Have a nice weekend listeners.
Soundtrack of the day: Aerosmith albums...
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
My long lost russian relatives
Those who know me will get this....
Let me clarify that - those that know what I look like will get this....
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
