Category: Pic of the week

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Glastonbury 2023

Pic of the week 25/6/23

On Sunday I went to Glastonbury.

(It was me on my own this year as Becky had a 30 year uni reunion)

It was a hot day, the ground was baked dry (in fact, when I got home I realised that my t-shirt looked a hue of grubby yellow  – the white having become discoloured my the dust storms that whipped up as you walked along the pathways) Perfect conditions.

This year, I had a plan. I was on site by about 9.15 having caught my bus at Street, so early the litter pickers had not yet begun to clean the detritus from the night before. I headed straight up the hill to the “letters” and enjoyed the sweeping vista across the sprawling site.

After enjoy the sunshine and sights, I ambled down, taking in Glastonbury-on-Sea, pausing to have my photo taken:

I had wanted to see CarHenge, and I wasn’t disappointed:

before scooting over to the Pyramid stage to see the opening act of the day: The Bristol Windrush Choir and Reggae Orchestra

They were great. Really enjoyed them, and afterward I was interviewed by a journo and the piece was picked up by the Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/glastonbury-windrush-bristol-caribbean-essex-b2363827.html

I stayed in the “pig-pen” (the section right at the front of the Pyramid Stage) for Sophie Ellis-Bextor who was brilliant, the highlight being when she covered Madonna’s “Like a Prayer”. Her show was, possibly, my musical highlight of the day.

I then wandered some more before returning to the Pyramid for Cat Stevens who was good, but perhaps a little laid back, although I did miss the end of his set as I headed over to the acoustic stage to watch Toyah and Robert Fripp – they finished with a cover of Bowie’s “Heroes”, another musical highlight of the day.

Then I hot-footed it back to Blondie on the Pyramid. The crowd by now was immense, It was good, but too much filler and not enough Parallel Lines.

Now tired yet happy, I decided to head for home, getting the 7.30pm bus back to Glastonbury Town Hall, and then walking home, to watch Elton on the TV. A good decision I think – I would have been so far back in the crowd, and exiting the site afterwards would have taken some time.

So a great day at Glastonbury. Musically perhaps not the best (it didn’t top Diana Ross from last year) but I really, really enjoyed myself.

 

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Sub 13

Pic of the week 18/6/23

For the first time in a year I am under 13 stone! My official weight on Thursday was 12 stone 13 and one quarter, the last time I was under 13 stone was 23rd June ’22 – one of only four weeks in 2022 that I was sub 13.

I know that over the last 18 months I have allowed y weight to creep up and establish at about 13 and a half stone, so I am pleased with my weight loss following my new regime after my health MOT and discovery that my cholesterol is too high. I am being very disciplined with my no dairy diet and also not eating other than my three meals a day. It seems to be working!

Although it hasn’t helped my running – ran 7K today, whilst my splits were not reliable, I am still much slower, averaging about 5mins per K.  I thought my weight loss and regular spinning would see me improve, but it has yet to manifest itself on the road.  I think I just need to get more miles in (unlikely over the next month or so, with Glastonbury, Majorca & Cavtat to come)

The sunflowers out the front are growing rapidly, with a number already over a metre tall. The continued wall to wall sunshine has probably helped.  The ones in the back are a long way off this growth, but seem to be healthy – looking forward to a forest of sunflowers this year.

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Rata, and other wildlife!

Pic of the week 11/6/23

The long hot spell has continued and Wednesday afternoon found me home alone (Becky had gone to Cardiff to see Coldplay and Disney 100), sat outside, reading my book.  I heard a strange noise, looked up, and saw something darting from the top deck to the bottom of the garden.  I hoped, for a moment, that it was a squirrel, but, whilst its tail was long, it was not bushy – it was a rat.  I then saw another , a little more timid, poking its head out from the top deck – confirmation: we have rats.  On Friday, Becky saw one emerge from the same place, so a quick trip to Amazon and bait and a bait box was bought, arrived and installed on Saturday.  Looking this morning, I think the edge of one of the bait blocks has been nibbled so hopefully our infestation will be short lived.

Today, Sunday, was Becky’s first as not an employee of Sainsbury’s so instead of her working and me running, we went for a walk around Shapwick nature reserve. It was lovely.  Saw many, many dragonflies:

Damson flies mating:

Swans with their cygnets:

and a very impressive Marsh Harrier. It was a lovely way to spend the morning, before coming home to potter in the garden.

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Half-term

Pic of the week

Half-term has arrived and, somewhat surprisingly, the sun is shinning, and promises to do so all week.

I’ve made little use of the day today, other than to run, rest and snooze – I have a bit of a summer cold (sore throat came on in the night on Friday) and now I have a bit of a cough and feel a little lethargic. I ran this morning, but was a little slow, and had looong snooze this afternoon – other than read and snooze, I’ve done little, but I probably needed today to recharge my batteries.

Plan to get busy in the garden for much of the week, some bushes need pruning back, geraniums need planting out and my latest batch of sunflower seeds – and six pumpkins – will need planting out before the week is done. Anyway, its nice to know I have some time ahead of me to potter and prune in the garden, snooze and read, and maybe also get in a little exercise.

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Sun and sunflowers

Pic of the week 21/5/23

So this week we have been blessed with sun and blue skies – and what a difference it makes.  I spent yesterday afternoon running around in the sun, refereeing at the Ashcott charity football tournament (did two lines and two middles for a total of 120 mins.  Legs were aching last night, went for swim this morning – first few lengths were tough but then my body loosened up, I glided through 40 lengths and have felt much better for it all day.) and today I have spent quite a bit of time outside – this morning, circa 11am, enjoy the peace and tranquillity of the garden along with the sunshine, and this afternoon reading and then snoozing, Good weather makes such a difference.

On Wednesday I planted out the sunflower seeds I had sown a few weeks ago, putting them in the front trough. They seem to have taken well and are growing nicely. Today I planted some more seeds in trays in the porch, along with some pumpkin seeds – this time of year is busy, busy, busy in the garden, literally sowing the seeds to reap the rewards later in the summer.

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Bulbs

Pic of the week 14/5/23

Well, we’ve had some quite biblical rain this week (flooding in Bruton, Queen Camel and other places) but yesterday afternoon the sun shone and the garden is looking lovely – the alliums in particular.

Today, I lifted the bulbs from the front “trough” and planted them in a corner of the lawn (top right in the pic above) and hopefully they will burst through to give added colour next year.

It was bloomin’ hard work digging the lawn up and I fear I may not have planted them to the optimum depth but, worst case scenario, we just end up with a patch of mossy lawn again.

I must confess, I ache now. I ran this morning, and then spent a couple of hours of heavy toil in the garden but hopefully, come next March, it will have been worth it (I’m clearly playing the long game here!)

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Exercise!

Pic of the week 7/5/23

Having planted them last Sunday, I am pleased that nearly all my sunflower seeds have burst forth. Dead-headed the tulips in the front bed yesterday – it can only be a week or two before I need to dig them up and start planting out my sunflowers.  The back garden is looking vibrant – the alliums are just beginning to flower, purple exclamation marks offsetting the swathe of blue forget-me-nots, the apple tree blossom is magnificent – probably in for a bumper crop this year – and everything that should be green is,  a vibrant range of greens.

I could do my deadheading yesterday as we had the day of for the King’s coronation.  Not really my thing, I don’t like the overt wealth and inequality and having someone “reign over us” really does go against the very core of what I believe (that we are all equal) but some people like the pomp and ceremony so, if that’s their thing, so be it. As Becky & Sophie (Sophie has come home the Bank Holiday weekend) sat down to watch it, I represented the oppressed masses and went and did the ironing.

And then I went for a swim. I have been a busy boy on the exercise front this week: ran last Sunday, went spinning at school on Monday, Tuesday I refereed an U14 game, Wednesday not too much – stood around chatting at volleyball, Thursday: nada, Friday ran the line at Street FC for a testimonial game, Saturday swum, ran another 7K today and will spin tomorrow, although that will then be “it” until next weekend.  Legs are aching a little today, but, more importantly, my foot has withstood all of that.

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Rhodes

Pic of the week 23/4/23

On Wednesday we returned from a week in Rhodes. It was a wonderful week, the first three days spent in Lindos  – small, picturesque, historic and with some great swimming spots (St. Paul’s Bay, and also the hidden cave swimming, off the main town beach) The water wasn’t warm, but it was swimmable, but it was crystal clear, and the most beautiful colour.   Swimming in St Pauls bay it was deep, but you could see all the way to the bottom and the colour was a deep bluey green. Beautiful and serene.

On day 4, the Saturday, we went by bus to Rhodes town, which initially seemed quite big, but by the end of our stay seemed much smaller (although we did walk miles!) It was (Greek Orthodox) Easter and we discovered that midnight on the Saturday into Sunday was a key part of the celebrations, so we went to the local church and stood outside as the crowds began to gather and the service was relayed via PA to the growing throng outside (of course, we didn’t understand a word of it) Whilst I’m sure that inside the church it was highly respectful and reverential, this was certainly not the case outside: it appeared to be an excuse for all the local hooligans to gather and throw around very loud fireworks! It certainly was a spectacle to behold!

The next day, we left the madness of Rhodes town and set sail (well via ferry) for rthe island of Symi, about an hour away. What a beautiful island! It being Easter Sunday, it seemed the whole population had gathered on the harbour front to eat roasted meat from the many, many spit roasts turning away. We wandered around the harbour and had lunch in a perfect taverna on the water front – on a holiday in which every meal was wonderful, this was the best. I had grilled lamb, it was delicious.

Back to Rhodes that evening, we spent the next couple of days exploring the old town and new, and finding the beaches on north-western tip of the island. Again, I swam in beautiful waters and we chilled in the sunshine.

A good time to go? Yes – I am sure that in the height of the summer some areas (Linods – I’m looking at you) would have been rammed full, and in the heat we wouldn’t have done all the exploring we did.  The water was still a bit chilly and this was a disadvantage of visiting in April, and there was a real sense that not everything was yet fully ready – things were still a little tired and tatty in places, I’m sure in a few weeks all will be spruced up and looking wonderful.

A good island to visit? I’m glad I’ve been, but I don’t think it was as pretty as some other Greek islands. Basically it is a long island with strips of beach down each side. The geology seemed quite angular – lots of right angle cliffs, and quite barren, although the flowers – the yellow daisy’s in particular – were beautiful and it was great to watch some swifts swooping and Lesser Kestrels soaring magnificently around the Acropolis. It didn’t, perhaps, feel as “Greek” as, say, Corfu, particularly around Rhodes town – the old town was again to disneyfied, like, but not as bad as, Dubrovnik, and the new town could have been anywhere-hot-on-sea. But, to be sure, I had a great time and a wonderful holiday.

Beckys’ blog (1)   and Becky’s blog (2)  give much more detailed accounts, along with loads of excellent pictures

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Cars, bikes and pavements

Pic of the week

Well, what a full week this has been!

Monday saw the 205 complete (not pass, but not abandoned!) its MOT. It didn’t pass – I didn’t expect it too, but was surprised that it failed on a couple of brake lines being corroded and headlight alignment. After some initial disappointment, I have decided that these are not major jobs and I will do them myself, as a summer poject.

Tuesday saw me back in the saddle – spinning at Strode leisure centre for the first time since the pandemic. It was tough, but I thoroughly enjoyed it, I may be tempted to return …

On Wednesday we went to Cornwall in the rain (and returned in the rain – it pretty much rained all day) for a gathering of the Woodhouse clan.  A long way to go, but a nice afternoon.

Thursday – a big day: I ran again for the first time since my plantar fasciitis. It was not easy, partly because I was conscious of my foot, and partly because I haven’t run for 4 months. I ended up running 4Km, my foot was OK afterwards, but my left calf felt like a knotted ball. I ran again on Saturday, this time running nearly 6 Km (the 3km “Grange-High Street” loop twice) It felt good to be running again. I think I do need to manage my miles – my foot doesn’t hurt, but I’m “aware” of it – not sure its still 100% recovered. Have also swum a couple of times as well.

Friday was lovely day, weather wise, and spent much of it in the garden, doing some pruning, but also a lot of reading and soaking up the sun.  After much promise, though, sadly neither Saturday nor today lived up to the promise of more good weather, and now it seems the rain will be back tomorrow (good job we are off to Greece (Rhodes) on Wednesday).  Over Friday and today, I chopped back the “brown” tree and the buddleia, reducing both significantly in height, a job that needed doing.

In addition, on Tuesday, the cooker stopped working. It was the heating element – quick bit of fault diagnosis, part identified and ordered, arrived on Thursday and within 20 minutes I’d fixed it. On Monday, the Corsa threw a EML light – Sam thought it was like when the timing belt slipped 18 months ago, diagnostics showed a misfire on cylinder 4, and after initially finding no fault, I was able to replicate it – a low speed lack of power.  Whipped of the coil pack and found some moisture ingress around the no. 4 spark plug: cleaned it up, dried it off and the problem seems to have gone away. Pretty sure that this was the cause and correct solution.

So a busy week, a full week, but an enjoyable week.

 

 

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Its coming up …

Pic of the week 2/4/23

… tulips!

At last everything seems to be flowering. The front trug is looking really good, awash with daffodils (big and small), offset with blue grape hyacinths (the yellow and blue together make me think of Ukraine) and along the back the tulips are opening up.  It does seem later this year, but worth the wait.

It has been the wettest March since 1981, and also one of the dullest on record. It does seem as though it has been a long, cold, wet and grey winter – those lovely spring like days have been very few and far between. But at least the bulbs are now flowering and the holidays have begun (finished on Friday). With the clocks going forward last week the evenings are now longer but summer (or even a half decent spring) still seems some time away.

My foot is a lot better – may risk a run this week. It was my birthday on Tuesday – I had a nice day (albeit at work for most of it!)

Now time to rest and recuperate and enjoy some leisure time.