Knickknacks

Still putting the bedroom back together including reinstating my small wall hung cabinet of knickknacks, ornaments and souvenirs that may say something about me and mine: various Andrew Brownswold cute bear models – reading a book, driving a car, in bed, holding roses & balloons (wife’s take on my typical poses?); crystal fish (Piscean); pot Buddha (dabbled once upon a time); brass elephants, blue horse and Thai tuk tuk made from a Sangha beer can (presents from daughters’ travels); brass monkeys (from Grandma’s and then Mum’s house); cyclist on a racing bike (Tour de France fan); wire trumpet (like a  bit of jazz); baseball version of the Universal Studios globe (baseball rather than theme-parks); two scruffy bears (can’t imagine the connection there); at least the cabinet (from the Vendee) is glass fronted so the contents avoid the alternative name of dust-gatherers.

Gutters

September comes but once a year – it’s time to get your gutters clear; so that means defying the breezy conditions and scaling the fully extended ladder, footed by sturdy son George, to harvest the hanging gardens of Bishopton in advance of the Autumn rains.

Whodunnit?

Tonight attended a murder mystery dinner with a few friends at The Smiths pub in Carlton where a cast of seven interspersed the courses with snippets of dialogue purporting to contain clues then, after dessert, the detective announced the murder and reported salient facts, before giving each table the opportunity to question the suspects and plump for the murderer; maybe not as much fun as organising your own but this way no one has to cook, and the food at The Smiths was as good as ever.
 

George Hotel

Made a start on a long distance path, the Teesdale Way running 92 miles from high in the North Pennines to the North Sea, with today’s stage just an easy five miles from Winston to Piercebridge; the finish at the latter celebrated with a glass of Black Sheep at the George Hotel where a small wedding party was in full swing, taking me back 16 years to my own wedding in the same location.

Dad 88*

Phoned my Dad today to wish him a happy eighty-eighth birthday and found him chipper and for once able to hear me well enough to chat and exchange news – we’ve been to Scarborough for a change, they’ve been to Blackpool for no change, visiting the same hotel for the umpteenth consecutive year; living over 100 miles away on the other side of the Pennines I don’t see him as often as I should, apart from every morning looking back at me in the bathroom mirror!

Glasses

Not so much a red letter day as a read letters day as new glasses were procured and successfully tested on the bottom line of the test card; the high tech light-reactive varifocals do the lot – reading, watching TV, shopping, driving, and even sunglasses – in one, admittedly pricey, package which is particularly helpful now that the specs spend more time on my nose than in their case.

Carpet Slippers

Retirement requires heavy duty slippers that are up to the rigours of serious relaxation and at Christmas younger daughter, getting the hint from my old ones held together by duct tape, gave me a pair with sturdy rubber reinforcement on the soles that even after 9 months have not worn down, but have unfortunately worn up through the fluffy linings and into my feet; purchased insoles were not up to the job, but as the old bedroom carpet had not yet gone to the tip some judicious work with the scissors soon replicated a set in fake Axminster.

Galapagos (Monday 23/9/13)

The Kindle deal of the day just occasionally tempts, and today 99p got me ‘Galapagos’ by Kurt Vonnegut, whose haunting ‘Slaughterhouse 5’ has stuck in my consciousness (reinforced by the Donald Sutherland film and an excellent radio adaptation) since reading it in 1972 when, as a student, I also got my paperback copy signed by the man himself who visited Edinburgh University on a promotional tour.

Man Drawer (Sunday 22/9/13)

Moving the furniture back into the redecorated bedroom gives an incentive to clear out, or at least thin out, a couple of man drawers in the bedside cabinet, so into the bin liner go: three phials of rancid after-shave; two broken watches; instructions for one of the same along with those for two superceded radio alarm clocks; scores of birthday and fathers’ day cards; numerous ticket stubs for events of variable significance; spare buttons for garments long since discarded; - with other items relocated (photos, packs of tissues, receipts) the outcome is a complete drawer freed up and scope to start accumulating more of the same again.

Marske (Saturday 21/9/13)

At this time of year my following of the FA Cup and Vase not only gets me out of the house each Saturday but takes me to places I would visit for no other reason, and today that is Marske on the East Cleveland coast between Redcar and Saltburn; arriving early for the match I was able to sit awhile in the pleasant town square amid the lawns and flowerbeds watching the local folk going in and out of the local shops without a megalithic superstore in sight.

Carpeted (Friday 20/9/13)

The carpet fitters came and did their thing taking just 30 minutes to produce a perfect job, a quick end to a bedroom makeover project that began last spring with interminable paint-stripping of skirting boards down to the natural wood, took up a week of summer with wallpapering and painting, and required many a weekend perusing bedding and curtains in more shades of blue than I knew existed.

Launch (Thursday 19/9/13)

Launched the new blog with the September to date ‘backblog’ containing the pilot entries for the month so far which lead me to believe the blog viable and diverting. I think of it as a sort of Facebook without friends but with more considered content.

Mogger (Wednesday 18/9/13)

Tony Mowbray, manager of Middlesbrough FC, officially opened the new sports hall at Hurworth School in the presence of the PE GCSE students, VIPs and a few governors such as myself; a proud moment as this almost (not quite – still the hall to do) completes a decade of improvements at the school to create facilities that match the dedication of the staff in their pursuit of excellence.

Window-cleaning (Tuesday 17/9/13)

I am led to believe that a semi-retired executive must take increased responsibilities for household chores, and my unwise comments on the cost of hiring a regular window cleaner (“it only takes him 5 minutes, I’ll do it myself”) have come home to roost; however after 90 minutes the downstairs fenestration was transparent once more, the UVPC frames were nearer white than grey, and I was in need of a few days’ rest before tackling upstairs.

Gospels (Monday 16/9/13)

Went to see the Lindisfarne Gospels exhibited at Durham and found them beautifully presented with visitor numbers well managed to give space and time to see the displays, understand the context, and feel the power of the written word, not just in the featured volume but in other books and documents on display.

Backblog week 2

Segway (Sunday 15/09/2013)

Son George and a pal had an hour’s fun on these oddball machines which look strange singly but slightly sinister when in a group of ten, not quite synchronised, heading across a field at Ripley Castle; I think it’s due to the lack of apparent movement needed in the human drivers, making them look superfluous and the Segway appear in control.

Brewery Field (Saturday 14/09/2013)

Attended a match at the home of Spennymoor Town FC, FA Vase winners last year, but today knocked out of this season’s (tougher) FA Cup in an entertaining and competitive first qualifying round tie by the higher ranking Lancaster City.

Haircut (Friday 13/09/2013)

“Hair cut Sir!” is the old fashioned sign in Matthew Jones’ shop window, but in the chair in addition to a professional trim you get a proper conversation; today we covered music, books, football and real ale.

Man Booker (Thursday 12/09/2013)

Today I saw the short list for this year’s Man Booker prize which in my experience generally contains books to steer clear of, however the inclusion of a book by Colm Toibin has caused me to reconsider my decision to return to the library, unfinished, one of her previous books ‘Brooklyn’ that, fifty pages in, seemed to be going nowhere; I’ll now persevere and renew it instead.

Plants (Wednesday 11/09/2013)

Pensioner Wednesday is our ironic name for the day when my (relatively) young spouse spends her non-working day pretending to be retired and accompanying me on a mooch around one of the market towns of South Durham and North Yorkshire; today though it’s just a trip to the garden centre to buy a few end of season, raggedly looking, bargain plants to nurture for next spring while of course finding time for a relaxing coffee and scone (cherry and almond) in the tea room.

Grassroots (Tuesday 10/09/2013)

England live on TV in Kiev to face Ukraine in a ‘vital’ world cup qualifier or Jarrow Roofing live in Boldon against Thornaby in the even more vital (being sudden death) 1^st qualifying round of the FA Vase was the dilemma; but the weather is fine and my annual attempt to attend a match in each round could be saved due to this rearranged tie, so I plump for grassroots and am rewarded by a fine competitive match, exciting to the 3-1 finish, in contrast to the reported 0-0 bore draw on TV.

Barn (Monday 09/09/2013)

The large, rather grandly named, outhouse in the back garden needs some serious DIY attention to prevent ingress of rainwater, so most of today spent up a ladder trying to figure out a way to solve the problem without taking the roof off; I have a plan but time will tell whether it is a cunning one or not.

Backblog week 1

Scarborough (Sunday 08/09/2013)

A sunny day with a fresh breeze, archetypal Scarborough, encouraged us to stroll along the North Bay promenade, take in a coffee, ride the tramway up to town, stroll back through the shops to the seaside, then climb steeply up to the castle where the car awaited for the drive home.

Ayckbourn (Saturday 07/09/2013)

A trip to the Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough to see ‘Arrivals and Departures’ written and directed by the renowned Alan Ayckbourn; played out in the round with no scenery and minimal props the play begins as a comedy, but becomes more thought-provoking as the main two characters, on the surface so different, share with us flashbacks from their earlier lives that shows their emotional journeys give them common ground after all.

Bus-trip (Friday 06/09/2013)

The village bus service to Darlington was discontinued some time ago due to council cuts but after much lobbying and effort from the ward councillor a partial service has been re-established with two journeys (actually three there but bizarrely only two back) three days a week; I gave it my support to facilitate a visit to the bank, even more necessary once I paid the return fare of £6.20, and was rewarded with a high speed white knuckle ride through the infamous flash flooded roads that permeate the area after any sustained period of rain.

Tax (Thursday 05/09/2013)

After many years under PAYE my multiple, if minor, streams of income now combine to require completion of a tax return to HMRC and today I bite the bullet and plod meticulously through the relevant pages, sourcing evidence of the pittances of interest received from the villainous banks (could I invest wiser?) and the various charity aid donations (am I giving enough?) along with the more meaty P45s and P60s (what did I do with all that money?); the outcome will be a bit of a tax bill, but less than I previously estimated, so overall a bit of a winner.

Audit (Wednesday 04/09/2013)

Back to the (once) day job with a leisurely check of the annual accounts of a local group of singers whose business model is a worthy one of collecting subscriptions from the members to fund rehearsals then putting on concerts, the proceeds of which go not to the group but to support a range of charities; as I can’t sing in tune the least I can do is correct the accounts for the 1p error.

Certificates (Tuesday 03/09/2013)

Mt five-year-old car received its MOT certificate without drama which enabled me to drive on to Stockton Riverside College to, amongst a general catch up with old (by which I mean former) colleagues, enquire about my SAGE level 1 accounting exam result; just arrived was my certificate from the International Association of Bookkeepers to confirm not just a pass but a ‘distinction with commendation’ – it’s nice to know I can still do the basics after 30+ years’ experience and 1 year out of the job.

Schooldays (Monday 02/09/2013)

The new academic year starts with my wife returning for a PD day at the primary school and son due to start back tomorrow for his final, GCSE, year at secondary; for me it means a return to solitary Mondays to Fridays (but not Wednesdays) to plough my lonely furrow through housework, DIY, gardening, shopping, and home-management bureaucracy, with the occasional break to stroke a cat, read a book or post a blog over a cup of tea and a biscuit.

Mongolia (Sunday 01/09/2013)

The wonder of Skype makes elder daughter’s move to teach in Mongolia not such a worry and today we got a guided tour of her apartment (from all sort of odd angles as the laptop was carted around) and was able to chat and see she was fine and enjoying the excitement and novelty of the newly arrived.