So Much For Obsession

Well the last two days I haven't made my 11K steps, I still am 12K ahead of my target and could possibly nip out for another walk and make up the 3.5K steps that I am short today.

I am feeling lethargic and apathetic, because I am waiting for a call that means that I need to drive down to Coventry and back, that's eight hours driving and I'm not a huge fan of driving, but it's far better than being stuck in hospital which is Fiona's situation at the moment.

I didn't even write yesterday but managed to catch up on "American Gods" so that's fine. The weather is grey, so not exactly inspiring.

The problem is when you are waiting on a call, you can't really start on something else or go out to a film or a gig, there's more important things in life than being selfish. I'm looking forward to having Fiona back and catching up on TV and then having a week's holiday next week.

So I though "The Waiting" by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers would be appropriate for the whole of this Bank Holiday Weekend. See I can't even write that many words even though I haven't written anything for two days. I am still keeping up the number of posts so have maintained #ATuneaDayinMay but I really should be writing more about stuff that is interesting really.

I'm sure the journey to Coventry and back will give me lots to write about, and I suppose the 250 or so words that are in this piece is not that small. I seem to remember doing 100 word essays at school, or maybe I am just imagining that, I wonder if my teachers ever counted how many words I wrote or was it just a threat to make sure I wrote enough to be read.

Who knows.

Anyway I will go out for another walk now , even though the weather is still greay.

I may have an early start tomorrow

In The Middle Of Nowhere

Clay Bank View - One of Many

This week I have been near Stokesley in Yorkshire. You can find stuff on TripAdvisor here about the area but the cottage I am in is here. It's at the end of a half mile track but has provided a great relaxing week with the opportunity to to take walks and relax and see some amazing scenery.

I do wonder what possesses people to build houses in such remote places , but I suppose the rest it has given me is testament to that . I had hired a 3 door Corsa from Enterprise and they gave me a 5 door Fiat 500 Monster car,  which was handy for getting up the track.

On The Way Up

I was hoping to get up to the Cleveland Way and see The Wainstones but when I walked up the first time and there were lots of "No Right Of Way" signs , although I could see people walking along the top. It just seemed there was no way for me to get up there. I was a bit disappointed but thought I would chance a bit of internet research.

Wainstones

There was This and I found the Wainstones Walk here which indicated I follow the fence for a while where I had stopped, and sure enough I went through a gate rounded the corner and then saw a stone path leading up to the Wainstones. I met a couple of girls who had been walking since 8 in the morning , shared my Pepsi with them and took some photographs before they continued on their way to Clay Bank.





When I got up there I was presented with amazing views and it goes to prove that if you want something you should not give up on it . Yes this was a small thing , but too many times people give up because things aren't easy. Some people want things on a plate , and while it's nice to get things like that , you get great satisfaction when you succeed due to effort that you have put into things.

The result of this is a lot of photographs and videos of me sort of in the middle of nowhere,  getting very Zen and peaceful, and I feel good about it and about myself.

So if you want something , and it is possible to do it , then do it, you won't regret it.

I was trying to think of an appropriate song and the title track from Brian Eno's Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy) is so beautifully appropriate. I love this

Before The Deluge - Hello December

I wasn't expecting to be able to write this as due to the rain and landscape I've hardly had a mobile signal. It's quite funny that my former employer made a big thing about covering this area with a 4G signal , well it hasn't quite reached here. That's fine though, but it does leave you at the mercy of the elements.

It doesn't seem that long since internet access was not even on your radar , now it's difficult to do without.

The main reason is to keep in touch with friends who are a long way away , but with a phone and signal you can now share experiences and chat easily and be there if people need you you across the miles and distance.

The weather forecast is for more and more rain , so this may be my only post this week, but it doesn't matter because I am relaxing and on holiday and that is the main thing. Also you can can always give or get a hig and a cuddle when I return or even better find a friend or loved one to share one with now.

There's only one song for this post isn't there, Jackson Browne's "Before The Deluge".

The Deluge

Still Feeling Great

The Sugared Butterfly

Today I had the best Hot Chocolate I've ever had at Sugared Butterfly in Helmsley. It used to be The Old Police Station, but is absolutely lovely and, as I say, brilliant Hot Chocolate, and I just had the basic one. Chances are I'm going back tomorrow , the people were really pleasant, and it is the sort of place you can feel totally relaxed in and get a choice of both traditional and unusual food. This place is just one of many in Helmsley which is just such a pleasant village. My only criticism of the place is that they have space for an Edinburgh Woolen Mill shop , but still no Chemist! I've been holidaying in the area for about five years and still can't believe that situation still exists.



The holiday is continuing on in a relaxing fashion, not going very far, watching Breaking Bad and Boardwalk Empire, both extremely worthy series. It's amazing these days how much advertising you can dodge with catch up TV options. I'm surprised they let you fast forward through the adverts, although if you use 4OD you don't get that option. This is why I don't mind paying my TV License, I'm amazed at the number of people who complain about the £130 a year TV License while forking out £100 a month for a Sky Movies and Sport package without batting an eyelid.

Anyway another problem I had today was my phone not connecting to the Holiday Cottage Wifi. I tried lots of solutions on the web and finally solved it by switching the router off and on, nice simple solution, though I wish I'd done it this morning.

Today we've had blue skies, although it's been very cold, but still an excellent day, just good to be well away from the rat race.Thought I would leave you with a bit of Faust , sort of relevant to the holiday, not your average Krautrock , but then I don't think ant Krautrock is average, and if you don't enjoy this then listen to it until you do. It is very good.

So again I've managed to link up a relaxing holiday with some extreme music, but that's just the nature of things, everything is connected if you look for the threads

Sort Of Normal

After finally getting up today after a good night's sleep today has been a sort of normal day. It's nine o'clock and I don't feel ready to drop. I've had a relaxing day visiting Helmsley, and my holiday has started in an excellent holiday type of way.

The weather is what you would expect in December, but I've certainly seen much worse and have plans to visit Helmsley Castle (part of English Heritage which is free with my Barclays Bank Account) and Castle Howard during the week.

The Last Glimpse Of Summer

Though being away from Newcastle has extracted me from the situation of choosing between four excellent gigs tonight so I can relax, listen to good music , drink , and just feel good. Though this is a remarkably short post it has taken me a remarkably long time to write, for something with so few words in it.

Maybe I am getting tired and maybe I should go to bed. Well my weekend has got off to a great start, I hope yours is the same and I hope all my friends who are enjoying gigs and socialising tonight have an absolutely brilliant time. I have to include a picture of Rebecca Cothers beautiful latest work one here because it is a lovely evocation of the last of summer.

I chose David Bowie's take on Jacques Brel's Amsterdam because my daughter Juliet is doing a presentation on the place this week. And that's another coincidence I've had reason to mention both of my daughters in consecutive blog posts , and that is another reason to put a smile on my face.

Thunderstruck By Bagpipes... another installment Fighting With My Left Hand

Its's been a SAD day, that's SAD as in Seasonal Affected Disorder, as you know I seldom let life get me down, but today's weather has been mostly grey skies and not exactly warm, just one of those days where things don't really inspire you to get up and go.

This week I have two hospital visits, the first of which I'm not looking forward to because it will cause discomfort (and related to the cirrhosis diagnosis a couple of weeks back) , the second will be fine because it's the end of an observational period on my liver that has included two biopsies, but the consultant and nurses I've had looking out for me have been brilliant. I love the NHS.



The same consultant, because he is so good , spotted that I may have nerve damage in my left arm that resulted in the op and that seems to have majorly improved my control and strength in my left arm. I'd set my sights on learning to play AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" until I checked out the tab and found that's it's all played on the second ('B') string m so after ten minutes I'd made a decent stab at that on acoustic guitar (with a lot of buzzes and clicks) , so I need something a little more challenging, though I still think the Red Hot Chilli Pipers version on bagpipes is well impressive.

Uneasy Listening

Then I found a friend who with her husband has gone through traumatic times recently, but her little girl has started school , he husband's band (Omnihility)have released a new album and she is going for a dream job so lot's of positivity there which is brilliant.

I've done lots of walking about today, so have got some exercise, and actually had an enjoyable day.

U2 and iTunes gave us their new album whether you wanted it or not and it's playing at the moment and is fine, if just another U2 album, but really it's just a marketing exercise.

I've got another three weeks before a holiday in Ampleforth and have some gigs coming up , including GOAT, which I am really looking forward to.

Anyway enjoy what's left of the weekend , I certainly will

Never Stop

Never Stop Having Fun

Well the last two weeks and the next two weeks for me have been and will be almost non stop. This is not a bad thing although time flies by and disappears as you try and fit everything in. Due to holidays at work we've only had half a team in, but everyone's working extra hard to make sure all runs smoothly and it's actually a pleasure to be in working with the girls and guys, who are absolutely excellent,  supportive with problems and helpful whenever you need them.

There's things we need to do before the bank holiday and I have a day and a half in hospital in the middle of it (tomorrow and Tuesday), I could have done without the overnight stay which they say is because of the ITP but they are just covering themselves and not too arsey so I'll go along with it. As I continually say the NHS is brilliant and hopefully I'll be able to play the guitar properly after the op, which would be amazing as I've never been able to play it before.

Also I am to blame for some of this time congestion as I've also fit in gigs by the Star Spangled Chestwigs, Penetration , Culture (tonight) and Bad Pollyanna (on Friday), so the latish nights are my own fault really, but wouldn't miss them for the world.

And this si one of the things about having fun and being positive, life is much better when you do things , and even better when you do things you enjoy , and even better when you do things you enjoy with friends and people you like like and love. Like I was out seeing friends on Friday and that was fantastic Paul , Fiona , Sarah , Colin  and Graham are fantastic company any day of the week, and that's just five people I'm lucky enough to have in my life.

Today I still have lots to do, but the sun is shining and the wind is blowing but that is fine, no rain at the moment. I know this week I will see many more friends, and have lots of fun , and have the odd moment where I think "I need to sleep" , but really I'd rather be doing something and enjoying myself.

The title is taken from and Echo and the Bunnymen track, so have a brilliant day everybody, my weekend is nowhere near finished and I hope yours isn't either , wherever in the world you are. Keep on smiling

Here Comes The Rain ... and Batman

Esconced in the cottage in Upton Snodsbury and the rain is coming down, although today was forecast as a bad day. Still getting used to the car with is a Vauxhall Astra that seems to me, modelled on the Batmobile, but I'm getting the hang of the damned thing. For the Batman connection I've include my favourite Batman related theme from Siouxsie and The Banshees.

Reminds me of a recent tweet:

My boss told me "Dress for the job you want, not the job you have" Am now sat in a disciplinary meeting wearing my Batman costume.

Which amused me quite a lot.......

Tomorrow will be in Stratford with hopefully better weather. AThere's just been a Skoda advert on the TV and I've just noticed how similar the Vauxhall and Skoda logos actually are, anyway I'm going to continue relaxing and enjoying my holiday. I hope you all have had a great weekend are are looking forward to a most excellent week.

Marching On ... and The Omens Are Good

Just a quick post before a five hour drive, I will maybe do a post when I get there. Been watching some amazing TV like Elementary and Line Of Duty , and ready for a week of being able to lie in and get a decent amout of rest while doing interesting things.

Also the radio is excellent this morning on both Radio 2 and Radio 6 

The weather is good here and in Upton Snodsbury so the omens are good.

And I thought I'd include one of my favourite videos for your delectation.... the wonderful KLF

Twenty Minutes Late

Car Parked Outside The Cottage

It's amazing how an extra five minutes in bed can make you twenty minutes late. This means that this post will be extra extra short.

Also when you are writing you often get onto a roll and before you know where you are there goes another twenty minutes.

I still have to do my voice only post, but will do that in Shropshire I think, with trips to Stradford planned and lots of quiet walks I hope.

This is where I will be staying , and it's usually fairly quiet so signing off as it's time to leave for work now. Have a great day everyone!

200

This is my 200th blog post this year, so I can still obviously use a keyborad. At some point I want to try and dictate a post into my phone on some microphone and put it up unedited to see if it makes sense. I've still got around sixty days left this year so possibly expect to finish on 240 or 250 posts.

I was hoping to do the Pickering to Whitby steam train run , but just checked the timetable and the winter one kicked in this week, which means no midweek trains. C'est la vie.

Either Facebook or Google have stopped allowing the use of Youtube or embedded images when I post a link to Facebook, which is annoying. I didn't want an image of me for each post, I wanted something relevant to the actual post. I will research into why this is happening.

Anyway, the holiday is continuing with much relaxation, watching The Wire, Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire. I now have lots of technology at my disposal so I can download stuff off BBC's iPlayer so I caught up with the excellent Orphan Black on my iPad as well as a program on The Who's Quadrophenia.

Orphan Black

As I type this I'm listening to the J Geils Band using my Samsung Note phone as a music player, though just switched it to the wonderful Penguin Eggs by Nic Jones, an album that should be in everyone's collection.

The thing is where I am in Ampleforth I don't have a mobile signal, so that means another form of total relaxation. It's sometimes nice to just cut yourself off, although I'm obviously posting this, and keeping abreast of the times using the BBC site and posting on Instagram as well so people can see what I'm finding interesting. Well I'm going to put an image on here and a John Cooper Clarke song that I loved from the first moment I heard it, with some great lines and a soft porn soundtrack, take a listen. Everyone have a wonderful day everyone.

Cheltenham - Good And Bad

Last week I had my first visit to Cheltenham . One of the recurring themes of this week has been my inability to find a William Hills to cash in a winning bet !! Cheltenham was no exception , despite haveing four William Hills Shops I couldnt find a single one. Ladbrokes , Coral , Betfred , no problem , but William Hills seemed well hidden. I Eventually got my money on returning home!!

Royal Crescent Cheltenham - Pity about The Busses

Anyway Cheltenham has some magnificient buildings and wide streets although the beautiful Royal Crescent is marred by the fact they have put a bus station in front of it , very fitting!! It is amazing how some city planners have no sense of propriety , but the Royal Crescent is an impressive sight.

Clock Scupture in A Cheltenham Shooping Centre

One of the shopping centers has an amazing Clock Sculpture which also tells the time.!! Not a fan of shopping centres as such but they serve a purpose and Cheltenham's were not too bad. Also in the Beechwood center came across another Rise Records which caused me to aprt with more money. In an interesting flash of synchronicity the had a display of Frank Turner Cds and my friend Carol was seeing him in Cairns , Australia that very night at The Jack - Time differences allowing , so England Keep My Bones was among my purchases!

Seated Creature Comforts

On the Promenade which featured lots of expensive shops and street stalls selling exotic food I came across this weird sculpture , and I'm all for for interesting street scuptures. Although my favourite was the alarmed lion atop a hotel frontage in the same town.

Alarmed Lion

I definitely didnt have time to do the place justice , but will be visiting again . It vaguely reminded me of a big Southport but without the beach, although they are probably about the same distance from the sea!!




To finish an excellent Frank Turner video:

Drought In Salop

For the past couple of days I have been pottering about in Shropshire and Powys , mainly in Ludlow and Shrewsbury and Knighton. The buildings are interesting and very old , people are friendly and the weather is wonderful but that's by the by.

I was slightly disappointed to find no record shops in Ludlow ,unless you want to buy from Tesco or Oxfam. But barring Tesco and a new WH Smith being put together there are no chains in Ludlow and the Park and Ride  is remarkable good value for money.

Worse still Shrewsbury is a much bigger town and still no record shop , barring Oxfam. There may be an HMV but that doesnt really count as they will sell anything, the record space in most HMV stops decreases by the second.

We have World Record Shop Day which coincides with Newcastles High Bridge Festival and World Book Night on the 21st April , so that is a plus to look forward to. If you go here you can download iPhone and Android Apps to find your way around,


In Salop we'll make do do with the nice weather , historic buildings , Aardvark Books and Thion at Leitwardine!!

Craster – Cul-de-Sac-Deluxe

Craster Harbour

As you drive into Craster you are greeted with a cul-de-sac sign. The only way out is back the way you came or via the sea. I tell a lie, you can walk along the coastal path to the magnificent ruin of Dunstanburgh castle or head due south and eventually land up in Blyth or Whitley Bay!!

This is no bad thing though, it means no through traffic and therefore it’s very quiet and peaceful.

Apparently sixty per cent of the housing here is holiday cottages. Unsure if this is a good or bad thing, if they are used the year round, it will obviously boost the local economy, which is a good thing. Problems occur when people buy holiday cottages that lie empty for most of the year.

Having said that the Shoreline Café was open and occupied at 5pm on Sunday, which implies that the trade is there for them.

Kipper Smokers

L Robson the local fish smokers provide kippers country wide and are sensible enough to maintain a web presence and the superbly appointed http://www.kipper.co.uk/ .

As well as this there’s an art gallery, run by local seascape artist Mick Oxley which was opened by David Miliband MP (the one who didn’t become Labour Leader). His paintings are well worth seeing and his web site is http://www.mickoxley.co.uk/ .

Craster is amazing. One phone box, a kipper smoking factory (well shed) , with adjacent shop and restaurant that opens for three and a half hours a day , is closed Sundays and doesn’t take cards. Opposite this you have The Jolly Sailor a wonderful pub with free internet access, and a sign board featuring a jolly sailor straight out of HP Lovecraft!!

There’s no mobile phone signal, no analogue TV, and digital TV is almost non-existent barring BBC1 and BBC2. The nearest attraction is Dunstanburgh Castle, a sprawling ruin maintained by English Heritage that you have to walk through 1.25 miles of livestock occupied cliff top pasture to get to.

Craster is essentially a cul-de-sac, but this is no bad thing if you want to get away from things but still have some semblance of comfort such as a decent local restaurant, food store and pub.

Dunstanburgh Castle

The walk to Dunstanburgh is visually stunning, and, amazingly, at points gives you mobile phone reception!

Today is the last day in Craster, will definitely come back.  Last night there were two lights, possibly torches on the breakwater just outside the harbour until about three in the morning. Though it was stormy they definitely were not distress signals, so I assume researchers or mad divers, although it would have been a great start to a Lovecraftian horror movie in keeping with the pub sign at The Jolly Sailor!.

This morning I went down to the rocks outside the harbour, even though they were chained off. Got some interesting views of the rocks beyond the harbour, no sign of any corpses rising from the depths or mermen!

One thing this week has done is allow me to put down a couple of words for the blog. Two thousand of those were for yesterday’s novel experiment, but that is still quite a few words for y diaristic observations. All this is maybe forty minutes from Newcastle, which is an absolute find.

Sunrise in Craster

Another thought is that in a week’s holiday on the North East coast of England there has been virtually no rain at all. The weather has been superb, allowing walks along the coast and inland without the need for big coats and umbrellas!

Anyway I’ll wrap this up now, until my next visit.

Alnwick and It’s Straight Tailed Lion

Straight-Tailed Alnwick Lion

Alnwick is the nearest centre for shopping and stuff to Craster. It has a lion on a pillar, commissioned by some lord or other , and when the sculptor wasn’t paid his dues he finished it off with the straight rod of a tail!!

Here is a Vocal Story about talking to the lion.

It’s home to Barter Books in the old railway station and republishers of the “Keep Calm and Carry On” posters now the subject of much litigation due to their extraordinary success.

You also have the Alnwick Garden and Treehouse and adjacent Castle, location for many outdoor scenes in the Harry Potter films, such as broom training and Quidditch backdrops.

You also have the Alnwick Playhouse , which features film , dance , art exhibitions and live music , I noticed Catfish Keith and Ralph McTell were attractions that were due soon.

I have also discovered the Wine Boutique, an excellent wine emporium, with brilliantly helpful staff and more than reasonable prices. Since the demise of Oddbins it’s great to find a local wine shop with integrity and value.

There are many eating places and pubs and you have a supermarket as well. It is, however, infested with the ubiquitous Greggs and Subway chains , as well as three Boots within sight of each other.

Another plus is that all day parking is only two pounds, a place definitely worth dipping in to.

Alnwick Garden Cascade

Alnwick Garden Walter Sculture cum Flyng Saucer

 Just been to the Alnwick Garden which is amazingly impressive, it’s fountains ad Treehouse are an absolute must to see.

Here Come The Ads ... and Creme Eggs!!

Well Christmas and New Year have come and gone , and television is now drenched with advertisements for holidays as furniture such as the CSL one below:



If you want to get hold of the music check out my "Song of the Salesman" site here.

On the plus side the shops are now stocking Cadbury's wonderful Creme Eggs , which you can also get online from the Cadbury's site here. Here's a video the whet your appetite !! Mmmmmm

Oswaldkirk 2010

Amazingly nothing has recently caught my eye , but have used Picassa to keep abreast of holiday photos such as the baleful cat to the right. See the full gallery here

Kings Heads and Staddle Stones

Just back from another week in Worcesterstershire , managing to discover several new restaurants, and the secret of the ubiquitous mushroom shaped stone structures that seem to be everywhere down the there (there's three on the farm).

Apparently they're sort of foundation stones for barns that were used to keep rats away from the harvest. Thanks to Julia for putting me out of my misery on this one, more info can be found here.

Also discovered the rather excellent Kings Head in Aston Cantlow, the speciality food being their Duck Suppers , the explanation from their web site is:

"After the war most food was rationed , however the landlord of the time had a smallholding at the rear of the Kings Head where he reared his own ducks! This excluded them from rationing!, even some locals supplied a few for the pot, as during the war vehicles could only be used for deliveries, so this was a great excuse to visit the pub using rationed petrol!

Even after the war popularity grew and it was not long before the well heeled brummies visited in their droves. The Kings Head was at one time serving up to 10,000 duck suppers a year!"

My personal experience is that the food, service and surroundings are top knotch and well worth a visit. On leaving the pub we saw a three legged dalmation , with a very friendly owner. A great pub in a very nice village.