Herefordshire Week 127: Tuesday 31 May – Monday 06 June 2022

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Back to St Andrews.


Took things easy in Tuesday morning, feeling the ill effects of Phil’s cold. Awful internet all afternoon meant that work was relatively quiet too. The day’s major highlight was the arrival of my Indian Tourist Visa. PHEW.

Better on both counts on Wednesday. In the evening, pre holiday pizza by Phil and more of The Morning Show.

Pizza - The Man Behind The Magic
Pizza – The Man Behind The Magic

First strawberry crop too.


Up early Thursday to get to Abergavenny for the 8.30am train. Gorgeous day, with the Black Mountains looking at their most tempting, but I was destined to spend the next 7 hours on the train: Abergavenny-Crewe; Crewe-Edinburgh; Edinburgh-Leuchars. I joined the southern contingent of the St Andrews Ladies at Edinburgh and we splashed out in a taxi to get us from the station to our fab Fife Cottages house in St Andrews.

Lovely sunny afternoon, and the earlier arrivals were already settled out on the terrace with glasses of Prosecco enjoying a long overdue (twice deferred) catch up. A lovely afternoon eased into an equally lovely evening. Perhaps a few too many glasses of fizz and munchings of crisps, but hey…

We woke to another sunny day. Leisurely breakfast, then out for a stroll over to the Old Course, on to the Castle and the Cathedral, out to the end of the pier and then back to The Quad, St Mary’s, various student flat locations and the three streets of town. Back at base for a late lunch out on the terrace, with tea and Fisher & Donaldson cakes a bit later when Prof M FRSE came round. A late afternoon walk along the West Sands to The End and Back then Fish & Chips from the Tailend for dinner.

St. Andrews
St. Andrews

More sunshine on Saturday. Another slow start, watching Friday night’s Platinum Party from Buckingham Palace – complete with Paddington – and deciding what to do. We plumped for the Fife Coastal Path south from the East Sands, Prof M joining us as far as the caravan park. Fabulous weather, St Andrews looking at its absolute best. I can’t quite believe I spent 4 years there. I loved it, but it doesn’t seem real. And it really doesn’t seem like thirty years since most of us graduated.

St Andrews - East Sands
St Andrews – East Sands

Another late lunch, a spin out to David Russell Apartments (aka David Russell Hall) and Fife Park to pick up a bike provided the opportunity for H and I to walk back via the Sports Hall and the North Haugh (with a stop for photos outside the Institute of Mathematics), Kinburn Park and the Bus Station.

Back to Mathematics on the North Haugh
Back to Mathematics on the North Haugh

Then a lazy late afternoon enjoying the sun trap back garden with a drink or two before dinner out at Forgans followed by ice cream from Janettas – open to 10pm!

Sunday. Sunny. The first set of farewells then down to the West Sands to watch the Chariots of Fire 5k Run. Helen, Hazel and I headed back to the North Haugh via Uni Hall and then into town for a potter, postcards and pizza for dinner. Another lazy afternoon in the sunny garden then to the Picture House for Top Gun: Maverick. Home for pizza and salad, and to tidy up the wine. Perfect end to a lovely long weekend.


Monday, the weather had turned to cloud. Sorted out the house, strolled down to the Old Course, narrowly avoided being brained by a golf ball and then took our taxi to Leuchars for – in my case – the three trains home: Leuchars-Edinburgh; Edinburgh-Crewe; Crewe-Hereford.

The long journey home was improved by the news of a no confidence vote in Mr Johnson (even though he survived it), and in particular our MP‘s open letter and the catalogue of issues that reflect my own loathing of this Prime Minister, his personality, his populist policies and his privilege.

Phil’s friends from Munich arrived late evening. Supper in the conservatory then bed.


TV: The Morning Show, Platinum Party at the Palace and The Platinum Pageant

Podcasts: World Book Club, Lingthusiasm, History Extra


Photos: Herefordshire week 127 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2022-06-05.

Herefordshire Week 126: Tuesday 24 – Monday 30 May 2022

Baby birds. Three fab days in Pembs.

Thistly Field Circuit: Panorama
Thistly Field Circuit: Panorama

Also I have a cold, so BriefNotes.


Tuesday morning = an hour of admin then the Cockyard Circuit with K.

Cow parsley lining the lane down to Camp Wood
Cow parsley lining the lane down to Camp Wood

Showers on our return, but a lovely sunny afternoon – perfectly timed (not) for work. Escaped at 6.20pm to join Phil in his daily Thistly Field walk. Took some photos of the former Stockley Coppice.

Usual Weds & Thurs, including VWW and Family Zoom.


Friday to Sunday were spent with Steffi in sunny Pembrokeshire.

I drove across Friday morning and we had time for a stroll with Bessie through Slebech Woods before lunch. Then to Newgale via Lidl and out again to walk the extended footpath route through the Southwood Estate. A rather too close encounter with a herd of bullocks required restorative rehydration at The Haven in Nolton Haven before taking the coast path back to the van and a G&T on the deck and dinner.

Recovery pint and crisps in Nolton Haven after the close encounter with the bullocks....
Recovery pint and crisps in Nolton Haven after the close encounter with the bullocks….

Saturday saw us walk from Whitesands to Abereiddy and back. A fab day, flowers galore and sightings of seals and a sailing ship, and the coastguard helicopter at the Blue Lagoon. We rewarded ourselves with giant ice creams from The Bench in St David’s then back to the van for a small G&T and burgers.

Strava Map: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back
Strava Map: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Wildflowers
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Wildflowers
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Abereiddy Beach
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Abereiddy Beach
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Seal
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Seal
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Old sailing boat
Pembrokeshire Coast Path: Whitesands to Abereiddy and back: Old sailing boat

A bit more cloud on Sunday, and an early start to drive to Castlemartin for one of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park‘s occasional guided walks along the section of the coast through the MOD firing range, which is usually out of bounds. Another fab day out, with four very knowledgeable volunteer leader-guides taking us from Stack Rocks to Brownslade Farm. Fossils, amazing geology, wildflowers and butterflies, iron age forts and D-Day Landings, sea birds – and complicated car sharing!

Castlemartin Range walk
Castlemartin Range walk
Castlemartin Range walk: Curvy coastline geology
Castlemartin Range walk: Curvy coastline geology
Castlemartin Range walk: Freshwater West beach
Castlemartin Range walk: Freshwater West beach

Back to Steffi’s for a slap up Sunday tea from / with Maurice – sausages, mash, cavalo nero, carrots, leeks, cheesy broccoli, a yorkshire pud and gravy – then back home, with a doggy box of dinner for Phil.

Sunday Tea - SAUSAGES
Sunday Tea – SAUSAGES

The only fly in the ointment was discovering a scratch all the way along the MX5’s back bumper, presumably acquired in the Whitesands Car Park 🙁 That’s sealed its fate…


Phil’s cold had manifested on the drive home so I didn’t do much on Monday other than wash the MX5 and look at options for selling it. In the afternoon I indulged in a nostalgia marathon watching Top of The Pops’ The Story of 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1996.


In other news, I got an email telling me that I’d won the Crickhowell Walking Festival Photo Competition with my photo of the snow on the slopes of Waun Fach:

CWF 2022 Walk 01 - Black Mountains N-S from Gospel Pass: Snow on the slopes of Waun Fach
Snow on the slopes of Waun Fach

The prize is the hire of an Electric Day Boat for a day out on the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, donated by Beacon Park Boats.

[I was due to be presented with my voucher today, but postponed due to cold.]


In bird news, it’s the time of year when the new arrivals go a bit mad with their new found powers of flight, bombing around from place to place without a care in the world. As a result, lots of bonks on various windows – and (so far) the greenhouse has claimed two tiny casualties and the conservatory one. All Great Tits.

But – alive – they are very cute and fluffy:

Baby birds: Fluffy feathered fellas
Baby birds: Fluffy feathered fellas

TV: Derry Girls (final series – wonderful), Better Call Saul (final series, in real time – no spoilers still!!!),  TOTP: The Story of 1993, TOTP: The Story of 1994, TOTP: The Story of 1995 and TOTP: The Story of 1996 and The Morning Show (season 1).

Podcasts: You Must Remember This, SheDunnit.


Photos: Herefordshire week 126 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2022-05-27.

Herefordshire Week 125: Tuesday 17 – Monday 23 May 2022

City Slicking, part 2. Adieu, Bow Lane Wine Vaults. Birthday celebrations at The Angel Hotel postponed.

Forty Acres Front Lawn
Forty Acres Front Lawn

Our KMCA meeting continued on Tuesday, with a KMCA + KM MN Ops team dinner at Dishoom in Shoreditch and an al fresco nightcap back at the Dorsett City Hotel.

Morning!
Morning!

Most of Wednesday morning was taken up with the MN KM and ET teams. After a lovely lunch with J in Finsbury Circus the afternoon was spent on meeting follow up and catching up with LO folks.

After a full on three days Actually At Work, I was ready for Wine Wednesday – the first one In Person since December; attendees: Hazel, Catherine, FM, RG and me, so we had a full house. A good thing too, because as we were settling up at BLWV the manager came over to let us know that the business has been bought by a small pub chain from Kent, and it’s closing for a few weeks for a refurb and rebrand. The end of an era. WW started there in 2008.

Mirror, Bow Lane Wine Vaults
Mirror, Bow Lane Wine Vaults

After an excellent Pizza Express experience to compensate, it was south to CJ for the last night of my London visit.

Thursday began with another early wake up call, courtesy of the LHR flight path, so I was in the office by 7am and fading by lunchtime. A good day for a bit of catching up and admin, and a pre-train pint with Tom.

Delayed departure from PAD due to a trespasser on the line, but we pulled into HFD on time having made up 20 mins on the stretch from the new stop at Worcester Parkway.


So nice to be Home. I really enjoyed my week in London, reconnecting with colleagues and seeing friends – exhausting though it was (out of practice + early starts). But I was glad to be back home – and it does feel like “home” now.


Up early on Friday to drive Phil to the station for his trip back to the smoke. I underestimated the rush hour traffic – we’d allowed an hour and we made it to the station with only minutes to spare. Still, I made it to my physio appointment (assessment: the pain in my groin / inner thigh is down to super tight calves) and then on for a cup of tea with dad at the bungalow. Back into town for a Tour of Aldi and a Spin Around Sainsburys then home for a late lunch.

Shattered, so spent the rest of the afternoon in the conservatory reading, finishing off Tessa Hadley’s short stories (Bad Dreams) and starting on A Room Made of Leaves by Kate Grenville (smashing).

DIY Friday TV Dinner was lentil soup plus Doctor Who and TOTP 1993.


I spent Saturday morning pottering in the garden – everything is so lush and green, and in flower.

Jean's Wisteria
Jean’s Wisteria

I had planned to mow and/or plant out the lettuces, but I didn’t have the oomph, so settled for digging up thistles, feeding the rhododendrons and camellias, transplanting the rosemary and filling up the birds’ peanuts and seeds.

Tom arrived mid afternoon, just in time for tea and hot cross buns. Then off to the bungalow for birthday tea and cake with dad and Jean before picking up Phil from the station. Butternut squash curry in the conservatory for dinner, after an aperitif of home made Damson G&T and crisps sat out on the lawn.


Leisurely morning on Sunday, reading in the conservatory, croissants and coffee out on the patio and then a stroll down to the Abbey, back via footpaths and Thistly Field, which provided ample opportunity to check out Stockley Coppice Status. The machinery was still in situ, and most of the one remaining row of fir trees up by the fence sported a sprayed pink stripe, as did the trunks of the felled trees. And on Monday, the pink striped ones were felled by chainsaw, so we now have a new view from the front of Forty Acres.

Front lawn. My stripes.
Stockley Coppice skyline – Original
Stockley Coppice skyline - interim
Stockley Coppice skyline – interim
Stockley Coppice skyline - New. Almost all gone
Stockley Coppice skyline – New. Almost all gone

Lunch al fresco, then waved off Tom and tackled the mowing….

The grass was green and lush – I knew it would be after all the recent sunshine and showers. Even leaving the front lawn as meadow, I filled up the ride on mower’s grass collector at least 8 times. The Honda mower just about managed the hedgerow edges but struggled with the verge and orchard, so I took the strimmer mower out for a spin – that did the job, until the strimmer cables came flying out.


It was meant to be belated Birthday Celebrations this weekend, but Jean has Covid so we’re postponing.


Having been amazed at the growth of London’s skyscrapers, I’d returned home to find equally astounding growth in the greenhouse with the lettuce seedlings (set 2) transformed into leafy baby lettuces, and set 1 practically fully grown. The broad beans are past the third string, and I have a rosy red strawberry, with plenty more on the way. In fact, the only things that hadn’t fared so well were the tomatoes. The three that were looking peaky before I left for London had disappeared completely. I suspect slugs.

What a difference a week makes
What a difference a week makes
What a difference a week makes
What a difference a week makes

So Monday morning brought more gardening – planting out the older lettuces, potting up the younger ones; transplanting the larger tomato seedling into a larger tub (I’m trying out greenhouse growing this year); planting out the sunflowers (some into the herb bed and others into an old tomato grow bag); clearing around the blackcurrant and gooseberry bushes, and installing the mosquito netting (Sue’s tip). After considering a few other options, I planted out Jean’s Dinedor gooseberry in the veg patch, which entailed moving the chard into the Coffin. Last job – unpacking the pop up netting I’d bought at Malvern RHS Spring Show and setting it up over the lettuces.

Planting out the larger lettuces
Planting out the larger lettuces
Mosquito Netting installed over the Blackcurrant bush
Mosquito Netting installed over the Blackcurrant bush
Sunflowers joining the rocket, herbs
Sunflowers joining the rocket, herbs

Late lunch then an afternoon catching up on Admin. So Much To Do.


TV: Doctor WhoTop of the Pops: 1993 Biggest HitsDerry Girls (final series – no spoilers!!!), Better Call Saul (final series – no spoilers for this one either!!!).

Podcasts: Lingthusiasm, History Extra, In Our Time.


Photos: Herefordshire week 125 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2022-05-22.

Herefordshire Week 124: Tuesday 10 – Monday 16 May 2022

Back to the smoke.


Tuesday morning = weeknotes then a stroll. A new variation on existing routes, which I’ve named “Fair Oak roads and footpaths”: Kerrys Gate – Black Bush – Bacton – roads to Fair Oak – footpaths back to Bacton Stud – Black Bush – Kerrys Gate. My battery ran out just as I came out of “Tremorithic Wood” (stunning bluebells!), so both Strava map and data are a little off.

Strava Map: Fair Oak roads and footpaths
Strava Map: Fair Oak roads and footpaths

Another walk on Tuesday evening, catching up with Val before she heads off to Peru. We’ve penciled in Nepal in November.

Lots of helicopter activity overhead all day and terrible internet connectivity all afternoon, which made work a misery.

So I headed over to Dinedor for the working day on Weds.


Another broken night’s sleep didn’t help – stress shoulders and neck in full effect when I woke up on Thursday. Thankfully my morning was almost meeting-free and wholly free from any internet problems, and everything went smoothly on the HFD-PAD train in the afternoon.

Once in London, I felt like a real out of towner grappling with the tube delays and closures but eventually I made it to work to drop off my work stuff. I’d surfaced at Moorgate via one of the new entrances/exits – the pedestrianised bit of Moorfields by London Wall where crowds of punters were drinking pints in the early evening sunshine. Almost as if the past two years haven’t happened.

Getting to CJ proved a little bit more complicated than expected, with the key bit of the Bank branch Northern Line being closed, but Waterloo & City line and SWT came to the rescue.


Sleeping under the Heathrow flight path means there’s no need for an alarm at Hazel’s, and after coffee on Friday morning I set off to walk to the British Museum for my first visit to the Stonehenge Exhibition. My favourite exhibit was the Maesmor mace-head from North Wales. Mesmerising.

Maesmor mace-head from North Wales
Maesmor mace-head from North Wales

Lunch and a lovely catch up with RLS, then out to Surrey Quays to check out Decathlon’s winter walking / climbing trouser before returning to KX to meet CH. Signal failure at Peterborough delayed her arrival somewhat, but it was no hardship sitting in the plaza soaking up the sunshine, watching the world go by and listening to Lingthusiasm.

Drinks and Deliveroo once we’d made it to CJ.


Leisurely start to Saturday, then train and tube to London Bridge, crossing the Thames and strolling and sightseeing our way to Canary Wharf along the Thames Path, North side. Gorgeous day – hot and sunny.

London Bridge to Canary Wharf
London Bridge to Canary Wharf

Late lunch at one of the new Marketplace food halls in Canary Wharf, a speedy shop at Waitrose then tube/train back to CJ for cheese, wine and Eurovision!

After another leisurely start on Sunday and after breakfast/brunch we took the train/tube up into Bloomsbury to (re)visit the Stonehenge Exhibition. Coffee at The British Library, partly to sit somewhere dry for a bit (it was a rather wet day), then on to KX where we waved off CH. H headed home and I walked down to TRC to catch up with my lovely silver surfers. So glad they’re (almost) all still there.


I’m flexing my working pattern this week as Monday was day 1 of our in person KMCA meeting. A really good day, rounded off by rooftop bar cocktails, dinner at Ottolenghi and a night at the bling-tastic Dorsett Ciry Hotel.

High up on the 24th floor, I ogled at all the shiny new office blocks that have come free of their construction clothes since December’s visit.

Hello again, London. My, haven't you grown!
Hello again, London. My, haven’t you grown!

Meanwhile, back home, Phil’s chasing squirrels. And Stockley Coppice has been harvested.


TV: Ozark (The End), Better Call Saul (real time weekly viewing!), Eurovision, SAS: Who Dares Wins, Countryfile.

Podcasts: Lingthusiasm, History Extra.


Photos: Herefordshire week 124 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2022-05-15.

Herefordshire Week 123: Tuesday 03 – Monday 09 May 2022

Glorious garden and lush green lanes. A day out in Malvern. Ladakh visa progress. Restored hooks.

Purples and Blues: A montage of Orchids and Dead Nettle
Purples and Blues: A montage of Orchids and Dead Nettle

Up early with girded loins on Tuesday, all set to sort out my Indian Tourist Visa application. COVID-complicated, not the process’s fault, but all the online info is inconsistent / potentially out of date – as is Exodus’ guidance. Not reassuring.

The e-visa option isn’t available to UK citizens at present and the standard Tourist Visa application involves attending an appointment at the VFS centre in London. Handy when you live in Hereford. So I’m biting the bullet and paying an agency to do  it for me.

After spending far too long looking at Exodus’s two recommended visa agencies (in two different places – deliberate or oversight?), I opted for Travcour. Partly because I’ve used them in the past and partly because their website was less pushy/polished than the alternative and their online chat / email contact were both responsive.

Anyway, filled out the forms and posted everything off from Pontrilas Post Office, which entailed taking the MX-5 for a spin. It does need a wash….

Then work. Not long to our two day KM Consulting Meeting. I am looking forward to that, and all the other London plans.


Before starting work on Thursday morning (we’re now waking up  / getting up nice and early), I heard my first cuckoo of the year and watched a hot air balloon floating towards us from Hatterall Ridge.

Blackbird on the font
Blackbird on the font (not a cuckoo or an air balloon)

I spent most of Friday at the RHS Malvern Spring Festival with Jean. We had a fab day out and returned with lots of goodies including a seed bird feeder, bean cane ring thing, seeds, darning mushroom, Worcestershire honey. We saw Princess Anne, although only recognising her on the second occasion.

One highlight was coming upon a small stall where a lady – The Wheat Weaver – was patiently making corn dollies. Her display included what I now know are Hereford Lanterns. We have one hanging on our landing. I hadn’t realised there was a local connection.

Hereford Lanterns
Hereford Lanterns

In the evening, pizza à la Phil – the new dough + pizza stone is a crispy winner! – paired with Ozark. Just right.

(In the background: did a COVID test first thing; all clear.)


Busy day on Sunny Saturday. First up, washing the cars then a bit of Malvern-inspired pottering in the Orchard staking out the broad beans, which are going Jack and the Beanstalk bananas.

Broad beans staked
Broad beans staked

A late lunch, sat outside, then down to Abbey Dore Village Hall for the plant sale. It was bustling, inside and out. I splurged £3 on a variegated hosta, a baby lavender and two pots of geraniums – one large, one small. Relaxing with coffee and cake on an outside bench, Peter R spotted us and did various intros so I’ve more faces to go with names.

Down the lane for tapas al fresco at TJs that evening. Our contribution – apple crumble – meant we were a little late; chopping up two dishes of apples from the apple racks took longer than expected. Doesn’t it always? Still, it means that we have dish no. 2 providing pudding every night this week.


Lateish start on Sunday and a bit of admin triggered by an email and invoice from Travcour plus news of an appointment date. A relief to know that Tuesday’s post reached them – even if it felt weirdly scammy to get an email from the / a Director on a Sunday morning….

A gorgeous day – hot and sunny – so after doing the Cockyard circuit, another late lunch was followed by a lovely afternoon sat on the lawn reading the LRB, listening to podcasts and – yes – snoozing.

The hedgerows and verges are in their beautiful green and white stage – cow parsley, greater stitchwort, may flowers and dandelion puffs.

Green and white: A montage of mayflower, pheasant's eye daffodil, dandelion puff, cow parsley.
Green and white: A montage of mayflower, pheasant’s eye daffodil, dandelion puff, cow parsley.

Dad and Jean called in en route to Compline at the Abbey to see the orchids and clematis in their short-lived glory.

Climbing Clematis
Climbing Clematis

Lots of buttercups glowing yellow on lawn, overpowering the cowslips which are fattening with seed.


Cloudier and cooler Monday. Just right for a trio of chats. In the morning, as I walked to Cockyard, a lovely catch up phone call with Blast from the Chester Past. Tea and cake with A in Cockyard then home for lunch. Admin in the afternoon with a break for stroll up to Kerrys Gate with T.

In the evening we joined a special screening online of a restored cut of I Know Where I’m Going. A different experience from other shared viewings, which tend more towards the Eurovision end of the spectrum. Also, WhatsApp has replaced Twitter as the backchannel. And I am still loathe to use WhatsApp.


In other news, the Utility Room repaint is 95% complete and Phil’s painstakingly restored the hooks to their original (ish) glory. They look fab.

Utility Room redecoration - hooks restored to their original glory
Utility Room redecoration – hooks restored to their original glory

Please note those horizontally-aligned screws!


My daily routine currently includes a morning stroll to the greenhouse to put out the baby plants, repeated in reverse every evening to put them back into bed.

They’re coming along very nicely. The first set of lettuce seeds I planted are looking more like lettuce, and most of the tomato seedlings are looking very healthy. The runt of the February sowing gets to stay inside the greenhouse 🙂

Montage: Greenhouse plants, and our visiting pheasant
Montage: Greenhouse plants, and our visiting pheasant

The second planting comprised more lettuce plus sunflowers, and they’re all going great guns. Last year’s strawberry plants (four, small) produced runners which are now in four small pots. Flowers and fruit already showing in all eight. Along the west side of the greenhouse the sage and gooseberry cuttings and oak tree saplings are various shades of green. Closer to the house the wild garlic is in flower. I think it likes its new home.

And we have a resident pheasant. Noisy chap, struts across the end of the lawn, around the orchard and visits the bird feeders for seed and nut droppings.


TV:  Severance (Apple TV – double meh), Ozark (final season, part 2….), Better Call Saul (real time weekly viewing!), I Know Where I’m Going, The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.

Podcasts: History Extra, Great Lives, Lingthusiasm, Books and Authors, Bookclub.


Photos: Herefordshire week 123 on Flickr.

Phil: w/e 2022-05-08.