Kent - Part I

Westgate to Margate...Sunday 15th April

Those of you who know me well, know I have a soft spot for my local riveria. So Sunday, fresh from Chesterfield, we ducked down the A2 to Westgate. We stopped in at the nursery to purchase tomato plants - whilst all around (happy-couple-Sunday-shoppers! or rather bossy matriarchs and subservient blokies) were returning with trolley loads of plants and compost - Pops wandered back with a tray, held like a waiter, containing just TWO tomato plants! It was at the time an amusing sight!

Amazing how the first taste of summer and everyone is buying folliage that come July they won't be able to water because the hose pipe ban will be back in force... ah well.

We continued on to the hazy filled coast - parked at Westgate and did the customary walk to Margate... the wind still held a chill so the trusty body warmer was a relief.

Margate in the distance...





The groynes of the Kent coast....... which reminds me Margate beach was full of Britons stripped off and enjoying the sunshine. Playing football, tennis and having a donkey ride..












The beaches between Margate and Westgate. Various children discovering the rock pools. Dad and I merely commented on the rubbish washed ashore. Litter -its everywhere.

When did we become such a filthy nation?




















Me @ the beach!


As for this picture it just goes to show how hazy the day was - the horizon is there - somewhere!

Leave

Well I have had a great couple of days in the sunshine. Am now looking out at the clouds and planning the rest of my week. First up a bit of domestic work - the usual spring clean - net curtains, winter wear and things for the washing machine. Then I have some great photos to share and some long walks planned! So expect some additions to Assume Nothing during the day!

Chesterfield 0 - Gillingham 1

I can only describe this as a dull game spent on the terrace in the blazing sunshine. So not all bad. How we won I do not know - but all I care about is that we did! An 89th minute string of passes and proper football - led to a screamer of a goal from our Welsh man Crofts. Good for you Crofty! The coach journey home was full of potential wins for the rest of the season (only 3 games to go) and play-offs! What is really scary is if we do get a couple more 3 points we will finish higher in the table than truly reflects our season! Funny old game!

Crooked spires

Up the Gills here @ Chesterfield

A.W.O.L.

for the weekend - but I did note that 14th April is the 40p man day! So just thought I'd recognise it once more! And wonder - where the bl00dy hell as the time gone?!

Expect a blogger photo to appear at some point after 2pm tomorrow, not of 40p obviously, but of Chesterfield!

Also today invested in my second pair of size 12 jeans... at last my saggy denim bottom has gone - and they fit in all the right places! Right, gotta fly!

Live Earth 7/7/07

Just registered for the Live Earth concert - I'll let you know if I am successful on Wednesday!

London Marathon

My good friend, Lisa will be running the Marathon on April 22nd. Please, please sponsor her as I know she has been working fairly hard, despite a few accidents along the way, to be fit enough to complete the 26 miles.

You can sponsor her here. All donations going to the British Heart Foundation.

I plan to be somewhere on the course so will try and publish some photos of the day.

Good luck Lisa!

Strange

The things you find in ur parents garage!

Gillingham 1 - Bristol City 0

GET IN!!!

After the abysmal showing at Rotherham it was a great surprise to see practically the same team come out and play their socks off. 3 points secures our League One status and I for one am so relieved. After the second half taunts witnessed up north I really did think we were rubbish and were going to drop. Anyway one goal from super sub MacDonald (he came on, he scored, he went off again!) was enough to secure it. Good shows from the mature Ian Cox (OK he is my age!) and the somewhat confidence busted Spiller made for a great afternoon in the sun at Priestfield. Even the train engineering works couldn't dampen my mood! Bristol City will naturally feel they deserved at least a point - and indeed it was good to see so many away fans packing out the other end. But sorry lads today was our day - at home with a team in blue who finally showed some fighting spirit and refused to give up. Read the 'unofficial' report here.

UP THE GILLS!!!!

Rotherham 3 - Gillingham 2

It's a fairly long trip up the M1 to Rotherham. An 8.15am start and a stop off at Leicester Forest East services. You veer off into the Sheffield hinterland toward the Rotherham district.

The Millmoor ground is nestled in amongst scrap metal yards and railway lines. It's northern. But the sun was shining, the locals were friendly and we had a pleasant pint in the away end Millers Bar (it was like Peter Kaye's Phoenix Nights - the disco light above door professing 'The Millers Nightlife', the MDF tables and old fashioned chairs which have graced the backsides of many a large sweaty pie eating away fan). The one thing less pleasant was the toilets - damp loo paper, wet floors, draughts and sinks out of use, but you when you have got to got, you have got to go! Beer in, through the turnstiles to the Community Stand. From here you can see the bridge over the railway lines were buses head across to Blackburn.

The Millers' mascot is Dusty a huge lumbering character with a large red hat. The pre-match presentations went on a bit and the piped music was in a time warp! But it was an away game and the hard core Gills fans were in good voice. Team wise our International goalie, Mr Jack, was back, to which we groaned. Our squad is depleted at present. Jarvis is still injured and 'Dave' Guylain Ndumbu-Nsungu & Dean McDonald are not exactly hot shot scoring players. In fact our lack of strikers is causing problems. Gary 'Twiglet' Mulligan was playing and curiously Mr Spiller had been moved up front. So it was with trepidation, after the Miller Men song had been played &the coin tossed, that the game kicked off.

Within 7 minutes we allowed the Millers to do exactly what we let Brentford do. Take the ball from the goal kick two touches and oops back of the net. Groans. Here we go again.

But there was some light - our strike force maybe numb but we have some persistent midfielders - and they scored some cracking efforts. Bastiens, out German loan signing who really does have some forward thinking scored a brilliant effort from the edge of the box in the 21st, while our international Crofts headed home in the 24th. We went loopy!

Half time - no real entertainment just 15 minutes of lottery winning numbers - etc etc.

Second half. Oh dear. Not much to say except what the hell happened during the 15 minute break? Did get the sulks cos their numbers weren't drawn?! Whatever happened the second half was a case of Gillingham defending so deep they may as well have played in the goal mouth and diced with the goal line.. oh - they did.

Consequently the Millers scored and if they could score one then 2+ was on the cards. I missed the winner - I dared the toilets at the back of the stand. An improvement. The echoing of Millers fans being happy was enough to know. I re-sat in time for the final whistle and chorus of 'What a load of rubbish' from the following Gills fans. Indeed. So, no safer and little hope of getting the coveted 3 points on Monday.

The trip home was long but the sun sets and rolling countryside was a pleasure to enjoy. And the Rotherham No 23. Martin Woods was a bit of a sort! ha ha!

Back to Kent at 9.30pm. What a day. What a way to spend it!

UTG!!

The Millmoor Lane experience!

Up north!

Made it-now in bar!

Maundy Thurs

Capricorn: In the event that crass commercialism is wearing on your soul, you may head for a beautiful retreat to revive your spirits. Nature is wonderfully restorative.

Must be time to head to sunny Kent then!!

Bet the Man U fans wish they had stayed in sunny Manchester yesterday! Oh ah. All sounded a bit nasty out in Rome. If it had happened in England heads would be rolling...

OK Baggy!

You're right - I have been lax in returning to fully document my weekend!

I guess a good weekend starts with a slow Friday night - i.e. not going to the Bishops Finger and drinking my weight in Spitfire/Bishops Finger/Master Brew or Porter* (*delete whichever is on tap at the time). Dad was right with his well told phrase - 'Shepherd Neame - Shit 'n' Scream', as vast quantities of any of the above beers does have a tendency to put me in a rather bad way the next day. Anyway this Friday I restricted myself to a pint and a half. Got home in good time and was able to organise washing etc. Saturday morning I awoke fresh as a daisy and set about tidying up, hanging washing out and generally getting set for an early show at Victoria.

I was on target. I even had a good chat with the man at Victoria Station ticket office about who the Gills who playing and our distinct need for 3 points. Got the early train, thus avoiding the Tit and read 'Angry White Pyjamas' - thankfully there were few Brentford fans on board! Once at Gillingham I undertook my marathon stomp to meet Dad at the car (always confuses other home fans as I am walking away for the ground!) - certainly helps get my steps on a Saturday up to 10,000. Smiled inwardly as Dad relayed his week, the 'dad version', having had the 'mum version' via text message. I suspect that after 37 years of wedded bliss there are going to be times when there is either nothing to say or everything that is said is due to tedium or mild irritation?! Either way as the only offspring in the country able to listen, I do tend to get both sides! It's what makes me love them!

So having successfully made contact with Pop, we ranged our way back towards Priestfield concerned at what lay ahead. Well Gillingham won - screamer from Jackman sealed it. There were a few shining lights but on the whole I was guilty of my attention wandering off to other directions. It's amazing what you think about at football when you're not 100% into the game, I am sure if I remembered half my brain waves I'd be a millionaire! So 3 points in the bag I sped off to the station and got the slow train back to London - so whilst I missed the Tit I did have to share my journey with a bunch of very disgruntled Brentford fans!! Oops. From what I could gather a few of their number had been chucked out before/during the game and as such they had not yet managed to see an entire game at Priestfield.. oh well. Drinks in, sense out and all that.

I did though manage to get back to London without verbal abuse or bruises, and still defiant as a Gills fan - I had seen my team win - always a pleasure! However whilst sat just outside Victoria station waiting for the green light to let us into the station I noticed some of the great buildings which flank the sides of the station. Looking closely I tried to work out how many flats on each floor and judging from the chimney pots at the top of each chimney stack I would reckon quite a few. I got a real sense of how these flats had evolved as I imagine they have been there for almost a century - with their windows bricked up and the smoke that no doubt used to pump from each flat.. very intricate designs. What sort of noise pollution and view does a tenant of one of those places have?

The slow train also takes a different route through Sarf London so trying to spot where is goes as opposed to the fast train is also a fascination I have... many passengers I suspect just pass by and not really take time to notice or contemplate such thoughts. I see it as our history - compare these aging monsters to the new purposes build apartments on the other side of the river with their coloured panels and curved windows! Progress?

Anyway in the spirit of 'not noticing' my next mission was to be home in time for Doctor Who... and when my tardis arrives I'll let you know how that went and of course Sunday!

Pretty Good Weekend!

Hoping to blog it all properly later today!

Remind me to talk about bricks, chimneys, Saturday couples, Saturday tubes, Brentford fans, Jackman's screamer, 3 points, early trun to Next 2 day sale, expired cash cards, power walking up Wimbledon Hill, using my oven to full effect and even doing my ironing! Fun packed huh!!

UTG!

Knees

And waist!

Aliens!

Seemed amusing on the day Doctor Who returned to our screens.

My phone has face warping software - and it is very amusing! Especially when you try it with your friends! After a pint or two!!

What next?!

Finished 'Rabbit Redux' last night. Rabbit realigned himself with Janice and sets the stage perfectly for 'Rabbit is Rich'. So do I know re-read 'Rabbit is Rich'? OR move to 'Rabbit at Rest' OR read something else in the intermediate stage?

'Angry White Pyjamas' by Robert Twigger is currently being mooted. Vaughany recommended it years ago and maybe some Kung Fu militia fiction will do me good. (It's not about Kung Fu in that sense - more about a westerners quest to succeed at Japanese martial arts and complete the Tokyo Riot Police on their year long budo training... ) Tough as nails. Not quite Rabbit country.

The Apprentice

returns! And leaders, managers and project management techniques are all thrown into the spot light. The underlying truth, as with most things, its really all about how well people can interact and deal with other people...

Speaking of which should McClaren Go? or Stay?

Personally I think the England team are just not good enough and no matter who manages them they are all focussed on their own aims and sponsorship deals... I urge you to consider if you will the Premiership and its constituents...the world cup farce. The quality of home grown. The concept of determination. I urge you to reassess your assumptions. Then again what do I know - I am but a mere spec in a mass of footballing fluff.

Carpet..

and I am not talking Carpetman (a very attractive bloke who I fell in love with on my first day at Uni. He had a curtain hair style and wore a poncho (hence the carpet reference) and bright coloured jeans).

My neighbours had a new one yesterday. So last night I was lying in bed wondering what difference it would make... it has certainly dulled some of the noises but such efforts with the flooring have unearthed a multitude of squeaky floorboards... I think I have become so aware of the noise that I am waiting for it. Mr S returned home at midnight and a few footsteps but then I drifted off so I guess in some way there has been an improvement. I'll also be lenient for one night as they re-arrange their furniture etc. But the next few nights will tell... squeaky floorboards aside...

If

building contractors spent less time constructing works of scaffolding art, would they be able to finish the actual building quicker?

Wandering up and down Cheapside has brought to my attention the wooden constructions which now appear as standard around the base of scaffolding. Work men cutting sheets of wood to fit the spaces. Then they paint the wood. Blue. And then they paint it again. Reddy orange. All very colourful - but why? Not only that but it takes up more of the pavement...

Code of Conduct

Bloggers everywhere take heed...

Walk it!

My colleague has just imparted a very useful website to me - Walkit.com whereby you can decide your start and end point and it gives you a map and a instructions!

My walk home (should I chose to do it!) is 8.4 miles - and a fast walk would take 126 minutes, so just over 2 hours. Which means if I left work on time I could be home the same time I am when I leave work at about 6.15pm... worth thinking about.

However a medium pace would be - 167 mins and slow - 251 minutes!! 4 hours!!!! Better leave at lunch time!!!

Best foot forward!

Long time no blog!

Just to say I am well. I have had a haircut and reached my target WW goal weight!! Hoorah!

I would though rather not talk about 5-0 defeats. (That said have booked 2 more away days - Rotherham and Chesterfield). But I do refer my honourable readers back to my prediction of the England game being a white wash... glad I stuck to the cricket instead.

All being well tomorrow my upstairs neighbours are having a carpet fitted in their lounge (courtesy of my landlord) so hopefully I will be getting my regular sleep pattern back - ah a whole night without disturbance would be nice! Please note that local councils only deal in TV and radio noise - which when you consider the fashion for floorboards and the number of ground floor flats in London there must be a rather high number of fellow dwellers suffering the same fate as I. Note to oneself - top floor flats from now on!

And what a difference BST makes - lighter in the evenings so I can walk for miles!! But the temperature in the office has soared - very unpleasant. Feel like my eyes are about to pop out of my head!!! Hey ho back to the grind stone!

Oh yes and the tattoo is 6 years now!!

A moment in time...

Radio Five - Breakfast Blog - midday today what will you be up to?! Blog it here

Nottingham Forest 1 - Gillingham 0

Twiglet was denied a penalty.

The Forest free kick was dubious.

Either way we lost and are 2 place above the relegation zone. And why is Jarvis still sidelined? Injured or being held back til the end of the season when Forest may well buy him?

Questions questions... either way we need 3 points fast...

Red Nose Day

Wheelie red!

Phew

Was having a mini rant this morning, in the bathroom, as I got ready for work, listening to Radio 5 Breakfast... all because of the Football League trying to suggest that the 'lower' leagues weren't currently exciting enough. He hem - because the Premiership isn't a one horse race is it?!

So several ideas were to be discussed as a means of spicing up games which were liable to end in a draw... WOT ROT! The Championship and League One are the tightest leagues to watch at the minute - a matter of points separate top teams and potential relegation teams. A run of 3 wins can see you in play off spot - a run of 3 losses, basement bound. Now I have in the last fortnight seen an exciting draw and mediocre win... BUT that is the nature of the game. STOP trying to change it to meet money grabbing sources. The true fans like it the way it is - its the likes of Sky and wealthy chairman who have created the rot that has set in in the Premiership... let em rot in peace I say - leave us less famed teams to enjoy our SPORT!! The cheap away ends with no roofs, no seat backs and expensive cans of Boddingtons. The walks to far flung grounds from northern railway stations. Leave us to enjoy the knowledge that every Saturday at 3pm our team will be playing, and no doubt during that time over enthused stewards will turf out an away end supporter. The ref will be jeered the linesmen taunted. Face it we are already adept and making our own excitement!!! SO how exactly does a penalty shoot out make a game more exciting - in fact on that basis, why bother having the first 90 mins at all?!

Anyway seems I am not alone in my opinion...

AND the mecca appears on the beeb website!

interesting!

Capricorn (Dec22-Jan20)If you want to widen your social circle, you've got to improve your image. Make sure your clothes and hairstyle reflect the real you. For instance, do you wear dark colours because they suit you, or are they just a means of blending in with the woodwork? When talking about movies and books, do you ever discuss guilty pleasures, or do you pretend to like what everybody else does? Stop trying to be accepted and start asserting your true personality.

I think on reflection I did quite enjoy being semi blonde... or better still short haired and very very black hair!

After

And yes it needs a big cut!

Before!

Hair

Mine

Chestnut...

I forgot to mention I covered my 'blonde' locks Monday night, well actually the locks were a horrid combo of grey, my natural colour and orangey blonde at the roots and silvery blonde at the tips so I went radical cover up ... chestnut.

This was prompted by Sainsos not having my normal light brown in stock and me being nervy at the prospect of any other colour on the silvery tips going a bit wafty.

So I am quite a bit darker than I have been for a year.

And guess what NO Bugger has noticed. Well one did and asked if I had got hair extensions?!

I do wonder about peoples observational skills!! Anyway photo to follow to keep up the hair theme!

National No Smoking Day...

... you know it makes sense.

Stub it out! Save the cash! Smell nicer! Walk faster! Tastier breath! Whiter teeth! (call it prep for National Kissing Day!!)

I'll be honest I have been struggling (been good the last few days) so I need to be more will powered in situations I know are my weak spots... roll on the smoking ban in pubs! And trying to believe that one down the pub is ok - is a lie. Yes you may manage for a couple of weeks - one or two on a Friday - and then none til the next Friday. But then you get cocky and a Thursday night becomes a full blown smoke fest and before you know it - you have a packet and some left over... here you go again.

It's no good. I know I find it hard to stop. I get into certain situations and they are my answer - even though deep down I know they are not. I know I feel better off them. I just have this horrid suspicion that part of me will always be hooked. I'll always be a smoker who is choosing (in some case fighting) to ignore her urge to smoke.

My relationship with cigarettes is uneasy.
My conscious giving up is tested.
I only kid myself.
And when I do I feel bad.

I am trying. Really hard. More gum and WW Fruities I fear.

Guinness Girl

Other than me, some nose art on a Buccaneer at the RAF museum.

RAF Museum

Finally, finally got myself up 'North' to the RAF Museum at Hendon today.
Finally because I been in London long enough to have gone sooner and finally because this morning's northern line was playing silly buggers - terminated at Hampstead, then Golders Green and then at last Colindale.
Not sure what Dad & I were expecting (apart from planes obviously) but in the spirit of leave I found myself absorbed by colours, markings, aerodynamic lines and the simplicity/complexity of man's engineering abilities. Aeroplanes for the forces tend to have one purpose - destruction of the enemy - but putting this aside they are feats of mechanical genius. I undersell this theory by likening them to houses - each architect has the basics and then designs accordingly. So it is with planes, the basic wings and tails but each an individuals ideal made reality - well it used to be. Now-a-days one plane fits all - that is of course once its been agreed by the allied countries building it. As much as the day was about learning new things it was also about nostalgia - aircraft we have seen in the skies. Airshows we have been too. There is one major problem with a museum - everything is static and on a midweek day like today, apart from the odd group of school kids - it is eerily quiet. Part of the thrill with these machines is seeing them alive - hearing them whistle over head.

There were a good selection of types fighters, bombers, and an entire hanger devoted to planes considered 'milestones' (so much for escaping work!) in aeronautical history.

We pootled back down a much quicker northern line to Charing Cross and got a beer and food in Covent Garden - after depositing my dad on the 7.11pm train I headed once more for the tube. There is something wonderfully liberating about being on a tube dressed in mufti on a day off watching the 'commuters' suited, tired and drowning in newspapers and books on the way home. I look like that normally, but this evening I was brighter and more observant. Days off are great - especially when you do something that cements your core self and bonds you closer to those that matter. Cheers Pops for giving to me your sense of interest - can't pretend to know as much but standing under the Vulcan's wing I felt the hairs on my neck stand on end... pure joy!

Cockpit

Better than my usual desk view, F-4 phantom. My fav!

Blogging in the UK

Radio Five are currently airing a half hour special ... readers sharing the posts they made on Monday 22nd Jan when the Breakfast Blog went live! Seems we all have a story/point of view.. or morely pointedly a means of dealing with the mundane in a less negative way! Take part yourself on the 20th March!

Gillingham 1 - Crewe 0

WE WON!!

An amazing strike by Flynn from just outside the box proved to be the bullet like shot we needed! Otherwise Dad & I were really unsure if a goal was ever going to happen! It was for the majority of the first half - very dull. Nowhere near the excitement and drama of last week against Blackpool. But second half buoyed by a goal we looked brighter.

I have 2 observations -

1) THE RIGHT SIDE (IE my side) need to step up and join in with the song!! 'We are the right side, we are the right side, we are the right side Rainham End .' 'We are the middle, we are the middle, we are the middle Rainham End .' 'We are the left side, we are the left side, we are the left side Rainham End .' I DID try but no-one else joined in so once more the Right side were ridiculed. Event the Town End piped up!!

2) The father and daughter combo behind me were fascinating (i jest!) okay they were very irritating - little 4 year old Gabby needing to be told who was in what colour etc etc - but give him his due by the end of the game Gabby was a Gill through and through. But it got me thinking - the advice and pointers he was giving Gabby were way off beam from anything my Dad imparts to me (when he isn't keeping his fan club happy!). I guess the bottom line is that Pops and I have been through too many experiences and seen too many losses etc. Hardened. Until the goal we had lost all hope of winning. After it all we wanted was to hang on to it! Gabby and her dad probably enjoyed the game more - 'the Blues', getting Gab's to identify players with numbers (which frankly even some of the older fans don't yet get!) and going for chips. I also hope they enjoyed kicking my seat through out - cos I didn't!

All in all a good day - early train. stomp round Gills to meet Pop, note that Gillingham is full of Zombie teens who like to block all pavements. You could step into the road and walk but I doubt they would notice that either. Missed the Tit on both in and out trip! Joy joy joy!! And of course the sunset was once again magnificent - the rosy red of the sun as it dipped beneath the Red Millennium Wheel. Beautiful.

Ah - and tomorrow wall to wall sport on the Beeb!

Kick off!

Here again!

Eek

News story that Huddersfield are 'interested' in getting our manager back to their gaff.. Not sure that will help us in any way at all. We need to win today and bt Crewe - POINTS are vital!

Fighting Talk!

Hooray!
Johnny Vaughan is back for a one-off in the hot seat show! Back to the good old days!

NO Logan!! Hooray!

Always a traditional pre-off-to-match listen!

Today is gorgeous - sunny and brisk! A day for winners!?! UTG!

I just

hit the 2000 views mark!

Cheers all! A new millennium awaits!

:-)

New oven...

Finally!

Sunset

Managed to leave work whilst light-beautiful colours..

Do I?

go to the smallish Placebo gig on Tuesday pm - by myself?

I have never been to a gig by myself before, cinema & football yes, pub club and gig - erm no.

I want to see my favourite band but it means going alone.. and I know if I don't I'll kick myself for being a wuss - but then again standing around a venue alone may look a tad weird? Will anyone notice? Yeah probably the weirdo who is preying for a lone Placebo fan... then again may be good novel content... and if the builder if naff my propensity to spend time in my lounge could be very low!!

Nite..

(eyes in back of head watching the Hammers vs Spurs on MOTD-go the Spurts it makes my brother's Monday when I text him with a win!)

Well

the builder arrives tomorrow am to 'fix' the damp patch on the back wall; the kitchen tiles; the shower rail runner and all the other things which are broken. To allow him to do this I have had to move and pack things away. I rather suspect that this packing and seeing of empty walls has opened my eyes... time to move on I fear. Somewhere nicer - less ramshackled. Somewhere which is not a ground floor flat...

Gillingham 2 - Blackpool 2

2 2 2 - and for us definitely 2 points lost. Boo. Mind you with Notts Forest sniffing round for a Jarvis purchase and him being out injured it was an opportunity to see how we will fare once he has gone - because let's face it come the end of May he will be off...

Very unfair result. I was surprised to actually enjoy the game - both sides were so poor it was actually entertaining and exciting. We scored early on. We looked in control. We scored from a set piece (quite rare.) We missed a penalty. We let in a goal - because of the sun in the goalie's eyes?! We gave away a free kick near the area and they equalised. They had fans removed by the stewards.. All in all a rip roaring way to spend the afternoon. Made better by me getting the half-hour earlier train, thus missing the Tit. And then having a good long walk to catch my dad as he parked the car. This benefit of this being that I get some time to chat with him - as pre match & at half time he seems to have acquired celebrity status, with Arfur, Colin, the Twins and Razman all engaging him in football related punditry. He is quite good at holding his audience - so they all stand and nod approval and chip in with tactical ideas. Aristotle and his followers. I am a girl therefore I just stand there and watch the 10 year old's penalty shoot out...whilst munching on my mini choc bar. Today was no different - and to think if he hadn't been noted for absence whilst down under this new twist of communication would never have happened.

Got out fairly sharpish as the legendary Pater had been given a last minute call up to go to a quiz night - so off he went (be fearful next week he has to shoot off to Bury St Edmund's) already fretful about roadworks and diversions! I on the other hand wandered swiftly to the station and got the slow train back to London. Result all round - saw the beautiful sun set and the cheesy coloured full moon awaiting its eclipse, as well as avoiding the Tit once more. Excellent. Was home by 7pm and indulged in my Red Nose Day Squished Tomato Soup - lovely!!

I watched my usual Casualty to see where abouts in the never ending story cycle that is Casualty we had got too.

I then flicked over to BBC Four and 'Reichenbach Falls' - which I have to say was the best piece of drama I have seen in ages. Twangs of humour. Great interweaving of plot lines, story lines and dream lines. I was intrigued. Absolutely brilliant. Note: Must visit Edinburgh. Also tickled me due to 'some' (okay quite alot hence the title) references to Sherlock Holmes - illustrated no less. Oh poor old Adam Edwards - his book of the same became legendary...Good to see it here being used to better ends!

Neighbours out so it was peaceful - oh until 1.15am when they returned, woke me and dissolved my happy spirit.

Live!

From my mecca - the mighty Priestfield!

I don't believe it...

my upstairs neighbour Mister and Son, locked themselves out this morning. Instead of waiting for Mrs to return or contact a lock smith - they rang MY doorbell and without flinching asked to come through my flat, out of my backdoor, so they could use their outside stairs to reach their back door and get back into their upstairs flat.

Can you imagine my reaction?! I wanted to say - 'well can you stop making noise at 11pm-1am?! NO!? Well there's your answer.'

Instead I think I muttered 'Ah so I am worthy of talking to now am I?' And then said 'Well I suppose so.' So they scooted through rather swiftly - getting tangled in my newly hung up washing and 'forgetting' to say thank you.

I slammed said back door and fumed. The bare faced cheek. Not even an apology or an admittance of any of the other rot going on... unbelievable.

As with life..

blogs are soon forgotten when their tone slips away from positive and pleasant ideas.

Or in this case the readership dwindles because the author neglects to post. I am slightly cross with myself but will use this blip to lever myself and my esteem back into the black side of the account.

To this end I have a series in draft at the moment; entitled Love. Work. Home. Life. Sounds a bit pretentious but then you know what I often wonder what I may still achieve in the arts! Culture Show status every Saturday pm/Sunday supplement reviews...Desert Island discs - now there's an entry I never completed!!

So please bear (not bare as I originally typed - bloomin Justitia again!) with me - call it writers block - call it external influences - either way I am still aware of my audience...

World Book Day

'Rabbit Redux' - today was talking about 'Nam and slavery - which were both stories on Radio 5 this morning... shame it was Mark P and Gabby L - I want Nicky and Shelagh back! SOON!

Interesing this morning to see who was reading what - bit of Daphne Du Maurier - and oh the Metro.. nevermind.

Spot on!

Capricorn (Dec22-Jan20) At times you might feel as if your work and responsibilities to others have taken over your life. In matters that have been challenging and problematical you're almost ready to throw in the towel. Hang on in there a wee while longer as your life will soon take an upturn and you will be able to cope. It might also help to pacify you if you tie up loose ends and arrange to pay off any outstanding debts so you can turn your attention to new things.

Noise Abatement .. Part 101

As you know I sent a letter to upstairs asking them to consider thier noise pollution - and for 2 weeks they did not approach me to talk about it and noises continued (even though we have bumped into each other in the shared hallway still nothing had been said - in fact I was not even acknowledged!). So I sent a letter to my landlord enclosing a copy I sent to upstairs and also a rahter long list of flat related issues. I cunningly signed letter "Otherwise things are fine" when clearly reading both items would have suggested alternatively.

Well I have a builder arriving Monday am to ‘fix’ damp; washing machine; shower head runner rail (there's a new term I learnt); kitchen tiles; mice; oven etc etc. I wait with semi-baited breath.

And landlord has spoken with upstairs AND offered to help pay for a CARPET! However I suspect this will fall on deaf ears as it made no difference last night – they were stomping twice as much and moving furniture at 12.30…

Consequently my normally sunny disposition is fast deserting me. I am so angry. I pay a substantial amount each month to live in a flat which is farily sub-standard and get the added 'feature' of neighburly entertainment. Yet I am cast as the bad one becuase I chose to speak up.

I will keep you posted on progress... and building repairs!!

Good blog spot...

Whilst trying to find out if the Old Bailey justice statue is blindfolded or not I discovered this blog.. good shots!

Tomorrow

is World Book Day - what book would you recommend the world read?

Right now it would be Rabbit Redux... Skeeter n Rabbit are making me chuckle...Not easy to narrow it down other wise!

The Old Bailey

is 100 today!

So from my seat here on the 5th floor I salute you! Everyday I look upon the the statue of justice, (a woman (without a blindfold), holding in her right hand a sword standing for the power to punish, and in her left hand a balance standing for equity) and hope for some!

Preferably against my neighbours.

Scunthorpe 3 - Gillingham 1

Oh dearie me. Dropping like a stone. We were 1 all - super Matty Jarvis scored to equalise. But then it went down hill. Chorley off and another from Scunny. They got the third in the 90th minute.

That and a dreadful England show in the rugby made for a really damp grey Saturday.

Spoke too soon

Woken up at 11.30pm. So I banged hard on the ceiling - partial cease in noise, then it began again and contiuned until 2.30am...

This morning I am a tad grumpy (tired generally - NEED A HOLIDAY) and also of the mind that the average Londoner thinks only of themselves. I might be wrong, but I hate the way people treat you, starts to make you become as selfish and thoughtless as they are... which will mean that eventually gun crime will be normal....oh how I love my life right now.

Dodgy pikey!

Nice hat tho...

The bearded lady..

Nice beard?! Scarf?!

Paella..

for lunch. Feel a tad billious...

Kids

Be happy!

Noise Abatement .. the story continues

I dare not speak of this for fear of upsetting the status quo...

However since I delivered my letter of complaint last Friday I have, surprise surprise, NOT been approached for a discussion about the situation. One suspects that a quick sing song on Sunday morning relieved them of their sin and allowed them to carry on regardless. That said this week - so far (ok I have had 2 late-ish nights, Tues footie and last night Brad) things have been less stressful... there that's done it - status quo rocking all over the world - or in my case above my room tonight.

Suffice to say myself and flat are still in tact.

Troy

Not sure it was a great film - technically it was quite stunning, and of course Brad Pitt on my new TV looked amazing - however perhaps punctuating it with 'Party Animals', the News/Desperate Housewives (x2) probably made it seem better than sitting down straight for 3 hours would have done. Anyways - the blonde bomb shell meant I went to bed happy!!

Just as well cos if today is like yesterday work wise I will pulling my own hair out fairly frequently!!

That said - Capricorn (Dec22-Jan20) Today you get to demonstrate your gift for calm in the centre of the storm. If everything was smooth sailing you would only be bored at a time when you need challenge and something testing to do. You might be conscious of an increased vitality and mental alertness but all this energy might seem to vanish very quickly. Even so, when you need it you do have the stamina and patience to deal with the situation.

Gillingham 0 - Brighton 1

By crikey what an awful display of footballmanship...

Oh well - I probably needed a nearly empty Rainham End so I could vent - part sparring with the annoying old fogey sat behind us who seems to have lost the art of positive thought.

This is League One - wake up and smell the coffee - its a poor league and many of our players are no where near the stature of Prem players - if he wanted that he should have stayed at home and watched the TV...

Anyway Brighton not so much played as bull dozed their way through the game. And of course a former player scored the winner. Mr BAs Savage who I had bemoaned as a donkey went on and scored it... crass. He got royally booed and yellow carded for reacting to our taunts!!

Poor. Poor. And once again the topic of relegation must rear its ugly head...

Calling all London Walkers!

This is free! Walks for the weekend! I may try Wigs n Stockings!! :-)

All the best Chippy

One of the key reasons I am a complete Gills addict is due to sharing the same class room as Chippy whilst at primary school. We grew up together and went radically different ways once we hit the 13 year old mark.

I watched his early career from the muddy Teynham playing fields, when Lotus Sports were my weekend entertainment, and have fond memories of early Gillingham youth team games at the Garrison ground.

Today he officially quit professional football. I am a bit sad cos it means I won't see him play Tuesday night at Priestfield for his current club Brighton - who we face in a mid week league game. Somehow it would have been more appropriate if he had played his last match there.

Thanks for the memories mate and all the best for your future endeavours! Hope you realise how much some of us lived your dream with you!

Apologies...

Been a tad sparse with blog entries - but relax I will be filling in the gaps this weekend - live from my lounge/diner! That's of course if the letter I left for my upstairs neighbour this morning doesn't kick off a major conflict.....well 4 nights on the trot I have been disturbed... sick of it - I am. Wish me luck!

Strewth

England beat the Aussies! With an exciting finish... can we do best of 3?!

Iconic

Colliers Wood in snow this morning!

St Pauls

In the snow!

Star Gazing!

Cor! Last night as I alighted from the 7.45pm tube, from Bank, at my local station I found myself smiling at a bloke who had just got to the bottom of the escalator and was headed for the north bound platform. As my smile met his gaze I realised I was looking at DI Turner from the Bill... and boy is he better looking in the flesh! I was quite taken!! Anyway from the website you can email the actors!!! Eye eye!! :-) Wonder if he would remember slightly flushed, mysterious but attractive, lady in a red coat on a Monday evening... ?! There must have been a reason I wasn't wearing my Gillingham hat (apart from the obvious ones!!).

Oh well one can dream. I saw PC Loxton at my local tube station once. All this is significant as they film The Bill round my neck of the woods and I can reach Sun Hill nick in 5 mins from my flat. Interesting huh! You never know Phil Hunter may pop up one evening!

Not so star gazing

Gabby Logan - Radio 5 Breakfast - WHY?!

Do not smoke...

Still no ciggy since very late on Saturday 27th January...

Come on! And the reasons to stop thanks to the ASH website:

The health benefits of stopping smoking start almost immediately:
After...
20 minutes: Blood pressure and pulse return to normal
8 hours: Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are halved, oxygen levels in the blood return to normal
24 hours: Carbon monoxide is eliminated from the body and the lungs start to clear out the build up of tar
48 hours: There is no nicotine left in the body. Taste and smell are greatly improved
72 hours: Breathing becomes easier, bronchial tubes begin to relax, energy levels increase
2 - 12 weeks: Circulation improves, making walking and running a lot easier
3 - 9 months: Coughs, wheezing and breathing problems improve as the lungs have room for up to 10% more oxygen
1 year: Risk of heart attack is halved
10 years: Risk of lung cancer is halved
10 years: Risk of heart attack is at the same level as non-smokers
Medium to long-term: Risk of developing lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease is reduced - the sooner you stop smoking, the sooner your risk starts going down
Medium to long-term: Stopping smoking at any age increases your life expectancy, provided that you stop before the onset of serious disease. Even if you have developed a disease, you can benefit from stopping as your body will be under less strain and be able to fight it more easily
Medium to long-term: A smoker who has suffered from a heart attack can halve the risk of a second heart attack by stopping smoking
Medium to long-term: Ten years after quitting smoking an ex-smoker's risk of lung cancer is reduced by 30 - 50% compared with that of a continuing smoker
Medium to long-term: Smokers who stop before the age of 35 have a life expectancy not significantly different from that of a non-smoker
Medium to long-term: Smokers who give up smoking between 65 and 74 years of age have a better life expectancy beyond 75 than those who continue to smoke
For life:
Reduce stress
Any physical activity is easier
Don't tire as quickly
Improve sense of taste and smell
Improved skin

That said I have fantasised about having a cigarette - but I think that is more because I didn't realise the last one I smoked was going to be the last one. There is half a packet of fags in my desk drawer and I know if Baggy had not turned up early last Tuesday night I would have had one before she arrived... suffice to say I am now kinda glad I didn't and haven't. That said talking about it is making me think I want one. I do not.

Then Jerico - 1987

So after spending most of Sunday on a music Odyssey I cannot tear the earphones from my ears and rest. So to bed I go with the tortured strains of Mark Shaw etc and Then Jerico...

My family will tell you I was totally in love with Mark Shaw.
My brother endlessly ribbed me for it.
My friends endlessly ribbed me for it.
I even fell in love with someone who looked vaguely like him.
In fact I actually wrote to the man.


Boy the hormones at 14 years were far more attuned than they seem to be 20 years on.

This picture was on my bedroom wall for months. And it was not a small poster! Sure its still at home somewhere!!


Anyway laying in my bed my mind was returned to that day in 1987 when I heard the Motive for the very first time... I was in a shop somewhere with my mum and it was on in the background. Then it kept getting played on Radio 1 (that shows how long ago we are talking!). eventually band and song title were known to me... and my pursuit of TJ discs began...

The Motive 7" vinyl single summer 1987...

First (the sound of music) Vinyl LP 1987 ... 'Apathy and Sympathy', 'Laughter Party' and 'The Hitcher' among my favourites... also contained a poster of the band (then a 4 piece) sat in the long room at Lords in cricketing attire. Good b&w shot.

I bought the Muscle Deep, Cassette Single in the Summer 1987 on a trip to London - my paper round money stretching to the plastic sealed single sized cardboard photo and cassette within..

The the Big Area single was released in 1988 and it shot them to wider coverage (well it was their highest charting single - No 13) and inclusion on compilation albums (yup I have one somewhere Now that's what I call music No 10 or some such early edition of the now infamous brand.)

The Big Area Cd LP Feb 1989.. Then the genius that was the album. I was totally hooked and have vivid memories of discussing said album with girls at school who I normally avoided. But then I was the guru and I didn't like sharing my favourite band with lesser mortals... Hard to pick favourites from this album as they all meant something to me

Side One: Big Area/What does it take?/You Ought to Know/Song for the Broken hearted/Darkest Hour

Side Two: Reeling/Where You Lie/Sugar Box/Helpless/Under Fire

I guess the 12" version of What does it take with Belinda Carlisle helped sway it!!

What does it take? 12" vinyl single 1989

Well I don’t know if I am wasting my time/Every day you’re getting harder to find/Makes me wonder if it’s all in my mind/But it keeps me hanging on/Oh yeah!Hey!/You keep saying your doing your best/Still your East don’t meet my West/So I, take a look around/Compare you to the rest/But it keeps me hanging on/Hey! /What does it take/To break through?/To make your earth move(If I could live)/Hey! /What does it take/To reach you?/What do I have to prove?/If I could live in the moment with you/What would I do?/And you with your mass serenade/Love everybody/You remember their names/To them you are vision/A dancer in the rain/To you they’re all the same/Hey! What does it take/To break through?/To make your earth move(If I could live)/Hey! /What does it take/To reach you?/What do I have to prove?/If I could live in the moment with you/Don’t you want me?/Ow!What do I have to do/What do I have to do/What do I have to do/What do I have to do/To make your earth move?/What do I have to do/Hey! /What does it take/To break through?/To make your earth move(If I could live)/Hey! /What does it take/To reach you?/What do I have to prove?/If I could live in the moment with you/Hey don’t you want me?(If I could live)/Hey! /what does it take/To reach you/Don’t you want me?/Hey what does it take/what does it take/Don’t you want me?(If I could live)/what does it take/What does it take/Oh what does it take/Gonna make your earth move /I wanna make your earth move…

In 1989 I was but a mere 16 year old trying to pass her GCSE's so she could progress to the 'A' Level world .. a new world when Indie and Brit Pop would be emerging. When music would be truly ruffled again. But until such times the loner in the class would reject Acciieddd and House music and stick instead to the lyrics and rifts that Then Jerico provided. I still get tingles listening to the compilation CD I have (my cassette players all knackered and vinyl player at home).

Reeling.. I was. I do.

Now Mark Shaw has his own venture using the TJ name but mainly writing his own material. 'Almost' was a good album and there are tracks on that which make me stop and inhale a sharp intake of breath. And I read on Answers.com he lives in Tooting...oh well maybe I'll bump into him one day!

Desert Island Discs

Sunday morning and today I kept Radio Four on after my weekly fix of the Archers.. it was Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boy fame telling Kirsty his desert island discs. Which got me thinking.

Could I narrow my huge eclectic tastes down to just 8 tunes? What would be my luxury and what would my book be?

I immediately panicked!

Then I started to think about it in more detail...

Musical Influences....

... and in order to help my thinking I decided I needed to spend some time re-organising my music library (you know the sort I mean - my MP3 musical library of all the c-d's I have so far managed to rip and transfer across).

Current total library = 5,000 songs. And I need to whittle that down to 8!!

My SUnday has been and continues to be a vogage of albums, singles and bands I had forgotten about. I hear a few notes and a time and place flood my back ground. People and influences stir my senses. I could have stayed up all night just pondering... I love days like that!

The village

Today I walked to Wimbledon village! 8 miles round trip. Cob webs be damned.

Shame my phone to blog kept saying failed and you had to see the picture twice! Shows how busy I have been unable to check...!

On the plus side...

not had a ciggy since Sat pm...

Cough & Splutter.

I have spent the last 4 days feeling rough as the bottom of a hamster cage. A tingly sore throat bloomed into full blown muscle aches which forced me to my bed at 6pm Sunday night with a hot water bottle and as many cold and flu drugs as I could find. Sadly after the worst nights sleep I have had for a while, it was Monday am and I still felt rough. This general feeling of coughing, aching and hot & cold spells continued into Wed am when a conversation with Baggy, who is well versed in aliments, made me realise my lungs were rebelling. (When your skin on your back feels like lizard skin - all crackly and on fire its lung related). I had woken from yet another painful nights sleep - back aches and hot sweats - resolved to go to the doctors. I hate being ill.
So I got through to the Doctor's surgery at 9.05am. Oh yes 'we have an appointment at 9.20am'. 'Great.' So I quickly dressed, cleaned my teeth and hoofed my way to see the doctor. Which made me uncomfortable and hot. As I sat in the waiting room I did wonder what worse germs I was collecting - then again every trip on the tube is a germ fest.

I was called in - temperature taken (via ramming a thermometer in my ear hole- ouch) and the chest listened to front and back. My throat told to say aaah and then she told me it was viral. Coughing up phlegm was good. Being nearly 35 and smoking whilst on the pill however are not good. SO I came out of the surgery with a flea in my ear about something unrelated to the reason I had gone in. But I was told to take as much paracetamol etc as needed for my back pains.

Oh well - the local GP sponsored by all manufacturers of ibuprofen.

Anyway 3 days off work ill. The crucial question I have to ask is bed n radio versus sofa and TV. In hindsight bed and radio are far better. Daytime TV will drive you to drink/despair/drugs/eating copious amounts of cack food. I am sure I have piled on the pounds the last few days - well no walking for a start and just eating random amounts of whatever was in the house. It's days like this I wish my mum was pootling around downstairs - she'd always come up with tea and food when required and make sure I was OK. Living on your own means people only know if you tell them and then all you get is a text message or email. Thankfully Baggy had a pre-arranged to stay over as she had a conference (the daffs look lovely BTW Baggy - they're all popping open now! Thx!) and Mr G popped by with plenty of fruit and OJ. Pity the neighbours took no heed and made as much noise as ever.

Back at work today.
That too will will drive you to drink/despair/drugs/eating copious amounts of cack food.

Yawn.

Either way there are a few retrospective posts I need to do... quite a bit happened between my last post and then becoming too ill to move.