Heading Into 2025

January 13, 2025 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

My memories of Christmas are beginning to dissolve into a blur of having felt very good about the convivial familial get together. It was great to have our close family in our house – the only exception being Youngest Son’s wife who had to dog-sit in Belfast. It was, once again, amusing and interesting to see the two grandchildren in close proximity and to compare and contrast their current, very different characters. Jane ran the kitchen with help from all and we ate and drank well. But now we head into 2025 with the promise of new challenges and entertainments.

The cold snap has brough some frosty and icy conditions underfoot but some beautiful clear air and skies. My physiotherapist has advised me to continue walking despite my uncomfortable knee and so I have limped around to keep it mobile. I think that continued walking, and the daily exercises I’ve been given, are helping my knee although they have also strained other parts of my hips and legs so health sometimes feels like a running battle.

I’ve been thinking about New Year resolutions as I always do at this time of year (but, usually, not so much thereafter). I will maintain my ongoing targets for drink free days, limiting alcohol unit intake, weight and walking steps. However, I also want to be more proactive generally about the various health niggles that I suppose are inevitable at this time of life.

*^{More Cold Walking On The Way To Town}*

I’m also keen to do better on a resolution I made this time last year: to be more creative and do more creative things. I made some progress early last year with visible sock darning, devising and running a darts competition in the local pub, and creating a few treasure hunts for First Grandchild. But my creativity petered out and, for example, the Kintsugi kit remains untouched and making sourdough bread is on hold. I must do better.

I also need to read more books and not just newspapers and magazines given that I enjoy fiction so much. I have resolved to read more during the day since, currently, I never manage more than a few pages each night in bed just before nodding off. Currently a 500-page book takes me almost 6 months to get through even when it’s a good read (as I think Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver is).

My ability to find that daytime reading space is related to a resolution to nap less after lunch. I love our very comfortable sofa adjacent to the kitchen with its view out into the garden and nearby copse so I just have to avoid sitting on it after lunch!

Our local Talk Club for men sharing how they feel and what they are going to do about improving their mental health, has restarted after a 6-month hiatus. At the first meeting of the year, held in a new location above the village pub, I realised once again that my only real anxieties at the moment are rooted in health – which I need to take a bit more control of where I can – and world events. So, another resolution is to reduce use of social media (I have already left the increasingly toxic ‘X’) and continue last year’s resolution and listen to the news on the radio even less. I’m not sure if that will help but Talk Club is a good mechanism to ensure that I think about how world news affects my well-being and if increased abstention from hearing about it makes any difference.

The year has, apart from the ongoing health irritants, started well. Following the family-oriented period over Christmas, I have resumed visits to the village pub and contacts with friends and acquaintances in the village. It is clear from talking to them that I, and Jane, have been fortunate to avoid flu so far this winter.

*^{Promising Sunrise Viewed From Our House}*

Also, Jane has gone off for a week-long sewing retreat at Merchant & Mills, her favourite sewing pattern manufacturer and textile sales room in Rye. That has been a nice change for us both; she has enjoyed the retreat and learnt some new sewing skills while I have fended for myself successfully and have got to watch some streamed series in the television that Jane has no interest in (Series 3 of Industry on BBC iPlayer is, again, remarkable).

Next, we have an innovative trip to Edinburgh – innovative in the sense that it is a month-long stay rather than just a long weekend. We are both excited about how it will feel to be on holiday for so long (with the logistics helped a little by the likelihood of a bit of house sitting by some family members while we are away). We are looking forward to seeing the Edinburgh branch of the family in a different context and over a longer period than usual and to getting to know Edinburgh even better. The icing on the mid-winter break cake is that we are accommodating the Bristol and Belfast branches of the family on a couple of weekends while we are there. It’s a stimulating start to 2025.

A Birthday and Christmas Prep

December 20, 2024 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Having grandchildren coming to stay with us at Christmas has added a higher than ever level of expectation of fun around the festive period. I keep envisaging their excitement when the big day comes. For example, I’m looking forward to the wonderment of First Grandchild (who is now three years old) when the sherry, mince pie and carrots we will leave out for Father Christmas and his reindeer disappear overnight, to be replaced by present-filled stockings. We are ready!

But first, the last few weeks have contained much enjoyment of different kinds. First there was FG’s third birthday and a visit to Edinburgh to share in that. Then we had friends from London staying with us, followed by a choral concert in the nearby town of Tetbury and a test of our grandparenting skills while looking after Second Grandchild unsupervised.

In between, there has been preparation for Christmas, a bit of physiotherapy for my knee, wrapping up of my volunteering duties for the year at the local school and food bank, and the writing of a draft Parish Nature Action Plan for the Parish Council. It’s not work but it’s felt quite busy.

As usual, we loved our time in Edinburgh. The trip up in the car was pretty smooth (though the freezing cold weather slowing operation of some of the electric vehicle chargers on the way back was problematic).

*^{Freezing Weather On The Way South From Edinburgh – Lovely To See But Limiting On EV Battery Capacity And Charging Rates!}*

Once in Edinburgh, the hospitality Eldest Son (ES) and his wife lay on was as lovely as ever and further enhanced by their newly refurbished kitchen. It was great too to see ES’s parents in law, as we usually do, over a big Indian takeaway. We got out and about to see some of the sights that are now becoming familiar to us. Plus, of course, the centrepiece of our visit was FG’s birthday party.

FG’s birthday party was shared with that of his best male friend and it was very successful. The bouncy castle was very popular and FG spent a lot of time on that. There were a variety of other toys and activities around the room and these were also well used. The brutal beating of a Piñata in the form of a cardboard donkey full of sweets felt a little incongruous and unsettling but was a highlight for the birthday boys. For the adults, there were a few beers to provide some relaxation amid the hubbub of the kids scurrying around and the simple, raw excitement in the room.

*^{Along The Water Of Leith Near Dean Villag}*^{e, Edinburgh}

I skipped out of some of the post-party clearing up to watch Forest Green Rovers Football Club play (and win!) a vital top-of-the-table game on the television. I also skipped out on one, sunny afternoon to walk down the Water of Leith to Dean Village and then to the Modern Art Galleries.

*^{View From Outside Modern One Gallery, Edinburgh}*

At Modern One gallery (there are two separate national galleries of modern art) I saw an exhibition by Everlyn Nicodemus. It was a larger exhibition than I expected (especially given that it was free) and, by the end, I was also surprised by its variety. I can’t confess to have been moved much by the work but a lot of it was wonderfully colourful and vibrant. The whole experience of walking around the exhibition with so few others was quietly pleasing. It always seems worthwhile visiting Edinburgh’s art galleries.

*^{Some Of The Colourful Paintings By Everlyn Nicodemus}*

We also always seem to make time to take FG to the Royal Botanic Garden and the National Museum of Scotland. The Botanic Gardens are great year-round and FG likes the visits to the café there. FG also loves both seeing the exhibits at the National Museum – especially the natural history section – and getting to and from it on the bus. Watching FG’s mind take in all the sights in the museum is very rewarding and I never tire of going there.

*^{Natural History Hall At The National Museum Of Scotland}*

Next month we are visiting Edinburgh again and, this time, for a month. It will be a very different experience our usual long weekends with ES and his wife. I hope the Air BnB we have chosen is as good as it looks.

Although the weather is bound to be wintery, our stay will, at one level, feel like an extended holiday and we will be a couple of tourists taking in the sights again. But, on another level, it is a bit of a trial run for seeing if we would like to move more substantially to Edinburgh. We are both excited by the prospect of spending more time in the city; Edinburgh is such a wonderful place and being near ES’s family for a few weeks will enable a different relationship with all of them, at least temporarily.

Back home, we entertained our London guests with extended chat, Jane’s cooking, plenty of drink, a lunch at The Woolpack Inn in Slad (in our opinion, the best local pub food) and a walk by the Severn to see the Purton Hulks.

*^{Along The Canal Walk Towards The Severn And The Purton Hulks}*

These ‘hulks’ are boats deliberately run ashore and filled with debris and concrete to form a barrier between the tidal Severn River and the adjacent canal. They create a rather ghostly atmosphere and an interesting historical distraction from the huge views up and down the Severn estuary.

*^{One Of The Purton Hulks Overlooking The Severn Estuary (Tide Out)}*

Our entertaining skills were also tested when we looked after Second Grandchild (SG) for a few hours while Middle Son and his fiancée went out for lunch – their first outing together without SG since he arrived. It turned out to be a breeze. SG seemed curious about us substituting for his parents but calm and quietly playful. When he refused to have a nap in his nursery, I took him out in his buggy. While we were out, he was attentive to his surroundings, regarded me with apparent interest and occasional smiles, and then gently fell asleep. What a pleasure retirement is when one can do things like that with a grandchild!

Now Christmas is approaching. To get in the mood we went to a choral concert in a very Christmassy Tetbury. The concert was in the main church which is very spacious and dominated by rows of high, enclosed pews. The church looked marvellous with so many candles lit on huge chandeliers and elsewhere, and the concert sounded great when the choir was in full blooded flow.

*^{The Standish Consort And Ensemble La Notte at St Mary’s Church, Tetbury}*

Now we look forward to our sons arriving for Christmas. Youngest Son arrives later today (unfortunately without new wife who is bound to Belfast by their dog for this trip). Then Eldest Son’s entourage arrives next week before Middle Son, his fiancée and SG arrive on Christmas Eve. The semi-planned Christmas schedule is full of fun and games, walks and meals, Secret Santa, and sitting around the wood-burner and kitchen playing and chatting with the little ones and adults alike.

Now I have retired and I have no background (or foreground!) thoughts of work to contend with during the festive period, I can focus on all of the above. It’s a treat and a luxury.

Belfast Christmas

December 31, 2023December 31, 2023 / fgrtommo / 2 Comments

Christmas in Belfast started at a furious pace. Youngest Son (YS) picked us up from George Best City Airport and whisked us off to an Asian small-plates restaurant in the centre of town called Yugo. We had an early, swift and tasty dinner there before zooming off again to traditional Irish bar in the old docklands, The American Bar. Here, we met up with YS’s future parents-in-law and had a catch-up chat while staying well out of the way of the regulars who seemed very proprietorial about their seats at the bar.

Then we crossed the road to the Dockers Club for a gig by George Houston who was an excellent warm up act for Joshua Burnside. Both artists were amusing between the enlivening music and they both had songs with interesting lyrics.

It was a great venue; apparently the gig was sold out but it wasn’t too crowded. The acoustics were great. I could make out all the words of the songs as long as I didn’t stand behind the enthusiastic woman who thought she knew them all and thought we’d benefit from bellowing them out. Plus, the Guiness was creamy and proper. Seeing a gig in such a lively, functional venue was a real treat.

It was interesting to see YS and his fiancé bumping into several acquaintances and friends. Belfast is small compared to London where meeting up at a gig would be unlikely unless planned in advance. It is clear that YS’s partner has a huge network of friendships in Belfast through living in the city through her youth and, now, through her work as an osteopath and as a Pilates and yoga teacher. It is great to see how settled – and successful – they have become in Belfast.

It was late by the time we got back to their house and Reggie, their one-year-old dog was suffering cabin fever and then overexcitement as we walked in. Let’s just say he had an unsettled night of whining and moaning…. To be fair, he was very quiet on the other nights of our stay and he has settled down a lot since we last saw him in Spring. He no longer chews the furniture and stairs – though his history of this remains evident – and he is a very gentle dog whose only anxiety seems to be worry that everyone in his ‘family’ are close by. I’m looking forward to even more maturity by the next time we visit.

After that exciting first evening, the pace slowed and became very relaxing. YS loves a bit of technology and he has a huge telly with surround-sound in one room and a (pretty awesome) projector in another. That meant that while YS and I could watch football in one room, his partner and Jane could watch a stream of Christmas holiday movies in the other. The latter included Bernard and the Genie which we all watched. I hadn’t seen it since our sons were very young and was surprised that, amid the hilarity, some bits are amusingly inappropriate for the young.

We played games. YS won at HeckMeck as usual but Jane and I were dominant during my first exposure to Articulate! We had a hoot with that! I was less good at Jenga 😊

^{Ormeau’s Bread and Banjo Bakery – ExcellentAnd The Best We Have Found In Belfast So Far}

We ventured out to the independent shops in the local Ormeau area primarily to get some very good bread and bagels. Then, for the first time, we visited Lisburn Road, which also has an attractive range of shops, and picked up sherry and some interesting wine.

*^{Maven – A Cool Home Decoration Shop In Lisburn Road}*

I dipped out of some of the perusal of shops to walk through pleasant but wintery Ormeau Park. That enabled me to get exercise sufficient to enable conscience-free consumption later

*^{Carved In A Tree Stump With A Chainsaw By Hazy In Ormeau Park}*

On Christmas Eve we had a lovely walk along the Lagan River and into the woods near the Stanmillis Sluice Gates.

*^{Stranmillis Sluice Gate On The River Lagan}*

On Christmas Day we strolled through the Botanical Gardens and past the Queens University Sports Hall. There is a surprisingly large amount of interesting green space near to the dense but attractive residential housing of Ormeau – much needed with a dog as big and energetic as Reggie.

On Boxing Day, the weather was excellent in the morning and YS insisted that we fulfil what is becoming a tradition when we visit him in Belfast: a sunrise walk on a beach. Fortunately, its winter so the need to see the sunrise was less demanding on our sleep patterns than in the past.

*^{Just Before Sunrise – Helens Bay, Belfast}*

We went to Helen’s Bay and Crawfordsburn Country Park and it was empty and gorgeous.

*^{Helens Bay With Reggie At Full Pelt}*

Fortunately, especially early in our walk, there were few other dogwalkers. Reggie the dog is gradually becoming more manageable with other dogs but he is over-enthusiastic and provokes fuss and bother. Amusingly, when he gets into a tangle with another dog, YS and his fiancé’s strategy is to run away as fast as possible – not to ignore the problem, but to lure Reggie away promptly. It sort-of works and some other dog owners found it funny.

YS’s Partner’s Pictures Of Reggie At Helens Bay

Finally, it being Christmas and all, we ate and drank well. YS had bought a selection of excellent beers with strange names from Boundary Brewing.

On the food front, a highlight, of course, was the Christmas dinner itself which included YS’s terrific pigs-in-blankets. We also feasted on a huge selection of local cheese that had been provided by YS’s next door neighbours in gratitude for tolerance in the last 6 months while they built a very substantial extension on the back of their house. (Hopefully, one day, YS and his fiancé will be able to build an extension too!). Then, on our last night, YS’s fiancé made a delicious prawn and orzo dish that I will try out at home.

^{A Full Plate Of Christmas Dinner – Lucky Us!}

It was a lovely Christmas. Three years ago, Covid broke the mould of the succession of Christmas get-togethers with all of Jane’s family at our house. Then, two years ago, we decamped to the Isle of Skye for a small family Christmas with those sons and partners without a baby. Last year was a relatively small affair at our house with sons and partners that focused on First Grandchild as much as Christmas. And now we have done Belfast Christmas.

Next year the plan is to host at our house all three sons and their wives, partners and fiancés plus what will be two grandchildren by then. It’s only a plan but it is clear that the time for extended 15 to 20-strong family Christmas lunch has, passed for us and, now I have retired and have no work constraints, I can envisage that we may be even more innovative in Christmas location and composition in the future. Long may that continue. Lucky us. Happy New Year!

Winter Lights and Festivities

December 21, 2023 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Early December was cold and frosty; proper winter weather. I love walking around the village in weather like that, especially when the skies are clear and the sun is at least giving and impression of warmth.

On one rather cold evening, I walked to Forest Green Rovers to see the football team I support. On the way I saw the annual winter light display that Ruskin Mill College hold in the valley the college occupies among the lakes, the ponds and the trout fishery it manages. I was already a bit tight on time so didn’t attempt to get a closer look. However, on the way back – disheartened by yet another defeat in what has been a long succession – I walked through the base of the valley to see the remnants of the display.

*^{Ruskin Mill Light Display Including A Dragonfly Above A Lake and A Mouse}*

Many of the candles had naturally expired by that time and no-one else was about. The atmosphere was a strange mix of festivity and spookiness. The overall feel and several of the individual light-works were impressive. I felt lucky to have seen the display since it wasn’t officially open to the public and it only lasted a few hours.

Jane has been investing a lot of time in getting our own Christmas lights up around our house. We briefly debated whether to put a Christmas tree up this year since we are not at home for Christmas itself. However, I was unsurprised when she arrived back one afternoon with a substantial tree and spent the rest of the day decorating it. Jane loves Christmas and the tree looks lovely as usual.

*^{Domestic Festive Lighting – Door and Tree}*

The festive lighting around the house is also lovely. The excuse for it being even more extensive than usual is that, after several years of talking about having a drinks party for local friends and acquaintances, we finally arranged one.

I think it went well. It was great to see so many locals chatting animatedly with each other. Jane relieved the hospitality burden on us by hiring a youngster to man the ‘bar’. We both enjoyed the occasion while learning lessons about how to improve arrangements for the next one (should we get our act together again).

*^{Plenty Of Festive Lights In Our Bit Of The Hamlet}*

That weekend felt very full because Jane spent much of the next day at our house with her siblings, sorting out a load of boxes of her late mother’s possessions. Good progress was made I believe. However, it’s a big task and there are still a number of crates and boxes in our spare room and corridors to examine. The contents need to split into allocations by sibling, for charity, for the dump and for a celebratory bonfire of family memorabilia that no-one wants to keep. The creation of this last stack of stuff is in line, Jane tells me, with one of several Swedish death-related cultural practices that celebrate the past while preventing our lofts getting filled with junk.

Now, with our Secret Santa presents already bought and no big family Christmas dinner to prepare for, we are in a quiet and welcome gap between our drinks party and Christmas itself. For that, we are off to see Youngest Son and his fiancé in Belfast. I fear we must prepare for a rainy Christmas not a cold, clear one but we are intent on having a great time. I hope all you readers have a great festive period too!

The Lull Before Christmas

December 15, 2021 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Life has been relatively quiet recently and, increasingly, I have dipped out of large social gatherings such as the Community Shop Christmas Party and the monthly local Pub Quiz. This is in the hope that I avoid the latest Omicron variant of Coronavirus at least until after the Christmas period.

Christmas too is going to involve fewer social contacts than usual but we do hope to see all our sons, their partners and our new grandchild. It’s going to be a treat but a different treat from the usual.

The last few days have included a number of Christmas preparations (including my booster jab). Our family are doing a Secret Santa again this year so little present buying is required. But, despite the other differences to our Christmas Day this year, I am maintaining the recent traditions of home-made party hats and a Christmas picture quiz. Both are now ready to go.

Local walks have continued to be a Covid-safe feature of my retirement. I’ve been on a couple of different ones with mates from the village. That is always interesting, not only for the conversation but because, no matter how many times I traverse the local footpaths, they almost always take me on routes or to places that they know but which are slightly different from my normal haunts.

*^L^{ocal Woodland Old Spot Pigs – Well Fed By The Undergrowth And Rather Fatter Since The Last Time I Saw Them!}*

*^{An Unusual, Local Double-Stepped Stile I Hadn’t Seen Before}*

Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) and I also squeezed in a rather impromptu visit to Bath. Walking past the Georgian Crescents and through the streets reprised a visit we did a couple of months ago. Then, I visited The Holburne Museum and saw an interesting exhibition on (Dante Gabriel) Rossetti and his portraits of his muses and girlfriends (usually, they were both). He certainly seems to like women with big, lustrous hairdos!

*^{A Rossetti Portrait, Holburne Museum, Bath}*

*^{View Of Great Pulteney Street From The Holburne Museum}*

This time, the main purpose to the visit was to try out lunch at the relatively new Landrace Bakery. We have loved the Bakery and café since it opened well before Covid struck; LSW has been going there since it opened. Landrace has more than survived the lockdowns of the last 18 months by evolving and shifting its focus to takeaway and, most recently, a small restaurant upstairs. The lunch we had there didn’t disappoint. The service was informal but excellent, the servings were tasty and of a good size and, despite the ‘London prices’, lunch was good value overall. We’ll go again and we recommend it.

*^{Georgian Crescents Overlooking High Common, Bath}*

^{Luke Jerram’s Impressive ‘Moon’ Artwork, On Show When We Visited Bath Cathedral}

But now, attention turns to a trip to Scotland and to Christmas. The socialising may have been scaled back in the run up and the numbers around the Christmas table will be less than a third of last year. Nonetheless I am looking forward to it more than ever after the constraints of the last year and in advance of the restrictions that are likely to come as the pandemic moves to its next stage. Hopefully we will get away with a great little Christmas!

I hope too that readers of this have a happy and healthy Christmas and holiday period.

Goodbye (Good Riddance) 2020

December 31, 2020 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Most of 2020 was pretty awful for the World due to the coronavirus pandemic. For many, it will be a year remembered as one in which health and jobs were impacted hugely and where tragedy struck. It is surely everyone’s hope that vaccines and natural progression of the virus will mean that, during 2021, the incidence of such these impacts and tragedies will lessen to insignificance.

I have confessed in these blogs that the impact of the pandemic on me personally, especially during the spring and summer, has generally felt little more than inconvenience with a touch of boredom. Certainly the personal impact of the pandemic has been much less than Middle Son’s accident in 2019. My Mum contracted the virus in her care home but has recovered. Phone and Zoom calls have provided the means of staying in touch with Dad. Youngest Son briefly lost work but that just meant we had the pleasure of his company in our home for a few months. We have been very lucky so far. Nonetheless, I am very glad to be saying goodbye to 2020 and hello to 2021 and a new feeling of hopefulness.

Our family Christmas with all three of our sons here in Gloucestershire was made possible by Middle Son’s girlfriend being willing to drive Middle and Eldest Son across London just before the Tier 4 lockdown was announced, a bit of bending of the rules relating to Christmas gatherings, and a bit of judicious coronavirus testing.

Wrenching Middle and Eldest Son out of London earlier than planned caused some upheaval to their plans. Eldest Son had some more work to complete. Middle Son hadn’t had time to relax after finishing work for the year. He showed the signs of work stress that reminded me vividly of the sort of stress I used to suffer when I was working in a big corporation. Soon though, everyone chilled out and we had a few lovely and highly-valued days together. I hope all readers of this were able to enjoy the Christmas period as much.

We ate well, with everyone sharing in the cooking, and our recycling bin reveals that we drank well too. The weather was kind enough to allow some very pleasurable local walks over the Christmas period. The exercise from those walks enabled periods of guilt-free slouching on the sofa in front of the fire, watching films and football on the TV together. Long-Suffering Wife has just bought a new, wider screen TV so it would have been rude not to!

*Sunny Christmas Day Walk Above Horsley Village*

Rather boldly, we have already planned next Christmas. On Christmas Day Youngest Son noticed that a property on the western edge of Skye in Scotland, that he had been alerted to by Eldest Son’s girlfriend, was free for 2021 Christmas week. Immediately the other sons expressed interest and so we booked it straightaway. Hopefully our sons’ respective girlfriends will also be able to join us for at least part of that Christmas week. Christmas 2020 was a very different Christmas from normal and 2021’s Christmas promises to be even more different; that is an extra thing to look forward to in 2021.

I’m sure 2021 is going to have its challenges. Climate change may (should!) start to take centre stage in terms of a World crisis. The impact of the recent Brexit deal will bite across the UK. Forest Green Rovers football club might not be promoted. Other First -World problems might beset us. But, with 2020 finally done and dusted, we can look forward in hope to less social distancing and more normal personal interactions, more unimpeded travel, and Christmas in Skye.

Happy New Year!

*The Garden Under The First Real Snow of the Winter*

Back In The Shire

December 15, 2019 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Those who follow this blog, or otherwise know me, will know that I am an urban man at heart. For most of my adult life, the city – specifically London – has been the place to live and the country has been something to visit. Now I’m retired to the country and visit the city. I had a good dose of London life earlier this month but, for the last week or so, I’ve thrown myself into rural living back in Gloucestershire; it has been relatively various, worthy and entertaining.

The rainy weather hasn’t prevented me getting out for daily, lengthy walks. LSW and some of her local friends have taken me on some routes I have not ventured on before and that has been enlightening. I continue to get to know the area and to enjoy walking in it. I’m comfortable that my steps target for the year is going to be met easily – one of the few 2019 resolutions that will be, I fear.

A New Walk Through Beech Woods

Of course, Christmas is coming (putting my 2019 resolution target for alcohol free days in jeopardy). I attended my first party of the season last week courtesy of the management of the Horsley Village Community Shop. Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) works there very part time and so was invited gratis. I paid an entrance fee to attend alongside her. It was a very lively and pleasant celebration and a chance for me to get to know a few more local people. The event packed out the village pub for the second time in a few days following the monthly village quiz a few days before.

The village shop, like the village pub, survives on the margins of commercial viability. The shop is reliant on hardworking management and a squad of very part time volunteers like LSW. I have been tempted to join this assorted band but have focused instead on helping with the Neighbourhood Plan and a small volunteer group looking to promote carbon neutrality in the village.

Delivery of Fresh Duchy Farm Vegetables To The Horsley Community Village Shop

Already, the Parish Council has supervised the planting of over 100 small trees this Autumn as part of a drive to increase carbon sequestration across the Parish. More planting is planned and there are even grander plans in our nearby town of Nailsworth. There, a symbolic start was made with the planting of a single holm oak and the distribution of around 100 smaller trees to those, including LSW and I, who turned up to watch. We picked up a guilder rose tree and now need to complete the bargain by planting it.

Ceremonial Tree Planting In Nailsworth – The First Of Many!

One further bit of worthiness was a bit of renovation of the Horsley churchyard paths that I arrived just in time to make a minimal contribution to. Village activities like these all help to make me feel part of the rural life here after decades of city living.

Gravel Laying In Horsley Churchyard (That’s My Spade Resting Lower Left)

The Neighbourhood Plan is now drafted and under review by Stroud District Council. The hardcopy available in the village shop looks great and the pictures, especially, bring it to life. It will be interesting to see what critique the Council provide – especially of the proposed ‘local green spaces’, one of which is adjacent to our land.

Comments and subsequent reworking of the Plan are not likely until next year and current attention is on consultation around the wider Gloucestershire County Local Plan. I have some work to do in the New Year to help provide the village council with comments on this Plan from a carbon neutral and sustainability point of view. I also need to analyse and present some recent village survey data on thermal efficiency. Until all that is done, I don’t feel like tying myself down to a shift in the village shop.

Christmas preparations are underway in our house. Some of the Christmas lights are already up. The Christmas tree is bought and will be erected and decorated next week. That is all LSW’s province.

Christmas Lights In Our Kitchen/Diner Reception And Down The Stairs

My main Christmas task is to develop the annual family Christmas quiz. This will follow Christmas dinner (with the 19 members of LSW’s family including me and our sons who will all be with us this year) and has become a bit of a tradition over the last decade or so. I have also taken on making Christmas party hats from old newspapers and packaging these up with jokes from the Internet and a chocolate. The first batch of ten hats is nearing completion – this is a small stab at recycling rather than buying lots of throwaway crackers.

First Batch Of Christmas Paper Hats (Tasteful Financial Times Pink)

I’m back up to London next week to see the Moving to Mars exhibition at the Design Museum that Eldest Son is keen to see and for which he has bought tickets. The visit gives LSW and I a chance to wish Eldest and Youngest Sons’ girlfriends happy Christmas personally. From London I will then travel north to Nottingham to do the same with my Mum and Dad. Then, it will be back to the shire once again for the Christmas Pub Quiz and the rest of the festive period. All good!

Secret Santa Scores A Hit

February 24, 2019February 24, 2019 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Last Christmas, Long-Suffering Wife (LSW), our three sons and I, decided to replace the tradition of us each giving everyone else a present, with a Secret Santa arrangement. In this, each person draws a lot to determine which single person they should buy a Secret Santa present for up to a (relatively small) price limit. This allows more focus and so reduces considerably the stress of (useful) present buying and the chance of getting something unwanted.

The reason I recall this now is that last week I was able to act upon my Secret Santa present: a ticket to a gig by Yo La Tengo at Hackney Arts Centre. Actually, the giver, Eldest Son (ES), was no secret and, indeed, I went with him. But Secret Santa was, for me as a receiver, a great hit.

Yo La Tengo is a band I have loved since I started buying albums by them in 2000. In fact, they have been together as a three piece since the mid 1980’s and, as ES said after the gig, they have become very proficient at what they do. Their music varies from gentle muses to Velvet Underground-like wig outs. Unfortunately they didn’t rock ES’s boat but I loved almost all of the two-and-a-half hour performance. I’m still humming their tunes to myself every day.

The venue is a gutted old cinema with bare walls and the seats taken out (contrary to the picture of comfortable seating on their website!). We had to sit on nicely preserved, but very hard, wooden steps. My back and bum could only take hour of that but then I was able to stand at the front and the two halves of the gig from the two vantage points was nice variety.

Yo La Tengo At Hackney Arts Centre

I made two separate trips to London last week. During these I met with a fellow retiree ex-work colleague for lunch, caught up with Middle Son (MS) for breakfast and met up with ES and his girlfriend. I also went once again to my favourite folk club – The Lantern Society – which was once again consistently good across 10 brief but high quality and varied acts.

Live At The Lantern Society

I then travelled up to my parents in Nottingham and jumped on from there to Mansfield to see my football team (lose entertainingly again).

Forest Green Rovers At Mansfield Town (With 170 Fellow Travelling Supporters)

The most surprising element amid all this was a visit I made to the Guildhall Art Gallery. Although it is only a 10 minute walk from where I lived for 20 years, I had never been before. I went to see an exhibition of Victorian art portraying lives and perceptions of children. However, I also walked around the rest of an impressive gallery and the very well exhibited remains of a Roman amphitheatre in the bowels of the building. London never ceases to surprise.

Guildhall Art Gallery (Pre-Raphaelite Section)

Roman Amphitheatre Under The Guildhall, London

The main exhibition at the gallery, called Seen and Heard was interesting, informative and well presented. It resonated well with a book I’m just finishing called A House Unlocked by Penelope Lively. As it happens this was another Christmas present, this time from LSW’s Aunt. Lively uses her memory of artefacts and aspects of a rather grand childhood home in west Somerset to launch narratives on how various elements of social life have changed in the last 150 years or so.

The First Sermon and The Second Sermon By Millais

The First Sermon (Girl Sleeping) and The Second Sermon (Girl Not Sleeping) By Millais At The ‘Seen And Heard’ Exhibition

Lively covers childhood, gardening, hunting, immigration and marriage and much more. The chapters covering childhood and parenting interlocked with some of what I saw at the Guildhall and it all rang true. In particular, the section on her marriage got me nodding my head in agreement. Here is an extract of one paragraph:

“Every marriage is a journey, a negotiation, an accommodation. In a long marriage, both partners will mutate; the people who set out together are not the same two people after ten years, let alone thirty or more…… Our marriage was like most; it had its calm reaches, its sudden treacherous bends, its episodes of white water to be navigated with caution and a steady nerve…… We meshed entirely in tastes and inclinations, could always fire one another with new interest, and laid down over the years that rich sediment of shared references and mutual recognition familiar to all who have known long companionship. You are separate people, but there is a shadowy presence which is an entity, the fusion of you both.”

I’m expecting LSW and I to build another layer of sediment of shared memory over the next few weeks as we travel to Qatar and then tour Sydney, Tasmania and Perth in Australia. Watch this space.

Happy ‘Holidays’!

December 31, 2018 / fgrtommo / 1 Comment

Of course, having retired, the period arounds Christmas and New Year’s Day are no longer really holidays for me. But still, they are time for families to get together and to eat, drink and be at least a bit merrier than usual (at least, for the fortunate families). We have managed that and I hope readers of this did too.

LSW’s Minimalist Wreath

Eldest and Middle Sons came back to visit us for a few days around Christmas and it was great to spend time with them and to see them go off to catch up with their old school mates. It’s important that they maintain those ties and I regret not doing so when I was their age. We spoke to and saw Youngest Son (YS) on WhatsApp but he was enjoying prawns and beer on a Queensland beach. He tells us that it may be his last beach Christmas in Australia and that he will return to England next year. Before that, LSW and I are travelling to Australia and meeting YS in Tasmania in March to make the most of him being on the other side of the world.

Christmas Day here was just about as full-on as usual. Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) allocated tasks to the boys and I, and she provided all but the turkey for a dozen excited extended family members. As part of a well tried split of responsibilities, the family of LSW’s younger brother brought a sumptuous roasted bird for us to tuck into. The food was terrific.

The post-lunch quiz that I compiled (to fulfil what has become a bit of a family tradition) was as hotly contested as usual, but it rounded off the afternoon nicely prior to flaking out in front of a Netflix film and a few lunch left-overs.

I side-stepped some of the festivities and food on Boxing Day by going off to Newport to watch Forest Green Rovers. I enjoyed finding the old part of the city and a Cathedral I didn’t know Newport had. But I loved, even more, that we achieved one of our best wins of the season. I came back hoarse but happy.

St Woolos Cathedral, Newport, Wales: Very Old, Dramatically Sited And Very Pretty Inside

Forest Green Rovers Supporters Watch A Mighty Win At Newport County

This ‘holiday’ period is traditionally a time when I consider New Year resolutions. But first I need to check how I did against those I set last year and the answer is: only moderately. I’ve succeeded with those that are essentially enjoyable but not so well on those that were more challenging.

So, for example, I did grow a beard and I’m happy with it. I did buy LSW more flowers too and need to reinvigorate that resolution when Spring comes around again. Also, I exceeded my target of averaging 15,000 walking steps a day (I averaged 15,880) but that’s because I love walking and now have loads of time to do it in the beautiful surrounding valleys. That much walking did help me to (just) achieve my target of lowering my weight to 11 stone in the summer and then again just before Christmas. However, I need to renew that weight objective since Christmas eating and drinking has tripped me back over target.

On A Frosty Walk Just Before Christmas – Probably The 300th Time Past This Spot In 2018 But, Every Time, Slightly Different

I also have to renew my objective of achieving 140 no-alcohol days in the year. I only managed 120 – more than the previous year but not enough. I underestimated the impact of the wonderful sunny and hot summer on my evening drinking habits; it was just so nice sitting in the newly built garden in the evening warmth with a cold glass of wine day after day. I hope summer next year is as good but I will be stronger willed, I promise.

On the technology front, I did, as resolved, change almost all my passwords and did it in a way that hasn’t made remembering them too hard. However, I haven’t done much about my resolution to get a better Internet service so as to reduce frustrated evenings in front of the rotating wait signal on the telly when trying to watch catch-up TV. However, I have instigated, and eavesdropped on, conversations at the regular village pub Men’s Nights with those who know more than I about the local broadband implementation. Fibre broadband is coming next year apparently.

I’m disappointed with myself that I’m carrying forward the resolution to implement better compost heaps in the garden. I have made progress with the existing heaps and compost bins. However, while I’m blaming the side strain I suffered a couple of months ago, I know I should have done more. The components for the super-duper compost bins LSW gave me a few years ago remain untouched in the shed. Fixing this is another resolution to carry forward.

I’ll augment the carry forward resolutions with a couple of new ones but I’m off to enjoy New Year’s Eve first. Have fun!

Christmassy Cologne

December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) and I have just returned from a few days in Cologne primarily to see the Christmas markets there. There is a wide choice of excellent north European Christmas markets. We chose Cologne due to the convenience of flights Bristol, our closest international airport, advice from the Internet, and glowing reports in Nigel Slater’s Christmas Chronicles (which LSW loves). Also, I haven’t been to Germany since I worked there briefly in the 70’s and 80’s and it was LSW’s first-ever trip to Germany.

View Of Cologne From The Kohl Triangle Skyscraper

Cologne is far from being the most beautiful city we have visited – second-world war flattening of the city put paid to that. However, Christmas markets were lovely, the food was very satisfying, the art galleries were excellent and the cathedral is one of the biggest and most imposing I have visited. The hotel we stayed in was located perfectly just 15 minutes-walk from the touristy bustle but near the interesting Belgian Quarter. We had a very good break from routine.

There were a number of highlights. Coming into the city on the airport train, one can’t help but be impressed by the river, rail station and first views of the impressively huge and dark cathedral looming over the city centre. It was interesting looking back at archive photos of the ruins after the second-world war and the comparison to the buildings today. The recovery has been remarkable but architectural beauty has largely been sacrificed for speed of redevelopment and functionality.

Today

Post World War

Apart from the sheer scale of the cathedral, the highlight architecturally was the Kolumba Museum. This was an unexpected treat. Not only was the building airy, innovative, minimalistic and inspiring, but the art displayed in this gallery – built on an old, ruined church partly preserved on part of the ground floor – was beautiful and beautifully displayed. There was actually relatively little on show but the simple juxtaposition of very old (1^st to 3^rd century) artefacts alongside more modern pieces was thought provoking and some of the older items were just exquisite. Kolumba alone made our Cologne trip worthwhile.

Kolumba Museum; Intriguing Mix Of Old And New

But there was much more. The Museum Ludwig was well stocked with art by Picasso, Leger, Braque, Calder, Bacon, Warhol, Lichtenstein and a number of others I recognised plus a number of German artists I didn’t know including Gabriele Munter and Bernard Schultze. Some of the space was lovely with muted colours and reconstituted, broad parquet floors.

Museum Ludwig

While LSW shopped, I went to Cologne’s main cemetery at Melaten-Friedhof. I get a strangely relaxed enjoyment from wandering through continental cemeteries. This one was rather different from those typically found in Mediterranean countries. Among the mature trees and semi-managed undergrowth, there were rectangular family plots of various sizes and populated with evergreen planting rather than bulky tombs. On many, rather than pictures of the deceased, there were odd little statues (and labels indicating the maintenance company for the plot; very efficient!) It was a very peaceful hour despite a short, sharp shower. I even had the bonus of seeing my first wild red squirrel.

Melaten-Friedhof Cemetery

Then it was back to the Christmas markets. We visited five or six markets over the three days. Each had a slightly different feel or scale. They were most atmospheric at night when they were simultaneously both garishly and beautifully lit and were busiest, but gluhwein seemed to be offered all day. We drank the warming, gently alcoholic liquid out of traditional boot-shaped mugs while taking in its smells and that of aniseed, pine and cooked meat from the surrounding wooden hut stalls.

We Ate And Drank Well: Craft Beer, Schweinhaxen, Gluhwein

I failed in my lengthy quest to buy a red, spotted toadstool Christmas tree decoration which had become my heart’s desire having spotted one in a closed shop on our first evening in Cologne. But we did come away with tinsel, a new Christmas tree decoration and a surprisingly large number of lovely, hand-made brushes. The markets, the food and the drink all lived up to Nigel Slater’s promise.

Cologne Cathedral (Almost Impossible To Fit In A Picture)

Cologne Christmas Markets

Back home now, LSW has used the Christmas momentum our trip generated to get our Christmas tree up and decorated. Twelve more sleeps to Christmas….

Christmas Is Coming!

My Retirement Journey

I've Retired! What Next?

Christmas