Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It

August 8, 2018 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Will Smith’s ‘Gettin’ Jiggy Wit It’ was hardly the sort of music that was available at the Cambridge Folk Festival and so is a slightly misleading title for this. But, during my visit to part of the festival last weekend, there were a lot of jigs and I did do a lot of foot-tapping and unobtrusive swaying to the sounds on offer. They were primarily various forms of folk music but also blues, soul and Americana. The sun shone, the atmosphere was relaxed, the festival facilities were first rate, and the music – while not entirely my favourite genre – was very easy on the ear and some was excellent.

Cambridge Festival, Stage 1 With Kate Rusby, A Laid Back Audience (So Many Folding Chairs!) And A Big Sky

I went with an old friend of mine – my Best Man (BM) at my wedding just over 33 years ago. I was able to stay with at his house, a 30 minute taxi ride away from the festival, for the weekend. We chatted, caught up on our respective lives and plans, ate and drank well, and enjoyed both the folk festival and the surrounding countryside (which, in a refreshing contrast to the deeply incised valleys around our Gloucestershire home, is open and undulating). It was, as hoped for, a wonderful change from my routine.

Once again, my retirement meant that, for me at least, the weekend was more relaxed than would have been the case a few years, or even a few months, ago. I was able to drive to and from Cambridgeshire in a measured way outside of peak traffic hours, there was no rush to do anything and we got the gentle pace of our activities about right.

On the Saturday of the folk festival we arrived when it opened but realised that an 11 hour stint of listening to the array of bands across several stages would exhaust us physically and mentally, especially given the hot and sunny weather. We saw about 15 bands/performers over about 8 hours that day. The best of these, for me, were The East Pointers (Americana) and Eric Bibb (blues) but the majority were traditional and rather basic folk bands. We left early for a curry dinner, thereby missing a couple of headline acts, but, frankly, we were sated.

Cambridge Festival: The Shee, Eric Bibb And Alison Russell From The Birds Of Chicago

On the Sunday we decided to only attend the festival towards the end of the day. That enabled us to fit in a visit to Ely. The town was gorgeous in the sunlight and history oozed from every turn. Ely’s cathedral is terrific; it dominates the town and also the flat, fenland countryside for many miles around it. It lost much of its ornamentation during the 16th century Reformation and then during Oliver Cromwell’s Puritan reign (he lived in Ely after all!). But the grandeur and sheer engineering feat of its towers, nave and Lady Chapel remain.

Ely Cathedral, The Ouse And Oliver Cromwell’s House

Ely Cathedral

After tucking into a craft beer and lunch we walked around the town and down the Ouse River before popping into Anglesea Abbey on the way to Cambridge; another weather-enhanced treat.

Anglesea Abbey

We then returned to the folk festival and timed our arrival to see Kate Rusby (lovely voice) and, my BMs favourite, Birds of Chicago (excellent, radiant harmonies with a vibrant and emotional – almost tearful – female lead). We also saw a clearly famous and popular John Prine but we looked at each other during his set and it was clear we had both had enough folk music for one weekend.

We left the music, sandals, tattoos and occasional whiffs of pot at the festival for a snack and a final bottle of wine back at my BM’s comfortable house and listened to some of his vast collection of CDs. We congratulated ourselves on getting the pace of the weekend right. As we looked back on a very good time, my BM prepared for a new working week and I considered the prospect of the leisure of another episode of relaxed retirement.

And so it is…..

It Nearly Came Home

July 12, 2018 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

So, the England football team are out of the World Cup and football is not ‘coming home’ after all. The team exceeded my expectations but failed to beat Croatia in the semi-final and the sense of anti-climax is huge. England supporters have to console themselves with the knowledge that their youthful and promising team played in a positive way. I also console myself with the knowledge that the English football season starts soon and the passion can be let loose there all over again.

The progression towards the climax of the World Cup, Wimbledon tennis and, in the last few days, the Tour de France, has meant I have spent increasing amounts of time watching the TV. Afternoon sport is a real retirement luxury.

On a couple of afternoons I was able to combine following the television coverage of the tennis with painting of the TV room. However, I was painting the front door of the cupboard hosting the TV itself and it felt a bit weird having the picture on the other side of a closed cupboard. Now that cupboard is done, marrying following the sport with finishing the painting should be more effective!

Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) has been rather more long-suffering than usual given that the football has disrupted a few evenings. She has little general interest in football and often gets too nervous during the England games to watch them. Like many, though, she has been rather taken by the down to earth nature of the England heroes and the manager, Gareth Southgate. He certainly did a decent job with limited resources (albeit with a lucky set of fixtures), and there is the promise of improvement.

In spite of the compulsion to fit in around the sport, LSW and I have managed to get out for a couple of ‘outings’. The best was to Asthall Manor Gardens which was hosting a biennial exhibition of sculpture – the On Form Exhibition. There were almost 400 sculptures from 40 artists laid out in the manor and across the beautiful gardens and meadows surrounding it. Of course, this was all enhanced by the perfect warm and sunny weather that we have come to expect this summer. We retreated afterwards to an excellent, good-value lunch at Upton Firehouse at the Upton Smokery; we will try that again.

St Nicholas Church, Asthall And Asthall Manor Gardens

On Form Sculpture Exhibition, Asthall Manor Gardens

Our own garden and meadow looks good at the moment despite the lack of rain. The new walled garden has been planted with things that are reasonably drought-resistant and we have succumbed to a routine of selective manual watering to keep the rest going. In the evenings, once the temperatures have cooled a bit, it has been lovely sitting out in the garden looking out across the flowers and long meadow grass with a glass of wine. (Numbers of non-alcohol days remain depressed by the incidence of sunny evenings and the obligatory beers during England games.)

Sunset On Long Grass In Our Meadow Beyond The New Walled Garden

A flock of sheep that have made a recent, welcome return to the field opposite our house; they make our location look extra rural. Like the sheep, I seek out the cool of shade through most of the day. Even so, I have managed to keep up my walks and step-count by venturing into the local town before breakfast and before the temperatures become uncomfortable.

However, a number of recent information sources (a doctor I met during our June trip to Newquay, a chat with a local resident who uses a personal trainer, and an article in the Guardian newspaper) have indicated that even brisk walking in our hilly landscape is insufficient for the health of aging people.

What we oldsters also need to do is build up core strength, balance and muscle volume to counteract the natural degradation of muscle after our forties. I’ve started to incorporate some minimal and brief resistance-based training into my (almost) daily back exercise routines but I know I need to make these more comprehensive and regular. Lack of will-power and a reluctance to bother to change into clothing more appropriate for serious exercise are real obstacles I need to overcome.

The good news on the health front is that an eye test this week showed my eyesight has improved significantly in the last year. Surely that can only be because I have retired and no longer spend 8-10 hours a day squinting at a computer screen.

So, not only has retirement allowed me the flexibility to watch the best of summer sport live, I can now see it with better eyes! Long may that last…..

Trips, Royals and Trophies

May 26, 2018May 26, 2018 / fgrtommo / Leave a comment

Recently, Long-Suffering Wife (LSW) and I have tried to arrange at least one mid-week trip out from home each week. This is, as LSW puts it, to mark that I am now retired and so have the flexibility to visit places during the week rather than during the more crowded weekends. These have to fit around her continuing part time work commitments and, to a lesser extent, my trips to London but we have managed them with reasonable regularity.

Last week, we capitalised on the excellent weather and visited two gardens in the North Cotswolds. Bourton House Gardens is relatively new having been laid out and planted around a beautiful 18th century manor house just 30 years ago. The colourful flower beds, potted tulips, box bush topiary and knot garden were inspiring. Best of all, for me, was a walk around an arboretum, with a simple pamphlet guide, that helped us decide which sorts of trees to plant in our own field alongside the few fruit trees we have already established. Current favourites are Whitebeam and Poplar.

Bourton House Gardens

We then went to Snowshill Manor. This turned out to be an interesting, coincidental adjunct to my pondering a couple of weeks ago about the accumulation of material goods and de-cluttering. Prior to being given to the National Trust, the house and garden was owned by Charles Wade, a compulsive collector of items recording craft and workmanship. He lived in a small cottage adjacent to the medieval manor house which he bought specifically to accommodate his large and varied collection of cabinets, artwork, costumes, musical instruments, tools and other artefacts. The dusting challenge for his housekeeper and, now, the National Trust, must be huge!

Part Of Charles Wade’s Collection (Masks And Musical Instruments) at Snowshill Manor

Part of Charles Wade’s Collection (Masks And Musical Instruments Are Shown Here) At Snowshill Manor

The collection, and his compact personal accommodation, were interesting but even better were the gardens and the views from them. In weather such as that we have enjoyed through much of May, England can look marvellous and it certainly was in the Cotswolds that day.

Snowshill Manor Gardens

We rounded off the trip with a visit to Daylesford luxury farm shop which LSW loves. The shops – even the grocery shelves and the food counters – look rather like art shows. The prices are almost prohibitively geared to out-of-London trippers but the quality is high and several pieces inspired ideas for things that we might try to replicate in some way at home. We stuck with those ideas rather than buy anything more than lunch in the sun.

LSW really enjoyed the Royal wedding last week. Whilst not being particularly interested in the Royal Family myself, I can understand her positive sentiments about the wedding. The bride and groom looked adoring and very happy. Meghan’s mixed race heritage is a welcome extension to the Royal’s outlook, diversity and modernism.

LSW watched the wedding proceedings for hours and then watched the replays. At one point she was watching a replay while I was watching a replay of Forest Green Rovers’ promotion playoff-winning performance at Wembley exactly a year ago. We both had tears of joy in our eyes!

This season, Forest Green Rovers (FGR) barely avoided relegation from their newly elevated status in League 2 of the English Football League. That was good enough for me. The performance was burnished for me by my pride in winning the FGR Prediction League competition (for the second time in 10 years). The competition trophy will have to be found a small space somewhere as other stuff is bundled off to car-boot sales, charity shops or the dump – but only for a year since I doubt I will be so lucky to win next season.

The Forest Green Rovers Prediction League Trophy

The Forest Green Rovers Football Club Prediction League Trophy (The Colin Gardner Shield)

Cape Town With A Limp

March 4, 2018May 23, 2018 / fgrtommo / 4 Comments

We are nearing the half way mark in our trip to the South African Cape. We have been based in a well-appointed, spacious house in a pretty and central part of Cape Town (Bo Kaap). It has incredible views of the iconic Table Mountain and an enchanting wake up call from the local muezzin. The house is owned by a friend I have known since university and who was my Best Man. He loves South Africa and I’m not surprised; from what we have seen already, its amazing.

View From The Breakfast And Evening Drinks Terrace At The House

We have been blessed with wonderful weather; few clouds in the mornings and sunny and very breezy in the afternoons. That has been great for us but less good for the local population who are experiencing an unprecedented drought. Water rationing is in place – so our morning showers have been short and bracing – but rationing could get a lot more stringent by April if there is no rain. The rationing has certainly got Long Suffering Wife (LSW) and I thinking about resource waste in general. It has been a surprise that recycling here is negligible after the strictures of our local Council in the U.K.

With the weather no impediment, we have got a lot ‘done’. This despite a problem with one of my knees ‘blowing up’ (cartilage tear? gout?). It’s improving and LSW has been very patient with my slow limp and the need to do the driving (I confess, as usual). It’s another reminder of why I retired when I did; before these sorts of issues become routine.

Early on we walked around the smartened-up dock area and later went to an old grain store imaginatively converted into a modern art gallery by Thomas Heatherwick. For me, the building was more interesting than 95% of the art but it is an impressive achievement, showcasing African artists.

The Zeitz Mocaa Modern Art Gallery: A Startling Building Interior

Cape Town is not as walkable as Brisbane or Melbourne where we went last year. Downtown is dominated by the car and we do feel more nervous about personal security – though in practice everyone has been very friendly. So, since that first day, we have mainly been out and around Cape Town by car, taxi and Uber, experiencing the panoramas and excellent food and wine on offer.

Long Street, Company Gardens And Typical Bo Kaap Houses; All Close To Where We Are Staying

The food is right up our street; tasty, locally sourced, healthy and light. The prawn dish I had in a hip restaurant in an old biscuit factory in Woodstock was the best prawn dish I can remember.

The wineries just outside the city are wonderful estates showing off their wares and their scenery and some provide tremendous culinary experiences. Babylonstoren was super and we are returning to Constantia Glen for a meal overlooking the vineyards, and the usual awesome mountain backdrop, for our last day in Cape Town.

Babylonstoren: A More Natural And Integrated Version Of Our Cotswolds Daylesford With Great Wines Produced On-site. Fabulous

The views from Table Mountain and, further afield, Cape Point were jaw dropping. More unexpected was the incredible drive down the coast past Chapmans Peak. The beaches were amazing as usual but the engineering to create the road itself was spectacular.

One Of Many Wonderful Views From Table Mountain

Cape Point: Across False Bay, Dias Beach And The Local Baboons

The ’12 Apostles’ From Chapmans Peak Drive. Worthy Competitors Versus The ’12 Apostles’ (Sea Stacks) We Saw In Australia Last Year

The Aptly Named Long Beach (From Chapmans Peak Drive)

Oh my, I have written enough but still haven’t mentioned the Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, the wild life and a number of other observations (for example, the welcome scarcity of dogs and insects other than butterflies and a few bees). I’m glad we went to the superbly laid out and informative Kirstenbosch gardens early in our trip. That equipped us with a bit of knowledge that was useful in our subsequent outings.

Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens. Note The Schoolkids Loving Their Day There; A Joy To Watch

And we have seen lots of wild penguins, an eagle owl, a tortoise and dassies (guinea pig relations) close up. The penguins are such a sweet laugh when on land!