Yesterday we visited my sister, Hannah, in her new home in Northstowe. I cooked a baked cabbage recipe I found (above) via YouTube, for us. Einfache Rezepte, the name of the channel posting the video, is German for Simple Recipes.
Hannah’s serving.
It was Wimbledon Ladies’ Singles Final day as well. I was rooting for Rybakina, of Kazakhstan. And she won, beating Ons Jabeur of Tunisia. Yay!
Mine, looking quite pristine!
Hannah is working full time at a local garden centre shop. So cooking a meal for her seemed like a nice little gesture! Hopefully giving her a little time out.
Teresa tucks into hers.
We prepped all the ingredients at home the evening before, and took all the necessary stuff, including three nice new small Pyrex dishes to cook individual servings in. Ali and Sofi had their preferred and usual pizzas!
Teresa also took a few bits and bobs garden wise: some pots, and some seeds to plant. It was nice seeing her and Sofi plant a few seeds.
Lobster, he’s a big lad!
Their cats are very sweet. Lobster’s a bug and very hairy boy! And loves cuddling up, and rolling onto his back to have his belly stroked. And what a belly it is! Sushi, white and short haired, is blind, and tiptoes about cautiously, his head cocked a bit, occasionally bumping into things. The poor little sweetheart!
Not a great pic. But at least we’re all in it!
I realise many folks, myself included, aren’t too keen on photos of ourselves splashed on’ the web. But I hope Teresa and Hannah and the girls won’t mind my sharing this? It’s nice to have a record of our getting together!
Today I met up with my Mum, Malcolm, her husband, and Sofi, my sister’s younger daughter, so my niece. We met for tea, cakes and a walk at Anglesey Abbey. And very nice it was too.
It was, I believe, in celebration of mum’s recent birthday. Teresa couldn’t make it, as she wasn’t feeling well. So I was flying solo.
Mum, avec b’day card and earrings.
It was a little touch and go as to whether I’d make it, as I had more work to do on the MX5. And for a while it looked like I might not have the tools to get it all back together in time!
After a brief walk around the grounds, under sunshine and lots of ‘little fluffy clouds’, it was very pleasant. And then tea and cakes, or rather coffee, cake, ice cream and ale (between us all, not just me!). Lovely!
Sofi helps mum with her big present.
To my great relief mum liked our gifts, which were a bit off our normal beaten track. The card and flowers were quite normal. And earrings aren’t an altogether unusual gift for a lady.
The boid… pretty big!
But the big bird sculpture!? We weren’t sure how that’d go over. Luckily mum loves it. Phew! Nice family times.
Aaaaarrrgh!!! How, or why, do I nearly always miss this stuff!?
I’ve only recently discovered Paak, and have really been digging some of his music. And his drumming, and whole effervescent vibe, are just so joyful and enjoyable.
Dig the wig! (Photo: mikepalmer.photo, used with permission)
And seeing him in a big curly haired wig, wearing flares? And that huge toothy grin!? There’s a really joyful reverberation of the whole late ‘60s early ‘70s hippy vibe coming through. Which I love.
As annoyed as I am that I missed this gig, at least it’s up on YouTube:
The happy couple, and family, in a truly magnificent setting.
Saturday, June 25th, saw the much-postponed wedding of my cousin Helen Charlston, to Michael Craddock, finally taking place. In the truly sublime setting of Trinity College Cambridge, no less!
Getting into Cambridge and parking, etc, can be quite tricky these days. I’d assumed we’d park in the Park St car park, near The Round Church. But that’s been shut! Due to be demolished and re-developed, apparently.
In the end things went smoothly enough. We allowed plenty of time, and were very lucky to arrive and find someone leaving the otherwise totally full Shire Hall car park. We could’ve walked from there. But Teresa, in new heels, was adamant that we take a taxi.
Sat outside Fitzbillie’s, feeling a little overdressed in the hot weather!
This we duly did. And we were dropped off just outside a new(-ish?) branch of Fitzbillie’s, where we had a latte and a bacon sandwich. Mmm… scrummy! We really ought to have had at least one of their legendary Chelsea buns. But with a big wedding meal in wait, we thought it best not to.
Inside the beautiful chapel at Trinity.
None of my photos (all taken on my old iPhone) of the chapel – the ‘pano’ pic I took is so glitchy I’m not sharing it – do the setting justice. Which is a pity. What a glorious venue for a wedding! And apparently Trinity very rarely grant anyone the privileged permission to use their facilities for weddings. So, quite how Mike and Helen wangled it, despite being College alumni, I don’t know.
Teresa, and our side of the family.
The ceremony and readings were a perfect fit for the venue. And made the occasion feel very special. Hannah King’s Maya Angelou reading struck a different note to the other more trad’ Christian ones. Was that down to Angelou’s words, or King’s own allure/charisma?
My biggest regret of the day is opting not to record the 40-part performance of Thomas Tallis’ Spem In Alium. It’s a piece of music I adore. And not what one expects to hear at a wedding! And it was a terrific performance. Owain Park really milked the final chords, almost like a ‘big rock ending’. Powerful stuff!
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given that Helen and Michael are both pro’ singers, the music during the ceremony was tremendous. From the organ parts, kind of what you do expect at a wedding, to the baroque ensemble with recorders and viol de gamba, and the anticipated Gesualdo presence, right up to the massive and less obvious Tallis ‘number’, the musical aspect made a special day even more magical.
On this day, the Gesualdo Six were, for obvious reasons, The Gesualdo Five!
It was also interesting, for me, as a former Christian, to experience (again) the intensity of High Anglican Christianity, in its rich and powerful religious form. I was never in this sort of church, growing up (Baptist and Evangelical, etc). It’s weird, when one is amongst a flock who know their hymns!
Some aspects of the religious side of this day – and for some it’s doubtless just rites and tradition, for others, perhaps, a staunchly held belief? – were really lovely, beautiful even. But whenever confronted with the conformity of faith part of me rebels and is deeply troubled. But I set that part aside for Mike and Helen’s (and everyone else’s) sake.
After the wedding ceremony, which was really lovely. There was a brief hiatus, before drinks and canapés in the normally off-limits Fellows’ Garden. How often I would look into this space from the bridge over the Cam nearby, and wish I might be amongst the elect. And on this day, we were!
Leaving the Fellow’s Garden for dinner.
I made a conscious effort to chat with folk I didn’t know. I started with some of the singers and musicians, feeling that perhaps we might have some common ground. Not just in knowing Mike, Helen, Terry, etc, but even as musicians!
Later on, at the fabulous dinner, in the very opulent dining hall, this theme of chatting with strangers continued. And it was actually one of the really nice things about the day as a whole.
Not a great pic, but get those windows!The magnificent dining hall.
And by some providential accident, Teresa and I were at the ‘top table’ end of one of the three massive rows of tables. With a terrific view of everything. And, ‘by ‘eck!’ the chow was top-notch. As was the wine. The whole meal passed in a long rapturous reverie of chat and delicious grub!
We were still ‘in hall’ and ‘at table’ when the time we’d expected to leave came and went (my mum and Hannah and co did leave at this point). But we were enjoying proceedings, and opted to tag along to The Cambridge Union, for more drinks, dancing, and whatever.
At this point, I did begin to flag. I managed a beer, and a little bit of dancing, before more or less flaking out! Some food arrived. Which was great, and very nearly put the pep back in my step. Teresa wanted to stay longer. She was evidently less washed out than I felt! But in the end, probably around 10pm, we bad the happy couple and the few family and friends we knew good night.
By the time we got home we’d been out over 12 hours. That’s not something, in the social way of things, either of us are used to any more!
Anyway, to finish… if you have a beverage to hand, raise it, and toast the happy couple, Helen and Mike!
Today is apparently an official heatwave. And, dang-nab it, it sho’ is hot!
Today’s office, #1.
Having just recently got my beloved car back on the road, after a cam-belt failure (which I repaired myself!), just being able to drive to work – last week I taught the same day’s workload using public transport and a taxi to get around – is bliss.
And, I’m realising that my life really isn’t too bad at all. There are things that need tweaking. Most obviously a greater income, and a concomitant lessening of expenditure!
But by and large my actual work is both a doddle, and usually really quite pleasant. The kids I teach are all quite charming. And whilst the range of ability is wide, and weighted towards the lower/lesser end (today is a two primary schools day), they’re all both pleasant and enthusiastic.
It’s late, getting dark… testing the ECU with OBD.
Yesterday Teresa and I packed our picnic basket and headed out for a lovely lunch at Anglesey Abbey.
Sadly, between Fordham and Burwell, on the B1102 Ness Road, an orange engine diagnostic light came on, followed – in seconds – by the engine conking out.
We were relatively lucky inasmuch as a lay-by appeared on our left exactly as this happened. Our forward momentum was enough to get us in and parked, off the main road, and safe.
Several other people were parked in the lay-by. I asked the nearest if he wouldn’t mind helping us try and jump-start our car off his battery. Fortunately I carry jump-leads 90% of the time (due to previous experiences!). He obliged.
But sadly that didn’t work. I thought I ought to try, as I’d had an engine failure about six to eight weeks ago, where I’d just run out of petrol and the battery had also died.
But this time there was still petrol, and the battery appeared to be ok. And the jump-lead start failed. So… time to call the AA!
Got this via Amazon Vine, some time ago.Not the swankiest of its kind. But useful.
The AA engineer got to us quicker than I’d ever experienced before (20-30 minutes?). And very quickly diagnosed a failed cam-belt. I asked how he could be so sure, without seeing it; the cam-belt is enclosed, at the front of the engine, behind two other external belts (and all sorts of other gubbins) .
He said it’s the sound. There’s no tell-tale compression, apparently. If there were compression you’d have that wheezy but rhythmic ‘turning over but not catching’ sound.
My AA membership didn’t include getting us and our dead car home. So I called a company to see if they – Manchetts – could ‘recover’ us. Yes, for approx £250-ish!
What about the AA? They could do it, for about £180-ish. So I went with the AA, naturally! Chatting with the AA engineer on the way home, about our options, he seemed to feel that it was highly likely the cam-belt going had killed the engine, bending rods, or some such.
However, when I got home, and started researching this issue, it got very confusing. My mum and her husband Malcolm had, on learning what’s happened (we were supposed to go and see them on Sunday, but that’s not happening now!), also looked into it.
They came up with some more encouraging info (thanks!), suggesting that Mazda engines are built in such a way that a cam-belt failure isn’t necessarily fatal. Oh, how I hope this proves to be the case for us!
P1345 code… que pasa?
We simply don’t have the funds for a new car, or even a repair to the current motor. And I really love this car. So I’d prefer to keep her going, if at all possible.
I started watching YouTube videos on cam-belt changes. And I’ve found a good few. One, by MX5parts.co.uk is pretty good. But an even better one is by TheCarPassionChannel. (Watch it here.)
Both videos show the cam-belt being replaced by one guy, working at home, using basic tools. So there’s a bit of hope it’s a job I may be able to do myself.
TheCarPassionChannel’s video is the better of these two, because he moves the camera(s) around much more, such that you get a far better and clearer view of everything he’s doing.
Annoyingly everything’s shut – at least everything I’ve tried, car parts and service/garage wise – for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. So I can’t get quotes on repairs, or pricing for parts, etc.
Anyway, numerous plans have been scuppered. A trip to the seaside today. A Curtis Mayfield tribute gig in London tonight. A visit to mum’s at the weekend. Hey-ho!
Pressing the VIN button didn’t do anything.
So, what to do!? I’m kind of hoping I can install a new timing belt myself. As per the videos I’ve been watching. But it’s not a simple job, by any means. And how am I going to get about to my teaching?
Some time later the same day…
I just remembered Amazon Vine sent me an OBD unit some while back. Ages ago actually! And until now I haven’t used it. With what feels horribly like it might be a terminal fault, I thought the time had come to track it down and use it.
After a bit of stressed searching, I did locate it, and give it a go. It was getting late and pretty dark – about 10pm – by the time I went out to check the car. So I had to do it by torchlight.
Finding the ECU/OBD interface point was the first challenge. You have to plug the OBD in first, then turn the ignition on. I read the manual, which is in mangled Engrish, and far from excellent.
The DTC button is what you press to get the codes. I was hoping for a fully explanatory readout. But all I got was ‘P1345 Manufacturer Control’. This means you have to look the fault code up on ye internet.
And so it is, that now, 11pm, the day after the engine conked out, I’m still not really too much the wiser about what’s gone wrong or what to do. The info I got googling MX5 P1345 is rather diverse and varied!
I hope somewhere that can help me might be open on Saturday. Otherwise it’ll be Monday by the time I can talk to anybody. And it might very well start cutting into my teaching/earnings.
Wow! I do love YouTube, for giving us all the chance to stumble across gems such as this. Thanks also to the NFB, or National Film Board of Canada.
Bill Mason, who made this film, and ‘stars’ in it, is Canadian. I have Canadian family and ancestry, on my dad’s side. So these facts set up something of a sympathetic resonance for me.
Then there’s Bill Mason himself, the man: he is, or rather was, an outdoorsman and artist, who made, I’ve subsequently discovered, numerous utterly gorgeous and fascinating films, of which this is one of the best.
The chief charms of this are simple yet kaleidoscopically rich, like the environment in which the film is set, on and around Lake Superior.
One of the things Bill addresses, a vexed issue for me, is spirituality. This was the only note struck in this otherwise perfect reverie of sound and vision, nature and culture, that – if not necessarily jarring – gave me pause for some (Indian!?) reservations.
But I’d like to take this post as an opportunity to consider a few things, and there are many, that this film either touches upon directly, or stirred in me by association.
First there are the ‘renaissance man’ and self-reliance aspects. Bill, who formerly worked as a ‘commercial artist’, was a conservationist, famed canoeist, artist, writer, family man, and all sorts. I love all of that! I have my own aspirations to living a multi-faceted life. Richer, one hopes -not fiscally perhaps, but in other better more important ways – than the monomaniac furrows our society drills us into pursuing.
So, there are many things Bill’s example encourages: to spend more time in, and pay more attention to, nature, and indeed all our environments. Art, get up, and out, and make some. Buy or build a canoe; get out and start messing about in the water!
It was also interesting to learn that Bill’s health wasn’t terrific. A sickly child, he has severe asthma all his life. And yet he didn’t allow this to stop him from adventuring. Maybe his derring-do contributed to his early demise? But then again, maybe not? And at least he lived a rich and inspiring life while he lived.
Some might laugh reading this next bit. And it may indeed sound facile. But I truly couldn’t care less! And that’s the fact that I like his style. And I’ve gone as far as to add elements of it – some were already there, others just a little tweak in already beloved themes – to my own sartorial repertoire.
I already had the neckerchiefs (though mine are too small!), and brown leather walking boots, and many a checked shirt. But the red outdoorsman socks are new! And so too is the very particular red and black check ‘lumberjack’ shirt!
Bill’s particular style of art – he favours palette knives over brushes, and cites J. M. W. Turner as his chief inspiration and influence – is terrific, albeit not entirely to my normal tastes. But that he does it all, is inspiration. It was interesting to see that he, like myself and several artists I’ve known personally, is highly self-critical bout his work, and often destroys what others. Might regard as decent work, because he’s unhappy with it.
Then there’s music. In other Mason films he strums guitar or plays harmonica. It amazingly, one might add. And his family aren’t exactly fulsome in their appreciation (does this remind any of us of our own domestic musical life? Or is it just me!?). But for Waterwalker, the music is supplied by (?) and (?). (?) is a star in his own right. And the music totally suits the subject!
Some of it, such as the actual ‘theme tune’, might induce cringing amongst some listeners. I’d understand why. It has a ‘new agey’ earnestness. But I love it.
Another facet of the whole thing that some might find they react to differently than I do, is the whole tenor of it all. It’s definitely dreamy, romantic, and perhaps even somewhat solipsistic? And it’s no surprise such movies helped created a cult of Bill Mason. But as a ‘fellow traveller’, and sympathetic romantic introvert soul-mate, I love it all. As did critics, numerous of his films, inc’ this one, winning a variety of awards and accolades.
Also interesting to me, is how stuff like this leaches into other areas. For example, I noticed, whilst watching a recent Jack Stratton ‘Holy Trinity’ episode, on YouTube, that he had created a logo and a whole invented Vulf Films thing suspiciously akin to the Canadian NFB (National Film Board) doodad.
Just as Bill Mason’s film is simultaneously about following one’s own individual and sometimes lonely paths, it’s also about connections. Be they to nature, or each other, immediate or indirect. Love it!
I arrived at the point of collecting a few A Little Book of this, that or the other titles, all by Mike Harding, in a roundabout way.
Having adored the Cosgrove Hall animated film of The Wind In The Willows, I was seeking out other similar stuff. This lead to Cosgrove Hall’s much harder to track down The Reluctant Dragon, another Kenneth Grahame adaptation.
It transpired that Mike Harding did the music for the latter. So I wound up checking him out a bit more. And so it was I found the series of Past Times titles from which series this comes.
An alternative edition.*
I got four – on green men, gargoyles, misericords and tombs and monuments – all of which are roughly six inches by six inches square. So far I’ve only looked at this Green Man entry. It has approx 60 colour images of its subject, along with a little explanatory text for them all.
I hope they’re all as good as this one. It’s delightful. Harding speculates on their origins, meanings, etc, and the ways in which green men can be found in many traditions and places. But his main focus is on how these so very pagan images populate so many Christian sites in the UK.
A rare full-bodied green man, St Leonard’s, Linley, Shropshire.
And he also draws some more secular and even up to the minute inferences from the study of his subject; ‘the Green man … has a story to tell – if only we knew how to listen.’ Amen to that, brother Harding, Amen!
A great little gem of a book. Highly recommended.
* A better and nicer cover image and design than the edition I wound up with, which is pictured at the top of this post.
Having gotten up later than planned, after a night plagued by insomnia, I had a good go on the PS4 console brother Sam brought over recently, with the updated Crash Bandicoot trilogy. The graphics are sooo much better. It’s a dream come true for an ol’ fart like me. More on this in another post.
Now, as I type this, we’re at Wetherspoons’ The Hippodrome, for our half-term holiday treat of breakfast out. We did this yesterday as well. Very pleasingly indulgent. And having it as a brunch tides us over till dinner time. Last night that meant a home cooked curry, sat out by a crackling fire in the garden. Ace!
Tucking in to brunch.
Yesterday we both had trad’ English breakfasts. Today I’m having Eggs Benedict, and Teresa’s having scrambled egg with extra toast and a sausage. Yummy!
Some time later, and we’ve spent about four hours pottering around the Fitzwilliam Museum, taking loads of pics, and frequent rests. I read the first chapter of a book about Wellington’s 1813 victory at Vitoria on one of these stops. First Napoleonic book I’ve read for some time!
Korean crane motif vase.More Korean vases.A Korean plate, again bearing the crane (long life!) motif.
The Fitz’s permanent collection is fabulous. We also took a look at their temporary exhibition, Gold From The Steppes, which was less interesting to us than most of the temp’ expos they have. I’m more into harvesting inspiration for art/creative projects, or just soaking up aesthetic richness for its rejuvenating effects.
Ceramic apothecary sign.Florid blue and white was a bit of a theme on this visit!Japanese porcelain charger.
So I’m posting a few pics here typical of the sort of thing that’s doing it for me on visits such as todays. I type this sat in the Park St car park, in town, having relocated from the Grand Arcade car park, to be closer to The Maypole, and Thanh Binh. We’re eating dinner at the latter, before meeting Dan and Amy at the former.
Dinner at Thanh Bihn. Delicious!A Stetchworth Craft ale, at The Maypole. Sixteen Strides, I quaffeth!
Yesterday and today have both been quite full and busy. I think Thursday will be a day off, for pure ‘r’n’r’ (or in my case more tidying up in the workshop, I suspect).
Green was also a minor theme …Leaves were consistent throughout!Wood carving also featured.
The building itself is also very remarkable. The older 19th century part is sublime. The newer additions are very modernist; monumental, but in a fairly brutalist manner. The following two pictures convey the very different modes/aesthetics.
I tried to capture the awesome splendour of the entrance hall in this panoramic photo.This concrete lattice roof, in the modern wing, is amazing!
As a kid I had a few T-shirts – only a very few, mind – that proclaimed something.
One such was a Blackfoot one. They were a US ‘Native American’ rock group, most famous (I think?) for a track called Morning Dew (‘Mourning Jew!?’ says my inner Woody Allen!).
A bit weird, that one. Acquired primarily for the colourful design, at a time when being a rocker/hippy, of sorts, was my intent! I did like the group, or at least the few songs of theirs I’d heard. But in truth, a Thin Lizzy T-shirt, something I now have, but didn’t back then, would’ve been a better representation of my tastes and listening preferences!
I then went through a very long and, retrospectively, rather bleak ‘no logo/label’ phase. A combo of anti-advertising sentiment and a semi (pseudo?) political stance.
Nowadays I’ve relaxed back into a childish glee in using my chest as a communications platform. And I’ve slowly but surely been amassing a collection of T-shirts whose sole porpoise – aside from temperature regulation and public decency – is to let the world know a little about me, without I have to open my yap.
There are still a number of things the puritanical politico-moralist in me eschews; I don’t like brand labels, nor am I fan of slogans. Maybe it’s a legacy of the artist-illustrator-designer part of me? But I prefer T-shirts that are primarily visual. Sometimes, as in the Moog or Lizzy tees, this design is textual. But mostly I prefer pictures or ‘designs’.
Some of these purchases have been happier than others. I’m quite disappointed with how my Mr Natural Robert Crumb T-shirt is fading with each wash. And a couple of Herbie Hancock designs I got (from China, most likely?) are kind of great, design/image wise, but are made from hideous synthetic material (the sort often used for football shirts). I definitely prefer good ol’ plain cotton!
Pics: Herbie tees…
My most recent acquisition – whilst pictured at the top of this post, it hadn’t actually arrived when I started drafting it – is an Impulse record label logo job. I really wanted the maroon variant, with cream disc, etc, the above of the two pictured below. But that wasn’t available. So I went instead for the brown and orange variant below that. Still nice!
My preferred but unavailable choice.The variant I eventually ordered.
This whole trend towards forlornly broadcasting one’s interests, perhaps esp’ so since I turned 50 (Jan’ this year… gulps!), might seem a bit pathetic. But I reckon I’m past caring!
Here’s a mini gallery of some of the designs I have. What does this little collection say about me, I wonder? I’d like to think it’s just a bit of harmless fun. But Teresa seems to be more of the ‘what are you wasting money on those for?’
