Pre

Well I've just packed a bag with stuff to keep me occupied while not moving on the hospital bed today. Just as a precaution, no contact lenses, which is just a little annoying but means if I decide to sleep it's easier.

I finished Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" which I found a fairly hefty novel, and very readable but at times seemed to be a couple of books that had got mixed up with each other, but a good read and I did keep seeing Ian McShane as Wednesday (which only makes sense if you have read the book or seen the TV serieas on Amazon Prime if you have it).

Next up, which is in my bag, is Matt Haig's "How To Stop Time" which has a very intriguing concept, so I think I have a hell of a lot to keep me occupied today. I may Instagram and post on Facebook during  the day.

I've done various other posts about the Liver Biopsy and Cirrhosis of The Liver so if you follow the tags you can chanck out what this is all about, and why it's actually happening.

Weatherwise it looks like another hot day but I know it will be cool enough in the Freeman today.

The first song related to today was "Lady Godiva's Operation" by The Velvet Undergoundso I will leave you with that while I get ready to wander off to the Freeman.

Trash

Well we got  thuder and rain last night, sort of ironic as I'd just taken delivery of a garden sprinkler, but you know that was going to happen. It's still hot and muggy and a couple of times this week I've had to change my clothes twice in a day.

I switched on 6Music and Chris Hawkins was going to play a seldom heard Roxy Music classic. I wasn't too sure what it would be, but it turned out to be "Trash" the lead single from their first comeback album "Manifesto" . The opening two songs were worth the price of the album on their own, and the single "B" side features a slow take on "Trash" ("Trash 2") but I liked the brooding"Manifesto" title track even better, and still do. Roxy could never hang on to bassists so I think that's Gary Tibbs in the video who also was in Adam and The Ants if I remember rightly (mentioned in "Ant Rap").

It's early Saturday morning and rain has stopped for now. Today I am going to hit the Library to see about downloading their eBooks and visiting the Newcastle Food Bank to see what they need for the School Holidays. I can't believe that we are one of the richest coutries in the would an government policies force people into food poverty. The thing is my disposable income is getting less as well and that sort of thing is very bad for the economy, when disposable income drops, the economy shrinks, and companies cut back on workforces further reducing economic capacity.

Anyway it's weekend, and as usual I'm up early instead of just lying in, but it is so hot that sleep is not really an option. I will spend some time noodling on keyboards and guitar in the hope of actually getting some songs down to put on Soundcloud.

Today I am determined to not buy any vinyl. My collection is complete. Really.

Though I saw this beautiful limited edition copy of "Anthem of The Sun"  by The Greatful Dead in Beyond Vinyl yesterday so just had to have it. My instagram post of it is here.

Have a great Saturday

Dreaming Again

Just woken foorma fairly intenses horror story dream and I can't remeber a thing about it, just some incoherent images that may or may not have been there. I obviously dealt with it fine as I am just about to get up, take drugs, shower and get to work, but part of me does want to remember what the dream was about. I'm reading Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" so maybe that's something to do with it, and watching England vs Tunisia  last night where you know the technology is there and supposedly being utilisedto ensure fair play and once again cheating and gamesmanship rules the day, although for a change didn't result in victory.


Anyway once again we have an absolutely beautiful day and that means a walk to work and listening to music. Recent albums have included the first three Jimi Hendrix albums and Bowie's "Blackstar", the eponymous opener I still find absolutely jaw dropping and that along with "Lazarus" would be a reason to have the album if the rest of it were blank, and it isn't. I'm currently listening to Bob Dylan's "Shelter From A Hard Rain" semi bootleg which I originally bought because it contains a duet with Joan Baez on Woody Guthrie's "Deportees (Plain Wreck At Los Gatos)" and the playing is a bit shambolic but in a good way and the song selection isbrilliant, so this does get a lot of plays.

Yesterday I met some friendly cattle on the walk and posted a little film on Instagram but it can be a little awkward when you are trying to film, photograph, walk and make sure that you have an escape route. Evidence here.

I'm looking forward to seeing Los Coyotemen this Friday at The Globe which means I am getting off my arse and actually getting out. A friend of mine posted on Facebook that he doesnt have enough hours in this week, I feel I don't have enough hours in my life but maybe that is because I'm nauturally lazy but actually want to do things.

My friend Sophia alerted me to the Charity single "The Fall Of Emperor Less" by Dave King so I've included it in the list below and there's furter info here, there's no full length Youtube video, so we will go with Bowie's "Blackstar".

Have a good one.

Packing Plastic

This is the 1600th post on this blogm, thought I would just mention that.

Last Friday I decided to order a copy of "Under Dubwood" by The Dubwood Allstars. I can't remember where I heard this first, probably 6Music, but I had been listening to it on Soundcloud, but the song disappeared from there although the account is still there.

I followed the link to the website and ordered the single on vinyl, the third repress here on the Caught By The River site (it's not available on Amazon), I have recently really got into reggae and ska on vinyl through the home cinema sysem with subwoofer on reasonably loud.

"Under Dubwood" is a mix of Richard Burto reading the introduction to Dylan Thomas' "Under Milk Wood" backed by King Tubby and John Holt's "Ali Baba" as backing (see below and here). "Under Milk Woood" contans some amazingly eveocative phrases such as "Starless and Bible Back" (appropriated for thitle of a King Crimson album.

Anyway the point I was making is that the single was dispatched as well as an MP3 link, and on Saturday I went out , thinking that a seven inch single would fit through the letter box. On returning hope the was a  note from th epostman telling me that they couldn;t fit it through the letter box, so I had to go and collect it on Monday morning from the local depot. I then saw why it would fit through, a sturdy close on twelve inch package, so light I wasn't sure there was anything in it, so I opened it to make sure it was in there and it was. I told the lady in the Post Office about it and she wrote down the details to check on Youtube.

The thing is the service from Caught By The River was ultra excellent and efficient, but surely a little less packaging would be greener and more economical, but what the hell, I now have a wonderful piece of vinyl in my collection and here's the proof on Instagram.

Have a brilliant day everybody.

The Falkirk Wheel and Stuff

This morning I was sort of woken by a metallic clattering coming from the next room. It was a clothes hanger that had fallen off a radiator and just managed to hit the radiator as it fell to the floor. The problem is that the hangers are almost exactly the same with as my drying radiators and a tiny deviation either way causes them to fall off. This quite often happens when I'm adding clothes to the hangers but I have never ever done anything to rectify it, but this is the first tiime that it's actually happened when I haven't been in the room.

Gardens and footpaths are still white with snow and ice and no doubt it will be very cold out so I can see myself taking the bus into work.

Had a great weekend with friends in Edinburgh , though Matt and Lesley's plane was delayed for several hours but they got home and despite Nick's warnings we tried the impressive looking Café Noir, but the service was frosty and the insistence of serving coffee, tea and "hot" chocolate at 50ºC, ie lukewarm so we decided to rechristen it Café Noir.

Saturday was spent with a first visit to The Kelpies and the amazing and simply brilliant feat of engineering and design genius that is the Falkirk Wheel. My instagram photos are here but you can click on the links to visit the relative sites and you can see the Falkirk Wheel in action below. I had heard of it but really didn't know what it was. Now I do. One of Nick's books is about Scottish canals so we got him to pose with one of his books that was on sale (which Fiona bought and got signed of course) but you can see all his books on Amazon here.

As it's Monday morning I thought Stakka Bo's "Here We Go" is fairly appropriate. It was also one of my girls' favourites in the nineties and is still an excellent record.

So go on wrap up and enjoy your Monday.

Bitey - We Are Here To Drink Your Beer!!

That was a word Chris Hawkins used to described the cold this morning. The laminate kitchen floor was so cold that I had to put slippers on.  Outside the cars are frozen up and I am considering walking into work today. The sky is clear so it will be interesting to see the sunrise this morning. The roads are clear and on Saturday they were frosted up , and we did have snow flurries during  Sunday night.

Yesterday I was walking past the Westgate Ark Charity shop on Two Ball Lonnen I had noticed they now have cats in the window, and couldn't resist taking an instagram video that you can see here. A lot of people seem to like it and it is cute as hell.

I'm currently clearing recordings frome my TIVO box in anticipation of taking delivery of a V6 box, although as Yodel are delivering it I haven't a clue when I will get it, but rumours have it that it's an improvement on the TIVO box.

Anyway I'm sort of prepared for the bitey weather out there, though luckily I have the option of catching a bus if it really does get too cold.

I wimped out from seeing Alestorm last night but I'll include their video for "Drink" for you to enjoy as I get wrapped up and ready to continue my walking into work to deal with whatever awauts me when I get there. The Alestorm video will definitely wake you up.

"We Are Here To Drink Your Beer!!"

I know it's Monday, but be positive and have a great start to the week.

Polish Wind

How do you pronounce that? Is it Polish  - relating to Poland or polish - to buff something up? Is it wind - the atmospheric movement of air or wind - the method of tightening something up like a spring on a mechanical clock. Then the words wind, wined and, at a push whined could all sound the same when spoken, In isolation you wouldn't know what the person meant. Similarly wind and winned are both the same.

The English language is brilliant for writers and wordsmiths but must be hell to learn as a foreign language.

The reason that this came up is I was watching "Black Lake" last night and the police turned up and the word POLIS was on the car but the end of the word slightly obscured by snow and I though is that POLIS or POLISH ? "Black Lake" is well short on humour although absolutely excellent.

This is my first post in which I have mentioned Poland. Currently I have two Polish friends, Marek who runs RPM and Ola who I work with. At school I had lots of Polish friends and used to rehearse at Chorley Polish Club with my first band Cyrus Teed. I remember the first gig was a snowy night in Chorly and during the drum solo in "Wipe Out" the drum podium  (which consisted of four big blocks) split four ways leaving the drummer and crowd and us "surprised".

Anyway we have had real snow last night (see here on my instagram feed)

I have donned a large pair of boots because I would like to see what Nunsmoor is like covered in snow so that's a ¾ mike walk on snow covered paths but I will post a video on instagram if I get there before I freeze.

For absolute no reason apart from the snow / rain at the start of the video I'm including Jordan Reyne's "Shadow Line" which still gives be goosebumps, reminding me of the first time I saw her (documented here). Wrap up and be careful if you have to go out.

Twelfth Night

Today is the date of the Epiphany or revelation of Jesus to the Magi according to the Bible , which has gone through so many rewrites we can't be sure any of the original text is still in there and the first one was probably compiled about half a millenium after the supposed event.

It's also the date of the twefth nigh (isn't twelfth an odd looking and sounding word) t of Christmas so decorations and Christmas Trees should be deconstructed and put away or thrown out to bring life back to normal.

Today we have so far seen rain and hail and the sky is still very grey and it's total SAD weather.

I do apologise for the lack of content in my posts, as I've not seen or done anything worth writing about apart from walking, but I haven't been able to take any photographs for instagram , if you follow the link you see the last few have not been that good, but I am still walking and still exploring my record collection. To take decent photographs you do need decent light to take the and the curent weather is definitely not conducive to that, but hopefully I should be back on track within the next week. One has to stay p[ostive and as I am looking out of the window there is a little bit of unclouded sky, almost blue.

I found this great Saturday Night Live clip which is appropriate for the occasion, so I will leave you to pack up your decorations and enjoy the rest of your weekend.

The Art of Getting Up

This morning I really wanted to get up . During the week, I really don't want to get up, maybe because I have to to get up and go to work to effectively fund my life.

It's something that I have to do , but I don't feel it's a decision that I have made, although in reality I have made that decision.

I could choose not to work, but that would mean I probably wouldn't have the finances to actually write this post when I want to , and how I want to and wear I want to .

 It's a trade off, and I choose to do this because I see it as the best option for what I want from life. But I still don't want to get up during the week. I still I have to get up wash, shower, take loads of drugs and injections and then, generally , walk into work.

Today I had a good night's sleep, walk up , had ideas for a couple of blog posts and I actually want to get up. Why? Well there are things I really want to do and am looking forward to doing. The thing is, if you have things to look forward to you will want to get up, even if you have to do things you don't want to do. Here's a list of what I have to look forward to today followed by a W (want to do) , or N (Don't want to do). I know W and N seem odd letters to choose , but I have chosen them for obvious reasons and you now know what I mean. Here's the liset:

• Mow The Lawn (N)
• Two Blog Posts (Including this one) (W)
• Walk 11.5K steps (W)
• Go to the shops for various provision (N) but it will help me walk my steps
• Watch some catch up TV (W)
• Watch some TED Talks (W)
• Listen to another album (W)
• Change the bedding (N)
• Top up The Bird Feeders (W)
• Meet With Friends at The Wildflower Farewell Party (W)
• Phone My Dad (W)
• Take Some Photographs and maybe Instagram them (W)
• Get Song of The Salesman onto Wordpress (W)

So I have a few reasons to want to get up, and really that's what  you have to have to make you want to get up. You need to have reasons. Yes it's nice to lie in bed, but it's a very long time since I was in bed at mid day ... but that could be a reason to get up even though you actually staying in bed.

So the obvious piece for this is "Can't Get Out Of Bed" by The Charlatans, so either stay in bed, get out, do things or relax.

Six Hundred Thousand and Ice Cream at Closing Time

I passed that mark today on my Million Step Challenge, so I thought I would tell you. Given this morning deluge and thunderstorm I wasn't really expecting to get that much walking in, but I managed to walk all the way into work and post a couple of things on my instagram channel here.

I must say the colours on my Sony Xperia XA phone are sometimes a bit too ultra vivid, but sometimes the pictures and video are amazing. Generally it has been a cheap phone that is doing it's job, but still not up to my Samsung Note 4 (but that gave up the ghost), though I am tempted to go for a refurbished one maybe, but I shall see.

I don't know if I mentioned this, but I was looking at some posts from 2015 and was surprised how brief they were. I'm sure I mentioned this two posts ago, but I was wondering why I couldn't get a post done in ten minutes like I used to and obviously I must be writing more. I like to think that I write at least 250 words, and seem to remember that at school we had to write 100 word essays, but these days I would struggle to keep to 100 words (I think).

In work I do documentation and am a great fan of white space, as I believe it makes the document easier to ready, and therefore it's better for getting information across. I've read books recently that had small writing on densely packed pages and that would have put me off had I not really wanted to read the book (I'm thinking Tom Waits on Tom Waits) and that segues nicely int a song I heard on my ramblings this morning, somewhere in Arthur's Hill, I didn't recognise the voice at first, or in fact during the song. The music , phrasing were wonderful but I had to check and it was Tom Waits singing "Ice Cream Man" from Closing Time

Another Saturday Night - Jazz or What?

It's funny, the drive down to Litton was remarkably relaxing despite the numerous fogbanks and traffic bottlenecks in places. I must say I am very tired after the journey but wish I could have taken some photographs of the sun through the fog and the amazing images that the fog threw up (is that a good choice of words?)

Cloud on a Crane

I am always amazed by the images that nature creates for us and often they are only there for seconds, so I am grateful for the handiness speed and quality of my two year old Samsung Note 4 phone that sometimes allows me to capture these images. Like the crane holding up a cloud from a couple of years back. A few seconds later that didn't exist.

We're close to the end of November and I thought I may have just hit double figures, but I have actually done over twenty posts this month, that surprised me.

How Strange?

I can actually write quite a lot of rubbish, but I am so glad that people actually read it. Several people tell me they look forward to my writing, and that is one of the reasons I do keep writing. Anyway I need to choose a song for this post and decided on "Sonia" from Robert Wyatt's "Ruth Is Stranger Than Richard". It's remakably uplifting and many years ago when I first got made redundant I put together a radio show for a local station and used it as a theme tune, but it never got broadcast.







Enjoy your Saturday Night my friends and enjoy this wonderul  Robert Wyatt piece. Is it Jazz or What?

Elysian Feels

I love seeing new things and meeting new people. My friend Ruth hand invited me to an exhibition, Storytelling of The Ancients,  which I didn't realise was being put on by her daughter at the Assembly House on Westgate Road. I started well by going to The Assembly Rooms and then got directed across the road to the correct venue.

Jessica and Oedipus

The day was warm and the door was open and I walked in , impressed by what I thought were some very nicely executed murals. I then noticed a room with a fireplace, some books of Greek Mythology and a small image of Cerberus on the green wall , Cerberus being the guard dog of the Underworld, but maybe he is there to keep undesirables away.

I then saw that the murals were not murals , but diaphanous constructs that swayed in the breeze and cast shadows on the white wile under a ceiling decorated with greenery which I think was ivy but could have Bacchanalian grape vines.

Jessica then introduced herself and told me about the exhibition and her love of the subject. Apparently Greeks always  greet guests with food and wine, and although the wine was finished there was gorgeous vegan raspberry  cake , biscuits and soft drinks.




Her friend , possibly Fiona, was also taking photographs and I took some myself as well as a short video, so that I could create a slideshow.

The images included Pandora, Persephone, Oedipus and many others including a wonderful centaur. I've included the slideshow soundtracked by Tangerine Dream's "Sequence C" from Phaedra , so another Greek Mythological connection as Phaedra was the daughter of Minos (see here)  which I've used as the video here although you can hear my waffle on the instagram video here.

So a great strat to the weekend, but if you get the chance , do go and see it, and if you are lucky you will get cake.

Just Smile ... You Know It Makes Sense

Over the past couple of days I've noticed a lot of smiles and a lot of glum faces. The people are all in similar situations. I don't know what their situations are but I find even (and maybe especially ) when things are not good a smile makes YOU feel better and it becomes contagious. Generally if you smile and someone , they will smile back at you and you will both end up feeling better.

I know I've written about this lots in the past and I may be repeating myself and you may read this and thing "Oh No he's going on about smiling and being happy AGAIN!". I make no apologies.

I know there are people who are only happy when they are miserable (often centred on Manchester .... only joking) , but it makes me feel much better when people are happy, so maybe I'm being more than a little selfish,

Beautiful

Just a thought one of my favourite albums of the moment is Manchester's Improving Daily by Edward II  , and it really is one of the most beautifully produced albums I've seen in my life. It retails at the same price as any other CD but when I got it delivered the package was secured by sealing wax and you can see what it looks like on one of my Instagram Posts here. It really is a beautiful package so I will use a song from it "A Humorous and Interesting Dialogue" that was used in support of the NHS.

But the weekend is almost over , so if you are with someone smile , and if you are going to work tomorrow , smile, and your day will be much much better.

Every smile you give , you will get back in spades. Enjoy my friends.

Nova Vega

Over the past few weeks I have been asked if I am vegetarian , vegan and when did I become vegetarian and was it difficult to cut out meat and fish , just because I ate some vegetarian food. The answer is  I am not vegetarian or vegan, when it comes to eating I am blood awkward and fussy. I eat all the wrong things, I am diabetic , I like a bacon sandwich although I think I may be weaning myself off chocolate , which I adore and today I bought some scales and recorded the terrible fact that the scales tell me I am 114.6 Kg that's like 18 Stone.

Yum

 

Anyway enough of that, last week I visited the excellent Bohemian Restaurant and recorded my thoughts here so you can check it out , apparently one of the top ten British Vegan  Restaurants, it's in Pink Lane Newcastle and is definitely worth your time. They recommended Farplace which is a vegetarian / vegan shop / cafe in Clayton street , that sells  Vegetarian and Vegan products AND supports animal welfare so to quote George Orwell it really is DoublePlusGood , the staff are really nice and when I went in they had the guy from The Nut Roaster demonstrating his machine and selling various nut butters (you can see his oven in action here)



I went with Cashew Nut Butter along with a lentil curry pasty and vegan Victoria Sponge and a Chocolate Orange Scone.

Then today I was walking up Grainger Street and noticed a new cafe called Super Natural , there is already one near Carliol Square but this is a new one and very pleasant it ism, I checked in on Facebook here. As my friend Katie says it's a great time to go Vegan is you are in Newcastle.

The places I've listed are all town center, and they are not the only ones. If you go out to other Novocastrian districts you will find more Vegetarian and Vegan places.

I thought I was going to have to you use Meat Is Murder by The Smiths as accompanying music for this pice buth then remembered The Mothers' Call Any Vegetable which is far more positive , which lets face it Vegetarianism and Veganism is.

Enjoy your vegetables , they keep you regualar.

You Want To Be My Friend?

I'm reasonably visible on social media and have a few followers on Twitter and Instagram , but sometimes get friend requests on Facebook from people who I have no apparent connection with, usually these have virtually no content of often are young ladies wearing beach apparel. Needless to say the delete button is employed.

 gratuitous fondling and handling at the #TynesideBarCafe

I got one from a Spanish Lady this week , and deleted , mainly because of no connections, but I saw she had followed me and in particular liked an instagram photo I had posted while in the Tyneside Bar and Cinema watching one of their afternoon silents , Der Golem but I thought it was Faust . I'd done a retouching of the photograph and thought it looked pretty cool. Ruth obviously thought the same . We are friends on Twitter but not yet Facebook friends.




So I know this is just a short post , and I haven't posted for a week, and yesterday was Beltane , so it's not as though I haven't had things that I could write about, but really it's just to try and not miss things because you become numb to the normality of events.

SO if you want to be my friend make sure I have a reason to be yours 

Have a good day

April Showers

Well it's the first time this year that I have mowed the lawn. Today has been a lazy day but I have had a headache but managed to get a few things done. I have been listening and learning to play the songs for the band so as usually am trying to do too many things that I don't have time for . The reality is that I would hate to be bored and it's always good to stretch yourself just to see how far you can go.

For The Birds

When I walked over the lawn there was a squelch of water and I thought maybe it's not time but it is mid April so I should be starting . It turned out easy to mow , just two lawn mower bag fulls of grass and now the lawn looks half presentable. The instagram video is . here. The thing is once you start , everyone else has to do theirs . I can imagine lots partners pointing out that I was mowing the lawn so their partner should be doing it too.






Anyway as I say it's been a relaxing weekend and tomorrow work starts again. Have lot's of songs to learn , but am going to post Rick Nelson's Garden Party which is just a totally wonderful song

Goodnight my friends

My Phone Is A Vampire - #36 - 1992 - Shamen - Boss Drum

My Phone is a Time Vampire

I looked at the clock when I took my Samsung Note 4 out of my pocket, waited while it did it's stuff , updating again , downloading , waiting finally pressed the first app and 3 minutes had elapsed.

I do like my phone , watch iPlayer programs and TED talks and read the odd book , plus check news , though I am thinking of ditching Twitter as I virtually never use it. But it's in the long list of apps on the phone that I never use.

Anyway be wary of how much time your phone actually takes.
Luckily I was boiling the kettle and making tea  while that was happening but I was thinking how many people just wait for their phone and lose that time completely ? 


Though I still use Facebook and Instagram is probably my most used social media app.

Anyway we're up to year 36 in the Odyssey and this was the year that KLF's Amerika - What Time is Love hit the charts , though I used it two posts ago , so I missed stuff from the Shamen's En-Tact , one of the greatest albums ever but have taken Boss Drum by the Shamen for this year's choice.

Enjoy the rest your Monday , this afternoon I go for some unspecified minor surgery .......

Style and Fashion In The Grainger Market - #32 - 1988 - Primitives - Crash

I know nothing about fashion . If you have ever seen me I know you will agree whole heartedly, but today after dropping by The Little Bazaar and Pet Lamb I lunched at Olivers and enjoyed

'FASHION SHOW ' Grainger Market 180 Years in Fashion' which involved several of my friends and was extremely professionally executed and well recieved by the many people watching there. The models and their dress looked amazing . As I said I am not the one to be offering opinions on this but I enjoyed it and took a short Instagram Video. You should visit the link if you are any way interested in fashion , history and the Grainger Market , all combined to make a gloriously entertaining afternoon.

Cat Walking Grainger Style

And the musical Odyssey winds on hitting year 32 and though the charts were awash with Kylie Minogue when she wasn't good , I chose this absolute gem "Crash" by The Primitives.

Have a good night (or morning Lee) , the weekend is coming closer.

You Can Make Me Sing , Dance or Anything ... #2 - 1958 - Catch A Falling Star

Yesterday had more than 100 people wish me a happy birthday via Facebook which made be feel nice.

It's quite amazing how much dross hits the charts , but I always loved this song , and wile never an avid Perry Como fan I still like this . I will never forget Bryan Ferry's riposte to interviewer who asked him his opinion on Cockney Rebel's Judy Teen , he said he preferred the Perry Como version.

In Stoker

This weekend will be spent in the Stoker Room in La Rosa in Whitby , which is my favourite hotel in the world bar none. I would love to hire it for a long weekend and fill it with my friends. The room does have a view across the river to the Abbey which I will be visiting also.

These posts are going to be by their nature heavy on video and light on the text. Some may even just be the video, but I wiull try and find something interesting to say.

Whitby is one of my total favourite places and no doubt I will be instagramming  .

I took the title of the Faces compilation that my lovely daughters bought me for my birthday because it is such a great feelgood sentiment and we need lots of those.

But my favourite take on it was the wonderful Anthony Moore.

Seven Days In Orton Cumbria

I came up with the name for this blog as a travel blog about places I'd stayed, which maybe is a bit ambitious as I don't travel very far. I detest flying , not for the actual flight , but for the endless queuing and excuses for delays, plus the fact the flight is usually a miniscule part of the journey unless , say, I were going to Australia.

Anyway the place we were it was Orton in Cumbria, just off the M6 but very quiet and very relaxing. It is also about a mile away from the Tebay / Westmorland Farm Services which are the benchmark for Motorway Service Stations. The now have one on the M5 and one on the M74 planned. While the prices are Motorway Service Station levels, the service, location and food on offer is the best you will find on a Motorway (In this case the M6).

The cottage is a converted barn and can be seen here , and has everything you need although the village is still waiting on broadband and the mobile signal is a little erratic. This meant that for the first time I ran out of data on my EE contract , and due to the stipulations and expense of buying extra data I decided I didn't need it. Of and after 2 messages with a URL to buy the extra data , their app then stops letting you see your data information so you couldn't buy any if you wanted! But it wasn't a major hassle , there are lots of places that let you hook into wifi including the aforementioned Westmorland Farm Services and the excellent Kings Head at Ravenstonedale, which sounds like somewhere from Game of Thrones.


We ate at the excellent Black Swan which is well worth a visit if you are ever in the area, this is one of the meals I had , runny scotch eggs, gammon , garlic cheese potatoes, tomatoes and green stuff. There's also images of the giant meringue on my instagram feed if you want to try and fine it.



The countryside is very relaxing and great for just walking and doing not much out of contact from mobile phones and the like, and the great thing about staying in Orton is that it has a post office that sells 99% of stuff that you actually need, then there's the George Hotel which does food and drink and the people are really pleasant in there, and then you have Kennedy's Chocolate factory where you can buy almost anything made of chocolate , including boxes of chocolates made out of chocolate.

I thought a suitable tune was Lindsey Buckingham's Holiday Road from National Lampoon's Vacation , the guy is a total musical genius , and that is the best of the vacation films.

So that's some short thoughts on my week away, now I'm back home and the weather is looking very good.. Have a fantastic Sunday everybody