Solstice
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We love a travel show
To be fair I mean the kind with a host who goes gently and with an open mind into all manner of places and accommodation. I’m definitely not talking (Judith Chalmers…you have to be a Brit of a certain age but think leather skinned journalist sampling up market package tours). Inspired by a live performance by one Sandi Toksvig we spent a happy evening catching up on some of her exploits around the UK this evening. Together with her chums she shows us around splendid, and often isolated, places where you could stay with a group or as a pair (if you had a lot of money) and pretend to be a knight or lady of the manor. There’s history and weather and non of it stops one from having fun.
Joanna Lumley does a mean travelogue too. Though these tend to be lengthy and exotic as do Sue Perkins travels. Notice that all of these are women. Obviously being accompanied by a film crew and fixer make things go more smoothly (or less dangerously) but the commentary from a female presenter is on a different scale. Even the great Michael Palin could be a touch epic. Its the little things which endear these women to you. I mean when did you last see a blokey travel host make dinner for his chums?
In other news I have just passed my Ham exam and will soon be licenced for the airwaves. My voyages around the world may be virtual for now but we shall see.
OP-1 not so teenage engineering
So for a while I’ve had a little synth known as an OP-1. (If you know you know). I’ve not really for to grips with the thing but with the release of an updated version(for even more and trust me it ain’t cheap) I decided I’d best dust it off and play. The face that my better half is away for a few days and I can cheerfully make a racket has nothing to do with it….honest.
Again YouTube is a marvellous thing and alone to rewind and pause as often as you like. I managed after some fumbling to create what the young folks call a ‘beat’. The theory is simple all I need to do now I’d fine tune the way I understand the controls. It’s a fun little beast and you can rest assured I’m not planning an album any time soon.) Just knowing that I can finally use it.
I’m a secretive creature. Not like hiding things but I prefer to practice and try things without an audience. It’s an introvert thing. In my life I’ve found that strangers can teach me as I’ve nothing to lose. Where I’m invested with a person I’m less inclined to show weakness. Daft eh? Still now you know. If I have one piece of advice for others (hey I’m flawed get over it) it is do your thing fearlessly. I’m learning. That’s some of what this is is about.
Of Course
Lockdown was a strange (and wonderful) experience. I know that we were quite content not to have to be around people we didn’t want to see. We were sad not to see friends though. After a while…you get bored. I started taking courses online. In particular Domestika. Art courses. 🎨
I’m not claiming this is a new career. It’s fun. At school I did Latin. Art was for wasters according to my parents…both of whom have had creative careers (mum wrote a newspaper column. Dad was a house painter and still makes art). I’ve always written and I’ve always drawn but not consistently. I take photos too. What I’ve learned is to relax. It’s for fun. Lots of my friend are doing this too. And I enjoy sharing (@ushiedraws on Instagram if you’re nosey)
It has made me look at things more closely. I use my phone less as a distraction. I’m not as bad as I thought might be, in fact I have a style. Faces are hard. Feet are not.
Be thankful this is not a video of my ukelele playing.
The Half Life Of Snails
So tonight I’m at a book launch for my friend Phillipa Holloway’s book. (Title of this post) It is wonderful.
How to be a great guest
I’m sure a lot if you will have gone “Air b’n’b” at some point. Not sponsored. If not do try it it’s great fun. (Yes, I am aware of the arguments about it ruining the housing market for first time buyers).We prefer to have place to come back to where you can cook and have privacy unlike a youth hostel though we have used those too. (I should say many hostels now have smaller private rooms not all dorms). Being able to slob out in your pants (underwear for my US chums) and not worry about housekeeping or dorm mates is a plus but mostly being able to cook and eat at random times and for less than a meal out is where the joy is for us.
We’ve been to a few places all over the world. Usually we communicate in English but it’s polite to try whatever language even if it’s via Google translate and with apologies. That’s a good start to endearing yourself to the host. Now I’m sure people are aware that guests rank the host when they leave and getting a ‘superhost’ rank pretty much ensures that you’re booked up so most will try hard to please. Were you aware that hosts can and do rank guests too? You definitely want to get on the 5 star guest list as it helps you grab those difficult to book spaces. Our hosts tend to remember us for all the right reasons. Put it this way, it’s our wedding anniversary and a previous host has especially invited us back to celebrate!
Rule one. Read the reviews. There’s often detail in there that you might miss. For example a host may have pets and you may have allergies even if the pet is not allowed in the rental space. Do your research about the area as well. One time, in Paris, a perfectly lovey flat was marred by having to climb over drunks asleep in the doorway on the way in every night.
Rule two. Be polite. It costs nothing. Be up front if you gave particular needs or requests. Will you be arriving late at night or need to dropbags off early before the space is cleaned? We always check for gay friendliness.
Rule three. Remember this is someone’s home and their business. If the rule is shoes off at the door and everyone sits to pee (this is a real place and we loved it) then so be it. Their house their rules.
Rule four. Be considerate. If you’re sharing space with the host then keep the noise down and keep hallways tidy for example.
Rule five. Clear up before you leave. Dry the dishes, put things away, strip the bed, take out the rubbish. If necessary throw away perishable food stuffs. Tne room may not be used for some time and your stinky sour milk will not be appreciated. On the other hand tinned or dried foods left for other guests can be an act of kindness (and lightens your luggage).
Rule six. Leave a thank you note. We do this as a matter of course. It means you can point out any minor issues (if there are any) without putting them in your review. One host had a guest point out an issue before we arrived one morning and greeted us to explain the he would give us his home for the night while the tiny tiny issue was fixed. What service. To be honest if there is an issue it’s best to contact the host straight away.
We always take a gift. Usually a couple of food items made very locally to our home if we are allowedtobring them across any border or another typical item from home. Sometimes we give this as we arrive. If we can we invite out host for a home cooked meal or drink but this is not always practical. *I would not do this if traveling alone for example.
We’ve stayed in a tiny crazy attic flat, a smelly basement (that was an early one), a converted garage, and a “tree house with a pool” (that one’s in Australia). Air b’nb have always been really helpful….like that time someone tried to rent their student room in halls as a ‘studio flat’ … look, it’s an adventure. Be respectful and kind, you’ll be treated well.
The ‘Charity’ Bag
We have a plastic bag by the front door. It sits silently in the porch. Every time there is a thing either of us sees that neither of us wants or needs it goes in the bag (if it will fit). This, when full, gets walked (usually) to a charity shop (goodwill if you’re in the USA). Its a simple thing and its surprisingly easy to fill such a bag. There have been heaps (literally) of clothes and bric-a-brac that have gone forever from our home through this simple action.
Like most humans, trapped in our own space during the pandemic, I started to notice stuff. More realistically, stuffed. The living room, stuffed, the bedroom, stuffed and especially the garage, stuffed. Now I know a lotta people did the same because our local charity shops had a booking system for drop off!
As a student I lived in the charity shop. There was a place, in a basement, in Manchester that had stalls full of second hand clothing dropped in by hotels and cruise companies (old livery, heavily customised was very ‘in’ in the late punk/early New Romantic era). That place became Aflecks Palace, now a Mancunian legend. You could still get seriously good quality shirts with the button on collars still available, not that we wore those. Shirt tails hanging out over skinny, often stripy (fluorescent yellow and black) jeans…ah, those were the days. I usually teams this with a tail coat. I still own two tail coats though my jeans are less skinny!
For a long time I forgot the charity shop. A little cash in your pocket and you go for new. Sad really. I always donated though. A thing I liked to do when running youth groups was a clothes swap. The kids would bring items that were still wearable but that they were tired of. You brought six things you got six tickets. Each ticket was worth one item. Any unspent could be kept for the next swap but they were usually lost. Unused clothing went to the next attic sale stall we ran to raise funds for the club.
It was always a recycling thing but I never really thought about it that way. I’m an Environmental Science graduate so should have known better. I have some amazing shirts (I like a loud shirt) gleaned from the racks at Cancer Research or the British Heart Foundation. I am very lucky to have more than I need. Yes, there are times I’ll check if there’s a trade in to be had on a book or game. Yes, I know there are apps to sell if you need the money. We took a pile of board games to our local swap shop yesterday. They couldn’t use them so there was no money to be had. (I’m not a saint) but rather than bring them home we sauntered up to the next available charity shop and dropped them off. Someone out there gets a good quality board game and we have a little more space.
These days there’s always a bag or a box by the door. It gets full more often than I care to think about.
Wireless for Sound
So I started the process of getting my radio ham beginners license. I’m enrolled in an online course. The calculations are going to mess with my brain for a while but practice, practice. Next stage is to book an exam but I’m going to leave that until I’m through the programme. I told you this blog would be eccentric.
The little Chinese walkie talkie arrived today. A Baofeng. It’s cheap and hopefully cheerful. I’m not allowed to PTT (push to talk) until I pass my exam and have a call sign and license from HM Government. I can, however, listen and I am told that it may be possible to hear the ISS (International Space Station) as it passes overhead. I can also get Radio 2 from the BBC no doubt!
Today’s adventures in amateur radio seem to have included a lot of information about electrical circuits and radio frequencies which is to be expected I suppose. I’m thankful that there’s not currently a practical requirement for the first level due to Covid 19. No doubt that will come. In the meantime I’ll sign off.
Grinding
Some weeks are a grind. Sometimes its more than a week. Take this week for example. It’s the school holidays. This means that I’m not being woken by slamming car doors as the offspring are ferried to the school at the bottom of the road. (Yes, I am sometimes still in bed at 9am get over it) I don’t have a child but we borrowed my niece for the day and took her to a local wildlife reserve. She loves coming to visit as we usually take her out to some place like this (although the dead bodies in the Egyptian exhibit at the museum appear to have been a favourite to date…which is worrying on some levels). Those clever folks at the park had put on an Easter break treasure hunt of sorts so we spent three hours (with a 7 year old) searching for the hidden objects and all for the prize of a chocolate bar.
To be fair what amused us most was that she had lost a tooth the night before. An essential part of the ‘auntie visit’ is the sleepover. The tooth fairy had visited and, apparently, had left an ‘away from home’ bonus. The losing the tooth was not the funny part but the fact that she paid for the treasure hunt with one of the pound coins she had been left …. it was made clear that we were expected to reimburse her having failed to bring change to the nature reserve to pay for the treasure hunt. She held us to it too.
In other news our Prime Minister us is a convicted criminal along with his wife and the Chancellor of the Exchequer. All of which added to the current war in Ukraine and a lack of oil and gas etc. meant that when a well known camping and outdoor retailer offered a tiny gas stove and refills for sale at a stupidly low price I had to go out to get one. Not wanting to waste fuel I called in en route to the swimming pool for dive training. Its a nice stove. My parents have had one for a while along with a generator. Their electricity goes off regularly (they’re in their 80s) and it allows them to make tea. This is the UK in the year 2022.
Next stop a water butt.
Prepper…moi?
I’ve been away for a couple of days somewhere near Macclesfield and visited a National Trust stately home whilst I was there. I’ve also been pottering in the garden. The seeds we planted have started to push through the earth into the sunlight. Also the new shed arrived. Apparently its a summerhouse not a shed. Because it has glazed double doors. We found an old length of carpet in the attic and that is relaxing in the summerhouse with a view to making it seem less… shed like.
As the whole country is caught up in a panic over energy bills and fuel shortages we are building a retreat in our own garden. Yes, I know its not everyone who has a garden. I’m also investigating a ham radio license. I can remember listening to the police bands on an old transistor radio hanging off the gate of my grandads farm yard. (No, there was not ‘lashings of ginger beer’.) … ( non British readers or those not of a certain age this is an oblique reference to a once popular but now discredited UK children’s writer called Enid Blyton and her books about feral children roaming the English countryside). It was always best if you could work out whether the police car was going to drive past where we were standing. Anyhow, ham radio. No real clue but that is the current project. Perhaps someone can advise me?
A cold weekend with warmer water meant dive rescue training on the surface waist deep. Not the warmest of occupations and I escaped after 40 minutes to warm my aching bones. How is it possible to ache from little finger tip to elbow on either hand? Club night Monday was a Hungarian themed quiz with Hungarian themed snacks. I’d never thought of putting cottage cheese with chocolate before.
Thus evening promises cold. Hail showers even. We may need to frost wrap the outdoor plants again.
ffiftypluses 