End of a journey

Last night saw the end of an incredible journey. 

With my second in command and my eldest daughter, I went to see Mr William McCarthy at the Cluny. We last saw him there a couple of years ago, during his last solo tour. 

And, of course, we’ve seen him play this year, in Berlin and Munich. We’d have fitted in another UK gig but, sadly, work meant that wasn’t possible. 

As we’ve now come to expect, Mr McCarthy’s performance was astounding. I’ve still to see anyone else put so much effort, no, heart into a couple of hours. 

I do miss the Augustines, I still think about their final tour, last year (we saw them four times). But it’s clear that Billeh will make sure that Augustines will never be forgotten. 

The spontaneous acoustic on a narrow ledge was pretty impressive And, as usual, last night’s gig included impressions and stories. The man’s a natural raconteur. 

Afterwards, there was great conversation on the steps of the Cumby.

While I do still hope that the Augustines will reform one day, there’s no doubt that his solo career has a real future. 

Iron II

Now that it’s cooled down, I’ve been able to inspect the iron. It seems that the plate has acually partly melted. 

One must wonder what these things are actually made from. 

Iron & fire

Or, rather, iron on fire. As I was ironing shirts for work, the iron suddenly gripped a shirt, dragging as I tried to move it. This was quickly followed by a strong electrical burning smell. And smoke. 

Having experienced a loss of electricity last weekend, my cat-like reflexes sprung into action and I quickly turned off the power. 

The iron then entered full burning mode, but an (other) electrical disaster was avoided. 

I may recount last weekend’s trauma on another occasion. Tomorrow, a new iron shall be purchased. 

Walls (part I)

A day later than planned, I’ve plastered a wall. 

It’s the smallest wall, but I don’t like to be too ambitious as it’s a couple of years since I last plastered a wall. 

Not a bad result though. 

Screwdriver

This … 

… is my most favourite screwdriver. It’s not a ratchet driver, but does have four bits. 

The screwdriver’s old now, but it does pretty much everything. Because, rather than need a bag of tools, one of these makes a great back pocket implement. 

Pterodactyl

I swear that dinosaurs aren’t extinct. Well, I had an encounter with one a few minutes ago in Newcastle. 

It was a huge Pterodactyl. I mean HUGE. 

While I didn’t exactly see the beast, the amount of shit it dropped on me meant it couldn’t have been even the biggest of birds.

Fortunately, the Gents’ in the Forth has running water, where a shit-on gentleman may remove dinosaur deposit from his jacket. 

Ceiling (part V)

Well, it’s finally finished. 

The ceiling, that is. I’m aiming to plaster a wall tomorrow. 

The ceiling does have an unusual twist, but that’s the the result of old structural issues, rather than my plastering skills. 

The joins will need a light sand, but I’m happy with the outcome; it’s not too obvious that the ceiling was, for many, many years, two. 

Today was a good day

Today didn’t start very well. I’d planned an early finish, but messy deadlines at work meant that wasn’t possible. My second in command had a similar problem, finishing even later than me. 

We did, however, meet our goal of attending the annual Gateshead beer festival. 

I’ll return to the beer festival in a moment; while on my way home from work, the internet informed me that, after a prolonged wait, Guinness is now vegan. Ok, so I can’t buy a can or bottle yet; that’s still work in progress. But keg is now good (I’d never buy cans anyway). 

With a half hour to spare before meeting my second in command, I ventured to my local. Where I enjoyed my first pint of Guinness in a very long time. 

Here’s the press release, by the way. 

You might need to zoom in a bit. After enjoying my Guinness, we walked down the road to the Gateshead beer festival. Where I was surprised that I enjoyed a sour beer (Great Heck – fishless beer). And some other stuff. We also had veggie chilli. 

Afterwards, we called at our local again for a nightcap. I decided on Guinness. I also had a very nice vegan pie. Well, it’s also the annual Gateshead international pie festival (in my local, the Three Tuns).

Where I enjoyed a very nice vegan pie. With peas and gravy. There was mashed potato, but that was consumed by my second in command. 

I’d already eaten, but the pie was free. I’d have bought one anyway. Tomorrow, I may buy two. They have six vegan pies. 

I recall the first pie festival; there were a few vegetarian pies. Now there are many. 

We live in Gateshead. It’s not exactly the vegetarian/vegan capital of the north. But my local always has (generous) veggie alternatives at all of their events.