Friday

Friday
Dartford. Horrendous journey there and back which ended up taking about nine hours all in all. Also went to the Harvester!

Saturday
1. Nutcase. A shop selling Lebanese sweets in Shepherd’s Bush. Ate so much baklava that I felt sick (in a good way though).
2. Aroma – an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet in Shepherd’s Bush. After filling myself with pastry (see above).
3. The Trout pub (not the Brown Trout as I thought it was called!)
4. New parts of the tow path to watch the Oxford and Cambridge boat race, decided to support Oxford after they nudged ahead.
5. Smollenskys (post boat race) – is it possible to die of needing the loo?
6. The Blackbird pub in Earl’s Court.

Sunday.
Well, really I didn’t do anything, but new things for Saturday have overspilled. Got a taxi home, so waited inside the manky taxi depot in Rickmansworth.

Thursday

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistlestop Cafe. When I was young, I saw a trailer for this film and thought it looked great. Now I'm a few years older, I thought it tended towards the dull.

Wednesday

The back road that connects Rickmansworth to Harefield past the pumping station and a side road which looked like it was the former entrance to the Harefield Hospital, but is now overgrown.

Tuesday

New thing today was watching most of “How to get ahead in advertising” which started off looking like a similar brand of comedy to Richard E Grant’s other classic, “Withnail and I” and then degenerated into...well, me falling asleep.

Easter

Wednesday
Phileas Fogg lime crisps

Thursday
Parked in a new part of Guildford, then drove to Godalming to look around the Meath Epilepsy Trust.

Good Friday
Bits of Portland

Saturday
Cargo in Yeovil, upstairs in Mothercare purchasing baby goods for my friends who are parents to be.
Then Brokeback Mountain; a lot better and more touching than I thought it would be.

Sunday
Swanage – I’ve been here before, but don’t remember it that clearly and am sure I never went inside the Lifeboat station. Was most amused to see the same bloke driving around in a camper van – he passed us six times, making me glad I took my car on this occasion, rather than my van! Also went for lunch in Wareham (where we saw camper van man AGAIN!), in a pub called the Red Lion.
After our exertions, then went to the Quicksilver Mail in Yeovil – very sorry to report that I’d never been here before. One of my new favourite bands Hobo Jones and the Junkyard dogs were playing here, supported by an excellent group called Bag o Rats. Hobo Jones were superb; and such a nice bunch of lads. They even recognised us from last time! They created a great atmosphere, and even facilitated a marriage proposal at the end of their set! Dad absolutely loved them, even though he seems to have been deafened!

Monday
Mabel wanted to deliver a birthday present to his niece, so we headed for Wootton Bassett via lots of new villages such as Lyneham etc. When we got there, his brother had gone; wouldn’t wait fifteen minutes, but had left his car unlocked so we could put the presents in there. When I got home, I watched The Wind that Shakes the Barley before I got upset by the violence and hid behind the sofa.

Friday

Parts of Harefield

Saturday
Fantastic day for new things. Went to “Canteen” the restaurant which forms part of the newly-refurbished Festival Hall, before going to the matinee performance of Blood Brothers at the Pheonix Theatre in Charing Cross Road. Really enjoyed it – thought it was excellent, particularly Linda Nolan’s performance.

Sunday
New parts of the Chalfonts

Monday
VW Garage in Ladbroke Grove, which took some finding as my van doesn’t have a cigarette lighter to plug the sat nav into! Then went to Baker Street, where I walked to Bond Street. Organge shop. Walked to my sister’s office in Moorgate (and had a good look round there cos I got lost and didn’t want to ask anyone for directions! Then an Italian restaurant for lunch. Last new thing was going to Sainsbury’s in Ladbroke Grove.

Tuesday
Ashford. Very nice.

Thursday

Some random office.

Wednesday

This is more like it. The Royal Automobile private members club in Pall Mall, London. I felt like Phileas Fogg (except I was on time), and the place was outstanding, comfortable and relaxing. Had a presentation and then a top notch lunch. I must stop being a chav and try to become a bit posher. Also went to a restaurant in Goodge Street called Ooze Risotto, for strangely enough.....some risotto.

Tuesday

Arrrgh – no time, no money, no energy, no inspiration. Ended up buying a jar of mushroom antipasti. Hope it tastes better than it looks.

Monday

Wolverhampton car showroom.

Sunday

Could not sleep last night thanks to my head DJ playing Levs really loudly after their tremendous 20th anniversary gig the night before! (And on the Riverflows!) However, woke up early and drove to the Midlands for a Fantastic breakfast meeting with my cousin who is 30. (there's only one way of life!) None of which was new! (We're the sound system, we're the collective!)New thing was turning off the road between my cousin’s and grandma’s and very nearly driving into a beautiful lake as it was getting dark. (Down the 303 down the end of the road, flashing lights, exclusion zones!).

Saturday

New thing was going to a pub in Brixton called the Goose for a sneaky ale before the Levellers Brixton Academy gig. Dubbed Beautiful Nights, it was one of three gigs to mark the band's 20th anniversary. Now, if anyone apart from me reads my blog, they'll know that I met Mark Chadwick in a corner shop a couple of weeks ago, so I was delighted to see that he was in the pub for a pre-gig pint. I managed not to disturb him again, but I really wanted to ask if he'd washed his hands since shaking hands with me, or if it was just me who was preserving the evidence of the meeting. Been to Brixton a few times, but this was the first time I'd seen the Levs there, and also saw Dreadzone and Alabama Three, as we were watching Barnsley knock Chelsea out of the cup and missed the 3 Draft Monkeys set. The Levs were amazing as usual. The opening song - England My Home, is a song I never hear often enough and I LOVE it. I was right at the front, to see Jon emerge at the top of a stack of speakers. Awesome. Just hit after hit after hit, including three of their new ones Burn America Burn, Life Less Ordinary and Cholera Well, as well as their old favourites, which never seem to date; Sell out, The Road, Beautiful Day, Boatman, One Way, Exodus, Men an Tol, Carry me, Dirty Davey, The Riverflow, Warning, Dog Train, Just the one, Liberty and the amazing, amazing What You Know to finish on. Breathtaking. And with a back catalogue of that calibre to call on, who can blame them for not doing Fifteen Years, The Game and Far From Home. Such a great night - have not stopped smiling since.

Friday

Marks and Spencer in Slough.

Thursday

Planned to go to a bar in Rickmansworth, as my new thing, but on the way there, I ended up doing a three point turn down by the council offices, so didn't need to go in the end.

Wednesday

A phone box in Rickmansworth. These are getting worse. Actually three phoneboxes since the first two didn't work.

Tuesday

My demanding insurance company seems to be writing to me with the frequency of an overactive French penfriend. I've been asked to send them more pictures of my vehicle as the last set was too dark, and of course, they won't accept digital pictures, it's got to be film. So my new thing was not taking them to be developed, because I took in a near identical roll of pictures of my jalopy last month. My new thing was nosing around the road to Watford, near Moor Park and near another posh school.

Monday

Mabel bought me a vegetarian pie from Sainsbury's for my new thing - a Supernaturals roasted mediterraean style vegetable tart no less. For £2.49!

Sunday

New thing was a newsagent in Brick Lane as well as the Big Chill bar for my sister's boyf's birthday. Got on the wrong train on the way back and ended up in Hammersmith, so explored new parts of that too.

Saturday

New thing was a walk around High Wycombe where we started looking for flats which tomorrow, as you will see, we will find was unnecessary. Looked in estate agents and shops to get a feel for the place. The other new thing was watching the (Sher)Bourne Supremacy, which I realised that I hadn't seen before, and means that the third one in the trilogy makes more sense to me now.

Friday

New thing was Hillingdon Alzheimers Society where I wanted to volunteer. Also nipped across the road to the garage to see the Levellers interview in the Mirror newspaper (yup, still obsessed).