John - Archived Entries for 2020 / 8

Dr John Hawkins

Welcome to my bit of the Maison de Stuff, home to a huge load of pictures, and my daily blog.

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Recent Entries:: Monday in Cambridge
Sunday in Cambridge
Saturday
Playdate
Laphroaig and Macaroni Cheese
Wednesday
Trowel Sabrage
Monday
Sunday at Home
Jetlag
Girls Back from Japan
Thursday
Wine Prongs
Tuesday
Musar on the Heath
Back to London
Saturday in Sussex
Arriving at the Tower
Thursday
Musar Jeune 2018
Chatea Musar
More Terrible Haircut
Sunday Roast and Terrible Haircut
Granary Square
Friday
Curry and the Heath
Camden Hells
Nyetimber
Flowers
Frank's
Al Fresco

Monday in Cambridge: [Monday 31st August 2020]
Went punting in the morning, which thanks to careful planning on my part coincided exactly with the one spell of good weather during our trip to Cambridge. Lunch by the Cam after that, then got the train back to London in the afternoon.
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Sunday in Cambridge: [Sunday 30th August 2020]
Arrived in Cambridge around lunchtime, had lunch at the market, then a wander round Cambridge in the afternoon including a visit to King's College Chapel.
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Saturday: [Saturday 29th August 2020]
The Saturday of the August Bank Holiday weekend - just had a quiet day close to home ahead of our trip to Cambridge the following day.
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Playdate: [Friday 28th August 2020]
Erika's friend came round for a morning playdate followed by lunch.
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Laphroaig and Macaroni Cheese: [Thursday 27th August 2020]
Took delivery of a bottle of Laphroaig today. Also made a very successful macaroni cheese for dinner.
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 26th August 2020]
Bits and pieces.
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Trowel Sabrage: [Tuesday 25th August 2020]
Did sabrage with a trowel.
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Monday: [Monday 24th August 2020]
Back to work for me, while Chie and Erika went off to a birthday party in the daytime. Just a few photos of the usual checks on progress of things in the garden.
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Sunday at Home: [Sunday 23rd August 2020]
Spent the day at home, building things with the cushions from the sofa, cooked lunch out in the back garden, and in the afternoon tried out the new kakigori (crushed ice) machine.
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Jetlag: [Saturday 22nd August 2020]
Spent the day with Erika, trying to help her adjust to the timezone difference - went for a walk around Hampstead Heath with a friend of hers followed by an al fresco drink at The Vine.
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Girls Back from Japan: [Friday 21st August 2020]
Chie and Erika returned from Japan today. I took the day off work, spent the morning cleaning the flat, and drove to Heathrow in the afternoon to pick them up.
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Thursday: [Thursday 20th August]
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Wine Prongs: [Wednesday 19th August 2020]
Tried out my new wine prongs on a bottle of 2000 Chatea Musar.
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 18th August]
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Musar on the Heath: [Monday 17th August 2020]
Another evening spent on the heath with Jeremy and a bottle of Chateau Musar.
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Back to London: [Sunday 16th August 2020]
Although I had the tower booked for three nights, after two mornings waking up to a shower basin full of woodlice I decided I'd probably had enough, and headed back to London.
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Saturday in Sussex: [Saturday 15th August 2020]
Spent the day pottering about in the car in East Sussex, working my way through a list of things I wanted to do while in the area.

Started with breakfast on the beach at Seaford, then walked a little way along the coastal path to see the Seven Sisters (read more on John Goes For A Walk).

Next I popped into Rathfinny Estate and visited the shop plus took in the impressive views of one of England's biggest vineyards. After that, lunch at the Plough and Harrow in Litlington, followed by another walk to finally get a proper look at the Long Man of Wilmington (also on JGFAW).

Then another stroll along to Firle Beacon, followed by a visit to the pretty little village of Firle (also on JGFAW).

Headed back to the tower after that for dinner, and to spend the evening wine tasting and stargazing on the roof.
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Arriving at the Tower: [Friday 14th August 2020]
I'd booked a weekend stay at Laughton Place, a 16th Century tower near Lewes, way back at the start of June, when I wasn't even sure if we'd be able to go there, and before Chie and Erika had booked their flights to spend most of the school summer holidays in Japan. I decided to keep the booking regardless (as surely I needed some kind of holiday this summer too?), and ended up staying there by myself.

So I picked up a Zipcar in the afternoon to drove down to Sussex. I had considered trying to do this trip just using public transport, but the tower is really quite remote - several miles walk from the nearest station, and it just didn't seem like it was going to be very practical without a car. The drive wasn't particularly fun, although did include the dubious highlight of going through the Blackwall tunnel for the first time which was interesting I suppose. It seemed to take ages, although according to my Google Maps timeline it was about 2 hours and 40 minutes. I suppose it did start to seem a bit less unpleasant once I'd got beyond the M25.

I stopped off at Middle Farm, which was quite close to the tower, to stock up on provisions and cider - probably the biggest selection of cider and perry of any shop in the country. Then spent the remainder of the day exploring in and around the tower.
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Thursday: [Thursday 13th August]
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Musar Jeune 2018: [Wednesday 12th August 2020]
Tried the first of the bottles from the Chatea Musar mixed case this evening - the Musar Jeune 2018.
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Chatea Musar: [Tuesday 11th August 2020]
A mixed case of Chateau Musar arrived today.
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More Terrible Haircut: [Monday 10th August 2020]
I had another go at trying to fix some of the damage from my terrible DIY haircut today. It still looked pretty awful.
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Sunday Roast and Terrible Haircut: [Sunday 9th August 2020]
Went to a nearby pub for an al fresco Sunday roast. Later on I was suddenly gripped by a very ill advised urge to attempt to cut my own hair. It didn't end well.
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Granary Square: [Saturday 8th August 2020]
Walked down to Granary Square and met Andrew there for a lunchtime al fresco beer as he was passing through St Pancras, then a late lunch at Rossopomodoro in Camden.
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Friday: [Friday 7th August 2020]
Not much to report, looks like I had a nice cold can of beer out in the garden after I finished work for the day.
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Curry and the Heath: [Thursday 6th August 2020]
Ordered Indian food from the ever excellent Tiffin Tin for dinner. I had considered carrying it to the heath and eating it there, but in the end that seemed like too much faff, so instead I ate at home and then went for a stroll on the heath afterwards.
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Camden Hells: [Wednesday 5th August 2020]
A case of Camden Hells arrived today.
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Nyetimber: [Tuesday 4th August 2020]
A case of Nyetimber arrived today.
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Flowers: [Monday 3rd August 2020]
Just a couple of photos of flowers in the garden.
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Frank's: [Sunday 2nd August 2020]
Made by probably one and only visit to Frank's in Peckham of the summer this afternoon / early evening, with the usual suspects.
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Al Fresco: [Saturday 1st August 2020]
Had a very al fresco day of dining and drinking. Got the Thameslink down to Blackfriars, then had a leisurely stroll from there to Belgravia, where I had lunch at Oliveto, thoroughly appreciating the new outdoor seating arrangements. Decided to walk back to Kentish Town, through Belgravia, via Hyde Park and Regents Park. On my return to Kentish Town I sat outside the Pineapple for a bit. Finally had a late dinner back at home, cooked out in the back garden.
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