John - Archived Entries for 2021 / 10

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:: Halloween
Back from the Midlands
To the East Midlands
Double Pineapple
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Canterbury to Chilham
Saturday
Ditchling Beacon
Cross Country
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Wedding Anniversary
Macarons, Cider, Disco
Friday
Sushi and Malaysian Food
Wednesday
Tuesday
Monday
Dalston and Chambolle Musigny
Royal Oak
Friday
Thursday
Wednesday
Tuesday
Instant Macaroni Cheese
Picnic on the Heath
Saturday
Friday

Halloween: [Sunday 31st October 2021]
We all got into the spirit of it a bit this year.
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Back from the Midlands: [Saturday 30th October 2021]
Drove from the East Midlands back to London in the morning, stopping off for lunch in Hemel Hempstead of all places, and happened upon a nice pub called the Three Horseshoes by the canal. Later on in the afternoon the girls went off to do pumpkin carving with local friends, and I went and sat in the woods on the heath until it got dark.
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To the East Midlands: [Friday 29th October 2021]
Drove up to the East Midlands this morning, to visit Mum. Took Erika to see the fair in the early evening.
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Double Pineapple: [Thursday 28th October 2021]
Went to the Pineapple twice today - first time for lunch, second time after finishing work for a quick pint before dinner. Tried to take the same photo both times.
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 27th October 2021]
To the heath once again in the early evening.
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 26th October 2021]
Early evening visit to the heath.
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Monday: [Monday 25th October]
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Canterbury to Chilham: [Sunday 24th October 2021]
Went down to Canterbury to visit Leon and family today. Leon and I left the girls to their own devices this time, and we went for a walk out in the countryside surrounding Canterbury - from Canterbury to Chilham.
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Saturday: [Saturday 23rd October 2021]
Quiet day at home.
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Ditchling Beacon: [Friday 22nd October 2021]
Had the day off work today, and decided to do my now fairly standard outing of getting the train down to Hassocks, and walking up Ditchling Beacon. This time for a slight change I stopped off in Ditchling for lunch first, and then had a glass or two of Black Dog Hill atop Ditchling Beacon, overlooking the vineyard where the grapes for it were grown.
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Cross Country: [Thursday 21st October 2021]
Two visits to the heath today - first to see Erika's cross country run in the morning, then I clocked off from work a bit early and went for a late afternoon / early evening walk with some East Meon and some Monster Munch.
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 20th October]
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 19th October 2021]
Took Erika to her woodworking class and went for a short walk on the heath while she was there. Later on in the evening we fnished of the macarons, and had some Cheateau Peyraguey.
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Monday: [Monday 18th October 2021]
Christian was in the neighbourhood for a morning run, so we went for a coffee and I followed him to the top of Parliament Hill from where he continued his run again.
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Wedding Anniversary: [Sunday 17th October 2021]
We were originally supposed to visit Grandma today, but Chie wasn't feeling well so we decided to postpone. I spent the morning scrubbing mildew off the walls, which wasn't much fun. Erika made soup for lunch, and we had a special afternoon tea as it was our wedding anniversary today. Later on the girls were otherwise engaged with Japanese homework or something and I went for a walk on the heath.
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Macarons, Cider, Disco: [Saturday 16th October 2021]
Went down to St Pancras to buy macarons for our impending wedding anniversary. Cider festival at the Pineapple in the afternoon. In the evening Erika did some disco dancing at home
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Friday: [Friday 15th October]
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Sushi and Malaysian Food: [Thursday 14th October 2021]
Couldnt be bothered cooking today, nor could we agree on what to eat, so we actually ordered two takeaways - sushi for the girls, and I oddly had Malaysian food.
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 13th October]
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 12th October]
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Monday: [Monday 11th October]
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Dalston and Chambolle Musigny: [Sunday 10th October 2021]
Lunch in Dalston at a Turkish restaurant while Erika was at a friend's party nearby. Later on in the afternoon I headed to the heath for some Chambolle Musigny.
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Royal Oak: [Saturday 9th October 2021]
Went down to Borough to meet Andrew at the Royal Oak.
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Friday: [Friday 8th October]
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Thursday: [Thursday 7th October 2021]
Drizzly time on the heath, then Lego with Erika a bit later on.

Today's wine tasting notes: Gavignet Nuit St Georges "Les Pruliers" 2011. Red/brown colour, prunes, cherries, slightly floral nose. Pleasant mouthfeel: silky but thick, fruit nicely intact but acidity quite mellow. Tannins very soft. Good (underlined).
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 6th October 2021]
Pleasant skies this evening.

Today's wine tasting notes: Gavignet Nuits St Georges "Les Bousselots" 2012. Cherries on nose, but slightly flat. Aged, savoury palate. That velvety vinous thing but strained tannins. I wanted a bit more fruit expression. Slightly underwhelmed by this to be honest.
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 5th October 2021]
Quick visit to the heath while Erika was at her woodworking class.
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Instant Macaroni Cheese: [Monday 4th October 2021]
I wanted to experiment with trying to assemble my own "instant" (ish) macaroni cheese for camping/walking, and the ingredients arrived today.
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Picnic on the Heath: [Sunday 3rd October 2021]
Lunchtime picnic and then a bit of a wander around on the heath with our local friends, betwen occasional rain showers.

Today's wine tasting notes: Gavignet Nuits St Georges Vielle Vignes 2017. Succulent cherries, velvety, thick mouthfeel. Really lovely actually. (Tasting notes cut short a bit as it started raining!)
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Saturday: [Saturday 2nd October 2021]
Rather a rainy, dreary sort of a day. I just popped out for a bit to "wear in" my new walking boots.

Today's wine tasting notes: Gavignet Nuits St Georges "Les Pruliers" 2012. Decanted. Raining outside. Cherries on nose have broadened, more vinous. Plummy (prunes?), peppery, and Chie found hints of sandalwood on the nose. Savoury palate, not too acidic, chewy tannins: smooth initially, a little peppery later.
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Friday: [Friday 1st October 2021]
Short early evening visit to the heath.

Today's wine tasting notes - a break from the Gavignet/Burgundy today, as I was in the mood for English sparkling to celebrate the end of the working week (and I had just completed a several month long project on Turkey, which I wanted to mark somehow).

Breaky Bottom 2014 Cuvee Michelle Moreau. I've had this a few times before, and previously remember it being vivacious, zesty and interestingly slightly orangey. Today though it showed a little differently: really bold, vibrant citrus/apple, less orange than previous outings. A little more autolytic character on the nose now: brioche?
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