John - Archived Entries for 2021 / 10

Try to pretend you don't want one of these tweed caps.

Dr John Hawkins

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Recent Entries:: 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
Wine Tasting on the Heath
Mellow Fruitfulness
Tuesday
Monday
Lunch with Friends
Lunch on Ditchling Beacon
Friday
Thursday
Autumn Equinox
Woodwork
Churros
Candles
Frank's
Sunset on the Heath
Thursday
Breaky Bottom and Jagariko
The Surprise Eruption of Mount Hampstead
Monday
Go Ape
Saturday
Erika's Birthday
Oliveto
Wednesday
Negroni
Apple
Heath and Pineapple
Butterbeer

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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Wine Tasting on the Heath: [Thursday 30th September 2021]
Another early evening stroll to the heath. I took my little notebook with me to record wine tasting notes.

Today's notes. Gavignet Nuits St Georges "Les Bousselots" 2014. Colour ruby-brown, nose more cherry liqueur than fresh cherries - a bit reminiscent of Ginjinha actually. Condensed, slightly savoury, still good acidity. Broadly silky on tongue, but some subtle other texture. Tannins noticeable but in proportion.
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Mellow Fruitfulness: [Wednesday 29th September 2021]
Surveyed the state of the fruit bearing flora in the garden this afternoon - surprisingly we actually seem to have a couple of tomatoes!

Also today a delivery of Gavignet wines from Tom, another really interesting selection of wines not currently advertised on the wine list on his website. I decided it might be good to start writing down tasting notes for these, and Erika kindly let me have a little notebook of hers to do so in.

Today's tasting notes: Gavignet Bourgogne Hautes Cote de Nuits "Clos de Dames Huguettes" 2016. Sweet / candied / morello cherry on nose. Nice fresh acidity, juicy very soft tannins. Youthful, lovely, light. Not sure it went with tapas though.
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Tuesday: [Tuesday 28th September 2021]
Quick walk to the heath, went to pick Erika up from her woodwork class, then candles in the garden again later on.
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Monday: [Monday 27th September]
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Lunch with Friends: [Sunday 26th September 2021]
Sunday lunch with our local friends, then a tour of a local yard sale in the afternoon.
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Lunch on Ditchling Beacon: [Saturday 25th September 2021]
Took the train down to Hassocks, and repeated a circular walk from last summer, up to Ditchling Beacon and back again.
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Friday: [Friday 24th September 2021]
Candles in the garden once again.
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Thursday: [Thursday 23rd September]
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Autumn Equinox: [Wednesday 22nd September 2021]
Today was the autumn equinox, so I got up early today to go and watch the sunrise from Hampstead Heath. Then went back later to catch the sunset as well.
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Woodwork: [Tuesday 21st September 2021]
Erika has started a woodworking class, and I went to pick her up from it in the early evening.
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Churros: [Monday 20th September 2021]
Had some churros after dinner.
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Candles: [Sunday 19th September 2021]
Once more lit the big stick candle in the garden this evening.
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Frank's: [Saturday 18th September 2021]
Went to Frank's for the first and last time this year.
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Sunset on the Heath: [Friday 17th September 2021]
Headed to the heath for the sunset - not quite as dramatic as the volcanic eruption earlier this week, but still quite a nice one nonetheless.
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Thursday: [Thursday 16th September]
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Breaky Bottom and Jagariko: [Wednesday 15th September 2021]
After work drinks and nibbles in the garden: Breaky Bottom and Jagariko (a kind of Japanese crisps which are very moreish).
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The Surprise Eruption of Mount Hampstead: [Tuesday 14th September 2021]
Strange conditions on the heath this evening: an evening mist, couple with the pink skies of sunset, somehow combined to make it look as though a volcano was erupted over in Hampstead.
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Monday: [Monday 13th September]
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Go Ape: [Sunday 12th September 2021]
As a birthday treat we took Erika and her friend to Go Ape in Alexandra Palace for some swinging about in the treetops.
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Saturday: [Saturday 11th September 2021]
Nice warm day - had watermelon in the afternoon.
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Erika's Birthday: [Friday 10th September 2021]
Rather a quiet one this year - we somehow didn't really get our act together to organise anything. So it was just the three of us - present opening in the morning, cake after Erika got back from school, and sushi for dinner in the evening.
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Oliveto: [Thursday 9th September 2021]
Went to the dentist again this morning, which meant lunch at Oliveto afterwards.
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Wednesday: [Wednesday 8th September]
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Negroni: [Tuesday 7th September 2021]
Had a Negroni out in the garden at aperitivo hour.
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Apple: [Monday 6th September 2021]
An apple on the tree was looking particularly red already, so we decided to have the first of the season today.
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Heath and Pineapple: [Sunday 5th September 2021]
Afternoon stroll to the heath followed by a visit to the Pineapple.
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Butterbeer: [Saturday 4th September 2021]
Made butterbeer with Erika in the evening.
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