Madness!

Travelling by train last Saturday, alone, from Euston to Stone in Staffordshire for a family party. My wife is already there having driven up a couple of days earlier to stay with her parents en route. Just settling into my first class carriage (£18 - yes, £18! - single) and hoping for a quiet trip (see blogs passim) when 10 or 12 blokes, some of them carrying musical instruments descend and my heart sinks, particularly when four of them sit together and get the cards out. However, they're all perfectly affable and I fall into conversation with the guy sitting opposite me - I'm guessing you're a band (top marks for observation, eh?). Yes. What kind of music do you do? Oh, pop type stuff, we're just going to the V Festival in Stafford. Really, what band is it? Madness. Madness! Where's Suggs? Two rows behind you. And so he was! And I have to say that it was a really agreeable trip spending a couple of hours with a very pleasant group of people who had no affectations at all. Thanks, guys, I really enjoyed your company and I hope the gig went well.

After that excitement the family party went well and we drove back happily the next day with a boot full of runner beans - despite having loads of our own. The blessings of all your veggies coming at once! Talking of veggies, I've planted some turnips "Tiny Pal" (first time I've tried growing them) and some carrots "Nanco" which are supposed to provide me with carrots for Christmas - it'll be interesting to see if they work. I've also just sowed some "green manure" seeds. Now, growing green manure is meant to be a key part of organic gardening (and I guess I am mostly organic in my approach - I tend to squash blackfly rather than spraying them, but I do resort to sprays as a last resort) but I note on the back of the packet it says that the seeds weren't produced organically! Now, if I was a zealot that could cause me real grief. But I'm not, so it hasn't.

Off for a "Taster Breakfast" with a company on Friday so need to get on with preparing my presentation. Weather is really grim, cat's behaving strangely (perhaps she knows about that woman dropping the cat in the bin) and there's not much else to report. Oh, except that my beautiful daughter, Laura, has got her place at her first choice university to do Classical Civilisation - well done, Sweetheart!