bar

Not as bad as expected . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

As weeks go, last week was no different from the usual, although the cafe was (as usual) closed for the Bank Holiday, so Monday was a holiday. I find it unusual, that on possibly one of the most lucrative days on the calendar, the business closes, whilst the other coffee shops are open. But they have their reasons I suppose.

The biggest event of the week was my niece’s wedding. We have never met her husband to be, although we were aware of him. She is about 5 foot tall and very slim and he is getting on for 6 foot and is very large. Large to the point of being obese, but that has nothing to do with me. They are both well suited and seem very much in love.

They had a civil ceremony in a local event venue called The Engine Shed. It literally was an old railway engine shed in Wetherby but is now a much used local ‘party place.’

Then © disused-stations.org.uk
Now © confetti.co.uk
Ready to eat © Tony Huby

It was a good, if a bit of a long, day. The ceremony was at 11:00, but we were asked to be there at around 10:30. I think this was to ensure that the obligatory latecomers didn’t disrupt any of the proceedings. The ceremony went according to whatever plan was in place, and it was quite emotional for the groom, who bravely struggled with his own personal vows, but it all came good in the end.

It took no more than 20 minutes for the service to complete and we were then told that photos were to be taken outside. this was the first of the, shall we say “boring bits.” It took about an hour before all the formal pictures had been taken and we could go back into the warmth. The ‘Wedding Breakfast’ was served and it was a good meal. Then came the speeches and by half-past 2, the first part of the day was complete.

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The evening session was due to start at around 17:30, so time was spent in the bar trying not to get drunk. I was our driver, for a change, but I had a plan, that if I did feel that I couldn’t drive home, we could always get the local bus. Thankfully the price of the drinks prevented me from drinking more than I should.

© RockChoir.com

The session started with a performance by the Rock Choir, which was excellent. They sang around 6 or 7 songs, all of which were favourites of the bride and groom. Then we were ‘treated’ to the sounds of the ‘Disco!’ The ‘DJ’ could only be described as a cross between Greg Wallace and Ross Kemp. He liked the sound of his own voice, as the volume on his microphone was louder than the music he was playing. And the music . . . he seemed to like playing all those tunes that Dad’s dance really badly to (ABBA for example) or those rubbish tunes that are designed to get people all doing the same moves such as The Macarena. Supper was served at 20:00 and it was a choice between a rather dark looking chicken and rice offering and Macaroni Cheese with a small corn-on-the-cob. By this time I was completely passed it and needed to go home.

It was a good(ish) day, but thankfully there will not be another one in the near future.

Interesting (Disappointing) day . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

Bar3

For whatever reason, our day out shopping on Thursday did not take place. What usually happens is that we go to Wetherby, have a walk around the Market then visit Bar3 for lunch. However, on the past two occasions we were served by new staff, who didn’t seem to know what we would normally have. We like to share a wrap, split over two plates. That way we appear to each get more or less the same salad and chips that a single portion would be. Most of the staff know us by sight, but the new staff were just that, new.

Tesco, rather than Morrisons was the order of the day yesterday. We had it in mind to spend a little time as possible instore then hed off for a bit of lunch at Ego @ The Wellington. It’s been a while since I visited The Wellington, but I must have subscribed to their newsletter as I have been getting an email from them at least once a week.

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However, back to Tesco. I was very dismayed by the number of customers, instore that were not wearing a face covering. I estimate that there was at least 20% of the customers did not even attempt to cover their face! I was also baffled by the 5% that had a covering, but had decided that they only needed to cover their throat, leaving their mouth and nose uncovered. There was even one man that had his face covering over his forehead. Now I know that for some people it can be a very traumatic thing wearing a mask, but I cannot believe that all of those people had some form of medical exemption. Although I may be wrong!

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I’m flitting back and forth here. We finished the shopping and set off to the Wellington. The place looked not too full and there seemed to be a good few empty tables. We asked for a table for two but was advised, that there was a 30 minute wait for a table, and then another 30 minute wait for food. It was bizarre. It was half past one, which meant that we would not even be served until until half past two, which seemed ridiculous. I think it was a trick to get people into the bar for more drinks rather than anything else, although the waiter claimed it was due to staff shortages.

The Inn @ Scarcroft
Frozen Fish ??

We were getting a little hungry by now, so K*** suggested we try The Inn at Scarcroft. We had been a few times, but it had been last year when I last went. No problems here. K*** requested a children’s Fish & Chips (she had had that before, and it was ample for her) and I selected the standard Fish & Chips. I must say, it was very disappointing. Whilst K***’s was real battered fish strips, mine appeared to be a portion of ready battered frozen fish. It should have been Cod, but there was no way I could tell what fish it even was. There should have been triple cooked chips, but they looked just like standard frozen ones. If I we go back, then the Fish & Chips will not be my choice.

Holiday over . . .

/ Tony / 1 Comment

So, we had a couple of nights away this week for our wedding anniversary. We were based in Clapham, North Yorkshire and didn’t move very far from there. On the first day, we stopped off in Settle as it was market day, and we always like a good market. It is a pleasant town with some nice shops and a couple of nice pubs.

The New Inn

We were booked into The New Inn in Clapham, but could not check-in until 3pm. We arrived at the hotel just after 2:30 with the idea of having a drink in the bar before going to our room to unpack. However we were shown straight to the room, so we didn’t bother with the drink. It was a nice afternoon so we had a brief walk around the village. To be honest, there was not a lot there and it didn’t take up long.

The evening meal was good, and we sat in the bar area for a while, before deciding to go up to our room. It had been a long day, and we were both asleep my 10:00pm.

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The next day, we went to the village of Ingleton. We went with the sole intention of visiting the Ingleton Waterfall Trail. K*** had read all about and it was only 4½ miles round walk, averaging around 2½ hours, so I thought it would be a nice paced walk. How wrong was I? Basically, the first 3¾ miles consisted of steps going up and down and up and down the side of the valley. The steps were not bad in some places, but in many areas, parts of the path had worn away over the year leaving some really big steps. It took just under 4 hours to complete the walk in the end. The waterfalls, however, were epic and it was worth the effort just to see them.

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Back to work on Monday, and I cannot say I’m looking forward to it. The strangest thing is, that when I get there I love the job. The people that I work with on those 2 days are great, it’s just the thought of lifting the dishwasher tray continuously for 6½ hours that kind of fills me with ‘dread!’

A little stressful . . .

/ Tony / Leave a comment

The youngest is with us this weekend. He came home on Friday morning for his fortnightly visit. This is always a little stressful for us. The reason being, that before he can come home, we have to have a negative covid-19 test. His residential care home have provided us with a quantity of testing kits and we do our test first thing, then contact the care home and let them know it is negative. We have to go through the same procedure again on the Monday morning, before he is allowed to return.

It was very worrying when we first started the test. We were concerned that we were not doing the test correctly and even more worrying that the test would show positive. After a couple of tests we became quite familiar with the procedure, but there was always that nagging feeling that one or both of would show positive either before he comes home or before he returns. It is now even more worrying as things start to open up more and people seem to more relaxed about social distancing, that the chance of a positive reading is possibly greater now than it was a couple of months ago.

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We went for our, now usual lunch on Thursday at Bar3, a local Coffee, Bar & Kitchen (as it is called) bar in Wetherby. Neither of us can face a whole meal, so we tend to share a wrap or a panini and have it split over two plates . They don’t seem to mind this as a few couples do the same. The café where I work tend to frown on ‘sharers’. The boss sees it as lost income, but surely it is better to have two people share a meal, than have them go elsewhere? Some people do push it a little too far though. Three people came in on Tuesday that had been in before. They decided they wanted to share a Greek Salad. In my opinion the salad is too much for one, about right for two but not enough for three people. The boss was not happy about three sharing and told them that she would have to make a charge for using the cutlery and extra plates! She was even a less happy person when they said they wouldn’t bother and left.

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Coming back to the testing thing. On Saturday morning, the post arrived and the was a letter with the NHS (National Health Service) logo on the front. I’ve been waiting for a while to be contacted as I have a problem with arthritis in both knees. Back in late 2018, I had an X-ray on them and I was told that the Dr’s would be in touch. At the end of January 2020, I received a letter explaining that appointments have been delayed and I would be informed about my condition as soon as they were able to confirm a date.

The about three months ago I received a letter, from the Government department, DoHSC (Department of Health & Social Care) inviting me to take in an “Important Survey” to would supposedly ‘help the Government avoid outbreaks of COVID-19″. My name had been picked out at random from many thousands to take part. I read the letter and decided that I didn’t want to take part. I have enough to deal with these days without having to take part in ‘voluntary’ studies. I shredded the letter and thought that would be the end of it. at the beginning of May, I got a reminder letter, again asking me to take part in the study. another letter for the shredder. The letter on Saturday was my ‘final’ reminder.

I couldn’t help thinking, where do they get the resources to send out three letters to someone who obviously is not interested (I would have actioned the first letter if I had been). And, why use the postal system, when they have my personal email address that the Dr’s surgery contacts me by. But then at the end of the day, it’s not the NHS that is doing this. It’s the DoHSC in conjunction with a London college and a company that specialises in surveys and polls.