We got rid of the XE in favour of a hybrid Honda. It is a Civic eHev and so far it is proving to be a very nice car. Very well equipped, comfortable and good fun to drive.

Some pics after an afternoon of washing, decontaminating and a coat of paint sealant.

Went to see these guys for a second time.

It was originally supposed to be at St Davids Hall but the venue got changed due to some safety nazi deciding the place wasn't safe. So, off to the CIA (or Motorpoint or Utilita or whatever the hell they decide to call it next), a venue I'm none too fond of in all honesty. The place is far too big with high ceilings, so the acoustics are always boomy and muddy. It's just about ok as a standing venue if you can get close to the front, but dire when they put seats out. This event was seating only.

Still, a gig's a gig! Nothing lifts my mood more than live music and this was a welcome boost.

A couple of dodgy videos. We were halfway back and as it was a seated event (the seats aren't tiered) the view wasn't all that great.

Selected photos from our little break in the US of A.

Rhode Island and Connecticut
There are some nice holiday homes on the RI coastline at Newport if you've got a spare couple of million down the back of the sofa.

Vermont
The only rainy day we had for the full fortnight was our one day in South Vermont (though we had a day of fog on the Maine coast later on). Still beautiful though, even in the low hanging cloud.

New Hampshire

Maine

Boston

Other stuff we did on our short break in Belfast before & after the Van Morrison gig ...

Game of Thrones / Giants Causeway tour

We did this on the Saturday after the gig. A great relaxing, easy going way to spend a day. This is a bus tour which starts in Belfast opposite the Opera House and takes the North Antrim Coast Road to stop at a few GoT filming locations finishing up at Giants Causeway.

You pass through some truly spectacular scenery on the way out. The trip back is inland and not quite so jaw dropping.

First stop: Carrick Fergus (no GoT references, but a very pretty landmark)

Next up: Carnlough
This was used for 22 seconds of footage where the mortally stabbed Arya Stark pulls herself out of a Bravos canal

Next up: Cushenden
There were caves here used in a couple of GoT scenes. The first was the one where Melisandre gave birth to the shadow "thing" which killed Renly Baratheon. The other was the fight between Euron Grayjoy and Jamie Lannister.

Next up:
The Dark Hedges - AKA the Kings Road.

Next up:
Dunluce Castle - this was the Iron Islands / House Grayjoy  castle (use your imagination as CGI played a big part)

Lunch stop:
Chilling in the beer garden of The Fullerton Arms. Enjoyed my pint!

Last up:
Finished the day at Giants Causeway. The place was rammed with hairy backs (as you would expect in peak season), but I loved it anyway. This stretch of coastline is glorious and I could happily spend a week here walking along the clifftops. Wild and beautiful. I bet the locals love this place when the trippers FO in the winter.

To Be Continued ...

A minibreak away to Belfast in Northern Ireland.

Somewhere we've never visited, so time to put that right. The chance to see Sir George Ivan Morrison for the umpteenth time providing the perfect excuse for a weekend jolly.

Some photos of the gig ....

A short video, Days Like This ... great to see the man can still play the sax so well at 76

Part of the closing encore (a rambling version of Gloria). The band played for a full 10 minutes after Van got on the bus home ;) Unfortunately I stopped recording it after the man disappeared. Talented group of musicians there though ...

We went to a display at our local park this week. They lit the whole place up in an atmospheric way. Obviously meant for kids, but we didn't let that put us off!

A very enjoyable evening at Neuadd Dewi Sant. Played a few of the old classics plus many new tunes I'd not heard before.

Masters of their craft! Fantastic musicians on display.

A few rough videos (straight off phone, no editing)

Well, it was a long wait! Original tickets were for March 2020 but covid put paid to that. Gig was rescheduled twice. Fun night out though!

Support was Jesca Hoop who's not really my thang and also an appearance from Peter Jobson (of I am Kloot fame). I'm a big fan of Kloot and this was a great bonus. Did a few acoustic numbers alone at a piano. Great!

One of Peter Jobson doing what he does

And a short video

I've only been to Scotland once (as a young kid) and a couple of times on business trips. Time to put that right and hit the road!

Day 1:

Mostly drudge motorway driving to get to an overnight stop at Lockerbie. Not much there to be brutally honest. Hotel was ok though.

Day 2:

More driving up to our base in Scotland. We chose to base ourselves in Oban and the drive up was fabulous. Spent a few hours in Luss on Loch Lomond on the way up and did a great boat trip. Weather unbelievable (which just never happens when Mrs M and I are on holidays).

Finally arrived at Oban which is very picturesque.

Day 3:

Fort William and Ben Nevis

Started climbing Ben Nevis, got at least 1/10th of the way up before deciding "sod this for a game of caber tossing".

Day 4:

Seil Island and a few castles on the way back

The single track road onto this "island" claims to have the only bridge over the Atlantic (Clachan Bridge). I'm not sure that is strictly true these days as you can get to Skye via a bridge. Anyway, here is a pic of said bridge in all its glory. Apologies for poor quality, Pauline took this photo as I couldn't be arsed to get out of the car at that point. It was a bit chilly and overcast!

Some more pictures of Seil and a few of Carnasserie Castle

Day 5:

Ferry to Lismore - Achanduin Castle

We couldn't get on a ferry crossing to Mull which was rather disappointing, but in hindsight we should have booked well before traveling up to Scotland. Decided we'd give the Lismore ferry a go instead. It's only 10 miles long and a mile wide but a lovely place nonetheless. Had a nice long hike to see the ruins of Achanduin Castle which offers great views over to the mainland and Mull. Weather not so great, but no rain and it did brighten up in the afternoon.

Day 6:

Kintyre - Skipness and Tarbert

Our last day before leaving for a two night stopover in Yorkshire to break up the return journey home.

A morning walk around Skipness which has a nice castle and a chapel with some interesting gravestones (if that kind of thing floats your boat). Followed by a fantastic lunch in Tarbet then, on the way back up to Oban, we made a short detour to Bellanoch and stopped at Knapdale beaver trail to hunt some beavers around Loch Coille-Bharr. It is a 3 mile walk around the Loch and (predictably) we didn't get to see any beavers whatsoever. We did see a few squirrels though! The proper red variety as well (not these grey yank imposters) ;-) Very nice place to walk and a pretty Loch.

Day 7/8:

Day 7 was mostly driving.

Drove out of Scotland and took the back roads through the Yorkshire Dales National Park rather than staying on motorways. The journey took a lot longer than we anticipated, but it was very scenic and we managed to find time to stop and eat in Skipton. Spent some time in here as well :-

My kind of shop!

Did the last driving stint before finally arriving at our hotel for two nights just outside Kirkburton, The Woodman Inn. Couple of pints in the bar went down nicely.

Day 8 we spent the morning at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. You could easily spend the full day there as it is huge. We walked for around three hours and only did about half of it. Well worth a visit, lovely park. Cracking weather again too.

Mrs M: "Oh, look. There's a cow blocking the path".
Me: "Yes love, just don't try milking it!"

Below are a few of the many pictures we took at YSP.

In the afternoon we wandered around Holmefirth. Stumbled across a nice art gallery and spent half an hour chatting to the owner / local artist chap. Came away with a nice signed print.

We still had a bit of time to kill so finished off the day with a walk along the canal up to Standedge Tunnel (a canal tunnel through the pennines).

Then a couple of pints in the beer garden followed by a last night meal at The Foxglove just down the road from where we were staying. The hotel we were booked into apparently can't get staff to open its own restaurant on Mondays / Tuesdays. Poor show!

Day 9:

Breakfast at hotel then M62 -> M6 -> M5 -> M50 -> M4 -> home.
A 1600 mile round trip in total. Very nice time had by all, but there's no place like home.

The end ........

Putting this fiddly wooden car together

It came out pretty good!

During a recent mini break to the Cotswolds we spent a morning at the BMM in gaydon.

Worth a visit. Nice way to while away a morning.

A few races we've been to over the past 5 years or so. Would like to go more regularly but its just so expensive these days.

Silverstone 2019

• Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton
• Runner Up: Valtteri Bottas
• Third Place: Charles LeClerc

Suzuka 2018

• Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton
• Runner Up: Valtteri Bottas
• Third Place: Max Verstappen

A trip of a lifetime to Japan in October 2018. Suzuka Circuit has to be in my all time top 3. What a place!

Circuit of the Americas 2015

• Race Winner: Lewis Hamilton (also won the 2015 WDC at this race)
• Runner Up: Nico Rosberg
• Third Place: Sebastian Vettel

We couldn't have picked a worse race weekend for weather. Not much running on the Friday and no running at all on Saturday. However, the race was epic and the result even better.

A great trip and we would thoroughly recommend CotA as a race venue worth visiting.

From times gone by

Alas now long gone, but not forgotten.

A bit of an old heap, but the motor was wonderful. Sounded fantastic! Make of it what you will.