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Saturday, 31 May 2014

Thank Forsters It's Friday Live



Forsters Bistro in Bradford, Centenary Square, City Park is holding different genres of live music every Friday.

Last night was Jade Helliwell who proved very popular. She is a singer/songwriter so sang her own songs alongside a number of cover songs. www.jadehelliwell.com
Support came in the form of Laura Holt, a young lady who is certainly one to watch!

Next Friday, 6th June, is the turn of Matt Baxter, an acoustic guitarist and singer with a folk, blues & soul influence. Matt Baxter UK - SoundCloud

On Friday 13th June another singer/songwriter Dorota will be showcasing alongside Gurgles Band local to Bradford playing pop music.                     Gurgles: Music

Further From The Truth playing Friday 20th June should not be missed, a supercharged female fronted heavy rock band who have played venues across Britain. www.furtherfromthetruth.co.uk
Further From The Truth - 'Crimson Smile' - YouTube

Not only can you be entertained completely FREE of charge but there is a great choice of alcoholic & non alcoholic drinks. Their cocktails are to die for!!!
Add to that the fantastic 'street food' available for a very reasonable price & Fridays are sorted.

For anyone travelling by car there is ample free street parking otherwise it is easily accessible by train or bus.

Anyone unsure where it is, it is opposite the Alhambra theatre!

Of course as well as the Friday music scene @Forstersbistro is an amazing restaurant. The food is fantastic and not expensive so if it's a meal for family or friends, a birthday party, Christmas get together, corporate occasion, wedding or any reason for having great food, drinks, fantastic service and a great atmosphere this is the place to go!

www.forstersbistro.co.uk  9, Aldermanbury, Centenary Square, Bradford, BD1 1SD 01274 739788

Tuesday, 22 April 2014

Back to Skye



Back from another brilliant trip to Scotland!

 
The decision was to break the journey to Skye this time. 9 hours is a long drive with little opportunity to stop unless to eat.
So we decided to stay in Glasgow. Having only ever driven through one part I knew little about it! So I turned to Twitter and asked @colinjustin for suggestions for lunch. I then asked @IainWEwing if he was singing any where.
 
I just booked a Premier Inn for the first night, well you're guaranteed a good night's sleep after all! Their vegetarian breakfasts aren't too bad either and paying in advance was inexpensive.
We headed straight into Glasgow to find The Bay Tree for lunch managing to park very cheaply with only a very short walk. Now this area of Glasgow was lovely with choice of shops reminding us of London and some fabulous residential buildings.
We chose the vegetarian breakfast having eaten little before setting off and it was very tasty. The place was very popular and busy for a Sunday.
 
Then over to the hotel at Bearsden another lovely area after popping to find the restaurant we were to go to in the evening.
We had time to rest before preparing to go out. Originally I was to meet Iain for a drink but then a gig was arranged so we went to Balbirs to listen and have our evening meal. We had phoned to book a table and request a dish without garlic or onion. As we got there Iain was setting up with the band and I went to introduce myself.
 
 

We ordered drinks and then our meal stating we had phoned ahead for a specific dish. As the scuttling started we realised the request had not been passed to the kitchen. They finally said that they could accommodate. After waiting a while, not having ordered starters and realising there were no complimentary poppadoms we ordered some with dips.
The food was well worth the wait. During this time we had the privilege of listening to the jazz band and Iain's dulcet tones. 

We were out late considering I still had a long drive the next day! But of course we had a good night's sleep and a good breakfast to set us on our way.
 
Driving in the highlands is never a chore and we treated it as part of the holiday. A lovely sunny day and beautiful scenery, what more could anyone ask for?
 
So the places we usually had to go flying past we were able to stop at. Although our first stop was to use a loo but even there we found this!
 A floating pier with an amazing view!
Then on further and the chance to stop at Eilean Donan Castle!


 
So onward  and close  to the Kyle of Lochalsh but before crossing the bridge we headed to Lochcarron to an area I had gone to last year. Finding a farm B&B with cottage gave us an idea for another year with a different area of the highlands to explore but close enough to Skye. 
 
So back to the bridge and finally on to Skye.
Another beautiful drive arriving at the The Old Croft House and eating things we had taken with us.

 Then a huge breakfast to start us on our adventures.
 
We wanted to go back over to Oransay Island but were unsure of the tides, that wasn't going to stop us! But first stop was back to the Fairy Pools for another dip!
 
 
 
We decided to go to the closest pools so not as deep and quite slippery so this time we paddled rather than dipped. We could have walked further to the deeper pools, no ice this time but we wanted to move on.
 
Luckily the tide was out although rapidly closing in. Last time the walk way was quite sandy with stones, this time there were more stones and large ones making it harder to walk over. We didn't stay long on Oransay with the tide getting closer but

had the pleasure of sitting watching it lap over the stones to change the walk way yet again.








We had to go for chips after all that walking...had to be done! Shared with a greedy seagull.



Then dessert was awaiting us in the form of yet more amazing vegan baking awaiting our return!


 
 Then another good night's sleep ready for the next adventure!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
 
 


Saturday, 5 April 2014

Barry, Broadmoor, Booze, Benidorm and Bitch


Time I blogged again!

Always the Mistress Never the Bride!

June had that feeling of de ja vue. She had been here before. She would never learn. Why did she always get drawn towards married men? Maybe it was less likely that she would have to make a future commitment but the first one wanted to leave his wife and that caused so many problems and ended the relationship. This one was already intending on leaving his wife and retiring back to his birth place.

It was an accidental meeting at his cousin’s party celebrating 20 years in business and they chatted about so many things they had in common, motorbikes, the countryside,a love of Scotland, music….

They followed each other on Twitter; ah yes, social networking has so much to answer for! So initially it was just some banter on Twitter and then that moved to direct messaging and on to texting. June questioned the photos Jerry had been favouriting; young women but wasn’t that what men did?

So he told her he was married but they had separate rooms and lived separate lives. This fell in line with everything his cousin had told her. She had talked about her cousin visiting; holidays to Scotland and on his motorbike etc. and how would he have so much freedom otherwise.

So the texting turned to sexting. She hadn’t fancied him that night but that had been the trouble with her other relationships; chemistry that soon fell by the wayside! It was his personality that impacted as they could talk about so many subjects and his humour.

He lived in the south but visited his cousin about every 3 or 4 weeks. So during his next visit he was to split the time with his cousin and June. As the time neared she worried that she may not like him or the first kiss would not have the effect she had imagined!

So the day came and June answered the knock on the door. Then he walked in, they chatted and she stretched on her tiptoes to kiss him, not exactly fireworks but there was something!
So they went out to eat and have a few drinks then back to her house. The sexting was to become reality! He was older than her but she wasn’t sure how old and as she looked much younger the gap seemed even bigger. Once in bed age just disappeared and as she had always claimed; age is just a number.

It soon became obvious something wasn’t quite right, yes it had been a few years but she had always had an effect on men yet nothing was rising. The sexting had been amazing and surely a preview of what she could expect. Had he lied? Yes he had but covered this by stating he had been embarrassed and thanking June for being so understanding. Understanding? How would it look if she dumped him because he couldn’t perform, she wasn’t that shallow, had he banked on that?
 
So Jerry could only spend a few hours with June on Saturday then he was moving on to his cousin, not too far away. She would have liked him to stay longer but understood he had been visiting her a long time and for now would need to share. She was going to see him for a short time before he returned on the Sunday.

Within a short time Jerry was asking June if she wanted to go on a biking holiday to Germany, of course she would. All her friends and family told her to go for it, why not! He had spent a number of years going on biking holidays with his cousin but she no longer felt safe. Apparently Jerry had had the sun in his eyes one day, clipped the side and fallen off, no injuries and his cousin had not been on the bike. Unfortunately as it unfolded June wouldn’t be able to get the time due to work commitments. So they discussed it further and decided to have a biking holiday when she was available and to Scotland. She realised this would be far better as she had to renew her passport and at least in the UK she could go home if there were any problems. She embarked on buying a crash helmet and riding jacket. Jerry removed the communication lead from his cousin's helmet and placed it in June's. She questioned what if his cousin changed her mind and he vehemently stated she was not going to Scotland. The way he had said it made June wonder if that had happened and Jerry had had to tell her he was taking her.

So started the relationship! Each time he came to stay she looked at him lying next to her and asked herself what it was that kept her with him but could never answer that.

The time came for the holiday and she was surprised at the amount she could pack into the bag for the side pannier, with extra room in the top box and roll he had on top.

They were riding a route she had taken many times by car. It was many years since June had been on a bike but this was different, not a sporting bike but a comfortable coaster, a Honda Goldwing but it still gave her the same thrill.

They stayed close to Glasgow on the way up and sauntered the rest of the way the next day. What a beautiful journey. June realised a little more about Jerry’s character. They passed a woman riding a push bike in lycra and he put his hand out as if to grab her arse. June scolded him for this and found he wasn’t so impressed when they passed a layby where a number of young, virile men were standing decked in kilts. June couldn’t stop herself saying ‘Way hay’ to which Jerry responded with a derogatory remark. He made a few other comments about women he saw over the week and was over charming when talking to female bar staff. They went for a meal and drinks each evening and some lunchtimes. Jerry liked to drink and was sporting a beer stomach even though some years ago he had had a heart attack. That was the reason for his erectile dysfunction, the tablets he was on. He was using a progesterone cream with little impact.  June explained this could be controlled by what he ate. He had already been away and commented that a number of days he had meat free breakfasts. Yet during this holiday not only did he devour bacon and sausages but a number of other meats during breakfast time.

The holiday was amazing, on a motorbike touring Scotland, bliss. They got on very well and only really had differentiating views over things on the news a couple of evenings. Jerry commented it was the best holiday he had had in years. His cousin usually dictated an agenda each day whereas June wanted spontaneity and cheered when the Sat Nav broke. Jerry soon got used to just going where the roads took him. At first this was a chore for him but eventually led to a far more relaxing holiday.

Taking pictures became easy even whilst moving. June didn’t want to return home and the holiday was extended by staying overnight whilst travelling back.

So they started to unpack the bike and sort through things when the bombshell dropped. Jerry was going to spend the next week with his cousin, she had only recently found that out and as it was no distance to pop over during that time to see her she wondered why he didn’t appear to want to. He did say that they may go away for a few days. Then he told June not to bombard him with texts, when asked he said that he would be busy. Busy with what, just busy was snapped back at her. Well that was the holiday well and truly over and ruined.

So June went back to work and awaited a text. She decided not to text him after what he had said. He eventually questioned the silence, how dare he! She tried to discuss via text and at no time did he try to call or go over to her house. She was so incensed and he appeared oblivious to what he had done or that was the impression he gave.

He had told her some bizarre things about his cousin; rubbing her feet, holding her hair whilst she threw up and in Scotland pointing to a place they had stayed stating it was the last room, quite ironic for two people who usually like things pre organised and sharing a room?  He followed it by saying he slept on the sofa. June had stayed in many hotels and very few had sofas and certainly not big enough for Jerry to sleep on.

So Jerry chose to stay with his cousin rather than sort things with June. She was so angry that she took to Twitter but with nothing that could not be evidenced! Her friends kept messaging her to dump him, even people on Twitter she had never spoken to were messaging her saying so including men. Not one person unfollowed or blocked her for her ranting.

June blocked Jerry and his cousin and they did the same with a few of her followers doing the same, ironically most June never followed in the first place.

Yet still Jerry did not attempt to see June or call her. Then he suggested they meet at a local pub to talk. He was to meet her at 6.00pm, the time he usually set off home; obviously no intention of cutting his time short with his cousin! They met but the air was tense and nothing was resolved, he just relayed how angry his cousin had been, shame, but June explained everything was evidence based on what he had told her.

Once he was home they kept in touch by text but infrequently at first. This slowly built up and they were back to how they were before. However June stipulated that when Jerry came up to visit it would no longer be split he would have to arrange something else with his cousin.
This was prompted by the fact that two weeks after the incident, when everything had died down she posted vile comments about June on Twitter. She never mentioned her name but made reference that made it so obvious. She was an absolute bitch and the whole tone was that of utter jealousy! Even commenting on the use of a hit man, June could have taken this to the police.
It always had been strange that June and his cousin knew each other yet as soon as June started seeing Jerry the communication stopped!

So the visits continued then some became halfway meets around Leicester. June didn’t mind as she enjoyed driving and it meant the comfort of hotels, one time it was Harrogate.

June was never interested in Jerry’s past but had no choice as he spilled everything out. Touring round the Dales he commented on places he had been and many related to being with females. Oh the tales June could have told but she found no need to. So she listened to him telling her about the females he had bedded; she knew he had had two relationships whilst him and his wife had been estranged. Then she discovered he had left his wife on two occasions in the early years, leaving his children too and had continued to have numerous affairs over the years. She felt he needed to tell her to compensate for his lack of function by his stories. Bells should have been ringing but they weren’t and she didn’t know why.

June had never put her life on hold for Jerry but kept weekends free when he was due, then on a couple of occasions he changed the date. So she decided just to make arrangements and he would have to fit in round her. One such time was a special meal at her favourite restaurant and she told him he could either go with her or change the weekend to come up. So they went together and he must have seen her in a different light, she chatted to friends and hardly had any time for him.  She did have a photo taken with him and later saw he looked like a cat caught in head lights!

She had wondered if he had kept seeing her due to worrying what she may do after the Twitter incident. That same weekend they ate at her local Chinese restaurant and the patron was desperate to explain how June had instigated one of the options on the menu. All Jerry could say was that he knew as June had told him. He was blatantly put out when the attention was on her. If only she had been in a better frame of mind she would never have stayed with him, she didn’t know at the time.

They had booked the Goldwing Treffen trip that was being held at Kelso, Scotland again, June couldn’t wait.

They arrived at the B&B and she knew immediately that the owner was someone she could get along with; she was very disorganised and hilarious.
Jerry took a shine to her but on a number of occasions she stated she had forgotten his name, he obviously had made no impression on her!

So they settled in and went down to see where the Treffen site was after finding somewhere to eat. That was interesting as he over-heard a woman discussing going to Benidorm whilst paying the bill and had to join in, June walked outside. She knew he went once a year with two mates but couldn’t imagine anything more horrendous. He had also gone with his wife early in the relationship; had a voucher off a holiday and of course they were still friends. How naïve she had been or blinded.

Jerry always struck up a conversation wherever he was, leaving June twiddling her thumbs and often being ignored. He had to be centre of attention as June cringed seeing the faces of people, usually women wishing he would shut up.

There were other bikers in the B&B who were lovely people and during conversation over breakfast Jerry ran his mouth off as usual. He told them they were from Leeds and Bradford but when probed explained he worked at Broadmoor and had a house down there. One bloke stated that it must be hard for June, hilarious after such a short time he perceived what Jerry was oblivious to over months!

There were very few trips arranged during the day so June and Jerry went off exploring and this was territory that June knew well.

Then each evening it was down to the Treffen ground. Jerry had been before with his cousin and apparently never gone on an evening. How absurd to go for that reason and yet stay away, what hold did she have over him? One evening they sat opposite a bloke who chatted and even June enjoyed his company. As Jerry went to the bar they continued their discussion and he commented on the age gap.

During their time together Jerry had to speak to the police about historical happenings where he worked having worked there for so many years. He stated he had seen nothing and it was impossible to get near female patients. It wasn’t until June stopped seeing him that she saw programmes and links on Twitter stating clearly that the person in question had keys and could access all areas. She also remembered the sleazy comment when she questioned something about other women and he responded that he did not have teenagers chasing him, a strange response.

It all came to a head when Jerry stated he wanted to see June before the five weeks they had arranged. He suggested a weekend and June thought it was all arranged. Suddenly there were all sorts of excuses why he could not come up to her. This was the last straw, she was starting to see what friends had told her that he was controlling and manipulating.

She told him that if him and his wife were friends and lived separate lives then he would be able to arrange it. He told her he was trying to sort something but the excuses kept coming. June was at breaking point and told him there would be consequences for the way he had treated her. She posted something on face book and the flood gates opened. Initially he told her to ‘pack it in’, who the hell was he, her father! Well he was old enough. He then stated she had set him an impossible task, blaming her as he always did. He had told her he was arranging to see her. However the flood gates came in the form of his family, his daughter, son-in-law and grandson. His daughter asked questions so she got the answers, his son-in-law just sent vile messages that were hilariously grammatically incorrect and soon showed the calibre of family Jerry had. June hoped they were giving him hell.
What did come out of this was the surprise that June knew Christine. How strange June had never thought of his cousin's name being shortened. Then she started to wonder. His daughter was called Kristina very similar. Why choose that name. Her detective mind started to kick in. Jerry had told her a story from the past that made no sense. He told her that many years ago he had gone to a strip club and with them was a young, naïve man. The stripper draped a towel over the guy's knee and touched him underneath. June felt sick at the thought. The young bloke could not control what happened next! Jerry then went on to say very angrily that some bastard had told the blokes wife to which June retorted good. Jerry was fuming at this and went on to say that the bloke's wife was pregnant. She waited to have the baby then threw him out. He then went on to say that the bloke went on to meet someone else who was patient and taught him things about sex. Now June started to think. Yes Jerry would know about the incident, about the bloke and his wife splitting but about intricate details about his next relationship, no that did not add up. Then she wondered, was the bloke him? He had left around that age to leave his family and move hundreds of miles away. It fitted with him running away from responsibility after all he left his wife and children twice. Why did she take him back? June did know many women who hold onto husbands and partners for the children or monetary reasons, something she could never do.
But this meant that his cousin could actually be his daughter, again the age was right. This would make sense of why he wanted to see her so often, why he pandered to her ways and demands but the sharing of a hotel room was still bizarre. She was like a child with him in many ways, asking him to get things for her, he also took her shopping when over even though she had a car and he ensured she was ok financially. He had helped her move flats to somewhere more comfortable and was considering buying her flat on moving up.
He had bought June an Easter egg and had one for his cousin stating she did not care what egg she had but demanded a mug.
It would also explain her reactions towards June when she started seeing Jerry.
However she would just have to wonder.
June had been ill and in hospital during their relationship and Jerry had text into the early hours checking how she was. It was those times that impacted, he could not just drive up to see her. However after leaving hospital June was still unwell and Jerry was due up. He was supporting his cousin with a cake sale supporting MS as his daughter Kristina was a sufferer. June was aware this was a busy time but he had driven up the night before yet continued his arrangements before going over to see her. There were plenty of helpers on the day so him not being there or leaving earlier would not have mattered.

Now this draw his cousin had over him seemed easy to explain if his cousin was his daughter. If this was not the case then the relationship remained a very strange one indeed! 

So that was the end of that relationship and she was saddened by no more bike trips to Scotland!