Not recommended

Yesterday we cycled to Ely along the river bank. Doesn't that sound idyllic?

It's a BAD idea. The lovely towpath to Waterbeach was to blame; it lulled us into a false sense of security. Never cycle to Ely along the river bank. Walk it, yes (and expect it to take you most of the day, and take lots of water and food), but don't do what we did and take your bikes over all those stiles and along horrible bumpy ground that often can't be cycled on very easily. And if you must do it, make sure you at least wait until they've repaired the bit of railway track where the cycle network crosses it. There's nothing more dispiriting than standing on the wrong side of a 7ft fence with the cathedral on the horizon, looking a sign that says "Ely 2 miles" and realising you're going to have to take a 6-mile detour on an A road. In fact, if we'd researched it properly beforehand, we would have realised there's a much better route.

That said, the fens are absolutely beautiful, and it was quite something being out there in what feels like the middle of nowhere with all that sky to look at. If my camera wasn't playing up I would have had some amazing pictures. Maybe next time...

Floods, and refugee-Truck

Half of Oxfordshire is under water, along with several other bits of England. This makes it difficult to be quite so unreasonably annoyed about Truck being cancelled - other people have far worse problems to deal with at the moment, and besides, I really wouldn't want to try camping in a field swamped by more than a foot of water mixed with cow shit. And as another plus point, an alternative 'Truck' happened anyway, as a last-minute gig at Oxford Brookes student union.

So Simon and I decided to drive down to Oxford with some friends, cram into a Travelodge and watch some bands while eating Rotary Club bacon rolls. Truck staff were there in wellies and waterproof capes, and the barman with the fez and the golden wings served people perry. Frank Turner and Youthmovies were fab. The Brian Jonestown Massacre were okay-ish, but completely unworthy of the genius tag they have somehow ended up with. (Message for BJM: a decent riff played over and over again quickly goes from being pretty enjoyable to being pretty dull.) However. Much fun was had, and my weekend wasn't wasted - although with hindsight, we were lucky not to get caught in any flooding on the roads. I have also decided to head out to the rescheduled festival in September, so all in all I'm feeling much more upbeat. Plus: I still have the week off work. And we're not flooded.

Truck off

The bastard weather has ruined my favourite festival of the year. After a day of planning, buying food, making sure we had tents and wellies and all other things festival-like, we arrived home to find the Truck site is a washout and the organisers have postponed it until September. Boo!

To top it off, I may not be able to go on the rescheduled date as it would mean more precious time off work. And I don't have anything to do for the weekend. I'm thinking of getting in the car and heading to the driest place I can find tomorrow, just for the sake of it...

Move over, Felicity Kendal

We've got courgettes growing on our balcony. Despite having made it to the age of 28, I still find it fascinating that you can plant a seed in a pot of earth and it will eventually grow into a great big, prickly plant with enormous leaves, let alone that the prickly plant will then produce vegetables that I can eat. We also have tomatoes, which are still very tiny, and potatoes (we hope) and a plant that should grow butternut squash but hasn't yet.

The only problem is, I'm not sure there's enough room for us on the balcony any more...

Lazy and forgetful

Those are my two excuses for not having posted in a year. A year! In that time I have moved cities (back to my home town of Cambridge), passed my MA, started a new job, bought a 16-year-old car that has miraculously survived my driving (so far), and generally done all sorts of new and interesting things. None of which I can remember now, obviously.

Finding this blog again is a bit like turning up some old diary that I started when I was 12 years old and lost interest in two weeks later. Except this time I am going to try and start again... promise.

So: this week I have mostly been working lots, getting very excited about heading off to Truck festival in a little over a week, and trying to figure out whether I can persuade anyone with the knowledge to fit a second-hand car radio into my car, thus saving us having to drive to said festival in silence. I'm not sure I fancy my chances.