Bloody Otley

Before we arrived for dinner the hostess had to hose the blood off the patio doors.  So much was running down the glass it made the room dark.  Having ascertained there hadn't been an axe murder she went back inside,   perplexed and more than a little worried.  

Later a noise sounding like a mad man pounding  on  an upstairs window disturbed our meal.  We crept upstairs to see a large crow flinging itself at the window while another stood on the flat roof as if keeping guard.  It was like being extras in Hitchcock's The Birds.

The attack on the house continues 

New people are running the pub.   They effortlessly display skills that most publicans find impossible to master - saying hello, goodbye, thank you and making you feel as if they are glad to see you

Biggest problem on returning home is the socialising and our lack of selfcontrol when offered alchohol.  Even the latest TOPs play involved 4 pints of superb real ale 

Print Page

Friends and family

An interlude back in the UK. Its great to be with family and friends, as well as sleeping in the same bed for consecutive nights.

Brilliant weekend in Paris for a friend's surprise 30th birthday party. A very drunken evening in a bar with some stunning live music ended up in a taxi at 5am being berated by the Ghanaian driver for stealing his county's gold. Think he realised I wasn't personally responsible but I'm not sure. Then had to break into the hotel because the night porter was doing his own thing. It was alright once I had extracted my head that was stuck in the sliding doors. I was bit paranoid when I woke up because I was sure I had broken the doors and my escapade had been recoded.   But they seemed to be working OK .

Paris is stunning I suppose it helps in you capitulate in a world war where the participants think it is OK to bomb each other's city into submission.

Traveling makes you really appreciate home. Otley really is special. There probably hasnt been another time in history when we have had peace, security that a bit of money provided and all the advantages of a village community.

Neither of us are excited by starting on yet another journey but, nice as it is, we are not ready to settle at home yet - we have told the agency to continue the holiday letting until Jan 2009.