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Right Royal Treat

February 19, 2022 Neil

I hope you had a nice Valentine’s Day however you spent it. I have spent many of them as a single man over the years making me quite an inexperienced boyfriend when it comes to this event. However I did manage to get a card and flowers delivered, so maybe I am a tiny bit smoother than I give myself credit for. Sadly I did not manage to see Lynda on the day itself but I did have something up my sleeve to mark the occasion the night after that I will tell you about a bit later.

Personally I have always really viewed Valentines’ just as a chance to appreciate the people around you and in your life. Mind you that like telling your other half that they are special should of course happen all the time really not just on one day a year, although in many ways that would be a lot easier. I think my point is while it is marketed as a couple’s thing everyone can still share in the love and appreciate the feel good factor of it.

That said I was looking at some of the things that I have done on previous Valentine Day’s they include going to watch Spurs, taking the Neighbours tour in Melbourne, doing a final radio show at a station that I was at for five years and going to see The Only Fools and Horses musical alone. Therefore looking back it seems like I have always spent the day with someone incredibly special to me, myself. Which I think if you recall the song is exactly what George Benson and Whitney Houston suggested is the greatest love of all!

Since I was diagnosed as Coeliac and then put on a Gluten Free diet around a year ago now, Lynda has been brilliant at not only cooking me amazing meals that fit my dietary requirements but finding some restaurants that are totally Gluten Free. When we go to these places it means that I do not have to ask a million questions and I can order everything on the menu. Plus I do not have to be concerned about cross contamination. She found a new one called Niche just down the road from Angel Tube Station that we visited a couple of weeks ago.

One of the reasons we went to eat there was that we were already in London for something else, which I will explain shortly. Anyway we had booked at table for five when it opened. The Staff were nice and friendly, they happily sat us at our table when we arrived a tiny bit early. The set-up of the place is great, it has a lovely feel to it and they have these plastic dividers between the tables that give the illusion of a bit more privacy when you are eating.

The menu was excellent with lots of different options many of which were things rarely available to me in a lot of restaurants. They were very quick to sort out some drinks and take our order. For starters I had the mushroom rarebit dish with cheese, garlic and caramelised onions while Lynda had their version of southern fried chicken. Both were excellent but for an opener they were generous portions so we were pretty full before we even had our mains.

It sounds quite surprising but very few food places offer gluten free burgers therefore I had not had one for ages so as soon as I saw it on this menu I knew I just had to have it. It was amazing and came with some good fries with all the trimmings and a side of onion rings. The other thing I really liked about the place was the soundtrack, it was mostly eighties music and it was making my already lovely food even more enjoyable. We will definitely being going back there again at some point I need to work my way through the rest of the menu.

The reason that we were in London that evening, was because we were both going to see Tottenham play Brighton in the F.A. Cup. Due to the fact the game was on television the kick off was at the unusual time of 8pm on a Saturday night, as that really ate into the middle of the weekend. A couple of weeks before I said to Lynda that if I could get the seat next to my normal season ticket seat, would she like to come to the game with me? She said yes, I am not totally sure if that was because she thought I probably would not be able to get the ticket I needed to or not but I did so she accepted the offer.

Just before we set off for the game my contact at the club who I got the second seat from emailed me to offer us a free upgrade to the Premium Seating area. As that included two of my favourite words free and upgrade I accepted. After our meal at Niche we headed for the underground and made our way to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. It is a journey I have done countless times but it was nice to have someone new to do it with as we approached the ground from the High Road.

We got inside, found the bar area and roughly where our seats were then had a glass of wine each before kick off. The seats were on level three and padded which is a slight step up from where I normally sit. Lynda is not a football fan at all and would never really watch it on the TV but she did thankfully and happily enjoy watching the game live. We actually played the best we had played for a while before or since as we went on to win the game quite convincingly progressing through to the next round.

Since that game we have lost our last two home games. I am now starting to think that she might be a lucky mascot and I might need to take her with me to every game. That might take quite a bit of negotiating though. After the match we went back into the bar and had another drink before getting the train home. It was a fun night and I always enjoy showing new people the stadium plus any trip there is always better when we win and play well.

I mentioned Lynda and I did not see each other on Valentine’s Day part of the reason for that was that I had organised a surprise for her the night after. Before Lockdown one I had tickets to go and see the as it was then fairly new musical Hamilton. That performance was of course lost to Covid so I got my money back and hoped that I would get the chance to see it one day. The other thing I did not say about that booking was it was to see it from a box. I have always wanted to see a show from there.

Anyway at the end of last year the opportunity this time to get hold of two tickets for the royal box at Hamilton came up and I managed to secure them for the 15th February. I did not tell Lynda where we were going or what we were doing. I knew it was a musical that she also wanted to watch. I made her meet me somewhere in London and then took her to the theatre. Obviously when we got to the theatre she realised what we were seeing but I still had one more surprise up my sleeve, our seats!

We went in and collected our pre ordered drinks. I then led her to our seats after having to ask how to get there, her face was a picture she was surprised but delighted. I think if you are going to be in any box at a theatre you have to make it the Royal Box. The show itself was brilliant. I can see why it has won so many awards and why when it opened in London it was so hard to get tickets for it. We had a brilliant night and I was really pleased that I actually managed to keep it a secret for the three months since I had booked it. I will be honest I had nearly given it away accidentally several times.

Last weekend we stayed in and Lynda managed to convince me to watch a film mainly due to the fact it was sport related and had Will Smith in it. We saw King Richard which is the story of how Venus and Serena Williams became tennis superstars. Before they were even born their Dad who the film is really about had written a 78 page plan to create the two greatest female tennis players of all time. He of course somehow managed to achieve his goal.

It is a decent film and kept my attention throughout which is not as easy as it sounds. It has a bit of everything humour, drama and a few slight twists. It focuses on their early years and finishes at the point where Venus the oldest sister makes her big debut on the circuit. It features some great performances and some great retro clothing. Would you believe to tie it in with the start of this update Richard Williams’ birthday is on the 14th February, it was a good film and I am actually glad I watched it!

I did as I always try to watch the Brits the other week. It was not as rock and roll as it used to be, part of that I think is due to the size of the arena it is now held in. The O2 is so big and so difficult to get to and from it makes getting too drunk and out of hand too difficult. I thought Mo Gilligan did a great job hosting what is a very tough gig. The two best live performances in my opinion were Adele and Ed Sheeran. They both rightly got awards. The only other thing really of note was the lovely Ann-Marie doing a Madonna and falling over on the stairs.

I am off to York next weekend, I have been twice before and I always enjoy it there, I will tell you what it was like and what I got up to next time we speak.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Happy New Year 2022

January 1, 2022 Neil

I hope you had a nice Christmas whatever you managed to do. I had a lovely quiet and relaxing one with my parents. I cooked us a nice fry up to start the day off in the correct way in the morning. We then all had a cup of tea while we were exchanging cards and presents in the Living Room. I was very lucky getting the new books by both Paddy McGuinness and Rob Beckett. I also got some other fun items like socks, a new Spurs clock and a notepad. I am a lists man and like to write lots of “to do” lists and then I take great pleasure in crossing out the items when I have completed those tasks.

On Christmas Day we had a nice afternoon listening to music and having a few beers. We ate dinner fairly late at around half past four. We all helped with the preparation and the cooking of the meal so it really was a team effort. There were of course a couple of glasses of pre-dinner Prosecco before we opened a very nice bottle of red to accompany our food. Due to it being my first gluten free festive dinner I did have to miss out on a few items this year like a Yorkshire pudding but I more than made up for that by having my own special cheesecake for dessert.

We then watched some television together including the Christmas Strictly Come Dancing Special which was good fun, it was a cool and interesting mix of people taking part in it, just what we needed some colour and accidental comedy. This was followed by the new version of Blankety Bank with Bradley Walsh. The format is of course still silly and amusing in equal measure. As you would expect he did a great job hosting the programme bearing in mind he is following in the footsteps of Terry Wogan, Les Dawson and Paul O’Grady who had all put their own unique stamp on it. We clearly had the taste for game shows at that point as we also saw The Wheel with Michael McIntyre.

I always tend to have quite an early night on Christmas Day I do not know if that is due to all the excitement or possibly the alcohol and food consumed but one thing is for sure I always sleep well on that night. Boxing Day was very low key I just relaxed at home and then watched some sport on the television in the end. Until the evening when I decided to open some wine that I had been given and to listen to some music. Somehow I got a little bit carried away with it all as I did not actually get to bed until 2am in the end but I had a great time and listened to a lot of classic tunes.

Lynda and I did not see each over Christmas but that was because a while ago we had booked ourselves a two night stay at a hotel in Oxford for the extra Bank Holiday nights. We wanted to go away together post main festive season but did not really want to travel too far so that is why we picked the location we did. It was then just a case of deciding where to stay. It was while we were looking for hotels in the city that we stumbled across the Malmaison. It is a luxury hotel but built in an old prison building where they have kept a lot of the original features of the place and made it into a kind of themed venue. It looks equally stunning and yet imposing from the outside.

We booked a double cell room. The rooms have been created by knocking three of the original cells together. They are jail themed from the carpets to the items of furniture but they are classy and nice. They do have a cell style door on the front for a bit of fun. We were staying in A wing on the fourth floor. They have very cleverly kept the old original walkways so it does feel like you are in a prison albeit a very nice one. It reminded me a bit of the set for the old TV comedy Porridge as happily my experience with the insides of any prisons is limited.

We arrived and checked in then went up to see our room. It is a fun place to stay which I guess is a bit odd when you consider what it used to be. We were both quite surprised to learn that it was still an operational prison right up until 1996. In the room we had a cup of tea and gave each other our Christmas presents. I got some brilliant cuff links with headphones and a DJ Deck on them and the new book by Barrack Obama and Bruce Springsteen. Next we decided to head downstairs and explore the place. We managed to find the bar. They just happened to have a very extensive Cocktail menu so we thought it would have been rude not to try a few so we did.

We managed to book a table at the restaurant there. The food was very good, we had a lovely meal. I would certainly recommend eating there if you get the chance. As we were on “holiday” we returned to the bar area for a few more drinks after we had eaten then retired to our cell for the night just before lights out of course. We had the foresight to include breakfast in our stay and the common sense to book our slot for 10.30am so we did get to have a bit of a lie in and some time to ease into the day a little. Breakfast was again in the restaurant where we ate the previous night and it was very nice.

In the hotel they have still kept one of the cells in its original state so we went and found that. It was certainly a lot smaller and a lot less luxurious than the new rooms that they have created. Next we took a stroll around Oxford. It is a city that does have a lot of stunning buildings to enjoy. The walk lasted about ninety minutes although we did stop for a cup of tea in a Coffee Shop while we were out. It was then back to the hotel to relax for a bit. I had a bath which was very relaxing while watching Tottenham play which was as ever a lot less relaxing. We had booked a table for dinner at the local Cote but still went for some early evening Cocktails in the hotel bar again.

We had a nice meal at Cote. I like it there as they have a good gluten free menu plus they are accredited with Coeliac UK, which means I can relax and be confident that it is safe for me to eat there. The food is always decent. I had a fantastic fillet steak and a very nice prawn starter, then I finished the meal off with a winter berries Pavlova. We returned to the hotel and had a few final drinks before we went to bed. The next morning we got up and had our breakfast before leaving jail and returning to our homes. It was a lovely couple of nights away and a nice extension to our Christmas period. It was a quirky and different place to stay, I am glad we got to experience it.

As we embark on a brand new year I am looking forward to any new adventures and opportunities that will hopefully come my way in the next twelve months. There are no personal changes that I feel I need to make this January plus if I did I would normally address them as they arose rather than waiting. Like everyone I would just like to be healthy and happy while enjoying fun times with lots of laughter. I do not have any particular big plans but I do have a rather nice holiday booked for a week’s time which will make a very nice start to 2022.

Last night we had a little gathering at Lynda’s to see in the New Year in style. We had a few drinks, some amazing food and played a few games to say goodbye to 2021 and welcome in 2022. I had a brilliant time it was good fun. Happy New Year! I hope you achieve all that you want to in the next year and I wish you all the best. There is still a little bit of uncertainty about how things in some areas will pan out but I am sure everything will look a lot better by the middle of the year and we will finally be pushing through the unusual times of the last two years.

My team Tottenham Hotspur are as ever flattering to deceive, we have had some good home wins and performances but even the great Antonio Conte has not quite managed to get us firing on all cylinders away as yet. I have no doubt given time he will. It has been an old saying for years when it comes to supporting teams but it really is the hope that kills you. They win a few games and have a few matches in hand so as a fan you start to get a little bit carried away and then you are brought crashing back down to earth with a draw away to ten men Southampton.

We have been removed from the Europa Conference now for not being able to play our final group game. But I am totally fine with that and always thought the competition was more of a hindrance then a benefit. Spurs are in the Semi-Final of the league cup against Chelsea and we can also still go for FA Cup glory. We are not going to win the league obviously but if we could pick up a long overdue trophy of any kind that would be a really good season. Come on you Spurs!

I was delighted this week when one of my horses Stage Star won a huge race at Newbury. It was a Grade 1 event which is the highest category in racing terms. It is a massive achievement for Owner’s Group and the horse looks like he might be something a bit special with a lot of luck of course. Thanks to the champion trainer Paul Nicholls for getting him ready for it and to the jockey Harry Cobden who rode him perfectly on the day. I was screaming and shouting the house down during the latter part of the race a brilliant moment to enjoy and savour.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Happy New Year! Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Happy Birthday To Me

December 18, 2021 Neil

It was my birthday the other Friday the tenth of December. As you get older in life some people tend not to celebrate birthdays that much and even try to ignore and forget them. I am very much of the philosophy that each one should be suitably marked. Achieving another year on the planet is no small feat so you really should reward yourself for your effort I feel. I only tend to have a party on what I consider landmark birthdays and as my next one of those is not for a few years yet this time I enjoyed a weekend in London.

I think as far as I can remember since I have been an adult at least, I have taken control and planned exactly what I was doing for my special day, be that a party, a weekend away or just a night out. This time however it was slightly different. My girlfriend Lynda is a good organiser of things and she told me around six months ago that she had booked us both something to do on the evening of my birthday in London and that I should keep it free. A couple of months later she admitted that she had also arranged another surprise for me on the Saturday evening.

With two events planned over two nights it made sense to stay in London for the whole weekend. Together we booked a very nice hotel to stay in for a couple of nights. That took a lot of thought as we were trying to get the location right, which she was attempting to suggest without giving the game away about what we were doing of course. We settled on The Great Scotland Yard Hotel just off Whitehall. I managed to organise to work from London on the Friday and after I had finished I walked across town to meet Lynda who had already checked into the hotel. As soon as you went in and met the staff you could instantly tell that it was a well run establishment.

I collected my key from reception and then went to the room to see Lynda. At this point I still had no idea what we were doing but I knew we had to leave in about ten minutes, so I had a quick cup of tea and opened some cards before it was time to quickly get changed and head out. She obviously had to lead the way as I did not know where we were going. Then all of a sudden we were standing in the queue at The Garrick Theatre waiting to go in and see The Drifters Girl. It stars the brilliant Beverly Knight and as you have probably guessed it is the story of the Drifters. I gigged with the group on my birthday in 2007. Just to clarify I was not singing it was a dinner and dance at a huge venue in Yeovil. I was the DJ and they were the Cabaret. They were great and it was amazing to watch them from the side of the stage.

I am a fan of their music. They have released some great and very memorable songs. We had good seats near the front of the stalls and Lynda had the foresight to pre-order some drinks so it was not long before I was enjoying a red wine. I ordered us some interval drinks to because well it was my birthday. The show was fantastic, the whole cast were wonderful and most of them had to play multiple roles, that they did perfectly and very cleverly. Beverly Knight was excellent she has such a sensational voice and her American accent was perfect. It is a very slick and well put together show. By the encore we were all on our feet singing and dancing along to the songs. Lynda had done very well with the first surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed it!

After the show we went across the road to the Cork & Bottle Wine Bar in Leicester Square. It is a little downstairs place where we decided to go for a bit more wine and some late night food. They had a few gluten free options and I ended up with a carrot and peanut curry with rice, which was very nice. We stayed in there until closing time and then made our way back to the hotel. The bar there was already closed and that may not have been a bad thing as we had a full day ahead of us the next day, so it steered us to bed. Due to me being at work it had been quite a long yet enjoyable day. Plus it was my birthday weekend so there was another surprise waiting for me on the Saturday evening.

We had breakfast included in our stay so made sure we got up to enjoy that. As you would expect from the quality of the hotel we were in it was very nice. I had the omelette which was great. Not wanting to waste the day we got organised and went for a walk along the South Bank. There just happened to be a small Christmas Market there, it would have been rude not to have a Mulled Wine while we were there so we did. We then decided we needed some more food so we went to Prezzo as they do a very good gluten free menu. I had some garlic bread and pasta as I was aware we had an afternoon and evening of drinking lined up so thought it best to line the stomach properly. After lunch we returned to the hotel to relax and get changed before the evening entertainment.

The toilet in the room was a bit more advanced shall we say than anything I had ever experienced. I do not want to be too graphic but when you have done what you need to do there is a control panel that offers jets of water followed by a drier option. Therefore it is a good way of reducing paper use in this situation. I had never tried anything like that before but now having experienced it for myself I really want one. It makes everything simpler and yet more exciting. We got dressed up and went to enjoy a drink in the classy hotel bar. We had two things planned for the evening one that I knew about and my second birthday surprise present from Lynda. The first place we were going to was a cocktail bar that she had wanted to go to for a while. That we actually managed to book at table at for this night the last time we were out in London together.

It is a place called Cahoots in Soho. We walked there in the rain which was not ideal but on arrival they showed us to the table we had booked in the underground section. It is designed like a tube station and you sit in little carriage compartments. It is all very nicely done and is set in the 1940’s just after the end of the war. They have a comprehensive list of cocktails many of which are unique to the place. It is very dimly lit and the menu is in a newspaper. My eyesight is not great so I was finding it hard to read it for a laugh Lynda passed me the candle on the table, which I took and titled slightly. I had not realised it was full of wax and managed to drip it all over my black trousers which made them look shall we say a bit suspicious in a certain light, until I managed to fix them a little in the toilet.

The drinks have all sorts of different names while I was there I had a Vera Lynn, a Judy Garland and a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts. The first one came in a glass that was a replica of the singers head. The drinks were great and not normally what I would have ordered ingredients wise but sometimes it is good to try some new things and push the boundaries. Lynda had three cocktails as well including their own version of an Old Fashioned that she really liked and as she is a bit of a connoisseur of that drink that is high praise indeed. I still did not know where we were off to next, although I did know it included us eating at some point. It was back towards the hotel, was all I knew so Lynda led the way once again and we found ourselves in The Strand outside one of the big impressive hotels there.

She had booked us into a very nice restaurant called Indigo. The reason she was taking me there was it only serves gluten and dairy free food. Therefore for the first time since I have been diagnosed as a coeliac I could go in to somewhere that not only could I choose anything off the menu to eat but also somewhere that there would be absolutely no chance of cross contamination. It was such a cool and classy place that had a nice and relaxed vibe to it. I instantly loved it in there and that was before I had seen the wine list or even the menu. It was such a lovely and sweet place for her to book so I could relax, choose whatever I wanted to and enjoy my food.

We of course ordered some wine first which for the record was very good. They then brought us a gluten free roll with diary free bacon sprinkles butter. That combination was sensational and already a great start to the meal. Next up I had the belly pork starter which was fantastic. Not only was the food great but it was like Master Chef “style” presentation to. Lynda had the crab for her starter. My main course was Halibut with crushed potatoes and crab sauce, which again was melt in your mouth good. She had the fish and very chunky chips. Then for pudding I had the most amazing chocolate mousse I think I have ever tasted it was just ridiculous. There was one more surprise when they came out with a piece of chocolate cake with happy birthday written on it and a candle for me to blow out, which I thought was a really nice touch.

I had a wonderful time there and will definitely be going back there again. It is a fine dining place and of course their prices reflect that but I would say the food was worth every penny. If you are coeliac or gluten or dairy free I would recommend you go there as a special treat for a big occasion. If you have no dietary requirements I would still go the food and whole experience you have there is brilliant. It was honestly the perfect place for me to eat out for my birthday. It may well become my go to place when I want to mark a special occasion or just fancy eating at possibly one of the safest places I know for my medical condition.

We then went back to the hotel with full and content stomachs and had a couple more drinks in the bar including some Champagne to toast the occasion. We went to go to bed at a reasonable time but when we got to our room none of our key cards would work. I went to the reception and a security guard came back with me to use the master key but that still did not open it. He then had to radio down for another member of the team who came and stuck a screwdriver in a certain area before producing a conventional key and managing to get us into the room. In the end it took us half an hour longer to get in the room than it should of. Modern technology is great when it works and very annoying when it does not.

On the Sunday we got up and had breakfast. I had the omelette again well if it is not broke do not fix it. We then checked out leaving our bags being looked after by the hotel to spend the afternoon mooching around. We had a look around the Christmas Market in Trafalgar Square, before having a stroll around Convent Garden where the better tree of those two places is located. We then went to have a drink in my favourite pub in London Waxy O’Connor’s just off Leicester Square. I have been going there for years, normally I would have a pint of Guinness but now I am gluten free that is no longer an option so I just had to make do with a pint of cider. I was pleased that I could introduce Lynda to the place for the first time though.

Then as we had obviously not eaten enough food during the weekend we went for a late dinner at another gluten free friendly place Cote Brasserie. I still managed to put away their Toulouse Confit and Crème Caramel for pudding washed down by a glass of red wine. We then decided to go for a walk down The Mall and back through St James Park before having one final drink then calling a close to the weekend. I had a brilliant time and was delighted with both of my birthday surprises. That does really put the pressure on me now though as it is Lynda’s big day in March and it is only fair that I organise something as impressive and clever as what she did, wish me luck!

There is literally never a dull moment with my football team Tottenham Hotspur. A Covid outbreak among the players and the coaching staff led to a couple of our games being postponed. This may mean as we refused to play in effect we could be removed from the Europa Conference. I am totally fine with that as I have said before despite the fact we were in it I could never really see the point of it. We lost a few Premier League games but that was agreed and other clubs have been granted that right earlier in the season anyway for the same reason. It is a shame though as we were just starting to get in to a rhythm and put a few wins together. But the health of the players and their families is more important than anything else of course. I look forward to seeing what happens when we return to action. Come of you Spurs!

Christmas Day is only a week away. I have nearly finished all my present shopping which is pretty good for me. I am just going to have a quiet day with my parents on the actual day. Then on Boxing Day I am planning to go and see Tottenham play Crystal Palace before disappearing for a few days to a hotel with Lynda to relax and build ourselves up for New Year’s Eve. It should be fun we are staying at a bit of a quirky hotel. which I will tell you more about next time we speak. Whatever you are doing have a great Christmas, eat, drink and be merry!

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Happy Christmas! Cheers Neil.

A Matter of Taste

December 4, 2021 Neil

Two weeks ago today I went to the Taste of London winter event with my girlfriend and a few of our mates. We had all been to the summer event in Regents Park together and enjoyed it so much we thought we would give their seasonal offering a go. It was held at Tobacco Dock in East London. It is a part of the capital that I do not venture out to that often but as it was a dry morning I decided to get the tube to Tower Hill and then walk from there. That did of course mean I got to walk past the Tower of London and Tower Bridge both of which I still find breath taking to look at I think just because of the historic moments associated with them.

We all met up outside the dock which is now a warehouse turned office space come conference centre. The event started at eleven o’clock in the morning. On arrival because we had purchased VIP tickets we were given a glass of champagne. Prior to this I had been handed a couple of small cheese samples which accompanied the drink very nicely. Once inside and with the first drink of the day consumed we made our way to the VIP bar where we also got another glass of fizz on the way in. It was a very cool place with a DJ playing a chilled and relaxing set. We were enjoying ourselves so much in there we treated ourselves to a cocktail before we moved on.

Already three drinks to the good we figured it might be an ideal time to try out some of the food. Like the previous one we had been to there were lots of pop up restaurants to sample. Our ticket came with vouchers that meant we could try up to three dishes from any of the places we liked. Due to me being a Coeliac and unable to eat gluten this did mean my options were slightly more limited than the others. However I did find myself some ribs to start my food journey for the day. They were served on a paper plate with a wooden fork and knife. I did try to use these to eat the meat initially but this was not working so I had to go full on caveman and pick them up and eat them off the bone. They were really nice!

As I was walking around looking at some of the produce stalls I was handed a free can of a pre-mixed margarita which would have been rude not to accept and drink. I then managed to find some pieces of fried chicken that were made with a gluten free coating. They were great, just what I needed. We then found the same gluten free fruit beer that was there at the summer event Jubel, so we all had a pint of that. Obviously everybody was making sure they managed to eat and get their own dishes in as the time seemed to go so quickly. The whole thing lasted for five and an half hours but it seemed to go by in a flash.

For my final dish I had a potato and cheese meal, which was very tasty. That is always a simple but effective combination as far as I am concerned. We then stumbled across the Grey Goose bar so felt it would be wrong not to try one of their Vodka based cocktails. That for the record was nice and refreshing. It was then time to leave so we made our way back across London. Lynda and I then went back to my place to get ready for a night out seeing a mate of mine who I had not seen perform for ages. The Taste of London winter version was a huge success and we will more than likely go again next year the only slight disappointment was that I did not manage to find any mulled wine.

My parents had invited us out to see Alvin Printwhistle do his Elvis Tribute Show at Broadmoor Farm in Haddenham. They have their own bar and entertainment facility there, which is actually rather nice I thought. They have had it specially built and I think the stage and the bar are in exactly the right place, which always gives you a good chance of creating a decent atmosphere at a venue. This was in the evening after Taste of London so Lynda and I may have already been a bit merry by the time we got a taxi there to join my mum and dad as well as my Aunty Shelia and Uncle Mick, who were all already there.

I had not been there before and when we walked in it looked like a Wedding venue and for a split second I thought we had gone to the wrong place. Until I spotted a table plan with my dad’s name on and then looked up to see him and mum waving at us. We took our seats and said hello to everyone before heading to the bar to get ourselves some wine. I have known Alvin for over twenty years and I have seen him perform many times. He always puts on a wonderful show. As it happened I bumped into him on the way back from the bar so I did manage to have a quick chat and catch up with him which was nice.

The ticket for the evening did include a buffet style meal. My mum had enquired if there would be gluten free options in advance and they said there would be but I am a bit sceptical about these things until they happen. However I need not have worried as soon as I said I was Coeliac and could not have anything with gluten in it the lady behind the counter took my plate and then went into the kitchen before returning with a plate of uncontaminated gluten free food kept and prepared in a special area. That is some of the best service I have received for my condition since I had been diagnosed. The meat they served was amazing. To say that I was happy with this situation is an understatement.

After everyone had finished eating Alvin came on and did his first set. He was wearing the famous leather jumpsuit from the comeback TV special that really relaunched “The Kings” music career after the years spent in films. He sang a few early hits and some songs from the movies as well as telling a lot of jokes and interacting with the audience. He takes the music and the show very seriously but not himself plus he enjoys having a laugh and some fun with people. Then there was a brief interval which gave us a chance to go to the bar and refill our drinks. It is a pretty brave thing to move around while he is on stage so I tend not to if I can help it.

The second part of Alvin’s show is always the Las Vegas years’ so he puts on the old seventies style stage jumpsuit and performs a lot of the great man’s biggest hits with a few jokes and some laughter thrown in. Elvis Presley had a great sense of humour and he would often mess around on stage during his performances. I actually ended up having a dance with Lynda and my mum at various points. The first time I had been on a dancefloor inside since long before the first lockdown. We got a taxi home to bring to a close a very long but brilliant day.

Last Saturday night Lynda and I went and saw one of my best friend’s and his wife. We had not seen both of them for well over a year. We booked into a hotel just up the road from them so we could all have a few drinks and we met up at their house. It was marvellous to see my mate and his family I had not seen his children for so long I had a few gifts to give them that I had been holding on to for ages. Among the items was some rock. I made the mistake of giving her stick straight to their daughter and she started eating it right away. You can tell that I do not have kids as I never think of these implications when it is so close to bedtime.

We had a fantastic night just chatting and laughing. Each other’s company was the only entertainment we needed. They laid on some nibbles. We arrived with some drink and Lynda supplied an amazing cheese cake for our pudding. For our main course we ordered some Pizza’s and side dishes from Pizza Express completely at my request as I knew from past experience that they had a decent selection of gluten free food options on their menu. The only slightly awkward moment was when I accidentally mentioned something to my mate’s wife that I had forgotten he had told me as a secret. The problem is they are both such lovely people and I get on with them both so well that I am so relaxed in their company so I talk very freely in fact too freely sometimes it would appear.

I had a brilliant time and we did not leave their place until about 2 am. I felt sorry for them, Lynda and I could have a lie in at our hotel while they had to be up early to take their son to football and their daughter to a party. I often forget how tough it is to be parents when you want to do your own thing yet have to be available to do a whole host of things normally early in the morning. I am now hoping we can start to see them a bit more regularly again now.

I had my annual contact lens check up in the week. Eye health is of course extremely important. It all went fine my prescription has not changed and my eyes are healthy. The only issue is they are very dry. It is not a major problem I just need to start using the eye drops I have a bit more during the day, a minor inconvenience to solve the issue. The optician was saying that dry eyes are becoming a bigger problem in all age groups as we all spend too much time looking as screens. Basically the natural moisture in our eyes is produced when we blink and we do that a lot less when we are staring at computers and phones. Therefore if you want healthier eyes just try to blink more!

The other thing I learnt from the appointment shocked me a little bit. As I am very short sighted I just presumed that my eyes would more than likely remain at the same level for the rest of my life. However apparently as I get older at some point I will also become more long sighted meaning I may end up needing bifocals or some reading glasses to use while I am also wearing my contact lenses so I can read things close up. This all sounds like a bit of a pain and was honestly the first time that I was aware of it. Although the one slight benefit is that as I get more long sighted I may get slightly less short sighted so every cloud does have a silver lining I guess.

I had a phone call from my dietician the other day to check how I am getting on with my gluten free diet. It has caused me to lose a bit of weight as it is actually quite a healthy way of eating. It seems like I am doing mostly the right things but because I exercise so much it was suggested I try to have more carbohydrates and some higher calorie foods, which I actually think is quite a nice position to be in. As we are now in December I am sure gaining a little bit of weight will not be that much of a problem but we will see.

It was brilliant to see my horse Stage Star win his second race of the season at Newbury last Friday. He led from start to finish and was perfectly ridden by Harry Cobden. The trainer Paul Nicholls is now probably going to enter him into a Grade 1 race towards the end of December. It will be very exciting to see how he does as he steps up to compete against the best young horses around at the moment. We have very high hopes for him he seems to improve every time he is on a race course at the moment, which is just fantastic.

What can I say about my team Tottenham Hotspur at the moment? I think after our defeat to Mura (no I had never heard of them either) in the Europa Conference Trophy Antonio Conte now realises the scale of the job he has got at the club. I have felt this for a while but there seems to be something wrong at the core of the club. I still maintain we have some good players but the level of performance from them has just not been good enough for quite some time now. That is massively frustrating. There have been several times in the last three years when I thought we may have turned the corner only to then be proved wrong very quickly.

I like the new boss and given time I think he can turn it around. There were some great videos of him joining in during training throwing himself into tackles and winning the ball. His passion and intensity for the game is clearly there to see. He has so much experience and is a proven winner but being at the helm of my club could prove to be his biggest challenge yet I fear. The big matches keep coming thick and fast and at the moment I think I might be happy with a top eight finish. I feel you either have to be in a Europa League place or not in Europe at all. I am not a fan of this new competition and I have been saying that from the start not just because of the most recent result from it.

A quick reminder that you can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

Just in case you were somehow unaware of this it is my birthday this coming Friday 10th December. I will be celebrating it in style and I will tell you how I marked this huge occasion next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Fortune Favours The Brave

November 20, 2021 Neil

It already seems like a long time ago now but I hope you had a nice fireworks night and you got the chance to go to a big display to see the sky lit up with lots of bright colours. As a child I was really scared of fireworks so I hated going to those things but as an adult I grew to like them and ended up hosting plenty of bonfire night events over the years. My girlfriend went to one in St Albans where they had twenty minutes worth of fireworks set to the music from James Bond. She had a video of some of it on her phone that she showed me and it looked spectacular.

I did not manage to see any fireworks in person this year. My sister had been invited to a Wedding Reception on the Saturday of that weekend. She has a dog that is sadly getting very old now and does not like being left on her own at the best of times. Let alone when it was likely there would be lots of loud bangs going off, so I agreed to dog sit for her. The animal and I generally get on alright so when I got there she came over to me and had a stroke with a bit of fussing. It is a pleasing site when a dog greets you wagging their tail.

I had a list of instructions of what to do including what time and how much food I could give her and also what time she was allowed to have the various tablets she requires, that she takes with honey. That is now something I am thinking of adopting when I have to take any tablets now. We both went into the living room and I turned the TV on. I put the volume up reasonably loud to try to drown out any fireworks and because after years of headphone wearing my hearing is not the best. I chose what we watched though just to try to at least give the illusion that I was in charge.

I managed to get the dog to have her food and tablets at the correct times. Then she settled down and fell asleep on my foot, which was good as she was no trouble at this point and bad as it meant I could not move for about two hours. We did have some issues as a few times she thought my sister was upstairs so I had to take her up and down twice to prove that she wasn’t. The dog’s legs are a bit weak and she cannot do the stairs anymore so I had to carry her up and down. When my sister got back after her night out I am not sure who was more relieved to see her, the dog or me?

I had my Flu Jab a couple of weeks ago and for the first time I got a bruise in the area that I had the injection. I am not sure if I somehow upset the nurse who was doing it or it was just one of those oddities. Anyway I felt fine afterwards. A few days ago due to me being both an asthmatic and a Coeliac I had my Covid Booster. It was very quick and simple and I suffered no big issues from having it. Anything that means I can keep going out to enjoy the things I like doing and that helps me not to die is fine with me. I am very happy to trust medical science as I have been relying on it since I was born.

Last Saturday afternoon Lynda and I went to the theatre to see a play that has been playing in London since 1989. It is on at the Fortune Theatre near Covent Garden, where it has been since the day it opened. Obviously as it was a play I had not seen before it was also a venue that I had not visited either. It is quite a small compact little theatre, the toilets are particularly cosy, but it is as you would expect such as place to look and feel. It does of course have a bar so we enjoyed a glass of wine in our seats before the performance and during the interval.

The play was The Woman in Black. I do not want to give too much away but it is a ghost story. It has a cast of two, Terrence Wilton and Max Hutchinson both of whom were brilliant. The production I think is very cleverly done it is atmospheric with a few little surprises for the audience along the way. The story unfolds and builds nicely and I enjoyed it. As I have said many times before I just love the whole experience of going to the theatre and the connection with a live performance developing in front of you.

After the theatre we went for dinner. There is an Indian style place near Covent Garden that Lynda likes. She has actually got some of this restaurant’s cook books and has made me a few dishes from it during the last eighteen months. Due to the world closing down she had not been there to eat for a while and was keen to do so. And as they have a decent selection of gluten free meals on the menu it seemed like the obvious choice as we were in the area. It is called Dishoom. They only offer bookings at certain times or if there is big group of you. Otherwise it is simply on a first come first serve basis, it is extremely popular.

I am not a fan of queuing for anything but I was aware how good the food was in this place and we had plenty of time on our side so we joined the line outside. One of the staff comes past with a tablet and books you in and then you just wait your turn. They did bring us out a bit of Chai Tea to enjoy while we were there. The queue moved at a reasonable speed and we found ourselves at the front door with the next available table for two set to be ours. We got ushered in to the front desk. It is huge inside and has two floors. We got taken to our table which was in the corner of the conservatory area. I thought it was a great location.

To celebrate the fact that we had actually made it there at last we had a cocktail each. I had their version of a Pina Colada which was lovely. I had told them I was coeliac when we booked in so there was already a gluten free menu for me on the table. I then got given the allergen folder to aid my decision in choosing dishes that were safe for me to have. I had a nice selection to pick from so I went for the following the Mutton Curry, Paneer Tikka and Gun Powder Potatoes along with some rice. The food was amazing it was such a tasty and filling meal. The staff were brilliant and it was a really nice dining experience.

After the meal we decided to go and have another drink somewhere before we got the train home. We found the Cork and Bottle Wine Bar in Leicester Square. From the front it just looks like a disused shop but when you go in and walk down the stairs it is a nice little traditional wine bar in the Parisian style. Obviously they had an impressive selection of wine in there. I tried a large glass of their Rioja which was very nice. We only stayed for one relaxing drink in there before deciding to head home. It was an excellent Saturday out. You cannot go wrong with the theatre followed by an exquisite meal then rounded off with a few drinks, just perfect.

England have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar next year then. It is taking place during November and December. That is going to be so strange for me having it on during my birthday. Supporting the national team in a competition during the winter is going to be extremely out of the ordinary. We made quite light work of getting there and winning our group. It will be tough of course but we have got a pretty decent squad containing a lot of young players who all being well could be available for the next two or three tournaments so it could make for some interesting times going forward, hopefully.

Once again during this international break Harry Kane has proved what a world class striker he is, never mind the opposition you can only score against what is in front of you. He will almost certainly beat Wayne Rooney’s total and become England’s all time top goal scorer. He has already got more competitive goals than the current record holder. I am not sure why but I still do not feel Harry always gets the respect he deserves from all of the England fans. He is a very special player and proving to be a decent captain. I might be a bit biased of course, but his goals suggest I am right.

I have been very impressed with the way Antonio Conte has come to Spurs and already made a huge impression. He has taken control and began changing things plus been honest and upfront and about the task facing him. You cannot argue with this guy’s passion and determination that is why he is a winner. I never wanted to have Mourinho at the club I just felt he was not right for us. I liked Nuno but he just seemed like a stop gap and I think he knew that himself probably. Conte needs to see this through as at least a three year project I think, it will not happen overnight but this is as excited as I have been for a while about a new Tottenham manager.

I am going to see us play Leeds United at home tomorrow. It will be a difficult game as they all are. He still has not had much time to work with the whole squad yet. It is tricky coming in mid-season when you want to change things and put your stamp on it but the games just keep coming thick and fast. We are still in all the cups at the moment and if he can grab one of those in his first half a season then that will be an amazing start. I expect there to be plenty of ups and downs before the end of the season, but getting the first league win under Conte this weekend would be a big bonus. Come on you Spurs!

You can listen to me every Saturday afternoon between 2pm – 4pm on Radio Ninesprings. https://www.radioninesprings.co.uk/

I am going to Taste of London at the Tobacco Docks today I will tell you what that was like the next time we speak. Have fun and we will catch up again soon. Stay safe! Cheers Neil.

Neil Quigley

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