what I did at the weekend

It was Hazel's friend Jenny's 30th birthday at the weekend so we were up in Leicester. We went to The Bradgate pub in Newtown Linford, just a few miles north-west of Leicester and ate and drank lavishly, not to mention excessively (actually there may have been some drinking before we left the house, and indeed after we got back). I think maybe it's a consequence of the inherent dullness of working in the IT business, but Jenny's job (in contrast) seems to me to be about as interesting a job as one could hope to do and still expect to get paid for it. Ah well. A bit more golf practice and I can join the pro tour full time.

On the Sunday Hazel had to meet up with a prospective client so we had a precautionary fry-up and lots of coffee and then set off. It turns out that the appointment was in Armitage, which is a smallish village between Lichfield and Rugeley up north-east of Birmingham. Armitage has a couple of points of interest; one is that it's on the Trent & Mersey Canal, and there are some pleasant walks to be had up and down the towpath (including the brief one I had while Hazel was in her meeing), the other is that it is the birthplace of legendary porcelain pioneers Armitage Shanks, perennial purveyors of premium pottery pisspots to the public, both poncy and plebeian, since 1817.

Anyway, various photographs were taken on both days, which can be seen here.

In other news, it's a rare old week for new albums: Queens Of The Stone Age, Ryan Adams and The White Stripes all have new albums out either right now or in the near future. As your musical mentor and moral guardian I suggest you buy the flippin' lot.