That rings a bell

New month, new post, and it's not as if much happened during May?  Further developments after my little challenge in Barbados mean that I have detached the gel sack from the back of  my eye socket. In practical terms that means I will have 'floaters' which my brain will eventually allow me to adjust to. The good news though is that I will not get a detached retina in that eye as the potential pressure has been relieved by the tear.

SWMBO and I paid a visit to Hillside Golf Club when they hosted the British Masters golf tournament. There were not too many top players in the field so we decided to go to the pro-am day. It was chucking down so we only stayed a couple of hours, but it was long enough to see a very jaded Robbie Fowler stuff a few into the undergrowth. Liverpool had beaten Barcelona the night before, so drink had definitely been taken. In contrast Kenny Dalgleish sunk a birdie putt on the 4th as it Alan Shearer. Stuart Broad sliced one into the grandstand at the 18th and that signalled to us it was time to go.

The following weekend, 'Off the record' Dick and his wife  Gill came up for a couple of days to do the Oxton Secret Gardens festival with us. This is the traditional time of year when home owners throw open their gardens for people like us to nose around. It was a baking day and they must have made a goodly sum for the nominated charities. I do hope Dick and Gill enjoyed the trip. It is a fair old poke from their new home in Middle Wallop, or is it Nether Wallop? We were very pleased to see them.

Then last week we went to see Bill Bailey in concert at the newly named M & S Bank Arena in Liverpool. I suspect this arena will always be known as the Echo Arena, in the same way the one day cricket competition is still known as the Nat West trophy amongst the diehards, and the Santander bicycle system in London will always be referred to as 'Boris Bikes'. Whether that will change when he becomes Prime Minister is anybodies guess.

So back to Bill. There is so much talent bestowed on one man, it is criminal. His impersonation of Teresa May was brilliant, and his musical talent is so wide and diverse that every school child should be made to watch a video of him. We had a great time. This great time was then enhanced with a few hours in the flesh pots of Liverpool with number 2 daughter so that we got back home after 1am a little worst for wear.

Finally we had that greatly boring event which was the European Cup final. Nobody will remember it in Liverpool than anything other than a hugely one sided massacre of a poor team for London. Truth be told, UEFA go the final they deserved after making the teams wait three weeks to play it, it was like a pre-season friendly. Was it a penalty? In Europe possibly, in England, never, but the VAR boys were not going to throw their referee mate under the bus in the first minute. still it's water under the bridge, and we can now look forward to the start of the cricket season. Oh, hang on, that started six weeks ago!!  I am sure footie used to be September to April and Cricket was May to August, when did the calendar change?

Wheeler dealer

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has been featured in the tabloids recently for his alleged dalliances with members of the fairer sex, usually of the blond persuasion. This may well be getting him the nickname 'Boris the Bike'

Boris has, however, lent his name to another closely related colloquialism which is springing up around London, namely Boris Bikes. These contraptions are traditional sit up and beg style cycles positioned at docking stations around London and are designed to collect and drop at various places as you make your way around town. They are sponsored by Barclays who must be somewhat disappointed that they are not referred to as Barclay bikes.

The first 30 minutes of a hire is free, there on after a sliding charge applies . Some local authorities are reluctant to embrace the scheme, and a few well to do suburbs are resisting the planning applications for their streets, however the ones I have seen do not appear intrusive in the slightest, and with bike storage and security, a problem for flat owners I would have thought this is a great addition to the capitols transport system.

I am about to register for my dongle and may then try the system on the more quiet back lanes of London as my cycling skills are equivalent to those of a 6 or 7 year old, given I never owned one as a kid. The scheme does not supply helmets either, so we will see how I go.

As an aside, I have noticed an increase in privately owned sit up and beg bikes, mostly used by good looking women, maybe Boris is on some sort of alternative scheme with them too!!