Jeremy Browning - my life year by year - 2012

January 2012

4-1-2012: Xmas was OK but a bit frantic & busy, not much time for me (or 'us'). Joe is getting to be a seriously good pianist - I was *very* impressed with his playing at Sarah's new year's eve do. Choir restarted the day before yesterday, we're caught up in the 'save Downhills School' cafuffle & are recording a song with them next week.

Xmas was a flying fish, an XBox, mum and Mame, and the Ranelagh on Xmas eve... Lots of stuff going on about Downhills at the moment to do with academy status.

24 & 25-01-12: Up in Skipton with HML.

28-01-12: ‘No forced academy – Save Our School’ march through Wood Green in support of Downhills. Evening was Haringey Swimming Club disco in the Woodfield Way scout park.

February 2012

03-02-2012: Thinking of jacking in the choir, at least for the next term. No longer in love, no longer think - or care - about it, not enough tenors & too much yap. Not enough singing. Try another - Bounds Green/Bowes Park?

Spent three long hours with awful mortgage bloke Sachin Lall on sat am, seem to have come away with something that will satisfy us while not completely ruining us.

Being Human series 4 started last night. Not sure I liked it. And my bloody elbows hurt. RSI or something, don't know what.

12-02-02: Ellie ice skating party at Ally Pally.

15-02-02: Kids on half term.

16-02-02: 16th anniversary of moving in. Were going to go to Horniman museum, ended up at V&A.

19-02-12: Work trip to Halifax. Just a day, up on Sun & back on Mon.

March 2012

Wot, nuthin?

April 2012

April 2012: Herman the German friendship cake, had the front garden turned into a lawn, drought (but constant rain for the whole of the second half of April). Rediscovered Grateful Dead 1972 in Europe & bought a couple of 4CD sets from that tour on MP3.

01-04-2012: Day in Highgate Woods with kids, Pattersons & Sarah Kiely. Herman the German cake. Me hobbling about on a (broken?) toe because I slipped in the shower – had two days off work.

06-04-2012: To Mame’s for Easter. Went to see The Artist (silent film), visited Rhiannon & yanks, etc.

17/4: Sarah Moore (@MadameRrr) left the UK last night for good. Bloody cut up about it. Not sure why.

Choir AGM tonight, not standing for re-election as hon sec.

28-04-12: Swimathon. Wel, Joe, Hope, Isabelle, Stuart & Logan. Next day Davy gala. Pool-y weekend.

May 2012

02-05-12: Joe’s 13th birthday, lovely boy. I love both my kids (as so I should), I really do. He got foam swords, World At War game, £400... Bowling alley, 5 kids sleeping over, etc.

06-05-12: My neck hurts. It really does. Very sore and stiff. And we had 11 kids here on Friday night, 9 slept over then we went bowling. Hired a car for the weekend & drove up to see Will and family (plus new baby Summer Isabella) on the 7th (Bank Holiday). Car cost nearly £350 for the five days…

11-05-12: Went to see The Sunshine Boys for free, thanks to Stephen Reynolds. I enjoyed it, Ellie sort of did, Joe sort of didn’t, L was grumpy & sleepy.

25-5-12: Stuart Marshall coming for dinner.

27-5-12: Lunch with Jean & Luke etc in Highgate

June 2012

03-06-12: Big Lunch at Downhills with choir, very good indeed. Queen’s 60th jubilee, rainy & wet. Sorting out holidays & mum’s 85th birthday.

04-06-12: Jubilee concert at Buck Palace with Macca, Elton, Madness, Tom Jones, Shirley Bassey, etc.

10-06-12: Mum 85th birthday at 25 with local friends. Fuck it’s raining a lot these days.

Tue 19-6: Eleanor school concert

Wed/Thur 20/21-6: Sitecore training (Ikano)

Wed 20-6: AFP at Village Underground

Fri 22-6: my birthday day off 4CT class assembly, lunch with Louise in Carluccio’s, afternoon sleep, then APS pre-tour gig evening with John Beckett

Sat 23-6: Louise LCP, TCC at Tottenham Carnival

Wed 27-6: kids doing grades (?) may need to book day off...?

Sat 30-6: Joseph to Belgium

July 2012

Sun 1-7: TCC at Belmont school fair

Tues 3-7: Ellie MPAC concert

Wed 4-7: Joseph MPAC orchestra

Wed/Thur 5/6-7: Internal training, pick up kids from swimming

Fri 6-7: Louise LCP, MPAC big band end of term concert at APS

Sat 7-7: Joe in Brum with MPAC for National Festival Birmingham: Music Centre & Open Orchestras and Jazz. Bought new 2nd hand Dyson - £100 plus £10 parking plus £90 for a new wing mirror on the Renault Vel Satis car?

Thur 12-7: WFH. Take car to garage, then Wel assembly concert 10.00

Fri 13-7: St Mary's BBQ with big band

Sat 14-7: LCP AGM

Fri 20-7: end of term

Sat/Sun 21/22-7: Feeling a bit crap about money, work, health, heel (referred pain after broken toe?)… took Joe to bowling & Finsbury Park with swimming club on Sunday

Wed 25-7: Haringey Olympic torch thing, TCC at Bruce Grove & Joe at Ally Pally

Sat 28-7: Jerry here to replace all the windows. Mame & Jonathon staying with mum (her hall ceiling fell down a couple of weeks ago after someone wrecked the shower). Still waiting for the bloody mortgage to clear – Sachin Lall can go and fuck himself if he expects any money out of this.

Mon 30-7: Mortgage finally through. Unfortunately £1700 short ?

Tue/Wed 31-7/1-8: On site Sitecore follow up in Nottingham with Ikano. Took £9200 out of grotty post office – freaked me out a bit!

August 2012

6-8-12: Started driving to France, got as far as Poitiers (amazing clear roads) in the car (Renault Vel Satis) that we borrowed from Laurie, then spent ages trying to find the hostel before booking into an hotel.

7-3: Poitiers for lunch, then drove to Saint-Palais-De-Mer & Le Puits d’Auture

8-3: Cycling up the coast to the lighthouse

11-3: Barbecue (sardines – yum) in the evening

12-3: Day out with family – went to Ronce & La Tramblade

13-3: Loooong cycle up the coast to la Tremblade again

15-3: Cloudy day morning, walked into town. Brightened up. Afternoon on beach with goggles & waves. Barbecue *2 in the evening

16-3: Left Saint-Palais about 11, drove to Rouen

17-3: Left Rouen YHA 10.30, drove to Calais. Decathlon for Wel tent, then lunch in Calais

18-8: Lazy-ish day, pottering, cleaning, ironing, stuff.

Pussy Riot (Russian punk band) sentenced to two years for singing anti-Putin song in cathedral. Olympics (OK) and Paralympics (amazing!) in London.

19-8-12: Mum for lunch, walk in Highgate Woods

20-8-12: Back at work chiz chiz chiz.

Thur 23-8 > Mon 27-8: camping in Tunbridge Wells. Grim. Rainy. Fat Raine.

31-8-12: Mame up for the weekend. Guy Barker & Martin Taylor at RAH – shite.

September 2012

05-09-2012: Feeling way low at the moment, not sure why. Was very tired the week after the horrible camping, then Mame was here last weekend, havent been to choir for a few weeks (it's been summer break but when i arrived last night nearly an hour late - thanks to late work - it was ‘Streets Of London’ and I was like no way Ho Say.

Not feeling unwell otherwise, just down in el dumpoids. On one of my Heinlein kicks - just finished Glory Road and currently reading Friday which - so far – hasn’t done it for me.

10-09-2012: So today I spoke about the current standoff – L is barely speaking to me and to be honest I really don't know why apart from the usual, chronic stuff. And while I'm not being spoken to it's harder to ease up on the booze, so I'm wondering whether to try – tonight or at all.

20-09-2012: Mum has been in 25 Rookfield for 50 years today, which is slightly overshadowed by Olwen Knipe’s death on Tuesday (18th). Bugger.

21-09-2012: So we went round there last night, with Frank and Nita.

Sat 22-9: TCC at Shell Theatre, Lordship Rec

27-9-12: Today seems to be an improvement, she phoned me half an hour ago in a good mood having taken Jessie to the vet. I got up at 4.30 to clear Tillie shit from Joe's room, plus I met him at the bus stop last night, maybe something's turned a corner.

But I didn't get my pay rise ?

October 2012

05-10-2012 Jimmy Savile abuse and April Jones abduction. One evil old corpse, one innocent young... What? Probably better if she is dead, poor thing, and what about her family? What hope can they cling on to? If she still lives she'll be in an awful state.

Me, I'm off to Olwyn Knipe's funeral and re-reading Stranger In A Strange Land (the uncut version this time). It's good.

08-10-2012 Olwyn Knipe's funeral Friday, Oliver Murray died that night. Been a bit of a wretched weekend.

12-10-2012: I have a possible interview with Sitecore – I’d like to work for them and they’d pay more than bloody IE who finally said ‘no’ after nine months wrangling...

19-10-2012: Eleanor’s ‘space’ and ‘planets’ assembly this morning. Going Up West with Joe tomorrow to buy a cymbal or an electronic drum kit.

21-10-2012: Was a nice day & his new cymbals sound great. Wondering whether to try to sell the tickets to AFP on Tuesday since L won’t let Joe come and I don’t want to go solo – also there’s an important choir rehearsal etc...

26-10-12: Oliver Murray’s funeral yesterday at Robin Hood crematorium in Solihull. A bloody sad day.

November 2012

 

December 2012

 

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