This And That And The Clarion Cycling Club

Another end of the week round-up of miscellaneous jottings - the accumulated fluff at the bottom of the drawer of my subconscious mind.

THIS week seems to have been one of those weeks when things have constantly interfered with the serious business of a little harmless blogging.  Therefore I need to apologise for not getting around to doing all the things I had promised to do - like posting more of the cards from the Victorian card set. More importantly, I need to apologise for not doing the rounds and visiting the many, many blogs that I count as my favourites. I will hopefully catch up over the coming few days, but we have a long Bank Holiday weekend coming up here in the UK and therefore I might find myself called upon to do jolly things like go shopping or clean the house. Before too long the Lad will be back at University and the Good Lady Wife safely back at work and I can concentrate on the more important aspects of living.

THAT includes, of course, beer. And beer is one of the things that has been occupying my mind over recent days because I have 40 pint of the stuff slowly fermenting away in the garage. My good friend Mark and I have launched ourselves into the cheery hobby of home-brewing with considerable enthusiasm : co-ordinating our brewing efforts so, over the course of a weekend in a few weeks time, we can sample each others' efforts. My brew seems to be fermenting quite well (see the photograph) and this weekend I can hopefully transfer it from the mash tub to the waiting keg. I have decided to name my first brew, Bloggers' Bitter, and I will provide detailed tasting notes when the first pint is eventually drawn.

I am going to the Theatre on Saturday to see a play about the CLARION CYCLING CLUB, Directed by my good friend - and News From Nowhere reader -  Mike Lucas, the musical play tells the story of the early twentieth century socialist cycling club, the members of which would combine their love of cycling and spreading the socialist message. Although the hay-day of the Club was 100 years ago, it still exists today and I did once spend a night at its last surviving hostel which was in Lancashire. I featured a photograph which was taken during my stay there on my Daily Photo Blog a couple of years ago. The performance of "Pedal Power" on Saturday marks the start of the 2010 national tour by the wonderful Mikron Theatre Company. The show will be visiting most parts of England during the coming months - see the Mikron website for details of the tour dates.