Moving out

My blog can now be found at https://jill.tenfoottwo.co.uk/

Bankside Gallery

At the beginning of this year, Hull had a visit from the world famous street artist Banksy.  At first there were many doubts as to whether the new graffiti on Hull's permanently raised Scott Street Bridge really was a Banksy but the artist confirmed on his Instagram account and so all hell broke loose with visitors from far and wide rushing to see it, take selfies next to it etc. 

Sadly, within hours some cretin had sprayed over it but to the rescue came a local window-cleaner who managed to clean off the damage.  The local council then saw the value of the piece and promptly protected it with a sheet of perspex.  I'd like to think Banksy had a bit of a chuckle over all this fuss and bother.

Draw the Raised Bridge! by Banksy

The best thing to come out of it all though was the inspiration for the 'Bankside Gallery'.  Instigated by a group of local street artists, permission was sought and granted from the Council and property owners in this run-down almost derelict in parts, industrial area of the city for street artists to decorate the walls with colourful murals.  It's certainly brightened up the area and many people's daily commute too, as well as attracting visits from coach parties from other parts of the country, the BBC One Show and arguably most importantly, local schools on days out are using it for inspiration.  Oh, and local pub The Whalebone is benefiting from the extra trade!

Over the Easter weekend, Patrick and I popped down for a drive through and had a little wander along to see it all and of course, the piece that started it all, the Banksy.  Whilst there we saw a guy just starting out on a huge piece and I had a chat with him. 

He explained that there are public walls and permission walls.  Public walls are what the council have given permission for and anyone can go along and paint at any time, over any other work that may already be there.  Permission walls are ones that the property owner has given permission for and any work there will be there for three months until it is allocated to another artist.  The hope of artists is to be allocated a permission wall because that means their work will been seen for longer and when you are investing a lot of time and money (this guy had spent over £90 on paint), you don't really want the possibility of someone painting over it 12 hours later.

Here are a few photos I took of just a fraction of the amazing artwork on display but why not go down and have a look for yourself.  Don't forget to pop into The Whalebone for a swifty whilst your there!

From Now On

I've realised what it is that keeps me from keeping this blog updated. Perfectionism.  Yes, you heard that right.  Me, the most imperfect 'oh that'll do' kind of person in the universe suffering from a bout of perfectionism.  What brings me to this conclusion is the memory of something about time management I read years ago basically saying that we put off jobs because we can't see how to deal with things in small chunks, we just see the big mess and think we can't tackle it in the time we have. A kind of perfectionism, wanting to have it all sorted out in one go. Instead we need to think of the time that we do have and choose a part of the job that we can do in that time. Eventually it all gets done and then it is easier to keep on top of.

That's kind of where I am with this blog.  I want to have everything in it, in the right order, with all the photos and all the words but because I am way behind, I keep putting off this mammoth task of catching up and therefore I'm not blogging my current experiences because of that.  So, Perfectionism step aside, Mrs Phuckit is coming through!  Some posts might appear out of chronological order but they are long posts so they'll get done when they get done and I'll post them then.  I might even post them in more than one part! Get me being all unconventional.  From now on, I want to try to post as things happen or thereabouts anyway. 

So, I taught myself to crochet a few weeks ago and have made a few pairs of pretty little Mary-Jane baby shoes in different colours.   These purple ones are my favourite, gifted to a work colleague for his brand-new grand-daughter.

One of the things I really want to be able to do though is crochet amigurumi and Tipsy Bunny is my first ever attempt.  So called because I think his facial expression makes him look slightly drunk. His ears, arms and legs are all different sizes but I am still rather pleased with him.

Until next time...

Friends...

Lovely Day out with our friends Pete and Donna.  We had first been for a drink in Pave, then the intention was to go for a bite to eat at Thai House Restaurant but as it appears to be no longer open on Saturday afternoons, we went across the road to The Persian.  What a lovely surprise that was.  A very small, family run restaurant offering traditional meze and kebab type fare.  There was a lunchtime special menu for £12.95 which we all chose from.  The boys opting for mixed kebabs with bread, rice and dips and Donna and I going for the 'meat stews', chicken for me and lamb for Donna.  Again with bread, rice and dips.  Everything was beautifully cooked and very tasty.  You can buy wine from the menu but the owner positively encourages you to bring your own because it makes it cheaper for you!  A lovely 70 year old man, who chatted to us and couldn't do enough to help.  We will definitely be back for an evening out sometime.

After our meal, we went for another few drinks in the fabulous 80 Days Bierhaus where the above photos were taken.  This is one of THE places to be in Hull for a great variety of beers from around the world and is one of our favourite bars.

Dog Walking

I've been saying for ages that I intend to volunteer for Oakwood Dog Rescue in a dog-walking capacity.  As I'm not in a position to have a pet myself, I thought it will serve two purposes, some time spent in the company of lovely doggies and a bit of exercise at the same time.  So in March, I made the effort and I'm really pleased I did.

If anyone is considering helping out, I would highly recommend it.  You can just go along any day, I think between 8am-12noon and 5pm-9pm (give them a call to confirm those times).  Remember to take some photo ID with you on your first visit.  You can do as much or as little as you want.  I tend to walk one dog, one evening straight after work each week.  I'm out for about 45 mins.

I've walked three different dogs so far but my favourite has been the beautiful Madge. She is very affectionate and walks nicely.

Madge

Madge

Smokie was also a lovely girl and very well behaved, although I struggled to get a photo of her!  She just didn't want to play with the camera.

Smokie

Florence was the first dog I walked.  She was lovely, quite timid though.  Again, very well behaved, sat when told and walked nicely across the road.

Florence

Florence

All of the dogs you can adopt from Oakwood are trained and socialised beforehand.  If you are looking for a pet, I would encourage you to check out their website and get in touch.

There are other volunteering opportunities, from admin roles to fundraising and kennel assistants.  They are entirely self-funding and always grateful for any donations, monetry or food for the dogs.  All information is available on the website or you can follow them on Facebook.

More Music in March.

One of our favourite pubs in Hull is The St. John's on Queen's Road.  It's a proper pub, separate rooms, characterful locals, sports teams etc.  Every Tuesday they host an Open Mike night, an opportunity for various local musicians to perform a short set.  The format is such that prior to the open mike session, a 'professional' act will perform a 45 minute set (to warm the audience up I guess).  I'm not sure of the wisdom of doing it this way round as, a. after watching someone good, the amateurs could sound bloody awful and b. Like us, people may watch the main act and then bugger off without staying for the open mike session.  However, that's what they do so it must be working for them.

On Tuesday 13th March, we popped along because the opening act was a favourite of mine, Ched Cheeseman.  Ched has a long history of performing in Hull and back in the 1980s I used to go see him regularly as the frontman of Ched's Booze Band.  Performing with Ched at St. John's was Bobby Joyce, whose work I wasn't familiar with until seeing him in Turn and Face the Strange along with Ched.  With Bobby singing and both of them playing, it was a great set.  At one stage they were joined onstage by a young woman I think was called Marie.  What a voice she had!  I did record a little video of the performance but I'll be buggered if I can find out how to upload it to here!  When I figure it out, I'll do it.

Next up was one of my favourite artists, Glenn Tilbrook of Squeeze playing at Fruit.  The night of the gig, 17th March, the weather decided that a blizzard was in order! It had been snowing a bit on an off but when we set off to catch a bus, it wasn't too bad.  We got off the bus on Lowgate to Arctic conditions and by the time we had walked across the road to Humber Street, we looked like snowmen.  I wasted no time at all in booking a taxi for the return journey after the gig.  Once inside we soon warmed up and the beauty of a gig at Fruit is that the bar always has good craft ales on keg and in the fridge.  There's always bound to be something we like on offer.

I loved Squeeze back in the day but they were one of those bands that I didn't buy any of their stuff.  I have their Greatest Hits but that's all.  There are a few bands like that, I guess it was just at a time in my life when I couldn't afford to be buying records or something.  Anyway, I was really looking forward to seeing Glenn perform and I really enjoyed it.  I think mostly because I could sing along with a lot of the songs but I understood what Patrick meant when he said he was a little bored.  It wasn't a really engaging performance and during some of the songs that I didn't know, I found my mind wandering a bit too.  I'm pleased I've seen him though and overall, I had a great time.

The Overtones at Hull City Hall

We had a few things booked into March and the first of these was at Hull City Hall on 9th March when we went to see The Overtones.  Coral and William are big fans so we had seen them a year or two back in Sheffield and thought they were amazing.  We didn't enjoy the show quite so much in Hull but Coral said they usually sing with a live band but it was just backing tapes.  Some things didn't run quite smoothly, the segue between songs for example.  With the news now of Timmy's recent passing, we realise that he must have been feeling really quite ill which probably explains a lot.  So sad, far too young to die at 36 and my thoughts are with his family and friends.

The photo below isn't that great, taken with my phone on zoom as it was but I just love the mood and feel of it.  I don't know if something had gone wrong, someone sang the wrong part or whatever but the way they are laughing together shows a great camaraderie not only between themselves but with their fans.

RIP Timmy Matlett.