MM on own brand caviar........

An outlet of the Lidl chain last week opened around the corner from the Muxloe abode in St. Reatham. Snobs amongst you may snigger that this is a sign that the tone of the neighbourhood has now been lowered ......... but you'd be wrong! This development just means that we no longer have to trek to Harrods Food Hall for our basic groceries or indeed have staple foods shipped in from Russia. Granted its not bulgara but then I always felt that was overpriced and a bit 'obvious'......

MM on the prawn sandwich brigade

On Tuesday evening I went to Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea take on Lefski Sofia courtesy of free tickets from my good friend Sung. Now don't get me wrong I was grateful for Sung's generosity and would bite her hand off if such an offer were made again, also it was an absolute pleasure to watch live champions league football and finally I appreciate the circumstances of my being at stamford bridge is ironic considering my forthcoming musing (you'll sense there is a but coming here...)

But ..... it was ultimately a rather depressing affair. We were seated in the once famously fearsome Shed end. This is how a Chelsea fan living in the states remembers visits to the Shed in the 70s and 80s, on hs website 'shedendblues'. (The photos show the Shed as was and is today)

We'd bunk the train up from Reading, dodge the underground and pay our 50p under 16 rate to stand in the Shed End - the atmosphere was always electric - guaranteed to get crushed if Chelsea scored - and if the footy was no good there was always the North End idiots putting on the half time show.


Sadly we found that the Shed had less atmosphere than such other grounds as Chesterfield's Saltergate or Scunthorpe's Glandford Park which I have visited in the past 12 months. Never in all my footballing years have I seen so many suits, tourists, late arrivals, public school scarves, trophy girlfriends, middle aged men with gelled hair, people leaving their seats during the action, flashing bulbs, and over-sized pepsi drinks all in one place. All of this accompanied by not a single chant from the Shed through the whole game, no abuse yelled at the officials and an exodus of 'fans' 10 minutes before the game even finished. No doubt traditional fans have been priced out by the bankrupting ticket prices and sadly football is all the poorer for it. Give the game back to the fans!

MM on the wessex grass not always being greener.....

"tell me why
is it hard to make arrangements with yourself?"
Tell me why, Neil Young

Regular readers of Muxloes Musings will know that I am not working at the moment but instead trying to write my novel - The Elephant Orphanage. The pursuit of this passion and dream is not without its sacrifices, not least the imposition of a sense of solitude, financial hardship and periods of self doubt. Emails from friends this week have reminded me that though the attendant drawbacks may be different we all have issues relating to finding a happy blance in our life.

I am currently reading Thomas Hardy's first published novel - 'Desperate Remedies'. Hardy can be an acquired taste but I love it, not just because the landscape of wessex is so evocative of a life that my west country and hampshire ancestors must have lived. More than anything I consider Hardy a genius who must have been a very sage man indeed. He imparts insights and deals out pearls of wisdom in such a succint but poetic manner. Anyway I wanted to share a passage that has bolstered my resolve to continue with my own book and might well be pertinent to all of us pondering the uncertainties of life.

Springrove is a young Dorset man who has just fallen in love with Cytheria but is intent on moving to London to make his name as an architect. Hardy muses that 'the man who works up a good income has had no time to learn love to its extreme; the man who has learnt that has no time to get rich' I'm not sure if that is too pessimistic but it strikes a chord at least. The succour I have got from Desperate Remedies regards the following passage; Cytheria has encouraged Springrove to pursure his dream, even though she realises it will impinge on their own chances of happiness together. He replies "men must stick to a thing if they are to succeed in it." He's right and this has increased my determination to push on with the Elephant Orphanage, however he also instills a sense that this shouldn't be done with the burden of regret or envy for a different life. Springrove notes that if they want to succeed men should 'not give way to over admiration for the flowers they see growing in other people's borders.' Hardy then outlines this notion by wisely pointing out that

"Adherence to a course with persistence sufficient to ensure success is possible ....when there is found in them a power of assuming conviction that in the outlying paths which appear so much more brilliant than their own, there are bitternesses equally great - unperceived simply on account of their remoteness."

I guess he's reminding us that the grass isn't always greener. As to adherence to a course, I suppose he's echoing the motto of Muxloe's Musings and my message to you all to 'keep on keeping on'.