And summer's lease...

... hath all too short a date. But while it lasted, a period of what can best be described as 'scorchio plus' sapped the energy out of all of us. I personally sought refuge in the Junction Inn, which I have only just realised has air conditioning; presumably because it's the first time they've had to actually turn it on in all the years that I've lived round here. Anyway, while I was there I saw the always excellent Dr Bob & the Bluesmakers. Maria, their lead vocalist, just seems to get better and better, although it would appear that she was also unaware of how cold it was going to be in the pub and rather wished that she had worn more clothes.

This brief hot spell also saw week two of the Battle of Sobotka, and thankfully the temperature in the legendary wargames room wasn't too bad at all by the time we got there. I haven't yet had a chance to reflect in any detail how things developed - although the big, bouncy woman did thoroughly debrief me almost as soon as the game was over - so let's just say that it was once again bad for the Austrians, but not as bad as the week before. Hopefully James will get some photos up soon because the table does look good. Notwithstanding the fact that I was once again on the wrong end of the initiative split (although in fairness I also luckily won a couple of cavalry melees that I shouldn't have done) I can only reiterate that I just love the swings and uncertainties of Piquet.

Sort of related to having seen some blues - with more to come tomorrow - this, especially for Crumb, is Captain Beefheart doing a J.J. Cale song that many of us will best know from the Lynyrd Skynyrd version: