Thursday 29 July 2010

Blooper

It was a change of role for me today in the form of a bit of reporting for the BBC. I popped over to Torquay's new training ground to interview one of my old mates Martin Gritton. He is a top lad, a good player, and to cap it all off, he still had his Glastonbury band on! Our little interview will be aired on next week although you may not see some of the 'extras'. Hopefully they will bring a blooper DVD out at Christmas and then 'Grit's' can sit back and cringe!!!!.
I have just had my dinner and soon it's going to be a long, cold, and much needed beer, then another, then bed. Tomorrow I am going in deep, my Indiana Jones mode will be switched to maximum and I will aim to complete my jungle adventure. Full report very soon but for now I'm heading for the beer fridge.

CH

Wednesday 28 July 2010

Greed or growth

I had to laugh at a picture in the paper today. It was of Sol Campbell and the article was about his one year 30k a week deal with Newcastle. Nothing strange in a picture you may say, but tucked under his arm was not only a copy of the Times but also a copy of the FT (Financial Times). I know what your thinking, under both papers was actually hidden a copy of the Daily Sport and the other two were just for show. Then again, for someone who has already made one hell of a bad decision in the last year, maybe Sol was just looking at the share price of his wife's future company, Barratt homes heiress Fiona Barratt !!. Nothing wrong with a bit of speculating.
On the home front it's a case of 'all tools down', Grandad and Grandma have arrived. We have already enjoyed one of Joans special cakes and now look forward with glee to a week of not entering the kitchen. By the way I'm not sure what anyone else's children are like but the Hargreaves youngsters either have worms, are having massive growth spurts, or are just plain greedy. On Sunday I visited my local well known supermarket, the one where people love reversing for hours on end and talking about their piles in the queue. Anyway I bought the weeks shopping which included 18 packs of Hula Hoops and 24 Kit Kats. By Tuesday they had all gone, is that normal. In fact by Tuesday it had all gone, is that bizarre?.

CH

Tuesday 27 July 2010

Endeavor

Just sat down, overworked, underpaid and shattered. I will endeavor to produce a quality blog tomorrow but for now its a repeat of the Moto GP and bed.

CH

Monday 26 July 2010

Mushed

Mind mushed due to online form, hence four more words... see you tomorrow.

CH

Sunday 25 July 2010

'The' chat

A great weekend has been had by all, a bit of footy first followed by a quick chop of the old locks. On Saturday I nipped to see Jody (Jodes salon) for my regular 'ish' fix of gossip, banter, cappuccino, and of course 'trimmage'. Then it was time for some lovely food and top entertainment at our friends Andy and Kelly's, the food was great and don't even mention out of bounds on the Wii golf!.
While eating/cogitating/drinking/ we had a good chat about almost everything but one subject arose that always causes me extreme concern when mentioned is our children eventually getting older, getting married and leaving home. Don't get me wrong, like many family units, the arguments at Hargreaves towers are relentless, the battle of wills on a daily basis are legendary, and god only knows what the neighbours think when the windows are open and the 'heated debates' are in full swing, but I love those little beauties so much that the thought of them growing up, and doing all the things that grown ups do, is far to much for me to deal with. I will therefore do what any self respecting parent and father would and should do...bury his head in the sand and pretend that it's not happening of course!.
I also know I will soon have to have 'the' chat about the bees and the birds, the only problem with that though is that I'm still not entirely sure about the whole process myself!!!!!!

CH

Friday 23 July 2010

Review

I was going to look back over the last 500 hundred days or so of blogging and share with you my ups and downs during that time, but is there really any need? The answer is no. It is no because I have already shared my life with you over that period and I would just be boring you all to tears going over it again. What I will say though is that during that time I have enjoyed some of the best moments of my career, and in fact my life. I (we) have also had some moments of real sadness and despair but looking back, for us (our clan), moving down to Devon has been incredible.
Present day problems and challenges continue, as they do in all our lives, but isn't that what makes life so exciting? Which reminds me, I must get a job!.
You will have to forgive if my blogging has become erratic recently but I am in a sort of transitional/thinking/working(ish)/emailing/phoning/deciding mode in my life. I am still not sure whether to hang the old boots up (although I am very close)but I am ready for the challenge of coaching/managing. For now though I am more than happy to crack on with my open air therapy (basically involving a saw, some shears, a hammer, a blade strimmer, a chain saw, a rake, a tuna baguette, some water, and consistent six hour shifts of elbow grease)

P.S Hargreaves is back on a screen near you soon.

P.P.S Thanks for the beers (and work!) Carol, much appreciated.

CH

Have a great weekend one and all, here's to the next 500 blogs!

Thursday 22 July 2010

M.O.T

My head thinks I have sunk ten pints, my back thinks it's ninety, my legs are refusing to carry the top part of the body, and my hands are still vibrating. I have jungle fever. Adios.

CH

Wednesday 21 July 2010

Competition

To celebrate my 500th blog barrier (basically involving writing 500 days worth of rants, blogs, 'tweet' like statements, 'stato' facts , news reports, births, deaths, marriages, birthdays, a few tears and hundreds of laughs, I have decided to heap more misery on one lucky blog follower. I am giving away a signed Captains Blog book (signed by all the family including 'The Beast'), a signed T.U.F.C shirt (for the football side of things) and a personalised blog card with a private thought and rant from Mr Hargreaves (for the bizarre side of things). To win/be subjected to these obvious luxuries I am asking one simple question. In the book, (CB), who is wearing a T-shirt with Popeye on the front?.
Please send your answer, your name, and your address to Guy Henderson, web wizard/author/football pundit at ghenderson@heraldexpress.co.uk.
Guy is a top fella who really helped me out when this mammoth, all conquering, blog machine was created. He will have no bias towards picking a winner, apart from the obvious monetary back handers, and will randomly pick out one lucky/unlucky recipient, when he gets round to it!.

Closing date 7th August. Result date 9th August. (Wow it's suddenly like a G.M.T.V competition. PLEASE GET PERMISSION FROM A GROWN UP TO ENTER THE COMPETITION, ALL ENTRIES SUBMITTED AFTER THE 7TH AUGUST WILL NOT BE COUNTED BUT MAY STILL BE CHARGED!! ) Good luck, and god bless.

Today's celebratory 500th (and 1st) blog will follow later.

P.S You don't need to enter it Mum, I can send you a card as well!

P.P.S Neither do you 'Nico' I'll send you a card too!

CH

Monday 19 July 2010

Equation

Chain saw, school play, lots of phone activity, pipe leak, broken oven, late night, early start = bed.
Night all.

CH

Sunday 18 July 2010

Imagination

It's bedtime and Harriet has just told me her nightly story. Instead of the normal bedtime book we now make up our own stories, like the girl who found a secret den at the bottom of her garden or the boy who dug a hole at the beach and discovered a box of treasure, or.... "Once a once (instead of once upon) a time there was a girl called Daisy. She went to the supermarket on her own. Her mum and dad asked her to buy a fish and a cake. The fish was pink and all sorts of colours and the cake was raisin, and she rode home on a motorbike"
"Oh that's a great story Hattie" I say, Hattie continues "I haven't finished yet Dad, then her brother Gabriel hears some marching outside the door (at this point 'H' is on top of me marching on the bed) and it's those marching people, you know who march like this (she imitates straight arms and legs at this point, still on me) "Oh soldiers" I say, "Yes soldiers and they just march past the house smiling, what a day"......"Night then Hattie"!!!!!.

While we are on the subject of stories and imagination, the Hargreaves posse visited Greenway this afternoon, the holiday home and retreat of Agatha Christie. What a place it is, the house, in thirty acres of lovely gardens, is perched on a hillside near Brixham with panoramic views across the water. This was her 'getaway', away from the hustle and bustle of work (96 books written all told) where the family would holiday, and read!, and walk and relax.
It was a great insight into the life of an incredible lady. We were even told, as we were ushered into the house through the back door, that she too had to enter her own house 'around the back'. Such was her fame at the time an extension had to be built onto the house to give her the privacy to come and go at her own pleasure, otherwise the 'paparazzi' would snap her. Yes even back then the 'paps' were at it!.

In other news, I am developing Enochlphobia (a fear of crowds), not the big stadium crowds though, no it's more the crowds at a supermarket, when you can be looking at a pizza in aisle 5 when suddenly every other customer in the whole store seems to be peering over your shoulder at what you are looking at. It happened to me the other day and I had to run off shouting "I'm being crowded out here, I can't handle it". As well as Enochlophobia I am also being treated for Telephobia (a fear of phones). I never answer the home phone and my mobile is a real test of nerves, and anyway my beloved iPhone is probably currently in the hands of Vicky Pollards boyfriend, down the shops or at the park with two litres of white lighting in a new burberry sleeve with a 'am I bovered ringtone' installed, so for now I can rest easy in the knowledge that my 'new' old phone has the capabilities of a breeze block and a contact list as empty as Tiger Woods'.

CH

Saturday 17 July 2010

Head gone trying to sort videos out. Hard drive, £50, made no difference at all. Unfortunately I am an IT imbecile and added to this the fact that my wife can't drag herself away from Miami Ink, and hates helping me anyway, I am left with only one option, throwing the laptop through the window. Before I do though I may as well share some little words of wisdom with you.
I took my little firecracker for a coffee the other day and I have to say it was a joke. We all go like to go for a bit of cake or a bacon sarnie once in a while and this occasion was no different, but although the location was spot on, views and decor very good, the food and prices were at best, Liege - that's 'Standard' for those of you who having never used the term Liege, referring to Standard Liege, one of the most successful Belgian clubs of all time, and breath!.
And so back to the eatery in question. If AA Gill (he of Sunday times, food critic of acidic proportions) happened upon this place he would be cutting in his summary, I however will be less harsh. I will just say that although the staff were pleasant, till ringing the most fulfilling pastime apart, the food and drink was disappointing. Within seconds the latte fizzled out into half a cup of warm milk, the milkshake was twice as much as I would normally pay for it, as it was after all a 'Frijj' from the fridge, and the bacon bun I ordered for 'H' was, at an extortionate £4.95, as easy to eat as a set of television cables. By the time I had finished taking the fat off the bacon (I had to intervene as Hattie was choking by this point) the milkshake had curdled and Harriet was nearly five.
All in all I suppose it was a lesson in how not to spend £10. No stars!.
Today we have been swimming, this evening we are heading for a classic family walk, and tonight it is the blood of christ and some leaves form Cuba.
Chao.

CH

Thursday 15 July 2010

Lark

I decided to get up at 5 a.m this morning - a combination of Hattie in the bed and then out again and my wife moaning (not that type of moaning otherwise I would have stayed in bed!)made my mind up to rise early.
I set off for a run at 5.30 and seven miles, three rabbits, one man on a bike, one jogger, three City Link vans, one squirrel, a bit of rain, a sunset, a woman in a Vauxhall Corsa delivering letters and a bit of stretching later, here I am. Today it's bank, garden, phone, laptop, training ground, and park.
Have a good day.

CH

Wednesday 14 July 2010

Progress report

Can't sleep, can't stop eating, dazed and confused, but bizarrely very, very happy. Over and out tonight as I need to ice my 'strimming' hand, and Katie and Alex is on the TV so I can't tap on the keyboard!

CH

Tuesday 13 July 2010

Miles Apart

Crazy world we live in. In this country a banking 'big wig' can cost the country millions and yet still claim more than a million a year for themselves in bonuses. In India a worker can do a 98 hour week, that worker is an eight year old boy on 7 pence an hour, and in America's New York City the Carlyle hotel, overlooking Central Park and coming in at £7000 a night for a suite, is a hundred yards away form Lincoln Correctional facility (prison). The same road, the same view, and free accommodation - although to be fair you can't get a club sandwich and a Bellini at the Lincoln.
My point is, that when you are walking along the beach on a quiet evening in Devon you realise two things, one is how lucky we are, and the second is that all the bull**** is a million miles away.

Well, like many Brits this week I hope that the 'Met men' get their predictions right about the weather. I am expecting it to be red hot very soon, because at the moment the little wooden man and woman in their little wooden 'weatherhouse' are coming in and out of the door about as many times as the average Tesco shopper reverses in and out of a parking space. You just cannot read the elements at the minute, but like any true English man or woman, whether it is red hot or freezing cold, we love a good moan about the weather.
I will have to sign off now as the programme I am currently watching on BBC1 is unbelievably traumatic and moving, especially considering that only half an hour earlier I watched Jamie 'mockney, cockney, cheeky chappy, Oliver refer to his seasoning of a burger by saying "Just give your burger a little once over with your Thyme brush"......please no more!.

CH

Monday 12 July 2010

Spanish Steps

Well what a busy few days. There has been a bit of speedway, a trip to the beach (obviously), some more undergrowth torture, a world cup final, and a very impressive 'cook off'. The speedway is becoming a bit of a favourite (thanks to 'Spearo'), I have rode most types of bikes but never a speedway bike and one of Newcastle's stars, Mark Lemon, may soon be letting that happen for yours truly - no brakes and lot's of speed, I can't wait.
As far as the football is concerned, the saying 'the right team won' really did ring true as Spain passed their way to winning the World Cup. Both teams dived more than Tom Daley at a world championships, but with players like Xavi and Iniesta Spain are a true delight to watch and I think most people were delighted that they won.
As far as the 'cook off' is concerned Sarah Miller produced a faultless performance -in and out of the kitchen!. It was a top night, although Jase stayed fully clothed and chose not to do a full football warm up in the 'buff', and I wouldn't fancy following Sarah's culinary masterclass (Rob!).
And finally, as far as football is concerned, I am still mulling a few things over. I am obviously not currently at pre season training anywhere and after 22 years of doing so it does feel strange. Although I have signed for clubs before in my career very close to the start of the season, whether I don a pair of boots this season is still very much in the balance. It is quite a difficult decision to make and maybe it would be easier if it were decided for me but for now I am happy to be spending some time with the family not thinking about 'the beautiful game'.

P.S Thanks bro for a great weekend and thanks Harvey for being a real star.

P.S Hard drive to be purchased today, videos not far away.

CH

Thursday 8 July 2010

Hacker

Today was spent in true Tarzan surroundings. For this afternoon I hacked, sawed, and trimmed my way through an overgrown paddock. At the end of the day I resembled Jesus of Nazareth, had lost around five pounds in body weight, and was cut to ribbons. And I absolutely loved it. Tomorrow it will be more of the same, except I may be armed with a petrol strimmer and a chainsaw (although Fiona is not so sure!).
This weekend my bro and his boy (Mark and Harv) are down, on Friday I am heading to the speedway, and on Saturday night the 'cook off' returns. No fancy dress or house makeover, just good food (Sarah), good banter (Fiona, Jase, Sarah, Rob, and Vicky) and of course the chance of nakedness (Jase).

Thanks again to Carol for the gardening therapy

CH

Wednesday 7 July 2010

Teething

I am still having some teething problems with my video blogs - basically my laptop is rubbish and I am going to have to throw it through the window! Hopefully it can be sorted soon. In other news, and another reason why my blogging has been intermittent recently, I have lost my iPhone so apologies to all those who have tried to call (if any) as I have lost my numbers, and also all videos and pictures....gutted. In other, other news, it was school sports day today and the Hargreaves duo did us very proud, unlike Hattie who ended up watching this afternoon in her pyjamas. The older two ran like the wind and it was, as always, emotional to see them doing their bit - although of course no tears were shed (my wife says I am actually devoid of any emotion, but hey they were there to win!!!!!!!)
I am still undecided as to what my future will be, many decisions still to make and not much time to do it. I am however thoroughly enjoying my time at home, not running around a field is at the moment a novelty, although I do miss lapping 'Nico' in pre-season!.

P.S Couldn't resist it, I ran for eight miles yesterday, I still need the pain!

P.P.S Thanks to Rachel and Nikki for your help, all donations welcome!

P.P.P.S Video may be with you tomorrow.


CH

Sunday 4 July 2010

Glastonbury round-up

"Dib, Dib, Dib"

I am having a few difficulties uploading my latest (Video) offerings at the moment, so apologies about that, but bear with me and hopefully I will have something for you tomorrow, albeit a little out of date. This weekend has been spent, in canvas, by some woods, near a beach, not sleeping, and lighting fires. Yes we have been camping, destination Woolacombe. I will give you a full report tomorrow but it basically involved 48 hours of BBQ's and alot of smoke in my eyes, 48 hours of swimming and surfing and a lot of salt and chlorine in my eyes, some pottery!, a couple of surfboards, a load of arguments, some ghost stories, and some hefty pain to the wallet area. My wife is traumatised but, as is the norm, the children loved it.
Time for a glass of red and a comfy bed (wow, even some poetry for you).

P.S Come on Spain

P.P.S Well done Rafa, forehand of death!

P.P.P.S TENT FOR SALE, two door, five tired out owners, chequered history, loads of room, fifty five bent pegs, and only used twice! £1....ONO

CH

CH