Queen Of The South

What an excellent afternoon spent with the Queen of South Wirral, her family, and friends. With parents over from Brittany, expectant Mum to Be and Breton's no1 Queen of the South supporter laid on a barbecue at Guiena Pig Grounds.

The weather misbehaved at times but that did not deter us from having a good time with fine food, fine wine and fine conversation the order of the day. I can particularly recommend Dr Loosen Riesling to you and throwing Rock Salt on the Barbie!

I'm with The Choir

Last night the tribe headed over to All Saints in Hoole to hear Mrs Pieman belt out a few tunes with the Deo Gratias Choir (Along with The Woodentops). The first half was a mixed bag of various choral items, a couple of instrumentals and the second half was devoted to Vivaldi's Gloria.

After the highlight of last week with Kasabian this was going to be something of a contrast. Hot, Not cramped, occasionally loud and .......inspiring nonetheless. With little more accompaniment than the piano the sound of 60 plus voices in well practised unison and harmony is an awesome experience.

Yes the possibility of going to the Sea Breeze kept some of us going but this was an enjoyable gig! No Pie was made available but drinks were provided at half time.

Migratory Vistors

Sunday saw the the Pie Tribe to travel to Malpas and Auntie Gwen's to meet up with South African visitors Kath and Mike. This along with various other family members, good food and chat made for a great way to spend such a hot afternoon.

Flash the dog provided the entertainment and energy for a blistering warm afternoon. Pie was available which was immediately pounced upon by most members of the Pie Tribe.

West Ryder Lunatic Asylum

On their final gig prior to their Glastonbury Pyrimid stage appearance Kasabian played the Mountford Hall at Liverpool University on Thursday 25th June which The Pieman was fortunate to attend, along with Georgio Dragonslayer, Dirk Swamp and The Ashman.

It was cramped, sweaty, very loud, beer stained and absolutely brilliant!! Georgio and the Ashman nearly caused a ruckus at the bar and Dirk Swamp we lost to the Mosh Pit for the first half of the gig.

Venue was ok, easy to find and parking good. Only downside was the queues' for liquid refreshment which on such a close hot night were very long.

Excellent gig with the band ripping through a selection of tunes from all three albums and finishing with LSF, most excellent. Support was provided by The Hours.

Swamp Dino

To celebrate the arrival of summer and some excellent weather the Swamp tribe invited the Pies and others to a barbecue at the Swamp Estate.

Delicious food from our hosts, great weather and entertaining company made for an excellent evening topped off by a Swamp guest arriving with a Ferrari Dino GT! In superb condition ,oh yes what a beautiful car.

Our generous fellow guest, before the evening ended, took some of us for spin. The smell, the throb of the idling engine and the snarl of that V6 engine as the right foot went down was a delight. I also now know what supergirl wants for her 18th.......dream on!

Police Incident Plot109a

This year has seen the Pie tribe reclaim more of the wasteland of Plot 109a for cultivation. However yesterday the police prevented access to the site due to an ongoing "Police incident" ? Radishes gone amok, Terrifying Turnips, Cold blooded Carrots .......????

So far we have planted Cauliflowers, Potatoes,(X2) Radishes, Lettuce,(x2) Onions,(x2) Garlic, Cabbages, Broccoli, Beetroot ( X2 Varieties), Sweetcorn ........

Spot The Vegetable?

Recently passengers in the immaculate "Dog" have been complaining of a distinct aroma which despite our best efforts could neither be located or eradicated.

Unfounded and unnecessary accusations were put forward as to the source of the aroma. Various smelly items were introduced to the "Dog" to combat the worsening pungent attack on the nasal passages. Contrary to one suggestion it was not a rotting pie.

However after finishing at the Allotment today a rather ripe Swede was located in the boot in a plastic sweaty slimy carrier bag. We estimate it's been in there two months or more not counting time spent in the "Beast" before that.

In case you hadn't worked it out the rotting Vegetable is the one on the left!

Gingers Boy Comes Good

The Pieman headed off to Bangor On Dee this afternoon for National Hunt Racing. Pictured above is Wymott being led out by Ginger McCain's son, Donald and ridden by Jason Maguire. This combination provided a winner to finish off an excellent day.

The promised sunshine never materialised and with a biting wind it was extremely cold.The drying conditions meant a number of non runners. So whilst the quality of horse talent on show may have be questionable the racing was not.

A few of the Piemans selections ran well enough to justify inclusion in a Pie. However some judicious choices resulted in a healthy profit after all expenses were taken into account. A most enjoyable afternoon out, even with no Pie found.

Chris and Jess Get Married

What an excellent day yesterday was watching two friends get married. Excellent from start to finish! The weather behaved itself, the service was great , the venue for the celebration an excellent choice, great food, great conversation and short speeches!! What more can you need for the perfect day?

Pie would be nice and the groom did apologise for the lack of Pie available. Having said that the spread was fantastic and the Pieman definitely needs to seriously consider those elasticated pants for such occasions.

The Bride and Groom looked fantastic and we hope they had as good a time as we did. The only disappointment was going home. Can time be spent better NOOOOO!

No Pie to report on but an excellent ale to recommend to go with a Pie Black Sheep Bitter/Ale from Masham in Yorkshire. Check out their website, locate a pub near you or play "whack a sheep"!

Hairy Snacks and Pies

The Pie Tribe headed to Shrewsbury by train for a day out in the Salopian capital. Not having been there for quite a while we were extremely pleased with what we found and experienced.

The trip to Shrewsbury started well .The Male Trolley Dolley on our train having an unusual sales pitch to shout as he moved between the passengers, "Soft Drinks for Saints and Alcohol for Sinners". After arriving we headed into town passing a sandwich bar en route.

At this point the Pieman spotted a huge pork Roast waiting to be sliced in the window and an overflowing tray of Pork Crackling. The owner of this emporium noticed the Pieman drooling and provocatively waved the crackling at the window under his nose. This was most unfair and too early in the day, so we ran away!

For the next few hours we wandered around this delightful town enjoying its shops, market, river, medieval buildings, museum and people. A number of interesting pies and sausages were spotted in the market hall which also had some excellent 2nd book stalls. The Pink Princess also discovered live lobsters and was not impressed by the fishmonger who noticed this. He picked one up to let her handle and she ran off quicker than the Pieman after crackling.

After Lunch we found the excellent Appleyard delicatessen which stocks a vast array of meats, cheeses, sausages, olives.......and PIES. As soon as you stepped over the threshold into this delightfully crammed emporium of fine foods you were hit by a Pan Galactic blast of odours to make any person giddy with anticipation.


As well products by organic Bridgend piemaker "Jones The Pie" they had Pies by a Bridgnorth based award winning Piemaker Reg May. We were spoilt for choice and particularly tempted by the Ploughmans Pie a Pork Pie with Pickle, Cheese, Spring Onion and Cherry Tomatoes. We settled on Reg's standard Pork Pie and a Pork & Stilton Pie variant. Both I can subsequently report were excellent. Along with some home made fudge some Wild Boar Sausage was purchased by Toutatis.

From here we headed down to the English Bridge and spotted two pairs of Goosanders diving in the river. We have only seen these once before in Dovedale,Derbyshire and they are beautiful. With so much walking Mrs Pieman wears out her shoes and we have to stop to purchase new ones. Also if your looking for wine try Tanners down by the river who have an amazing selection.

After bumping into various colleagues and friends we made our way past the fire eater back to the crackling sorry station. Yes a visit to Castle Banquets was in order for a Pork Roast, stuffing and apple sauce bap with a side dish/order of Crackling (Actually a bagful of the stuff which we were still eating a few days later and weren't charged for! O Happy days). A thoroughly excellent day and worth a visit again some time.