Eau de Chlorine

I am overdue with a post again, most lax of me. 

Friday/Saturday last week

I was feeling quite down last weekend, lots of people were out having fun and I was at home. On Saturday I had taken Josephine over to my parents on a test drive but turns out they were out. 

Thankfully she performed mostly flawlessly on the drive, but there was a bit of niggle with the pressure switch for the brake lights, I noticed they were coming on when I didn't have my foot on the brake.  I think there must be some air still in the system which is expanding when everything gets warm. More fun in the garage this weekend then.

Sunday

Sunday I was due to go swimming at a LGBTQ+ session at 5:30pm. It was at Bramley baths in west Leeds, about 45 minutes drive from here.  I was feeling quite nervous about it actually, I had got ready by about 2pm, very minimal makeup as I wasn't sure how well it would cope with being wet.

https://www.bramleybaths.co.uk

I had put on primer all over, with some orange colour corrector on the beard shadow area - probably not required now but old habits die hard.  I only put foundation over this area, and blended it into the rest of my face. I had eyeliner on, and I drew my eyebrows on.  I had purchased, or been gifted some setting spray at Chameleons a while ago, and figured I would put some of this on top too - never used it before. I didn't bother with lipstick so had to clean off the foundation that had gone on the lips.  

I was pleased with the result, it was the least makeup I had ever dared present En femme outside the house in, but I still think I looked OK.

I arrived at 5pm , I always seem to turn up 30 minutes early everywhere - better than a frien
d of mine who is always 30 minutes late :) . Thankfully there were plenty of parking spaces, as I was worried I might have to find room on the road outside.

I waiting until about 5:15 to go in, as I didn't want to be hanging around by myself, I had seem a group of LGBTQ+ looking people go in a bit earlier though. After entering I spied Alex who I had been questioning about this session at LFF previously, and went and talked to her until we were told we could go into the pool.

Nipped to the loo first, then went towards the pool, we had to take our shoes off to enter, then once through the door you are in the main pool room. The changing booths are either side of the main axis, individual cubicles with a tiny seat and a hook, with lockers on the outside. 

I got changed, took a few selfies for posterity then ventured out.  There were already keen people in the pool, I went down the deep end ladder and got acclimatised. The skirt of the swimsuit floated up as I entered the water but soon when down when the air escaped.  

I must have done 20+ lengths of the pool, it is only a 22 meter one, so not full size. Alex told me that 47 is a mile, and she tries to do this when she goes.  I was knackered by the end, and was taking longer and longer breaks between each length.  Some of the other people did float over to introduce themselves, but it will be a good while of being reminded of them before I will remember them.

A good deal of the group were using it mainly as a social session, one was floating around in a ring, generally getting in the way of anyone trying to do lengths. There were only a few of us really attempting to get exercise done.  

My swimming technique has never been the best, and I was probably only going half the speed of some others, but it had been more than a decade since I last tried. I was doing breast stroke as that's the only one I mastered at school - I was the worst in the class.

When the session ended I returned to the cubicle and the first thing I did was get my phone to check I had some makeup left on - it looked the same as when I entered the pool, which was good !

Numerous muscles , tendons and other random bits have been taking great pleasure in reminding me that I really should have taken it a bit more steady on my first visit. But I hopefully have another week to recover before I do another session.

This group only does one Sunday a month, but there is another Leeds based group that does another two, so I should be able to do 3 sessions a month - and hopefully lose some weight ! 

I was on a bit of a high when I left, I didn't get to speak with Alex, it's a bit of an odd system , the exit takes you into a tiny room where you can put your shoes on, and then you have another door which takes you out of the building, you don't end up back in the entrance.

It was a really lovely beautiful old building though.

I have marked myself as 'Interested' on the FB group for the sessions early next month. 

Thursday - Chameleons

I was going dressed this time, so didn't set off massively early and arrived to find a few others already there. 

Had some a nice chat with Sally who hadn't been for a while - although I was convinced I had seen her at xmas, likely me being senile. Also fab to catch up with Ann and Debbie. 

There was also a new lady Abby who I knew from Instagram, she was quite nervous to start with, but towards the end of the evening seemed to have settled down and we had a nice chat. Hoping she comes back again.

The elderly lady who had transport difficulties last time seemed to be heading the same way again, and looked to spend the first hour of the meeting trying to organise her transport home on her phone ! Hopefully Lynn didn't have to offer her trans-uber service again.

The drive back was a lot better than last time, much less lane closures, still a fair bit of 50mph around Sheffield, but I was back by midnight. I was a bit hungry so ended up having cheese on toast, then was talking to an Insta friend until 1 am.

Today - Good Friday  

I braved putting a pic of Josephine on the Morris Minor owners group FB page 'Front end Friday' is a
thing that some people do, where they post a front on pic. I had been a bit hesitant as I wasn't sure what reception the trans-flag grille would get.

But I shouldn't have worried, I only got one negative comment, and they haven't clarified why they don't like the grille, it's possible it's because it's a non-original colour scheme, they haven't replied to my question about it yet.

I've just been to the Co-op in minimal makeup, not even colour corrector, but with a bit of foundation on the beard area, eyeliner and brows.  Felt quite liberating, didn't feel out of place. I had my leggings and top from Chams on, my blue swede boots and an old work fleece, no forms or bra and my hair tied in a pony tail.

Not sure what I will do this afternoon, perhaps look at the brakes. 

Repeat after me

 

General Updates

I have booked a doctors appointment with my GP for early April.  I had to repeat 'Gender Affirming Care' to the receptionist 3 times over the phone, she seemed quite confused. 

The aim is to try and get blood tests, so I can safely increase my dose, and go on blockers, but also get a referral to the GIC.  

I will be going En femme for maximum impact, in a smart work dress probably.  My friend Dannielle was sharing her knowledge on waiting times at Chams last week, and it looks like Nottingham is the best choice in terms of waiting times. So I will be downloading the referral paperwork to hand to him mostly completed.

I had laser last Wednesday, the lady noticed my boobs :) , it went well - machine was turned up to 11 on my face, really hurt, but that is good in that something is happening. I had gone into the office so I could nip over the road to go there at lunch.  

Other activities 

Chameleons - Thursday night

I had a really nice time, I got there quite early as I couldn't wear makeup and so was ready a lot quicker.  It was a really busy night, quite a few new faces, we were running out of chairs.

Lynn had fun times collecting the payments, and dealing with a less mobile member. 

Joanne had made the trek on the bus, was nice to see her in person - must have been quite a while since I last did. I also spent a lot of the night talking with Ann and Dannielle who I had also not seen for quite a while too. 

Traffic was pretty bad going home, lots of lane closures and speed restrictions, was a bit after midnight before I was back. 

Saturday - Leeds Alternative Market

I had mentioned to my wife on Friday that I was going into Leeds to have a look around the alternative
market, and was quite surprised that she wanted to come along. It usually seems like I am forcing any opportunity to dress in public with her and the kids, so was really nice for it to be her suggestion.

We arrived around lunchtime, parking in the trinity car park. We headed to Decathlon first, as the kids needed new trainers for school. I had a look around the swimming bit for a swim dress as I wanted to go to a trans session in Leeds later in the month, but they only had normal costumes. 

After this we went to McDonalds for some food, I had a McPlant. Got a funny look from a serious looking guy while we were sat down to eat, but he soon ignored me. 

Then we walked to the markets. The alternative market is on three times a year, March, July and October, but I don't think I had ever been before.  They are two zones with almost 90 vendors, so it's pretty big. 

I had a bit of a look around, and bought some fab vampire cat earrings, and also a candle. My wife and boys were not that interested, so they went to look at the sweet stalls in the normal part while I mooched.  Didn't spend a great deal of time there to be honest, but it was nice to have a look.

There were also some trans history talks in the city museum on the same day, so I decided I would pop
up there and see if anyone I knew was around to talk to.  My wife took the kids to Primark as she didn't fancy the walk there.  

I happened to arrive just as one talk had finished, and the lunch session was starting, and noticed two familiar looking people wandering over the road to the Wetherspoons, I swiftly followed :) 

One I knew fairly well - Alex, she had come along to our Pints and Straws events a number of times, and the other I had been wanting to introduce myself to for a while but had not had the chance. I sat with them and consumed a coke while they had their lunch, and we had a nice chat.  

It was really nice to just be in a pub chatting with other trans people I had just bumped into. Alex also goes to the swim session I had been looking to go to, and she told me a bit about how to book the session too.  Suzy was the other lady, she is very local to me, and apparently had attended Trans-Wakefield for one session, although I don't recall seeing her, so perhaps I was elsewhere. 

After their lunch break was over, I had to go find the family, as they had got bored of shopping and wanted a lift home, so I didn't get to listen to any of the talks.  

In the evening I ordered a swim dress from Amazon, and booked my swimming session for this Sunday. 

Sunday - Josephine

Decided to put some minimal makeup on, and make an effort to get Josephine back on the road. I was mostly successful, and by the end of the day she was back on her wheels and mostly ready to hit the road - but it was a bit dark to go out.

I did a live stream on Instagram of her first start since before Xmas - went very well, had not done one before. 

My pink overalls got some nice comments, and it seems a few of my followers had not seen the trans flag grille before.

In the evening I tried on the swim dress that had been delivered in the afternoon, I was very pleased indeed.  It has some thin foam pads in pockets in the breasts - I wasn't aware of this when I ordered, but it works really well - my own are small but becoming quite noticeable, but with the padding looked very natural. 

I got a sort of trans colour swim cap too, of course :)

I was feeling very happy and relaxed after a really quite nice weekend - good to be doing normal things while dressed, rather than just out on the beer with my friends. 

Friends, booze and fried breakfasts

 

I have been bad at updating things on here again ! I had a really good weekend at the start of the month, but work has been pretty stressful the since then. 

There are no major updates to report on general trans issues, I haven't acted upon the information gained on my Gender GP call as yet.

I got my new glasses this Thursday, and am pleased with them, they looks good En femme and OK in boy mode. I will be at the office in them tommorow, I doubt anything will be said.

Previous Weekend 

Thursday

It began with a Thursday night in Wakefield with my friend Bennie who currently has a house nearby.
We did my usual haunts, having some fab beers.  We ate at Rustico's which is the Italian place Trans-Wakefield held their xmas do at this year.  Had some deep fried brie to start, then a meaty pizza.

The pubs stop serving at 11pm on the Thursday, so we were not out that late.  I stayed over at hers, mainly to save on taxi rides back to mine which are rather expensive. 

Friday

In the morning we ate at a local greasy spoon in Normanton, where I had lived for about 10 years after
getting married. It was a friendly little place, and not a bad breakfast. It was raining quite hard on our exit, and didn't have a brolly on me so we got a bit damp walking to the car.

We went from there straight to Leeds, we were staying in the Leonardo, which I have never stopped at before, parked at the armouries car park. We chanced taking our bags there as soon as we arrived at lunch time, in the hope we could pay extra to check in early - but they let us have the room anyway which was a bonus.  It was a really cold day, and my hands were blue by the time we got there. 

It was Pints and Straws in the afternoon, which was fairly successful. We were one shy of our
attendance record, 12 people there I think.  There was a bit of an incident where someone was suspected of filming us when we left 'Friends of Ham'.  It was reported to the bar, but all they could do really was apologise. Don't think the guy was approached by them about it.

There was also a bit of a personality clash between two of my friends who had not interacted before, the older of the two does have form for rubbing people up the wrong way sometimes, so I suppose it was inevitable.

We ate at Pieminster this time, only 5 of us as others had gone off to do their own thing. It was lovely
food, and I made use of their unlimited gravy to get the most out of my money :)

LFF itself was pretty good, the new start venue was excellent again, although no cherry beer. We did the Viaduct, the Shed, then End and then Smokestack.  A number of us were going to a beer festival in Bradford the next day, so we were not trying to go too mad. 

The group decided to go find food at 2am , McDonalds was the first place we tried, but it was full of teenagers and the prospect of a long wait put them off. So I headed to big bites, and the rest followed me in. Got some cheesy chips to share with Bennie and we walked back to the Leonardo.

Saturday

Breakfast was pretty good, it was all self service same as Premier, virtually the same in all respects, and not a bad price £12.50 if you booked the night before, which is a little more than premier. 

Decided to try out the gym on the way back to the room after breakfast 🤣

We headed out to the shops after breakfast, I had neglected to pack a jumper and I figured I might be
cold at the beer festival without one. I got a black one in Next, which completed my all black outfit 🤣

The train to Shipley was around lunch time, so we had a quick coffee at the station Pret before heading to the platform.  After getting on the train we soon found the rest of the gang. It didn't take too long to get there, and it was only a short walk to the beer festival venue.

Had a few beers, then I got some pie and peas to ensure I didn't get too tipsy too quickly. We enjoyed/endured some music from the brass band. 

I had forgotten how much standing there would be, and my platform DM's were really starting to hurt
after only 30 mins or so.  No seats were to be found anywhere. 

By the end of the afternoon I had resorted to sitting on the floor in the hall, but it had thinned out sufficiently there wasn't much risk of being stood on. 

We had got tickets for the afternoon session, and normally if you do this, you can just stay as long as you want - but they closed the venue at 4pm and turfed us out. Some of my friends were less than impressed as there was not much warning of this, and they had just bought another batch of non-refundable tokens !

There was a bit of a panic that the train was due soon, and I was running to keep up with the longer
legged members of our merry band, but we ended up waiting a few minutes when we got to the station.

After getting back into Leeds, we headed to 'The Brew Society' to recover for a bit, I had some water and a coke. Was feeling really tired, and could have had a nap really.  I managed to book a table at Miller and Carter for 4 of us who wanted steak, but couldn't get the table until 8:15pm
.

Bennie was going for a curry with two others who joined us there, but neglected to take her coat, so we took great joy in getting pics of us wearing it to taunt her, 

I had just about recovered enough to be hungry by the time we got there.  My friend Gemma who was in drab - but had an LED hat, and sign on, had decided to set her sign to 'Just Married'  - Alice was in a white dress that could easily have been a wedding one.  This led to them being mistaken as a happy couple by a number of people, and congratulated a number of times.  The poor waitress at Miller and Carter also believed this to be the case too. 

We were quite a sight really, one goth, one bridesmaid, a LED groom, and a resplendent bride. Not really sure I met the establishment's dress code !

After stuffing ourselves, we headed back to Friends of Ham, I was wearing Bennie's coat on top of mine so was nice and warm :) 

Bennie met us there and got her coat back. She stayed out for one more drink after I decided to go to bed. I put the telly on and started to watch one of the new Star Trek films that was on as I knew there was no point in trying to sleep as she would be back in a bit. 

Sunday 

We had breakfast, then headed to the car. I gave Bennie a lift back home, then we decided to for a short walk to go find the café barge on the nearby canal. 

It wasn't there unfortunately, so we took advantage of some sun to get some photo's then headed back to hers for a cup of tea,

I got back home after lunch. I was pretty tired, didn't do much for the rest of the day. 

A focus on the future

Transition updates

So I had my call with the lovely Sofia from GenderGP on Friday the 16th.  I had been quite nervous, as with the initial consultation.  I think mainly because I assumed I would be being assessed in some way. Likely my own imposter syndrome  causing conclusions to be jumped to. 

I had planned it for my day off, so I could dress for the call, but I was going to the opticians, and then to my parents afterwards, so I decided to experiment with an ultra quick look.  This consisted of a shave, false eyelashes, drawing my eyebrows on, and some lipstick - no foundation.

I think I looked pretty good - being able to go without foundation and colour corrector is my ultimate goal, so I was very encouraged by the results.  I still have some shadow to get rid of with more laser, but I am hoping that by summer I might be getting close.

The call went fine, Sofia was really nice, and we talked about how I had found the last six months, and what my goals were and such.  Towards the end I mentioned I was looking to increase my dose, and go onto blockers. She gave me a lot of helpful advice on how to proceed.

The main objective now is to get blood tests, as any increase in my dose would mean I would need to monitor the hormone levels every 3 months to ensure all was well.  They can provide details for private clinics for me to attend, but she recommended asking my GP first. The process required me to submit a form on the website, and they sent me some letters to give to my GP regarding the tests required.

They also contain a request to go onto shared care, and some wording which makes its clear that this is all pretty basic stuff and they really shouldn't attempt to refuse based on competency grounds.  

I haven't booked an appointment with my GP yet, I would be going dressed, it's a pretty big step. I will likely do so, in March. I will endeavour to see if I can get an appointment booked at least.

Glasses !

I had an eye test, and the lady agreed that my close up vision had deteriorated fairly significantly since last time - I was overdue a test by a fair bit.  

Fortunately my distance vision is wonderful :)

I have been using a magnifying lens on an arm to read cooking instructions on packets, so I was expecting it. 

They want me to try varifocals, as it's easier for a younger person to get started on them now, than wait while it's all much worse. 

The more expensive they are the better my chance of getting on with them, so I went for very expensive lenses.  

This left me with a choice, do I buy them with female frames, or men's frames. It kind of forced me to semi commit to decide on the likelihood of me needing men's ones.

I went with female ones, pink arms , geometric lenses, the lenses were £500 , the frames only £200.

It was Saturday when I chose the frames, my local opticians didn't have a big selection so I drove to Barnsley in the morning. The older male optician didn't seem too phased when I told him I wasn't interested in looking at males ones, and wanted to see unisex / women's. I was in boy mode at the time.

Since then

I had a bit of a mood slump after the peak of Friday.  A few cockups at work that I was involved in, and some bad days of self doubt on future plans. 

I was meant to be going out with a friend on the Wednesday night, but she had to call it off, which was a bit of a downer too.  

Chameleons 

Thursday I was still in two minds as to going to Chameleons, I don't know why, I knew for a fact I would enjoy it, but the motivation wasn't there at all. But I did end up going in the end.

It was a really good night, nice to catch up with Lynn and distract her from her makeup as normal :)  - spent a long time talking with Dayna who I had not had chance to before now.

She was telling me about lots of trans YouTube channels she was in to, to my shame I do not spend a lot of time on trans topics on there. I end  up watching music videos, car repair, makeup videos and such.

There was a new lady who turned up, which is usually the hard part, but seemed to get a bit overwhelmed and made her excuses after a short while.  Hopefully she we come back.

Bought some purple nail varnish from Lynn too, fab colour. Only took it off today because I didn't fancy going for a run while wearing it.

I was significantly happier for attending anyway. 

Car performed brilliantly, got there any back with no charging required it was 5 degrees going down and 3 going back up, so it wasn't ideal for the battery either.  I had 20 miles of range left too. 

This weekend so far

I've been working on the car, I got a refurb gearbox that I have been putting in. I was working on the clutch/brake peddle shaft this morning.  This was stopping me putting the engine / gearbox back in. I hope to get this done tommorow.

In the afternoon I put on my new sports bra, and the rest of my running gear and went for a run. 

It seemed to keep things in place, and no chafing of nipples which was the main thing.  I did about 7.5km in total distance, although only 5km of that had some jogging in.  Did manage a full kilometre with no pauses.

Was really nice to be running with the bra on, and my pony tail in the wind, I do get a bit of an exercise high anyway, but I was very happy when I got back. I also don't think I injured myself too much, which is unusual !

I've been very tired since getting back, so other than a shower I haven't done much - and forced myself to update on here, as I've been bad of late.

Next week

I have an overnight work trip on Monday.  The weekend starts on Thursday night, meeting a friend in Wakefield, then it's LFF on the Friday, and a beer festival in Bradford on the Saturday.

Should be a really good one I hope !

White stuff

Thursday

This week has been another sedate one, I was out on Thursday night to my Wakefield group. They were trialling a new venue, which was a fairly busy bar - Hogarths.

I think it worked pretty well, it was a bit more public which caters to my need to be out. We are still keeping the New Union for two of the weeks, that serves a purpose for those less confident to have a more sheltered meeting place.

It had snowed during the day, and I had not bothered to go into the office because of this.  Got a bit of video of me walking through some slush, as it occurred to me that I had not been out in snow en-femme before. Or if I have I can't remember doing so !

Most of the group doesn't drive, and so they proceeded to get fairly merry on a two for £12 cocktail deal, I felt a little left out, but the last time in I was in that bar I barely made it out  under my own steam, so I guess they had some catching up to do :)

It later turned out that I should really have been at my Nottingham group, the dates had got mixed up, and I hadn't bothered to check on the forum. No matter, the snow may have made it a bad drive.

Saturday 

There was a walk around the riverside organised by Trans-Wakefield for the morning. I decided to wear
some floral boots I had bought 2nd had from somewhere - this was a bad idea. But I did put my normal blue suede boots in the car so I could go shopping in them afterwards.

I parked at the Riverside car park and met up with the group, there were six of us, if you include a greyhound called Loki.  We had a nice walk, stopped halfway at a conveniently placed Starbucks.

Was nice to have a relaxed amble and chat with the others, really enjoyed it. I think it was only 5Km.

After we returned to our starting point I headed back to my car and changed into my cleaner boots and black coat. Then walked into town for some bits.

First I went to Boots, looking for my foundation (L'Oreal True match 2R/2C) but they didn't have that, looked in a few charity shops, then went to the 'Neptune Dinner' for a jacket potato and a tea.

From there I nipped to the loo at the shopping centre, then found Superdrug and picked up the foundation in there.  Had a look around Roman , but couldn't see anything tempting, then headed to the 'Red Shed' in search of a refreshing beverage.  

They have some nice beers in there, I could only have one due to driving, so I got a fairly weak 3.7, Youngs London Original. It was pretty good. 

I headed back via the Ridings centre, stopping in Klass where I got a nice new jumper. Then walked back to the car and headed home.

Sunday

I spent a fair bit of time in the garage taking the engine and gearbox out of Josephine - crunchy
gearchanges require investigation.  I did stop to go for a walk in the afternoon, but the forementioned floral boots had rubbed my heels and I didn't make it far before I realised it would be a bad idea.

I did some cleaning and more on the car instead. 

In the evening I washed my hair, and gave my new 'Round Brush Dryer & Styler' a go, - it's a round brush with a hair dryer in the middle to dry as you pull through your hair.  I wasn't very good with it, but I will preserve. 

Had a call with a friend after washing my hair, we discussed blockers. Made me somewhat realise that this is a bit of big step, and that there are risks with kidneys / liver function. Rather daunting. I had quizzed Christine at the group on her thoughts, and I have talked to a number of Instagram friends who I know are on them.  Spiro seemed to have a lot of negative reactions.  

This Week

I don't expect my call with Gender GP on Friday will be anything too exciting, I will likely have to book and possibly pay for a call to amend my medication. I think this is just a box ticking exercise to remain with them. But we shall see.

I have an opticians appointment on Friday too, I am expecting a big change in prescription as I am struggling, and it's been a long time since I had a test. Which does mean I will probably have to buy a load of new glasses !  At least most of my en-femme ones are cheap.  I might try and get something unisex for my main pair this time though.

It’s Oh So Quiet

 

Life updates

Had a chat with my wife today about my upcoming six month review with Gender GP. I had been meaning to bring it up earlier, but I don't like to upset her and thought it might be contentious.

Anyway told her I was looking to increase my hormone dose, which she seemed to accept. Was asking my about the side effects etc. 

Also mentioned that I did want to come out eventually at work, and that this would mean changing my name. Again this didn't seem to phase her too much which was positive.  The prospect of telling her parents was also raised. 

My dad seems to be improving, he had been without anti-sickness pills for a while due to a poor performance by the chemist, going to ring them shortly to see how he is getting on

Health

Been for a run this morning, my social life has not helped with my figure, I am trying to reverse it's impact. Managed a few km of running, but my ankles are not happy with the amount of load I am expecting them to carry at speed :) - still managed to walk to Asda for food afterwards, so not made myself lame again at least.

I am looking for a sports bra, they don't hurt too much while running yet, but I can feel them moving.

Social Activities 

My idea of cutting down on my social activities this year has got off to a really bad start.

Since last time :

• Boozy night out in Wakefield with Alice and Rebecca
• Two days in Blackpool with Stephanie and Cindy
• Two nights in Leeds for LFF  

Very Brief catchup :

Wakefield -  did the sculpture gallery with Rebekka for lunch and a bit of a look around, wasn't as good as the previous time I was there.

Alice arrived and we tried the 'Red Shed' which is a labour club, in a shed, which is red.  It had some fab beers on, definitely one to add to my pub crawl itinerary. 

We ate at Dolce Vita, I had swordfish it was lovely.  We did some more bars, including 'The Black Rock' again - there was a biker gang in there when we walked in, which did raise my friends eyebrows a little. But all went well.  

Some cis lady bought me a double vodka in there, and it all went downhill, I ended up on a cocktail bar which is never a good thing, and eventually my friends put me to bed - I have no memory of this. Apparently I was running down the high street trying to escape them to find more booze while laughing my tits off. 

I was not very well overnight, or particularly energetic the day after - although did manage to spend the morning doing some shopping with them both before I felt sober enough to drive.

Blackpool - After LFF , and Wakefield I was going to be really good and drink sensibly, and I managed to do so.  Was the first long drive in my new car - which went well, I charged overnight at Bank St car park on arrival. I was in the Dragonfly hotel, had a really nice room.

We ate at Peek-a-booze in the late afternoon on Friday, it was really cheap and freshly prepared, definitely going back there again. 

We went around a few of the usual places in the evening, including 'The little Black Pug' bar , which I had been to with Arabella last year. Neither of my friends had been before, but enjoyed so much we went back on Saturday. I didn't have a late night, left my friends in there and walked back by myself.

I had a lovely fry up at the hotel for breakfast, then we got a black cab to the south blackpool station, then a short train ride to St Anns.  We spent the afternoon doing charity shops - didn't get much other than a knock off version of the Black Opium perfume which I had resisted purchasing before.

Did get a rather fierce looking black jacket with gold spikes on the shoulders.

In the evening it was the main Chix event, starting at my hotel in the bar - there was a free curry buffet provided, I had 2nd helping :)

We went to LuLu's just to show Cindy mainly, it was rammed with girls - I got rained on a bit by a water leak (at least I hope it was just water) from above.  We did the Galleon, Little Pug, Dirty Blondes (a rock bar) and finally the Flying Handbag. I was out till about 1:30am, but had been drinking sensibly so fairly sober by the time I got back.

Had a lovely breakfast again, in the company of Sarah who is a mature trans lady who has gone through GRS and runs a support group down near Cambridge.  We must have spent quite a while talking, it was very nice.  Hope to catch her again at some point.

The drive home was nice, although somehow managed to turn on the lane keeping assist, and the car started to steer itself which was rather worrying - I didn't know it had the ability.

Leeds

I had been planning on just doing one day a month at Leeds to cut down on the calories and expense, but there were a number of us going on the Thursday night, so I ended up being persuaded to join.

Glad I did, we went to a french place and I had the most amazing black pudding starter, it melted in my mouth, lots of flavours, very rich though.

Friday we had a nice breakfast at the Cha lounge, then did some shopping in the morning. Pint's and Straws went well in the afternoon had about 13 people turn up.  We did the venues in reverse which seemed to work quite well.

It was Pizza for evening meal, we tried Franca Mancha - service was poor, and there was a mess up with the bill that left a shortfall.  Myself and Bennie sorted it , as we were last out the door. Won't be going back.

LFF was starting at the 'Bridge End Social' this time, a one-off in case it didn't go well, but it was a fantastic success so I expect we will switch to that as our new permanent starting venue. It felt similar to the Marriot bar, music was turned down so we could talk. There were nice beers on from Kirkstall brewery, including a fab cherry one.  

There was even a pool table !! Bennie beat me tho :(

We did 'The bridge', 'The End' , 'The Shed' and Smokestack .  I finished the evening with some cheesy chips from Big Bites. I had been on halves so wasn't too bad.  

On Saturday I had breakfast with Bennie at Riveresque , then we had a bit of a walk around the canal, the to the markets, the corn exchange and then back to the hotel to check out.  I gave her a lift home and stopped for a cup of tea.

Was a really good weekend, one of the best i've had at Leeds - which is high praise indeed.

 

Necessary Evil

 

Updates

Doctors have said they don't think my dad will be able to cope with anymore chemo or the bone marrow transplant, so he will be eventually sent home when mobile enough. They've given him some pills which will help ward of the cancer a bit. He may have a few years left hopefully. A bit depressing, but he seems to be a bit more lucid, aside from not remembering quite a few words.

I didn't go out NYE as was visiting my dad in hospital the day after for his birthday.

Thursday the 4th

Bennie was in Wakefield the night before LFF, and we agreed to meet up for food - it had originally going to be a bit more of a drinking session but my work week had been quite stressful and I just wanted to relax. 

We met at the Calder and Hops and had a drink in there, then found an Italian place nearby that looked nice. Coincidentally Bennie's auntie was in there - who had not seen her dressed in person before.  It seems she thought that we were an item, but I think I got the approval ! 

Was good food, really enjoyed the pizza but can't remember what it was.  After that we went to the 'Black Rock' which was quite quiet.  Then onwards to the Polka Hop, but it was shut so we went to 'The Hop'  - it seems like all the pubs in Wakefield try to stick 'Hop' in the name  for some reason.

I was getting near 11pm , so I headed home after this one. Was really nice to spend some time with Bennie, it's hard to have a proper catchup at LFF sometimes, there are so many people to speak with.

LFF

As I hadn't had much chance to blow off any steam over the festive period I was on a bit of a mission on the Friday. 

We did Rosa's Thai Café for lunch, then onwards to the Pints and Straws event , Tapped then Bankers Cat, then the North Tap room. 

Amber who goes to Chameleons was going for the first time and met us outside Bankers.  I had a thirst for strong barrel aged stout - and they had one by Thornbridge which was fabulous, but 13% !! and also £13 !!

https://thornbridgebrewery.co.uk/products/necessary-evil-13-abv-triple-sec-barrel-aged-stout

There was a really young newbie who joined us in the last bar, they were very nervous and quite shy so I went over and talked to them. They had been for a pro makeover, and had bought some supplies to revert, but had not got any makeup removal pads to squirt the remover fluid on. So I walked her back to my car which wasn't too far away to give her a load.  

Hopefully she will be back at a future event - she didn't stay for the main event unfortunately, her feet were ruined from very high heels. I got her to try a paid of my kitten ones on as we were the same size, but the damage was already done and they were no better.

I was a little tipsy by the time it got to the curry before the main event.  We were in Tharavadu again , which is becoming a habit :)

Alice had booked me a place in the cocktail event, which I had never done before. So we headed there
for 9pm. I can't say I really enjoyed the cocktails, they were very strong I didn't get much more than the taste of the whisky in the 1st one.  I found one called 'Painkiller' which I had a few of, I only chose as it's the same name as a Judas Priest song I like :)

We ended up in the smokestack past 1am, I was feeling quite tired by this point and made my excuses.  Didn't sleep very well, digestive system was not best pleased with my food and beverage choices.

Saturday

Bennie , Ann and myself went to 'Bills' for breakfast, I only managed toast and a tea though, still wasn't
feeling too good.  I went to Curry's and Superdrug to buy a phone charger, and a toothbrush as I had failed to pack them. Then headed back to my room and went back to bed for a few hours.

We had a brewery tour booked for 2pm, I felt OK to go, so got an Uber with Bennie.  We spent about three hours there, it was quite interesting. I managed to eat a pizza, and have a few beers, but decided I needed to rest a bit before the evening so went back sometime after 5pm.

I ended up back out with Alice and few others at 8pm, we did Northern Guitar and Friends of Ham, was a nice relaxing evening. I managed a few more beers, and ended the night with a Kebab. Thankfully I had a much better sleep.  

In the morning I didn't hang about, got ready pretty quickly and was home for 10:30, didn't meet up with anyone.