Xmas events

 

Leeds First Friday

Had been really looking forward to this one, as normal.  Someone I had been talking to on Instagram for a few years was making the effort to come all the way from down south to visit, plus the turnout for the Xmas one is usually very high as well.

I met Benni for lunch at Rudy's near the train station around midday, then Charlotte joined us at White Cloth Hall which I wanted to case out for possible future use. After this we headed to Tapped to start the Pints and Straws bar crawl.

The bar crawl went well, we had lots of people join, I had to pre-book a table in 'Friends of Ham' and pay a no show deposit for this privilege - turns out I had underestimated by a fair number, and a number of other patrons re-organised themselves to allow us to use some other nearby tables to keep us all together. Sally joined us in there.

Head of Steam was very busy, but there were no issues with the other patrons. I checked into the Leonardo between there and the Tetley which was the last venue.

We had a table booked for food at 6:15  at Bowers Tap , for 6 of us.  I had a burger, it wasn't bad food and came out pretty quick. Everyone seemed to enjoy it - including the 1st timer.

After this we headed to our hotels to do a quick outfit change before heading to the Bridge End Social for the main event.  It was pretty busy in there, we stayed for an hour or so. 
Moving on to 'The Shed', and then the 'End Bar' and finally 'The Smokestack'.   The 1st timer wasn't keen on the loud music in the End, so they did have a bit of an early night, but I have spoken to them since and they enjoyed it overall. 

I think it was about 2am before I got to sleep, did seem to wake up a lot with a dodgy tummy, but felt OK in the morning.  There were 6 of us that knew each other staying there, so we met up for breakfast together at about 10am.  I managed a small fry up.

Checkout was a bit earlier at 11am than I am used to , so it was a bit of a rush - our keys had already been disabled by the time we tried to get back into our rooms from breakfast, so we had to get a cleaner to let us in.

Overall it was a lovely night, it didn't exceed some of the previous Christmas ones, but it was still good.  I guess the more I do, the less of a novelty they become :)

Swimming

Unfortunately swimming was cancelled, but it was probably for the best !

Lurgy

I started coming down with flu like symptoms on Sunday, eventually ended up being sick overnight. Monday was a complete write off, I emailed work to say I was sick - something I rarely do.  I spent all day in bed.  I had woken up on Monday with a bit of a black bruise under my left eye too !

Tuesday, felt a bit better, was able to work (from home) , my eye was worse, a much bigger bruise. Wasn't feeling very hungry and didn't eat much.

Wednesday, I went to the walk-in centre about my eye, they took some convincing that I hadn't been punched, or had fallen over.  The nurse thought it might be burst blood vessels due to straining, or coughing, but nothing likely major.  That was after a 2 hour wait :(

I had a Bupa video call in the evening, and she recommended A&E, I decided to wait and see if it got worse. 

Thursday, eye was no worse, so decided to leave it, and it's not been any worse today. 

I am eating a lot more at least now. 

Unfortunately this did all mean I wasn't able to go to Chams on Thursday night - I had been going to bed early all week due to feeling very tired, so a long drive didn't seem possible. Plus I didn't want to infect anyone there !  I am still coughing.

Was also meant to go to BNO in Milton Keynes tonight, there was a birthday meal booked as well, felt really bad cancelling my attendance to that, but that is a bit of a trek ! 

Other Plans

Myself and Ann are visiting Glasgow for the Glasgow Third Friday event next weekend (fingers crossed and all that )  , so we do have one more opportunity for xmas trans fun at least :)

She will be driving as well, so less stressful getting there and back for me, hopefully.

You spin me right round baby right round

Life Updates 

It has been a fairly quiet month in terms of attending the big trans night outs.  I hadn't planned on going to anything until December. It's nice to have a slow month every now and then. December is going to be hectic, but perhaps I will try and keep January a low key one too.

I did still have some things to go to, Swimming and chameleons got me mingling a bit every other week, which is nice.  It's good to have regular normal things that don't involve alcohol.

Work

Not really sure what triggered it, but it was suggested that I might like to move department. So as of the new year I shall be back in the ranks of the IT . There is another woman who works under the same boss,  but the rest are blokes, whereas finance has a lot more women. 

From a company tree perspective, I will have fallen a few rungs, but I have always thought I was reporting way too high, so it's not a bad thing. 

It's not the first time I've had my role changed, it seems to happen quite regularly to some people in the company.  Ones they don't want to keep don't seem to be moved, so I am hopeful it's not part of a move to oust me.  I am having to hand over some critical business tasks to others in the finance team, it's a bit difficult as a lot of what I do is in my head, but I am improving processes and documentation to make it possible at least.

Medical Matters

Due to the name change at the doctors, and them having a new computer system installed, I've been unable to re-register for online access to my medical records.  I used to get access to my blood tests which I need to provide to Gender GP for them to safely prescribe my hormones.

I am going to pop into the doctors with the form next week to see if they are ready to process it, fingers crossed they will.

In the mean time, I just told Gender GP I didn't have any results to provide, and they seemed happy to just give me the same dose as last time.  Once I get access again , I can check if the levels were OK, and adjust my dose if the E is too low. It will just run out sooner, and I will have to re-order sooner.

Home life

Things are fairly static, I did note that my wife seemed to be calling my Izzy more often, rather than daddy ( to the kids)  which is an improvement.  

My parents seem to be doing OK, my brother has been doing some painting for them. I try to pop in when I go swimming if possible, it can sort of be on the way.

Hobby News 

The new (old) car is not going well, the aluminium head is firmly stuck on the head studs. But I have finally got around to purchasing a metal working lathe !!

I have coveted one for a long time, and this issue with the car sort of swung it.  With the lathe I can make a very thin long hole saw to cut around the studs, and free the head.  I will also be able to tackle the worn out steering nut in the steering box with it too.  Plus lots of other things I wanted to use it for as well.

I also bought a new extruder assembly for my 3D printer which should rejuvenate it, and give it much superior performance.   

This is the bad side of not being out drinking at the weekends, I actually get to do other things, and they expensive.

Things Attended : 

NEC Classic Motor Show - 8th of November

My friend Alice was meant to be meeting up with me at this event, you have to pre-book tickets. It's a very big show, the biggest I've ever been to.  

The Woman's Drivers Social Club had a stand, and I had set off really early to ensure I got there for the 10am group photo - but not early enough as it seems.  I had pre-booked parking in the EV part, but the car park people were directing everyone into a normal car park, so I had to try and find my way back out of that, and then around the congested roads to the correct one - which I missed and then had to do another lap.  Anyway, did eventually get into the event.

My main mission , aside from meeting up with the WDSC girls, was to do a bit of networking with the people on the Standard Motor Company group stand, as I will likely need help and to buy parts from fellow club members - and get advice on certain things.

I did manage to talk with Rodger who was lovely, and he said he would put me in touch with a chap who owns the same model as mine. 

Spent a while walking around the event, I got my eldest a drone from one of the stands, got a bit ripped off, it turns out there is no Android App for it !  Bought some tools from one stall, a Morris Minor t-shirt from the owners club stand too.

Did sit with the WDSC girls for a bit as well.  My feet were starting to hurt, so I took a shuttle bus back to my car to change into an alternate pair which were flatter, and drop off some of my goodies too.

Overall it was a nice experience, there were a few bad moments though -  some guys who were clearly having a joke about me while I was walking into the event in the morning, I could hear them a bit, then they all went totally silent while they past me, and then started joking as they got far enough away to feel brave again.  There was also some guys who were less than impressed that there was a Gay motoring club with a stand there.   But most people we friendly enough, and I saw lots of nice cars. 

Perhaps next year I will do 2 days, there is far too much to see on just one day.

  

Swimming Bramley Baths - 10th of November

I popped into my parents an hour before the session just to see how they were. The house was a bit of a state as my brother was there, he had been painting their hallway for them. He stayed for a bit so I got to talk to him too.  I only stayed about 40 minutes, but was glad I had made the effort.

I did 34 lengths during the session  -  it was quite quiet, and neither of my two usual companions (distractions) were there, so I ended up having to swim lots.  I managed 34 lengths, which for the 22m pool is nearly 750 Meters ! 

Alex was there I did talk to her for a bit before we got into the pool, but she likes to try and do 1Km, so doesn't chat in the pool - that's 46 lengths.

This is a new PB, and a target I hope to try and beat one  day soon.  

Chameleons - 14th November

Given that I hadn't been out much, I was even more keen than usual to go. It was a lovely night, packed again. Had a good natter, I made some disappointing tea - I am no good with tea pots. 

There was some new ladies there which was nice to see, and a very packed room once again. We certainly do seem to be on a roll with new people coming this year. 

Swimming 24th of November

I met up with my friend Charlotte at a shopping centre that could be on our mutual routes to the baths.  Had offered to have a coffee with her before the swimming, as it's only a 1 hour session, so you can't have a popper chat really.  

We met at the White Rose centre, and ended up in Starbucks.  I had a Fudge Brownie hot chocolate, with cream on the top - thus neutralising any calorie loss due to the imminent exercise 😄

She had cracked her ribs doing some indoor climbing with a Queer climbing group this week, so I didn't try to make her laugh. We had a nice chat, then headed to the baths which was about 20 minutes away. 

I did only manage 22 lengths this time, well short of the previous count, but it was a lot busier session, and I did have someone to talk to.   I am back on the 1st of December, I think I will be on my own for that one, so hopefully get to 30 at least.

What's New in the World of Izzy

 

I've not been keeping on top of my blogging again very well I have I !

The last you heard, your current interlocutor was in Liverpool at an awards ceremony at the start of October.

By mainly looking at selfie evidence, I can conclude I have done the following :

October

10th - Chameleons

We saw the northern lights !, and owing to the grass being freshly cut, we trailed half the field into the centre - so I got to play with Henry the hoover :)

11th  - Blood tests 

Didn't faint ! 

16th - New car delivered

I bought a 1937 Standard Flying 9 !!!

She's not in the best of shape, but I hope to get her running over winter, and ready for some early car shows next year.  

Josephine does need attention too, but she can sleep in the nice dry garage. 

This one will have to stay under a cover on the drive for the moment. 

18th - Sheffield Beer Festival

This was with Sally, Charlotte, Oliva, Alice , Rebeka and Gemma.  Friday night was pretty good, we ended up in the head of steam, and I got a bit tipsy :)

Saturday I went to a greasy spoon for breakfast with Sally, and we did some wandering about, got a photo with the green Tardis :)    In the afternoon we went to the beer festival, saw the engine run, and drank some nice beers.  I was very tired though, and didn't end up going out in the evening.

21st - Ground is broken

Work commenced on having the front garden tarmacked over. 

This is the first work by contractors that I have had done while in female mode, from the survey to dealing with the work guys on site. I was a bit nervous about doing so, but everyone was really nice and respectful.  I mean I am sure I was talked about, but not in front of me :)

It took a few days to complete, they came back on the 23rd to lay the tarmac, then I left it 4 days before I moved the new car on there.

24th - Chameleons

Was sort of practising my goth look for the next LFF, I had my Voodoo Vixen long black dress with
spiderweb detail, and also my feather boa.  Had done some slightly gothic green/black eye shadow, and wore orange lipstick, which matched somewhat with my spooky Vinnie skeleton cat handbag. 

It was a lovely night, I got to speak with a newbie Ella who was attending LFF for the first time in November which was nice.   Sally was there sporting a spooky headpiece too :)

WC 28th - Family Holiday, Flamborough

My first family holiday as my true self - we went to a static caravan park on Flamborough head.
Arriving at Monday lunch time, departing late on Thursday.

We were really meant to leave on Friday morning, but I had LFF , so decided to leave a bit early to get back for that.

It was a nice holiday, we did the usual things, day trips to different places and such. Meals out to pubs and restaurants.  In the evenings we managed to get seats in the show bar on the site and watch the entertainment while I supped a few Guinness's. 

Visited the Sealife centre at Scarborough, and rode the train  to golden acres park too. The weather wasn't brilliant, but it didn't rain and wasn't too cold, so not bad either.

I did have to keep correcting the boys / wife on pronouns , and my wife did deadname me on the way home (she was feeling a bit car sick at the time). But aside from that no massive issues.  

I didn't feel confident enough to even consider using the swimming pool, but then again it was full of kids so wouldn't have been the type of swimming i would have enjoyed.

November

1st - LFF

Another fab event, Pints and Straws was quite busy, Ella, Sally and Leah from Chams all made it. We had thought it might be a quiet one, but it wasn't bad at all. 

Alice had gone all out with a sort of bridal zombie look which was very fun.  I had gone a bit more sexy goth than at Chams, shorter dress with black petticoat, and a harness which helped show off my assets. I did wear forms for this outfit, it doesn't work that well with what little my natural provides.

Drank far too many cocktails in 'The End' but had a really good night, I sloped off about 2am.  Saturday I was feeling a bit delicate, but still had a nice time, mainly spent in the company of Benni who comes from Croydon so tends to make a few days of it.

I got home lunch time on the Sunday, then did some adulting for a bit, before heading back to east leeds for swimming at Bramley baths.  Charlotte and Alex from LFF were there too.  I didn't do as much as normal as was quite tired, but nice to at least do a bit.

Glitz and glamour

Liverpool

Leeds first Friday were nominated for the 'Community Organisation Award: LGBT' at the National Diversity Awards, hosted in Liverpool cathedral. https://www.nationaldiversityawards.co.uk/2024-shortlist/leeds-first-friday/

Due to myself and Ann's work in organising the afternoon bar crawl 'Pints and Straws' we were give the
option to attend the ceremony.

It was actually a bit more complicated,  too many people wanted to go, and there was a kerfuffle that led to a valued team member leaving, but I won't go into that.

Anyway, we did have pay to attend, the table was quite a bit, and I think it was £180 I paid , then there was hotel costs and some food for the night before, so it wasn't cheap. 

We had a meal out and a few drinks on the Thursday night, which was a bit of a mistake for me as I managed to upset my tummy and then had a really poor nights sleep.

Friday myself and Benni had a lovely veggie breakfast at a café just around the corner from the Travelodge.  We had to change hotels in the morning as it was a silly price for the Friday, so we did that first thing.  Once in our new hotel Benni had to do some work, so I ended up trying to nap while she did that. Later in the afternoon we decided to go get our nails done at the nail bar in the Primark.

I had never had my nails done before, always choosing to do it myself. It was a nice experience, I went with a metallic purple that I thought would match Vinnie (my vampire cat handbag) who would be my date for the evening.

The ladies were nice, and it didn't take very long to do both our hands.  Benni was having a pedicure too though, so I went off to do a bit a shopping while she had that done.  Nipped into M&S for some new tights, and got a phone charger as I had forgotten to bring one.

I got a cheap meal deal sandwich to tide me over till later, as it was likely to be 8pm before we had the food at the event.  I re-did my makeup in the room, and got everything laid out ready.

We were both ready for about 6pm, so we booked an Uber and went outside the hotel to wait for it, getting a few photo's while we were there.

Took a bit longer to get there than I had thought, as the one way system forced him to drive in a bit of a circle, but we were not the last to arrive by a long way.

We stood outside with a few others for a while, as the intention was to get a group photo, but a few were getting a bit cold and we decided to head into the Cathedral, stopping to show our QR codes at the door.

Once inside we could see there were a lot of people already in there, with some tables with welcome drinks setup.  There was also a big wall with all the sponsor logo's on and a photographer taking shots of people and groups.  We got some drinks and then joined the photo queue.  

We did a bit of schmoozing with other guests, got some more photo's then were eventually told that our tables were ready.  We were on a Bronze one, so were in the back 1/3rd of the layout, which was nearer the bar and loos, so not a bad place to be :)

There was wine on the table, I didn't really want to get tipsey so I did get some Pepsi from the bar, and alternated between that and the wine all night.

The food came out slowly, it was raw salmon to start, followed by pork I think, then a lemon cheesecake. It was all really really nice.  

During the food servings, ITV were walking around doing interviews with different groups, and we were picked - Grai the main organiser got the short straw with the interview. There was a wide shot of our table that was briefly on TV but it didn't get me :)

They started to do the awards after desert has been served.  Claire Balding was the host, and she did a good job. Most of the winners had turned up, and did nice acceptance speeches. It was a great atmosphere everyone clapping.   I think there was only one set of really sore losers, a drag show who walked out after not getting it.

Ours was in the 2nd half , and there was an interval with some children singing to break the evening up a bit.   It was soon time for ours, and we were all a bit fidgety, I had my 360 camera running , in case we did win and I could record us walking up to the podium.  But unfortunately we didn't, so I won't be using the disappointed look video for anything :)

We took it on the chin though, and continued to drink the wine.

At the end of the event, there was a famous singer who did a few of her hits, then all the nominees were asked to come up to the stage for a big group photo.  I think you can just see the top of my head in one of them :)

After this we hung around a bit getting more photo's at the logo wall, and trying to locate a team member who it seems had already got the bus to the afterparty. 

Myself and Benni got an uber back to our hotel, she was going to change her shoes and go to the afterparty, I had already decided I would be heading to bed - it was about 1am already, and I saw no need to drink any more alcohol.

The morning after 

We had breakfast at the Premier Inn , checked out , then headed towards the museum to kill a bit of time before her train was due. Ann met up with us outside the museum too. We had a nice time wandering around the exhibitions - they had a lot of Egyptian artifacts which I enjoyed.

After the museum we had a drink in a café and the other two had some food.  I wasn't in the mood for any after a big breakfast.

I headed off about 2pm , stopping to charge on the way home. Was very tired when I got back !

All in all, a lovely experience, and very glad I went. Think I did well with my outfit choice, my handbag got some compliments too.  Probably for the best that I wasn't feeling that great otherwise I would have had too much wine and made a fool of myself 😂

Plumbing the depths

Thursday Night  - Nottingham Chameleons 

I was in two minds as to come, as I would be driving Josephine to a car show near Birmingham on the Friday, and wanted to be fresh.  But I figured if I made sure to leave by 10:30pm I would likely get a good night sleep.  

There was also a chance that Sue might be popping along, so I didn't want to miss her if she did. 

Anyway glad I did, it was a fun night, some newbies there to talk with, a full house nearly.  I might end up sat on the tea trolley if it get's much busier. 

Was in what I had been working in all day, a tunic top and leggings, very practical 😊

I was chatting to Charlotte mainly, who had not been out much and was possibly a bit overwhelmed. But she seemed like she enjoyed the night.

Was fab to catch up with the regulars, including Ann and Sally who I would be meeting up with on Saturday too.  Lynn had done some nice posters which likely made the staircase of doom seem more inviting to the newcomers.  

Was nice to see Joanne back too, on her electric bike, which was a bit of a struggle to get up the stairs.

Several new biscuit options were passed around, which I did my best to resist.  My diet isn't going too badly at the moment, which is nice.

I did manage to bid farewell roughly when I had hoped, and got home around midnight.

Friday - The drive to Daventry 

I had to pack in the morning, as I hadn't had chance the previous night. I had lunch and headed off around 1:30pm

The A1 seemed like the better route, I prefer having a hard shoulder for emergency's.  It wasn't a bad trip, it took around 2:30 , it was about 120 miles.  Mostly sat in the left lane and found other vehicles to site behind (at a safe distance).

I didn't stop on the way down, so was in need of the loo by the time I was there. 

There was clearly an event on at the hotel when I arrived, some desks in reception, possibly a conference of some sort.  They had given me a room quite a trek away, possibly out of the way of the other guests perhaps.  It all seemed a bit tired, and was a bit disappointed with it. 

Had a pizza and a beer in the bar after 6pm.  There was meant to be a pool, but it wasn't open, so spent the evening relaxing in my room. 

Did sleep too well, there was a dog barking somewhere, not sure if it was tied up outside, or was in one of the rooms.  I had to get up at 6:30am to be ready to get to the show as well. It was about 30 minutes away, but wanted to get there fairly early to be assured of a spot with the Women's Drivers Social Club girls.  Also my friend Alice was meeting with them for the 1st time too.

Saturday  - 'Rustival' car show 

It was quite cold in the morning, and I wanted to let the car warm up a while before setting off.  I had to
use my USB fan, on a camera mount pointing at the windscreen to stop it misting back up - she had no heating system or inbuilt fan, a somewhat poverty spec car  😂

By the time I was ready I was behind schedule, but did still manage to get there around 9am , with about 30 mins to spare before the official cut off time for the parking area we were in. We had managed to bag 'Vanden Plas' parking, which is meant to be the best area, and you have to apply early for.

On arrival we were directed to the appropriate row, and I spied Alice and her Land Rover, and ended up parked next to her !

We spent a little while chatting to some of the group, then headed off to get coffee and food, then around the event to look at the 100's of cars that were there. So many nice ones,  it's a real mixed event - Dubbed 'The friendliest car show'.

I got lots of compliments on my Doc Marten knee highs but don't actually have a picture of me in them :)

Elaine - A friend from Uni had been taking a break in the local area for a few days, and so I had invited her over to the show, she arrived mid-morning.  We also looked around most of the cars, before re
joining Alice and heading into the Museum buildings to look around their collection.  

We had some lunch in the café inside after this, and then did a bit more looking outside too.  She headed off mid afternoon, and I stayed for another hour or so.

Alice and myself were going to meet up with Ann and Sally in Derby, and have a meal out and drinks that evening.  I think it was 3ish that we headed off, the event hadn't officially finished, but we wanted to get going. 

The drive to Derby wasn't particularly eventful, other than I was getting quite low on fuel, and did panic Alice when I disappeared from behind her into the services for some really expensive E95.

I actually managed to get to the hotel before her, as she had stopped at the next services to message me, but I didn't hear it come through.

Saturday Evening - Derby 

Met Ann in the car park of the hotel, she was unpacking her car as I pulled up, I was confused as to why I had beaten Alice there, but she turned up a few minutes later. 

We had a meal booked for 7:45, but wanted to do some pubs before hand. So we didn't spend long getting booked in and changed.  The rooms had their heating turned up really high and the windows only opened a crack, so it wasn't the most fun place to be hanging about in either.

I changed into my cat circuit board print dress, partly as it was a lot cooler to wear in the room :)

We did a few real ale pubs on the way to the restaurant, meeting up with Sally in one of them. She had designed a new game called 'trap your jacket in your handbag zip' , which kept us amused for at least 10 minutes 😂

How many trans girls does it take to free a jacket stuck in a handbag ?  two as it turns out ! 

I only had a few halves as didn't want to be bad the next day as driving the Morris with a hangover is much less fun than a modern car.

The pub Ann had booked for the meal was really nice, and we all enjoyed the food. I had a hanging kebab which is always a fun option :)

We did some more pubs on the way back to the hotel, Sally had been in some new heels and wasn't able to walk that fast in them at all.  We managed to find one pub still open near the hotel, and stayed in there till last orders.  Then we all went back to the hotel, and Sally got an Uber home from there.

It was a very pleasant evening.

Sunday - Victorian Pumping Station

Despite not drinking much I wasn't feeling that great in the morning, tummy troubles mainly.  I did manage to eat some of my cooked breakfast - it was buffet style so I didn't waste it, just didn't get much. 

The plan was for myself and Alice to head to Clay Mills Victorian sewage pumping station near Burton upon Trent. https://www.claymills.org.uk

They allow you free entry to the museum if you take a classic vehicle along to display, so we got to park in the main compound rather than the car park.

Alice was nearly taken out by an insane Kia on the dual carriageway on the way, going from the outside lane to a slip road for a filling station right in front of her. Thought she was going to do a bit of impromptu off-roading !  unfortunately I wasn't directly behind her so have no footage. 

I made sure to get some nice photo's of us with the cars before we looked around. There was a lot to see there, 4 huge beam engines arranged in pairs, 2 of which we saw running. Other ancillary static engines doing minor roles, also one powering belts for lathes etc.  

There was a 'land girls' singing group in one of the sheds, and we listened to them for a while until a load of motorbikes arrived and we decided to go look at them instead.

There was a fire engine rescue demonstration too. 

It was a really fab place, I got some nice video but not uploaded any yet.

We headed home about 1:30 ish, we were going mostly the same way up the M1 for a lot of the journey, so I stayed in convoy as much as I could.  Got home after 3pm.

I was meant to be swimming at Bramley baths at 5ish, but I was very tired, and didn't bother.

I couldn't be bothered to go into the office on Monday morning, choosing to WFH instead 😂

In-laws, graves and house viewing

 

I am once again terribly late in writing, this occurred on the 14th of September.  A meal out with my brother in-law, his two small children, his wife, my kids , wife and the mother and father in-law.

It was at Culcheth, a place with a bit of a stain on it's name in  due to the murder of Brianna Ghey !

I had chosen to wear leggings and a tunic top, which has become my de facto work and casual look of late. I do like wearing dresses, but I feel slightly conscious of not fitting in with what a lot of women wear these days.

The tunics are good at hiding my modesty, and the leggings are much more comfy than jeans as they have elasticated waistlines. 

We arrived around midday, and parked at the brother in laws, as the pub is only a short walk away and we were a bit early to go there.  I was a little nervous, but received a normal greeting from everyone.  There was no real awkwardness.

We ventured to the pub after a short while.  The meal was nice, I had gammon with an egg and chips.  My first egg in a while as I had ditched them thinking they might be bad for my cholesterol.

I wasn't particularly talkative,  but I never was before around them - not sure if they took this as me being upset. My wife had a message after we got home that suggested they thought I was.  But I wasn't.

There were no major errors with name / pronouns , and they seemed embarrassed and keen to correct themselves when it did happen a couple of times ! which I found very encouraging.

They did a lot better than my own parents actually, which is a shame but they are not too bad either,

We stayed quite a while, before heading back to the brother in-laws house for a little while longer.  We left about 4:30ish, I wasn't in a massive rush to leave, but I had hoped to pop into my parents as we would have passed them on the motorway, but we got a text while driving to say they were under the weather.

I was very pleased with how it went, and quite relived to have done it. It will make further meetings much less stressful now.

Other things :

Hair

I dyed my hair again, it was meant to be 'Cranberry Bliss' but it sort of turned out a bit ora
ngey ! It quite like it, but it was not want I wanted.  I have a purple one to try next time, with my luck it will probably turn out green though 😂

Grave visiting

I decided to go for a walk on Sunday afternoon, heading to some wood about 4km away down a disused canal.  They were once part of an estate owned by Charles Waterton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Waterton)

The woods are public now, but the house is a hotel, and other parts of the grounds are a golf course. His grave is on private land in a wood in the golf course.  I decided I would do a bit of trespassing to go visit it, it made the whole thing a lot more fun as I was being naughty.

Managed to get there without shredding my legs too badly, but there wasn't a path from the direction I
was coming from, so had to wade through some brambles and spiky brush to get through. Started raining hard as I arrived, so had to switch to my bright yellow waterproof that didn't exactly help with camouflage.  

Got back out a slightly easier way I hadn't seen on the way there, but did end up being spied by some golfers.  

House Viewing

I did a house viewing on behalf of a friend last night. She wants to move to Wakefield, but lives in
Croydon at the moment, so hard for her to do viewings.  I was quite nervous about this, meeting people who don't expect me to be trans, and who's views I can't easily predict I guess.

Anyway the lady owner who showed me was lovely, and very friendly, and the viewing itself went fine. My friend has put an offer in, and she hopes to hear back tommorow.

Weekend Plans

This weekend I have a car show, and then a night out in Derby afterwards. It's been 3 weeks since I last had a drink ! which is probably not a bad thing. I am looking forward to it !

Cutting back on the sausages

Life Updates

Things are not too bad at the moment.  My dad was in hospital with gall bladder problems a few weeks ago, but had thankfully returned home. There were a few visits to hospital to keep him company in the evenings. He has since been back for day visits for an issue with his mouth swelling, but that also seems to be on the mend.

I have a family meal with my in-laws and my brother in law and his family booked for Saturday, I am a little worried about this, but not massively panicking.  It will be the first time meeting any of them as me, but at least it's only an afternoon, and there will be alcohol. 

Finally got around to updating my CV - a colleague who recently left seems to think her new business would be a good fit.  It took me some time to do, as it had been so long it was sat on a hard disk in a pile of hard discs in a dusty cupboard ! 

Work is not too bad at the moment, but I would still very much like to win the lottery. 

Medical Matters

I have finally updated my details with the doctor, this will result in a brand new NHS number. It seems the ladies in the office had to print off all my letters, redact my old name, and then scan them all back in again, so I actually feel a bit guilty. I might take them some chocolates. 

They have been really lovely, spoken to one in person, and the other on the phone a few times.

I also got the results of my latest blood test - it wasn't for hormones though, it was a normal health check one.  Unfortunately my cholesterol is a bit high, so I need to cut back on the fry ups, cheesy chips, sausages and such 😐 - there were no warning labels on the menu's , it's clearly not my fault. 

I also managed to wangle some more tests for my hormone levels, which I shall book shortly.

Peterborough Beer Festival - 22nd / 23rd August

I had a blood test first thing on the Thursday, but had tea and toast in a café in Barnsley before setting off on the drive - didn't feint which is a bonus ! 

There were a number of 1st timers that came along, Benni and Jo had never been before.  Alice , Cindy , Rebeka and Gemma were all back from last year.

There were lots of nice beers on, the weather was pretty good. The layout of everything was almost exactly the same as the previous year, with even the food stalls being in the same place. The loos were a bit closer, but didn't seem to be as many of them !  There were 20+ queues in the evening.

I didn't try anything too strong, as I didn't want to ruin the Friday, or be too hungover to drive back. Apparently there was a very strong peanut butter stout that did sound intriguing, but had run out. 

There were some really good bands on, almost worth going just to watch them, most covers. There was a really good punk band did a number of classics that got a lot of people dancing along. 

I had a lovely deep fried soft shell crab at the Thai place on the Thursday that was worth of note. We also had a fab breakfast in a café attached to the Theatre on the Saturday morning. 

Leeds International Beer Festival - 6th September

This was in the ruins of Kirkstall Abbey, it was very photogenic, but I didn't get that many photos :)

It was organised by the council, not Camra so was a lot more commercially focused, with each brewery or business had it's own stands and employee's, rather than barrels and volunteers. 

It did make it a much more slick looking event, with neons and logo's and such. But it came at a cost, it was £15 to get in, and all you got for that was a pint glass.  They also kicked you out between sessions, so you couldn't simply pay to get in on the afternoon, then stay for the evening.

I didn't do the evening, but some of my friends had done the night before, and the abbey was really nicely lit, it looked fantastic in the photo's.

I was there for about 4 hours, we got an Uber from the city centre. I had been helping my friend empty the remnants of the furniture of a house she was selling into a skip the night before, and on the Friday morning, so we had got in a bit later than normal.

We had some lovely Indian burgers shortly after arriving, then I was mainly on the ciders.  I did have a couple of strong stouts, as it would have been rude not to :)

After the bars were told to stop serving, I managed to flutter my eyelids at the guy running the cider stall, and he let me buy a half :) 

We got an Uber back after this, then checked into the hotel. Pizza was booked for 6:30 at 'Pizza Pilgrims' near the Marriot. I changed into my evening outfit before we went for food - a gothic look, but not particularly gothic makeup.

I had an American inspired one, that had sliced hotdog sausages and chips as a topping ! it was OK. There were 8 or 9 of us eating there, it was fun.

Leeds First Friday - 6th September 

We headed to the main meeting venue 'The Bridge End Social' straight after the food, and met up with other friends. It seemed quiet again, which was a shame - I had become used to it being quite busy, I
hope this is just a lull before the xmas season.

I ended up leading a number of us, first to 'The End' , then 'The Shed' , then 'The Smokestack' , skipping the Viaduct again.  I only had a couple of drinks the whole night, a Long Island Iced Tea in the End, and a flaming Zombie in the Shed.  I had consumed enough during the day. 

Didn't feel like I needed any cheesy chips, so skipped the call of Big Bites, and headed to bed shortly after 1pm.   It was a nice night, but nothing special realy.

I wasn't feeling too great in the morning, my digestive system was not happy with me - I blame the
flaming Zombie.  I didn't manage to eat much of my breakfast at Riveresque - I had gone with a veggy one this time.

My friend needed a lift back to the house we had been clearing fairly early, as there was a man with a van on the way to collect some mattresses, so we didn't hang about.

I spent the rest of the morning helping her with a few last bits and pieces, and took some boxes of things away with me to store for her - she is hoping to move up here again soon.

Swimming 

Sunday night I had swimming booked at Bramley, and a few LFF friends had also booked. So I actually knew a few people, which made it nicer.  We did still manage to do a few lengths in between chatting.  Although one of them is a much stronger swimmer and was literally twice as fast as me.

I was a fab ending to the weekend, and nice to get some exercise in, my foot is still not right from the walking over 2 months ago now ! 

I have booked another session on the 29th, and one on the 6th.