Birds

I am taking part in the BTO garden birdwatch http://www.bto.org/gbw/ which involves recording on line each week what birds we see in the garden. So far 8 long tailed tits on the peanuts at once is the record.

Here I am with the binoculars [not the latest photo]

London

I was in London again today. The work down there is looking good. This photo is from a few weeks ago on a beach on the Thames - good be one for the next exhibition I think.

Bike

For the 6th Sportive of the year Dave and I were down to do the Arthur Metcalfe challenge named after a Yorkshire Tour de France cyclist of long ago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Metcalfe . Dave was ill so I rode it on my own. We set off all together in a bunch of about 35 riders and covered 19 miles in the first hour including a really steep hill at Terrington. Unfortunately two of us went off course and I ended up not riding the whole route which was a bit disappointing.

We have one Sportive left, in the Peek district in October. So far I have had no rain and no punctures, which is amazing. The picture is of me on my first proper bike - aged 11 I think.

Provence

This is an Algerian forestry worker I photographed on the Walk in Provence. I think his face says it all.

Netball & Provence

Rowan had her first netball match of the season this week, she was captain and they beat their arch rivals 6-3, having been 3-1 down. Everyone pleased. Today she is off to a sleepover party so we only have the dog to worry about.

Another Frenchman posing like he should, this time in Provence on the last leg of the Walk.

Francois Miro

Dropping down from the Pyrenees we stayed with the Catalan ceramicist Francois Miro in Prades who befriended us. He was an amazing and kind man who had a way of asking you to repeat what you said [he was deaf] that I can still replicate today. "COMMENT??" he would squeal. A great man.

Accordion

This old man really was playing his accordion on his stoop in the Pyrenees, entertaining passers by. Seemed like a film set but it was 100% real.

Pyrenees 2

Walking through the Pyrenees was a great experience. The mountains were far less developed than the Alps with a real sense of wilderness.

1984 still

After the Camino came the Pyrenees where we were joined by friend Thelma for a week. We are still in touch, and she'll be reading this blog. In the early days of the route we were in the Basque country with limestone mountains, flocks of sheep and vultures.

Camino de Santiago

In Spain we walked the Pilgrimage route to Santiago in reverse which meant we saw a stream of pilgrims coming towards us over the 3 weeks it took us to walk on the medieval track http://www.caminodesantiago.me.uk/ These three passed us on a hot arid plain wearing full habits and shades.

1984

Meanwhile back in 1984, the Walk carried on. We finished off the Alps in San Valentino in Austria, then took a train from Milan to Santiago de Compostella in Galicia in north east Spain. From there we walked east to St Jean Pied de Port in France, along the Pyrenees then across Languedoc and Provence to finish in Nice [which was from where we had started the Alps.]

This photo is from Galicia. The houses there are built from massive blocks of granite. The footpaths are made from the same stone: it is an elemental and timeless place.

London

I met up with friend Mark last week. He is a publisher so I returned with lots of books - including this series of four books that he put together for Oxfam http://www.amazon.co.uk/Ox-Tales-Earth-Tales-Rose-Tremain/dp/1846682584

The photo is of someone on the beach on the Thames

Mug

I had to get some mugshots for my badminton club membership, so here it is; me at 51 and threequarters.

My niece Sarah has got her name in cyberspace http://www.thirdsector.co.uk/Channels/Communications/Article/938107/Party-conferences-not-best-lobby-us-say-MPs/ linked to her work. Danielle came across the article through her work.

Tour of Britain

I managed to nip over and see the finish of the first stage of the Tour of Britain cycle race http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/ on Saturday when Rowan was running. It was strange to see the peloton on roads that I ride all the time. I managed to get this shot as they wound the pace up in the final 500metres.

Whine

Thought you might like to see what Milo looks like when not in silhouette. Here he is. I was at a Wine Society tasting today with friends John Heather and Adrian, trying out overrated French wine from 2005 - good fun though.

High Jump

Danielle went a five mile run with the dog [went well], I went a ride in the Wolds on Sunday, and Rowan took part in the York Open Athletics meeting. She was in the high jump this time and won with a jump of 1 metre 30. The high jump coach approached her to suggest some specialist coaching: I don't know if she can fit it all in.

Sheep and Iron

I took Milo for a walk on the North York Moors, to get him used to sheep. If he chases them farmers have the right to shoot him, so it is an important thing. I think he is getting the message.

I went on the old mineral line at Rosedale again. The legacy of the iron ore workings is two-fold. Great tracks to walk on across the moors from the old railway lines, and interesting bits of industrial archeology here and there. The lines were only shut down in the 1920s so are not that long abandoned. The ruins even manage to look like modern public sculptures. The irony is that today an industrial railway in a National Park would never happen.

Braids

Rowan decided to have her hair braided, it makes it easier to manage, especially with all the swimming she does. A woman came over from Leeds and did it for her a couple of weeks ago: everyone is happy with it.

Milo

For obvious reasons we are not counting our chickens with the dog Milo, but so far so good. He is a lovely young dog and he and Rowan get on well. Here's hoping.

Spuds

Each year I plant out the potatoes with the best intentions of having first-earlys, main-crop etc etc. As usual the reality is that they all stay in the ground to about now when I dig the lot up. This year the Desirees [I only know them because they are pink] have done really well. The white ones [provenance unclear]are pretty good too. It is the best crop for a few years, so the British summer weather was good for something after all.

The photo is of the Snape Maltings concert hall in Suffolk. We saw Danielle's friend Jacob play here a few years ago.

Snape

Snape Maltings in Suffolk is a great place to photograph.

The final phase of our kitchen revamp begins today - the floor is being put down. It will take three days, and we are looking forward to it all being over.

Stand Up

I saw Rob in London yesterday. Always good to catch up with him. He is re-inventing himself as a stand-up comedian, which seems pretty brave to me.

The photo is of the hotel at Aldeburgh. It is right on the beach which is great for Rowan, who can run straight out there.

The Return

Things are all settling down a bit now. Rowan back at school, I am back at work. It felt good to get stuck into work again, I have two main bits of consultancy at the moment. One up north on Intermediate Care [trying to stop old people getting put into hospital when they don't need to be there] and one in London on re-launching teams of workers from different work backgrounds. Both major on trying to get NHS [health service] workers and local government [council] workers to work together. Not as easy as it might seem.

The photo is of the River Alde at Snape in Suffolk from our holiday.

Swim and Ride

Rowan was swimming in a gala yesterday, I went a ride with Dave to Knaresborough; he updated me on his successful end-to-end ride in the summer.

The photo is another of the visit to Aldeburgh, this shows Tom & Catherine with children Iona and Edward. Rowan and cousin Sarah are there as well.

Quaker Rap

Went to Edwards for a meal last night, John, Katie and Eleanor were there as well so we all had a great time and great food. The one down side was that we were all worrying about Howling Milo who reacts to our departure with wolf-like howls of anguish - he'll get over it.

There are not that many great Quaker raps on You Tube ... but here is one

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XlMkK4_kTg

The photo is of Rowan and cousin Will striding down the mean streets of Aldeburgh

Aldeburgh

Mother kindly treated us to a few days by the sea at Aldeburgh again. It was a great relaxing week. One day Markus's relatives came over to see us all. In the photo are brother, sister in law, nephew and parents. Markus is my niece Sarah's partner by the way.

Chopper

Here is another of Rowan's photos from Gateshead - it is world champion Philipps Idowu in the triple jump.

Last night we had a police helicopter over the moor at11pm - much mystery about it all. The local paper, with its usual incisiveness tells us not very much at all --- http://www.thepress.co.uk/news/4581325.York_woman_found____fit_and_well____after_police_helicoptor_search/

New School New Dog

Today is Rowan's first day at her new secondary school - very excited. We have got a new dog after the Homer trauma. He is 10 months old, called Milo, and another rescue mixture. All going well so far. When I went to take a picture of Rowan he rushed to get in the photo too. The other photo is of Rowan on her first day ever at school, 7 years ago.

Gateshead Photo 1

So here is Rowan's first photo of Dwight Phillips the world long jump champion who was performing right in front of us.

Gateshead

Friend Paul works for Aviva in York, so he got Rowan and I together his daughter and Rowan's friend Francis, into the Athletics Meeting at Gateshead yesterday http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/athletics/8214231.stm

We had VIP tickets, a tour of the stadium, got to meet Iwan Thomas http://www.iwanthomas.co.uk/ and saw 30 of the medalists from the Berlin World Championships including Tyson Gay in the 100metres. A really good day. Rowan was in charge of the photos so I will post some in future posts.