Desert Island Discs

My friend Victor was on Desert Island Discs this week http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b016kgtz/Desert_Island_Discs_Lord_Victor_Adebowale/ It is the first time any one I know has been on. Started thinking about what tracks I would choose... I'm seeing him tomorrow so I can find out what it is like.

The photo is from a great ride I went yesterday between Sheffield & Barnsley whilst Rowan was netballing. Good hills [up to 300m] and interesting old railway lines amidst some lovely woods.

Cross Country

Rowan ran her first cross-country for a long while on Saturday. It was on the Knavesmire and part of the West Yorks League. She came 7th in the under 15 race which was a very good result. Here she is at the start of the race.

Half Term

I had a photo shoot to do yesterday afternoon. Rowan was getting her hair done, she can cycle home from town on her own now which is a big help. She then went off to the pictures with her friend Lucy. Last day of half term. In between all this I played badminton with Edward, testing out my back [nearly back to normal] and by broken toe [still quite debilitating] and loosing.
The photo is from our road-trip across the states in 1998 when Rowan was 7 months old; taken at Mount Rushmore.

Comrades

I watched the movie Comrades by Bill Douglas about the Tolpuddle Martyrs. I had seen it on release in 1986, not realising that I was one of the few people who felt like watching it. It is a strange film, that went down not so well with the rest of the family [Milo did not like the sheep-dog whistles], but which I enjoyed.

Working my way through my own lost-classics I came across this shot of Danielle in the house in Tottenham.

Business Link RIP

Business Link is an excellent governmental service for small business. The Yorkshire branch is shutting as a result of government cuts. Yesterday evening was its swansong event at the National Science Learning Centre in York http://www.ee-yorkshire.com/yf/events/register.asp?eventid=632 It was an interesting talk and good networking time. I made a couple of good contacts.

I think this shot of Thixen Dale could look good blown up really big.

Whay Dale

Mother took Rowan and I to Betty's for lunch on Monday. It really is the perfect place for us to go.
This photo is of Whay Dale in the Wolds. Probably my favorite spot so far: like a mini High Cup Nick. It was wild, lonely and peaceful. I saw deer, buzzards and hares, and had a good rest at the top of the dale in the sun.

Nottingham

We drove down to Nottingham to see Sarah & Markus' flat and pick up Mother from Ro & Pete. Great meal and good to catch up with the newly weds.
Nottingham is an interesting place, a low national profile considering it has a population of 250,000.

The Yorkshire Savannah

Milo and I had a good long day in the Wolds yesterday, visiting a number of Dales, chasing hares [him not me] and getting some good shots [me not him]. This is Fairy Dale with horses - gives it a High Chaparral Danielle reckons.

Meal Out

Saturday Night Edward & Fay invited us and old friends David, Anita, John & Katy for a meal. It was great food and the usual good company.

Back on the Road

Sunday I persuaded Ted, Dave and Edward to come on a 100k spin up the Wolds for lunch at the Fridaythorpe cafe [a national treasure if ever there was one]. Dave is just back from a month climbing in Kyrgyzstan, Ted has been ill all summer, and Edward and I were out for a meal the night before. So there were differing levels of fitness but it was still a great ride. Good to be back on the road with the mamils.

Thought you might prefer this photo of Rowan and Danielle to one of four sweaty blokes on bikes.

The vegetable garden fought back this year and got the upper hand; meaning that one photo client looked down upon it from the studio and said "oh, is that some waste land there?" So I have spent the last two days sorting it out. There is still much to do, but a few quick-wins mean that it looks immeasurably better already.
And here is Rowan's photo from the weekend session.

Portrait.

Danielle and Rowan went off to a portrait session at a photo studio in York, which Danielle got through groupon. It involved make-up, a lot of time and a disc of photos at the end of it. I think they did a good job. Here is the best of Danielle with Rowan's to follow.

Freshers Fair

I helped man the Quaker stand at York University's Freshers Fair on Saturday. Friend Bev ran it, the photo is of Bev and daughter Ella. It was very successful. We seemed to get more people signing up than the German Society opposite that was tempting students with bottles of beer.

Dobro

It was good to see that my old house in Tottenham is being well cared for. This is an interior shot from when I lived there. The Dobro I bought in Barrow when on holiday in the Lakes. It then went to California with Derwood and made its recording debut. The globe lives on - just.

London Days

 Most of my work for the past 18 months or so has been in the North. This is great in most repects, but it does mean that I visit London less and so I see London friends less. My usual practice has been to work, then meet up for an evening drink before catching the 8pm train home. This has worked well for the past 13 years. So as not to loose touch with people I decided to use a couple of free return tickets I had to go to London and catch up.

 Walking from town to Muswell Hill via Islington and Crouch End was a great experience, seeing so many places from my time in London. I saw Mark in Exmouth Market for a coffee and came away with the usual bag-ful of books he gives me [he is a publisher]. This time this included a book on the Olympics [popular with Rowan] one on Fonts [both Danielle and I will like that] and a novel written entirely in questions?

Next stop was to see Paul and Coral in Crouch End in their new house, then up to stay with David and Cathy and Jessie in Muswell Hill. Just great to catch up. David runs the Royal Free Hospital – now that is a big job.

 Next day I walked via Ally Pally, Wood Green [where we used to live and I used to work] then past my old house in Tottenham. My neighbour from 16 years ago was in her garden so I had a chat which was great. Then on into the city to see Andy who I have known for 35 years since we met on day one at Liverpool; again great to catch up.

 So all in all quite an emotional couple of days.

The photo is of Lavender Dale in the Wolds, a very shallow dry valley.

Deltic Blues

I roll up at the station, ready to catch the London train. I hear a rumble, look up and see a powerful haze around a line of five Deltic diesels on a special movement from Shildon to the south. It is an amazing sight – Deltics have not run on the main line since the 80s – I reach for my camera. Bag down, pocket found, camera got, switched on, aimed and … I got one rather feeble shot [coming soon]. Oh well it is a sight that I will long remember. As I resumed my saunter I saw someone arrive on his bike looking aggrieved - “It was 10 minutes early”, he knew all about it and had come specially to photograph it.

The photo is of  a field up above the dales on top of the Wolds. Yes that is Milo on the right

Kite Flying

Red Kites are pretty ubiquitous round here now, but they still excite. This one was having a look at Milo in the Wolds; it obviously didn't think he was worth the bother...

Squash Harvest

Here is the squash harvest from the garden. Small, not perfectly formed, but one made a very nice curry last night.
Back in Sheffield today for Rowan's first academy netball day. Yesterday she led the school team to the Yorkshire schools finals next month. I walked into the city centre and got some more photos while listening to The Looking Glass War by John Le Carre - great but grim.

?

Another one of the strange modern marker stones on the Wolds near Huggate. I have been able to find refreshingly little out about them.

Netball News

Last week I took a ride up through Thixendale, where I took this photo. As you can see it was a perfect summer's day.
Rowan qualified again for the Yorkshire regional netball academy. There is a danger that we take all of this for granted, but she is the only girl from all of North Yorkshire in the regional academy of 35 girls, so she has done really well. Lots more trips to Sheffield coming up...

Strange Signs

Hi up on the Wolds are these strange estate stone signposts. This one tells you how far it is to petrol. In furlongs.
Danielle and I watched a Velvet Underground documentary dvd - great. A band that touched us both at different times and on different continents.

Dykes

This is Huggate Dykes on the Wolds. The earthworks are 3000 years old. There is so much of natural beauty in the Wolds that I have barely looked at the man-made environment. Dykes and tumuli are all around.
Danielle is back today from the Tory party conference, last one out of the way.

Food

York has been praised for its restaurants - http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/9285832.York_rated_better_than_Bologna__London_and_Edinburgh_in_food_poll/ not a situation many would have predicted.

We also have a brand new bridge, which connects Foss Islands with Hungate which is being redeveloped.
Living in York there is always something going on and things moving forward.

The City and the City

In book group we read The City and the City http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_%26_the_City which was a science fiction book with one brilliant idea wrapped up in a bad story and bad writing; we had a good discussion though.

The photo is of Rudston church on the Wolds. That is not a tall gravestone on the right but the tallest standing stone in Britain [higher than Stonehenge]. The church was sited adjacent to the pagan stone, in a strange show of confidence, resulting in this bizarre juxtaposition.

7 Blog Years Old

The blog is 7 years old. This link http://palmour.blogspot.com/2004_10_01_archive.html takes you to the first post. As you can see from the photo some of us have changed over those 7 years. I am very glad that I have kept it going for so long, thankyou for all the comments over the years – always much appreciated.

I have spent a lot of time writing a report on reviewing day services across for a Council. As I struggle with it I have two additional sensory stimuli – music from my hard disc [Isley Brothers as I write this] and a random scroll of my photos. Every so often I glance at this and it spurs me on. This shot of Rowan and her Granny comes from 2006.

Burrrrr!

When Danielle and I took Milo for a walk in the Wolds last week he emerged from one foray in the woods covered in large burrs. He looked like a leopard. We pulled off most of them but left some on for Rowan to see. Bad mistake. On the car journey back he not only pulled them off himself but also decided to eat them. Net result: he was sick in the car and very sorry for himself the rest of the day. Silly dog. The photo is from the pre-burr section of the walk.