12 String

Danielle gave me this 12 string guitar for Christmas. It is a lovely thing, and I have a lot of learning to do.

TDABD

En route home we all had lunch at nephew Tom's and family. Another good time, with Steve and Jane there as well. Here is great nephew Edward.

Boxing Day

Boxing day saw Markus, Will, Pete and I go to watch the local non-league derby between Leiston and Lowestoft. It was an uplifting experience. A crowd of 580, a really non-aggressive atmosphere, Adnams ale that could be drunk as you watched the game [see photo] and a good old rumble of a game, that unfortunately local team Leiston lost 1-0. Great stuff

Xmas 2

The star of the Christmas show was undoubtedly great-niece Rosalind, who charmed us all.

Christmas Day

Christmas Day we got a short walk in round the muddy lanes of Great Glemham. It was mild, the sun was out - lovely

Will's Wellie

Nine of the family were together on Xmas eve. Will cooked a vegetarian mushroom Wellington that was superb; a good start to the holiday.

Xmas

Appropriate Decoration

Friend Dave has produced this Christmas decoration based on a bike wheel. I am impressed.

Crib

Once again this year Milo has been trying to join the baby Jesus in the crib.

Ride

What with my flu, and my damaged shoulder I have not done as much exercise as I would have liked for the last few weeks. So today I took the mountain bike out and went a great ride in warmish [10 degrees] dry and sometimes sunny weather. I tried out the new Sustrans route over the Nidd viaduct at Ripley; it is a really great route.

I have supported Sustrans for 20 years or so and  it is money well spent - they have revolutionised the possibilities for ordinary people to cycle in safety.
By the end of the ride I was cattled but felt good for having got out at last.

Orchestra

Last week was Christmas meeting at school, with Rowan and friend Amelia again providing the enthusiastic horn section to the orchestra. Here they are making sure they are totally concentrated and in the zone before the performance.

The Calm Ouse

Went to the Railway Museum with Rowan, then I met Patrick for a coffee before going to the Physio for my shoulder [she was quite encouraging]. Rowan meantime did some Christmas shopping then came home. The River Ouse is full, calm and lovely at the moment.

Best Music of the Year

Here is a Spotify playlist of some of the best tracks new to me in the last year.
The 12 tracks range from early music to jazz to a Bruckner symphony, dance, world music, weird electronics, folk, rock, blues, country, oh everything really.

Joanna

I met up with University friend Joanna in Leeds - always good to catch up. We had lunch in the recently restored Tile Hall which is part of the magnificent Victorian Leeds Town Hall. Until recently it was boarded up and used as a storage room, now it is fully restored and splendid.

A Weekend In Sheffield

It might not sound the most romantic of assignments but Rowan has just spent Saturday and Sunday at two athletics meetings at the EIS indoor track in Sheffield. At the Northern Athletics meet on Saturday she jumped a new Personal Best [PB] of 1m66 - she was delighted with that. Then on Sunday the North Yorkshire indoor Pentathlon was for fun [shot put, hurdles, long jump, high jump, 800m]. Rowan won, I did a lot of sand pit raking.

Hob Moor Christmas

The lounge has the Christmas Tree in it [this year I have bought a small pot grown one that, hopefully, will survive in the garden for years to come] which has found small favour with the daughter. Milo has a minimalist plastic tree in his quarters. All seen in this photo

Pond at BG

The pond at Bryn Gwelyd, where Danielle's parents built their house, is a lovely serene place. Always good to spend time sat on the bench and thinking.

Great Grandmother

Aunt Sheila had found this photo of Danielle's great grandmother on her father's side.

Snow

Coming home, we took the train from Trenton to Penn Station in New York, then took the local train to Jamaica [the end station on the line is Babylon - how come I never knew that?] and the skytrain to JFK airport. After checking in we saw on the TV that snow was falling - check out this http://www.philadelphiaeagles.com/news/article-1/Snow-Bowl-Described-By-The-Players/e9c44e55-0cd0-4c11-8ed6-33856f9cad78 with Philadelphia being subjected to 15cm in half an hour. My heart sank at the thought of being stuck at the airport but luckily with de-icer being sprayed over the plane we got off just one hour late. A great flight with Aer Lingus [recommended]

You will see from the photo below that the big person has the small bag, the middle person has the middle bag and the child has the huge bag. Hmmm.

Birthday

It was a strange birthday. Still ill, in Pennsylvania, and, most bizarrely, we had a virtual Christmas meal at Aunt Maxine's in the evening. So there we all were, Ben & family, Aunt Joan & Uncle Randy, Aunt Sheila et al having the usual chaos and fun 18 days early. Strange how easy it is to adjust.

Liberty

I quite like this shot of the Statue of Liberty I took from Brooklyn Bridge last week. It is all wrong in terms of exposure, light, composition etc but I am happy with something about it - just not sure what.
We are back home now.

Because I'm Worth It

I am of the view that shampoo, conditioner, shower gell, detergent etc are all basically the same thing. So when I am in a hotel and there are those little bottles in the shower I just open one up and use it - not bothering to read any labels. This might have something to do with having more beard than hair, but it seems a good approach to me.
In our hotel in New York I opened the bottle and was surprised how thin the liquid was, it seemed to work ok though.
Next day Rowan says "Why is there an open bottle of dental rinse in the shower?"

The shot is of the magnificent Grand Central Station that I had not visited before.

Native New Yorker?

Rowan was delighted to be asked by someone for directions when she was walking the streets of New York. Here is her photo of the pre-Christmas bustle with the Empire State Building in the distance. We had been due to meet up with my friend Tony who has had a turbulent time since I saw him last, but I was so wiped out that we had to cancel.

Man Flu

So, last week I had my first Flu-Jab for 45 years or so [now that I tick a few vulnerable over 50 boxes] at the Doctors.

This week? I have the worst man-flu I have ever had - barely speak, painful throat, delirium ... Next year I think I'll decline the offer

Skyscape

The views off the top of the Wolds are subtle. Nothing jaw-dropping but still the big skies excite me.

The Court

Danielle is a member of York University Court http://www.york.ac.uk/about/organisation/governance/court/ which meant I was allowed along to a dinner hosted by Greg Dyke who is the chancellor of the university. Some great people on our table, had a real good time. The building is a great example of modern architecture with a touch of humour - exemplified by these comedy mirrors in the loo.