New York #1 

Back Home

Got back to a house, kindly cared for by two lots of local friends. Flying with Continental Airlines is never going to be a stress-free trip, but it went pretty well. Here is the first of a few photos from the US. Taking any shot off of the Empire State Building is never going to be easy to be original...

GBH

Rowan had her hair done at a salon run by some family friends. It is called GBH International [there are no connections with harm in the US]. I walk along the Dellaware River at Bristol, and have a good walk. Royce and I then go for a coffee at a cafe that seems to operate a "smokers only" policy. Now we are off to endure Neward airport...

VIrginia

Just back from Virginia. Flew down yesterday to Roanoke http://visitroanokeva.com/ then stayed at Randy and Joans [Danielle's aunt and uncle on her mothers side] and saw Wanda [cousin of danielle] and her three kids including a 2 year old Natalia who Rowan loved. Saw Great Grandma who is 90 and is in a nearby nursing home. Presented Rowan with a giant teddy bear decked out as a southern belle. Rowan loves it. I am reminded of a phrase of my late father: phenomenal...but ghastly.

Snow

We awoke to a perfect cloudless sky and three inches of powdery snow - everywhere looked beautiful. Everywhere except the Ben Franklin museum in Philadelphia which was crammed with what seemed like the entire population of the state. We cut our losses and headed out instead to Tyler State Park http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/tyler.aspx which was empty and perfect. Had a great walk in the snow.

Christmas Contrasts

Christmas breakfast was prepared by Aunt Sheila. Around the table were Royce [father of Danielle], Aunt Sheila, Aleish [daughter of Sheila], Christian [son of Aliesh], Ben [Danielle’s brother] Kari [wife of Ben] Danielle Rowan and Simon. We held off presents until 10.00.
Xmas Dinner saw all 9 of us go over to Maxine’s [Danielle’s Great Aunt] where we joined Ralph [husband of Maxine], Marna [daughter of Maxine] Sheldon [boyfriend of Marna] and his 90+ father.

So, after all that family activity it was a real contrast for Danielle and I to walk to the Quaker meeting house http://quakersbucks.org/soton.htm across the way for meeting for worship this morning. [Rowan stayed home watching Harry Potter with Kari] Total number of people at meeting – 6! Not exactly like Friargate in York, but very peaceful. The meeting house has a huge picture window into the forest, so that you can really have a good think.

From the sublime to Philadelphia

After the magnificence of Manhattan in beautiful sunshine yesterday, today Danielle and I went into Philadelphia. Rowan had a day with Royce. The contrast could not have been greater, rain and wind [including one bizarre hurricane blast for 15 seconds that blew us off the sidewalk] and the downbeat mediocrity of Philadelphia. We went to Danielle’s old trendy haunts on South Street – amazingly some are still there, but most are not – and had a good time wandering around.
Ben and Kari are en route from Washington tonight; when they arrive we will have a full house of nine, all ready for Xmas.

New York New York

Royce dropped us off at Trenton station this moring and Rowan, Danielle and I took the train to New York City. The train was a bit like being on British Rail ten years ago - not exactly customer focused - but it got us there. A beautiful day. Empire State building, a lot of quequing but worth it for the view of Manhattan which is a fantastic sight. The ferris wheel inside the living hell that is Christmas in the Time Square Toys R Us shop - Rowan loved it. We had lunch with Randall, a college friend of Danielles who lives in an appartment two blocks away from Time Square. He took us to a converted church pizza place which was fantastic. New York really is something to behold in its total urban-ness. A good day. All tired. S

Lost wallet and plastic priviledge

I had my wallet stolen last week. Pretty weird experience, especially as I didn't notice until hours later. I had lunch in a cafe in London, leaving my bag for a nanosecond to get a spoon. I walked on to a meeting in East London about helping young homeless people to look after their money better.

I then used my Oyster Card to travel across London to Embankment to the Commonwealth Club where I planned to have a coffee and relax for an hour or two before catching the train back to York. At the door of the Club, the very pleasant receptionist asked me for my membership card. I couldn't find my wallet. I said I couldn't find it, could she just look me up on her system? She did and I went downstairs in the warm and comfortable Club to search my bag for the missing wallet. It wasn't there. I then used my mobile to check where I had been to see if it had been found - no luck. I cancelled all my credit cards and then caught the tube back to Kings Cross to return home. I had no money, no ID, no nothing. However, I had my ticket home and found I also had a voucher for a 3 course meal on the train, so I used it and cycled home from York Station.

This is how we live. The relatively affluent can move around the earth- over 200 miles- in warmth and comfort, using stored assets of accumulated wealth - vouchers, tickets and other bits of plastic priviledge, stating who we are and expecting to be given what is due us. And we are given it with no proof other than steady eye contact and a confident tone. Danielle

Bryn Gweled

Danielle's Dad lives in Bryn Gweled www.bryngweled.org a quaker community [of sorts] in Pensylavania. We woke this morning to a dusting of snow. Rowan and Danielle were asleep so I went for a run through the woods. It is a beautiful place with modern buildings spread through the woods. A lot of frank lloyd wright influence. Very peaceful, not one car passed me on my run [yes I know it was a short run, but that is still pretty good]. Various other bits of the family arrive over the next few days. Everything fine. [Even the Philadelphia Eagles won at football yesterday...this is very rare I believe]

Hurry Up and Wait

Arrived safely in the US today. Rowan was great on the flight and it all went pretty well. Royce, Danielle's father, described the culture of air travel as being similar to the military - that is a culture of "Hurry Up and Wait". And that seems true. You rush to the check-out to make sure you are there 2 hours ahead of departure....then you wait. You rush to the departure gate....and wait. And so on.

Great to see everyone here, Rowan is asleep, I nearly am. S

Go

En route to the US, we are staying at the hotel at Manchester airport, which is great. Means we can have a relaxed check in tomorrow morning [in theory...but we are flying with Continental who make British Airways look really good] Rowan and Danielle are swimming in the pool.

On the way over I was reading about Go, the Chinese game, http://www.well.com/user/mmcadams/gointro.html in the Economist. It reminded me how much I like the game, and how little I play it. I have an internet game in progress with my friend Victor, but the last exchange of moves was two years ago, so it is going to take some time to complete. I will try and find a downloadable computer version to practice on.

Trip to the US

Tomorrow we set off for Christmas in the US at Danielle's fathers in Philadelphia. We are hoping to include trips to see Danielle's grandmother in Virginia, and to New York City to show Rowan the sights. And we are having some sort of party on Boxing Day to catch up with Danielle's old friends - many not seen for years. So it going to be hectic, but should be fun. Rowan finished school today, went to a party of a German classmate, where they all made German cookies for Xmas. Well we had to eat ours today didn't we? Would have been a shame to leave them here until the New Year.

What's That Sound?

I subscribe to Songlines, a world music magazine http://www.songlines.co.uk/ that is pretty good. Each month it includes a free CD with ten top tracks from the month’s new releases. This is a good way of learning about various musics from around the world. There are sometimes some fairly bizarre sounds on the CD – all part of the fun.

Anyway, this month I stuck the CD on in the kitchen and carried on with cooking dinner, listening to some good old wailing in the background. One track though sounded just plain out of tune, and with a horrible weedy electronic sound. Even I thought this was a bit much. Then it carried on into the next track…..

I investigated and found that Rowan had switched on the “signing birthday cake candles”. These charming products produce a terrible version of happy birthday to you, over and over again. Problem solved. But it could be the start of a new fusion movement – tacky sounds and roots music..

Classic Photo #12

The Building and the Plane - London. I always thought this was a bit cliched, but it is still in the "classic" folder so here it is. It was a beutiful crisp day and the plane obliged by flying into frame just in time.

The building and the plane - London 

The Digital Ear

Got my NHS digital hearing aid on Saturday. It is a big improvement on the old analog one. I will try and use it more.......... It is best when there is an induction loop available, but still difficult to get used to in other situations. They cost two grand a shot if you buy them privately, or nothing if you get them on the NHS. I think there is probably a middle ground to be found there.

My hearing still provides amusement from time to time. I was listening to a Radio program that was about Osama Bin Laden and was bemused that the presenter was so worried about him getting hold of a saxaphone [cue images of Bin Laden playing sax in a cave to his followers]. Then I realised they were talking about a "sat-phone" which is short for a satellite phone. Oh well. S

Classic Photo #11

Men - Albania. This is from a trip in 1989, just before the collapse of all things communst in Eastern Europe. I liked Albania. In Tirana, the capital, I saw soldiers holding hands, which seemed a pretty good state of affairs to me. This shot has the domes of a mosque and of anti tank emplacements in it, which seemed to contrast nicely.

Men - Albania 

Magic Lunch

Had some neighbour friends, Gwen and David, round for lunch today. Great relaxed meal of home made soup and fresh bread courtesy of Mr Panasonic. This was all eclipsed however by Gwen's two card tricks, one of which she managed to teach to Rowan who then performed it on us. To see Rowan's look of wonderment as Gwen performed the tricks made me realise that this is a skill well worth having [I haven't got it]. When I was cycling in Turkey with Paul, he managed to enthrall the kids of a whole village with his card tricks. [Strangely his recital of Annie's Song on his flute failed to have the same effect]. So maybe Rowan will teach me some Magic.

Classic Photo #10

Tunnel - Colyhurst - Manchester.
Charlie was driving me around Manchester when we spotted this tunnel in the middle of the wasteland. The three boys were walking through it at just the right time. I was back in the area earlier this year for a bit of work, expecting it to be regenerated / yuppified / supermarketed. In fact it is just the same.

Tunnel - Colyhurst - Manchester 

Computer Spaghetti

Spent all day yesterday sorting out my mother’s new PC [she is an experienced silver surfer of five years standing]. Then spent today refitting three computers in the office at home…have seen enough cables and USBs to last a lifetime. But it all seems to work.

In between the two bowls of spaghetti I was driving back late last night on an “A” road east of Doncaster when I noticed I was all alone. This was strange; I had spent the previous 3 hours of the journey with thousands of fellow travellers for company. Then without warning the road was blocked. Not at a junction, but in the middle of nowhere with a massive barrier across the road. No diversion signs, no explanation, nothing to laugh at at all. Just there deep in the heart of the Doncaster badlands – not a building or a person to be seen. It was so strange; I got out to savour the quiet night. Turning round, it was six miles before I got to the roundabout that should have had a sign on it saying “Road Blocked. Diversion”. There was no sign [due to rural vandals or government cuts, fill in with your own prejudice]. I was soon back with the rest of the world.

Classic Photo #9

Girl at Covent Garden. This has been one of my most popular photos, with a good few copies sold. There seems to be something about the girls face that is almost primeval. Always men who buy it....
It was taken at a performance by some Burundi drummers at a packed Covent Garden piazza.

Girl - Covent Garden - London 

Life as a Consultant

A good day today. The home-office is finally getting decorated, so we will be able to move the desks back in there after a few months of nomadic existence around the house. And this week I have firmed up two bits of work for the new year. The first deal was agreed in Starbucks on Leeds Station over a decaf latte. The second in the beautiful Georgian squares[honestly] of Wakefield. This is great news, meaning that things are set up for the rest of the fiscal year. I can relax a bit now. And it is my birthday too!

Preston 2

On the River Ribble we saw a pair of Goosanders http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/g/goosander/index.asp with the male doing some pretty spectacular diving in the fast moving water. Later on Rowan spotted a tree-creeper http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/treecreeper/index.asp in Avenham Park http://www.gardenvisit.com/g/aven.htm doing just what it should do [creeping up a tree]. We also visited the Lancashire Museum http://www.imagined.org.uk/public_html/Lancashire/museum.html which had an unexploded bomb which Rowan was delighted with. Luckily Danielle did not include watching North End in the weekend [they lost 5-0].

Avenham Park - Preston 

Preston

Have just spent my birthday weekend in Preston as a treat from Danielle and Rowan [Don't laugh, we took Danielle to Hull last year]. It was fantastic. Memories both vague and vivid flooded back from the place of my childhood. http://www.visitpreston.com/ It has certainly changed. Highlights were the national football museum at Deepdale http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/ a great meal at a restraunt we found out later is run by a famous chef [we had never heard of] http://www.heathcotes.co.uk/simply/locations.php?location_id=2&restaurant_id=2 which was very Rowan friendly, and a coffee at Brucianni's [the Italian cafe that is still going 40 years on].

Trees - Interlaken - Switzerland 

Classic Photo #8

Trees - Interlaken - Switzerland. This was taken one March afternoon. I had hitched into a cold and pretty desolate Interlaken, found a cheap hotel and was wondering what to do with myself, when I spotted these trees looking suitably weird in the snow. The people arrived as if on cue, and the picture was made.

After Pegs

Pegs was a club that Danielle and I were both members of when we lived in London. It was where we had our wedding reception, my 40th Birthday party, and an exhibition of my photos. So we were very sad [and a little bewildered] when it went bust about 5 years ago. So it was good to discover another club that meets our needs [somewhere to be based when we are in London]. I could join the Royal Commonwealth Club just off Trafalgar Square http://www.rcsint.org/club/ for a really low rate because of my OU MBA. Danielle could then join as a spouse on another good rate. So we are really pleased with it.

Classic Photo #8

Rocamador is an abbey site in the Dordogne in France. I ended up there when the couple I was hitching a lift with invited me and a Canadian fellow-hitcher to stay at the Gites they were renting out. We had a great time. On the visit to the abbey all these elements fell into place at just the right moment for the photo.

Rocamador - France 

National Railway Museum

Rowan and I used to visit the Natioinal Railway Museum here in York, http://www.nrm.org.uk/html/home_pb/menu.asp at least twice a week. Once when Rowan was about 3, I lost track of her in the great hall. Slightly panicing I asked one of the staff "Have you seen my daughter?"
"No, but I would'nt worry, she knows her way around here better than me" and he was right, I heard a shout and there was Rowan beaming down at me from on top of the footbridge in the great hall

It is a fantastic place, and although we go less often now, it still feels like home. So we took Mark there yesterday and had a good look round. All the old favorites were there Mallard, the Bullet Train and Rocket We are really lucky having it within walking distance.

Football

My friend Mark came up to watch his team [Carlisle] play York in the Conference. Carlisle are second and York are nearly bottom http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/carlisle_united/default.stm but Carlisle helpfully levelled things out after twenty minutes by getting their player sent off. Amazingly York won 2-1, which didn’t please the 1,700 Carlisle fans, amongst whom we stood. There were nearly as many Carlisle fans as York, It was good to get to a game, even thought the standard was terrible. Carlisle have a Brazilian striker [who had a stinker] and York have a talented striker who willingly adopted the role of pantomime villain in front of the Carlisle end.

BMS

This evening Danielle and I are off to the monthly BMS concert at York University. This is a series of 6 monthly concerts through the dark months. It is great for us, as we buy our season ticket [really good value] and then try and go to as many as we can - we usually have no idea who we are going to see, but if you look at the programme http://www.bms-york.org.uk/ you can see they are pretty high quality. We are always guaranteed to see lots of people we know from various walks of life, so it is a pleasant social experience as well. Tonight is the Fitzwilliam Quartet who worked with Shostakovitch in the past.

Sheep Sheltering in the Snow 

Classic Photo #7

Sheep Sheltering in the Snow. There is a sheep keeping out of the cold towards the top of this picture. When I was away on my six month walk across Europe my mother had this photo and hoped that I was keeping safe too. I was. S

True Stories #1

1985. I am hitching up from Droitwich in Worcestershire to Manchester. It is 8 in the morning as I put my small rucksack on the damp ground by the Motorway slip-road. I get my thumb out, and watch all the business men in a hurry in their company cars commuting to Birmingham, pass me by.

I hear a screech; I look around and see a car [car A] has stopped for me. Unfortunately the car behind [car B] had to slam on his brakes to avoid driving into the back of car A. This caused the next car [car C] to crash into the back of car B, and the one behind car C [car D] to crash into car C. Car A was unscathed.
“Do you want a lift, the driver said to me?”
“Yes please, what about that lot?” I said looking back at the three cars and three bewildered drivers.
“Let them sort it out!” he said, and off we went.
No one was hurt, no great damage done [bumpers and lights only] and it was undoubtedly their fault [drivers should always be able to stop, even if the car in front does an emergency stop] but it did feel a bit odd. It was not my fault, but without me it would never have happened. S

Classic Photo #6

These tenaments were standing derelict round the back of the Elephant & Castle. Since demolished they were part of an area that is described brilliantly by Michael Collins in his book The Likes of Us http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1862076006/qid=1101213804/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_11_1/026-5041928-5955644

Shame - Elephant & Castle - 1985 

Owl Time

Saturday evening. We are all listening to Stephen Fry read Harry Potter in the kitchen [any parents of children of a certain age will understand this intrusion into family life] Hedwig the owl is featuring large. I go out to lock the garage door and see a Tawny Owl http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/tawnyowl/index.asp land on the eve of our neighbour’s roof. By chance Rowan came to the front door at just the right moment; so that we could both stare at the owl staring at us [about 10 metres away] before if flew silently and nonchalantly away... Another type of bird that we have seen here at Hob Moor. S

Portable Office 

Portable Office

Working from home and at various clients’ bases means that the internet and the laptop are pretty essential for my work. It is hard to imagine being able to function competitively prior to the internet. For example I can download all the background papers from the Department of Health [part of the UK government] on a particular issue, in a matter of minutes. Pre-internet I would have had to either purchase them from the Department [costing £20 a shot, and taking days], blag them off contacts in departments [time-consuming and not something you can do more than every so often] or go to a library [unlikely to deliver]. Couple the internet with cycling and I can become a pretty portable business. I was at Kings X this week and was glad to see that I am not alone. The bike is a Brompton, http://www.bromptonbicycle.co.uk/ and the laptop is perched on the steps down to the gents – not my idea of an ideal location, but he seemed pretty happy

Classic Photo #5

The Churchyard in Kirbymoorside, which is at the foot of the North York Moors. It was a cold February morning with imminent snow: the blackbird obliged. The town is about 20 miles north of us here in York http://www.kirkbymoorside.com/

Churchyard - Kirkbymoorside - Yorkshire 

Leverage or what?

For the past three years I have providing consultancy services to a Council in east London. That work has nearly come to an end, it has been enjoyable and successful: the Council has moved up a vital notch on the Government’s Star Rating system. Today I have been doing one last piece of work for them which is an exciting departure. I am combining my photography with consultancy [to produce a cheer-leading, illustrated calendar for the Primary Care Trust] so I get to photograph twelve diverse members of the workforce. Six done today, six in a couple of weeks. It is an area of work I would like to develop. We’ll see…

Classic Photo #4

Girl at Waterloo Station taken in the early 80s

Girl - Waterloo - 1982 

Surreal Rail Experiences

I got on the train this morning. It was windy so the East coast mainline was experiencing some delays. This meant that I climbed on the first train that arrived, which did so at 8:48am.As we climber aboard, passengers were informed that “this is not the 8:49 to London although it is 8:49 and the train is going to London”. Then, “customers with reservations in coach E will not find them in coach E, as they contain reservations for coach G. Reservations for coach E are in Coach D. Customer should note that the reserved seats on the tickets will not correspond to the actual train seats and customers will need to look at each reservation to find their intended seat.” I laughed a bit to myself as I plugged in my laptop to the sockets fitted in the coach and settled back to watch the chaos. Then I realised the battery light was flashing on the computer - the socket didn't work. I decided not to do any writing on the train after all, I am quite sure it would have wiped from the disk before I arrived in London. If I ever went...... D

The Sidings

We are in the middle of our twice-yearly state visit from Granny. As ever she kindly offers to take us all out for lunch. We went back to The Sidings which is right on the East Coast Main Line, where you eat in railway carriages and watch the trains go by http://www.sidingshotelyork.co.uk/ We had a great meal. Sadly the whole place seems to be on the slide [less punters, peeling paint] and desperately in need of some TV business guru to shake it up…can’t see it happening though.

Keys

Our lives may be complex and multi-faceted but they are also very fragile. Take today. 11.00 am I drop Rowan at a health club for her friend’s birthday party. I now have two hours to go for a spin on the Brompton folding bike http://www.bromptonbicycle.co.uk/ . After a few miles I stop for a coffee and a baguette for lunch. A nice steaming hot cup of coffee is put on my tray [decaf…but that’s another story] and as I pay my heart sinks as I realise my keys and I have parted company. Suddenly a whole range of frets emerge
Ø will I need to get the locks at home changed
Ø when can I get a new key for the car cut
Ø how am I going to get Rowan home
Ø how am I going to get into the house
Ø how will I replace the 30 year old Guinness penknife my father gave me
Ø etc etc
So I take the George Bush approach [a la Fahrenheit 911] and sit and have my coffee first. I then cycle back to the Health Club, all the while looking across at the road going the other way in case I see the shining metal of the Holy Grail in the gutter. I am resigned to a day of panic and hassle when I see that the car is at least still there in the car-park. Which is all the more surprising when I see the keys dangling from the driver’s door. One hour of luck. Back to normal

Badminton

Just had a good game of Badminton with my friend Edward today. I first started playing when I was 30 in Tottenham. What I really like about it is that you can have a really good workout even if your standard of play is not that high. Contrast that with tennis where a decent rally is rare, where the temptation to whack the ball to the boating lake is real, and where the difference between a park player and a club player is huge – I remember going a whole set before either I or my opponent could manage to hold serve – not like Wimbledon.

http://www.badminton.online.ukgateway.net/

Anyway when I was in London I formed an informal badminton group that played weekly with ever changing membership for ten years, it was a great group and I believe it is still carrying on. In York I have played with a few groups, at the moment I enjoy singles best [more room for inelegant 6 footers to charge around] and play at the Railway Institute courts which are in a disused rail shed next to the station.

Classic Photo #3

Clacton Beach - 1982. I was on a residential at Clacton in December. It was bleak but with a beutiful light which lit up this old boy on the beach to good effect.

Clacton Beach - 1982 

Classic Photo #2

This is a photo of a dancer at some festival held on Highbury Fields in the 80's when I lived in London. She was part of a dance troupe that were dancing to Orchestra Jazira a Hackney based African style band.

Highbury Fields Dancer - 1983 

Bats

Rowan and I saw a bat flying around our garden at dusk as we waited to go out to the fireworks. I think it was probably a pipistrelle http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/291.shtml I have always been worried that they would get stuck in my hair, which I think counts, for me, as an irrational fear on at least two counts.

Rosehip Syrup

Rowan and I had spotted lots of rosehips on the way to the playground, so Danielle and Rowan collected some on Saturday. Rowan and I tailed them, then made rosehip syrup to a recipe we found http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/womanshour/food/recipe93.shtml It tastes great, although it needs a bit less sugar, and Rowan now has it for her morning tea.

Travail sans frontieres

I have completed my first week of "working from home". It has been an interesting experience for a hard-working gal with slight tendancies toward procrastination. I managed to evade the allure of dusting the skirting boards and the new bottle of "Shiny Sinks" in the cupboard. The mildew on the office window was my only slip-up - I couldn't resist it. The latest I started work was 9:05am, the earliest 8:25am. I discovered that I don't have the habit of eating lunch if there is nothing to scrounge off someone else and I am busy. I also noted that the heat needs to go back on in the house by 10:30am; happily this coincides with my requirement for caffeine.

The real issue is boundaries - how do I stop working? Every job I have ever had - and this one is no exception - has been infinite. There is always something that could be done or improved or re-formatted (you have to get the font right).

Friends have loads of ideas about this that they are eager to share - "if you work late at night, take time off in the day"; "Have a fixed time to start and stop and stick to it"or "Work when you need to, you'll soon get fed up and stop yourself".

I am less keen to listen to them just now - I need to build my own barriers. I think it will look like a ha-ha. Click here -
http://www.npr.org/programs/watc/features/2002/jan/security/020126.security.html

Great minds think alike.... Ha ha.

Danielle

Fireworks

Just finished our triple-header of firework parties. Yesterday it was up to a friends allotment for a bonfire and six fireworks [the adults managed for the second year running to take up some wine but forget soft drinks for the kids - tragic] which was great fun, low key but high excitement. Then today we went to a friend's bonfire party [with some rather worryingly horizontal rockets] before leaving to rush over to Rowan's schools display. This was really dramatic stuff. Anyway we are all back home now and get on with getting excited about Xmas.

Classic Photo #1

Harrow Road - London - 1980. I will be posting up a few of my best photos. This was taken when I had just moved to London. It looked incredibly dated then, hard to believe that someone was still delivering with a bike. Ironically there is now a revival in bike transporters so it is beginning to seem less dated.

Harrow Road - London - 1980 

Palmour - The Name

Apart from my mother there are only two other Palmour families in the UK, deep in the heart of Essex. There are many many Palmours in the US, including a Cherokee branch and a recorded Opera star. One of the joys of having an unusual name is that it is mis-spelt more often than not. The way to deal with this is to treasure every new mis-spelling and add it to the list. So here is the list so far, all sent to me on letters

Balfour Balmour Dalmour Pacmer Pairmer Palamour Palamovi Palar Palfrey Palimone Palkour Pallimore Pallmour Pallmoure Palmair Palmal Palman Palmar Palmaur Palme Palmer Palmers Palmerson Palmeur Palmev Palmier Palmiou Palmir Palmo Palmoen Palmoier Palmojek Palmom Palmon Palmone Palmont Palmoor Palmoore Palmor Palmore Palmorn Palmorur Palmou Palmoul Palmoule Palmoun Palmouo Palmouris Palmous Palmouth Palmow Palmowr Palmpur Palmsur Palmu Palmune Palmur Palnare Palnone Palnour Palomar Palour Palous Palpair Palpour Palsour Palvere Pamair Pamer Pamlour Pammer Pamoeer Pamour Pamur Paramour Parlmour Parlour Parlous Parma Parmer Parmoor Parmor Parmour Pasmair Patmaur Paul Paulmour Paumour Pelmore Pelmour Plamour Podmour Polman Polmour Poulmour Powelmore Powellmore Powlemore Powlmore Powmore Pownall Pqmlour Pulmour Talmont Talmour Tolnour Valmour

Simon

Hob Moor Sculpture Trail #5

The logs on Hob Moor are there presumably as a result of the great storm of 1987. Whatever, they now provide good places to aim at / run too / climb on, and are of sculptural interest in their own right.

Hob Moor Log 

Hob Moor Sculpture Trail #4

The Plague Stone.
Plague victims were housed on Hob Moor in 1604, paid for food brought to them by placing money in water or vinegar in the central depression of the stone, which sits next to the Hob Stone. This stone is at the top of the “big hill” on our cycle into school each day, so it is always a welcome sight. I was drafted / dragged onto the committee of friends of Hob Moor yesterday evening. Not only was I the youngest member, but was also called “young man” more than once – this is a rare occurrence nowadays. There is a good website on Hob Moor http://www.yorkarchaeology.co.uk/community/hobmoor/index.html put together by an archaeology student at the university.

Plague Stone 

The Hedge Sea Monster 

Hob Moor Sculpture Trail #3

Not quite as old as the Hob Stone, this coiffured hedge is meant to be a sea monster. It is near the bear. A neighbouring house has started to grow a “diesel” hedge, so it is obviously spreading.

Music #1

The Mighty Zulu Nation
This is a band. I have heard one track “Mdavu the Man” off of their album - “Abantu” and it is fantastic - a real blast of energy. Look at http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php?story=20040611100915550 for more info on them and on http://www.nationrecs.demon.co.uk/

Halloween

Our home grown pumpkin has been hollowed out, candled and sits in our dining room. Last year's was only about six inches across, so this is a big improvement!

The Halloween Pumpkin 

October Cycle Ride

Three of us met up at York Minster this morning, Ted, David and I. Not a bad place to meet up, with the bells striking nine as we headed off through early shoppers. Our ride took us to Castle Howard http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/ via the vicious Bulmer Bank. Very steep but not too long. By the time we got to Castle Howard we needed the cup of tea in the café. A bit of moisture in the air but a good day as we came back across Strensall Common http://www.jncc.gov.uk/ProtectedSites/SACselection/SAC.asp?EUCode=UK0030284 which looked beautiful in the autumn sunshine. As I came back home over Hob Moor I was met by Rowan, her friend Lilly and Danielle en-route to the swimming baths across the moor. Now it’s time for a bath…

Do the Locomotion

Rowan and I went today to Sheldon in County Durham to see the new Locomotion museum which is an outlier of the National Rail Museum. http://www.nrm.org.uk/html/locomotion_pb/main.asp We cycled to the station [Rowan on her bike] The train journey - changing at Darlington - was good fun, the museum was full and OK [I think we have been a bit spoilt by the York museum]. Rowan found a good place to make into an impromptu slide and had great fun there.

Hob Moor Sculpture Trail #2

The Hob Stone -

The effigy of a knight of the Roos family sculpted in about 1315. Placed here in 1717, the inscription on the back read:
"This image Long Hob's name has bore. Who was a knight in time of yore and gave this common to ye poor"
We pass it every day on the way to school

The Hob Stone 

Thinking about friends

The fact is, much of my communication with my friends is by email. It is a reflection of the age, but I also think this is a result of my tendency to continuously move away from them - from the PA to Iowa (I keep that quiet), from Iowa to PA, from the States to London, from London to York...

Luckily, most of my friends and friendships seem to be robust enough to cope with all this nomadic behaviour and I have quite animated conversations with them pretty often. In fact, email is sufficiently abstract yet quick enough to make saying very personal things about love, life, sex and family easier than saying them in person.

About a year ago, a friend of mine from the States that I have known since she was about 7 and I about 11, told me she felt really well but was actually very sick. She had a rare and very serious form of breast cancer for which the prognosis was not good. Over the course of the last year, we talked about her illness and wellness, her daughter who played with mine, her husband, her adoptive mom and dad. We also traded jokes and gossip and dodgy email circulars.

Last week I emailed her. She didn't email back, but I was used to it: she's a busy woman despite the chemo. But she had died - her funeral was yesterday. http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/222-10252004-389021.html

Email isn't so good for that.

Danielle

Sun comes up, its Monday morning...

Apologies to the Cowboy Junkies.....

Last night there were gales, so I turned over in my bed, safe in the knowledge that I could have a good lie-in in the morning with no twinges of concience about exercising - I was positive it would be pouring. However, the morning dawned clean and shining, so I hauled myself into my trainers and out armed with Radio 1 (yes that's right, Radio 1) on my headphones.

Autumn morning on Hob Moor, York, 8:00am on first day of half term: The sun was shining but was clearly having trouble managing the climb into the sky. Running/ shambling on the moor was a damp business; I kept off the paths to avoid intermittant swamps that appeared from time to time. This earned me dirty stares from the cattle that clearly had the same idea - I suppose someone running across your breakfast isn't a welcome development. They got their own back as a didn't always manage to avoid the freshly reconstituted cowpats that dot the moor, returned to a cold and sloppy version of their former glory. I did manage to stay upright, but my trainers will never be the same.

A Sunday in York

Just another nice Sunday in York.

Rowan: We went to the Big Draw and drew somethings like fish. I went with Aled, Lilly and Chris [Alled's brother]

Danielle: checked the bees - still alive. Cooked a meal made totally out of our veg from the garden, squash, spinach, potatoes

Simon: had flu. Got ready for the great half term ritual of traveling down to Grannys. Rowan very excited,we usually leave about 8 and get there for 11pm. Gin and Tonic for the driver, bed for Rowan

New bird in the garden

Saw a goldcrest http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/g/goldcrest/index.asp this afternoon as I was planting some broad beans. Beautiful little thing hopping around the plum tree. Simon

The Bike Group

I have never felt particularly comfortable in cycle clubs or organised rides. I would rather cycle with friends. So I started an informal cycle group here in York. Each year I e-mail round a list of dates [generally the last Saturday of the month] and whoever is around will come on the ride. So far eight people have joined me at one time or another and we have had some great rides. It’s a nice way to do it, very informal and plenty of time to chat to friends. Last year I made the mistake of trumpeting the fact we had no rain on any of the rides. This year of course it has rained just about every month! Simon

Being Self Employed

I love being employed. It is great being able to give each project your total attention, instead of indulging in the usual juggling act. It is great not having staff to manage, and great not having to waste time and energy on organisational politics.

But there are still things to worry about. You never know whether the work will keep flowing in. Being part time [and having to take two months off in the summer when school is out, to look after Rowan] means that I need flexible clients. And sometimes I have to say “no” to work. This causes anxiety –“Will they ask me again?” - “Will more work come along when I need it?” So far after 6 ½ years so good. I have never had less work than I can manage. Just this week I was starting to begin to think about worrying with a long term commitment about to end. Sure enough a call came out of the blue and things are looking good. One day there will be a gap, but in the meantime I just try not to worry each time another D Day approaches. Simon

Coincidence #2

1990. My friend Paul and I were on a cycling tour in Ireland. We had taken a friend’s 11 year old son, Ricki, with us. On the third day we were in a café in a damp one-horse town in the Irish midlands. Totally off the tourist trail. We were all three of us enjoying tea and cake after a good morning’s ride when Ricki started to shyly smile at the table next to ours. “What you doing Ricki?” Paul asked. Ricki whispered “I know those people on the next table”. “What do you mean?” Paul replied, “They live next door to us” said Ricki. And sure enough Ricki’s next door neighbours from Edmonton, North London were next to us totally by chance. Now how likely is that?

By the way, I should stress that all this took place before any Guinness had been drunk for the day. Simon

York Minster 

Rowan's visit to York Minster

Rowan Palmour. I went to York Minster on Tuesday. Our guide was Mr. Little. He showed us round. When we got back we went home again. On Friday the 15th of October 2004.

Coincidence #1

December 1979 Top Floor Flat, Princes Drive Liverpool 8.
The three flat-mates wake up on the Sunday morning after a pretty wild party the night before. We emerge to find that someone has kicked in the front door and stolen a few things including our TV. We had all slept blissfully unaware. We are not too bothered, and decide to go and get some breakfast: only we can’t secure the smashed-in front door. I work out that we need a two foot piece of wood to make it secure. We have a piece that is perfect... except it is three feet long. Of course we have no saw: we are students after all. I look out of the window, high above a cold, damp, snow-smudged, urban landscape. Very few people about, but there is a small old man sitting alone on that wall down beneath the tenement. In his hand is a saw. I run down the five flights of stairs, brandishing the wood. “Can I borrow your saw?” “Sure” he says without batting an eye-lash. Bracing the wood against the wall I quickly saw it to the required length and run back. When the rest look out of the window the old man has gone. But I have the proof in my hand, a two foot piece of wood. We go out for breakfast.

Pancakes, Birds, Bikes and Swimming

After our usual Saturday Family Breakfast of American Pancakes we set off for an RSPB reserve at Blacktoft Sands http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/b/blacktoftsands/index.asp on the Humber near Goole. Rowan is a junior RSPB member and loves going to new reserves [primarily, it has to be said, to look round the shop] we went into some hides and saw waders and Shelduck and a Peregrine Falcon. It was a beautiful sunny autumn morning, even Goole looked nice. Simon cycled back, a great ride along the Ouse, through Skipwith Common and along the Selby cycle track to York. Very Muddy. Rowan and Danielle had an equally great time swimming. Rowan can now swim underwater.

The Vegetable Garden 1

This year we grew:
Tomatoes – poor
Potatoes – ok
Spinach – great
Leeks – good
Beetroot – good
Cavallo Nero – great
Onions – good
Lettuce – too much
Courgettes – poor
Pumpkin – great
Artichokes – not yet harvested
Rocket – great
French Beans – great
Broad Beans – ok
It all looks a bit damp at the moment, but hope to get some winter onions in soon.

Bee Urban

I am avoiding my bees. I am not sure why, but I have realised that whenever there is a big job to do, I find about 10 other things to do. My current task is to combine my two colonies together. Ideally, one would find the queen you want to get rid of, get rid of her and then combine them. In this case, after much discussion with a retired beekeeper, going into the hives so late in the season would risk chilling the little brood that's there and really making a mess. So I am going to combine them with no regicide - my the best queen win!

Although I am dragging my feet, I better do it soon - the football has started and no one will want fed up bees flying over and attacking players. But.... the car does need cleaning....

The Bear of Hob Moor 

The Hob Moor Sculpture Trail 1

It is not official, and it is not up to the standard of the Henry Moore sculpture park down the road in Wakefield. But…we do have our own ad-hoc collection of sculptures around Hob Moor. Firstly we have The Bear. This is a beautiful sculpture in the middle of a small 70s housing estate just off the moor.

The Birds of Hob Moor

After the excitement of the Kingfisher, here is a list of birds seen on Hob Moor and in the garden.

Great Spotted Woodpecker – Kestrel – Sparrowhawk
Grey Wagtail – Common Gull – Black Headed Gull
Redwing – Mallard – Pheasant - Kingfisher
Skylark – Meadow Pippit - Swift

Bullfinch – Chaffinch – Greenfinch - Goldfinch
Blue Tit – Great Tit – Long Tailed Tit – Coal Tit
Dunnock – Wren – Robin – Song Thrush – Mistle Thrush
Starling – Blackbird – House Sparrow - Jackdaw
Wood Pigeon – Collared Dove – Magpie – Carrion Crow

Kingfisher at last!

Ever since we moved into Hob Moor Drive people have told us that there are Kingfishers in the beck. Up to now we had never seen one, then this morning as I walked back from dropping Rowan off at school, a flash of electric blue, and there was a Kingfisher speeding down the beck. It was a beautiful sight. The reason I spotted it, was that the beck banks have been trimmed by tractor over the last week. This happens every year, but was done with more care and rigour this time. Consequently it is easier to see what is going on in the becks. A great way to start the week.

The Spiral Takes Shape

Today was the day when the herb spiral took shape. It was a family effort, with Rowan shovelling, stamping and lifting stones, and Danielle and Simon making it into a spiral. It seems to have worked so far...Next stage is to plant the herbs.

The Spiral takes shape 

The Joy of Rail

Both Danielle and I are frequent users of the excellent GNER rail service from York to London. It takes under 2 hours and makes day-trips for work do-able. Here is a typology of the trains we get.

Early morning York to London “The Mobile Office”
Laptops whirr [over 200 on Wednesday when I travelled down] mobiles bleep, coffee is sipped. Very civilized.

Mid-morning. “The Luggaged Granny”
A totally different vibe. Many, many senior citizens with bags and cases making use of “saver” fares.

Afternoon. “The Walkmaned Student”
Travelling back from a weekend off [Monday to Wednesday] or travelling early for a weekend away [Thursday to Friday] Walkmans and railcards are essential.

Evening. London to York “The Happy Geordie”
Usually a train full of satisfied shoppers or liggers returning to Newcastle. Two opposite me are exhausted from a day shopping and attending a fashion show.

Then there are seasonal variations. Every June there is the “Wimbledon Disappointment”; on its way down to London it is full of expectation. For the return, the rain and/or Greg Rusedski’s surprising departure dampen the spirits.

Rowan and Ivan Osokin

Not for the first time, Rowan raised a major philosophical issue with me just before bedtime (extreme stalling tactics to be sure) - "Sometimes I wonder if I am really real. Am I real Mummy? How do you know?".
It so happens that I am also reading "The Strange Life of Ivan Osokin" by PD Ouspensky. The self-same question is at the heart of it - what is real? what is life? how do you know you are living it? Unluckily for Ivan Osokin, he doesn't have his mother to tell him that that is a very big question which has puzzled many people throughout the history of man. But its STILL time for bed so shhhhhh.
Sorts out all kinds of difficulties - try it.

The Herb Spiral

The Herb Spiral

Our latest family garden project is to produce a herb spiral [or an herb spiral for US readers]. This is a permaculture concept whereby you build a pyramid / cone of earth up to one metre high and then construct a spiral bed up from the bottom to the top to plant your herbs in. It’s one of those things that looks simple, elegant and obvious in the nice line drawings you find in the books….

So far we have a herb heap. Sods of turf have formed the base of the hill, these were coated with some woodchips and then some topsoil. Rowan then did a lot of stamping and jumping off the top to firm it up. The next stage is to use stones to build the spiral bed. It is hard to imagine it working at this stage, but we will keep you posted.

Look at http://www.mitra.biz/howto_herbspiral.htm or http://www.austinprogressivecalendar.com/selwyn/herbspiral.htm to see how it should look. When ours is complete, we’ll show you how they really look.

Cycling to School

Rowan is now cycling to school most days. With a panting father running alongside, she negotiates the dogs and cowpats of Hob Moor before tackling the "col de Hob Stone". After the hill it is downhill alongside Tadcaster Road before the absurd procession of lumbering SUVs that is the Tregelles school run. We both enjoy it, Rowan seems to particularly enjoy arriving in style in the playground.

News from the Hive

Good news - bees aren't dead. Bad news - not sure how to keep them that way.

Quick catch up: 2 Colonies; 2 Queens - Queen Margarita (gentle, fun-loving, heavy on the propolis) and the much nastier Queen Latifa II. Queen Latifa's colony is much more aggressive and irritable. Queen Latifa II was born when I accidentally squashed Queen Latifa 1. A long story which I will spare you (unless you are desperate).

So that's it. Mouseguards on. Feeding underway.

May try a complicated maneuver this weekend involving intentional Queen squashing (you can guess who) - see if my nerve and the weather holds.

How we look 2004