The Good Earth

At our Virgins and Refugees bookgroup last week we discussed The Good Earth by Pearl Buck which won the Pulitzer Prize. This was written in the 30s by an American about Chinese peasants.

http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/china/lit/good.htm

I really hated the book [an unusually strong reaction for me] it just did not ring true, with an onlooker trying to describe the psychology of the on-looked. Others liked it a bit more: but not a lot.
The bookgroup is wel into its second year now, and going really well. Wine, cake and opinions is a pretty good mixture.

The photo is the last from the Lindisfarne adventure

Owl

We all saw a Tawny Owl on the bird table, and then looking rather bemused sat upon the trampoline for a couple of minutes.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/t/tawnyowl/index.asp

I am not sure what it was doing out in the daytime, but it was a great sight.

Had a great sunday lunch with friends Cathy and Chris and family: the twelve year old said "I did like your beetroot soup" --- my kind of guest.

The photo is of Rowan en-route to Lindisfarne

Lindisfarne

Friday morning and Rowan and I set off on the 6.30 train to Berwick upon Tweed. We cycled to Lindisfarne

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lindisfarne

on a new Sustrans route. It was a great ride, 30 miles in all and Rowan did really well despite: a] a dog growling at us with no owner in sight, b] her falling off on a greasy corner and c] a lot of rain on the way out. Despite all of that we had a really good time and want to go back on a better day.

Work

Last photo from Uffington.
I got confirmation from a client last week that they want me to do some more work for them starting in January: this is good news, as it means I can stop fretting about where the next job will come from for a while. It is one of the realities of being self-employed, that you never no what is round the corner: so far in over 8 years it has allways worked out OK, so I should stop worrying about it really.

Amazon

Cousin William told us about the Amazon DVD rental service. It suits our needs and we have agreed to share the choice. So last week it was Mr Benn

http://www.toonhound.com/mrbenn.htm

for Rowan, and this week it is more childish [a tv series that I saw on the flight back from NYC, State of Play: we landed before it finished, so I had to see what happened - the only time I have ever wanted the pilot to say "we will just be delayed a short while before landing..."] The service promises to let us watch weird stuff without having to buy it.

The photo is the White Horse at Uffington

http://www.mysteriousbritain.co.uk/majorsites/uffington.html

Ridgeway

Half term saw us all down at mother's in Oxford. Danielle was working in London but on Monday took the day off. She, Rowan, cousin Sarah and I went a great walk on the Ridgeway. This was the first long distance path I walked [in 1977]http://www.nationaltrail.co.uk/ridgeway/index.asp and it has always fascinated me: I dreamt about it before knowing about it.
The photo is on top of Uffington Hill where there is an iron age hill fort.

York Open Studios

I am really please to have been selected to take part in 2007 York Open Studios http://www.yorkopenstudios.co.uk/ . I am going to be exhibiting photos in the new extension [obvious question: will the extension ever be built?] in spring next year. It is an exciting prospect.
The photo is of Rowan on her fungi expedition: a happy girl

Fungi

Rowan really enjoyed going to Running Wild on Saturday. It is in a dog-free environment - Moorlands http://www.yorkshire-wildlife-trust.org.uk/runningWildYork.htm , the woman who runs it - Jill- is fantastic, and one of her friends from nursery [Helen] turned up as well. They were doing fungi, and Rowan showed me all the varieties when I went to pick her up. When we got home we found this type in the garden.

Escalator Over The Hill

I found a cassette of Escalator Over The Hill by Carla Bley. I bought the album in Birmingham when I was applying for various Universities - it is so long ago that Virgin Records [where I bought it] was then considered hip and trendy. It is a fantastic 3 album jazz opera thing. Unique and still sounding as weird and great as it ever did. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/feature.php?ID=27

Health

Had a good day in London, working in the week. Met up with friend Paul in the evening. He is Tony Blair's special advisor on health issues, and works in number 10. As ever he was full of optimism about the changes in the NHS, and it was really good to catch up with him: good company and a nice bottle of wine.
The photo is of Rob and Mark in New York

Radio Radio

k

I generally find “You and Yours” an unlistenable radio program on Radio 4 [nearly as bad as “Quote Unquote”] so I was surprised to be told that there was piece about the York Green Spaces book on, and that Friends of Hob Moor was mentioned. So I listened via the internet and sure enough there is a piece 15 minutes in on the Wednesday 18^th October edition http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/listenagain/wednesday.shtml . It is not a good piece, but I think this is our first bit of national recognition.

The photo is of a police station in Times Square New York [they know how to do branding]

Swimming Match

Tregelles [RowanÂ’s school] had a swimming match on Monday. Rowan was in the team and parents were allowed to watch. It went well and everyone seemed to enjoy it. A lot of shouting and screaming and splashing. Not the greatest photo of Rowan but you get the idea.

Signs

The Friends of Hob Moor have got these signs put up at entrances onto the moor. We are pretty pleased with them, and lots of people have been looking at them. Graffitti and vandalism will follow inevitabley, but so far not a sign of it.

Beetroot

I harvested the beetroot; they have done well this year. Rob gave me a recipe for beetroot that we really love, so I made it then used the rest for soup [borsch]. Rob's recipe is:

a carton of cream 300mls
a head of garlic
a sprig of thyme
simmer for 5 minutes then leave to infuse for at least 20.

season layers of thinly sliced beetroot and potato
add cream
Oven 200C for 30 mins

The photo is from London last week. Walking along the South Bank nowadays is a great experience. The Tate, the Millenium Bridge, the new Hungerford Bridge, the wheel; it is a wonder.

Link Group

Danielle and I took the Link group at Quaker Meeting on Sunday. This is the teenager group which had 21 kids in it, the group engorged by boarders from Bootham school. They were good kids, and after doing a personality Venn diagram game in seven groups of three, they got into groups to produce photographs that symbolised Quakerism. I then took the pictures, uploaded them onto the laptop and they could talk to the group about what they meant.
Surprisingly good fun all round. This shot is because "Quakers were sent to prison because
of what they believed"

Goshawk

Danielle went off to the gym, leaving Rowan and I in bed for a lie-in. She reading a book, me doing Su-Doku. In the afternoon I went a quick spin on the bike and had a great ride. Nearing Bolton Percy and a cup of tea, I was overtaken by a car full of blokes [always something to be wary of] "Hey mate, where's the golf course!" my reply was to the point "I've no idea but there's a tea shop up the road." So there I was having my tea when they came in too. One of them had a falcon on his arm - they were looking for the golf course to help them with their rabbit control: letting the Goshawk have a hunt.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/g/goshawk/index.asp

They were good blokes and we had a good chat.

Badminton Rules

The photo is of the slides in the Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/carstenholler/default.shtm which I saw this week. Look great, but terrifying
The rules of badminton have changed. http://www.welshbadminton.net/NewsDesk/news/ibfla The scoring is now quite different. This has a profound effect on how you play the game, all the previous psychological nuances of the game are changed. Edward and I have adopted the new system, but are not sure if we like it or not. I feel duty bound to use it, as I just know that the middle-england of badminton clubs will be sticking to "what we have always done here in england..." and using the old system. Either way, I lost this week.

Eyesight

The photo is of the Flatiron building in New York which is a real thing of beauty, and used to be the tallest building in the city. Now it is a tiny little thing amidst the soaring skyscrapers.
Whilst over in New York we were bemoaning the fact that we now all have to use reading glasses - sad state of affairs. Just about everything I ask the doctor about these days she replies "well, it's part of the ageing process..."

Toilets

The hotel we stayed in during our New York sojurn [The Paramount] was designed by Philippe Stark [the orange squeezer bloke]

http://www.philippe-starck.com/

This made for an interesting lobby [photo to follow] and this unerving Gents toilet. Best used alone. When performing, if you look up you see about 200 versions of yourself spread around the walls....

Gore

Ore
Here is a photo of Danielle with Al Gore at the RSA lecture that Friends Provident helped fund earlier this year. It has been a busy few days, so I am getting stuff sorted out at home.

Where have I been?

Sorry about the impromptu disapearance. Friends Mark, Rob and I went to New York City for the weekend to "celebrate" Marks 5oth birthday. I wasn't that keen on going but considered it an investment in friendship - and had a really good time. Highlight was a trip to the Blue Note Club

http://www.bluenotejazz.com/newyork/index.shtml

Met up with Steve [another old Manchester friend] and his partner Lauren. More to come but here is a photo

Something Wicked this way comes

Rowan and I (Danielle) went to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London today http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/home.php. Wicked is a socio-political prequel to the Wizard of Oz, revealing the dodgy politics, persecution and ambition rife in Oz. It focuses on how those in power create "good" and "wicked". Dorothy - as we have always suspected - was a pathetic pawn in a plot to stamp out dissident animal rights activists. It also has some big show tunes and many silly references to melting, shoes and houses. Rowan sang along lustily throughout.

Wicked has just made the transition from Broadway to the West End, bringing the main star from the US. We thought she was wonderful - what a voice! She got a standing ovation at the matinee. It must be some compensation for being painted emerald green for a living. The small love-y dove-y part of the plot was a bit boring, but isn't it always?!

Tourist City

The picture is of Sheffield again. York has been voted best tourist city in UK http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.944906.0.york_voted_nations_favourite_tourist_city.php which has gone down well here. I have been playing guitar a bit recently. Great to get the Strat out and have a blast: I play so little now that my fingers start to blister after a while. I am determined to play more...

Ned Head

Danielle has been appointed as a NED [non executive director] on the new North Yorkshire & York PCT which is the health authority for the area. She has done really well to get on the board. It is 2 1/2 days a month. I am sure she will bring some sense to the table. Proud of her.

The photo is of a fantastic building in Sheffield. The ususal lottery funded glass and steel with great wooden arches. Inside it is like a greenhouse [with the inevitable shop and cafe]

Culture

We watched the Capote movie

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1151898-capote/

at the weekend. Pretty good, and it made me want to read the book "In Cold Blood".
We have both just finished reading "Girl with a one track mind" which is good fun and strangely thought provoking. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-One-track-Mind-Confessions-Seductress/dp/0091912407

Having a bit of a photo upload problem, so no picture today I am afraid

Bradford

The cycling at Bradford is going well for Rowan. She did her first time-trial around the track on Saturday and then took part in a team pursuit type race [nothing too dangerous or hectic] Despite a lot of doubts she enjoyed it once she did it, and did really well. The junior racing bike for Xmas is becoming a big pull factor.