Great North Runner

Danielle completed the Great North Run half marathon in 2hours 15minutes. A great day, she did really well. Rowan and I looked round a National Trust lighthouse on the coast at South Shields which was really interesting. Danielle's mp3 player kept her going, with one of Derwood's tracks Crazy Anne being a favorite for running to.
And yes the photo is Brussels not Newcastle.

Arboretum

A busy day. Rowan went to a party at the Castle Howard Arboretum and had a really good time. Mean time Danielle was running into town as part of her final taper-down towards the Great North Run. I went a 50 mile ride with Ted and Dave on the Terrington route. The photo is of the hotel we stayed in in Brussels [that little dot next to the grand piano is Rowan]

Urban Cycling

One of the great faux pas you can make as an urban cyclist is to lock your bike to a stranger's bike instead of the bike rack. It is everyone's fear: either it happens to you, or you do it to someone else. Anyway this week Danielle had that feeling of, in her own words, "irritation followed by deep shame" when she managed to
lock perform the trick at the station. The station staff had hacked through her lock to free the innocent bondage victim. All is now well again.
Photo is making use of the free bubble bath in Brussels - I don't remember the rationale for the goggles.

The Last Supper

I went down to mother's ahead of her move to my sister's this week. Everything is going well with a lot of hard work from Ro and mother. Sarah and Markus walked up from Oxford on the Sunday, so it was good to see them too.

Velodrome

On Saturday the three of us went to the Manchester Velodrome with Rowan's Triathlon club. We all had a go on the ferociously steep track on track-bikes [no gears, no brakes, no freewheel]. It was terrifying at first but we got the hang of it and really enjoyed it. It was a good day out. Riding on the blue line, on the photo, seemed miles up the banking, the thought of going right to the top will take a little longer to get used to.

Brussels 4

Rowan and I visited a model village called mini-europe that wasn't all that, but which was near the atonium. This is one of those things I had expected to be much smaller than expected [if you follow me] and to be old [which it is] and grubby. To my surprise it was shiny and massive and very impressive to look at. As for the soldier in the UK part of the model village...

Bunuel

We have just watched La Voie Lactee by Bunuel. It is a [very] surreal film about the Camino de Santiago which I have walked. A great film, and totally bizarre. I had forgotten just what a great film-maker he was.
The photo is from Brussels.

Brussels 3

This is Kisa, Danielle's friend from University, who we met up with in Brussels where she lives. We all met up in a streetside cafe that was fit for purpose.

Brussels 2

This is a photo of Chris [from Germany] and Vicky [from Manhattan] in the Radisson hotel we stayed at. The hotel had a bit of Roman city wall running through the lobby which was impressive [I had assumed that it was just a bit of adventurous hotel fitting]

Brussels

Friday we took the Eurostar to Brussels where Danielle was meeting up with 2 old highschool friends, one of whom lives in Germany, the other who was visiting. The train was great as usual and Brussels was good too. The Grand Place is the market square [photo] and I found it really beautiful. In fact it's up there with Sienna and Monument Valley as favorite places of mine.

Breadmaker

When we got married 11 years ago, one of our presents was a Panasonic bread maker. This is a simple piece of technology, just one moving part that you can see. It has provided us with fresh bread for every week of those 11 years without a hitch. [It will of course now pack in next week after this eulogy] It is fantastic, like the opposite of a photo-copier: always works well.
The photo is from Harewood Hall; nothing beats a track going off into the distance to get me going.

Tour of Britain

The Tour of Britain cycle race went trough Tadcaster yesterday. So I hopped on the bike and nipped over at lunchtime. The shot is of the peloton in front of the 19th century John Smiths Brewery building. It is a fantastic building. The race was actually neutralized through Tadcaster because of a bureaucratic snafu, but it was still good to see.

New Work

I started a new piece of work in Huddersfield yesterday. My client was there to observe my performance, so it felt a bit more tense than usual: luckily it went really well.

We watched the Mercury music awards last week, which was really good. The best band were Bats For Lashes
who were fantastic.
The photo is one I am working on for my next exhibition.

Cycle Race 2

The photo is of Rowan, Douglas and Elizabeth enjoying the excitement of the cycle race at Sheriff Hutton.
We had friends Patrick and Julia around for a meal on Saturday: really good.

Cycling

Saturday Ted, David and I went a 55 mile ride around the Howardian Hills. David had a fancy new racing bike, which was our excuse for trailing on the hills: a good work out.
Sunday we went to watch a road race at Sheriff Hutton [photo of solo winner] over the same hills: they way they danced up our struggled hills was amazing.

Locks

Last weekend we all walked on the Leeds Liverpool Canal past the Bingley Five Rise Locks as part of a British Heart Foundation sponsored walk. It was good fun. The lock is such a good concept to both explain and to grasp.
The photo is of the two Race for Lifers with their messages.

Badminton

The photo is of Richmond on the Thames from my visit last week.
Edward and I are back playing badminton after the summer break. We have had two cracking matches - he won last week, I won this. I keep my "I'm ten years older than him" excuse well to the ready whenever I play.

Wikinomics

Articles about economics do not usually grab my attention but I read an article in the Guardian about Wikinomics
which was really interesting. It's by Oliver Burkeman who is the son of friends Steve and Jane here in York.
The photo is of the Kirklees Light Railway which Rowan and I visited as her last treat of the summer holidays - bliss.

Schools In

First day back at school today. Rowan was pretty excited about it which is a good way to be. One photo is of her first day at school, the second was taken today. When people say "how you've grown!" all the time I used to get fed up, but Rowan seems fine about it.

Harvest

This is a photo for a client of four daughters, it's come out really well.
We have finished harvesting the honey for the year; altogether about 50 kilos or so. I have also made the first batch of rosehip syrup which is going fast: I use a recipe from the war which I recommend.

Anniversary

We went to a great party at Lucy's on Saturday night, and the night before we went for a meal at Vanilla Black for our 11th wedding anniversary, so it was a good weekend. The [bad] photo is of a Red Kite on my ride through Harewood last week.

By Eccup

The route I took through Harewood Hall also took me to Eccup Reservoir which is on the edge of Leeds. I had never been there before but was well impressed: red kites are here too.

Unbridled

Friday Rowan went to play with her friend Kiri who lives at Collingham in the Wharfe valley: so I took the opportunity to go on the mountain bike on bridle ways nearby. I had a great ride, going through Harewood Hall grounds [photo] [one of the great things in England is the fact that ancient rights of way remain right across these obscenely large estates - you can still use them]. Red Kites were in the sky above me, it was a great day.

Garden News

Rowan and I re-painted the sheds last week. I also constructed this plant rack thing in front of the shed using Rowans old bunk bed. The vegetable garden has been a bit hit and miss this year with the extension activity but I am getting it ready for next year.