Opera

Saturday night we went out for the last "live from the Met" opera of the season. It was Donizzetti's

La Fille du Regiment

which sounds really unpromising. In fact, it was brilliant. Natalie Dessay was just fantastic and the production made the plot bearable. At half time we saw John and Katie and had a drink on the deck overlooking the river in the sunshine.

I am writing this on the train. For some reason Google thinks I am Sweedish when on this line.

Changing Times

I was down in London last week, saw Mark and Rob for a drink. Times have changed, I have always been a light drinking wimp compared with these two northern stalwarts. But now Rob is tee-total [for 2 years] and Mark drinks wine! in a pub! Have to get them back up north I think. I felt positively alcoholic having a couple of pints of Guinness.

GK

I have chose The Man Who Was Thursday by GK Chesterton for book group to read. I have never read anything by him [always thought he was dodgy and right wing] but find this a fascinating book. Written in 1908 it is amazingly relevant to today. There was a brilliant reading of it by Geoffrey Palmer on BBC7 which inspired me to read it. The photo is of the lake at Fairburn.

A Pain

Intetnet is still up the spout - thankyou Richard Branson - so bloggage will be limited until either it is fixed or murder is committed

More Murphy

Sunday we went a walk with Rowan's favourite dog Murphy and his owner Alison. We went to the Arboretum at Castle Howard which is run by Kew Gardens. It is a great place to go - but it has to be said we assumed that a visit would benefit from warm weather [it was still sub-Siberian at the weekend]

Virgin on the ridiculous

Virgin took over NTL who had taken over Cable and Wireless who provided our internet access. The theme of poor service has continued though, and we are without access at home again until the weekend. So this is being posted on the train. Intense irritation - might even change supplier this time.

The trains generally run brilliantly, but save their disruptions for days like today - I have a really important meeting this morning and cannot be late. At the moment we are in a field near Castleford being dragged along by a diesel. It doesn't look good.

Oh well, plenty to be thankful for. The photo is another from beautiful Nun Monkton

Nun Monkton

I went a spin on the bike to Nun Monkton on Sunday. This is a very pretty village that is at the end of a four mile dead end. Consequently if you arrive there as a stranger it feels like many eyes are turned upon you. This makes the massive May Pole take on a slightly sinister air.

Spring Watch

I saw the first Swallow of the year yesterday - it must have wondered if its navigation system was up the spout, it is so cold still. And today the first butterfly, a Red Admiral I think: it was hard to tell it was flitting so quickly to get somewhere warm.

In the garden we have blue tits nesting in one box, great tits in another, and a big fat Wood Pigeon nesting on the side of the house.

I have started to plant out some veg [peas, beans, spuds, lettuce] even though it seems a bit cold for them - this could be an error, time will tell.

The photo is from Fairburn - this will definitely make the cut.

The Long Firm

Book group met last week: we were discussing The Long Firm by Jake Arnott. It is part of a trilogy about gangsters in London from the 60s to the 90s. Not a promising subject but brilliantly done. As usual some of us liked it, some didn't and some were so so. Led to a good discussion.

The tree is in Richmond - I think this photo could make the cut for next year.

Films

I got out the DVD of

Le Jour Se Leve

which is one of the ten best films ever made. It is 20 years since I saw it, and if anything it has got even better - truly great.

Meanwhile Rowan has been watching Stardust

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardust_(2007_film)

which is a pretty good Hollywood/English kids film, notable for being possibly the only Hollywood movie to have comic references to Ipswich in it.

The photo is of Rowan at Canary Wharf for the Marathon last week.

Train set

Retired friend John has been building up his train set in the garage. Rowan and I both enjoy seeing it develop, and playing with the controls. One of the engines is a real steam model of Mallard - amazing and temperamental.

Barbican

Another Barbican shot. I am already thinking of photos for next year's exhibition [not this one probably]. Last night I went to the end-of-show party for this year's Open Studios. Good to see everyone - friend David has got a show set up at the

Lund Gallery

for his paintings, which is good for him.

Lurking

I was sitting on Doncaster station, lurking outside the first class lounge, so that I can use the wifi there. I am in discussion with a client about some potential work - we will see.
The photo is another from the London trip - not sure about it.

New Music

I have just found out about a great guitarist who I had never heard of called Derek Trucks [not the best name for sure]. He is a great player, the

You Tube Clip

are Ok, but he sounds best on CD. Great to find a blues guitartist who is not old or dead but really good. He reminds me a bit of Santana, but is totally different at the same time.

The photo is of the Barbican flats again - Rowan can claim a production credit on this one, she convinced me that this angle was better than the one I was trying. She was right

The Barbican

We stayed with Danielle's friend Jenny in her

Barbican Estate flat for the Marathon weekend. It is a great place to live, and shows that high rise, concrete and flats do not have to add up to despair.

Marathon

She did it! Danielle completed her first marathon in 4.5 hours. It all went very well, apart from the rain showers. Rowan and I were part of the back-up crew that included Jenny, Sarah and Markus.

Lendal

This is Lendal Tower in York, just another lovely old building that gets taken for granted. It is in the process of being converted from offices to a house.

Danielle is just back from Milan where she was speaking at a conference at La Scala.

More Decking

Here is another photo of the new decking. We have since got rid of the overly-quaint little tops on the uprights and it looks a lot better.

We watched the Ian Curtis movie

In Control

last week. It is pretty good but not as great as all those 5 star reviews.

Decked

The last part of the extension has been the decking on the old roof. This is a view from the inside looking out onto the deck. We are very pleased with it, we just need to level the pillars to stop it looking so twee, but apart from that the builders have done another great job. Just need some warmth now to appreciate it.

Museum Gardens

When Rowan toddled we used to often go to the Ruins of St Mary's Abbey in Museum in York for her to clamber all over the ruins: this is a favourite pursuit for many young children.
Last week we went back and had a play - not quite as challenging for Rowan now.

Cawood Castle

I cycled round to Cawood the other week. It is most notable for its swing bridge over the Ouse, but this time I found Cawood Castle tucked away which is where the Archbishop of York used to reside. He would have used the river as the means of communication.

Open Studios

This weekend has been York Open Studios so I have been confined to the studio for two whole days. It has gone well, not as well as last year which was madly successful, but better than I thought it would go. Plenty of sales, and positive comment. The main task was to stop people going "what an amazing house" and to get them to look at the photos.
This photo was a successful one - Sand 4

Bronze Age

Rowan has now moved up to the Bronze squad of her swimming club - the York City Bath Club, with her friend Gaby. She seems to really enjoy it [as it is three times a week, I was half-hoping she wouldn't] The photo is from Easby Abbey, obviously we were failing to obey the sign.

Edinburgh

Rowan and I used the last of the free first class tickets from GNER to go up to Edinburgh for the day. Great journey, and we visited

Dynamic Earth

a typical Lottery funded attraction that explains the earth and solar system with too many interactive consoles and enthusiastic staff: Rowan loved it.
The photo is the Scottish Parliament building

Danny's Office

Danielle moved into her office at the back-end of last year; it is working well for her. Here is a photo of the room in question. It has views of the Minster and Clifford's Tower which can't be bad.

Kings Camp

Rowan did Kings Camp sports camp last week. It was the first time for a few years that she had wanted to do it, and she enjoyed it a lot. Several of her friends were there too. It was strange to see her as one of the oldest children there - when she first went, a few years ago, she was one of the youngest.
The photo is from snow-day last weekend