NHS Delight

Bedtime and Rowan tells us that her finger joint is swollen and painful. In the old days we would have had to ring the Doctor in the morning and scrabble around for an appointment if we were lucky; chances are we would forget to ring until it was too late and so on. In these days we could go on-line straightaway and book an appointment on Saturday morning [unheard of!] at a surgery that would fit in with Rowan's swimming that morning. Perfect. We get there, are seen early by a doctor with a full set of social skills. Truly a massive change has taken place. 

The photo is of the Minster - it is impossible to get blase about the magnificence of the building, especially with a crisp sky

Pint

I met up for a drink with Patrick at the Old Black Swan pub yesterday evening - it was folk evening but [unbelievably] sold out, so we had a good chat in the snug over a couple of pints of local bitter.

The photo is of Rowan and friend Clara in the extension just before her climbing party.

Wolds

I got a bike ride in this week. Riding into the Wolds at Thixendale. It is a strangely dated place, very quiet, some great hills and so great cycling. The only downside was finding out it was only 47 miles that I had ridden!

Daffodils

The first daffodil of the year came out on Saturday January 24th. In 2008 it was January 6th and in 2007 January 14th, so it is the latest for a while. And it is freezing cold, so that explains it I suppose.

Derwood sent me a link to Mike Gregovich's myspace page. It was a big relief that he is still alive and still making music.

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=445339889

Big Garden Birdwatch

We took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch on Sunday and saw the following birds in one hour;

2009

Blackbird    3     

Blue tit    2     

Carrion crow 1     

Collared dove    2     

Dunnock    1     

Goldfinch    3     

Great tit    2     

Greenfinch    1     

House sparrow   4     

Magpie    1     

Robin    1     

Woodpigeon    6     

Wren    1

Slightly down on last year but still a good range of birds.

Burns Night

Last night we were invited to Sue and Eddy's for a Burns Night Supper. It was a really great evening. I had to read the Selkirk Grace [me neither] before the meal, we had a whisky tasting, a Scotland quiz, vegetarian haggis, and good company. All of which meant we got a cab back and left the car for the morning.

The photo is of the monthly Quaker Peace Vigil here in York. 

Netball

Rowan's school was in a 16 team netball competition yesterday. They won and Rowan got the "player of the tournament" award which included a fancy new netball. Very happy.

This photo is not of the crowds at the tournament but just another shot of the inauguration that someone sent me - it is very impressive to me.

Yoga

The good news is that I have been taking part in a Yoga for Back Pain trial. The bad news is that I was part of the "control" group, so I got no Yoga but had to fill in a lot of forms. As a sop, they gave us one session of Yoga which was last night. It went really well until after the session when the tutor got all these chilled out back-stressed people [including me] to rearange 60 heavy chairs in the hall we were using. We were so gob-smacked and/or relaxed that we objected not...

The photo is of the Multi-angular Tower [where my cross photo came from]

A Grain of wheat

This is the Yorkshire Museum in York. It provided some good raw material for the workshop participants to try their skills on.

In book group today we were discussing A Grain of Wheat by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o , a Kenyan writer. The jury is still out on it, but we had a good talk about it, helped by plenty of wine and cashew nuts.

River Ouse

The River Ouse flows through York to join the Humber and the sea at Hull. This shot is from the road bridge over the river to the north of the city with plenty of mist around

Workshop

I ran an artist's workshop as part of York Open Studios on Sunday. It was at the art gallery and was a sell out! It went really well and I hope people enjoyed it. I got this shot as we all walked around the Museum Gardens looking for good things to take. I think it might make it into this year's exhibition - it is of an arrow slot in the Roman multi angular tower that borders the gardens.

The Cake

Here is Danielle's creation for Rowan's birthday climbing party. It is now totally gone so I think that counts as a success.

Rowan is 11

Rowan is 11. Today she had her party on a Climbing Wall at the local sports centre. It is pretty amazing to watch them speed up the vertical walls. It went well, with all the girls getting some way up the wall, and most of them making it to the top. The photo shows Rowan climbing high.

Cycle Sportive

Friend Dave and I have rashly [and from the comfort of our laptops] decided to embark on a series of Sportive bike rides this year. The first one is in May, and I think we will need until then to get into shape. Today I went a spin on my 60 mile White Horse Hill ride and it did not feel easy - good though.

The photo is from the series of Quaker portraits that I do for the local newsletter

Heathrow

I have joined the Greenpeace plot to use a piece of land to stop the Heathrow 3rd runway - I think I own a bit of it now. If only the government showed as much enthusiasm for the railways as it does for airports the country would be a lot better for it. It comes to something when the Tory policy seems better than Labour [that hurts to type]but there you go.

Tenor Recorder

Rowan has always been less than keen on the silly squeaky recorder, so she was well pleased to be given the tenor recorder to play at school. A lot bigger and a lot bigger sound, she likes it a lot.

Philly

Last photo from the US trip. Philadelphia can seem somewhat provincial compared with New York. Then you look up and see these massive buildings towering high - some province.

Cyclo Cross

It is 17 years since I last saw a Cyclo-Cross race - The World Championships in Leeds. At that event I saw an 18 year old Roger Hammond win the world junior title, and he was riding again this year. In the interim he has amassed 9 national cyclo-cross titles, an amazing career. He was the favorite at this years Nationals which Rowan and I went to see at Peel Park in Bradford. It was a great race with a good crowd. Hammond blew on the last climb and victory went to Jody Crawforth http://www.britishcycling.org.uk/web/site/BC/cyx/EventReports2009/20090111_national_cyclo_cross_champs_day21.asp we managed to get a space right on the finish line to watch. A great afternoon out.

Church

This is a banner for Aunt Sheila's church in Philadelphia. 

Lincoln Logs

One of the delights of visiting Royce's house is playing with the Lincoln Logs - an old toy that she and I both enjoy playing with.

Here Rowan is showing off her version of loft living with the logs.

Old Siam

And here they are a bit more lively. We all went to the Old Siam Thai restaurant for Danielle's birthday meal. Had a really good meal and near enough to walk to.

Jet Lag

We all kept falling asleep on Thursday when we returned from the US. Here the other two doze together on the sofa.

Ride

We all went a bike ride to Tadcaster on Saturday; it was really cold. A fact that Rowan made sure we knew about. Still it was good to get the cobwebs blown away.

The photo is Royce's house amidst the trees.

Treecreeper

Ever since we moved to our house on Hob Moor I have expected to see a treecreeper http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/treecreeper/index.asp it just seems the obvious place for them to creep. I have been disapointed, until today when Rowan and I saw one on the nut feeder. Now we just need to see a Nuthatch as well.

The photo is of one of the great images of America, the water tower. There are plenty strewn around Philadelphia; this one caught my eye.

Back

We were jet-lagged out of New Years Eve, but all went round to Patrick and Julia's for a New Years Lunch which was great. Then on Friday night Rob and Julie invited us for a meal in Harrogate which was great again. So we feel socially re-engaged here in the UK.

The photo is one of the downtown blocks in Philadelphia; does it look cold? It was.

Philly

Danielle and I went into Philadelphia on Monday. It is  a good place to wonder around, with some impressive buildings. We saw the Liberty Bell through the window [that's good enough for me]. I spotted this medic having a fag outside the hospital which seemed worth a photo.

Legroom

Whenever I fly, the person in front of me always tips back their seat to its full extent. Sometimes it seems they are the only person on the plane to do so. This might seem exaggerated, but on the flight back from Philly the woman in front of me leant back before we had even left the runway. Flying gets less and less attractive.

The photo is of the Quaker meeting house at the homestead. Compared with bustle of York meeting [attendance of 80 is regular] the meeting was a rather sad affair with five people there [we therefore managed to double attendance and send the average age plummeting when we arrived] and a feeling of decline.