A lesson learned

The sportive in Richmond did not go well. Danielle and Rowan got wet, cold and lost and had to be driven back to base after 30 miles or so. I had a puncture and missed the bronze time of 6.5 hours by 2 minutes. But. We were all happy to be re-united. No damage done and no enthusiasm lost but parameters learned.

We have had two great days in the garden. Planting, playing, chopping, bbq-ing, etc. The best way to spend a bank holiday.

The photo is from a walk Rowan and I went with the dog down by the Ouse.

Pod

One of the positive spin-offs from having the dog, is that Rowan is not now scared of cats either. We were at Richmond at the weekend and Pod, our friend's cat seemed very happy to keep Rowan warm.

Family member

Ben & Kari sent us this photo of our niece KC who is just turned one.

Holiday 1975

The first independent holiday I went on was in 1975, when I had just left school. Three of us were to meet at Torquay station. Kabiru failed to turn up [on account of a coup in Kano where his father was now in hiding; which was fair enough] which just left me and Alistair. We were so unprepared that we both brought a tent, which meant we had a lot of weight to cart around looking for a campsite. We found one, then thought about hiring a car to get around [I was an experienced 17 year old driver of 3 months] only to be surprised to find that they were not going to rent me one. I think we enjoyed ourselves for a few days then came home. Not an auspicious start.

A World Without Bees

Brian, the partner of Alison who interviewed Danielle for the Guardian, was up in York for a bee-inspector course at the DEFRA centre outside York at Sand Hutton. He and Alison wrote the book A World Without Bees http://www.guardianbooks.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/qs_product_tbp?storeId=10401&catalogId=25501&langId=100&parentType=category&parentId=42103&productId=168663&cm_mmc=Google%20Adwords-_-Products%20Campaign%20-_-World%20Without%20Bees-_-World%20Without%20Bees%20PB which has sold very well. We hadn't met him before but we all got on well and gave him a meal at home.

Garden News

So the vegetable garden looks like this. Peas and lettuce and beetroot and spinach and broccoli and swede and cavallo nero are all planted out. Spuds and onions are in too. The spinach from last year has given a good spring harvest but is now just about ready to be dug up. So things looking quite good so far. Time will tell. I am busy chopping wood for the fire as well.

Ride

Two weeks ago there was frost in the mornings. In May. It didn't seem right. This weekend has been the opposite, beautiful hot days, sunshine, the works. Rowan was running yesterday, then we went to friends Bill & Angela for a great meal last night. Today Rowan and Danielle went to meeting whilst I did this ride to Knaresborough. It's a gentle 50 mile with a lunch stop by the river.

Gordon Giltrap

A friend has started to run a series of gigs at a lovely old theatre in nearby Knaresborough. So we all went to see Gordon Giltrap http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gordon_Giltrap about whom I knew very little. It was a great venue, and a great gig with some inspiring guitar work.

The photo is one from the cross country races on the Knavesmire in the winter. I have been looking at it again and think it has something about it.

Weather

We have been watching the Tour of California bike race http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/

: pouring rain. We have been watching the Giro d'Italia http://www.gazzetta.it/Speciali/Giroditalia/2010/en/ : pouring rain. Meanwhile here in Yorkshire it is a drought, a heatwave [well 24degrees]

The photo is Rowan getting her prize for winning the 1500m last week.

High Jump

Rowan has started getting specialist high jump coaching at the athletics club. It looks very technical, and I think it might make it harder for her at first, but she is good at listening [except to her parents obviously] so she should be OK.

Near where I was working in London was this conduit for a stream of water right down the centre of a precinct. I managed to stumble into it first time I was there: quite reassuring in health and safety paranoia terms.

Sculpture

This was a sculpture on the way to Tower Bridge - not bad.

The presentation we made to our client last week was a disaster - resulting in a lot of re-writing for all four of us in our consortium. I think I may stick to working on my own in the future...

Concert

Rowan played in an informal school concert on Friday night. She was on French Horn as part of the junior orchestra that played In The Mood. It was great fun. It was not polished but it reflected a lot of enthusiasm from all concerned.

The photo is of Tower Bridge - it still impresses me every time I cross it.

Docklands

In London again. I could not stay with niece Sarah this time so I contacted friends John & Lynn who I have not seen for a good several years. They live in Wapping docklands twenty minutes from my office at Tower Bridge. Great to see them, and great to walk through the canals and bridges of St Kathernine's dock on the way to work. If you are going to live in the city, then this is a good way to do it.

High Jump

Rowan was running in an inter-schools event at York stadium today. There were 20-odd schools from across the north. She won the 1500m and the high jump, so she was pretty pleased. This is a shot from an early round in the high jump.

Secret railway

I found this narrow gauge railway http://www.geoffspages.co.uk/raildiary/alr/ in the grounds at Kirkstall Abbey. Amazing the things you find if you wander about.

Kirkstall

Whilst Rowan was triathloning on Saturday I walked through what Martin Kelner calls the Garden City of Leeds. And in a strange sort of way, that is what it is. Woods and valleys reach right into the heart of the city from the moors beyond. I came across Kirkstall Abbey which I have passed many times but never stopped to look at. It is very impressive in a dirty-city kind of way, and in better repair than many others [Fountains for one]

Old friend

Saturday I took Rowan to Leeds for Triathlon training, then we went to Redbrick Mill in Batley http://www.redbrickmill.co.uk/ where old school friend Timmy Mallet [who I have known for 44 years] was exhibiting some of his paintings. Really good to see him, he was selling too. He put me in touch with the gallery http://www.smartgallery.co.uk/home who may want to show some of my work in the future. Rowan and I then had a favorite lunch at Ikea [really] then home.

Ride

What a great ride. Dave and I did a loop to Castleton and Back, which took in the Howardian Hills, up and over and back across the North York Moors, Rosedale Chimney http://www.bikereader.com/contributors/Ainsley/hills.html [steepest road in Britain at 1 in 3] and back via Castle Howard. The weather was great the wind in our faces going out, blowing us home. It was perfect. 93 miles of fun [now that it is over]

The photo is of a bluebell wood at Acaster. Not easy to photograph and probably best left to painters.

Art

My cousin Gill and Robert came over to see us while they are on holiday in the North York Moors. Great to see them. It was a complicated schedule that involved, showing them the house, a cup of tea, picking up Rowan from school, meeting Danielle, a Thai meal at Old Siam, and a visit to a new art gallery in York that were showing one of my photographs at their opening night. http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/exhibitions/8153755.Bar_Lane_Studios_and_Gallery_opens_at_Micklegate__York/?ref=twt

Amazingly it all worked out.

The photo is form our walk in the Wolds.

More Wolds

Another shot from the Wolds [you need to click on it to do it justice. Just off to hang up two of my photos at a new gallery opening tonight. Will keep you posted as to how it goes. We all stayed up to watch the three Sunderland results in the election, then listened on the radio. Could be interesting.

Lording it

The work in London is hotting up and should be finished by the end of next week. Quite good to be working as part of a four-person team for a change. Last night I met up with Victor for a few beers at Soho House. A club in a house. In Soho. http://www.sohohouselondon.com/

I stayed over with Victor and family. Discovered that if you are a Lord [which he is] you can't vote.

Another Voting Website

This site www.voteforachange.co.uk tells you how to vote for a hung parliament depending on which constituency you live in. In York Central it recommends Labour. Which made me feel better, as I had just posted off my vote for Labour. It is going to be a strange evening on Thursday.

Rowan is allowed to stay up until the first results come in, just to see how it all works.

A thistle from our walk in the Wolds.

Wolds

We all went a walk in the Wolds on Bank Holiday Monday. It rained of course, but not a lot and the walk was great. We all went from A to B, but I calculate that when running about was taken into account Danielle and I covered, say, 4 miles, Rowan 5 and Milo 8.

The photo is at the entrance to the secret world of one of the dales which cut deep through the chalk.

Votematch

Colleague Dan told me about this website http://www.votematch.org.uk/ where you answer 30 political questions, then the site tells you which party you most clearly align with. It is good.

The photo is of Rowan in York. Yesterday Rowan was running for York Athletics Club in Sheffield, she won the 12oom and the team came second overall. She travelled to the the match in the club coach, so we didn't see her all day.

Brass Band

Friend Emily was playing in a Brass Band yesterday in Museum Gardens in York. It was raining, so that the crowd was dispersed, damp but enjoying the music. We lasted three numbers before the warmth of the cafe pulled us away. It was really good though. [That's them under the tent]

Part of the service

This week I have been delivering photos to people who bought at the exhibition. This is something I like doing. It strengthens the relationship with the client, and it is also good to see where the photos are going. Positive all round. Friday I went to a couple of musicians who moved up from London and set up a recording studio in a village in East Yorkshire. Great people.

The photo is of the Ouse just north of York. The river drains huge swathes of the Pennines, with the result that by the time it gets to York it looks like a real river.