Back on the Bike

It was great to get out on the bike today. Danielle had bought me an Ortlieb bar bag for my mountain bike for Xmas, so I gave it a test run. My route took me through Tadcaster then on bridle ways to Sherborne and through a strange landscape of recently shut mines and railway systems at Gasgogne Wood to Selby and back to York on the old railway line.
This shot was near Saxton; it is one of those "in loving memory" benches, made more poignant to me by the location - looking across a bleak ploughed field towards a power station.

Frendal Dale

A beautiful morning, so Rowan and I took Milo for a walk in the Wolds. I took this photo pretty blind, so was really pleased to find it looked like this; a great surprise.

This is Frendal Dale with a lot of iron age earthworks at its head.

Boston

It is always sad to say farewell to Mother; today I drove her to the designated safe-house at Peterborough for the handover to Ro. For the journey back I routed via Boston, where I saw this windmill under a menacing sky, the Lincolnshire Wolds [not a patch on ours] and the Humber bridge.

Helmet

Mother bought Danielle this new helmet for Christmas. "Bright" and "different" are some of the words that have been used to describe it.

Boxing Day Walk

We went on the Boxing Day Quaker walk at Tockwith. Heavy rain in the night meant the river had flooded so the route had to be altered. Terry had devised an i-spy quiz so everyone was happy. We invited our newish German neighbours to come and they seemed to enjoy.

Fox Hunting

Danielle's old school in the States has just received the ultimate accolade: being slagged off by Fox News  http://video.foxnews.com/v/1341417697001/students-act-in-occupy-north-pole . Fox is so bad it is hard not to believe it is an Onion spoof from this side of the pond. Haranguing against the dangerous message of peace and harmony...

Meantime the Wheel is back in York. It and the Minster can be seen from Hob Moor.

Happy Xmas 2011

Happy Christmas to all.
Danielle, Rowan, Milo and I went a run yesterday. Sad to say I can now confirm that I am the fourth fastest runner in the family. How did that happen?
Three generations in front of the tree just before present opening.
Candlelit Quaker meeting yesterday evening was a great as ever - hard to believe this is our 14th Christmas in York.

Xmas 2002

This photo is from Christmas 2002. BJ had died that October so it was good to have Ben and Royce over with us. You may notice that Rowan has changed a bit since this shot.

Cav!

Another photo from the netball, the trio arranged in terms of height and age.
A couple of parties yesterday evening. Danielle and I went to Poly and Alan's party for our bit of the street - good to chat to people; we have an amazingly good group of neighbours. Then Rowan and I went to Dave and Emma's who were having a "Cav for BBC Sports Personality of the Year" party. He duly won http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/sports_personality/16303729.stm [despite Rowan voting for Mo Farrah!] and it was good to watch it with a group [it is a truly terrible program though]. Then up early this morning to finish off a bit of work. No rest ...

Family

Rowan and I drove down to Oxford to pick up Mother from Stratton Audley. Saw nearly a clean sweep of the relatives, which was good. Then back down to Sheffield on Wednesday where Rowan was doing a netball academy session. Mother got to see Rowan playing netball at the EIS in comfortable surroundings, which is where the photo was taken.

Velodrome!

I was back on the boards at the Manchester velodrome yesterday. A mate of Edward's had arranged a session on the track. So 9 of us, including Edward's son Toby and one ex-pro met up and had a go. I was less terified than last time, I got up towards the top of the track this time. Stopping however is nerve wracking in the extreme. One of those experiences that gets better the longer the time from when  you did it. I would definitely go back though.

After the session on the track we all went into town for a couple of pints and a curry: my first night out in Manchester for a very long time [it was where I spent quite a lot of my youth]. Good stuff. The photo is after the ride.

Baildon

Today was a beautiful crisp morning. Rowan had her first Triathlon Academy get together - a mountain bike ride on the ice. Friend Dave kindly lent her his mountain bike, and she managed it without falling off to many times. All smiles. Meantime Danielle and I went a walk down the Leeds Liverpool canal at Baildon, that is a milestone in the picture [11 miles to Leeds, 161 to Liverpool]. Full of interest.

Christmas Meeting

Today was the last day of school for Rowan. Here she is with friend Amelia in the brass section of the orchestra and the Christmas meeting, when we all go and sing carols etc - very enjoyable this year.

Trespass

Another shot from the Wolds. This was high above the deserted village of Wharram Percy. I decided on a bit of mild trespass through a wood that led down to the village. Milo, naturally, chose this moment to go missing, do for 20 minutes I was wondering a) would I still have a dog and b) would I get shot by some gamekeeper. In the end all was well.

Party pt 2

Four days after our last party we hosted another one. This was the much more sedate annual book group get together with a quiz on the books we had read in the year, wine, food that people had brought, wine, a desert island disc choice [one book, one piece of music, one luxury] and a lot of good chat.
The photo is from the Wolds, a couple of the Ash trees that seem to be the only type of tree that thrives in the bottom of the dry valleys.

Keys

I was sorting out the keys at home, and thought this would look good as a photo. I like it.

Lowry

This photo should give you an idea about the Lowry trail in Berwick. Notice
a] studious tourist
b] the painting of the shelter [on wind-resistant iron easel]
c] the actual shelter
Great idea/

Berwick

Here is a shot from Berwick. It is a very interesting town with intact walls, and plenty of snickets like this one with the North Sea in the background. It feels like Scotland, with the accent being more Scottish than Geordie but is part of England [although the football team play in the Scottish league].

Party Party

The Party, was a blast. Guests were asked for three favorite dance tracks, these were then subjected to a taste filter. It meant we had a really great night, with everyone on their feet. Adrian had lent me his Fender PA which meant we had a good sound system, Danielle had done some tasty nibbles and Rowan had three friends for company. The room really came into its own.

Over the years I have often had parties at this time of year, near my birthday but not linked to it.
1978 - Princes Road flat in Liverpool 8. It was inconceivable of a party having food, or of it starting before the pubs shut. Door kicked in, TV stolen, a bloke wandering in to our room and asking if I had a spare pair of jeans - his had been stolen.

1979 - we had a sub-culture party at Taylor House in Oxford. I was in Devo, Mark was a rasta ... Rob & Doug and Steve turned up too [they always seemed to somehow]

1981 - first of a series of crazy parties at Cannonbury Place flat in Islington. Included a 70s party that was well ahead of its time, and a Mike and Derwood performance one time.

1994 - a Tottenham party that had my band performing in the garden.

After that parties tended to get a bit more geared to talk and food. We both missed the dancing, hence this party.

People were demanding a repeat for next year - we will see.

Pheasant

Here is the Pheasant that graced the garden this week. Where did it come from? Rowan was off playing Netball this morning, I got some last minute supplies for the party this evening.

Berwick

For my birthday treat Danielle took me off to Berwick for the day. We stayed at a great little hotel we had discovered when cycling through Berwick last year on the Newcastle to Edinburgh Sustrans route. In the afternoon we walked the Lowry Trail http://www.berwick-pt.co.uk/lowry_trail.htm which was really excellent. After that the storm set in so we were happy to have booked a meal in the restaurant at the hotel  http://www.sallyport.co.uk/ .
Amzingly the trains are on time today as we return home. Friend Hilary was house/dog/baby sitting for us.

When I'm 54

Birthday. Breakfast in bed, walk the dog in the Wolds. Danielle in London, Rowan gone to Leeds to see Annie [the musical not a person]. Just about to set off to play badminton - Edward is definitely on top at the moment, so if I win I shall let you know.
A few places left on my workshop in the new year.

Clarity

Sorry about the gap there. Can't believe it is Tuesday already this week. I had a good work meeting yesterday which clarified what they wanted me to do [not something that is always clear with some of my clients]. This photo is from the walk we did last week, if you look top right you will see the thoughtfully present horse and rider.
Saw a Pheasant in the garden yesterday for the first time for a few years. It looked bewildered and happy to be scoffing the bird seed.

70 miles

Dave and  I got a 70 mile ride in today. The rain held off and it was not too cold, a bit of sun, a great day. The route went via the western edge of Harrogate to Fountains Abbey which is perfect for a lunch stop. The return is more direct via Boroughbridge and Benningborough. Absolutely cattled at the end of it. Good ride.

Millington

Danielle and I both had the day off today. We had a great walk in the Wolds at Millington where we discovered this lovely waymark on the Wolds Way long distance footpath [if you look in the distance you will see the third member of the walking party]. We had lunch at the Balloon Tree then saw Rowan play in a school music evening.

Bach & Buzzard

I saw this Buzzard in the Wolds earlier in the week.

20 years after I first got into classical music I finally got around to listening to some Bach cello suites on Spotify. Fantastic stuff and it really does sound hyper-modern in some respects.