Sutton Two

Considering Sutton Hoo is basically just a few very undramatic burial mounds it is very hard to photo. A dusting of snow on the contours would have helped, but I did not have that luxury. So this is the best I could do.

Sutton Hoo

Rowan and I visited Ro & Pete and my Mother in Suffolk. We went by train [far better than the tedium of the drive]. Sarah and Rosalind were there too, so it was a good houseful of people.

Monday we all went to Sutton Hoo http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo/ where a Saxon boat and tomb were found. Usual National Trust attractions [cafe and shop] with a bit of history thrown in too.

More Rosalind

Here is another picture of my great-niece Rosalind. She is an amazingly calm baby - not like the rest of the family have been! Sarah, her mother, seems pretty calm as well. Markus is in China; back soon.

Snow! In October!

Growing up in Preston we were lucky to get snow before Christmas if at all. The November snow here in York a couple of years back was unusual. So last night / this morning to have a full covering of snow before the clocks go back is very strange.
Luckily by the time Dave and I set off for our ride to Castle Howard this morning it had mostly gone. Wet and slushy though.

The photo is of Rowan with her exchange Blandine - no idea what they are doing but it all worked out well.

Back

Rowan is safely back. She had a great time, full of stories about French metropolitan life. Her exchange's mother ran a local bakery - so you can imagine breakfast was pretty good.

Danielle and I went a 11mile+  walk in the Wolds this week. Very murky, saw only two other walkers, a really good walk. Milo was exhausted at the end of it - he must have covered at least 20 miles.

Forbrydelsen

Rowan seems to be getting on OK in France; here she is with the other exchange students.
Danielle and I have started watching The Killing [Danish thriller]; by doing so I am aware that we are not so much surfing the Zeitgeist as doggy-paddling in its wake, but we are really enjoying it. 5 episodes down, a mere 15 to follow.

London

Down to London yesterday to check up on the venue for the exhibition. Danielle was working there as well, so were able to travel together - a rare luxury. I had lunch with Rob in Chinatown - good to catch up.

Saw this bike on York Station; there are cool narrow bars, and there are silly bars. These are in the latter category.

Down ont Farm

Since moving to their crumbling farmhouse John and Katy have started to look very at home there; in a Deliverance sort of way.

Bees Are Home

We drove over to John & Katy's to collect the bees from their Holderness Vacation. Our bees are the two dull hives nearest the camera. John has made the pretty pretty white ones himself - very impressive but not replicable in this household.
They are now safely home. Driving with a couple of thousand bees in the back of the car is the not the most restful of occupations.

Bass

Friday night we went out for a drink with new friends Andy and Tina; to the pub, a bit of a rarity for us both, but really enjoyed it. The pub is the Guy Fawkes in Petergate http://www.gfyork.com/ where Guy Fawkes was born [allegedly]
I am busy renovating an old bass that I forgot I had [swapped with Derwood for my Dobro sometime last century]. The playing with Greg is going well, so we thought of getting someone in on bass, hence my search. There it was in the garage - took a lot of cleaning. A Gibson SB400 if you are interested. Once cleaned up it should look like this ...

Health

I got called in to the Doctors for a Health Check being given to all people over 45. It involved a blood test, and various measurements. I came out in the bottom 5% for likelihood of a heart attack. Reassuring I suppose.

Rowan is in France on her exchange trip. All seems well so far. We miss her.  

Photo is another from the Wolds.

Chair Free

After 6 long years I finally got to stand down as chair of Friends of Hob Moor last night at the AGM. The final sting in the tale was being told at 9 in the morning that our speaker was crying off. So rather than scrabble around and get a replacement I decided to do a talk myself on birds. It went well.

The organisation is on a strong financial and activity footing and the good committee will take it forward I am sure. So here is one last link to the website http://www.friendsofhobmoor.org.uk/ and here is a photo of the beautiful Moor.

University

It was Freshers Fair at the University in York. Last year friend Bev and I manned the stall between us, with help from Quaker students. This year they did it all themselves. I popped up and it was well under control. Great work by the students. This photo is of the lake that forms the centre of the campus.

Fast Girls

Another photo from the Free Food walk. It really was a beautiful morning.
We all watched Fast Girls http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700808/ a "gritty" movie about British girl athletes which was great.

Free Food

Danielle and I went on a walk/talk on Free Food in our local park on Saturday. A beautiful day, really interesting; did you know you can eat Ground Elder like spinach. I am going to try it, if for no other reason than revenge  [it is a tiresomely invasive weed]. http://www.downsizer.net/Articles/Cooking,_preserving_and_home_brewing/Ground_elder_recipes_-_eat_your_way_to_eradicating_a_troublesome_weed/

Books

In Book Group we discussed The Death Instinct by Jed someone which was truly terrible [imho]. Next book is Simon Armitage's reworking of Gawain and the Green Knight http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gawain-Green-Knight-Simon-Armitage/dp/0571223281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350207451&sr=8-1 which is fantastic. I know nothing of Arthurian legend, so this tale was all new to me - loved it.
I have also read The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling which was really good and really easy to read - recommended.

The photo is from the Leeds ride, it was wet and tunnels were encountered.

Harewood

My ride yesterday took me through the Harewood estate on bridal ways. The estate is well maintained and the public rights of way well signed; so different from many of the local landowners.
Rowan today was taking part in a PeaceJam at school http://www.peacejam.org.uk/ which is a good thing.

Leeds

The music is going well with Greg. Our styles are complementary, and we are playing once a week.
Today I rode to Leeds on bridle paths. It was a muddy tough but exhillerating route; so muddy that I decided not to get the train back from Leeds [I was just too bad] and instead rode up to Harewood then across back to York with a howling tail wind. A good day.

This photo is of the swollen River Aire as I arrived into the centre of Leeds.

Sales

I went over to Beverley to drop off another framed print to replace one I sold; the gallery is proving slow but steady for me. I walked in Newbald Dale on the way back and found this magical bit of wood. I listened to an Eric Ambler story on the iPod - very entertaining.

CND

We put up a couple of CND peace-riders this week. It was arranged through Quakers for local York friends to provide accommodation for cyclists who were on a protest ride round various US bases. I imagined some young student types, but [like trainspotters] it seems to be the same people who used to do the protests, just older. Anyway they were extremely pleasant guests to have around. We wish them well.

Hindsight

The phrase "Hindsight in a wonderful thing" is wrong. Hindsight is a terrible thing. I was making Chili jelly using my own home-grown chillies and feeling good about it as  I chopped them up happily. Without wearing gloves. Three hours later I was in excruciating pain all over my hands. I tried milk, alcohol, salt, soap, cold water. None worked. I finally got to sleep at 3.30 in the morning. And what had hindsight given me? just the endlessly repeated question "Why oh why didn't you put your gloves on? You knew it would hurt" Not helpful.
The jelly looks and tastes great though

AA

This is a shot of a favourite tree in the Wolds from the walk with Danielle last week.
Friday I met Danielle in Leeds where she was speaking at a banking seminar. As I stood outside the venue looking for the right door to go in someone asked me "Are you here for AA?". Quite hard not to be offended.

Etape Pennine

Just back from taking part in the Etape Pennines http://www.etapepennines.co.uk/coursemaps.html bike ride with Dave and Mark in Durham. It was the best sportive I have done. Brilliant tough route [including the highest road in England] perfect weather [sun and little wind] closed roads [no cars] plenty of feed stops. It could not have been better.
Dave and I went up to Durham last night and stayed with Dave's friend Mark, then set off at 7.30 this morning. I did a time of 6 hours 13 minutes for the 78 miles and 2,300 metres of ascent which I was pleased about.

Upstairs

Despite out best efforts upstairs does tend to get a bit less minimal than we would like from time to time. At the moment there are all my photos being got ready for the big London show next month. Then there are the tomato, pepper and aubergine plants in the window at the back. Then there is the bee-stuff [round the corner]. Then my guitar and amp, now that I am jamming each week with Greg. Then there is the dog.
Otherwise empty.

Anniversaries

It is 8 years since the blog started. I hope you still enjoy it.
It is 20 years since Paul and I cycled across the Himalayas from India to Ladakh. This photo was taken at the 5300m pass of Taglangla. The highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds is 260m. Times have changed.

Family News

Here is the baby Rosalind.
And here is a link to an article about Danielle's brother Ben being a Quaker in the US that was in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/the-other-believers-ben-fiore-walker-a-black-quaker/2012/10/02/386ccf46-0bdd-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_blog.html

Birth

My niece Sarah and Markus have had their first child - Rosalind. All very pleased about it. This picture of Rowan torturing Sarah in Oxford long ago, shows that she has some experience of the trials that await.