City Walls

Whenever I get the chance I walk round the City Walls here in York. It is always a pleasure to do so; I never tire of them. I tried with this shot to get across some of the emptiness that can be found here even at the most busiest time.

Middleton 3

One last photo from Middleton, this is the obligatory park pond.

Middleton 2

Another shot from Middleton. It is a strange mix of ancient woodland and municipal park. I like it.

Middleton

Saturday Rowan was high jump training in Leeds. I took a walk through Middleton Park http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleton_Park which is adjacent to the sports centre. It is a place rich in history - the world's oldest public railway, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middleton_Railway and the photo shows an airstrip where air-shows used to be held in the 30s.

Opera, Folk and Foccacia

Saturday Danielle and I went to a folk gig at Poppleton with a couple of friends. It was good fun and a good event, but it did remind me why I do not like the world of conventional folk music. Just too safe.
Then Sunday we went to a live-stream of Peter Grimes from the ENO in London. We saw Peter Grimes at Covent Garden very early in our relationship, so it was good to see it together again. A brilliant performance and a reminder of what a great opera it is.
Rowan made us some foccacia bread during half term; it was delicious.

The First Daffodil

I met an old boy in the Wolds last week who told me it was the first winter he could ever remember without snow. It has been very mild, which makes it surprising that it took until today for the first daffodil to emerge. As you can see below they often come up sooner.
2006 Feb 5th
2007 Jan 14th
2008 Jan 6th
2009 Jan 24th
2010 March 20th
2011 Feb 26th
2012 Jan 23rd
2013 Feb 2nd
2014 Feb 23rd

The photo is at the top of one of the dry valleys in the Wolds, with an ancient earthwork going off to the left.

Diwana

In London we took Rowan to Diwana in Drummond Street. It is 34 years since I first went to this brilliant south Indian restaurant, it opened by taste buds to a whole range of Indian vegetarian cooking. I remember taking mother father and Granny before seeing the Gandhi movie long long ago.
I was surprised and pleased to find that the decor, the menu, everything is the same! Taking the "if it ain't broke" philosophy to extremes.

West End Thrills

I have never liked mainstream theatre ["West End Shows"], probably put off for most of my life by being dragged to an appalling Black & White Minstrel Show when I was about nine. I did see Five Guys Named Mo in the 90's which I really liked [and which got me into Louis Jordan's music] but otherwise it is an area of life I have tried to avoid.
Half term trip to London for the day for the three of us and we saw Stomp http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stomp_(theatrical_show) in a Wet End theatre. I knew very little about it but can confirm it is a brilliant street-dance and rhythm show. Fantastic.
For contrast the photo is of Bishop's Wood.

The Nidd Gorge

Rowan and I took the dog a walk down in the Nidd Gorge near Knaresborough. It is a wild [and muddy] place at the moment. We were a bit worried that the dog might jump in the river and be washed away to Goole.

Fair in Scarborough

February on the beach at Scarborough might not be the greatest location in the world but it gave me this shot which I like.

The Lazy Cactus

This is our Christmas Cactus. It is meant to flower at Christmas. Mid February and it manages to produce one flower. Still, it is a nice flower...

Social Activity

Last night Danielle and I went out to a dinner party at Sue & Eddy's with another couple of couples. Had a really good time.
Then today I took Danielle to a Valentines Brunch at a local cafe [with live music and bucks fizz]. Rowan met us there with the dog then we all went a walk in Bishops Wood near Cawood. Lovely.

Tom Finney RIP

Tom Finney had already long-retired by the time I saw North End, but he was much revered and famous for three things.
1 He played all his career for Preston
2 Auntie Alison x-rayed his ankle
3 He had a plumbing business in Preston after he retired.

Never booked, never sent off.
A great man.
The photo tribute is of one of our Preston North End mugs. [Put in your own joke about the wooden spoon being appropriately in view]

The Navigator

Last weekend Rowan navigated on a walk in the Wolds with Danielle and Milo, I dropped them off and met them at the other end. I had time to nip into Fordham Dale which is Open Access land with no easy access to it. Once there though it is a lovely lonely place.

Wood

This impressive wood hut [loglu?] has appeared in a wood off of the Knavesmire. It could be an art installation or a den. Will never know.

Secret Places

Like in most cities, if you get off of the beaten track then secret corners can emerge. Here is a court just behind the Minster that is seldom visited, very lovely and accessed through a snicket known as the hole in the wall. 

Friend Greg, with whom I play music, is a writer. He has just started a blog on writing, here is the link http://gregory-allen.blogspot.co.uk/

Knavesmire

Having the racecourse a kilometre away is great for running [Danielle], walking [me] and crow chasing [Milo]. Very lucky to have it so near.

Spring

The Snowdrops are out and making it feel like spring is on the way. We have escaped flooding over here in the east, in fact there has hardly been a hard frost and no snow.

Opera North

Since moving to York we have seen less Opera than when we lived in London - not surprising really. Friend Helen works at Opera North and invited us to the first night of Verdi's Macbeth in Leeds last week. Robert drove us over, we ate at some trendy gastro-pub then met up with Helen for drink reception before the gig. I love this Opera, one of my favourites, and it was a great production http://www.theartsdesk.com/opera/macbeth-opera-north
A really good evening out.

The photo is of me in Bulgaria.

Jigsaw

One of the toys that I valued most as a child was a jigsaw of all the counties in Britain that we used to have. So when I saw a modern version on ebay I thought Rowan might like it for her birthday, which she did; we had good fun making it together

Milestones

It is easy to take historic things for granted in York; there is so much lying about. This is one of the milestones on the Tadcaster Road, just across the Moor from us.

Dropkick Me Jesus

The beauty of Spotify. Danielle has long claimed that there was a country song called "Dropkick Me Jesus [Through the Goal Posts of Life]". I loved the title but felt it had to be apocryphal. So I looked on Spotify and there it was - by Bobby Bare, and never covered by anyone [surprise surprise]. It is dreadful but strangely compelling.

With all the hysterical negative media sludge about Bulgaria and Romania in the UK, it is easy to forget what great people and beautiful countryside I found in Bulgaria in 1988 when I visited. It was not easy to walk the length of the country when it was still Communist and so illegal to do so, but it was worth it. This shot is in the Pirin mountains.

Owl

I took Rowan to running training at the track as I do most Wednesday evenings. As I walked the dog round the construction site that will soon be a new John Lewis store I saw a Barn Owl hunting 5 metres away. I watched the oblivious bird for a good 5 minutes as it caught its tea - a wonderful sight.
Social parking is the phenomenon whereby people feel obliged to park next to another car in an otherwise empty car park. The bloke who parked next to us took it to new extremes, he was so close to us that neither he nor Rowan could get out of that side of the car. Strange

Book Group News

In Book Group last week we discussed Dancing in the Dark by Caryl Phillips http://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/sep/10/featuresreviews.guardianreview18 which I really did not like at all. I found it pompous, dull, repetitive and hard to finish even though it was a very short book. Typically half our group loved it, and half were more of my opinion.
What a contrast with the next book, which I have just devoured in 4 days, all 570 pages of it. Capital by John Lanchester I unreservedly recommend - a brilliant book about London life as it is lived now. Just perfect. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Capital-John-Lanchester/dp/0571234615

YBPS

Danielle is on the management committee of York Blind & Partially Sighted Society, and offered to help out on the stall at an event at a local Garden Centre. I drove her over and helped a bit selling raffle tickets, then took a walk whilst listening to Man United loosing again: a very pleasant afternoon.
Another photo from London in the 90s, this is the informal walking group that I put together.

Parents Evening

Thursday was parent's evening, with the upcoming GCSEs and the just-completed mocks the subject of discussion. It went pretty well and I think Rowan knows what she has to do.

The photo is from a 10K run I did in Brixton in, I think, about 1989.