Work

It is over 17 years since I went freelance as a management consultant. I have not regretted it; it suits me. I start a new bit of work in Northampton next week, which is a new location for me.
So here is a list of the clients I have had since going freelance - quite a range.

Hackney London Borough
Islington London Borough
Waltham Forest London Borough
Redbridge London Borough
Enfield London Borough
Richmond London Borough
Merton London Borough
Southwark London Borough
Haringey London Borough

Turning Point
Audit Commission
New Local Government Network
Spectrum NHS Trust

Oldham CVS
Rochdale Community Group

Wakefield NHS
Haringey NHS

Kirklees Council
Stockton Council
Southend Council
Vale of Glamorgan Council
Doncaster Council
Neath Port Talbot Council
Wakefield Council
Barnsley Council
City of York Council

Getting a bit of a human dimension into the Chicago mega-city landscape is not easy; this girl was being photographed from the street - gave me a good shot.

Humour 1

This card is up in our loo. It makes us laugh.

To Columbia

Rowan lead the way when we walked to Columbia University in New York. Morningside Heights park is a lovely place. This shot is Rowan climbing the steps in the morning sun.

Autumn this year is very mild so far. I have still not started wearing gloves and most of the leaves are still on the trees.

Chicago Photos

There will be a few more photos of Chicago over the next few days. It is almost impossible not to be awestruck by the buildings; similarly it is quite hard to create an original image. So I have a few attempts to show you.

This is another in my buildings reflected in buildings series.

Boyhood

We watched the movie Boyhood; filmed with the same cast over 12 years as a young boy grows up. Brilliant film.

I have long been convinced that wherever I sit on a plane, the person in front is obliged to recline their seat at the earliest opportunity. On the short hall flight to Chicago from New York I was proved right; the only recliner on the whole plane was right there in front of me. Here is the proof.

On the plus side of flying, the flight back took us right over Manhattan then right up the Thames over the centre of London for some amazing views.

Landscape

First night of Landscape show on Friday - went very well. Photo shows the mayor and her consort, the Sheriff and his wife.

When Granny met Ed

Danielle was reading a bit in the paper about Ed Sheeran yesterday, and could not quite believe it when it said he had opened a wing of the residential home that mother lives in - Mills Meadow in Framlingham; but it is true, bizarre but true: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-34588493http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-34588493 
Turns out he went to school with nephew Will. The things you learn.

New York Again

Last day in the US involved walking with Julie and some very large canvases from the brownstone to a picture framing shop in Harlem that was very interesting. Then I walked down the riverside park and cycle track by the Hudson on the upper west side, where I spotted these two. Then I walked across to Central Park and back to the house. Finally the delights of the A train then New Jersey Transit took me to Newark airport and my return flight. Very tired, back home.

Chicago 2

Walking round the water side paths in Chicago is a pretty amazing experience; a mixture of the new commercial and the old industrial.

Columbia

We flew from Chicago to New York where we stayed with the Levengoods who we met in Tuscany last year. They live in a brownstone at Morningside Heights which is amazing. Monday Rowan had a tour of Columbia University [just across the street from where we were staying]. Seems another really good university. Then it was time to say goodbye to her at the fabled Trenton Station and she was gone. Sad.

Columbia University

Chicago

Chicago is architecture, so a few pictures like this will follow.

UChicago

It would be very hard not to be impressed with Chicago. We loved it. Took the Metra train down to the University of Chicago campus where Rowan had a tour and an interview. Very impressive!

Sweet Home Chicago

I met Rowan at Trenton station as planned, we then flew from Newark to Chicago where Danielle's friend Althea very kindly met us at the airport, drove us to our hotel and took us for a meal at an Italian steak house [veg friendly]. It was a great introduction to a city which looks amazing. We find out more tomorrow.

First Steps

Bit of a cliche but I am happy with this picture; humanity amidst the concrete. I took it walking ["But Sir there is a shuttle!"] the three blocks to the station from the hotel in Newark.

Newark

Here is the view from my hotel window in Newark New Jersey. The shuttle bus driver semi-proudly announced that the hotel had had four American Presidents as guests in the past. Having established that they were not all there at once, he then broke the news that the most recent President had been JFK. Einstein also stayed here. So all this rather reflects the faded glory of the place, now just another creaking chain in the Best Western portfolio. I love it! The wifi works and it suits me fine.

Forest

Last photo from the last Moors trip. I hope this photo shows you the stillness and quiet of this strange forest.

Where's The Grouse?

The Landscape show kicks off on Friday week, October 23rd, so it is good to get in the local press http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/13841084.Where_to_find_the_great_outdoors___right_in_the_heart_of_York/ .

Meantime can you spot the sheep and the grouse in this shot?

Vulcan

Cycling back from Suffolk yesterday I tired of the main road by the time I got to south of Doncaster, and drove across the marshes via Goole and Selby. As a prize I got to see the Vulcan bomber that was on its last flight before being retired http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-manchester-34495414 . It was a really awe-inspiring sight, sinister but impressive.

The photo is of the Face Stone up on Urra Moor.

Albania

Since visiting Albania in its Communist days in 1989, I have always had a soft spot for it. So I am delighted that the football team looks like making it to the European Championships next year. This photo on line caught my eye - quite an image.

Mother Pt2

I went into the home today and Mother was awake, recognised me straight away and was chatting away. It was a good feeling.

Here is a picture of her with what I assume is me - but you never know for sure.

Mother

Mother has got an infection and is failing to respond to anti-biotics, so the Doctor has got her some pain relief set up at the residential home. I drove down today to see her, and was pleased to see Alison, Geoff, Gill and Robert. Mother seemed very comfortable, but was very drowsy or asleep. I do think she knew were all there though. Ro and Pete have put me up for the night. Here is a picture of her in 2000, when she came with us on holiday to Norway, looking across the fjord from Grieg's hut where he wrote some of his music.

Crossroads

I have always liked the idea of a crossroads of paths high in the mountains or on the moors. A signpost somehow adds to the romance of it in my eyes. When I was young I would look at Sty Head Pass on the map of the Lakes and just love the fact that here was an interchange of paths far away and above the rest of the world. This junction, with inquisitive sheep, was up on Urra Moor this week. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urra_Moor

In The Forest

This forest track is on Access Land on the North York Moors. There is no official footpath, so I saw no one the whole time I followed the path. It is a mysterious place, especially when, like here, the forest closes in and a silence takes over.

NYM

A brilliant walk up on the North York Moors today. Passed through forest, up the amazing Ingelby Incline http://www.rosedalerailway.org.uk/page18.html then across Urra Moor where this photo was taken. I saw four other people in the three and a half hours I walked. The flat tops give these moors a unique feel. I felt lucky to be there today.

FJC Palmour

I found this photo for sale on Amazon. It is of my Great Uncle FJC Palmour at a St Jame's Palace Reception in 1936. I assume he is the one in the white - but your never know.

Four Quarters

Another photo from Hyde Park

Friday we went to the first BMS concert of the season at York University. The Doric String Quartet were really good. A bit of Haydn, a bit of Schumman, but best of all Four Quarters by Thomas Ades [alive, British, good] which was really good, and totally new to us.

Hyde Park

I walked with Danielle from the apartment to her meeting at 8.15 in Mayfair. Hyde Park was beautiful, full of cyclists going to work, horses being horses on Rotten Row, and sunshine warming the morning air.

Lady Macbeth

Danielle had to stay over in London for work, so I went with her. It was cheaper than a hotel to get an apartment in Kensington for the night, which was lovely. In the evening we went to the ENO to see Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth Mtsenk. The seats, in the Gods, were £12 each and we had a great view, good company and an enjoyable evening. Opera is now a lot cheaper than going to watch the football - things have turned around. It would be fair to say that I enjoyed the production more than Danielle [it was very ENO in style] but we both had a good time and it reminded us of when we lived in London and trotted off to the Opera a lot.

The flat in Gordon Place that we stayed in.