Trees

Trees from the cyclepath that connects York to Selby, along the trackbed of the old east coast mainline. Taken from a short ride I managed to fit into the holidays.

Walk

I finally got Rowan to Thorne Moors, for the first time, over Xmas. She was suitably impressed. A very still quiet day. We saw marsh harriers cruising the reeds.

Party

From the party. Danielle with a couple of work colleagues. 

Busy

It has been a busy time. Rowan is back for Christmas which is a real delight. Last week we saw Sue and Eddy for a drink, then had our last music book group of the year, then our other book group party. Then saw Emilie for a drink, then Sunday had our annual Xmas drop in party. Rowan and Danielle went to see the Wicked movie. Christmas Eve we went to the Quaker evening meeting (candles, children, carols) which was good as always. Christmas day we had our usual disaggregated Christmas meal. Smoked salmon and fizz for breakfast (starter) then vegetable Wellington for lunch (main course) then cake, pumpkin pie, cheese and biscuits, coffee pavlova for pudding in the evening. For the latter friends Emilie, Shin Sook and Peter came round, and we all watched Life of Brian (that great Christmas movie). Then the three of us watched and loved the finale of Gavin & Stacey. Boxing day we went for a great walk with Dan and Gail. Good times.

From the Boxing Day Walk

Happy Christmas

 

Solar

Solar powered lights on the deck upstairs

Egret news

The little egret on the moor has stopped being nervous of dogs and people, and now is happy to watch things from high up in a tree. When in flight the white is incredibly bright.

House Guests

Whilst we were in London, friend Emilie and her dog Alfie came round to look after Layla. Everyone happy.

 

Celebrations

Friday evening we went to Faye and Edwards for a meal. Nel, their young daughter, joined us early on and was a charming host. Nice to relax at the end of the week.

Saturday we went down to Muswell Hill for friend Paul's 60th birthday meal. We had a really great time. I have known Paul since he was 18, so it was good to be there.

Birthday

Layla the dog is 5 today. 

 

News

 

Danielle has helped set up a group to try and get a Defibrilator set up near Hob Moor. She and neighbour Sylvia met here with the local councillor Callum to see what they can do. 

Today the band had a jam, went well. We are taking a break until after Easter, I want to get some more recording done. Plenty of songs waiting to be sorted out.

I explored a load of paths through the moors this week. Exciting stuff.

Benched

There are very few benches on the vast wilderness of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, but they all mean one thing to Layla. Benches are where I stop for lunch, and so where she might get some food too. So she spends the day (when not chasing deer) scouting for benches and then sitting next to them expectantly.

It works. She wears me down and lunch can turn out to be at 11.30 sometimes.

Last one from the Canal

I promise this is the last one from the canal walk at Silsden. A still cold morning. 

 

Canal 3

 Still a couple of shots from the canal walk to share. It was such a day of special light.

This one has mist rising from the water of the canal. I am sure there is a very clear scientific reason for this: I don't want to know it.

Birthday

For my 67th birthday weekend Danielle had booked us into a cottage in Staithes, a North Yorkshire coastal village of amazing geography and history. It was also host to a ferocious version of Storm Darragh that meant we could barely leave the cottage. No matter, it was a great place to be, and to explore best we could. Then there was a power cut, and we opted for discretion over valour, and came home through floods in the dark. 

In the midst of this adventure we had a fantastic lunch at the Cod & Lobster pub at the harbour; best pub food I'd had for years. The storm was so bad that I failed to get a single photo of the village, but here we both are at our lunch date. Layla is under the table waiting to charm the staff.

The New Forest

It takes a lot of plastic to grow a forest. 

The new forest being planted to the west of York is a marvellous thing. Shame about the plastic but it is presumably necessary to protect the saplings from deer.

 

Considerate Plants

 I have shared a house with this Xmas Cactus for over 25 years. It has adapted over those years to become a birthday cactus for me, as you can see it is all ready for my birthday on Saturday. It could be a little tired by Christmas itself.

Canal plus

Another shot from the canal at Silsden. Getting my position so that the sun provides backlight but does not shine straight down the lens is crucial.

Canal

 Took the car in for its service at Silsden. Got a lovely walk by the Leeds Liverpool canal. Perfect light, kingfishers as well. Then back via Ilkley where I had lunch at Drummer Robert's.

Bird News

The egret is back on the moor at the bottom of the garden, and a number of redwings were in the garden last week.

Arizona

31 years ago I went to the US for the first time, to see Derwood and Elizabeth in Arizona. Now Rowan is flying out to Arizona for work. Life circles on.

The photo is from our road trip to Monument Valley
 

Guatemala 3

 

Final post from Rowan's Guatemala Trip. Pretty self explanatory.

Guatemala 2

Rowan on a very cold and windy ridge early in the morning. 

 

Guatemala

 Rowan is back from a two week holiday to Guatemala in central America. She travelled on her own independently for the first week, then met up with boyfriend Jamie for the second week. She went paddle boarding, trekked up an active volcano, saw baby turtles released into the sea and plenty more. Sounds a great trip. Glad to have her back.

Deep Dive

I walked across the lovely Wimbledon Common back to the Thames. Saw this puddle, ready for a deep dive.

20 Years On

I accompanied Danielle to a celebration of 20 years of  Friends Provident Foundation, the foundation that she started and has seen grow an develop its influence. It was held on the top floor of the Royal Festival Hall and was a a great event. There is no doubt that her hard work and effective leadership is well appreciated. 

I stayed down to see Mark and Mandy in Wimbledon, and a painting by Uccello that is in the National Gallery. Here is the painting: it was lurking down in the basement in the lower gallery. Fantastic.

Old Lines

 There is a series on TV on Abandoned Railways from the Air. It is not brilliant, but has interesting bits. The one we watched last was about the York to Hull line via the Wolds. It inspired us to go walk a bit of the line at lonely Kiplingcoates Station, where we found this signal box. Considering it is 60 years since the line was shut, it is in pretty good condition.

No Snow

For the last six years or so we have barely had any snow in York. Today there was a smattering which is already well on the way to melting. Danielle took this photo early today.
 

Escrick

A lovely light emerged as we walked at Escrick last week.

 

Guests

We have started doing AirB&B again, with a flurry of bookings up till Christmas. We had a Mexican couple stay who left us this lovely thankyou note. We could not ask for more.

Manchester Collective

I went with friend Paul to see the consistently brilliant Manchester Collective at my favourite venue; the Howard Assembly Rooms in Leeds. This is the third time I have seen them, always a different line up, always good. This time there were two Indian/Welsh players, two Irish, one South African and one from Côte d'Ivoire.

Photography Group

For over 10 years I have been running a photography group at the Mount School here in York. The head is leaving and I am going to stop doing the group at the end of this term. The talent of the girls is amazing, and this shot is particularly good I think. The theme was perspective. 

Canal Again

It was hard to stop taking photos on the canal walk. These houses at Sowerby Bridge just could not be ignored. 

Canals

I do love walking on the old canals; the industrial past, the beautiful architecture and then strange buildings like this. Not sure whether to title it Needs Some Work, or Seen Better Days.

An Uplifting Day

The Stroll continues. Onto leg 15 today. Walking along the Rochdale Canal from Todmorden to Sowerby Bridge for 10 miles or so, in beautiful autumn sunshine and mild calm weather. All sorts of people out and enjoying it too. Layla the star of the show on the train there and back, milking the adoration.

The stillness and the light made for some beautiful reflections. A bit straightforward a shot for me, but it does capture the day.

Life

 Life has been carrying on. Band practiced a couple of weeks ago, our music book group met to discuss a book about pianos in Paris, and we have a house guest for the weekend, Catherine, from New York City, the daughter of an old school friend of  Daneille's who we last saw 9 years ago as a 10 year old in Tuscany. So plenty going on.

Keldy 3

 

Peace in the dappled sunlight.

Keldy 2

We had some great walking in the forest, straight out of the door of the cabin. Perfect.
 

Keldy 1

After Colorado we had a few days in a forest cabin in Keldy Forest in the North York Moors. A fantastic place, really great accommodation, which as you can see suited all of us. Hot Tub on the deck was for humans only.
 

Colorado 6

Our final day was a drive back to Denver airport where our flight was delayed on account of Donald Trump having one of his hate-filled rallies in the city. 

This is an old gold mine in the Cripple Creek area

Colorado 5

 After the conference we had a couple of days together. We stayed in Cripple Creek, which used to be at the centre of extensive gold mining. Amazingly it still is, with a huge open cast mine in active and profitable use. It was a great little town to stay in. We went to see a production of Spamalot (the Monty Python muscial) which we loved. One of the cast asked me how their accent was, and I could honestly say that it was very good indeed. 

In the day we walked up in the mountains, where the aspen were losing their leaves for fall. It was a beautiful place to be.

Colorado 4

 

It is always good to meet the various people from around the world who come to these events, and I was happy to photography them on the final day. Jo Swinson (ex Lib Dem leader in the UK) was there, got on very well with her.

Colorado 3

I took the cog railway (rack and pinion) to the top of nearby Pikes Peak at 4302 metres high. For the first time in my life I felt a bit altitude wobbly. Previously cycling at over 5,300 metres had been no problem. I fear, it is another POTAP situation. Anyway the train was great with an excellent conductor telling us all about it. In this shot the train is making its way to the summit.

Colorado 2

 

Day 2 and I explored the area a bit more. There were lots of good trails, and just when I was getting peckish I came across a good cafe (or trading post as it was called) to keep me on my way. The weather was beautiful for our whole trip, unseasonally so, snow sometimes falls in October. 

Colorado 1

Danielle was speaking at a conference in Colorado Springs in the US. We went together. The venue was a hotel overlooking the Garden of the Gods area, where rock formations rise starkly from the foothills of the Rockies. We had a day exploring the area before the hard work began for Danielle. 

Twenty Years of the Blog - 2024

Walking around London with Rowan, now that she lives in Islington, is a real pleasure. 40 years on and London is both totally changed and exactly the same. This is Primrose Hill.

Up to date now, back to the present day from tomorrow.

 

Twenty Years of the Blog - 2023

 

UK family gathering, aunt, sibling, cousins et al

Twenty Years of the Blog - 2022

Man, dog, beck. From the Lakes.

 

Twenty Years of the Blog - 2021

Rescue puppy Layla arrived in early 2020, just in time for lockdown. She soon had a clear view of her position in the family - not so much looking for the scraps under our table as standing on the table.