Tallylyn

The Tallylyn Railway was the inspiration for a lot of the Rev W Awdrey's tales, and is our favorite line. It is run by volunteers on an very informal and friendly basis [last year we had to wait whilst the driver and fireman moved some sheep off of the line]. The driver was very happy for Rowan to pose in the cab of Dolgoch with his hat.

http://www.talyllyn.co.uk/locos/no_2.html

Now with added steam

The Treffedyan Hotel was up to its usual standard, now with the added bonus of a twice daily steam service on the main line that runs past our window ... keeps getting better.
On the sand dunes we saw a Clouded Yellow butterfly, the first time I have knowingly seen one

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/species/bdata/clouded_yellow.html
There is an article by Simon Barnes about Clouded Yellow years

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1066-2299480,00.html

Tarrenhendre

Wednesday we took the Tallylyn railway

http://www.talyllyn.co.uk/

to Dolgoch Falls then walked up to Tarrenhendre mountain (634 metres). It was a great walk, we met not a soul all day and the hills were beautiful. Red Kites

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/r/redkite/index.asp

flew above with Wheatears on the ground. Rowan has inherited the "charging off in front gene" from me, so we had time to take this photo of Carl, Jill, Cecilia and Danielle coming up the track.

ABERDOVEY

Today was our last day in Aberdovey. We have been staying at our normal hotel with friends Carl and Jill and their daughter Cecelia who is Rowan's age. It has worked really well. We have had a great time with the grown-ups and the girls have got on great. Today we spent body-boarding in the sea [warm] , playing cricket on the beach, making sandcastles [Danielles project which she forced the children to join in] playing tennis, and I cycled up to Towyn for a break. A great day topped off with a great meal and some good wine.

Pattern Recognition

Book Group last week discussed William Gibson's Pattern Recognition. Amazingly it was the first book that pretty much everyone enjoyed, which is strange considering it is the most "modern" book we have tackled and that Edward [iits sponsor] was anxious that no one would like it. Some of us are going to read some of his other books, so it was a bit of an eye opener for everyone. Next stop Virginia Woolfe and Mrs Dalloway - an unlikely first for me

Tent

Rowan and I put up the tent on the lawn last week to try it out and make sure we still knew how to put it up etc. So as I struggled with the flexi poles and various straps, Rowan wrote the instructions down, so we will never be unsure how to do it again [in theory...] The night passed very well, the trains do sound loud at ground level though. In the morning Danielle bought us out a cup of tea at 6.30 only to be met by 2 snoring Palmours, so she left us to it. We woke about 7.

Cycle Club

Rowan had a first go at a cyling club in Bradford today. It went well, a very affable bloke runs it and he knows that kids need certificates, so Rowan got a bronze award [together with the other first timers] which went down well. There is a circuit that they can ride round which is good, and a lot of girls amongst the members [which is even better for Rowan]. So it looks good.
The photo is of our tandem from the top of the Yorkshire Wheel which Rowan dragged Cathy onto this week [I sat it out this time]

Green Arrow

Friend Cathy has been staying for a couple of days. Good to see her, and a big hit with Rowan. Yesterday we were walking into town over Scraborough Bridge when we heard the puff of a steam engine, and were right on the bridge when Green Arrow went steaming by , right above us. A big thrill all round [well, me and Rowan anyway]

Coast

Rowan and I cycled along a bit of the cycle track from Scarborough to Whitby. The track runs on the line of the old railway line and is one of the best there is. She was worried about dogs, so we went onto a back road and got to Crook Ness which is a lovely quiet rocky bay that we had visited two years ago. Rock pools and crabs, the whole works.

Squashed

Rowan is growing a snake gourd from seed. The idea is you paint the twisty gourd to look like a snake. I had assumed that we were in for a feeble little plant that just about managed to produce one gourdette. Well, the tropical weather [still no sign of the guaranteed [thankyou BBC weather] rainstorm today] has made the gourd plant go absolutely mad at the front of the house. The triffidesque thing drinks about 10 litres a day, and will probably be doing this blog by the end of the week

Old Moor

Rowan and I had a trip to Ikea [arrive 2 minutes past opening time, leave before hoardes arrive] which was good, and involved the ritual of the veggie dog. We then drove to the RSPB reserve at Old Moor near Barnsley

http://www.rspb.org.uk/reserves/guide/o/oldmoor/index.asp

It is a beautiful place, [honestly], the weather was perfect and we had a a great time. Saw some Common Terns

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/c/commontern/index.asp
which are one of my favorite birds to watch.

Bikes

We all cycled to Beningborough, the national trust place, along the sustrans cycle route

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1100262535562

with friend Ted, whose family are on holiday in Switzerland leaving him at home to oversee the building of an extension [sounds familiar]. A great ride, and we got a photo of all three of us for once.

Rain at lastt

The first rain for weeks fell today in York. At last, the ground was crying out for it. Of course it fell just half an hour after we put the tent up in the garden to try it out - at least we now know it is waterproof. Had a great day in town with Rowan yesterday. On the tandem doing various odd-jobs, a joy to have them back.
Saw a Gatekeeper butterfly in the garden today - another first for the year -

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/species/bdata/gatekeeper.html

The Comma butterflies have been very active in the garden, here is a photo on the blackcurrant bushes

American Come-backs

The Tour de France has been great to watch this year, with no previous winners in the field and no clear favourites it has been a great race, changing every day. But yesterday was beyond everything, with a fantastic, unbelievable ride by Pennsylvanian Floyd Landis http://www.cyclingnews.com/road/2006/tour06/?id=results/tour0617
Speaking of Pennsylvanian comebacks, Danielle and Rowan are back from the family reunion in the states. It is great to have them back, and they had a really good time. Both looked well-sunned – pictures to follow at some stage.
Photo is from Studeley Pike walk, this is an old millstone grit pathway up the moor.

London

I was in London yesterday, firming up a piece of work that will go through to the new year, which is good. I had some time to spare in the morning so I went to Waterstones bookshop to get the next book-group book, Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolfe. The Penguin copy I found cost £7.99 which seemed way too much, so I had a look in the classics section where I found a copy for £1.99 - better.
I sat and read a bit in Tavistock Square by the statue of Ghandi. The irony of the July 7th bomber murdering people in this square where the statue of the champion of non-violence is remembered, had never struck me before.
Then I realised I was reading the book in Bloomsbury which is appropriate for a Virginia Woolfe book.
Saw friend Celia in the evening, who I hadn't seen for 18 years or so, from the Rough Guide days! Great to catch up.
The photo is Wharfedale last week.

Baleful

Had another Friends of Hob Moor Committee meeting this week. Not exciting: but it seems like a good thing to be involved in given that we all love the moor so much. As part of the brand new TCP [thistle control program] the farmer has been mowing the grass this week, then baling it into big round bales of hay, which makes the moor look very different. The cows seem bemused.
The photo is from the ride this weekend. The sign looks somewhat out of place...

Stoodley Pike

Took the train to Todmorden, the hottest day so far, then walked over the moors to Stoodley Pike and down to Hebden Bridge where I got the train back. It was a great walk, through the millstone grit villages, along the old "trods" [paved paths across the moors] and to the Pike itself. The memorial is eerie and ominous and massive. You can walk up the pitch black stairway to the balcony - quite an ordeal when the sheep suddenly decide to bleat in the echoing darkness.
The Calder Valley is one of my favorite bits of the Pennines. The deep valley has the canal, the railway and the towns, then there is steep woodland before an alp of other farms and fields before kicking up to the moors again.
I saw a Small Heath butterfly up on the arid hot moor

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/species/bdata/small_heath.html

Little Owl

When I went my ride in the Dales I stopped for my first comfort stop of the day and saw that I was being watched by this disaproving Little Owl http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/l/littleowl/index.asp . It allowed me to take the photo then silently flew away.

The Peripatetic Quaker

Another beautiful day, so I cycled up to Thirsk Quaker Meeting. I had never been there before, so I combined another great ride [via Coxold an old wool town http://www.coxwold.freeserve.co.uk/index.htm with this lovely church] with going to meeting. Very small, quiet and a good contrast to the hectic meetings at York. Met lots of good people, and took some photos of people for future Quakevine shots.

Drink and a Ride

Met up with Adrian in town for a couple of beers. Very enjoyable, sitting on the pavement watching the fall out from York Races stumble around. Good to catch up with him.
Today I went a fantastic bike ride in the Yorkshire Dales. Set off early then rode around upper Wharfedale. Just perfect. I saw a little owl, oystercathers, curlew, wheatear [all the usual] the sun shone crisply and very little traffic. One of the hills was 20% which was fun. Then I took a route past Malham Tarn [photo] onto Mastiles Lane

http://www.outofoblivion.org.uk/record.asp?id=351

which was rideable and wild.

Small Skipper

The good thing about this butterfly thing is that it is all new to me. Spotted this small skipper in the garden yesterday - never seen one before, or rather I had, but never noticed, just another small brown butterfly. I have worked out the best way to tell what it is, is to take a photo then look it up in the book.
There are 35 breeding butterflies in Yorkshire, and 14 have been seen in our garden - pretty amazing really.

Rocket

Here are the first tomatoes from the garden. Have been picking the first Rocket today as well. The lettuce is going well, just about been keeping up with the crop until now - the first bolters are arriving now though.
Have been working all day on a report. The good thing about working from home is that I can take a walk round the garden for a break when I need it. Lucky bloke.

Dalby Forest

Went mountain biking with Edward and his son Toby who had the day off from his work experience [in a bike shop of course]. We went to Dalby Forest

http://www.touristnetuk.com/ne/forest-enterprise/

and set off on the "black" trail - far too technical for Edward and me, so we settled for the "red" which was good fun. Toby definitely won the king of the mountain prize.

Ferns

Have picked the first tomatoes of the year, way earlier than usual on account of the hot sun. Growing tomatoes in the UK outdoors, usually consists of looking up recipes that aren't for green chutney in September when the autumn looks like winning the race to ripen.

The photo is of the ferns that are doing pretty well under the beech tree since we planted them two years ago.

Monday Monday

Watched the world cup final with Ted, usual disappointing game with a comedy ending [the sending off and the penalties] Strange that all the excitement and anticipation for the world cup comes down to one anti-climatic game... only three and a bit years to go.
Took Rowan and Danielle to the station for the 6 o'clock train this morning. The house felt very empty when I got back. Straight down to work though - a lot to do at the moment with consultancy and photography.
Had a game of badminton with Edward, and it felt like I was getting back to form [still lost, but definite improvements]
The photo is of Granny reading to a delighted Rowan on her recent visit.

Ringlet

Dave, Emma and I went a bike ride this morning. Meantime Rowan and Danielle went a ride / run [Rowan on her bike, Danielle on her feet] to get the papers. When we got back I took Rowan to Running Wild which was doing orienteering this week, and set off for a walk. I saw a Ringlet butterfly[photo] down a lane, which was a first for me [I am sure I have seen many thousand over the years, but never noticed them , nor knew what they were]. Got back and Rowan was playing with the outdoor model railway, when we heard a puff and a hiss at the bottom of the garden and saw a schools class steam engine

http://home.clara.net/rod.beavon/schools.htm

pulling a special down the main line. A good day

Citizen Rowan

It was Rowan's last day at school today, and we were invited to the "leaving" assembley because she was to recieve her citizenship award. Very proud of her.
The photo is of Rowan recieving the award from Mrs Gant the headteacher of the Mount [and slightly taller than Rowan]
Rowan and Danielle are off to the US for a Grayson family reunion inVirginia on Monday, so we have a lot of stuff to get ready before then.

Naseby

I came back from mother's by a back route [a very back route] that took me past the site of the battle of Naseby and this obelisk memorial.

http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm

Not quite as moving as Marston Moor [near York] which is suitably bleak, but interesting nonetheless

Blog Stats

The graph shows the blog viewing stats since last year. Not sure where the increased use is coming from but it looks pretty impressive!

Comma

Mother treated us to lunch after meeting yesterday at Rowan's favorite place - cafe uno - which isn't bad considering its part of a chain. Then in the afternoon mother rested whilst we all cycled to the St Paul's square garden party where we saw lots of people we knew, and the jazz band were great in the sunshine.

Another new butterfly today for the garden, a Comma

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/399.shtml the photo is of some roses that are growing over a fence in the garden.

Saturday

Bev and I were working in Rochdale today, which meant a very quiet return journey during the ill fated England match at the world cup. Danielle took Rowan and mother to Preston, so that mother could revisit her roots - sound like they had a good, if hot, time.
The photo is of Danielles solar beeswax extractor. You put bits of comb in it, and the wax melts and pours into the bottom. You can then make candles, furniture wax etc [that is the theory... we are still at stage one of the process]

Garden News

This is how the vegetable garden looks at the moment. We have finally had some mange-tout peas, and the onions and shallots are going down well. On the left at the front of the photo are the parsnips and beetroots, while the cavallo nero is under the netting [after last years attack of the giant catepillars]. The courgettes are just about kicking in, the leeks are starting up and there are lots of potatoes waiting to be "new".

Mixed bag

Work this week has included:
- A visit to Rochdale with Bev, my associate.
- Despatching the first lot of photos to Katy's school
- Doing another photo for a playgroup
- Revising a consultancy report in the light of comments from my client
It's a busy time, with Mother and Rowan here as well.
So that is my excuse for loosing at badminton to Edward...
The photo is of the cattle on the main old track on the moor

The end of the experiment

After one year the Great Gym Experiment has come to an end, and I have decided not to renew my membership. Danielle is carrying on with hers. I enjoyed it, but the novelty lasted about 10 months, then I realised I would rather have an hour on the bike than an hour in the gym. Anyway it was a good experience, and it feels good not paying out each month any more.
Granny and Rowan were on the moor today - here they are

Meadow Brown

Saw a Meadow Brown butterfly in the garden for the first time this year

http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/species/bdata/meadow_brown.html

so far the log for first sightings this year is
17 April - Peacock
23 April - Red Admiral
25 April - Small Tortoiseshell
25 April - Brimstone
4 May - Orange Tip
4 May - Blue [Holly or Common]
8 May - Small White
10 May - Speckled Wood
May - Large White
3 June - Wall [Hob Moor]
24 June - Meadow Brown

this seems like a lot, bearing in mind there are bound to be a few that we have not recognised

Tandem

Danielle and I went a ride on the tandem this morning. It really is a great bike, and we now use it in three configurations - me and danielle, me and rowan, danielle and rowan. It won't be that long before rowan and danielle becomes the next line up.

Busy but missing someone

Had another great meal at Vanilla Black

http://vanillablack.co.uk/

restaurant last night. A restaurant that is vegetarian rather than a vegetarian restaurant [so great food rather than grumpy lentils] We went with JZ and Edward just back from France and had a great evening.
Today a friend of Danielle and her family came for a cup of tea, she is up for a job interview so the family wanted the low down on York.
Lunchtime we went to the CTC cycle rally

http://www.ctc.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?TabID=4377

which is our annual chance to get lots of cheap inner tubes etc, and bump into people. Saw Andy and Josh who are setting up a cycle recycling scheme in York, and the parents of one of Rowan's classmates who were missing Douglas as much as we were missing Rowan [back tomorrow].

Growing Up

Rowan is off for the weekend at an activity centre at Bewerley Park

http://northyorks.outdoored.co.uk/bewerleypark/

so I left her this morning with her suitcase and home-clothes. All the kids were very excited about it. This parent feels a little bereft...
The photo is of a path through the buttercups on Hob Moor, they and the Hawthorne blossom are on the wain now, with the elder flowers taking their weeks in the limelight.

Onions

The garden is finally yielding some produce - it has been a strangely slow season so far. The winter oniions [planted last autumn] have been lifted and are lying out to dry in the sun [make that , "freezing cold june wind"]
The peas and beans are coming up nicely and the lettuce is feeding us with one a day.

Al Gore

Danielle is in London tonight. She has co-ordinated a lecture by Al Gore

http://www.rsa.org.uk/events/detail.asp?eventID=1864

at the RSA. Lots of people trying to get on the guest list all day.
Meanwhile Rowan was in action at sports day yesterday. She did really well, you can see her straining hard in the photo.

Allotment Picnic

When Danielle was away Rowan and I went to some friends' allotment where they were having a birthday picnic for John. It was a great hot day and we spent the time drinking wine [me] or having water fights [rowan] and eating from the fire [all of us].

Produce

The gooseberries from the garden have done really well this year. We had a gooseberry pie last week, and I made a gooseberry fool today [gooseberries, creme fraiche, brown sugar, water mmmm]. Then there is the elderflower. Rowan found a recipe for elderflower cordial on the net, we picked the elderflowers from the garden, and were all set, save for the citric acid.
Ever tried buying citric acid if you look a bit dodgy?
"Hullo can I have some citric acid please"
stage silence followed by
"Why do you want it?"
me, nonplussed,
"er for making something..."
she
"we haven't got any"
When I finally got some I found out that it used by heroin users [the citric acid not the elderflower cordial] but I will send a less suspicious person out to get it next time [if I know any].

Black Hair

We all went round for tea outside at Bev and Steve's.. Rowan played with her friend Ella and her brother Tom, then Danielle and I went off to a gig, whilst Rowan stayed for a sleepover. Everyone was happy!

The gig was a modern music concert at the National Centre for Early Music given by Black Hair

http://www.ncem.co.uk/cgi/events/events.cgi?t=template.htm&a=622

http://music.york.ac.uk/ensembles/guest/black_hair/

It was weird [insturmentaion included ping pong balls bouncing and a clarinet without a reed] but fnatastic, we really enjoyed it. A friend Marco, who worked part time at the gym selling us coffee, was having his peice Trombone premierred, so there was an added intersest there. Great gig.
The early music centre was converted from an old church and is a beutiful building. We had a drink in the grounds at half time [photo] To cap a great evening off we got home to find that USA had got a point off of Italy in the World Cup.

Back Home

Danielle has spent the week in London doing a course on equities at the London Business School in Regents Park. She seemed to enjoy it, but it was a lot of work. Rowan and I got on fine in the meantime. We spotted a froglet looking lost in the dry arid wastelands of the vegetable garden, so Rowan helped it into the pond - [photo] - hope it can swim.

Art

On Saturday, when England were struggling to get Paraguayan, we went to one of Rowan's friends' mum's art exhibition. http://www.heatherniven.com/ Her paintings were really good. If we had a lot of cash lying around then one of her paintings would look good in our new room upstairs [if/when]. That is quite a lot of ifs. There was a particularly good painting of some bee hives in Greece that would complement Emma's bee painting that we have hanging in the dining room. The photo is of Emma's painting

Book Group

At Book Group last night we were discussing Defying Hitler by Sebastian Haller.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0312421133/qid=1150374479/sr=8-3/ref=sr_8_xs_ap_i3_xgl/026-9171611-9974034

which is a memoir written in 1939 about the rise of Hitler. We had a really good discussion, not everyone liked it, but I did. The usual mixture of wine, chat and Gwen's cakes! The next book is Pattern Recognition by William Gibson which is a bit more current.

The photo is another of Riddlesden Hall. On my way back from Riddlesden I saw a Red Kite

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/r/redkite/index.asp

flying above the woods at Harewood. It is a great sight that used to be confined to mid Wales but is now as common in the Chilterns and the West Riding.

Snickets

I love nothing better than finding a good snicket [a small passageway] London is full of them, and York has insitutionalised them as snickleways

http://www.yorkstories.co.uk/york_walks-3/narrow_lanes.htm

which have become a leveraged tourist attraction [official guidebooks and so on]. But some of the best are in the West Riding of Yorkshire. When I was taking photos near Halifax last week I came across this cobbled snicket between fields.

Trust

On the way back from doing the photos at the school last week, I stopped off at the National Trust place at Riddlesden Hall

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-vh/w-visits/w-findaplace/w-eastriddlesdenhall/

which was a beutiful place to have a cup of tea. It was the first time I had been there, and it is well up to the standards set by Yorkshire and the National Trust. Great.

World Cup World Cup

Friday evening I was in London, having been working in the day. I met up with Rob and Mark at Rob’s club in Soho, to watch the first couple of games there. Great to see them and to enjoy a few beers as the world cup kicked off. 20 years ago the world cup was on when I moved into my first house in Tottenham. 8 years ago England lost to Argentina on the day we moved up to York. 4 years ago England beat Argentina on the day we moved into Hob Moor Drive. This year who knows what will happen, but I am prepared for phone calls from various “we don’t have a TV…” friends who need a home when the knock-out stages come around.
Rowan is keenly filling in the wall-chat, the excitement marks.
The photo is from Kirtlington

Tandem

Rowan and I on the tandem, Danielle on her bike and Dave and Emma all went a bike ride to Bolton Percy http://www.doylys.co.uk/village.html , a small village south of York where there is a great café, that is rapidly becoming a cyclist’s favourite – there were about 4 different groups of cyclist there when we stopped for a cuppa. The route goes on a bridle way to Tadcaster, passing Healaugh Priory http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=36265 which is in the middle of nowhere. The weather was perfect and we had a great ride. The photo is of Knaresborough from when I rode to Harrogate a couple of weeks ago.

Butterfly News

Saw a Wall butterfly on the moor this week

http://www.butterflygarden.co.uk/butterflies/wall.htm

then Rowan found a Cinnabar moth at school

http://www.rspb.org.uk/gardens/guide/atoz/c/cinnabarmoth.asp

we had never seen one of these before, so it was well spotted.

The photo is of the Wheel

The Wheel and the Moor

Sunday we finally went on the Yorkshire Wheel at the National Railway Museum http://www.york-wheel.metaltype.co.uk/top.html . It is impressive but definitely looks small beer compared to the London Eye … until you get into the air conditioned pods. It is surprisingly vertigo – inducing, the tough looking bloke in the pod next to us had to press the alarm and make an early exit [ this involved the wheel reversing round for him to get out in a sheepish manner]. The views are great, and you get a good view of Hob Moor as well as of the Minster and the station complex.

Dog Show

Saturday we all went to Hob Moor Day, amongst the excitement were Birds of Prey [looses its appeal after 3 years on the trot] and an open-access Dog Show. This was more fun, but we were sure that Californian Ted would have cleaned up if he was there. The beauty of it was that the owners were truly a cross section of York life. Nice to see people we knew at the event, felt like a really good local thing.

A Rush

It has been a busy few days. Down to London on Sunday. I stayed at old friend Maria’s in a regenerated bit of Hackney – very pleasant to catch up with news. Her son Ricki who I took cycling in Ireland when he was 10 year old is now 27 married, with his wife expecting in a few months. Time moves on. Monday I started on a new piece of work in London – involving mapping a business process that crosses lots of Chinese walls and treads on lots of feet. This is great fun – honest. Back late and then up [very] early for the next round of photos.

Pond Life

Whilst Rowan was at Running Wild on Thursday I went a walk around the woods and brick ponds of Acomb. There are lots of ponds around York that were formed when clay was dug out for the brick building industry. Most of the ponds are tucked away and secret places. Chapman's Pond is unknown to a lot of people in the area, and is a real treasure [photo] I saw a Great Crested Grebe there, looking magnificent with its crest.

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/g/greatcrestedgrebe/index.asp

Treescape

A beautiful day today. All the trees are now out, except the Lazy Ash which seems to be going for a new record, and the birds are busy. The photo is of a treescape in the garden.
Been chatting to nieghbours since I got back from Oxford. Gwen is back from a holiday in China, Robert is off to Arizona for work, and Ken is off to Abu Dhabi for work [and I'm going to Halifax for work, that's Yorkshire not Nova Scotia].... and this in a far-from-posh bit of York - globilisation or what?

Pollen

Rowanand I spent the last three days at my mother's for half term. Usual mix of things. We saw cousin Sarah on Monday, and discovered pollen flying off of pine cones [photo] in the Parks. Then on Tuesday we went to the Roald Dahl museum

http://www.roalddahlmuseum.org/

in Great Missendon in the Chilterns. It was a good [if small] museum. I liked the architecture a lot and the grass roof in particular. Rowan bought a copy of Revolting Rhymes

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/d/roald-dahl/revolting-rhymes.htm

which reworks fairey tales in funny ways.