Badminton Rules

The photo is of the slides in the Tate Modern http://www.tate.org.uk/modern/exhibitions/carstenholler/default.shtm which I saw this week. Look great, but terrifying
The rules of badminton have changed. http://www.welshbadminton.net/NewsDesk/news/ibfla The scoring is now quite different. This has a profound effect on how you play the game, all the previous psychological nuances of the game are changed. Edward and I have adopted the new system, but are not sure if we like it or not. I feel duty bound to use it, as I just know that the middle-england of badminton clubs will be sticking to "what we have always done here in england..." and using the old system. Either way, I lost this week.

Eyesight

The photo is of the Flatiron building in New York which is a real thing of beauty, and used to be the tallest building in the city. Now it is a tiny little thing amidst the soaring skyscrapers.
Whilst over in New York we were bemoaning the fact that we now all have to use reading glasses - sad state of affairs. Just about everything I ask the doctor about these days she replies "well, it's part of the ageing process..."

Toilets

The hotel we stayed in during our New York sojurn [The Paramount] was designed by Philippe Stark [the orange squeezer bloke]

http://www.philippe-starck.com/

This made for an interesting lobby [photo to follow] and this unerving Gents toilet. Best used alone. When performing, if you look up you see about 200 versions of yourself spread around the walls....

Gore

Ore
Here is a photo of Danielle with Al Gore at the RSA lecture that Friends Provident helped fund earlier this year. It has been a busy few days, so I am getting stuff sorted out at home.

Where have I been?

Sorry about the impromptu disapearance. Friends Mark, Rob and I went to New York City for the weekend to "celebrate" Marks 5oth birthday. I wasn't that keen on going but considered it an investment in friendship - and had a really good time. Highlight was a trip to the Blue Note Club

http://www.bluenotejazz.com/newyork/index.shtml

Met up with Steve [another old Manchester friend] and his partner Lauren. More to come but here is a photo

Something Wicked this way comes

Rowan and I (Danielle) went to see Wicked at the Apollo Victoria in London today http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/home.php. Wicked is a socio-political prequel to the Wizard of Oz, revealing the dodgy politics, persecution and ambition rife in Oz. It focuses on how those in power create "good" and "wicked". Dorothy - as we have always suspected - was a pathetic pawn in a plot to stamp out dissident animal rights activists. It also has some big show tunes and many silly references to melting, shoes and houses. Rowan sang along lustily throughout.

Wicked has just made the transition from Broadway to the West End, bringing the main star from the US. We thought she was wonderful - what a voice! She got a standing ovation at the matinee. It must be some compensation for being painted emerald green for a living. The small love-y dove-y part of the plot was a bit boring, but isn't it always?!

Tourist City

The picture is of Sheffield again. York has been voted best tourist city in UK http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/yorknews/display.var.944906.0.york_voted_nations_favourite_tourist_city.php which has gone down well here. I have been playing guitar a bit recently. Great to get the Strat out and have a blast: I play so little now that my fingers start to blister after a while. I am determined to play more...

Ned Head

Danielle has been appointed as a NED [non executive director] on the new North Yorkshire & York PCT which is the health authority for the area. She has done really well to get on the board. It is 2 1/2 days a month. I am sure she will bring some sense to the table. Proud of her.

The photo is of a fantastic building in Sheffield. The ususal lottery funded glass and steel with great wooden arches. Inside it is like a greenhouse [with the inevitable shop and cafe]

Culture

We watched the Capote movie

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1151898-capote/

at the weekend. Pretty good, and it made me want to read the book "In Cold Blood".
We have both just finished reading "Girl with a one track mind" which is good fun and strangely thought provoking. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Girl-One-track-Mind-Confessions-Seductress/dp/0091912407

Having a bit of a photo upload problem, so no picture today I am afraid

Bradford

The cycling at Bradford is going well for Rowan. She did her first time-trial around the track on Saturday and then took part in a team pursuit type race [nothing too dangerous or hectic] Despite a lot of doubts she enjoyed it once she did it, and did really well. The junior racing bike for Xmas is becoming a big pull factor.

How long?

Met up with old friend Joanna in Leeds for a coffee. It is 30 years since we met at Liverpool. Great to catch up with news etc. Travelled to Leeds on one of the new trains which Rowan and I have christened growlers on account of they do.

http://www.tpexpress.co.uk/about/trains.asp

The photo is of a gravestone at Ohrid in Macedonia
overlooking Ohrid lake, a huge inland sea that has pelicans nesting around it.

Parsnips and the internet

I picked some of the parsnip crop - as usual they were twisted and buckled and nothing like the phallic feast that you get from Tescos. But they were a good crop. So what to do with them? Choice one, make a soup: this always seems a bit of a waste. Choice two - roast them: this would take too long and need something else to go with them. Choice three - put in a search on the internet for "parsnip recipe". I took choice three and found a recipe for carrot and parsnip latkes http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blv289.htm which was easy, and we had all the ingredients. They turned out really good.
The photo is of three shepherds in a Serbian village in Kosovo.

Train Strain

I have often waxed lyrical about the joys of travelling down to London for a days work from York on the train. The peace, the chance to do some work on the laptop, the pleasant staff etc etc. Sometimes though it all goes wrong. Today was such a day. A beautiful day, a table to myself, black coffee and croissant by my side… all seemed fine. Then we stopped just short of Peterborough. Experienced heads looked up; we knew that something must be wrong. Sure enough the sing-song Geordie announcement could not disguise the grim news “…..overhead wire problems……….. Wood Green…….. no trains in or out of Kings Cross…train terminates here”

Half and hour of trying to find out what was going on [not much] and I took the decision to get the same train I had come down on, back up to York. I had two important meeting today, so it is a bit of a disaster, they were very understanding [had heard it on the news]. Not good.

The photo is of gypsy children at Amfisa Greece

Standing in the rain

Another photo from my walk across Europe 22 years ago. This is a couple of kids who were standing in the rain watching in wonder as the strage traveller [me] was taken into their house bu Costas their grandfather, to eat and stay the night. They lived in the Pindos mountains of Greece. I want to revisit the route I took at some time, probably on a bike this time.
Rowan was in her school swimming team on Monday, and got on OK. Today she is doing fencing which she liked a lot when she tried it for the first time last week.

Lomnice

This is a photo of the village people of Lomnice in the Albanian part of Macedonia in 1984. One of the men was about to strap our rucksacks to his pony and take us up to a mountain pasture where we could camp.

I was in London yesterday on a new piece of work. Last week on my visit to the capital I met up with friend Christina whom I had lost contact with until she saw Danielle speaking at a conference a few months ago. It was good to catch up.

Sea Cruise

Rowan and I went on an RSPB 4 hour cruise off Bridlington to see Skuas and Shearwaters

http://www.rspb.org.uk/birds/guide/s/sootyshearwater/index.asp

The weather was perfect, the sea swell. Rowan loved the dousing we got from the waves, I felt queasy and memories of my Danish fishing-boat hell came back: but it was fine. The birds were fantastic, but the highlight was probably the harbour porpoises

http://www.whaledolphintrust.co.uk/whales_dolphins/harbour-porpoise.asp

All in all I am glad to be back on dry land, but it was definitiely worth doing ... Danielle can go with her next time.

The Beekeepers On The Roof

I just had one shot to catch the sight of Danielle and Rowan in the evening light as they went to get our latest batch of honey form the hive on the roof. I am very pleased with it.
Danielle is down south for a girl's weekend to celebrate friend Jenny's 40th.... Rowan and I are happy to be up north.

Back

My back went bad at the beginning of August in Wales. Since then I have been seeing a chiropractor. He seems good, but you never know if you are helping your back, or just helping the Danish GDP courtesy of Mr Rasmussen. Today was test time. My first game of badminton since July. I asked Edward to be kind to me... which he was, so I won. First victory for a good while. I sense revenge in the air next week. And my back came through fine.
Danielle meantime was being interviewed for a position as a non-executive NHS board member foro the local PCT. She would of course be brilliant at it [it is something you do in your "spare time", not a job]. We will see.
The photo is from Kirlington Quarry last weekend

Hitch Hike RIP part two

There was I thinking that the demise of hitch-hiking was going without comment. There is a whole debate on the web -

http://www.socresonline.org.uk/6/3/chesters.html

The photo is of the Golden cake-cutters.

Family Affair

We spent the weekend at Mothers, so that we could all go to Alison and Geoff's golden wedding anniversary meal. There were 22 of use there, including Charles and Libby from the Reed side of the family who no-one had seen for a long time. Perfect weather, a marquee for the meal, a trampoline for the children. Great.

Toadstool

Went a cycle ride to Heslington Common, which is a heathland south of York, criss-crossed with bridleways: so good for exploring. Came across this evil looking toadstool.

Archbishop

Very busy work-wise at the moment. Got another short contract yesterday whilst down in London. I went to a lecture with the Archbishop of York [John Sentamu

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1658340,00.html

] speaking in the Minster.

http://www2.yorksj.ac.uk/default.asp?Page_ID=3578

Not something I would normally do. But Dianne who runs the University told me about it last week at the Blair gig [having seen the prime minister and now the Archbishop, I am worried about how establishment it is all getting. As long as its not the Queen next week]. Anyway it was a really good speach, he is very impressive, and got me to thinking a lot.

The photo is of the beach last weekend

Line Up

The Produce lines up for a photo shoot.
Danielle has since discovered that we may have another honey harvest from the bees on the roof; this is unexpected and welcome news.
Rowan is going to be swimming front crawl in the school swimming team; she's still worried about diving though.

Seaside

It is a year since Edward's wife Cindy died. To mark the day we went to the beach at Hunmanby Gap on the north sea. It was a lovely day and [unbelieveably] I went swimming in the sea [quite warm after a while]. All had a good time playing cricket and using Oscar's improvised railroad system [you had to be there]

Rowan and Crab Apple Jelly

As you may have gathered we have gone into producing jam / syrup /honey etc in a big way this year. Sometimes our enthusiasm gets the better of us: example being the Elderberry Cordial that looks great [deep color] but tastes "mmm very nice, I'll have it later". So expect to be offered some on your next visit, even if that is next decade.
The Rowan Berry and Crab Apple Jelly though is a triumph. We all wanted to be able to use Rowan Berries productively and this is the result. It is like crab apple jelly with a bit of bite: great. The photo is mid-production.

Hitch Hike RIP

There are no hitch-hikers any more in the UK. When I used to hitch all over the place, there was nearly always one of two people at the exit of every Motorway service station. Now it is rare to ever see anyone hitching. Yet there is no logical reason for the decline. There are [sadly] far more cars: it is no more dangerous than it ever was, transport still costs a lot of money. I'm just glad I had the opportunity to do it: there is nothing like being thrown into a car with someone you know nothing of, who may well not speak your language: and then get on with it. A great life lesson.

The photo is of Green Arrow at York station this summer, pulling the Scarborough train.

NRM

o I
Last day of the holdiays Rowan and I went to the National Railway Museum - a bit of a treat for both of us. When she was at nursery we used to go at least once or twice a week, and it has so many good memories [once I lost Rowan, asked the attendant if he had seen her "No, I haven't but she knows her way around better than I do, so I wouldn't worry too much. He was right]. The photo is of Mallard.

Start

Today is Rowan's first day in Year 4 [photo]. She is pretty excited by it. Today was also our crunch meeting with the architects and builders about our extension. We have decided to go-ahead, and work should start in ten days time ....

Work News

I was in London last week for the first date of a new assignment reviewing a Learning Disability Partnership – it promises to be a good bit of work. In the evening I met up with friend Paul, good to see him after quite a while. Looks like another piece of work in London might be coming my way, so it is getting pretty busy one way or another.

Cousin Sarah texted to tell me that I was on Channel 4 news in the audience at Tony BlairÂ’s speech yesterday: I have not yet been able to ascertain if I was doing anything embarrassing [yawn, pick etc]

The photo is of Danielle and Rowan on Hob Moor last week

Which Blair Project?

The photo is of Rowan with her winning badge and medal from the hillclimb.
Saw Tony Blair speaking on social exclusion and child poverty at the Joseph Rowntree Foundation event

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,,1865416,00.html

He was very impressive and spoke well. It was a good networking event as well, lots of people to catch up with.

Hillclimb!

Rowan took part in the Yorkshire and North of England childrens cycling hillclimb championship in Keighley yesterday. She was in the under 10s category, and was the best girl. Very proud of her. The downside is that the "I need a racing bike" campaign has started already...
It was a great event, put together by the volunteers, and all the kids really got into it.

Football Heritage

We took William to Preston whilst he was with us: let him see his roots. We went to the National Football Museum http://www.nationalfootballmuseum.com/index.htm [the photo is of a statue of the great Tom Finney outside the museum] which is still great but definitely showing signs of “we’ve had all this lottery funding but how are going to keep it up to date” syndrome [the last world cup mentioned is 1998 for example].

Ten Years After

Ten years ago we got married. The marriage was at the Quaker Meeting House in St Martins Lane London, we then all walked to Peg's club [RIP] for the reception. It was a great day, and a fare bit has happened since then.
We went out for a celebratory meal last night at Four High Petergate, a restaurant new to us,

http://www.fourhighpetergate.co.uk/home.asp

true to York form we saw some people we knew there, also on their wedding anniversary. It was a good meal: not as good as Vanilla Black though. The photo is from the meal

Rosehip Syrup

Full tilt on the produce front. William & Rowan helped me pick Rosehips for the annual syrup production. Rowan loves it hot in the morning, and it reminds me of long ago: good stuff.
Watched the movie "Dig" last night

http://film.guardian.co.uk/News_Story/Critic_Review/Guardian_review/0,,1518200,00.html

about the Dandy Warhols. As we both have a passing knowledge of the sordid world that is the music industry, we really liked it. A great movie, a sort of real Spinal Tap.

Tour Of Britain

g
Rowan and I went to Harrogate today to see a sprint on the Tour Of Britain cycle race

http://www.tourofbritain.co.uk/

It was good fun. Last year we saw them on a climb at Ilkley, so it was good to have the contrast of a high speed sprint for the line.
The photo is at Riddlesden Hall, William and Rowan

The Slope

William and the three of us met up with Ted and cycled to Beningborough again on Sunday. It is good length of ride for Rowan at the moment. When we get there the tea-room meets our needs, and the legendary grass slope [photo] meets Rowan's. In her own words, "it's traditional" that she roll down it.

Honey Honey

The honey harvest is here again. Messy but fun. We reckon there is about 14 kilos this year, and the taste is devine

3-2

Friday evening William and I went to watch York City play Burton Albion. Last year I saw the same game with Roland and it was a dire one-nil defeat for York. This year it could not have been more different. York went one up, were pegged back, went 2-1 up, then it was 2-2. In the last minute of injury time York got a free kick on the edge of the box, and scored. Great game.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/display.var.895813.0..php

The photo is of the tree house at Alnwick

Big Boy Cousin

Nephew William is here to stay for a few days. 15 and idealised by Rowan, it is proving a very successful stay. Yesterday we all cycled to the Chinese restaurant for tea and had a good meal. Then today William and Rowan walked into town, Rowan showing William around, having lunch, and returning with their booty [cookery book for Rowan, Razorlight CD for William].
The photo is another from Alnwick: reminds me of the park in Blow Up.

Orgella

At dinner last friday talk got on to the important topics of the day: why is it that hairdressers, gas-fire shops, and chip shops all feel the need to have punning names. The usual discussion of "The Better Hearth", "The Grate Place", and "Fishey Storeys" [I don't get it either] took place. But Roland and Helen had one to trump us all. In Easingwold there is a hairdressers called
"Orgella". Why?. Well the owners favorite car was an Austin Allegro [which is pretty amazing in itself] and so she spelt it backwards for the name of her shop. A good choice? You decide. http://www.thelocalweb.net/ListingByID.asp?id=%20725127

The photo is of the dovecote at Alnwick

Batty about Bats

The other night there was a York Council run event in Acomb Wood: Batty About Bats. A group of about 30 or so gathered in the darkening evening and wondered around with Bat Detectors and torches. Amazingly we found some. Rowan and the other children seemed to get as much joy from playing with the torches as from the bats, but it was a good event. The bat was a pipistrelle

http://www.yptenc.org.uk/docs/factsheets/animal_facts/pipistrelle_bat.html

The photo is of Rowan's secret-tree-place at Alnwick

Product News

The brambles are just getting ripe in the garden. The plums have yielded one Plum Fool [a food not a descriptor] and hopefully a few crumbles to come. Danielle and Rowan made some Lavender Buns this evening, using a recipe Rowan got from Meeting. The French Beans are doing well, the courgettes are disappointing. Shame we don't eat Cabbage White catepillars: we have plenty of them

Alnwick Gardens

Rowan and I took the train to Alnmouth, then a bus to Alnwick to visit Alnwick Gardens.

http://www.alnwickgarden.com/

it is a fantastic place, Rowan was particularly enthralled with the Poison Garden, which is full of posionous plants. The guide gave us many tales of dire consequences that went down well with all the kids. There is a water garden bit where this photo of me was taken by Rowan.
A great day out

Beningborough

We rode to the National Trust place at Beningborough again. This time we went with a friend of Rowan's from school - Douglas - and his sister and parents. It was a great ride with a good cup of tea for some and a rhubard-crumble ice cream for others at Beningborough.
The photo is Rowan on her body-baord from the beach at Aberdovey - seems a while ago now.

The Light

Rowan was off to a sleepover with two friends last night, so we were set free. Had a drink in a bar [a real novelty these days] then met up with friends Justin, Em, Roland and Helen for a meal at Vanilla Black. It was a great meal as usual; definitely my favorite restaurant.
The photo is in Thirsk Quaker Meeting House. I have grown to really like it.

Fulford

Rowan is at an EAC activity camp at the Mount all week, she has been doing archery amongst other activities [the mind boggles]. She is quite enjoying it, but it is not her favorite camp.

Danielle and I had a day off today, and walked to SlideShops by way of a great route. First we crossed Hob Moor, then the Knavesmire, before crossing the Ouse on the Millenium Bridge. Then we followed a path along Fulford Ings: this is the marshy area in the Ouse floodplane. A beautiful place with lots of bog and flowers [photo] which are all a mystery to me. There was a battle of Fulford in 1066 http://www.battleoffulford.org.uk/ . We had a good lunch at Prets then walked back. Great to walk together.

Freak Zone

The photo is from my walk up to Stoodley Pike last month - back when it was summer, and hot.

Digital radio is something I like a lot. I rarely listen in real time, but use the listen again facility on the laptop. BBC 7 is great for plays and stories, without any news and chat interuptions, and nothing like as gauche and pompous as Radio 4.
6Music is good at some times, there is a great Funk program at weekends and my current favorite is The Freak Zone with Stuart Maconie which is on sunday evenings.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/6music/shows/freakzone/?focuswin

This is a great 3 hours of weird and intersting music, ranges from Magma and the Groundhogs to dub to psychedilic folk to modern classical etc - well worth checking out. The best track I have heard so far was a piece by Stockhausen for string quartet and four helicopters - the credits at the end of the piece included the string players and the helicopter pilots. Check it out

Salts Mill

After taking Rowan to her cycling in Bradford [she loves it] at which I got roped in as an impromptu tutor, we all went to Salts Mill in Satlaire

http://www.saltsmill.org.uk/

It is a fantastic place, a huge spacious old mill with art, food, shops and a great vibe. And free.

Seasonal

Sunday was a lovely autumn day, not too cold [about 12 degrees], the wind blowing hard, perfect for a recuperative bike ride. I went on the brideleways behind Heslington, which soon take you to some interesting corners, including this wood and wheat field.
Hang on though, it's mid August.

The Hours

We watched The Hours last night, which is a pretty good movie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2003/01/23/the_hours_2002_review.shtml

and ties in with our reading of Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolfe.
Rowan was off to friend Hazuki's birthday party today, this involved Pizza Express and a ghost walk [pretty much top dollar for Rowan].
Last week I had a look at the National Trust gardens at Goddards, an arts and crafts house in York built for the Terry [chocolate] family. Those Quakers knew how to put up a pile of house alright [photo]. The gardens are only open in the summer but worth a look.
Terry's factory shut last year. With the British Sugar plant shutting this year as well, and with the Thrall rail wagon plant shutting two years ago, manufacturing in York is clearly in decline. The big question, is how long until Rowntrees go the same way.

The Wall

Whilst Rowan was at her Running Wild event at Moorlands, I took my usual walk across the fields. Two weeks ago this was a barren desert of dried up grass. Two weeks of rain and it all looks back to normal: a lot greener. I saw loads of Wall butterflies in the verges.

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

Bee Surprised

When we got back from holiday we were surprised to find a parcel waiting for Rowan. We were even more surprised to find that she had won a prize from one of Danielle's bee-keeping magazine competitions. The prize was a national Geographic beach exploring kit with nets and magnifying glass etc - much welcome, if a little ill-timed. The photo is of the beach at Aberdovey with the hotel in the background that we will no doubt explore with the kit next year.

Wales Cycleway

Rowan, Danielle and I rode for two days at the end of our stay in Wales on the Sustrans Wales Cycleway

http://www.sustrans.org.uk/default.asp?sID=1128951683546

it is a great route, that climbed up to over 400 metres above sea level. We stayed at a B&B for one night then went on to Barmouth. Rowan took to it like a duck to water, and wanted to go on further: my back dictated otherwise. In the photo you can see Rowan and Danielle cycling beneath Cadair Idris mountain.

Back again

The photo is of friend Cathy who stayed with us before we went to Wales. Rowan is looking forward to staying with her in London in a few years time [without us of course].
Remember the joy of my discovery of Arnica as a remedy for my back? well it is back to normal now, with Arnica having no effect on my latest back episode. I have gone to a Chiropractor who seems pretty good ... the saga continues.

The links below are for various sites with friend Derwood's music and video on

http://myspace.com/officialmoondogg

http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=bowleg

http://www.moondogg.com/

http://home.earthlink.net/~rubbercheese1/

http://myspace.com/expensivesound