Evacuate

Rowan's assembly last week was about world war two, which involved singing about evacuees and so on. They seemed to like it. As the class all grow up the parental response to assembly changes from being "cute" to "they're getting better".

Busy/

I have used the extension as a studio for the first couple of times. It has gone well.
Rowan and I went down to Oxford to collect mother for a visit. We saw cousin Sarah down there and visited my cousin Gill's extension - makes ours look quite small by comparison. All back here now, where Rowan has been making a broomstick in Running Wild.
On the trip back I listened to Derwood on a Radio programme about Record Producers which was good.

Catch up

One of the good things about living in York, is that friends and colleagues often end up at conferences in the city. Luckily Jean Willson who I had not seen for 8 years, and with whom I had lost touch, looked me up when she and her husband Norman were here for a conference on learning disability.
They have a severely disabled daughter: I worked closely with them 17 years ago to set up an independent living scheme for her. She, and the scheme, are still going strong. It was great to catch up with them.
Another Brimham photo

A Spin

I got out for a couple of hours on the bike yesterday. Took a spin to the west of York and went on some bridleways - you can get into some beautifully remote places very quickly. This is an old track running between Helaugh and Bilton. I saw a Barn Owl on my journey.

Shoes

In 1985 when I was living in Droitwich I got some shoes made for me by Jeremy Atkinson
in Hereford. 21 years on they are still going strong - many resoles have come and gone but I still wear them all the time. Friend Wendy once memorably called them my "lesbian collective shoes" so that is what they have now become known as. After all that there is no photo of them, here's another of Brimham Rocks

Brimham

Sunday we went to Brimham Rocks to clamber and walk about. Great weather and carrot and coriander soup at the cafe.

Social Stuff

Last Sunday Kevin & Gerard had a good garden party: some people who we'd met there at Christmas asked "your extension must be finished by now?" which rather rubbed in how long it has all taken.
Then in the week whilst Rowan was at Robinwood, Danielle and I went to a meal at the chair of her PCT's house in Ripon. I wouldn't say it was a posh house, just that they had their own ducks on the lake...
The photo is of the wet room in the extension.

Chelsea

My only experience of the Chelsea Flower Show was 20 odd years ago. I was at work at the day centre, when the gardening tutor came in with a spare free ticket for that day. It was 3.30, the ticket got me in until 5. I cycled at full tilt across London, locked up the bike on the gates and made it in. Had a look around, bought a Hardy Jasmine for a pound as they were dismantling the gardens, then cycled back home with the metre high plant protruding from my pannier. It felt like a good way to do it.
Another shot of the extension.

Robin Wood, Robin Wood

Rowan has just spent 3 days with her class from school on an adventure trip at Robinwood in the north Pennines near Alston. She loved it and has been full of the joys of abseiling and stream walking since. Today she went off to Rainbows Cafe in York for Katrina's birthday party: a decorated plate will follow next week.

Meanwhile we are getting on with colonising the extension - the stereo went up there today, as well as much of my photography stuff. More photos to follow.

C'est Fini

Well not quite, but we can start using the extension now. Remaining work includes, fitting a vent in our old bathroom, and fitting the glass on the staircase. But overall it is done - very exciting and a little daunting. Malcolm the joiner is off to the Lakes for a holiday - he deserves it.

Nearing the End

The extension is nearly finished. These last few days have seen the men inside the old house, making the connection: so we have had the most disruption of the whole process. So I got out of the house today, delivered a photo then went for a spin out to the east of York - Sand Hutton where this photo was taken. It is easy to get onto bridleways that take you far away from the bustle very quickly.

The Thirteenth Tale

I read The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield, on account of having taken her portrait photo for her just after she secured her publishing deal. Not the sort of book I would normally have read [Gothic pastiche set in present day] but I really enjoyed it. It has been really successful in the US

Success

This was a sight we thought we might not see for a while - Rowan happily walking across Hob Moor with dogs, and not worried about other dogs. But thanks to the use of dog therapy dogs Baxter and Molly, and their very kind owners Karen and Bob, Rowan has regained her confidence. Now she wants a dog of her own .... oh dear

Gig 2

Saturday we went with friends Patrick and Julia to The Shed at Malton to see a fantastic jazz band Pinski Zoo - a lot of energy and a lot of funk. The Shed is , well, a shed, in the village of Hovingham where these amazing bands come to play: strange but true.
The photo is of Rowan with dogs Baxter and Molly.

Gig 1

Badminton playing friend Edward invited me to a gig at Fibbers in York. The band were the Dub Pistols and pretty good. The strange thing was that this was the first real gig I had been to in a sweaty club for 20 years or so - and some of the audience were older than me, but some were the right age for a gig [16 pretending to be 18]. A weird experience, but one I was glad to have.
The photo is the moment of the award giving yesterday.

Foundation Day

It was Foundation Day at Rowan's school,

The Mount . She won a Sports Award so had to go up and receive it from an old scholar. This shot is before the event. There was an auction of promises which included a portrait photograph by me - bidding was pleasingly high - I must tap into that market.

Tales from the Trains

I arrive at the station as normal, then notice the larger than usual number of people milling around the departure boards. I get nervous, check the boards, searching for the worst. And there it is “..cancellation… derailment”. Luckily today I had walked in, on account of carrying a framed photo to a customer in London, so I got to the station early. I managed to catch a delayed early train and get into London. It was the last train that made it through before a freight train derailed at Newcastle causing huge delays for everyone else. Relief.

This is all part of the drama of travelling down by train, you win some, you lose some. In theory getting back this evening should be easy. Time will tell.

The photo is of York station roof

Ill

When Rowan is ill there is only one thing for it - enjoy the chance to cuddle up with her on the sofa and help her get better. She hates to miss school, and tries hard not to be ill, but yesterday a virus laid her low. We saw the doctor today, and she is on the mend.

I delivered another photo yesterday to a customer from Open Studios, her partner put in an order for a copy of Sheffield [one of my favourites but not everyone's cup of latte] so it was a worthwhile trip.

Love Monday

Mayday bank holiday Monday is an anomaly in that Tregelles children still have to go to school. So each year we see lots of pairs of parents arriving to pick up their children, having spent a child-free day off work. In many cases it is the only time we have ever seen them together. We are no different. We had a nice relaxed walk into town and a wonder around.

The photo is of one of the statuettes dotted around York

Quakevine

s
I still do the monthly cover portrait for QuakeVine magazine. This month it is this mother and her son. Next month will be of Joyce Pickard a venerable York Quaker who has just been made a freeeman of York

Art

Went out last night for our annual meal out with John Katie David and Anita. Great time at a new restaurant

Number 8 which was pretty good. Rowan was delighted to have Teba as a babysitter. I took some photos for her of some Senegalese artwork that she hopes to sell at craft-fares etc. [photo]

Today I cycled over to Harrogate Quaker meeting to take some photos for Quakevine. Great ride - awful headwind going, superb tailwind coming back.

Meal

The photo is of Brompton Cemetary. We all went round to friends Bev and Steve's for a meal last night. Very relaxed, the children disappeared upstairs and we could have a good chat. After the heat of recent days it is back to the cold one would expect at the start of May - that's more like it, where are my gloves?

Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square has been reinvigorated by stopping the traffic crossing it in front of the National Gallery. Ken has certainly had a positive effect on London with the congestion charge and increased cycling facilities: not perfect but definitively getting better.

Knock through

This photo is from the walk in London yesterday.
The builders have finally knocked through into the old house, so we now are definitely on the home-straight. I had wanted to have a "hands through the hole" channel tunnel type photo, but I missed the moment.

Out West

The photo is of a tiny Rowan and a big gate at the Lavender Place. I was in London today for work. I walked back into town from Earls Court on a beautiful sunny afternoon: through Brompton Cemetery and through the Parks to the Commonwealth Club. There were lots of memories on the way - of various squats and houses that Mike and Derwood had lived in, of band photo-shoots, and of the flat where our Quaker mentor for our wedding lived [she died four years ago]. Always good to stroll through London.

Yorkshire Lavendar

Sunday we went to the Yorkshire Lavender in the Howardian Hills. Beautiful to look across the Vale of York in the sunshine. Danielle stocked up on herbs for the herb spiral and Rowan raced round the maze.

Just Another Manic Saturday

Danielle's friend Jenny was up for the weekend. Rowan did her first practice triathlon, I went a ride with a friend who is going to do the

Great Yorkshire Bike Ride with me in June. He has done it before; we were just getting some miles in [not very many as it happens, we got waylayed at the cafe.] Then I had a family portrait photography session to do . In the evening I went to friend Dave's slide show of his climbing trip in Kyrgyzstan - a former soviet republic. It was a really good show and it looks a pretty incredible place to go.

The photo is on the canal in London

The Company of Cyclists

I had an altercation with a South African embassy car in Trafalgar square on my bike yesterday. Nothing unusual about that, I was in the right and he was being aggressive. What was different was that as soon as it was apparent there was something going on, at least four cyclists appeared from nowhere and leapt to my defense - a good feeling I must say. Then as I cycled off another cyclist came up and checked I was OK. Then later on my chain snapped in the middle of Tottenham Court Road. I managed to get to the pavement without being run-over by the eager taxis behind me, only to be immediately told by someone where the nearest cycle repair shop was so that I could my chain fixed. Blimey, the community of cyclists really seems to work in central London.
The photo is of

Wanstead Park

from my ride in London yesterday.

House

I was in London again today. I stayed at Paul and Coral's last night then cycled over to east London for a meeting. It was a good day for a ride. The meeting went well [and I sold another photo over lunch to an unexpected buyer!]. I then rode back into town via Wanstead Park, the River Lea cycleway and then through Limehouse, Wapping and St Catherines Dock before ending up at the Commonwealth Club. It was a great ride - a lot has changed in Docklands, but Wapping High Street still manages to appear abit seedy despite all the money spent on it. Lots of great new architecture around too.
The photo is of a painted house in Walthamstow. If you are going to do it at all you might as well do it like this.

Back

After another back-twinge incedent a few weeks ago I have put off playing badminton. This week I played again. The good news was I came through the game with no ill-effects. The bad news - Edward beat me.
The photo is of the rape fields around an old windmill south of York.
Last night in book group we discussed Restless by William Boyd. We all enjoyed it as a good yarn, but didn't find much beneath the tale.

Parallel Lines

And here are our cows this year.
I am just finishing Parallel Lines by Ian Marchant. It is another book by someone of my generation, this time about railways in Britain. Very funny and a right good read.

Cattle

Went a bike ride with Ted and Dave on Sunday. Good to get the wheels turning. Our usual cafe was shut but we were lucky to find a Open Garden weekend going on with a tea-tent. Delicious home made apple pie from someone who had attended the Betty's cookery course.

The cows have returned to the moor for the summer. It is always a great day. They spent the first few days charging around the moor checking it all out. The photo is of last year's cows.

Newt

Rowan has been busy playing with her friends Grace and Lilly from up the street - performing shows on the trampoline etc.
The photo is of the newt in the pond. The next excitement will be the hatching of the butterflies in the

Butterfly pavilion

that uncle Ben gave Rowan for her birthday. So far the catepillars have grown allarmingly, the chrysalides have formed and we await developments. Danielle finds them a bit creepy - particularly the crunching sound the catepillars make [allegedly]

Garden Time

This should have been the day of Danielle's marathon - so the TV is not on. Next year. We had a good garden day yesterday. I managed to reclaim one of the vegetable beds from the trials of the builders, the scaffold and the draught: onions have been planted.
Danielle went to her upstairs bees and was delighted to find 7 jars worth of honey, which we extracted. There was also plenty of

wild comb [photo] which is good to chew on.

The Ouse meets the Nidd.

We were all on holiday on Friday. I drove Danielle and Rowan to a hairdressers that can deal with black hair in Leeds, then went on a bike ride on a bridleway by the

River Ouse . It is so dry here at the moment, that it is a good time to go off-road cycling. It is a great ride, and includes passing the junction of the Ouse and the Nidd at Beningborough [photo]

New Work

I was working in London this week. I stayed over at David and Cathy's then cycled over to Epping Forest for a seminar with a new client. It went really well, and Epping was as beautiful and enchanting as I remember it. It really is one of my favorite places.

Forest

The photo is one from Hungerford Bridge in London.

Wildlife Update

The pair of mallard are back for their annual spring paddle in the ponds they usually move on in about a month to seriously nest elsewhere, but it is nice to see them.

We spotted two newts

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/wildfacts/factfiles/479.shtml

in the pond - strange, slimy and wonderful. Finally a wren

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/wren/index.asp

has decided to build its nest in the "swallow" box I put up last year - can't really complain. It was spotted by Malcolm the Joiner looking for nesting material inside my shoes - cheeky.

This other piece of wildlife was taken by Rowan in Liverpool

London 3

We went to see Pegasus Opera company [who we had seen before, and really rated] in a big production of Delius' Koanga when we were in London at Sadler's Wells. It was really disappointing, the performances were not up to much - but we still enjoyed ourselves. We had lunch with friend Kelly who is off to Singapore with husband Paul soon for a few years. They are letting out their amazing factory conversion in Clerkenwell - we had lunch on the roof in the sun.

London 2

We had breakfast in Giraffe on the southbank - stack of pancakes, lovely morning, charming staff. Great start to the day. Rowan was meanwhile learning how to do Poi at Sarah's. See her blog

http://purplebluebells.blogspot.com/

for photos.

Lincoln

At the weekend we all drove down to cousin Sarah's in Cambridge where Rowan stayed for two nights whilst we went on to London for our annual treat of staying in a hotel on our own. En route to Cambridge we called in at Lincoln which is beautiful with the Cathedral, the Castle and the steep cobbled streets - like a mini-York.

Hutton Roof

On the way back from the Lakes we stopped at one of my favorite places - Hutton Roof Crags. It is an area of Limestone pavement where it is very easy to get lost/disorientated, and where there is never anyone else around. Danielle rested her leg whilst Rowan and I explored.

http://www.huttonroof.org.uk/

Girls On The Rock

This was the rock at the campsite which Rowan and her friend climbed incessantly - right up to sunset as you can see.

The first night was so clear that there was ice on the tent in the morning - we all had hats on through the night.

Caw

Saturday Rowan and I climbed Caw, a small quiet and lovely mountain in the Duddon Valley. Danielle came half way, but it was hard on her leg so she waited at the old mine for us.
Rowan is holding the relevant Wainwright book for the mountain. They are truly a great work of art - definitely one for the desert island.

http://www.wainwright.org.uk/

Easter

With Mother not well enough to come and stay with us at Easter, and with the weather looking set fair, we decided to go camping in the Duddon Valley in the Lakes. This is my favorite part of the Lakes, the one I know best, and very quiet. Rowan was keen to camp, so we found a basic [very basic] campsite with loos and cold water.

http://www.duddonvalley.co.uk/phdi/p3.nsf/supppages/0955?opendocument&part=6

Suited us fine. Danielle's recovering leg gave her a bit of jip on the stony mountain paths, so she took it easy. Rowan loved being able to climb all over the rocks - she made a climbing pal called India. I nipped up Dow Crag on the Friday afternoon -

http://www.leaney.org/lake_district_fells.php?fell_id=dow_crag

It is a real Jekyl/Hide mountain. I climbed up the benign west side to be confronted by the dramatic and awesome east side once I reached the top. I walked off-piste both up and down, enjoying plotting a route through the rocks. The photo is of Walna Scar from Dow Crag

Liverpool 2

Walking round Albert Dock on a beautiful April day, it certainly looked different to when I was a student there. This shot was taken there.

Liverpool 1

Danielle was working in Liverpool on Wednesday, so we all went over for the day. It is still a fascinating place to visit. Having a coffee in an old bank [pretty much standard procedure in any large northern city these days] I noticed the doors for the Adelphi bank: an incredibly ornate, solid pair of doors that I can only imagine finding in Liverpool. Now it is Cafe Nero.

Big Toe

The BBC have recently axed the Little Toe Radio Show. This may not mean a lot to a lot of you, but to any child under 11 it has caused consternation. So much so that I e-mailed Feedback. This is a BBC radio program usually the domain of "annoyed of Basingstoke". I thought nothing more of it until a friend said that their 9 year old fully supported my views. So I listened to it and sure enough my letter was quoted

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/feedback.shtml?focuswin

listen to the latest show if you want to hear it.
Rowan loves the radio and reading. See picture.

Running In

Rowan and Danielle both completed the 3k fun run for the British Heat Foundation, which took place on the Knavesmire in York. This was great news for both. Rowan did very well, first female to finish the 3k race. Danielle managed it without her leg hurting too much. So much relief all round.

Play time

Rowan had her friend Millie round for the day, and they are playing well together. The photo shows the extension from the front, now that the scaffolding is down. We are on the final leg now, we can't wait

The Scaffold Is Gone

A big landmark day today. The scaffolding came down, revealing the extension for the first time. Here it is...

Back Again

I managed to put my back out again - very annoying. I just have to wait for it to go back to normal now. The good thing is that it makes me lie down and do nothing for a while - not often I do that. So I watched the amazing British team in the world cycling track championship in Mallorca

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/cycling/default.stm

unbelievably successful, compared with the grim days of the 80s and 90s.

I went a stroll this morning whilst Rowan and Danielle were at swimming and meeting. Took this shot of the impressive Scarcroft School in York.