Lumen

I managed to forget to take my camera to the private view. Luckily friend Carl obliged. This shows the general view of the hanging space. There is a cafe with tables to the left.

Film

Friday night I went to see Chasing Legends http://chasinglegends.com/ a movie about Mark Cavendish in the 2009 Tour. It was on at the local community hall; plenty of people I knew there and a great film. Tried very hard not to ride too fast on the way home. Failed.
The photo is another from the strange topiary at the University.

Floods

It has rained pretty much non stop for the last few days. The ground water on the moor and in the garden is as extensive as it has ever been. The bank of the beck by neighbours Ken & Sarah's house is slowly falling into the beck itself: we hope a lake does not result.

Friend Cath has been up to stay for the weekend; her daughter Lily is in her first year at York Uni so we all got together for a meal here yesterday. Real good time.
The photo is of Derwood's place in the Californian desert; I need to see a dry place.

First Night

The private view went very well. Far more people than I thought would make it, plenty of sales and lots of useful comment. The trick now is to try for more sales through the next three weeks. Not going to be easy. I am down in London on three days and am asking people to let me know if they want to meet at the gallery. We shall see how it all goes...
After the show we went for a meal at Carluccio's round the corner at the Brunswick Centre with Rob, Cath, Mark, Mandy Sean and Jill. Then the three of us collapsed at the Penn Club [Quaker hotel] just round the corner.

Swan

In Book Group we read Simon Armitage's version of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Reviews were mixed, but I liked it so much I am now going to have a crack at Seamus Heaney's version of Beowolf.

The photo is of a black swan on the lake at the University in York. Very beautiful but a little incongruous half a world away from its Australian homeland.

Driving

Since we moved to York we have travelled to London literally hundreds of times; it could possibly have hit the 1000 if Danielle and my journeys are counted separately. In all that time we have only driven once, the rest being by train. The reason for this aberration was that Rowan was under 1 and we needed to take her carry cot.
The second time was yesterday, as I drove down to Kings Cross with my 50 framed photos for the exhibition. Time by train two hours, time by car five [count them] hours. Uuurgh. Why would anyone ever drive by choice? Anyway my day went from 05.10 [alarm goes off] to 23.05 [arrive safely back home]. The Lumen space looks great and all is ready for the big day tomorrow.
The photo is one from Zurich that has made it into the exhibition at the last moment.

Topiary

Rowan was playing Netball at the University on Sunday. So I took a walk around the campus and came across this amazing area of topiary in the grounds of Heslington Hall which is now part of the University. Quite a strange place, it feels like a film set for a 60s surreal film.

Power Stations

I took this shot on my phone at the new University site in York. It was a still day, the three plumes you can see are from the three massive Aire Valley power stations 30 miles to the south - Drax, Ferrybridge and Eggbrough.

Bogs and Boats

Another shot of the peatlands, that gives some idea of the Great Emptiness.
Danielle has got well into her rowing, and tomorrow competes in her first race in a four man boat: I will keep you posted.
I was very surprised to hear the Israel Government spokesman talking on the BBC and being introduced as Yigal Palmour this week. Here was a connection that I did not know about. Given that Yigal was attempting to defend some pretty indefensible actions I was relieved to find out it was a misspelling - Yigal Palmor is his name.

Bog

The Humberhead Peatlands is a huge area of Peat Bog between Doncaster and Goole of nearly 3000 hectares. Vast, and now a National Nature Reserve. There used to be extensive peat extraction here which has now ceased. There used to be coalmines nearby, which have now ceased. A wind farm has been built to the south. I walked right across the reserve and back this week. 12 miles or so that started in a drab sad ex-mining village but soon took me to the most amazingly isolated place. 5 hours I walked and saw not a soul. Brilliant.

Yorkshire is so full of amazing natural areas that it seems almost unfair that it should have this gem too.
Photographing it was not easy.

Bird News

We have had a pair of Tree Sparrows sniffing around the last couple of weeks http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/t/treesparrow/index.aspx . I have never knowingly seen one before, so it was a nice surprise.
Next surprise was to see a Jay. Common as muck in most places, but unseen on Hob Moor in the 10 years we have lived here.

Then today Treat Man [the name we have given to the kindly gentleman with a black Labrador who always gives an appreciative Milo a biscuit] told me there were some Waxwings [above] in a tree on the Moor. Sure enough, there they were. Again I have never seen them before, so it was a real pleasure.

Zurich 4

We came across this outdoor pool on our walk through Zurich on a calm day. The light was very unusual. I am not sure if I captured what I was wanted to with this shot. Time will tell.

Art

I have to admit that dragging Rowan around an Art Gallery is not conducive to appreciation of the great works of world art. So Danielle and I took advantage of looking round the gallery in Zurich on our break. It is a perfect gallery for me; no one there, paintings by all the big-hitters to look at in peace, and some real surprises. We both spent a long time looking at a work by Giovanni Segantini "Alpweiden" which was really something. The photo is of the room containing several Munchs, and a knackered visitor. I am not a great one for captions of photos but "What Have I Done?" is what I would call it.

Hiltl

We went to the oldest Vegetarian Restaurant in Europe in Zurich - Hiltl. http://www.hiltl.ch/ The food was absolutely fantastic, I had vegetarian steak tatar [much better than it sounds] and Danielle had crispy tofu salad to start. Then we both had mushroom stroganoff with rosti. It cost an arm, a leg, and the other arm but it was worth it.

Zurich 2

The river is central to Zurich, it flows through the city to the lake. On the left bank is the Cathedral and the old town, on the right the snooty shopping district that we managed to avoid most of the time.
It is a great place to walk around with plenty of interest. The less you spend the better; a fiver for a coffee is not unheard of.

Zurich 1

Danielle was invited to speak at a European Charitable Foundations meeting in Zurich. Friend Teba house and Rowan sat for the 3 nights, and I went with Danielle.
It was a great break. Day 1 Danielle was doing her speaking which went well. This shot is across the lake to the Alpine mountains beyond; they are 100k away but look far far nearer.

Obama

"Do we still have to go to America at Christmas if Romney wins?" A question from Rowan that thankfully we did not need to consider following the brilliant result. What a relief. For sure it is not the same sense of elation as four years ago, but the alternative was so scary that it is still a great day.
So here is a photo of the desert in Nevada

Gunpowder Plod

We saw John Etheridge, a jazz guitarist, play at the Early Music centre with Greig and Maxine. He was pretty good, but not as good a communicator as Gordon Giltrap who plays in a similar style and who we saw a couple of years ago.
Rowan went to a Halloween party and sleepover, then we all went to a Gunpowder Plod run on Bonfire Night that was truly awful, http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/10029536.Organisers_apologise_over_Knavesmire_fireworks_event/ the worst time since we all froze at a car boot sale 10 years ago.
The photo is of Rowan having a great time in Paris.

Netball news.

Rowan was playing for her Netball club on Sunday at York University. It was a great game to watch - they won, and played really well. It is a league set-up and so far they are unbeaten.

House Guest

Danielle's friend from College, Jurgen came up for a quick weekend visit. He is a Costa Rican of German origin who runs some eco-tourism lodges in the rain forest, over here for a trade show in London. Sunday he treated us to breakfast at Betty's which was great as ever.

Relay

Rowan was running for York in the National Cross Country Relay Championships yesterday in Mansfield. Her team came 29th out of 100, which they were happy with. The boys team came 1st! http://www.englishcrosscountry.co.uk/images/pdf/relays12/u15b.pdf which is a hell of an achievement for a York team; I believe the girls tried not to be too impressed.

The photo is of Ro and Pete's revamped garden in Suffolk.

Skyfall

As someone who has never seen Star Wars, and who last saw a Bond movie when I was 16, the question from Rowan "Can we go and watch the new James Bond film?" was met with mixed feelings. On the one hand I am well aware that pretty soon Rowan will not be wanting to go to the movies with a parent. On the other hand; its a Bond movie [uuurgh].

We went to see Skyfall and, you know what, I enjoyed it. So we were both happy.
The photo is of Rosalind; not easy to photograph a four week old baby, but not too bad an effort.

Geocaching dark materials

Rowan and I went to see a play based on Philip Pullman's Dark Materials at the Theatre Royal http://www.yorktheatreroyal.co.uk/shows/his_dark_materials_1.php#.UJQAuMVZnng
Neither of us liked the books very much but Rowan's friend Lily was in it so we wanted to show support. Lily was very good. The play wasn't.

When we were in Suffolk we went geo-caching with Pete and found one [in of all places] Great Glemham. Much excitement.The cache is in Rowan's hands in the photo.

Four Generations

The first photo is of Rowan and the three generations before her.
The second is of Rosalind with her three generations before, with Rowan now moved up a rank.

Sutton Two

Considering Sutton Hoo is basically just a few very undramatic burial mounds it is very hard to photo. A dusting of snow on the contours would have helped, but I did not have that luxury. So this is the best I could do.

Sutton Hoo

Rowan and I visited Ro & Pete and my Mother in Suffolk. We went by train [far better than the tedium of the drive]. Sarah and Rosalind were there too, so it was a good houseful of people.

Monday we all went to Sutton Hoo http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/sutton-hoo/ where a Saxon boat and tomb were found. Usual National Trust attractions [cafe and shop] with a bit of history thrown in too.

More Rosalind

Here is another picture of my great-niece Rosalind. She is an amazingly calm baby - not like the rest of the family have been! Sarah, her mother, seems pretty calm as well. Markus is in China; back soon.

Snow! In October!

Growing up in Preston we were lucky to get snow before Christmas if at all. The November snow here in York a couple of years back was unusual. So last night / this morning to have a full covering of snow before the clocks go back is very strange.
Luckily by the time Dave and I set off for our ride to Castle Howard this morning it had mostly gone. Wet and slushy though.

The photo is of Rowan with her exchange Blandine - no idea what they are doing but it all worked out well.

Back

Rowan is safely back. She had a great time, full of stories about French metropolitan life. Her exchange's mother ran a local bakery - so you can imagine breakfast was pretty good.

Danielle and I went a 11mile+  walk in the Wolds this week. Very murky, saw only two other walkers, a really good walk. Milo was exhausted at the end of it - he must have covered at least 20 miles.

Forbrydelsen

Rowan seems to be getting on OK in France; here she is with the other exchange students.
Danielle and I have started watching The Killing [Danish thriller]; by doing so I am aware that we are not so much surfing the Zeitgeist as doggy-paddling in its wake, but we are really enjoying it. 5 episodes down, a mere 15 to follow.

London

Down to London yesterday to check up on the venue for the exhibition. Danielle was working there as well, so were able to travel together - a rare luxury. I had lunch with Rob in Chinatown - good to catch up.

Saw this bike on York Station; there are cool narrow bars, and there are silly bars. These are in the latter category.

Down ont Farm

Since moving to their crumbling farmhouse John and Katy have started to look very at home there; in a Deliverance sort of way.

Bees Are Home

We drove over to John & Katy's to collect the bees from their Holderness Vacation. Our bees are the two dull hives nearest the camera. John has made the pretty pretty white ones himself - very impressive but not replicable in this household.
They are now safely home. Driving with a couple of thousand bees in the back of the car is the not the most restful of occupations.

Bass

Friday night we went out for a drink with new friends Andy and Tina; to the pub, a bit of a rarity for us both, but really enjoyed it. The pub is the Guy Fawkes in Petergate http://www.gfyork.com/ where Guy Fawkes was born [allegedly]
I am busy renovating an old bass that I forgot I had [swapped with Derwood for my Dobro sometime last century]. The playing with Greg is going well, so we thought of getting someone in on bass, hence my search. There it was in the garage - took a lot of cleaning. A Gibson SB400 if you are interested. Once cleaned up it should look like this ...

Health

I got called in to the Doctors for a Health Check being given to all people over 45. It involved a blood test, and various measurements. I came out in the bottom 5% for likelihood of a heart attack. Reassuring I suppose.

Rowan is in France on her exchange trip. All seems well so far. We miss her.  

Photo is another from the Wolds.

Chair Free

After 6 long years I finally got to stand down as chair of Friends of Hob Moor last night at the AGM. The final sting in the tale was being told at 9 in the morning that our speaker was crying off. So rather than scrabble around and get a replacement I decided to do a talk myself on birds. It went well.

The organisation is on a strong financial and activity footing and the good committee will take it forward I am sure. So here is one last link to the website http://www.friendsofhobmoor.org.uk/ and here is a photo of the beautiful Moor.

University

It was Freshers Fair at the University in York. Last year friend Bev and I manned the stall between us, with help from Quaker students. This year they did it all themselves. I popped up and it was well under control. Great work by the students. This photo is of the lake that forms the centre of the campus.

Fast Girls

Another photo from the Free Food walk. It really was a beautiful morning.
We all watched Fast Girls http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1700808/ a "gritty" movie about British girl athletes which was great.

Free Food

Danielle and I went on a walk/talk on Free Food in our local park on Saturday. A beautiful day, really interesting; did you know you can eat Ground Elder like spinach. I am going to try it, if for no other reason than revenge  [it is a tiresomely invasive weed]. http://www.downsizer.net/Articles/Cooking,_preserving_and_home_brewing/Ground_elder_recipes_-_eat_your_way_to_eradicating_a_troublesome_weed/

Books

In Book Group we discussed The Death Instinct by Jed someone which was truly terrible [imho]. Next book is Simon Armitage's reworking of Gawain and the Green Knight http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gawain-Green-Knight-Simon-Armitage/dp/0571223281/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1350207451&sr=8-1 which is fantastic. I know nothing of Arthurian legend, so this tale was all new to me - loved it.
I have also read The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling which was really good and really easy to read - recommended.

The photo is from the Leeds ride, it was wet and tunnels were encountered.

Harewood

My ride yesterday took me through the Harewood estate on bridal ways. The estate is well maintained and the public rights of way well signed; so different from many of the local landowners.
Rowan today was taking part in a PeaceJam at school http://www.peacejam.org.uk/ which is a good thing.

Leeds

The music is going well with Greg. Our styles are complementary, and we are playing once a week.
Today I rode to Leeds on bridle paths. It was a muddy tough but exhillerating route; so muddy that I decided not to get the train back from Leeds [I was just too bad] and instead rode up to Harewood then across back to York with a howling tail wind. A good day.

This photo is of the swollen River Aire as I arrived into the centre of Leeds.

Sales

I went over to Beverley to drop off another framed print to replace one I sold; the gallery is proving slow but steady for me. I walked in Newbald Dale on the way back and found this magical bit of wood. I listened to an Eric Ambler story on the iPod - very entertaining.

CND

We put up a couple of CND peace-riders this week. It was arranged through Quakers for local York friends to provide accommodation for cyclists who were on a protest ride round various US bases. I imagined some young student types, but [like trainspotters] it seems to be the same people who used to do the protests, just older. Anyway they were extremely pleasant guests to have around. We wish them well.

Hindsight

The phrase "Hindsight in a wonderful thing" is wrong. Hindsight is a terrible thing. I was making Chili jelly using my own home-grown chillies and feeling good about it as  I chopped them up happily. Without wearing gloves. Three hours later I was in excruciating pain all over my hands. I tried milk, alcohol, salt, soap, cold water. None worked. I finally got to sleep at 3.30 in the morning. And what had hindsight given me? just the endlessly repeated question "Why oh why didn't you put your gloves on? You knew it would hurt" Not helpful.
The jelly looks and tastes great though

AA

This is a shot of a favourite tree in the Wolds from the walk with Danielle last week.
Friday I met Danielle in Leeds where she was speaking at a banking seminar. As I stood outside the venue looking for the right door to go in someone asked me "Are you here for AA?". Quite hard not to be offended.

Etape Pennine

Just back from taking part in the Etape Pennines http://www.etapepennines.co.uk/coursemaps.html bike ride with Dave and Mark in Durham. It was the best sportive I have done. Brilliant tough route [including the highest road in England] perfect weather [sun and little wind] closed roads [no cars] plenty of feed stops. It could not have been better.
Dave and I went up to Durham last night and stayed with Dave's friend Mark, then set off at 7.30 this morning. I did a time of 6 hours 13 minutes for the 78 miles and 2,300 metres of ascent which I was pleased about.

Upstairs

Despite out best efforts upstairs does tend to get a bit less minimal than we would like from time to time. At the moment there are all my photos being got ready for the big London show next month. Then there are the tomato, pepper and aubergine plants in the window at the back. Then there is the bee-stuff [round the corner]. Then my guitar and amp, now that I am jamming each week with Greg. Then there is the dog.
Otherwise empty.

Anniversaries

It is 8 years since the blog started. I hope you still enjoy it.
It is 20 years since Paul and I cycled across the Himalayas from India to Ladakh. This photo was taken at the 5300m pass of Taglangla. The highest point of the Yorkshire Wolds is 260m. Times have changed.

Family News

Here is the baby Rosalind.
And here is a link to an article about Danielle's brother Ben being a Quaker in the US that was in the Washington Post.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/therootdc/post/the-other-believers-ben-fiore-walker-a-black-quaker/2012/10/02/386ccf46-0bdd-11e2-a310-2363842b7057_blog.html

Birth

My niece Sarah and Markus have had their first child - Rosalind. All very pleased about it. This picture of Rowan torturing Sarah in Oxford long ago, shows that she has some experience of the trials that await.