Logged On

Today Dad and I entertained Little Lad for lunch. He was dropped off at 11, so the two of us shared some fun time together, before Grandad got home from church. As is always the case when Dad is around, my services were no longer required- it's Grandad this and Grandad that LOL. Which was fine- they played on the Cbeebies site while I cooked lunch. Roast lamb with roasted potatoes and parsnips to be exact, together with steamed carrots, peas and broccoli. Just so you know LOL.



Afterwards the pair settled to some imaginative play and then some quiet time before it was time for him to go home.














Oh and if you look closely at both pictures, you'll see some of my ceramic work too.

Honeymoon Cards

Honeymoon is the most waited period for newly wed couples who wait for long holidays for their honeymoon time. Enjoy and celebrate your wedding on your romantic honeymoon in a much unique way. Exchange these free honeymoon cards among each other as a token of heart felt love and affection. You can even make the holidays more romantic and loving by presenting valentine chocolates as a gift to your hubby or sweetheart.

Banner

There are lots of pubs in England called "The Red Lion", "The Royal Oak", "The White Lion" and "The Prince of Wales" but there are only two called "The Banner Cross" and one of them is a short stroll from our house. It is my local and I have visited it regularly for twenty years.

The pub has a mock Tudor frontage. No car park because it faces busy Ecclesall Road - the main southerly route out of Sheffield. It has three rooms. Upstairs there's the games room which attracts a younger crowd and downstairs there's the old "tap room" and the lounge. Presiding over this drinking empire are the redoubtable Janet and Roger. Rough as they come, Roger is regularly stricken with painful attacks of gout these days while Janet sees red mists when ever anyone crosses her and she can swear like a trooper. I think she might be described as a "harridan" - a worn out horse or a large gaunt woman. She has put the fear of God into many an unsuspecting drinker.

I was down there this evening. There was Irish Joe who came to England in 1961 to begin his building "career". His Irish brogue remains as broad as it must have been when he stepped off the boat forty seven years ago. There was Bert from Northampton who worked manually in the concrete industry till he was sixty five. He was singing songs tonight - "Burlington Bertie from Bow" and "The White Cliffs of Dover". In spite of his extremely hard life, he is a very nice man who never thinks ill of anyone. Then there was Mick the Plumber (not John McCain's daft Joe the Plumber) - he was very tired after a week working away on a building contract in Blackpool.

Other people I often see at "The Banner" include the perpetually unemployed and unemployable Gibby whose aged mother is racked with rheumatoid arthritis. He keeps saying that he hopes she hasn't fallen over again as he sups his fifth pint of lager beer. Then there''s Derek with his various dogs, tattoos and roll-ups. He can't read or write but he always shakes my hand and asks me about my family. To use a term from Philip Larkin, I think of him as a "loblolly man" - he makes money by painting people's houses when and if he feels like it. He's a very good worker who takes pride in his painting and I have always been rather jealous of his free and easy approach to work. Unlike me, he is very much his own boss.

Big Dave has just got back from a week's holiday in Brazil where he met one of the Great Train Robber - Ronnie Biggs's best mates. They drank beer in a Rio bar and went for steaks that you paid for on the basis of weight. Lonesome Dave is obsessed with money and things financial and has an uncanny knack of turning conversations that way - territory that frankly makes me yawn. He's always advising me about pensions and savings but I don't care about things like that. I like poems and songs and brilliant goals, stunning photographs and beautiful objects - not how much interest I might make on a thousand pounds or how much I will need for a solvent retirement.

There are plenty of others - Irish Pat, Roman the barman and James the son of Irish Pat, the obnoxious Leeds Mick, Jim the Sheffield Wednesday fan who never sits down and the gardener Dave Glossop who is Sheffield United crazy. There's Barnsley Paul and Mr McCraig, Dimitri the Greek jeweller with his English wife Jo, the quiz kings Richard and Jonathan, brothers-in-law Roy and Mike, Welsh Geraint and the Spanish lass Maria who lives on Glenalmond Road. Jamaican Murray whose wife died in July and Tony the Kurd with his kebab shop.

It's an English pub - my local - and a great leveller. Who cares if you are a builder or a lawyer? Who cares if you have travelled the world or made a million, fought in Iraq or fought in a night club? Who cares if you are a secondary school teacher working up to sixty hours a week and stressing out about targets and the stupid National Challenge? Who cares if you are fat or thin, male or female, young or old? The English pub is a national treasure. Nowhere in the world have I found a facility like it, so roll out the barrel and let's all drink to the future of the great English pub!

Whoops!

Have you ever played a practical joke only to see it fall completely flat? Well I have, shall I go on?

This morning a colleague- J- stopped by for a brief chat before getting to her desk. J and I get on quite well and you could say have found a common level of gentle teasing. You get the picture. Anyway after she had gone to her desk, I noticed she'd left her car key behind.

Now I really don't know what came over me but I thought it would really be a neat idea to hide her car, one of the new style Mini's (or an Estate Agent's car as we call them). So that's just what I did: went and found where she'd parked, had my ear-drums destroyed by the volume that greeted me from the stereo and then drove it round two sides of the building to a new parking space. Bad Dobby.

I then went back inside, played dumb (not hard I hear you say) and handed the key back to J saying she'd left it behind. J usually goes out most lunchtimes, often on errands for her husband and kids etc, so I didn't think it would be many hours before the jape would be discovered and- more importantly- she would find it funny.

However...

What I didn't bank on was another colleague arriving late and unable to find a parking space, simply parked behind J's car, completely blocking it in. This person then promptly went to an all-day meeting. Needless to say I was not popular. Not the person who had illegally parked, oh no, just me. Bad, bad Dobby.

And speaking of Dobby, well... maybe I'll save that for another post.

End Of An Era?

The BBC is reporting tonight that Woolworths will go into administration shortly, to be run by Deloitte's. It is reported that 1000's of jobs at it's 800+ stores are now at risk although for the moment they will remain open.

When Was The Last Time..?

As shares in Woolworths have been suspended on the London Stock Exchange, I got to think when was the last time I actually bought anything in this once great retailer?

Then again a quick poll of friends and family has revealed the same. Used to be you would make 'Woolies' your first port of call when out shopping- the place where you could buy almost anything- now it's more like a last resort when all else has failed. I know there's a worldwide slowdown (and a lot of once great names are being humbled) and we mustn't forget the www has had an effect. Other retailers have moved into Woolworths' territory; I've been hearing rumblings of difficulties there for nearly a year now and I can't help but wonder just what's gone wrong?


Sarah Jane's coming back for a third season, yea!


Cardiff 2 - 2 Reading

Found

Did you ever find something... something that sticks in your memory?

Long ago in 1970, as the Isle of Wight Music Festival was ending, I found a Pentax Spotmatic camera hanging from a beam above a primitive row of toilets - precarious planks with bum holes suspended above a stinking trench. I snapped the abandoned festival site, including sleepy festival goers in polythene sheets as a thin rain descended. It had been quite amazing - Jimi Hendrix, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell, Donovan and Free... Later I sold the camera for twenty five pounds in a camera shop in Hull.

Around 1991, I was returning from Scotland after attending a university friend's fortieth birthday celebrations. I pulled in to the motorway services on the M6 just east of the Lake District. It was around nine at night and there on the big entrance mat by the double doors I spotted a bundle of banknotes. I scooped them up and headed for the cafeteria area. £65! It was more than enough to pay for my weekend away. If you are the one who dropped it, I thank you ever so much.

It must have been a couple of years earlier, Shirley was working at the hospital and I was looking after the kids. I recall that Frances was in her aluminium framed baby hod, surveying Derbyshire from her vantage point on my shoulders. Holding Ian's little pink hand, we marched across a ragged sheep pasture and there in a hollow we spotted an ancient sheep's skull. It had been abandoned so long that the bone was bleached white and all signals of flesh had disappeared with the passing of several seasons. We still have that skull, a souvenir of a time long gone.

I found many other things: a rare Pacific seashell, stamps commemorating the discovery of Rotuma, an old grindstone and a stoneware Barnsley Vinegar Company bottle, the diary of a woman student at university detailing her life - including several sexual encounters, wartime grocery products in a derelict house in Devon and a strange wooden object the size of a mango that came rolling down the hill as I walked up to Edinburgh castle with a former girlfriend. Carved upon it was the primitive image of a man holding hands with a woman.

What did you find?

45

First broadcast this day 1963 and still going strong.

1988

What is life all about? When all the words have been spoken and the dust has settled, what is there left? I am sorry but after we have measured our dreams and ticked the inventory of our experiences and achievements, what it all boils down to is reproduction. Like other creatures and the entire plant world, that is ultimately why we are here - to ensure the continuity of our species. Dear Reader - you had a mother and a father. Through their parenting you became part of the human chain - a link connected with the past. By having children ourselves we continue that linkage and send part of ourselves into a future where we may not travel.The photo above was taken in September 1988 by Shirley's mum at the Nether Edge Maternity Hospital in Sheffield. It's a much younger me and Shirley with our little son Ian and our newly born daughter, Frances. My face is full of joy - not because a hairy caterpillar is crawling across my upper lip - but because I recognise the wondrous nature of this moment that the camera is about to capture. It's why I came into the world. It's the very meaning of life - nothing to do with God or splitting the atom, emulating Shakespeare or painting a masterpiece - but this - a man, a woman, a son and a daughter - a family. Our passport to the future, our living acknowledgement of the past. To be so blessed is something beyond the scope of words. And the woman who pressed the button is herself now gone beyond this earthly life but part of her remains.

Saturday Update

Just a brief early evening posting for you.

Took a trip out to the Southern Pottery and Ceramics Show, held annually at The Maltings, Farnham. Sadly there were slightly fewer potters displaying this year- is this a sign of the Credit Crunch having an effect? It certainly costs a small fortune to exhibit and maybe some are feeling this was a show too far. I don't know.

Thankfully one of my favourite potters was present today, as well as being one of the afternoon speakers. How would you fancy serving your Tea from one of these creations? All are fully functional! I particularly loved the the blue Tea Pot with the black handle, which turned out to be rubber covered. Very tactile. Nice. All the rest are 100% ceramic and 110% amazing.














Take a look at Richard Godfrey's website here for more!

















Elsewhere today The Royals entertained fourth from bottom Southampton. The Saints out played Reading and finally broke their unbeaten home run this season. The game finished Reading 1 - 2 Southampton. The Reading stay in third.

Dancing

Like John Sergeant, the dancing Yorkshire Pudding finds his career is cut short. Especially for ye swooning devotees of "Strictly Come Dancing" - enjoy!

Shop 'Til You Drop..?

Well not quite but I did spend a couple of hours tonight trying to make a start on all things Christmas-y. You know presents and stuff.

I have to admit it is a whole lot easier when you can pay a visit to arguably 2 of the UK's most popular chains (M&S and Tesco), who just happen to have (perhaps) their largest stores conveniently situated side by side and just down the road from where I work. Oh and did I mention they seem to be having sales on?

So among other things I was able to buy this little fellow and two of his buddies for £4.80 and I thought they'd make excellent additions to this year's decorations. It changes colour dontchaknow, from yellow to red to blue and finally green. Cool isn't it?

And yes before you ask I did manage to buy a few pressies as well. I'm not telling what though LOL.







Oh yeah before I go, I have to mention the smart money is on Paterson Joseph to take over in the lead role when the next full series of Doctor Who starts in 2010. Having seen him in others roles, I think this would be a good, bold choice. Let's see if we're right...



Read the BBC News item here.

Doctor Who In Thailand?

This is a bit of a non-story since nothing has actually been discovered but yesterday the Daily Telegraph reported that 9 missing episodes from the William Hartnell era may be found in Thailand.

It's been widely reported that the BBC used to junk old episodes of series they no longer had use for or perceived a value. This was in the days before satellite and cable reruns or sales on VHS and DVD you understand, in order to make space in their archives. It was not just the adventures of the Time Lord that were affected but many once-loved series are no longer in existence.

However the BBC did often sell Doctor Who to other broadcasters, who didn't always return their copies after transmission. Obviously the BBC didn't actually see any value in demanding these copies back from Australia or the US for example, so they often got thrown out but occasionally archived by the local broadcaster. Once in a while dedicated fans have been successful in locating missing copies and negotiating to buy or copy and return them to the BBC.

Check out the good fellows at the Doctor Who Restoration Team who have done wonders cleaning up, restoring and splicing together old episodes bringing up to broadcast standard and ready for retail. These guys all have full time jobs and do this mostly for the love of the programme.

If the Telegraph story does turn out to be true I for one will be very pleased but the Restoration Team will certainly have their work cut out!

Humps

Humps or bumps or sleeping policemen? I don't care what label you give them but I hate them. From time to time, it's healthy to have a good rant and speed humps are very rantworthy - if there is such a word.

It's amazing when you start scouring the internet just how much strong feeling there is out there about the humps. Far from being a traffic calming measure they are a source of much annoyance amongst drivers up and down this country. Until writing this post, I hadn't realised that speed bumps often cause actual physical pain to people with back complaints or those who have recently had surgery in hospitals. I had also failed to recognise that the braking and acceleration associated with speed bumps creates extra noxious gas pollution. That's just two powerful arguments against the damned things.

Let's go back in time - about ten years ago. In my home city - Sheffield - there wasn't a single speed bump - apart from those on hospital property. Then somebody at the council thought it would be a good idea to randomly introduce them on nearby Rustlings Road just by Endcliffe Park. Why there and nowhere else is an unanswerable question. Rustlings Road is an ordinary city street and in the twenty years I have lived nearby I can't recall one single occasion when a pedestrian was reportedly knocked down upon it by a speeding vehicle.

Those speed bumps led to a humping industry where teams of road workers would seemingly randomly dig up roads and with no consultation with local residents create the dreaded humps. Sometimes the humps would be in red tarmac, sometimes in black/grey. Sometimes they'd be continuous humps and sometimes intermittent, individual humps. Between these devilish mounds they would sometimes leave a foot, sometimes a metre. The distance between them like the height is variable - with apparently no regulatory dimensions.

When we had a Ford Focus, I could whizz over these individual mounds without much of a bump at all. Like many drivers, I found myself concentrating more on how to drive over the speed bumps than upon more important traffic issues such as who was behind me and who was in front or whether or not there were children playing at the roadside. However, in Shirley's environmentally-sound little Nissan Micra with its narrow wheelbase, there is no way you can whizz over the speed bumps. In a thirty mile an hour zone, you have to literally get down to 15mph in order to avoid damage caused by the jolting that each speed bump creates. This can be frustrating for following drivers in bigger cars who probably don't understand that each speed bump is like a hazard to be negotiated when you are driving in a small car.

Why do some roads have them while others don't? How much does the speed bump tarmac have to crumble before it is repaired? Why do councils make driving even more difficult by creating costly one way "chicaines" at random points on humped roads? How do they decide to have continuous or broken humps? How many lives have been saved by speed humps and more significantly how many lives have been lost because of them? How much damage do speed bumps cause to cars each week and in the longer term?

Send £50 (or $80US) to Mr Y.Pudding if you wish to join the "BASH" organisation - Bloggers Against Speed Humps. Direct action will be important in our campaign so please ensure you have a pick axe, a pneumatic drill or a stick of semtex handy and wait for further instructions from BASH command.

Ugly monstrosity!

Some Things Don't Change

Some 30+ years ago a little boy used to play endlessly with his Hot Wheels set in his parent's Living Room. I'm pleased to say that in 2008 another little boy loves playing with his own set. Doesn't seem to have changed much over the years either and a real Billy Bargain at only 7 quid from the used toy sale.


Please pardon this poor quality camera phone image but you get the idea.





Oh yeah in all the excitement yesterday, I forgot to mention the Postman delivered my shiny new Doctor Who series 4 box-set. Should help me get through the long dark winter evenings, don't you think? LOL

Winning Ways

The Royals traveled to Sheffield today and came away with 3 well deserved points. The final score being Sheffield United 0, Reading 2.

Both Wolves and Birmingham won today so Reading stay in third but have managed to close the gap on the leading pair and open a (slight) lead over fourth placed Burnley.

Well done lads.

The Coca-Cola Football League Championship Table 15 November 2008

		P	GD	PTS
1	Wolverhampton	17	15	40
2	Birmingham	17	9	34
3	Reading	17	22	33
4	Burnley	17	2	29
5	Sheff Utd	17	9	28
6	Cardiff	17	6	28
7	Swansea	17	4	27
8	Bristol City	17	2	25
9	Plymouth	17	1	25
10	QPR	17	0	25

Chemistry

When I was a school student, I absolutely loathed Chemistry. Now The Royal Society of Chemistry have decided with presumptive self-importance that it is their place to make scientific pronouncements about Yorkshire Puddings that are frankly libellous! Take this headline - "Yorkshire puddings must rise four inches or higher, rule the chemists"! What? Four inches! No way! The Yorkshire Pudding must rise seven inches at least! No housewife would be satisfied with a four inch rise. In the picture below - issued by the RSC - you can see a housewife (well I'm praying it's a housewife!) tugging at a Yorkshire Pudding, lasciviously trying to make the poor fellow rise higher. Click on said picture to link to the BBC article on this topic of international importance:-

Personally I think the RSC should stick to bunsen burners, test tubes and copper sulphate and leave the humble Yorkshire Pudding alone or maybe one day the BBC will be hosting an article that reads "Members of The Royal Society of Chemistry will never rise again, rules Yorkshire Pudding".

Finally

These days, being a secondary school teacher on the wrong side of the tracks is no picnic. Unwelcome pressure seems to press down on you in various ways. Firstly, there are the children. Although the majority of them remain lovely, there's a sizable minority who just don't give a damn. It's in their genes as one downtrodden generation of under-achievers produces another, more mouthy and more pig-headed than the last. They arrive at school without pens to write with, spouting foul language, without bags to carry their work in and worst of all without inquisitiveness or hunger for knowledge and self-improvement. Sadly, such losers will invariably have a massive influence upon the general ethos of a school.

Next there's the internal politics. You get innovative headteachers who care more about the latest bandwagons and their personal reputations and next career steps than they do about the children in their charge. Their underlings vie for position like hungry ducks in a pond - spouting the latest jargon, upholding the old managerial philosophy - "Do as I say, not as I do!"

Then there are the various tentacles of government. Local authorities find themselves squeezed to do better - get up the league tables. Their officers visit schools with laptops and serious expressions - confirming targets, demanding action plans and post mortems. In addition there's the dreaded OFSTED with its army of former teachers eager to submit their claims for expenses and feather their retirement nests as they move from school to school making snap judgements in the name of "standards". The National Strategy people churn out documents and ring binders, changing their strategy as they go along, somehow expecting magical things like the cascading of their multitudinous bullet points and Powerpoint slides.

The latest weapon is "The National Challenge" in which schools in areas of deprivation find themselves pilloried for failing to meet the baseline expectation of 30% of youngsters achieving five grade C's including English and Maths. There are no leafy suburban schools in the "National Challenge" hit list - just schools like mine, struggling on the edges of huge council estates to bring out the best from their pupils - poring over spreadsheets, chances graphs and league tables.

So much of it stinks. I have been teaching for over thirty years - the last fourteen as head of department. I cannot tell you the number of extra hours I have put in to the job - in my holidays, late at night, at weekends, during non-existent lunch hours. Today, very typically, I left work at 6.45pm, having started at 8.15am - that's ten and a half hours! And the same tomorrow no doubt. It's pride and my reasonable income that have kept me going this far. Inside, I have often been tortured by the job, waking up in the middle of the night to replay incidents. Most recently I have felt physically affected by it all - as if my essential life force is being sapped away.

There's that saying isn't there - if you can't stand the heat - get out of the kitchen... Well that's what I have decided to do - make it through to next summer and then out. I have told the Ice Maiden headteacher herself. I don't know what next September will hold but I'll get by. I fancy being the paint man at B&Q or driving a white van around the country but I guess I will end up still stuck in the nightmare world of education - a bit of supply teaching here, some college work there - just to garner more funds to keep life comfortable and continue to support our two kids. But those other pressures will be gone. Surely, I have done my time. I've got to go.

Pie Time!

You know I like food. There's no getting away from it or denying the matter and one of the best things about Christmas time (apart from the roast Turkey, Christmas Cake, Christmas Pudding etc) is this:














Mince Pies. What sums up Winter and Christmas in particular better than a warm Mince Pie? Well perhaps two warm ones. I love 'em and can't get enough so it's just as well the shops are now stacked high with the things. Excellent! For any out-of-towners I'd better explain these are a sweet pie usually stuffed full to the sugar dusted crust with Sultanas, Apple, Cinnamon, Nutmeg and Orange. Or so the packet tells me.

The only downside being that if I keep on eating them I may well get large enough to don the red coat and give the Fat Man himself a run for his money during the festive period.

On another note, I forgot to mention last week I bumped into S the younger sister of A, the family friend you may recall recently discovered she has quite advanced Breast Cancer. Well she's doing OK, keeping her spirits up and trying to remain positive. She's now had two chemo treatments, with more to follow. S told me that obviously at the back of her mind is the fact my mum didn't make it in the end. I'm afraid I had to agree but pointed out mum had 13 good, Cancer free years and that we all have to be grateful for every day God has given us on this planet.

Take A Moment

To all those in our Armed Forces who have given their lives so we might enjoy freedom and security, we will never forget you.

Still In Third

Reading 3-0 Derby.

Nice.

Collage

Just messing about...

Where Did Christmas Go?

Our local Asda (Walmart for any out-of-towners) is now selling Hot Cross Buns.

OK so Dad couldn't resist and I ended up "helping him out" but these are an Easter food. Did we just skip Christmas and go straight to Spring? Where's my present-filled stocking? What happen to kissing under the Mistletoe (I should be so lucky), Christmas Cake and relatives you only see once a year? This is just so wrong. Still they did taste very good LOL.

Barack

The answer has been "spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled" - the new President of The United States is to be Barack Obama. It felt right to mark his victory in this blog on the day it happened. I wish him personal safety and strength through the difficult years ahead. Outside the fireworks of England's Bonfire Night burst golden in our night sky but let us say that their illumination is also in praise of Obama's election and the hope he has genuinely inspired. Great news.

Valentine Chocolates

Chocolates are the most lovely gift for your Valentine and when it is designed in heart shape it look fantastic and romantic too. Send Valentine chocolate gift for your valentine along with beautiful valentine card and flowers. Say the magical words " i love you to your sweetheart" to express your heart felt feelings.

I Love You Sweetheart

My love for you will never vanish. It keeps on growing. Oh my Sweetheart, you are the reason for me to live. You have filled my life with colors, love and affection. Never change yourself for me. I feel contented in your arms and I Love You for every reason. Please always be my side to support me, help me and love me. Express your heart feelings to your sweety with these I Love You Sweetheart Cards.

etcetera

...After Fountains Abbey, we drove west to Brimham Rocks and then down into scenic Pateley Bridge before heading back to Ripon. By now the Manchester United v Hull City commentary was underway on Radio Five... and Ronaldo scored after three minutes. Oh no!

We strolled around sturdy Ripon Cathedral, descending into the Saxon Crypt which drew thousands of pilgrims to the city in the middle ages. Shirley bought some sheepskin slippers from The Edinburgh Wool Shop and we had coffees in Cafe Nero overlooking the ancient marketplace. Grrroaaan! She wanted to do some more shopping but I just wanted to get back to the car to listen to the last fifteen minutes of the radio commentary. I was expecting The Tigers to be losing badly but we were only 4-2 down against the European Champions!

As I listened, they described Ferdinand's foul on Mendy. Penalty! And up stepped Geovanni to drive it home. The last few minutes saw the great Man United in a panic as we pushed for an unlikely equaliser. Un-bloody-believable!

That night we paid handsomely for modern English cuisine in Lockwoods' Family Restaurant. For the starter, I had pink pigeon breasts on a bed of caramelised chicory with warm rocket salad, followed by braised local rabbit on a mound of parsley mash with two neatly laid layers of bobby beans. For dessert it was butterscotch parfait with hazelnut praline. Really posh nosh! To tell you the truth, I enjoyed Friday night's cheapo curry rather more.

After Lockwoods we saw the Ripon hornblower emerge from the town hall just before nine. He went to the four corners of the marketplace obelisk where he blew his ram's horn - one long deep and continuous note at each corner. This is an ancient ritual - performed every night for nigh on a thousand years. It is to do with setting the watch - warning townsfolk that it's time to retire for the night as the wakeman does his rounds.

On Sunday morning, we ended up at a stately home near Leeds called Harewood House. It is very grand and was lavishly furnished as the eighteenth century gave way to the nineteenth - mostly on profits the Lascelles family made from the slave trade. We decided to visit the kitchen garden first of all - about half a mile from the main house. There was an old couple with leather bush hats walking ahead of us - nobody else was around at that early hour. We caught up with them in the huge kitchen garden itself. Shirley chatted briefly to them while I retrieved a last lonesome apple from the otherwise bare fruit trees. It was only afterwards that we realised we had been chatting to none other than the seventh Earl of Harewood himself - with his wife The Countess of Harewood. That apple belonged to them! Off with my head!

Harewood House

Cracking News

I've just been reading that A Matter of Loaf and Death, the new Wallace and Gromit 30 minute story will probably air this Christmas on BBC1.

Pass me the crackers and Stinking Bishop!

Best Man For The Job?

In case you hadn't noticed, over in the US they're having a little election today. You might possibly have missed it LOL.

Seriously given the amount of coverage we've had for the past several months here in the United Kingdom, you might be forgiven for thinking we all get to vote. Thankfully we don't- I just don't think I could choose one man over the other.

You know I really can't believe just how much money both campaigns have spent; Wouldn't the money have been better used to support currently struggling small businesses or given to the needy? I mean $2 million for 30 minutes advertising- How many mouths would that feed in Africa?

So for what it's worth, here's my thoughts:

I firmly believe whether it's President of the US or Prime Minister of the UK, the person best suited to lead a county is the one who least wants the job.

Wouldn't it be great if at the bottom of the ballot there was an extra box you could select that simply said "None of the above."

Weekend

And so to Ripon in North Yorkshire on a Friday evening - the night of Halloween. There's heavy traffic on the M1/A1 link road near Leeds so it takes us two hours to get there. The Crescent Lodge Guest House is easy to find. Room Number 1 on the first landing is clean and cared for with an en suite shower room. We drop off our suitcase and wander two hundred yards into the ancient market place.

Beyond this is Kirkgate. I have done my research and there it is - The Bangladeshi Balti House. You can bring your own drinks so I have to go back outside in search of an off-licence ("liquor store" to transatlantic readers). Sainsburys is closed. After a bit of a wander, I'm back with four cans of Kronenborg.

The curry is quite delightful and clearly the place is popular with Riponians. Our table is rather small though - a marble-topped Victorian pub table and there's not enough room for our nan bread, rice, beer and hot plate for keeping the balti dishes warm - but we manage. Later, we're in "The Black Swan" on Skellgate supping John Smiths Cask bitter as fancy-dressed Halloween partygoers parade past us - witches, amber pumpkins, whiter shade of pale zombies.

Next morning, after a wholesome "full English" in the breakfast room, we're out in the November sunshine and on our way to the ruins of Fountains Abbey - Yorkshire's only "World Heritage" site. I was eight or nine when I last came here on a school trip. Begun by a small band of Cistercian monks from York in 1132, this abbey became both powerful and wealthy on the back of the wool trade. It had a hospital and a mill, several chapels and bridges and was home to hundreds of monks in its heyday. As you walk around it, you appreciate the peaceful beauty of the abbey's location by the little River Skell and you wonder about past times - the skill and ambition of the stone masons, the certainty of that lost society's religious belief, how the monks spent their days, the four hundred years in which Fountains Abbey exerted such influence over its immediate region... I took some photographs:-

Famous view of the west tower.

The cellarium beneath the refectory.

Stone soaring to the heavens.

Detail of tiles on the high altar.

Bear with me - I will continue this weekend account in my next post...

Ka-Pow!

In no particular order:

Took a short trip today to South Hill Park Arts Centre to the tiny 60 seat cinema they have there to see The Dark Knight. Pretty good, if a little long and couldn't help but nearly shout "No!" as ...... got ...... half way through. Batman fans will know what I mean. As expected Heath Ledger was pure brilliance. My only criticism being that for a certificate 12, it seemed extremely violent. Or am I just getting old?

Tomorrow night I start my photography course. Yea! Which reminds me I ran into someone from the ceramics group at the cinema last Wednesday, purely by chance. Long time no see but it was good to catch up briefly and confirm we'll both be present at the potting bench in January. Are we really that close to 2009 already, it doesn't seem true.

The Royals traveled west on the M4 yesterday to Bristol to play City. Reading came home with the points after a 1-4 victory. Nice.

Rain stopped play Saturday, or at least canceled the fireworks and bonfire Little Lad was pining his hopes on. It meant he wasn't able to hold his Grandad's hand and tell him there was nothing to be scared of LOL. Maybe next week.

I did manage my now weekly walk around the Uni lake today, despite the weather. Feeling better but I'm not sure the weight is shifting. Hey ho.

In Formula One, Briton Lewis Hamilton has just become the youngest ever world champion, despite finishing fifth in the Brazilian Grand Prix. Also across the great watery divide today, Paula Radcliffe takes the women's New York marathon title for the third time. Well done to both.

My dvd choices for entertainment this evening are The Claws Of Axos or Ironman. Which should it be?