August 21st 08 - dusting the bike off

I've not been on my bike since the end of summer last year. The months I had recovering from my broken ankle haven't helped but I feel its strong enough now to take a bit of light exercise so if the weather stays good over the weekend I hope to take it for a bit of a spin.

I'll have to find a pump though first as the months in the shed haven't been too kind to the tyres.

Lets hope for a decent weekend with the weather, it would be good to get out in the fresh air again.

August 20th 08 - who can resist?

Well I can resist...frankly he is a very loud and somewhat irritating man (well on the telly anyway, I've never met him face to face)

He is appearing at the Hull Food Festival this weekend. I've never been to the event but I'm told it is really rather good so if I'm free this Saturday I may head down and see what is on offer. I love to cook so I'm always looking for new ideas. Maybe they'll be giving stuff away too...yummy!

August 19th 08 - a very tired me!

This is one of only a few self portrait I have on my photostream on Flickr. I hate having my photo taken but at least when you do it yourself you can control to a certain extent how good/bad you look.

I am very very tired after my weekend away, but a very pleasant tired not a worn out tired. So this is a photo of me with sleepy eyes about to get ready to head off to bed.

Goodnight

August 18th 08 - Ruby on her wheels

This is my girlfriend Ruby on her new bike. It is a Suzuki GSX650F and it is a true beauty. She even let me sit on it and have my photo taken. I wasn't expecting it to be so heavy and big but it is a beautiful bike.

I even tried on her spare helmet and I know she has a spare jacket too...so maybe next time I'll get a trip round the block on the pillion seat *hint hint*

Thanks for a wonderful weekend Ruby, I loved going to the festival and sharing all those fantastic experiences with you, I can't wait to see you again xxx

August 17th 08 - Edinburgh Festival Day3

In the morning we took a break from the festival and headed along the River Firth to a place called Culross. It's a small Scottish village saved from rack and ruin by the National Trust of Scotland and is now a popular place on the tourist trail. The buildings in the village are quite something and feel more like a Mediterranean fishing village than a place only a few miles from Edinburgh. We enjoyed our walk round and had lunch in the local pub. t was strange not to see a selection of typical Sunday roasts at the pub, I am so used to that being the norm down here in England. It was a lovely lunch though.

Then in the afternoon we went into the city again to meet a friend of Rubys for a coffee which was lovely. We then went into the excitement that is the Fringe once more. This beautiful lady was one of a number of Japanese people dressed up. They all looked stunning and were happy to pose for photos.

In the evening we went to see Brahms - The Two Piano Concerti at Greyfriars Kirk. It was wonderful and even though it was not something I would have necessarily picked out as something I would have wanted to see it was excellent and I really enjoyed it. However, Ruby and I nearly committed a cultural faux paus by putting out coats on at the point we thought it had finished ready to go only to find out it was the intermission and there was another concerto coming up. Hopefully not too many people noticed :)

Then it was back to Rubys for a late night supper of Port, cheese, crackers and chocolate...lovely :)

August 16th 08 - Edinburgh Festival Day2

Today we set off into Edinburgh and headed over to the Pleasance, a Fringe venue on the southern side of town. The atmosphere there was great, lots of fun and lots of very interesting characters around either getting ready for shows or handing out flyers to upcoming performances.

We started off with lunch of Waffles with strawberries and chocolate for me, and Toffee and banana for Ruby before looking through our accumulated flyers and deciding on a play called Dad's Money. We weren't disappointed. It was really good. The story was of two Somerset brothers who, after loosing their Dad go looking for the tin of money he had kept throughout his life. Both brothers found it hard to trust the other and would constantly fall out while recounting how they'd both failed their Dad during his life. Their desire to find the money in the cellar of their Dad's house leads them in a bit of a predicament as waters from a flooded field start to fill the cellar. I'll leaver it to you to go and see the play to find out what happens at the end, but you will enjoy it. It's no comedy, even though there are enough funny lines in there for you to warm to the characters, but the story was very well told and the twist at the end was a great touch. Recommended.

After the play we headed off to the Royal Mile area again to soak up the performers on the Fringe. On the way we bumped into Shakespear himself listening to his iPod...only in Edinburgh!

One of my Flickr contacts had told me about a play that was showing at the festival which was being performed by her drama group. Unfortunately she was unable to take part in the play but she recommended we go see them anyway, so we did. They were the Filch and Blunder group and they were doing a play called The Village Idiots. They were brilliant. They story was of two young lads who stole a bag from an old lady's shoulder at the bus stop. What they find in the bag makes them feel guilty enough to try and track down the old lady to give her back the bag. The plays tells the story of their adventure to hand back the bag and the characters they meet along the way. The players all wear exaggerated face masks and as there is no dialogue all the story is told using body movement, gestures and music. Even though you know the masks aren't moving you swear they are as the body language and acting is so convincing. I'll definitely be on the look out for these guys again when we go next year. Brilliant.

That evening, after another lovely meal out, we headed over to see Antonio Forcione at the Assembly Rooms. He's an Italian acoustic guitarist and he was breathtaking. I loved it. What an amazing performance. He played the guitar like nothing I'd ever seen before, so fast and making notes from it you wouldn't believe. We were in the second row of a packed auditorium and the atmosphere was superb. He was accompanied on stage by Adriano Adewale, a Brazilian percussionist who was incredible to watch. He played drums, pumpkins, bells, bottles, pebbles, sticks, feathers, you name it he had it there to play. Between them they just held you attention for much too short an hour. I can't wait to see them again, if you love a good spectacle and enjoy your music then this is one show you have to go and see!

August 15th 08 - Edinburgh Festival Day1

So, we're at the Edinburgh Festival. It is amazing! The atmosphere is incredible and there is so much to see and do. I've never experienced anything quite like it. I love Edinburgh, it really is one of the friendliest and exciting places I've ever been to.

Ruby and I spent most of the afternoon wandering around the streets soaking it all in, watching the performers, collecting flyers and trying to decide what we might go and see.

We eventually made it up to the Assembly Rooms where we booked to go and see a play called "One Small Step" it was a play by two young guys who basically told the story of the 12 years of the space race in just under an hour. They mixed seamlessly between playing Russian Commanders and NASA scientists. They used props in such a fun and inventive way you couldn't help but get sucked in by it all. At one point they had a Thermos flask hovering over a beach ball while the cap to the flask slowly rotated into place to dock with the mother ship over the moon's surface. An amazing piece of theatre, beautifully played and very funny. Well done guys.

Then, after dinner at the Grain Store (beautiful Scottish restaurant) we headed over to see Faure Requiem by Candlelight at the Old Saint Paul's Church. The atmosphere was beautiful, the whole church was lit by hundreds and hundreds of candles and tea lights. The choir were superb and the 9 piece orchestra really made it extra special.

All in all a great start to the Festival.

August 14th 08 - a chilli plant rival

For those who may have seen my photos on Flickr over the last year you may be familiar with my chilli plant story. Basically I had a set of chilli plant seeds for last Christmas and have been gradually nurturing them ever since and they are now getting to the point where chillis might be about ready to ripen. It's been a long and hard journey we've been on, my chilli plant and I. So, imagine my horror when I arrived at Rubys this evening to find that she had gone ahead and bought herself a fully grown chilli plant from the garden centre. Hers is of course full of ripe chillis ready to be picked. Now I'm not jealous or anything grrrrrrr!!

I'll have the satisfaction one day of picking one of my homegrown chillis and cooking with it a fabulous meal....not like some certain cheater I could mention lol

August 13th 08 - Preparing for the weekend

I'm off to Edinburgh to stay with my girlfriend Ruby tomorrow as we're both going to see some of the Edinburgh Festival. I can't wait. I've always wanted to go and as I love the city of Edinburgh more than any other place I've ever been to I'm sure it will be a fantastic weekend and a great opportunity to see more of Ruby too.

Ruby has some shows booked already but we've left plenty of time free to have a good look round the festival and take in the sights and sounds. I'm sure I won't be stuck for things to take photos of so I'm packing everything. This is my typical bag, I have a Crumpler XL which I use most of the time as it can go over my shoulder and hold the DSLR, a spare lens and most of the bits and pieces I need on a day to day basis, the main advantage is that it doesn't look too much like a camera bag so hopefully it won't attract too much unwanted attention.

Right, I'm off to pack clothes now...have a good weekend :)

August 12th 08 - Keeping the air safe

I was out and about doing various things today and one of those was calling at a few of the automatic air quality monitoring stations we have around the county. This is the control panel in one of the older stations, the newer ones have flat screen monitors and better computers, but this is old school!

Note the 3.5'' disk drive, I bet you've not seen one of those for a while! I had to look it up in an old book on a dusty shelf just to work out what it was. I had tried in vain to find a way for my USB 2.0 flash drive to fit in the slot.

:)

August 11th 08 - Climbing

I have quite a small, but nicely formed back yard at home. I've tried lots of pot plants in there with varying degrees of success. Shortly after I moved in a few years back I painted all the walls and fences blues and greens to give it some colour. I then bought some ivy and put it in a large pot by the wall that divides me and my neighbour. I hoped the ivy would take and eventually spread up the wall and give it a nice covering. But after three years of barely making it out of the pot let alone sticking to the wall I gave up and removed the pot.

The year after this sprout of ivy appeared from the smallest of cracks in the patio and is now covering about a quarter of the wall and is almost at the top. It's great news but I have no idea where it came from and why my perfectly reasonable attempt failed in favour of this random sprout from nowhere.

I tell you, gardening is very complicated!

August 10th 08 - a walk round Beverley

It's funny (and I've talked to a lot of people interested in photography and they all say the same) how you don't often take photos in the town you spend the most time in. I hardly ever walk round Beverley with a camera, or seek out new places to take photos in the town. I suppose as I see this place everyday I take it for granted.

Today however, as it was a nice day, I decided to take a walk with the camera through the town centre and seek out new nooks and crannies to photograph. I headed over the main market area (Saturday Market) and St Marys Church at the top end of the town. I managed to time my visit nicely between the frequent showers and got some lovely weather. The place was pretty quiet too which helped get the photos I wanted without having to wait for a clean line all the time. I've posted more on my Flickr account, but this one stood out for me as it looks so unlike anywhere you'd find in this country. Especially with the vibrant blue sky, it looks more like Greece than East Yorkshire. It is in fact the top of the bandstand in Saturday Market.

I enjoyed exploring the town, so this certainly won't be my last time. It proves I definitely don't need to travel too far to find new things to shoot :)

August 9th 08 - The best cheese scones on the planet

I'm very lucky to live in a town, Beverley in East Yorkshire, which has such a good market. I remember the town I grew up in, Worksop, having a dreadful market,m full of cheat tat and rubbish food. But Beverley is really spoiling me now with such a good market, full of a variety of excellent stalls and best of all some top notch local food.

My favourite stall is one where they sell all sorts of pastries, homemade cakes, scones and a massive variety of local cheeses. Here they sell quite possible the best cheese scones known to man. I used to think my Mum made the best cheeses scones on the planet before I moved to Beverley, but even she recognises how good these ones are.

So today, I treated myself to a batch and settled down to watch the Olympics this afternoon with some hot cheese scones and melted butter - yummy!

August 8th 08 - Fading sunset

I'd had a very busy week and a long hard day today so tonight was all about relaxing on the sofa, having a nice dinner and then collapsing with a DVD. I wish I'd been less tired and then I might have bothered going out with the camera and finding what must have been a lovely sunset.

I caught the back of it purely by accident as I came upstairs to close the curtains when I saw this view out of my bedroom window. The colours were just fading and it was beginning to get very dark. In fact just ten minutes after this photo was taken the colours had all but gone.

Next time....

August 7th 08 - At last, a hay bale photo!

After a very long day at work today stuck in a hot and humid office doing endless paperwork I decided to take a long drive home through the countryside. I saw this lovely field by the side of the road so decided to stop for a bit of a walk and some photos.

The light wasn't great as the sky was really cloudy so I kept loosing the sun, but in the end I got a few shots I was pleased with. However, I'm paying the price for it now as that field must have been full of biting insects as I itch all over!

August 6th 08 - A very happy day

I've had a good day today. I've been working towards a major project at work for some time now. It will basically overhaul the way in which we use computer based mapping called Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in the team and I've been quite daunted by the whole thing for some time now. But today was the initial meeting of the project and it went very well indeed. It looks like the project will likely be delivered much earlier than I'd expected, with the minimal amount of hassle and will deliver everything I've asked for. I'm a very happy man.

August 5th 08 - The new shower

Not a very exciting photo but the first one of the new shower I had to have installed after the old one went kaput. This one is really good and I'm very pleased with the job the plumber did for me, and at a very reasonable rate too.

The photo also depicts the weather too, rain rain rain!

August 4th 08 - Paddling in the sea

I had a day off work today so after meeting a friend for lunch in town I decided to grab the camera and take a drive out in search of photos. Initially I was looking for some nice round hay bales in a field to catch a few photos with the golden light of late afternoon, but I drove for miles through the lanes and dales of North Yorkshire and didn't find one field that fitted the bill.

Then I spotted a sign for Scarborough and seeing as it was such a beautiful day I decided to take a trip to the coast. When I arrived the tide was right out and the sky was bright blue without any clouds at all. I walked along the beach, which was packed with holiday makers, and took a few photos of the bay. Then I did something I'd not done in years, I took my shoes and socks off and rolled my jeans up and went for a paddle. The sea was surprisingly warm and I really enjoyed feeling the water on my feet. Unfortunately the tide was now coming in so I kept getting caught unawares by the waves and before too long my jeans were soaked from the knees down, which made for a very uncomfortable drive home. It was worth it though!

August 3rd 08 - Hardwick Hall

About a year ago we'd gone, as a family, to Hardwick Hall, a National Trust property not far from where my Mum and Dad live. It was Mum's birthday and she'd got a brand new camera and wanted to go somewhere nice to try it out. Unfortunately it rained all day so even though we enjoyed the walk round there weren't many photo opportunities to be had.

Mum had always wanted to go back and seeing as it was a lovely day that's what she and I decided to do. We didn't bother with going in the house as we'd done that before but opted for a walk round the gardens and a visit to the Old Hall instead. The gardens were very disappointing, and after paying nearly £5 to get into them I was shocked to find that only about a quarter of the gardens was worth even browsing round. The other three quarters were made up of a lawn, an overgrown area and a very sparsely planted orchard. I warn you that if you are visiting and you're not a National Trust member then you won't find much to occupy yourself in the gardens...best steer clear of them.

We managed a few photos of the Hall itself and one or two in the gardens, then we went for lunch before heading home. A very nice day out nonetheless.

August 2nd 08 - Oh how very English!

We headed down to the Robin Hood Festival at Sherwood Forest today and after a long walk round enjoying the different shows and events we settled down to watch the cricket at Edwinstowe. It felt lovely just sitting there under the warm sun enjoying a picnic whilst watching the cricket. What a beautiful day, just right for a picnic.

We felt very English! Especially as not that far away to our right there was Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham battling it out in a jousting arena at the Sherwood Forest festival.

August 1st 08 - Guitar

I've come home to Mum and Dad's for the weekend. It's my brothers birthday tomorrow and it was my Mum's last weekend so this weekend we're all getting together to have a joint birthday celebration meal. It's nice to see the family again and have a get together and a bit of fun.

This is a guitar in the now music room of their house. Dad has a couple of guitars, one acoustic and one electric, and Chris has an acoustic one too. They're all stored in the music room, which was once my bedroom - oh how things change!

July 31st 08 - Rain, rain go away

It won't stop raining, it feels like the floods of 2007 are on their way back to haunt us. The rain just keeps coming and coming. This is a photo of the shed roof out in the back yard and the water butt that the drainpipe falls into is constantly overflowing, despite me emptying it just a couple of weeks ago.

Let's hope that summer makes an appearance again soon, as even though rain is good for the garden, I think we have had enough by now!

July 30th 08 - too tired!

I've had a very busy, but very enjoyable week so it's time for an early night. Goodnight all

July 29th 08 - Lack of inspiration

This was another day where inspiration for a photo had all but failed me. Then I went into the bathroom to draw the blind and saw the way the light had fallen on the houses over the road and how that looked through the funny glass in the bathroom window.

Well, I thought it made for a different photo. Maybe the inspiration fairies are in there after all :)

July 28th 08 - Anything but monkey brains!!

I cooked chilli for dinner tonight as I had Ruby staying for a few days. I'd asked her last time we met up if there is anything she doesn't like to eat in case I ever cook for her and her reply was, "well I was once served monkey brains and they didn't taste too good, so anything else will be fine" - how can you compete with that?

So at least my chilli should be OK...fingers crossed!

July 27th 08 - PALA visit to Chatsworth House

At the end of the PALA 2008 conference they had arranged a visit for the delegates to Chatsworth House. As I don't live far away Ruby had managed to blag me a ticket to come along. We couldn't have picked a better day for it as it was stunning, really hot and with a wall to wall blue sky.

After a walk round the inside of the house (something I've not done for years) we ventured off into the gardens. As I was the only one out of the group who had been to Chatsworth before I was appointed the unofficial guide, so I made sure we saw all of the main areas and water features in the time allowed. The place was packed, with children playing in the cascades and couples laid out on the grass taking in the sun.

It really is one of my favourite stately homes to visit, they seem to really cater for the visitor by giving them almost free reign in the gardens and even allowing photos to be taken inside the house, a real treat these days.

After our walk round the grounds we headed to the main courtyard area and to one of the cafes for lunch, which was delicious, if a little pricey. Then it was back on the coach to head back to Sheffield.

Ruby then followed me back to my place where she's to stay for a few days before heading back to Edinburgh

July 26th 08 - Shiny shoes

Tonight I'm off to a formal dinner at Firth Hall in Sheffield. I've been invited by Ruby which is nice. We've not known each other for too long so it's great that she wanted me to come along. The dinner is for the Poetics and Linguistics Association (PALA) 2008 conference. Now I know I'm going to be way out of my depth as far as conversation is concerned but maybe my shiny shoes will make up for my lack of linguistical (is that even a word) knowledge :)

Actually, I'm really looking forward to it, I met up with Ruby and a few of the other people at the PALA 2008 earlier in the week and they are a great bunch, and any time to spend with Ruby has to be a good thing. Bring it on!