"Happy New Year!" to our reader

You can see more pictures of birds, food and presents

A baby is born...

Earlier today I was party to a discussion about Xmas - where did the abbreviation come from?

[O.K. From where did the abbreviation come?]

I once heard someone saying that they wouldn't mind if it was written +mas (pronounced cross-mas) - they were trying to make a link from Jesus' birth to his death. The other learned opinion says that Christ written in Greek begins with the letter Chi which looks like our X.

Anyway Christmas (or +mas) is a time when we are thinking about a particular baby being born.



And after all that build up it has dawned on me that it is storks that are linked with new babies, not herons.

Still I am glad I took the picture - it is not something you see everyday in Gorse Covert.

Red sky in the morning...

Glancing out of the bedroom window this morning I saw this marvelous sky and tried to capture it on camera. (Click on picture to enlarge)

African Fellowship

The Thorpe Acre Male Voice Choir were invited out to sing at the African Fellowship in town. Their worship room is a lot more colourful than ours.

Our repertoire was:

• I delight/Bowater


• Message of Angels/Godwin


• Deep in the night/Stone


• Angels from the realms/Cwm Rhondda

Stollen cherries!

At the bottom is the Aldi box with the tempting pictures of cherries in the Stollen cake



On the top is what you get inside - who's stolen all the cherries!

The end of an era

The remnants of the Ladies Fellowship Group, augmented by husbands and Jacqui's Cell Group gathered at the 'upstairs' College Restaurant last night to mark the official disbanding of LF after 15 years. After the meal Sue thanked Jacqui for all her hard work over the years and presented her with a small gift (a floating candles set) to mark the occasion. It is not quite the end though as Jacqui has once again organised a trip to the pantomime in Birmingham after Christmas.

MagLev is dead!

Professor Eric Laithwaite (who looked as if the name Branestawm might fit better) introduced the idea of Magnetic Levitation as a transport system in the 1950s. In 1984, with a great fuss, a Maglev link was installed between Birmingham International Airport and Birmingham International Railway Station. Arriving at the train station one day we took the opportunity just to go on a round trip to try it out. However just before it got us back on the return trip it 'conked out' and we had to get out and walk the rest of the way on foot.



On my travels as a BCS examiner today I revisited the station and found that the MagLev had proved so unreliable that it had been taken out of service, replaced by a bus service for several years and now has been reincarnated as a Doppelmayr Cable Liner Shuttle.

More information: Then Now

Farewell asbestos soffit

After putting up with leaky guttering for many years, Nana's birthday present to herself was to go for new - and have new fascias and soffits as well.

At long last she has the house number sign up again as well (thanks Robin)
She was particularly pleased with the new ceiling to her porch
It remains to be seen whether the installation has a steep enough drop along the length to stop it blocking easily - which was the problem with the previous setup ever since the bungalow was extended.

The Manor House ghost

Six of us went out for a meal to celebrate my birthday.



I put my new (birthday present) camera in Robin's hands and he was suppose to photograph those sitting opposite him and our roast dinners. But we think he caught the Manor House ghost as well!

More photos...

Birthday Flowers from New Zealand?

By some miracle Nana's birthday flowers arrived from New Zealand actually on her Birthday

Nana says: "A big THANK YOU - they are lovely!"

Stress-busting drums

Two years ago I signed up to a Professional Development event where people were invited to 'have a go' at African drumming.



It got to within a week of the event and I had to cancel because something unexpected turned up. The same thing happened last year - once again I couldn't go. So this year was my third attempt.

Things were not looking good as there were several emails saying that the event was in a different room - and then back again in the original room. On the day, when I turned up with 3 other people the room was empty and in darkness.

However some more customers arrived and then finally the tutor arrived in dreadlocks and beads, obviously working on 'African time'. I got to try out Djembe (see picture) which you strike with your hands, horizontal drums which you hit with a stick and also two-tone bell sticks.

We were not given any practice time. Once we had chosen a drum the tutor simply went round starting each person in turn by demonstrating what he wanted you to do. I think we played 5 pieces in two hours and the time went very quickly.

And yes, if you don't get worked up about getting the odd beat wrong, it is a good stress-busting activity.

The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month

Following a little detour (Jane was not with us!), we arrived at the Alrewas National Memorial at 10:59am just as the place froze for the 2 minutes silence.



We walked through the visitor centre and out towards the memorial.



The place was packed and we had to queue to climb the steps.



Our 'poppy' carried the names of Jack, Wilfred & Marjorie.



The south facing walls are split to catch a shaft of sun on Remembrance Day.



The full set of photos is available on our website.

Seven swans a-swimming

Attracted by the bright Autumn sunshine, I walked to the rugby field lake



and found five cygnets



and their parents.



Anyone know what this is?

Hardwick Hall

After a slight detour caused by 'Jane' taking us to what turned out to be the exit road, we arrived at Hardwick Hall on a day which was bright enough to show Autumn leaves off well, but was always threatening rain.

The first view of the hall showed a surprising amount of glass. However this is not the impression you have from the inside because the NT keep the interior very gloomy - on account of the fact that natural daylight is a killer to the huge number of tapestries which cover the walls inside. We had 'homemade' soup & roll in the old kitchen before checking out the old hall.

Despite beng essentially a ruin, the main staircase is still usable and provides some grand views of the countryside and back to the new hall.

The Abbey that isn't, and a duck called Roger

As new National Trust members we naturally want to get our money's worth so we decided to visit Calke Abbey
at the start of Jacqui's half-term week, which also coincided with our wedding anniversary.



It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed the visit, but we were left feeling a little bewildered because firstly the place is not an Abbey and secondly since they acquired the place the NT have merely halted the decline so that you can see the place "just as the last owners left it" (which in some rooms was a mess!). Also it would be hard to find a place with so many rooms so full of stuffed birds and animals.

In their shops the NT have a range of ducks which I have been going 'coo' over (or should that be 'quackers') - and on this occasion I found one called Roger - and it was finally decided that 'he' would come home with us and go into hiding until a suitable birthday/Christmas opportunity arose.

Harvest-time with the Male Voice Choir

I rewote the words of a Chris Bowater song "I delight greatly in the Lord" for the Male Voice Choir to sing at our Harvest service. The new words go "Now's the time to celebrate with joy and count the blessings from our God. For he is a God whose love has never ever faltered and no-one can match for generosity". It is a bit of a tongue-twister and is sung in two parts and we asked the congregation to try and join in.



You can hear a recording of the result:

More details on stonebase web

Dancing to the bang on the wall

The Church's Harvest Barn Dance was held at Humphrey Perkins School and featured "The Bang on the Wall Band".



Although Robin was out of the country to attend a stag night, we had company for the weekend.

On the importance of punctuation

I have always remembered an (apocryphal) story from school about an inspector coming into an English class. The inspector noted that the teacher was placing much emphasis on correct punctuation and told the teacher in front of the class that it was more important to get the students express themselves than to learn correct punctuation. Straight away the teacher went up to the blackboard and wrote:

"The teacher says the inspector is a fool."

Just as the inspector was about to get angry with the teacher, the teacher went back to the board and added in some more punctuation, so that it now read:

"The teacher, says the inspector, is a fool."

Anyway the sight of a dragonfly glinting past the window moved me to take the camera out into the garden yesterday. I couldn't find the dragonfly but I took this picture of a butterfly on our Buddlea without knowing what it was

On consulting the internet I found out, much to my surprise that that white mark was not a mistake, it has given the butterfly its name - the Comma


This is what it looks like with its wings open.

Robin@30

Despite the T-shirt he is only 30 today.
What am I saying, "He's only 30"? Surely we can't be old enough to have a 30 year old son? Anyway we had a meal to celebrate in the local Harvester.
Can you see the picture of the Apple who has been given a new pPod as a present? We (Nana, Mum & Dad) helped Robin buy his new off-road bike - see Robin's own blog for picture and details of its first outing to Cropton.

Banquet at Ruthin

The conference dinner was a mediaeval banquet at Ruthin Castle.
After exploring the castle we were taken to the banqueting hall and sat down on benches. You start with a plate, a dagger and a goblet of mead
The serving wenches brought 4 courses: soup, then lamb on the bone, then half a capon, then syllabub. All were delicious, even if we did struggle to find a way of eating them.
It turned out that the serving wenches were also singers, bringing us songs in Welsh like "Men of Harlech", "We'll keep a welcome", etc. One of the delegates was also prevailed upon to play the spinnet and sing a song

During the speeches and presentations I was given a BCS mug and a certificate for chairing a session.

And so ends a happy conference

Wrecsam->Chester

"Croeso Cymru". I am really at Wrecsam, look you!
Today we were given the afternoon off and coaches were supplied to get us to Chester
I took an audio tour of the cathedral - you can see a picture of the 'Chapter' - the place where the monks had read to them a chapter of the rules of St Benedict each morning
The old city wall is complete at Chester - you can walk all the way round in about 45min. This is a view of a shopping street from the wall

And here is a typical parade of shops from street level.

The trip to Chester finished with a 2hr boat trip up the Dee with a hot meal provided. We saw eels, deer and a cormorant - as well as canoists and serious (Oxford & Cambridge boat race type) rowing boats

A student in Wales?

Well, here I am in sunny Wrexham - North East Wales Institute (NEWI) to be precise - for the Internet Technologies and Applications conference (ITA07)
I have been allocated a room on the top floor of 'D' block in the student village
And here it is in all its glory
Actually I couldn't get in at first because the suite key for the landing that I had been given didn't work. But now I have sunshine and internet access and spare time.

The conference has been so-so up to now but I have met a researcher from Uganda who expressed a desire to come and work with our web accessibility group for a while.

Scarecrows in English Switzerland

On bank holiday Monday, after delivering Doris to stay with Joyce, we took ourselves off to North Devon to what the travel brochures call "English Switzerland". We stayed at a B&B in Lynton which is a recognised centre for exploring Exmoor.



On Tuesday we drove to the Valley of the Rocks and walked a small section of the coastal path which stretches unbroken from Minehead in Somerset all the way round Land's End to Poole Harbour in Dorset.



In the bright sunshine the "tallest sea cliffs in Britain" looked spectacular

Lynton was having its month long Scarecrow Festival which involves many houses and businesses coming up with inventive scarecrows placed in their gardens or fixed to the front of buildings

Jacqui made it into the sea at one of the few beaches - we 'discovered' this one after a hair-raising drive down a private road on which there was an honesty box toll of £1

As new members of the National Trust we wanted to "get our money's worth" and so we visited NT properties in the area - this is Watersmeet which offers a tea room converted from an old hunting lodge which was built at a confluence of the West Lyn and Hoar Oak rivers.

We also visited Arlington Grange (NT) and went round the house and gardens - and ended up in competition to get the best picture of a butterfly


On our last day we visited Dunster Castle - a stiff climb - and had the obligatory Devon Cream tea in a converted chapel in "historic mediaeval Dunster village with working water mill". Afterwards we visited Dunster beach and looking back we saw the West Devon Steam Railway in action.

BirdFair - Rutland Water

My second visit to the RSPB Annual BirdFair at Rutland Water (Jacqui's first) was not too promising as the day was cool and overcast but at least it was not actually raining. After an orienteering session in one marquee we obtained a show guide and decided to attend "Just a Linnet" - a light hearted panel game based loosely on something similar hosted by Nicholas Parsons. Then we headed to the Anglian Water Centre for a talk on "Supplementary feeding of garden birds". After that we saw a demonstration of ringing and were treated to a closeup view of a willow warbler being held in the hand. On returning later to the centre for a second talk we joined a queue who were blocking the path to photograph this young dragonfly.

It sat completely still (we think for at least an hour) and had its picture taken approximately once every 5 seconds. What you see here is one of the best from each of our cameras.

What we learned from the talk (coincidentally on dragonflies) was that a perching dragonfly with its wings closed is a damselfly and a damselfly with its wings wide open is a dragonfly.

By now the weather had turned to steady rain and we had seen all the marquees so we headed home pausing briefly in the carpark to buy 60kg of assorted bird food including (for the first time for us) dried mealworms.