Hamper

Thank you Margaret and Arthur for your wonderful gift.

As you can see it is a lovely present which we can enjoy. We are really sorry that you will not be able to come to the party, but we appreciate the thoughts in the card.

Anniversary - BBQ - Dine in Style

Sunday 24th August see the 40th wedding anniversary of Irene and myself. We started the day calmly with tea (ginger drink) in bed. Cards were exchanged. Irene now has a ruby (a small one). Would you believe that a morning on the allotment followed. Then the rush to preserve the pickings accompanied by a phone call from Jan to find out were we where.We did get to the Dales for our church BBQ. Would you credit the rain? The sun came out and we crept out of the shelter.Bob did a great job on the barbie.

It was a pity that we had to leave, but we had two hours to get home, do jobs and return to nearby Jan and Lawrence's.

While at home Jenny and Francis called in with a card and present. It was a great present for allotment holders with a greenhouse; an automatic window open and closer. It will be better than the old bent wire we currently use.

Back to Jan and Lawrence. They were taking us to Morley Hayes (posh golf club) for a meal (no expense spared). Lawrence was keen that I dressed smartly. I did and so did Irene. It was a great meal in a great atmosphere.

Mudstock

Name one music festival that does not have mud. Yesterday I had the pleasure of taxing Joni and friends from 'Bloodstock'. I believe that it is a heavy metal festival. It is held at Catton Hall near Burton-on-Trent.

To be fair, most of their weekend was dry, but the leaving had to seriously change that.

The mudpark

Exit in the Rain

Sliding out of the car park

This was the least well organised part of the weekend (maybe the toilets scored worse?). All vehicles exited through one muddy gate. Naturally many people converged at many points out on the 'main' route causing the inevitable log jam. Everyone kept their cool though. Headbangers can be courteous.

I will try to post some shots from the concerts asap.

Model Railway

Yesterday was the first day in a long time that I have done any 'serious' work on my railway. Somehow I found myself moving loftwards. My recent birthday presents had inspired me to start again. I had been having serious concerns about power failure in one of the tracks. Experiments showed me that one of the engines had a fault. I took it to pieces, oiled it up and s...l...o...w...l...y off she goes. I now have to de-grease the motor and the track.

The village is now rapidly becoming a town due to the addition of a second pub.

This picture shows the train rapidly approaching the village from the right.

This is a fuller view of the village. The engine is pulling two clerestory roof carriages given to me by Francis.

This is the other end of the village. There is a school and the church has a lych gate modelled after St Lawrence Church, Slough.

Here is my newly added lamp hut, which like the new pub, also came from Iona and Izzie. (Thank you). The picture shows a road bridge, a carriage at the buffers and an engine just coming off the turn table.

Edale

If you are living in the UK you will have noticed that the weather has hit that seasonal patch called 'unsettled'. This what separates countries that have climates from this country which has weather. The planning of outdoor activities becomes impossible. Seeing as our Sunday was 'free' we decided to either go out on an adventure on Sunday or, if the weather was more suitable, call Sunday ' Monday' and go out on 'Sunday' which would really be Monday. Simple eh! No. The weather forecast wasn't helpful. So, we stuck to Sunday being Sunday and went out regardless.

We took a 90 minute drive out into the Peak District. Our route was along the M1 through the 3 year long raod works at 50 mph (no kidding), off through Chesterfield (Please not there is a Morrison with good priced petrol - Asda price.), then through Baslow up though Hathersage, Hope and Castleton.

Edale is reached by driving through Winnats Pass, which is always spectacular, around the back of Mamm Tor and up and over the ridge which separates the Hope valley from the Edale valley. We headed for Edale. It was a very different place than the one I remembered in my youth. The tourists and the pay and display had appeared. However, most tourists did dress for the occasion and displayed that air of walkers of yester-year.

With Low-pro bag loaded we set off through the village and out along the Pennine Way; which would direct many walkers to the top of Kinder Scout. This was not our intention. We were pleased to be able to walk up the Pennine Way as far as Upper Booth then back along the valley to Edale village.

The Pennine Way

Heather on the Moors

The walk was a bit like some of our experiences in New Zealand. It did rain. We did get wet. A few minutes later we were dry again. However, unlike NZ, the wind was cold, even when the sun shone. Irene suffered with cold hands and fatigue by the end of out 2 1/2 mile walk.

A picnic in the warm car and a pot of tea in Penny ... cafe revived her. We went a short walk back into the village and went into the Moorland Centre. It was a nicely done visitors centre with moorland covering the roof of the two halves of the building with water running over the transparent roof of the central hallway. We a had a short walk over the fields and back to the car.

The Moorland Centre

We made one last stop near the ridge between the valleys. The views from here are stunning.

Edale Valley with Train

We concluded that we should try to find free parking, but we are considering purchasing a season ticket. To do the Kinder Scout ascent we need to be better prepared and should start from Upper Booth car park.

Will we make it next year?

No Connection

On Monday I went to do some work on the computer system at Jubilee House Christian School. I put a connector on one end of the cable and a socket on the other. This was connected to the secretary's computer. No connection. All cables were traced for continuity. The orange twisted pair proved intractible. Many tries were made. An electrician on site carried out the same tests. We gave up.

Today I repeated the tests. Same results. Everything connects, but nothing happened. My resident electrician friend came up with the same result and gave up again. I was able to use the same equipment, leads etc and connect immediately to the head teacher's computer.

What's the problem? Is the lead too long?

On the way to JHCS I popped into the allotment to photograph my doughnut shaped tomato.

The tomato with the hole in it

Francis and his professional gardener were there and I was asked to photograph a work in progress.

Francis, Tom and Raised Beds

Tom, Greenhouse Foundations

Our Colourful Plot

In the afternoon I 'completed' a photo restoration project.

Before

After

Liam and Gemma

I was just thinking that the Saturday visit to Nan was just going to be the usual. Irene drove through pouring rain. I then drove from High Clere to B and Q. Having made my purchases I returned. When I walked in I though that I could hear Irene's brother Martin. When I looked I though it was him.

It turned out to be Martin's brother Liam. He had his girl friend, Gemma and their baby Sebastian. They are a lovely little family and I took the following pictures.

Gemma, Seb, Liam

Sebastian

Nan and Seb