Nottingham University

This morning mum and I decided to set off for Nottingham University- Highfield Park. The idea was a brisk walk, so I took just the camera and a spare battery. It was warm, dry but overcast.
It was easy to park near the theatre area and off we set. A small group was busy doing art along the lake side. At the place they sat was a colourful collection of boats.


We walked all around the lake and rediscovered the walled garden. Then on the way round the back of the university buildings was a cheeky squirrel.


When we got back to the theatre we debated having a cup of coffee. Thirst beat finance. At the counter was a young lady with a baby in a pram. She recognised us and then we recognised her as being one of the delegates at our Saturday house church conference. We settled down to coffee and a chat. She, Anna, has a strange way of meeting people in cafes. She told us how she met up with the leader of the conference. She told us that she felt led to go to a cafe in Sherwood. She went up to talk to man she had never met. It was Pete. Pete too had been led to go to the same cafe in Sherwood; in fact he had earlier left the cafe moved his car, but felt that he had to go back in. Coincidence?

The Dales Nearly 25th

Today I did a photo shoot of my friends, Bob and Julie Dale. They will be having their 25th Wedding Anniversary on 25th July while we are away. I thought it might be nice to present them with a framed portrait. So this morning the photo bit was done.
This is the picture that they chose.

They are a lovely couple

Newforms

Yesteday was an interesting one.
We visited nan as usual at MK. She continues to be well. The High Clere home is a mess. The decorators are in and seem to everywhere. There we bits of border stripped off in various parts of nan's room, but not others. Apparently nan went to sleep one afternoon and woke to find that the workmen had been in and gone.
After our visit we then drove back to Nottingham and to a meeting of Newforms church groups. There were people from near Inverness and Glastonbury. It was interesting to hear what is going on around the country.
The evening was our usual - play a game of 'Up Words' - I won - followed by chocolate and a drink - my one beer of the week.
Today we are getting ready to go to our group meeting in Ilkeston. I will be doing portrait pictures to celebrate our friends' silver wedding anniversary.

Marking Over

At last the marking for 2009 is complete. Not so profitable this year and over earlier.
Life can get back to normal.
Last Sunday was a very enjoyable visit to Tim and Isla's; mainly to celebrate Nan's 89th birthday.I think that Nan enjoyed the occasion and was quite thrilled with the candles on Isla's beautifully made cake.
It was good to spend some time with Margaret and Arthur. We don't see enough of Irene's family.
Iona and Izzie were on their best behaviour and played their instruments well.
I was overwhelmed by the very generous gift that my children had bought me. The SAT nav will come in useful when we recommence our excursions around the country. It might even get to Australia. It is something that I have always loved to have, but never would have justified buying. Many thanks all.
We hope Izzie enjoys her birthday later in the week.

The Sites of Nottingham

On late Wednesday and Thursday afternoons I was commissioned by my neighbour, Francis, to take photographs of various places of interest in Nottingham. On Saturday he is leading a 'Friends International' seminar. Francis takes groups of foreign students around Nottingham on a guided tour to introduce them to English culture.

On Wednesday he dragged/led me though the city, starting at the castle and ending at the Unison offices. Last night we drove first to the Jesse Boot bust and ended at Trent Bridge. This we did in rush hour, in the rain.

What Francis failed to tell me at the start that he was going to bring in 'Rent-a-Crowd'. This consisted of dragging in a number of bemused folk of foreign nationality. I was amazed by how readily people chose to cooperate and the stories they had.

Here a just two examples.

One of the guys in the picture thought that he was standing by a statue of Lord Nelson. It is, in fact, a statue of General William Booth outside his birthplace in Sneinton. Francis is in purple.


In the background to the right of this picture is Trent Bridge cricket ground. I was supposed to be photographing the sign for the Brian Cluff stand on the right. However, I succeeded in photographing this very happy bunch whose team had just beaten India in the 'Twenty Twenty'. They were on the way home to various parts of the country.

Aunty Mary is 90

This has been a busy week and although I thoroughly intended to blog earlier many tasks prevented it.

The news of the week is that Aunty Mary is 90 years old. She is very fit both physically and mentally and has certainly kept her good looks.


The party was at cousin Andrea's house on a lovely summer day. I enjoyed the befores, but was called away to 'Tea and Talk' at Leicester House before I could tuck in to the very tempting looking goodies to follow.

Anne, Sid and George were able to be there, but I was particularly pleased to meet my cousin John and his wife Norma. John was almost a brother and a close cousin and it is sad to think of how long ago it was since I met them. They are retired and well. John looks very much like my last memory of Uncle Gilbert.

My thanks go to Rita and Andrea for making the day so special. I hope that we will have more opportunities to get together.