The snow that seemed so unconquerable a week ago has slipped away in the mild rain that has fallen yesterday. Nothing can resist the onslaught of a determined foe and the ice yields reluctantly to water for now leaving behind a brown, flattened landscape that is uninspiring. Christmas has now come and gone and though enjoyable as ever the anti-climax is palpable. In our hearts and minds we build it much bigger than we can ever achieve. It must be a remnant of childhood memories that plays a recurring theme through the rest of our lives. A time of warmth, love and safety with all those that have now left us. It is if you will; a reflection of our innocence when Christmas was a time of magic and life was evolving at a much slower and less cynical pace.

For now the time of year is for some sad reflections and perhaps recriminations. Nothing ever quite works out the way we want and yet the heart wells ever optimistic for a new year. If I have learnt one thing it is that there is no perfect life for us as we grow older. It doesn’t get any easier and things change because they must and that change will out, no matter the resistance to it. So my resolution for the New Year then is to begin to not keep putting off till tomorrow what can be achieved by me today, to be a little healthier and fairer and to finish my book by this time next year. I’m getting going now because I finally worked out how to do it the way I want. But it only took 50 years!

I plan to have a quiet time but whatever you plan to do tonight have a wonderful new Years Eve and opening to the year ahead.

I took these photos tonight with the full moon and the twighlight setting on my camera...cool!!!

17th Dec 2010

Snow’s back for the weekend. Very heavy snow showers Sunday although I have to say it keeps changing every time I look. In fact it snowed yesterday and when I took the dog for a walk it was good to see where I was going for a change. The moon is now 82% full with a full moon in 3 days time so it looks evening walks will be bright this weekend. I just put a moon phase on here...cool!
One more week to go till 10 days rest...can’t wait. I bought myself a first edition Elizabeth David for Christmas. It’s her first book ‘A book of Mediterranean food’ and really it is quite accurate to say it was the beginning of the food writing genre in Britain where novel and recipes merged into a wonderful storybook. Must have been something else in the 1950’s when it came out and gave the UK its first glimpse at the wonders of olive oil and other Mediterranean ingredients. If you look it up you’ll see her first editions go for some sums but this one wont...as it is a bit tatty. But hey it’s mine.

I know this is a bit cheesy but it makes you think....

We never get what we want,
We never want what we get,
We never have what we like,
We never like what we have.
And still we live & love.
That's life...

The best kind of friends,
Is the kind you can sit on a porch and swing with,
Never say a word,
And then walk away feeling like it was the best conversation you've ever had.

It's true that we don't know
What we've got until it's gone,
But it's also true that we don't know
What we've been missing until it arrives.

Giving someone all your love is never an assurance that they'll love you back!
Don't expect love in return;
Just wait for it to grow in their heart,
But if it doesn't, be content it grew in yours.

It takes only a minute to develop a crush on someone,
An hour to like someone,
And a day to love someone,
But it takes a lifetime to forget someone..

Don't go for looks; they can deceive.
Don't go for wealth; even that fades away.
Go for someone who makes you smile,
Because it takes only a smile to
Make a dark day seems bright.
Find the one that makes your heart smile!

May you have
Enough happiness to make you sweet,
Enough trials to make you strong,
Enough sorrow to keep you human,
And enough hope to make you happy.

Always put yourself in others' shoes.
If you feel that it hurts you,
It probably hurts the other person, too.

The happiest of people
Don't necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything that comes along their way.

Happiness lies for
Those who cry,
Those who hurt,
Those who have searched,
And those who have tried,
For only they can appreciate the importance of people
Who have touched their lives.

When you were born, you were crying
And everyone around you was smiling.
Live your life so that when you die,
You're the one who is smiling
And everyone around you is crying.

To those people who mean something to you,
To those who have touched your life in one way or another,
To those who make you smile when you really need it,
To those that make you see the brighter side of things when you are really down,
To those who you want to know
That you appreciate their friendship.

11th Dec 2010

It has been a much earlier winter than normal here…much colder and snowier than normal. It has made a nice change but now my feet are complaining. Good old Britain an inch of snow and chaos reigns. Luckily it is forecast to get a little warmer this weekend which it has.

Christmas is coming fast now...just a few more weeks to go. Can’t wait to have some extended time off work. I used all my holidays up too early this year so haven’t had any time off since September. Nothing special planned for the holidays but it’ll be nice to do nothing (as always!)

There was a chill in the air when the travelers set of from Glovemere. The ride to the hinterland of Rhosar would take three days through the misty vale of Sarpel. Ibbero counseled that it would be best to travel lightly and in secret. The roads were safe for now, but it could not be clear if they were being watched. Rumours of ill creatures, which roamed abroad in the night, had reached the court over the last few months and had caused unease.

Asthralain as befits a queen was at the head of the company mounted on her horse Sunswift and was robed simply in a plain grey traveller’s cloak. But this was no longer a defenceless queen. She held her face towards the east and in her left hand Hammaclas the staff of stewardship supported her will. To those that could see a faint light emanated from the tip as her will flowed through the wood and leached away into the earth. The company moved off and the bright glint of Glowersmair (sword of songs) was briefly seen under Asthralain’s robes. Ibbero had indeed taught her well

It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organiser
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,
And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag

Somewhere over the rainbow goes the song
Yet my heart soars up high beyond even that
To a land I hear of once when my mind cried
For a soft lullaby can go unheard of in the night
But someday I’ll awake and make wish upon a star
Wake forever where the clouds are far behind me
No matter that my troubles melt like lemon drops
As they fall away upon the tall chimney tops
I’ll always be there waiting for you to find me
As bluebirds fly so high over the rainbow in the sky
Why oh why, can’t you fly there and be with me too

Silvered animate shapes reflect the moons light
Cast long blue shadows that now herald the dawn.
With solid ground underfoot, ethereal musings overhead
The earth lays a path for free, chosen hearts to follow
I follow the path though I do not know the way
I follow the path though I do not know the reason
I follow the path because I must not lose sight of you
For I am destined to follow wherever your wake moves
For I never forget you are ever the last warmth before
The world must awake into the stillness of winter

24th Nov 2010

Been a busy couple of days at work while BSI were in checking we haven’t been naughty. All about ERICPD and for you that don’t know (which is most I’m guessing,) ERICPD is an acronym and stands for:

Eliminate
Reduce
Isolate
Control
Personal Protective Equipment
Discipline

Or the other acronym

Plan Act Do

PLAN -Establish the objectives and processes necessary to deliver results in accordance with the expected output. By making the expected output the focus, it differs from other techniques in that the completeness and accuracy of the specification is also part of the improvement.
DO - Implement the new processes. Often on a small scale if possible.
CHECK - Measure the new processes and compare the results against the expected results to ascertain any differences.
ACT -Analyze the differences to determine their cause. Each will be part of either one or more of the P-D-C-A steps. Determine where to apply changes that will include improvement. When a pass through these four steps does not result in the need to improve, refine the scope to which PDCA is applied until there is a plan that involves improvement.

See how fabulous my life is...oh well they’re not back till April so let focus on that.

I haven’t done very much on here lately but I haven’t forgotten. Hope you like the picture of Robbie...he's 1 in a week. See how the time flies by

16th Nov 2010

It must be the time of year but it is hard to get motivated in the morning. I don’t have any problems getting up but going to work that’s another issue. It is so tempting to think about putting another 2 crumpets in the toaster and saying ‘the hell with it.’ Well I guess till the bills began to roll in.

I think I’ve begun to hit the wall health wise – you know that time in your life when everything just doesn’t work or behave how it used to. Whether that’s teeth, hearing, sight, aches and pains or a bad back (I got them all now.) I only thought of it because at the weekend I was cutting down the Gunnera and covering the crowns to protect them from the frost. Got a bad back now….should have paid more attention to how I was doing it. But you know we think we can go on the same old way as before however old we get.

I’m still writing my sequel to Lord of the Rings; albeit slowly. But no matter the speed I am enjoying it. Not posting anymore of it...you’ll have to wait for the book. We need hobbies to soothe our thoughts in a world gone mad and getting madder every day...because where’s the pig gone to? Well won’t find one in the Early Learning Centre anymore that’s for sure. You might need to look that up

November 9th 2010

Well here we are in November so soon…the clocks have gone back for winter so it is now dark at around 4.30pm. No more trips to the garden after work. All the little monsters have now hung up their Halloween costumes and bonfire night came and went rather like a damp squib. I heard a few fireworks but nothing like the 1812 overture some years bring. Drove to the Lake District over the weekend and took the road down from Keswick to Windermere. (This is one of my favourite roads in the National Park.) It takes you past Thirlmere, Rydal Water and Windermere The colours this autumn are rich and vibrant with high yellows and polished ochre bronzes. Simply stunning and I got the feeling I might never see it so wonderfully coloured again. I could live here and every day would be another chapter in the continuing episode of Lord of the Rings. The Lake District is a magical place. No more so than the Highlands or mountains of Wales are but they are pretty remote and not easy to get to from here.

Garden is now settling down for the winter. The new pond is full (and overflowing,) I’ve chosen the next trees to trim and got my fleece and hay ready to cover the tender plants against the frost. That’s going to be Sunday work from here on in.

News is mostly the pantomime, cyclical financial stories (it bad, no it’s good, no it’s bad again,) or new lows in violence against people. One gets the feeling that the news misses lots of the grim stories and instead seems obsessed with the endless talent shows and soap operas rather than news. If you ask people they tell you they don’t want doom and gloom all the time but it seems to me that some of the media is pandering to the lowest common denominator all the time. Am I a grumpy old git or what?

Check out these websites

http://www.stevebulman.f9.co.uk/cumbria/keswin_f.html

Alamo Car rental have just voted the route from Keswick to Windermere the 3rd best route in Europe beating the legendary Amalfi drive which only merited 12th place!

http://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/wiki/index.php?title=A591

A thousand years passed without note...

Long since did the fellowship of the ring part company in the Grey Havens. Gandalf, Frodo and Bilbo set sail with the high elves unto Valinor whilst the hobbits left behind returned home. Samwise Gamgee and Rosie, Pippin and Merry are now but distant a memory of the hobbit consciousness. The songs sung in the Green Dragon of the heroism and valour that saves Middle Earth from Sauron now long forgotten. Hobbits themselves are a now fading race that inhabits the hostile margins of middle earth shunning contact and readily able to hide from those they are wary of. To you or me they would seem but a rustle in the undergrowth, or a flash of brown akin to a hare that is disturbed in the grass. Yet make no mistake, these reticent creatures suffer no fools. So warned then take note and leave them be; for they are a fading race and will suffer the long road ahead for no-one less than a descendant of the king.

The king had indeed returned at the end of the third age and with him came once again order and a return to the pastoralist notions that Hobbits so welcome. After the world mourned the passing of Aragorn and the noble, beautiful Arwen their half Elven kin took control of middle earth and for the first centuries the world was renewed and all rejoiced in the peace that settled therein. The shadow had failed utterly at the end and it retreated behind the impenetrable passes of the east to gnaw on its defeat and brood for millennia on revenge.

So what now of the Elves and Dwarves, Hobbits and Ents and Men and Orcs? Here is the story of the fall of all to the shadow that ended the fourth age of middle earth...but it is not the part of this story to tell of the intervening years through this age. Of the great, enduring peace and the swift rise of men to now take dominion over all others in middle earth. But in the end men faltered and waned despite the promise shown at the inception of all they created. So it is now as the world changes and once again a dread creeps into the forests and plains that the shadow has again returned does the story begin.

The autumn was advancing borne aloft on the demise of summer. Long shadows crept across shorter days and the Mallorn long bereft of Galadriel’s care cast down their foliage and held up their boughs to the western wind. On such a day came three wanderers from the west and their rainment was of the hues of fall. Long bronzen cloaks swept away the leaves at their feet and their hooded features shrouded old, grey eyes. For once again the Istari had come to middle earth.

A thousand years passed without note...

Long since did the fellowship of the ring part company in the Grey Havens. Gandalf, Frodo and Bilbo set sail with the high elves unto Valinor whilst the hobbits left behind returned home. Samwise Gamgee and Rosie, Pippin and Merry are now but distant a memory of the hobbit consciousness. The songs sung in the Green Dragon of the heroism and valour that saves Middle Earth from Sauron now long forgotten.

The king had indeed returned at the end of the third age and with him came once again order and a return to the pastoralist notions that Hobbits so welcome. The shadow had failed utterly at the end and it retreated behind the impenetrable passes of the east to gnaw on its defeat and brood for a millennia on revenge.

So what now of the Elves and Dwarves, Hobbits and Ents and Men and Orcs? Here is the story of the fall of all to the shadow that ended the fourth age of middle earth...but it is not the part of this story to tell of the intervening years through this age. Of the great, enduring peace and the swift rise of men to now take dominion over all others in middle earth. But in the end men faltered and waned despite the promise shown at the inception of all they created. So it is now as the world changes and once again a dread creeps into the forests and plains that the shadow has again returned does the story begin.

It's not been a great few months but life goes on in its own unstoppable way. We buried my Dad Tuesday and had a wake at my brother’s house. Dad would have been in his element with all those meat pies and ham sandwiches. Still don't understand how people can be warm and vibrant and then gone in minutes. It is so like the summer as it passes to autumn.

I have to confess I was late for my father’s funeral. I thought I knew the way but got mixed up. I turned around and came back and passed a hearse and car heading back the way I had just come. Got to be them I thought so I did another swift turn and followed them. After a few miles down a narrow country lane they stopped at a picturesque church and I realised it was another funeral. Luckily two hikers were passing and they gave me the correct directions. I was mortified at the time but somewhat funny in retrospect. I wrote and did the eulogy for the service - it is only shortbut it was so hard to compose. It made up for being late anyway. If I am glad of anything it is that he did not suffer and for once we all came together as a family and did him proud.

Here’s the eulogy

Dad was born in 1933 on the 21st June to Bridget and Thomas and was soon after joined by his 2 sisters and a brother. Life was hard then with the war and rationing but it was easier than it was going to be once he’d married mother and between them raised seven children. They didn’t do it all without help and to those that helped – we say thank you. It was some family tree they made and it continues to grow strong.

Dad worked for over fourty years in the local paper mill and despite what modern medicine tells us now you can actually go a long way on the wrong diet. He was robust in constitution and apart from one problem he was always healthy right up to the end. This was in no small part due to the loving care of Trevor and Eileen and we his other children thank you for taking such good care of dad for so many years.

Dad like the now falling autumn leaves, you let go all your familiar ties and started a new adventure. Have a swift journey to it now and say a big hello to Mum who’s been waiting for so long to see you. Follow now where your heart leads you and think of us all as you walk together again in places that are forever blessed in springtime. Oh and make sure you enjoy the peace and quiet while it lasts. Goodnight and God bless.

You might have noticed all the government cuts announced yesterday – wonder how they'll affect us over the coming years. The only thing sure is it won’t be in a good way, but just how much may it hurt us remains to be seen. More taxes and carry on working till you drop seems to be the outward message from it all. Not that it is just us in the UK. The whole world has gone into austerity mode. Well so long as I can eat simply; but well, and keep warm I shan't really mind.

Well here we are in the middle October so much sooner than I imagined. How time flies so soon across a year and it’s not shaping up to be a great year so far. I think we all become a little more obsessed with time as we get older. I remember watching the film ‘the Time machine’ by H G Wells as a child. I was amazed by the shot where the machine flies into the future and the seasons come and go in the blink of an eye. As I grow older it feels a little akin to that now. Where did the spring and summer go? How come it is getting dark so early and why is the morning drenched in cool misty sunrise so late. Everything becomes a why as you grow older and despite all the thought no answers come.

Bathed in stardust and set adrift on the solar winds ride the Valkyries into a red sunset. Lofty helms grace grim countenances and their feminine guiles are not toothless; being girded by stout shields and broadswords. They are fell maidens, ghostly white as a snowy wilderness with eyes blue as a clear sky looking with a sharp perception deep into the clarity of a greater understanding. No injustice can blanch or intimidate these sirens and all pain is swift to set right under their gaze. They stand with one foot in the heavens and the other under the sea. They are caught inexorably between two worlds and the pull of the heart between both is like the flow of the spring tides. For they come to earth only to gather up the fallen and bear them swift to Valhalla.

Dad (1933-2010)

Like the now falling leaves; you also let go of all your familiar ties and drifted away through the sunshine into a new adventure. Have a swift journey Dad and say hello to Mum for us. She’s being waiting for you to join her for so long. Think of us as you walk together again in dappled lanes that are forever blessed in springtime. For you have left our world the colder now you’ve gone.

Wed 6th Oct 2010

Mike’s off to see Michael Buble tonight in Manchester so I took Robbie out on my own for a lovely walk in the woods. Robbie for the greatest part is gentle and loving and he is very well behaved in the house. His training outdoors needs to be done sooner rather than later though. He’s a tad too enthusiastic off the lead.

I am beginning to warm to this time of year now especially as the beech tree leaves fall to the floor covering all the paths in a russet carpet. It helps that the weather is currently mild and dry and the colours are fantastic already; I think the autumn will be very vivid this year.

I wrote a nice thing at work but forgot (again) to email it home so here is a piece of it. Don’t know where the thought of Valkyries came from.

Bathed in stardust and set adrift on the solar winds ride the Valkyries. Lofty helms grace grim countenance and their feminine guiles are not toothless; being girded by stout shields and broadswords. They are fell maidens who injustice cannot blanch and are swift to set right into any wrong. They stand with one foot in the heavens and the other under the sea. Caught inexorably between two worlds and the pull of the heart between both is like the flow of the tides.

Can’t believe it’s nearly a week since the holiday. Had a good time in Dorset opposite Poole harbour with Nick and the lovely ladies. Hope you enjoyed the pictures. Since I got home the weather has been a bit of a mixture, (it was sunny all week on holiday.) Still managed to get a photo of a rainbow this evening so maybe a good sign for the £82 million on offer on the Euro millions tomorrow. I also got some ripening grapes, bamboo and a sunflower and a stumble which looks quite artistic.

Hope you’re well and will be back soon.