Too long away!

Hi Folks back in the saddle again with the bike and the blog after a long silence. One of my loyal readers has been giving me a hard time for my lack of posts recently - so this should keep him happy! Lots has happened in the last few weeks; some things I will talk about and others that are best left alone! Not trying to be mysterious but this blog is about pictures and the fun things of life and I want to keep it that way - I'm sure you understand.

As the opening picture suggests, I was out for my one hour run on the bike this morning and having benefited from a self imposed diet that started last November, I could feel the benefit of being one stone lighter! With my diet, I have cut out (almost 100%) potatoes, rice, pasta and bread and these "fillers" have been replaced by salads - lots of salads! I say almost 100% as I allow myself the odd chick pea curry, cooked by my neighbour, Shobna or as cooked by myself recently. The curry is bulked out with potato so difficult to have without or a substitute. Surprisingly, I haven't really missed the "fillers" as I discover many and varied salad ingredients. Long may this continue and here's to further weight loss!

Our weather in North West London dawned cool, calm and clear - so absolutely no excuses not to get out on the bike. This morning was the first proper run since the end of October as a mixture of atrocious weather, work and sometimes total laziness kept me off the roads. I always find that the longer I leave it, the longer it will take to get back into but as I easily slipped on the shorts, I felt good. I managed the 16 mile route in just over the hour and I was delayed by a loose spoke on the front wheel, probably one of those things that happens when the bike sits for a few months. I noticed the tell-tale sound and checked it whilst stopped at lights. Easy enough to fix as I carry a spoke key but I might leave it into the Bike Shop for a tune up especially as this was the wheel I rebuilt after the bizarre hub cracking episode. Felt good to get out again and as tomorrow's weather is set fair, no reason why I won't make it two days in a row . . . as long as we don't have a repeat snowfall as illustrated below!



Shot on Monday 2nd February at 830am - three frame panoramic stitch - Canon G9.

London was paralised and most extended their weekend. Hannah managed Tuesday off as well but most struggled in to work and tried to work as normal. There was further snow on the Friday of that week and as I drove Hannah to school, I very nearly slid into the back of the car in front as we approached a roundabout. Instinctively (and probably wrongly!) I stood on the brakes and hauled on the handbrake but to no avail - the car continued to slide slowly towards the car in front. Thankfully we slid to a halt millimeters from the bumper and the person in front probably knew nothing of our mini drama.

Quaker roots

Following a recent Ulster TV programme, "Lesser Spotted Ulster" where they featured the Moyallon Quaker Meeting House, I decided to find and visit this on my next trip to Northern Ireland. As my Grandmother was a Quaker and my Father and his two brothers were educated at Friends' School, Lisburn, (a Quaker School), I have always had a connection and interest in this way of life and religious practice.

After a little online research and details from the tv programme we set off for the Gilford area south of Lurgan in Armagh and quickly arrived in the former Linen Mill town.



There was the usual toing and froing as we tried to find the location and I declined Muriel's requests to ask a "local" as they all looked a little strange and "country"!

Eventually I relented and asked three girls employed at the local petrol station and all three didn't even know what a Quaker was - not looking good. What I did ascertain was that Moyallon was north of Gilford on the Portadown road and off we went with more hope.

Without too much difficulty we found the usual brown sign announcing the whereabouts of the Meeting House and after a short drive past some newer, impressive properties we turned the corner and approached the Meeting House that dates from 1736.



As we approached the Meeting House through the modest gates, the place looked deserted but as we got out of the car and walked to the Carriage arch we heard human movement on the other side of the arch. Luckily we were greeted by Nigel who is the Warden of the Meeting House, who was only too glad to take a few moments and give us a personal guided tour of the inside of the Meeting House.



The panoramic above shows the main Meeting room, set up for the usual 20 to 30 members who meet on the first Sunday of each month. A larger and younger meeting takes place every Sunday in the nearby Lurgan but I sense that Meeting House doesn't have the same history or atmosphere.

Strange to think that by having the delays in finding the location and avoiding talking to a "local" and taking precise directions, we arrived at the Meeting House just as the Warden arrived and this gave us the guided tour. If we had arrived earlier we would have missed this experience . . .

Rollercoaster Mournes - edited

As the Blogger rendered video of this image sequence is so lame and totally unlike the original movie, I have uploaded the individual frames to allow better viewing and can be seen as 1000px wide images by clicking each picture - enjoy!











Northern Ireland is special in many ways and one of those is the proximity to the Mourne Mountains and the only "real" road through - the B27. This rollercoaster run, takes you between the peaks and is more exciting as a road and descent to Kilkeel than a view of the actual mountains and this is illustrated in the video above. Some will know how frustrating it is to be driving and the perfect composition presents itself as you sit in the driver's seat? People - no longer be frustrated as in this age of multi tasking and digital photography - we can have it all! Multitasking is not limited to the female of the species (we let them think that!) as the video shows - driving at 60mph and shooting pictures - easy!!! I was probably whistling a little tune at the same time! Enjoy!!!

All shot with the Canon G9 (of course!) and processed through Lightroom - no Photoshop at all, at all, Mrs. Doyle!!!

Northern Ireland for Christmas

Back after another (almost) full month away . . .

Three years ago we decided to drive to Belfast and Rostrevor for Christmas and following that success we have done this again this year. As with most things the costs have evened out compared to flying but the big benefit is to have the car available for the holiday period. No micro packing and endless queues at airports but the freedom to take what you want and go where you want as usual is so worth it and something we have enjoyed for the last couple of summer holidays.



As the image above shows our journey time between Harrow and Stranraer, we made great time with the final 98 mile leg between Carlisle and Stranraer being the most difficult, being a mostly single carriageway A road. We still made the port with enough time to refind the Starfish Café and have a well deserved All Day Breakfast before joining the inevitable queues for the 1440pm ferry. The crossing was smooth and on time and we arrived in Osborne at 515pm - pretty much as advertised.



Hannah managed to sleep (most) of the way again and apologies for this rather unflattering image shot by her Mother!

After a quick pitstop, we were back on the road and south to Rostrevor. Again this all went to time and I was back at Osborne for 9pm and a welcome beef stew and a cold beer! A long but relatively smooth travel day and much better than any recent airport experience.

Birthday Girl

Fourteen already! Where is the time going??? Happy Birthday Hannah!!!

Hannah's Birthday was on Friday and after much consultation, it was decided to split the celebrations over the Friday evening with friends from Longfield and then lunch with friends from Heathfield on the Saturday afternoon.

Pizza Express in Pinner was the venue and a private dining area was set aside for Hannah and eight friends. This was a perfect setup as the girls could relax in their own space and have maximum fun without "irritating" other diners! Sinéad and I left the girls to it and had a quick walk around downtown Pinner before retiring to the pub beside Pizza Express to while away the time. At or near the allotted time we wandered back to see how the girls are getting on and they seemed to be at the coffee stage. Other parents started to arrive and I organised and paid the bill and we patiently waited for the girls to finish and the advertised 4pm finish was about right.





Pinner at dusk is so atmospheric and I couldn't resist shooting the panoramic below as we waited for the "Ladies that Lunch" to finish! Hannah and the girls seemed to enjoy themselves and I think a few of the other parents have taken note and this could happen again for other birthday celebrations . . .



Pictures were shot with the Canon G9 (top birthday cake pic) and the Ricoh GR Digital, for the rest - mainly because of its wider (28mm) lens.