Made it before nightfall

After a slightly delayed start, with an accident on the A1(M), I went a slightly longer way to York via the M18, M62 and A19. Collected Ritchie, carried on up the A19 to Thirsk, then A1, A66, M6, A7 to Edinburgh.

Carrying on a slightly boring theme, A720 around Edinburgh, M8, M9, Forth Bridge then over towards Stirling onto the A84, A85 and finally A827 to our inn for the night. Got a great sunset picture, some snaps of the raging river next to the inn too. Looks like we are the only guests in tonight !!!! Food looks tasty though.

Weather has been great, dry clear skies all the way from Scotch Corner, but it's rather cold :-/

York traffic

Yay, stuck on the A19 trying to get into York.

All packed, well almost

Got my bag packed, the batteries for the camera and camcorder are on charge, maps and magazines are ready to go, car washer jets topped up, just need to fuel her up !

Where am I going ? Well heading of up the A1, picking up my roadtrip partner up in York, across the A66, back along the A7, north via the Forth Bridge and A9 to Tayside where we are booked into a pub overlooking the river. Next day push north to Ullapool via all those lovely Scotish A Roads, then work back via some coastal roads to Plockton (yes, location for The Wicker Man), where we have another pub booked, then head back to York the next day via some more coastal roads and perhaps the A68.. Depends on the weather ;-)

Scottish Breakfast 2 - The Return !

Heading up north again soon, at risk of making the thoughts on these pages an inquest into the state of the breakfast industry, I've spun things around and booked two places that suggest a full cooked breakfast, could these places return Scotland to the fore, could next week be the turning point of Scottish morning catering ? Watch this space as these and other questions are answered !

Bad ole breakfast

Having just returned from Scotland, I'm left with a bad taste in so far as this... What are businesses thinking when they present a guest with a tatty buffet breakfast, with nasty gritty eggs, limp bacon and a toaster in the corner for toasting your own !

Now call me a snob, but for the extra cost of a freshly cooked breakfast, with egg of choice and a selection of ready toasted toast must be peanuts ! I'm making a note for myself to always check in advance about just what sort of breakfast is available. After all it sets your attitude for the whole day.

The upgrader !

True to form, we check in and get an upgrade, a nice suite room, with a view of Loch Lomond and nicely decorated ! What more could I ask for ? Oh yeah, we have a great big bath too ;-) Mmmm...

Who said Scotland wasn't sunny ?

Just who was it again who claimed Scotland was always cold and rainy ? Just sat on a beach overlooking Solway Firth... Last night was nice, mobile signal free zone, so we had to find other things to occupy ourselves ;-)

Sods Law

Why is it that everytime I start to look at doing some accident reduction work on a road, start to think, "hmmm... Not really that bad along here", bang, we have a serious accident that pushes me into action. Some might call me the grim reaper ?

Economic crisis over ?

Given my mobile has been very quiet for the last 12 months, during which time the entire global economy has been in meltdown, it comes as a shining light at the end of the tunnel that my phone has been alive with the sound of recruitment agents calling about jobs for the last week... A sign that they are desparate or a sign that the global economy has restarted ? Here's hoping it's the latter ;-)

Easing into winter

Winter is never easy, so it's always nice to ease into the dark months with a few days away. We are heading up to Loch Lomond for a couple of days later on the month, staying an extra night on the way up in North Yorkshire and a fourth night on the way back in Cumbria.

Been to the beach

Had a nice few hours on the beach, it was sunny (obviously we didn't have Dave with us), although the wind was blowing a tad too much for sun bathing !

Essentially completed a round tour of the North Norfolk coast, Wells by the Seas, Hotham Beach, Hunstanton (hmm, not nice) and then Fakenham (again not nice and all closed for the day). Currently sat chilling in our loft room in Holt, the sun is beaming through the velux along with the smell of tasty food from downstairs ;-)

And of course.... The bathroom

No prizes for guessing what I'll be having after dinner ;-) complete with bubbles, wine and some soft classical music !

The snug

The view

A few days away

Taken a few days away in Norfolk, as you can see, I'm laid on the bed chilling already !

Back to normal ?

After five weeks away from work - ok, so I was there for three days in the middle - getting my head back into the work mode was never going to be easy ! I'd like to be able to say that I charged in and got back in the driving seat without a hitch, but alas, I haven't. I've now completed a full week, several design briefs completed, several small schemes are back on track and I'm about ready to hit the ground and face live fire on Monday ;-)

In the mean time though, I'm currently laid out, chilling, we have just had a minor tidy, shopping completed this morning and waiting for John to turn up for tea. Practically just like before I was married, or is it ? I've an odd unexplainable feeling in me, something I never expected to have last month, a feeling of being grown up, or should I say, not quite a bloke, more a man ? I'm not sure, but whatever the feeling, I seem to be cooking tea more !

Lesley in the hot seat

The wedding went completely to plan, the venue was as good as it gets, food fantastic, staff very attentive and all the guests appeared to enjoy the whole thing. As for us, we loved every minute of the wedding. We are now heading south to Kent to spend our second night as a married couple on the first day of our honeymoon... And as you can see from the picture, I'm already in the passenger seat ;-) that's marriage I guess !

Awesome !

Was out on site today, usual mundane site visit looking at signs on a rural bend high up on the A6033 when suddenly the guy I was on site with drew my attention to an approaching Harrier Jump Jet coming in at a low level ! We were both in high vis yellow waistcoats and as the jet flew low over us the pilot dipped each wing to say hello ! A truely awesome sight to see especially one being made by probably my favorite aircraft ! Made my week !

Just another week... not quite...

Its been quite an odd week, it was rounded off by hearing the news that the chap who gave me my first real job had passed away. Jeff Cowley will be remembered by many, sometimes for the wrong reasons as many people didn't get on with him, but what Jeff represented to me was a feeling of knowing where you stand. Jeff never lied to me, he never misled me, he often defended me and others, knowing that we were in the wrong.

Jeff was an Architect for Sheffield City Council, he put practicalities first, often upsetting the other Architects in the office, but perhaps Jeff's greatest achievement was helping to get the World Student Games to Sheffield in 1991, he attended the 1987 games in Sarajevo and worked hard in enabling the games in Sheffield to take place. The world is sadly lacking people like Jeff, who "tell it as it is". Farewell Jeff !

Another hit this week was the visit to hospital with mum, she has been freefalling for a few years now towards dialysis and if soon to go onto a transplant list, the words mean little to most, but actually getting into the details was quite a reality check for us both. Makes my cold and cough pale into insignificance really...

1000, 2000, 3000, Check Canopy !

Well they say thats good advice for jumping out of an aircraft... Everything appears to be coming together for a very mad few months through May, June and July, what possibly could go wrong !

I've made loose arrangements for the 30th May to have a stroll around Sheffield by way of a "Stag Day", I have a few days in Gdansk in early June, then a 9 day tour of England, Wales and Scotland, culmanating in a mad dash on the 21st June from John o Groats to Lands End, then I get married in July followed by a glorious two weeks touring France, Italy and Switzerland.

Everything is booked bar a few little details, who said weddings were stressful, well perhaps its the paying for them that gets you ;¬)