Worcester

I have just spent two days in Worcester, a city I’ve only visited previously during the winter. Although parts of it still clearly suffer from the unmistakeable, building style of the 1960s, none the less, there are areas that are quite charming and my strolls around following a couple of historic trails helped me discover some of those. One particular little gem was Greyfriars House and its beautiful gardens; a little oasis in the midst of shopping hustle and bustle.  And then there was King Charles’ House, from where King Charles II escaped after the Battle of Worcester in 1651

Another webinar?

It's bad enough having to attend teleconference calls and webinars necessary in my own line of work, but yesterday, when I was travelling home from Worcester, I was a reluctant and uninvited guest at someone else's. After half an hour of sitting behind them without commenting, I simply  had to say something when they answered a telephone call on a different device so their webinar continued unobserved. Apparently the attendee didn't have any ear phones and obviously didn't want to buy any from the on-board shop. I wasn’t impressed by the unprofessionalism of staff working for a low-end clothing chain

Bar B Q

The big news is that we had a Bar-B-Q this week.  Perhaps surprisingly for an outdoor type of family, Bar-B-Qing isn’t something we do terribly often. In fact, I can’t remember the last time we had one. But, as it was a lovely evening and Alex wanted meat, he and I (pyromaniacs both) fired  up the chimenea and soon had flames roaring out of the chimney. (I feared for the valiant fox glove growing in the wall behind but all was well.) It wasn’t long before we had glowing coals and a delicious meaty meal to satisfy Alex’s man hunger.

Absolutely fascinating!

Earlier this week, Andy, Nerea and I went to a “do” in London that was definitely a hat occasion. Unless they are to keep my ears warm, I don’t really “do” hats (or “dos” for that matter) but despite some understandable reservations, eventually, I purchased a ribbon “fascinator”,  that met the requirements of the gig. Naturally, on the day I looked anything but fascinating, especially after wearing it in the rain. On the other hand, Nerea, our beautiful daughter, looked stunning in a little tilted number which protected at least one side of her hair from most of the rain

Angle Tarn Pikes

Needing to use up some holiday this week, I decided to do something I enjoy and head to the hills for a spot of geocaching.  Because of the micro-climate that the Lake District enjoys, when I arrived in Patterdale on Thursday, I changed my plans and made my way up to Angle Tarn with Molly and Monty. The views from the Angle Tarn Pikes are always stunning and although there were grey clouds over Helvellyn and Red Screes, it was still a glorious walk. After we’d finished, we headed back for Patterdale and enjoyed an icecream at the village shop!

Tarnmonath Fell

Walking over moorland really makes my heart sing. Today, after dropping Andy at the station for another leg of his UK tour, I decided to make the most of the improving weather and take Molly and Monnty up to Geltsdale and Tarnmonath Fell.  After I parked at Jockey Shield, we headed up to The Gairs and then onto the fellside.  It was a steep pull up following the old fence line but we were soon at the top with stunning views stretching for miles around. The wind was blowing, the curlews were singing and I was glad to be there

Surprise!!!!!

We’re going out to a surprise party tonight. Having organised one myself almost 20 years ago, it isn’t something I would do again in a hurry.  Although it was a huge success and  Mr Glis had no idea until he actually went into the hall and everyone started singing Happy Birthday, the effort in keeping it secret from him was tremendous. So many people were in on the secret, it seemed almost inevitable that he would find out. I understand from the party organiser that the lucky “victim” remains unaware so we’re looking forward to the big reveal at 8pm!