Skip to main content

Not involving snow

With a little judicious (dis)organisation, we somehow managed to see most of the people we wanted to in our two-week UK visit. Being Christmas, we concentrated on spending time with family, but fitted in a few friends as well.

So, Mom and Dad hosted us for Christmas. The chief photographer was obviously neglecting his duties in favour of opening presents, as I don't seem to have any photos of the happy occasion. On Boxing Day, though, he really went to town. Or should that be Town? The four of us paid a visit to London, and I was constantly afraid of losing Graham amongst the thronging crowds on the South Bank, as he paused to capture yet another view on camera. It has to be said he got some nice shots, though. We went with the intention of riding the London Eye, which unfortunately was closed for repairs. So we got our birds-eye view - and some exercise - by climbing the dome at St Paul's. They charge you a fair whack to get in, but it's worth it. Really.

St Paul's and Millennium Bridge

Big Ben and London Eye

Dad, me and Mom at St Paul's
The next day we slogged up the M1 to Nottinghamshire, fabled home of Robin Hood and certain members of my family. We spent a happy afternoon visiting with my aunt and a couple of my cousins. One of whom has coincidentally married a Texan and had three gorgeous girls, who were very pleased to let these strange new relatives build marble runs and throw balloons around with them.

Todmorden means Graham's family, of course, and we were welcomed with open arms and offered a brew before we'd got both feet across the threshold! We opened a few more gifts (funny, I haven't got any photos of that, either) and made some cautious ventures out into the icy countryside.


Us with Graham's parents at nice Christmassy pub
We spent New Year in the Peak District with Graham's sister and cousin, and a bunch of other people who've been meeting up for New Year since time immemorial. They kindly let us gatecrash for a couple of days and join in board games, quizzes and the obligatory rendering of Auld Lang Syne.



Tackling the Telegraph 2009 quiz with Graham's sister and cousin

Family portrait

Sliding down south again, we made a brief stop in Kenilworth for a context-confusing visit to some friends we met in Fort Worth. In Bristol we somehow managed to round up about 15 people for a curry at a moment's notice - thanks for coming out, guys! We enjoyed seeing you! I also walked into a staff meeting at Cairns Road and was greeted as if I'd never left. Had we stayed ten minutes longer I would have had three jobs to do and never left again!

However, we surfed back to Reading on the wave of an incoming snowstorm, which subsequently broke in dramatic fashion and almost prevented us from leaving as well. We wouldn't have objected to a few days more, but on the whole it was probably best that we got the flight.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Enthusiasm and cynicism

Some while ago I heard a sermon on the story of Zacchaeus. I forget what the point of the sermon was - usually for this Bible passage it's something about Jesus saving everyone, even the unlikely people. But I remember wondering, did Zacchaeus really give all that money away? Image by Alexa from Pixabay You may remember the tale: Zacchaeus is a corrupt government official who is rather short. When Jesus arrives in town, Zacchaeus wants to get a look at him. So he climbs a tree to see over other people's heads. However, Jesus spots him and tells him to get out of the tree and go cook Jesus some dinner. I assume Jesus phrased it a little more nicely than that, because Zacchaeus is delighted, and moreover, promises to change his entire lifestyle. "Half of my possessions I give to the poor," he declares with the enthusiasm of the instant convert, "and anyone I've defrauded, I'll pay back four times over." The surrounding crowd are the cynics: Jesus, th...

Limestone Way: The Three B's

This walk on the Limestone Way takes me to three villages starting with B: Ballidon, Brassington, and Bradbourne.   Parwich to Brassington The weather forecast says it's fine, but as I walk out of Parwich some light rain starts, which persists for most of the walk. It's not enough to make me properly wet. Parwich sits in a large bowl; the kind of landscape where you can see where you're heading, where you came from, and the next hill you are going to have to climb. The area has been inhabited by humans for thousands of years .  A short climb up a field takes me to Highway Lane, which I follow down again, and then bear left across the fields to Ballidon. I can see the chimney of Ballidon Quarry, and a building which looks like an old chapel. I assume it must now be a private house, but when I get there, I discover that this is All Saints church, now in the care of the Friends of Friendless Churches. What a nice surprise! I'm intrigued by the Creed and Ten Com...

Working on sunshine

Freeeee electricity!  No, seriously.  This guy came and knocked on the door one day, and I don't usually pay any more attention to random strangers trying to sell me something at the door than you probably do, but I guess he must have said "free" enough times to penetrate my consciousness, so I found myself agreeing to have someone check our house's suitability for solar panels.  And another guy turned up, and measured; and another one, and we signed; and a few more, and put up scaffolding and panels and meter boxes and cable; and suddenly, if we're careful, we can avoid paying for any electricity during daylight hours, because it's all generated right up there above our heads. Of course, we have the British government to thank for this, which probably means we're paying for it somewhere along the line.  The Department for Energy and Climate Change (presumably it's actually against climate change rather than for it, although you never know) has...