After a a week of scorching sun in Yorkshire we have come down to Devon to dog-sit for Belle, a Chocolate Lab belonging to the Foxes who are off to Greece to buy drachmas and surf without wet-suits. This morning took Belle up Darky Lane (don't ask!) and then into town to get a paper. Having scanned the paper the sun is now breaking through so after lunch we will take Belle to South Milton to walk the coastal path.
But back to Dover as we returned from our trip to Anduze way back in April. After a detour through west London to avoid a pile-up on the M25 and stopping off with Ann overnight, we made it back to York in time to tidy up for John and Monica who were coming up from Malvern to see Brass Monkey, a folk band with Martin Carthy and John Kirkpatrick and a brass section (you guessed?). Great stuff - like listening to a Thomas Hardy sound-track.
John and Monica went home on Sunday but we accompanied them as far as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park to see the Joan Miro exhibition, which we had seen already, and a video installation in the chapel, which we hadn't. 24/7 4-season CCTV footage of an installation in woodland. Strangely hypnotic.
Much of the next week was spent catching up but on Friday we went to Otley to stay with Mick, Charlotte and Seb, always good company. On the Saturday we went for a walk through woods which was lovely until we were hit by horizontal icy rain that mad life a bit miserable for poor Seb. Back to Otley for food and warmth put him back in his normal good spirits. Will probably go back for a mountain bike ride with Mick later in the year.
On Sunday we had promised some of the Protected Fellows from the Centre for Applied Human Rights a day trip to see a bit more of the county than the East Heslington Campus. Unfortunately the weather remained grey and wet, in fact it rained ceaselessly through the day. Neverteless we stuck to Plan A which was Scarborough. The sea was impressive if not welcoming and we ended the day at Whitby with Fish and Chips at the Magpie, the weather ensuring the only time there hasn't been a queue out into the street.
The rest of the week spent on Greenways planning for the new season and reading for the Social Psychology course, particularly "The Social Animal" by David Brooks - a very interesting look at recent developments in neuroscience recognizing the power of the unconscious but easy to read in narrative form. On Thursday I went to a talk by A C Grayling touching on the same subject.
The 5th May started the Bank Holiday weekend and Alec was down with George. We met them at Sutton Bank for a walk along the escarpment. On their way home we went with them to the Arboretum at Thorpe Perrow. Bluebells were abundant and all the trees looking fresh. We took in the Birds of Prey display after a lunch on the terrace before Alec and George set off again for Scotland (refusing to take Doncaster with them)The rest of the week was spent in Scotland with Richard, helping to insulate the underfloor of his and Rosies cabin in the woods north of Glasgow. There are literally hundreds of these cabins tucked away in the trees, some home-made others quite fancy but all only for part time occupation, mainly for city dwellers from Glasgow. It was tough work lying on our backs under the floor, sometimes with only inches to squeeze under but its a lovely area, near the West Highland Way and the Campsie Fells and we got a couple of nice walks in. I would love to go back there and get some serious walking in, its a beautiful area.
I had to be back on the 13th as I was supposed to be organising the racing down at the sailing club. However, the persistent rain meant the river had flooded so racing was off.
One week to go before the Manchester run. I get foolishly anxious about these runs, foolishly since noone but me cares how long I take or even whether I finish, but it does seem to bring out the competitive in me - and its good for me too, keeps my weight down. Apart from the training much of my time was spent helping one of the Protected Fellows find accommodation and sort out his Housing Benefit. His first language is French and the system, despite helpful and well-meaning front desk staff, is virtually impenetrable. Noone wants to let HB tenants so when we got one off the internet we grabbed it fast despite the landlord's agents wanting to cut some legal corners. I suppose I should have called her on it but it would probably have cost us the tenancy and we didn't have a Plan B. Caught an interesting talk called "Genes for Language" at the University and a talk on Iran's nuclear ambitions by the ex-head of the IAEA
On Saturday JZ came over for supper and then we went to Selby to see Davina and the Vagabonds a great night with a full-on set of blues/swing with great musicians and a personality to make Bette Middler look retiring.
Next morning an early start, picking up Rahab in Leeds on our way to Manchester. This run was really just a warm up for Team Becca with Rahab doing the fundraising for BHA, for whom she works. With 40,000 runners it was broken up into 'waves' and Matt and Jim were starting about an hour before me. We parked near Matt and Sam's house and caught the bus in, with a succession of runners boarding the bus as we approached the city centre. My start was 11.25 but we just managed to speak to Matt and Jim as they waited to start jsut as they were able to cheer me over the line a couple of hours later. This was Matt's first 10k and he has clearly found his niche, coming in in 46 minutes. Jim's was an honourable 53 minutes and I made it under the hour as planned with 58.23. It was good fun too with bands all along the route out past Old trafford and back past the Lowry. You can see some photos and more info on their website Great Run
We met up after the finish and went back to Didsbury for a late pub meal
Another busy week followed with moving our Protected Fellow in to his flat, more reading on psychology with Jonah Lehrer's " Imagine: How Creativity Works" my first download on Kindle for PCs, a fascinating and scary debate on the future of the NHS at the Friends Meeting House and a talk at St John's University by the Glasgow Media Group about reporting on the Israeli Palestinian question.
And all the time Margot has been busy revising for and taking her exams in French and Spanish. Still two more to go and she has brought all her work down to Devon so I guess I will just have to go off and amuse myself with my kayak or on Emily's surfboard.
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