plastic bag trees

The plastic bag trees are blooming.....sorry couldn't resist it. This photo just summed up the problem of litter in this country. No-one seems to care about it or the problem is just out of control. There is rubbish in almost every public place and so many people smoke that there are butts everywhere. Oh well...we are just visitors...

Sarah's beach holiday

My daughter Sarah has given me permission (you did..didn't you) to post this lovely photo taken on a recent camping trip on the beach. Ah yes... the beach... I remember that. She is coming to check up on the old man in late June so we are of course looking forward to that. She's swapping beaches, camping and friends for history, culture and the old man...hmm.

No....its Orpheus!!!

two sides of Orpheus

A recent edition to Harewood House is a huge statue of Orpheus which replaced a Victorian fountain. There are also many collapsed, child-sized knights in armour, which symbolise the fate of child soldiers in the world today. Lorraine is standing in front of a Buddhist "stupor" or peace monument symbolising freedom and peace.

Harewood House

Yesterday we visited Harewood House which is about 8 miles from Shipley. It is an incredible estate which has been in the Lesailles family for about 300 years and founded originally on the proceeds of African slavery and teh Wet Indian sugar trade. The current Earl and Lady Harewood (a former lead violinist in the Sydney Symphony Ochestra)live upstairs and the old man does the audio guide. His mother, Priness Mary, the current Queen's aunt, lived in the house for most of her life. The house has been opened to the public to cover the costs of preserving it. The current Lesailles generation are fairly new age and there are many Buddhists icons around the place. Here is a selction of photos of the house and grounds.

this is deep...okay

wet sundays

Wet sunday mornings are the time for reflection, communication and planning. Yesterdy we re-organised our little outdoor area and mowed the lawn! (all 5 sq m). It was great to get the hands dirty and makes a great change from being a teacher or tourist. Here is a photo I took a few minutes ago of the back garden.

the BIG swim

I guess the swim must be coming up very soon so good luck to all who are prepared to brave the crowds and sharks. A few of you may even improve at least one place on your position last year.... I wish that I could be there but alas it's not to be this year. We are getting very good at swimming straight and turning in the 25m pool although the chlorine and hard water is getting to us both. A few of the locals are even attempting "front crawl" now instead of breastroke. As the weather warms up (it broke the 20deg barrier a few days ago!) we find ourselves walking more and swimming less. Our neighbours have finally discovered us and we are making many new friends, which is great. I have a regular job 3 days a week till the end of summer term ie mid-July. I usually end up working 4 days but usually have one day off. After this term is over I won't work as much hopefully. We walked along Hadrian's wall last weekend and may return there later in the year when it warms up to do some more challenging walks.

Lorraine's rock

What's it about....nobody knows....

watch out for children

....they'll destroy you if you don't......

speling erors in bolg

it haz bean sugested to me that hteir ar two manee speling aros in the bgol. Ov cors this is noncents!!! Eye wil trie hardur

Hadrian built a wall

One day Hadrian decided to build a wall. He was fed up with all the noise from his neighbours, the Scots. They were a wild lot and lowered the tone of the neighbourhood, which severely affected property values. They wore dresses and never bathed. Hadrian was the CEO of Roman Inc at the time and though he wasn't really a local, he was big and powerful. He rounded up some guest workers from Poland or some other far-flung corner of the empire and damn well built a bloody great wall from west to east (or was it east to west?) across the whole country to keep the Scots out. It only took him and his mates 7 years to build with no outsourcing or sub-contracting! After several thousand years Rome Inc decided that they had enough of the whole island and decided that those damn Scots could have that Godforsaken place which they called Scot-land and resume their endless battles with the tribes to the south. Anyway it was bloody freezing and never stopped raining. Rome Inc had started fighting amongst themselves were fed up with empire building - it wasn't worth trying to civilize those barbarians. So they cleared off back to Rome to sort out the internal factional problems and left the locals to it. Of course they showed no respect and pinched all the stone from the wall for their houses. However Hadrian built his wall to last and it was bloody long so it will probably last for a few thousand years...see photo

happy....not happy

I think the photos speak for themselves......

Skype

At last we've set up the little camera so if anyone wants to Skype us to be reminded of what we look like (do you want to reminded....?)as well as talk to us you can do so. I can even take you on a guided tour of the house (doesn't take long!. Skype address is neil.andrew.mckenzie. You'll have to download it first of course if you haven't got it already. If you don't know how talk to a local nerd/geek.

mother & daughter

During the last break we stayed for a few days with Tori, Lorraine's daughter, at her lovely, but temporary accommodation near Bath. Tori is a director's assistant and is currently working on a BBC production of Tess and the d'Urbevilles. She invited us to visit the set one day and see what she acually does. This is the first time Lorraine has actually seen Tori in action at work and she is a dynamo. She has 2 mobile phones, and is invariably talking into both, one from the set and one dealing with outside enquiries. This is the best shot of mother & daughter that I have seen for while.

...deep in thought...

No.... just wondering where I left my passport! Note the photographer in the mirror urging me to smile. This was taken in Rouen, the largest city in Normandy. It was bombed heavily during WW2 and still bears the scars. They have done well to presereve the old part of the city which has only pedestrian access. It is also where they tried, then fried, Joan of Arc, who is now a nationla heroine of course.

Box

Lorraine's daughter Tori is working on a BBC drama production of "Tess of the D'Urbevilles" near Bath for the next few months. We had the privilege of being on the set one day amid tight security and indulged in a bit of star spotting. I was disappointed to find that neither Natalie Portman nor Scarlet Johannsen were in it! Tori has rented a small flat nearby in a village called Box (yes...Box). It is picture postcard rolling hills and hedgerows country straight out of Wind in the Willows I guess. I went for a walk around Box and discovered this little church nearby which was open. There has been a church on this site for over 1000 years and this one was about 600 years old I think. The village grew around the main Roman road from London to Bath. This a wonderful part of the country.

Glastonbury

Glastonury is a centre of "alternate culture" and venue for the famous folk festival, which is taking place now. It is a hippy-trippy place full of vegan cafes, navel gazing centres and as many ways to get "healed" as Nimbin or Byron. We climbed a small hill nearby which looked artificial but is a natural phenomenon according to the locals. At the top was an ancient abbey (what else?, with a couple of very earthy folk standing around, one serenading the other with a rendition of Amazing Grace on bagpipes. These guys would love Byron! They didn't seem to mind being photographed and didn't want payment!

the old bard

Whilst driving through the English countryside on the way to London we spent a night at Stratford-Upon-Avon, the birthplace if the old bard himself. It's a pretty place with the usual cathedral and quaint medieval street scenes with the added bonus of being able to cash in on the master. Shakespeare was an actor and shrewd business operator as well as playwright... a kind of celebrity of his day.

mona lisa

It has long been an ambition of mine to see the Mona Lisa. Well...that ambition has been fulfilled. After several hours searching the Louvre I finally found her surrounded by 1000 tourists with cameras. I joined the queue and flashed a few pictures, none of which did her justice. In the flesh she lives up to all expectations. Here's a very blurred photo, but the best I could do.

C'est combien!

These two dudes were entertaining us on a train as they do in Paris when I (foolishly!) decided to take a photo of them. They both posed obligingly but then dude numero une approached me for payment. I gave him 2 euros but he wasn't happy with that and stood his ground. Lorraine held out some money and he only just stopped short of reaching in our pockets. We eventually gave him about 6 euros to piss off! This was an isolated incident though.... Paris is magnifique!

Monet's garden

Have just returned from 2 weeks on the road (and under the Channel!), taking us to new and exciting places in England and France. The first selection of photos is from Claude Monet's garden(he's the famous French artist who began the style of painting which came to be known as impressionism)at Giverney in Normandy. The place was infested with elderly (older than us) tourists but the gardens were superb. Monet himself looks like a cranky old bastard from the photos (well he is French) but his paintings are pretty good.