Old Man's Stick #2 - Harlequins Prizegiving

All three kiddies in the play pen

I remember when Colin Spears won this - he was 50 and I was 25 - now I am (nearly) 50 - and I have now won it twice

It was very cold out and I was driving - so no mulled wine - so it is "Hot Chocolate with the Works" as an aperitif

"Local Leek, Mushroom & Shropshire Blue Puff Pastry Parcel with pine nuts served with Roasted Charlotte Potato". (Scrummy) also crème brûlée and a sticky toffee pudding that was unspoken for

We ate at "The Orchard Cafe" by Worcester Woods - all excellent locally sourced and healthy stuff -  if I go down for "Parkrun" then I will certainly stop for breakfast (menu).

Three in a Row

From the left - Moon, Jupiter, Venus

Not bad for hand-held 2.5 second exposure - that sniper training coming in handy.

Not often we get such skies in Birmingham - and not often is the line of the ecliptic so clearly demarcated.

Disco Boots - Gentleshaw

A ray of winter sunlight and Catherine's sparkly boots turn my Volvo into a Disco*

We went to Gentleshaw for a bit of orienteering (3rd place) - Adrian, Philip, Catherine and me.  While the middle aged gents were wearing sensible orienteering shoes - Catherine (7) went for something a bit more showy.

*yes a bit of a weak off-roader joke - but its late

And this time it is Gooseberry

I still have gooseberries left over from Summer

Rather similar to the Apple Cake made last week BUT more eggs and you put the berries on the top and they sink down during baking

It is a Waitrose recipe - click here

To the Ricoh for a Cheese Injection

My first Kraft Company Conference - nice to see many old friends - interesting to sample new products

I had a good chat with Mr Colin Jackson (R) - I think I confused him with my references to the ARDF world championships

ahhh... now I know why my wristband says "62"

Spare seat on my table - so I got the have TWO goat's cheeses

Il menu: well chosen I thought

Colin Jackson - world champion and former world record holder for the 110m hurdles - talks to us about his experience at the Olympics

Colleagues (it was by now rather late)

Another Night Race in Sutton Park

I won!

It was much quieter than last time.  I did meet some cyclists - and got an impressed "powerful headlamp!" comment - so I went up to "main beam" and got a "very, powerful headlamp" comment. Excellent.  Running through the holly woodland - like passing down the aisle of a back-green cathedral - plus the very spooky fluttering of hundreds of roosting birds - no vocalisations - just fluttering.

And this is 'Curry Goat' - note NOT Curried Goat.  Scrummy - especially with the rice and beans.  The chef works with me in Bournville Factory.

Even better than Mom's Apple Pie

Apple and Almond Cake - recipe says "make this and you will never make apple pie again"

 I still have a fridge full of apples (neighbour's tree, neighbour won't eat them because they have not come from a supermarket) - getting a bit wrinkly so its time to start cooking with them

This is June's Apple Pie and Almond Recipe - my favourite

Apple and Almond Dessert Cake

by the way... apple sauce is TWO words.

My favourite airport in the whole wide world

Those are prayer flags on the hillside

I flew into Paro in 2001 - then it was a AVRO RJ - with 4 hairdryers for engines - but at least if you lost one you still had 75% power.

Take of to the South (sharp left turn after the first ridge on the left and then a sharp right etc. etc.

Landing from the North

The Builders are in... Noggings!

Time to lose that dreadful Artex ceiling and fix the 25 year old water damage (flat dormer roof)

A little wasp nest

Hidden deep within the rock wool was a bees nest - complete with honey and all - lovely smell

I am having proper insulation and, as the original builders missed out the noggings - those as well

Three words I never thought I would hear in the same sentence

What is that?

Still no idea

Night Unicycle Orienteering

It Chris McS on a Unicycle at Shire Oak

A short practicality test - conclusion

Under seat mounted lamp - needs more work

Balancing without external visual references and with lights that move with head or hips - needs much more work

Coincidences?

Last night I was clearing my box room ready for redecorating - I picked up my copy of "How to be Topp!" - famously illustrated by Ronald Searle, while checking the publication date I noticed it was set in "Scotch Roman" and then sat on my bed and read the first chapter.  The first time I have seen or read this book in twenty years and certainly the first time I have come across a "Scotch Roman" typeface.

Today a tweet from Tim Harford led me to a site about font master Matthew Carter and Googling his most recent font (miller) revealed that it is based on Scotch Roman.

Returning to twitter I find a new tweet - Ronald Searle's death was announced this morning.

umm.... 

Imelda Marcos? Moi? Non!

As the great lady probably did not say "you can never have too many shoes"

Tidying up today I find that I have 1 pair of standard shoes and 8 pairs of orienteering shoes, including 6 VJ's:

My VJs - from oldest to newest: bottom left to bottom right and then top left to top right

Strange that the uppers on the older shoes are barely worn - and ZERO holes whilst the the last orange pair went "fuzzy" after ~5 races and then shortly after began to perforate.  I only bought these because the ones on the top left got holes after a year of use.  I have not run in the green ones yet.  Also my feet seem to be getting smaller - from a 10.5, through 10 to 9.5 in the latest pair.

Three generations of VJ "Dobb" soles - oldest on the left, newest on the right

In the good old days it was the sole, not the uppers, that went first - either the Dobb-spikes working loose or a stud breaking off on a rock.  Perhaps the shoes were "lasting too long" - or was it a response the lighter shoes from competitors?  I suppose the environment in Scandinavia is rather different from brambly-midlands-grot.

Interesting to see the changes over the years:

1. Cross/Triangular Studs to Concave Pentagons to Concave Quadrilaterals/Rhomboids
2. Addition of "teeth" in the instep/outstep (perhaps for contouring grip) replaced with a single dobb and some small studs
3. Two of the heel dobbs move from the middle to the front studs and then are joined by two more dobbs back on the middle studs.
4. An extra dobb at the front (in the middle - caused me pain as it was right on a joint) and then two more front dobbs.
5. Addition of two bands of mini studs/ridges - not at all sure what these would add in terms of grip - if the ground was so soft that they made contact it is probably almost liquid mud.
6. The "toe" goes more pointy and the grip bars become broader and then the toe curls upwards and gets mini-studs instead of bars.

I wonder how scientific all this redesign has been?  Hopefully not marketing or visual appeal led.

What sort of compromises have been made?

grip on sand v grip on wet mud v grip on leaf litter
grip v binding in sticky mud/clay v self cleaning
grip v flex v protection v support
and so on...

ParkRun - It looks like I was just jogging

This was my fastest 5km in 20 years - and I appear to be strolling

A little trip to London with Anna...

Sequence for the day:

09:10 Leave Frimley
09:20 Panic ticket buying at Farnborough
09:25 Rush over the bridge to join the
09:30 to London Waterloo
10:05 Waterloo via Green Park to Knightsbridge (A decides that shopping is more attractive than museums)
Then - Harrods (food hall, expensive watches and "pink floor"),
Anna selects Science Museum out of available list,
Walk to South Ken, sandwich (Ham and Cheese) handmade to order by a nice man at South Ken station.
Eaten while watching the skating at Natural History museum.
Uncle David is wearing his Hi-vis jacket - so gets asked twice for twice for directions.
Short locomotive heavy visit to museum and then the attraction of "Hamleys" becomes too much
So it is "follow the dark blue to Picadilly" and "its four stops...".
Hamleys very busy - we patronize "build-a-bear" and then David needs a Latte.
Post Costa we went to look at the posters for "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" - no Jason this year and then down to...
Trafalgar Square, Whitehall, Horse Guards Parade, Parliament Square, Westminster Bridge, once more asked for directions (London Eye)
Waterloo Station (30p to spend a penny - what a rip off!) and then M&S for Tuna and Sweetcorn sandwiches and then home to Frimley.

The last time I took a train in this direction from Waterloo would have been about 1969 - but I still had a moment of spooky Deja-Vu

Gen. Kitchener was all alone - and no one paying respects - so we dodged the H&K toting police and had a little talk about Kitchener only to learn later that A is off to Gordon's School next year and not General K's

"Beware these horses may bite or kick" - all Anna got was a good sniffing over

Houses of Parliament looking stunning

"...your valor will not be forgotten by a grateful country" - unfortunately - it has - see Wikipedia entry for H Havelock

A chilly Trafalgar Square

There is a SAAB in the Science Museum! Sadly all SAABs will be museum pieces soon (bankruptcy a few days before Xmas)

Strange building in South Ken - it is the Ismaili centre?

£199 - we decided that this was sadly... out of our price range

Yes - really - its Wills and Kate Wedding Dolls - groovy smiles!

First stop - Harrods - Food Hall and then the "pink section" of floor 4 - little girls toys

Jubilee Line - Wall cladding like something out of Blake's 7 crossed with Dr Who

Heading for Green Park

On the train from Farnborough to Waterlook (after stressful experience with the automatic ticket machine - too many options - too little time)

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