Nostalgic music from my 30's

Getting a Canon Powershot S2IS

Before I went to Canada, I bought this wonderful 5 megapixel camera with a powerful 12x zoom.  After my Ixus i, this camera would allow me to get close ups of wildlife. It was the camera I took to South America in 2006 where I would get countless wonderful photos and would solidify my lifelong passion for photography

Punting towards Granchester

Went for a marathon punt along the Cam today to Granchester. The river is very natural along this section - not quite as cultural (no 14th century colleges) but very peaceful. We took a picnic lunch.
 

Cycling along the river

Went for cycle and picnic along the river on Sunday to make the most of the great weather. Salmon and prawn sandwiches from the picnic bag - followed by a large "chocolate special" from a nearby pub (see photo)really hit the spot. There are some lovely open fields and little villages along the river just outside Cambridge. We really enjoyed our exploring.

Cambridge at Dusk (from my rollerblades)

I'm into silhouttes at the moment.

Cambridge Botanical Gardens

We spent the afternoon pottering in the Botanical garden, admiring the flowers and reading. Cambridge is blossoming back into it's beautiful self - so glad winter is ended. The Mallard ducks on the lake are in their breeding plumage with emerald green necks - beautiful.

Taking it easy

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A very wet Thetford Forest

Went to Thetford Forest for some fresh air. It started raining with avengeance by the time we got half way there and poured most of the time. But we had fun. Thankfully we'd decided to make it a day trip - not an overnight camping stint. We would have been cold and miserable. I think we'll leave the overnighting for the true summer which is on it's way. Clocks go forwards tonight.

Never too late for a happy childhood!

Update

We're looking forward to a relaxing four day long Easter weekend. Wish every weekend was this long!

Ally's new job has been finalised so we are very happy about that and she is determined to enjoy her last few days of freedom. She starts on April Fools day but hopefully that's just a co-incidence!

Work is going ok. I spent a couple of days this week in Brussels and the meetings went well. Our new team member at work, Tom, starts on Tuesday next week so holding fingers he'll blow us away with his brilliance. He certainly looks to have the goods in his CV and from his interviews.

Ally and I are off to play some tennis this afternoon and tomorrow we're playing with the idea of going camping (depending on the weather and it's by no means summr yet.) Alternatively, we've been invited round to Amanda and Johnathon for Easter lunch with the family on Sunday which sounds nice and warm.

We've been watching a couple of movies. Festen (The celebration) was a strikingly original Danish movie and Battleship Potemkin was an iconic 1920's Russian classic that was a little hard to sit through (ah the joys of counting down the Top 250 IMDB list).

We've become a little addicted to a bevy of reality TV programs recently. There's Master Chef, (attempting to find the UK's most talented new chef), and The Apprentice (14 ambitious youngsers battling it out to impress a cantankerous celebrity multi-millionaire and win a six figure salary) and Blame the Parents (showing just how atrociously kids can behave and the often equally awful behaviour of their luckless parents.) What was life like before reality TV!

Ally has caught my recent bug for non fiction hand has been attacking Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and Michael Cook's "A Brief History of the Human Race". Our conversations at the moment are a smattering of learned observations about evolution and history - peppered by reminisces from our reality TV moments. I've been reading Robyn's well recommended "101 things to do before you die" which is delightfully tongue in cheek.

Now that the weather is improving, hopefully we'll get out more!

With that, I'll sign off. Ally has just finished toasting some hot cross buns and I'm off to tuck in. Hope you all have a lovely Easter.

Spring has sprung

Glorious weather has arrived at last and the daffodils are blooming. I almost couldn't believe it when I stepped off the plane from Sweden and suddenly felt extremely hot in my winter jacket. Blue skies. Glorious sunshine. I'd forgotten just how good it felt. Ally and I celebrated with an evening walk by the river. Thank goodness for the weather because we needed a bit of cheering up. Ally's being messed around with her new job. They've kept delaying her start date so she phoned up today to discover they haven't actually "authorised" her role yet with the director and it's not even a definite thing. Basically they've been offering her a job that doesn't even exist yet. We'll only find out on Monday. At best, she'll only start on April 1st now. Not very professional. And on top of that, she took the car for a basic £100 service and ended up with a £750 bill. When it rains, it pours! But at least the sun is shining...

Some geese can be notoriously nasty. In fact, poor Ally was severely traumatised by a troop of hissing "feathered monsters" when she was a teenager. They had her running around a swimming pool with them in hot pursuit. But these Cambridge geese (see photo) were awfully cute and waddled past us at close quarters with gentle hello's. I took a couple of close up shots while Ally cowered on top of a nearby table in terror. Her teenage memories were still acutely fresh.

Mid week update

I'm glad to report that my sniffling and snuffling is much reduced and I'm feeling human again - so much so that I managed a tennis lesson last night. My cold has taken it's toll though and I was huffing and puffing dramatically - and that was just from swinging my racket with almost no movement of the feet.

My terrible forearm is progressing well at last thank goodness. Who would have thought that all that squash I played as a young school kid could have corrupted my stroke to much. It was like learning again from scratch. Squash is all about using the wrist and keeping an open racket. That's paramount to disaster in tennis with the result that all my shots kept slicing straight up to the roof.

Ally had a successful job interview on Tuesday with Minolta and everything looked very positive indeed. However, she then didn't hear back from them or the agency (and still hadn't early today) so we're wondering what is going on. Hopefully it's simply that tthings work slower there than at World Challenge where things got done at lightning speed. We're holding fingers.

I've also been looking for a person to hire for my team and have been doing lots of interviewing. I think we have found the right person and are in the process of doing a job offer. Hiring is always a bit scary. No matter how vigorous the interview process, people can always suprise (on the up as well as downside.) A bit like a lottery really.

Ally's just starting to get cabin fever but her break has been a god send. Just what she needed. She's become a fitness fiend of note with body pump one night and cyber spinning the next - and is looking wonderful and fit. Putting me to shame. I haven't been to gym properly in over two weeks. Starts tomorrow!

Happily the weather has warmed up a bit from the icy spell we've had recently, but there's rumours we're in for a wet weekend. If it does play ball, we've decided to go for a drive to the coast with Amanda and Johnathon which would be lovely. Will give me a couple of hours to pet Geena in the back! Sure Ally won't mind - she might even join in.

Our trip to Canada is now organised (dates set and plane booked) and we're very excited. It's going to be great to see our Canadian family and do some hiking. Canada has been on our life lists for ages now. It's a pity August is so far away. Counting the days...

Snowy Cambridge

Well, they've been warning us about it for ages and today it finally snowed with gusto. Everything in Cambridge looked very different, clothed all white. Poor Ally wasn't too charmed though as she had to drive an hour and half to an interview through icy roads. It's snowing everywhere in Europe at the moment - I was in Gothenberg this week and I've rarely seen so much snow. We have a rather chilly weekend ahead. Unfortuntely I've come down with the dreaded lurgy (a nasty bout of flu that downed Ally for close to a week) so I think I'll be staying in.

Winter Bluebells

We went for celebratory lunch at a nice restaurant in Camridge. Then for a short walk by Trinity College. The Bluebells are blooming - a lovely flash of lavender against the stark, winter trees. It is a rainy weekend but the snow that all the weather channels have been predicting all week has not materialised. Instead of a sprinkling of snow, we got the bluebells.

Spinning highs

Well, I've just discovered a new fun but exhausting passion. Went to my first spinning class the other night. All the pros knew I was a newbie because i spent at least 10 minutes learning to adjust my pedals and seat to match my long frame. Also by my lack of a towel to mop up the sweat so I pespired all over the handle bars. Eeeeuw! But what fun. Pumping music. A loud, demanding coach who exhorts you to up and down the resistance level. Sometimes you have to stand on the pedals, other times hover just over the seat, then get into a racing position and move your legs as fast as you possibly can. No way in hell I'd put this much effort into my exercise without the peer pressure, thumping music and screaming coach. Plus it's fun to look accross at your fellow spinners and see you're not the only one suffering. Gives you a great sense of comraderie. And when you get off the bike after 45 minutes of go,go,go the endorphins keep you on a high for hours. Needles to say, I'm off for another dose tonight.

Favourite movies watched (2005)

• Sin City (2005)
• Batman Begins (2005) 
• Crash (2004)
• Million Dollar Baby (2004)
• Borat (2006)
• War of the Worlds (2005)
• Saw (2004)
• Old Boy (2003)
• Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring  (2003)
• Amores perros (2000)
• The Thing (1982)
• All the President's Men (1976)
• The Hustler (1961)
• Double Indemnity (1944)
• Miller's Crossing (1990)
• Dogville (2003)
• Twelve Monkeys (1995)
• Brazil (1985)
• Scarface (1983)
• The Conversation (1974)
• In the Heat of the Night (1967)
• Shadow of a Doubt (1943)
• The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
• Bringing Up Baby (1938)
• Band of Brothers  (2001)
• 24 (TV series) (2001)