Three MTB rides

 Today - a blast over Cleeve Common - 25mls, nearly 2000 ft height gain. Fabulous.

December 10th - a couple of times around the Nova in Bristol.

December 5th - Malvern Circuit 

Autumn on the River Severn

Yesterday I spent a fabulous day exploring the River Severn from Lower Load to, or very nearly to Haw Bridge.  A brisk breeze in our faces picked up the river into a very gentle swell. Swans flew over our heads, geese congregated in front of us and fanned out in a flurry of splashes and wings as we approached.  In the fading light Kingfishers darted and dived on the waters edge.

MTB extravaganca

On a cold wintery morning I was out at  9.30 and on the bike.  Leaves crunching underneath our wheels we hurtled around Cranham Woods - the sun peeped through the etiolated trees trunks lighting up a golden carpet of fallen leaves.

Starboard Surf iSUP

Tried out my new iSUP today on the River Avon before hitting the sea.  Really pleased, very stable although its quite short - this does allow it to turn very easily. Turning quickly has never been my strong point.  The Starboard Surf Delux DC appears to be just as described on the tin - stable, light weight, manoeuvrable and stiff. 

Wild In Whitesands

Just returned from a few fabulous days by the sea - in one of my favourite places..Whitesands. Me, Jerry and Steve C drove down on Wednesday morning arriving after a tortuous six hour drive.  We surfed and explored on both the iSUPs and hardboards (catching some of my best waves ever, consistently quite good, although I say it myself).  Climbed down to a small beach to scramble over the rocks looking over a crystal clear sea. Played cards - chuckled and generally messed about. I loved it, thank you chaps.

Nova blast

A lovely evening with my boy. Took the MTB down and rode from their home to Ashdown for a fabulous spin over the Nova MTB trail - fast and curvy, loved it.  Back home for a curry made by Lois - just what I needed.  It's wonderful to see William and Lois so happy - it gladdens my heart as it would Christine's - she'd love their home and Lois.  Blessed.

Portland Weekend

Just returned from a lovely long weekend on Isles of Portland near Weymouth.  A  belated wedding present from Kay and Ian, who took us down and joined us for a break in a fabulous cottage by the sea.  Ultramarine skies and crystal clear sea.  SUPing late into the evening, relaxing, drinking by the sea, great company - watching the sun go down.  Staying in Fortuneswell a small village on the southern side of the island.  An interesting place - quiet, maybe a wee bit tired looking, unpretentious and charming (felt a bit like northern France. Loved it.

SUPing the Avon

A great day SUPing on the Avon between Pershore and Bredon.  A beautiful river going up stream you can see Broadway Tower perched high on the hillside, going downstream the purple hue of the distant Malverns Hills appears between dripping willows on the river banks. 

A chance for standing water play at the weir and hunkering down through the undergrowth.

A day at Sidmouth

A great day at Sidmouth where we met up with Simo and Claudia.  Weather was a bit too wild for us to goo in the sea.  Then to the caravan for tea and scones.

25th July

Windy all day. Spent the day huddled in the beach tent at Branscombe Bay - we loved it. In the evening we watched kite surfers wrestle with the winds to catch some speed. The beached kites on the sand looked like downed Pterodactyls, their spars silhouetted against a sunlit thundery sky.

A Devonian Break.

Arrived last Thursday for a two week break in the caravan in Exmouth.  Weather has been great but very windy. I've been out on the new ISUP everyday - trying to improve my balance which has taken a big hit after my knee op and arthritis in the big toe, which means I'm not as confident as I used to be, but I'm working on it.

Sha's been on the new board and loves it - even said we need to get another. A thumbs from me for that one.  Mollie and Emily came down for the weekend which was lovely. 

Day 7 Still going out on the water using both new and old boards - practicing my skills. Tail turns, reverse turns - wobbly man!!

Loving it here - sun shinning.

MTB in the rain.

A wet and muddy blast last night on the MTB. Up Sandy Lane, round to the back and over the of Leckhampton Hill, down the Tram Way and home. I loved it.

Activity Day

A full on day yesterday.  Working in the morning then a quick wash and out on the bike for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  Nice and steady as we'd planned to go climbing in the evening.

By 18.00 we were on Cleeve Cloud - ropes set up and raring to go.  In the blistering heat we managed four climbs each - loved it. Thanks Mr FT.

Climbing

Postponed 

First MTB ride for a while

On a fabulous Monday evening we (Jerry) took to the hills for a MTB thrash.  Great fun as we tore up the trails.

Last weekend 7th June.

We drove to Bristol to see Will and Lois.  A walk through the park to view the suspension bridge.  Always a joy to see them.

Ride Out

A fabulous cycle with Mr FT to Tewkesbury and around. Beautiful views from the quiet country lanes - and a few burn up to stretch the lungs.

Bristol visit.

Finally, after six weeks of lockdown and not seeing Will and Lois, I was able to see them.  With the car loaded, with much needed furniture, I was able to drive down to Bristol to view their new flat.

A lovely bright and airy space - I love it, and it is just them perfectly.  I'm really pleased for them both after such a long wait.

Portraits for NHS heroes

I've recently finished my portrait for NHS heroes.  The painting depicts Georgie an Oncology Nurse at Cheltenham General Hospital. Georgie has been redeployed to work in a Covid 19 ward.  The portrait has received great feedback and Sarah, Georgie's mum thinks I have captured her even under the PPE.  A privilege to paint the picture - it was a moving experience painting the portrait, and I tried to capture the disconcerting feel PPE has.

Day nineteen of lockdown.

The constant news is stay at home this Easter weekend - stop the BBQ's in the park, the group meetings, the selfish behaviour that's putting the efforts to slow the spread of the virus at risk.

I don't understand some peoples behaviour - nineteen health workers have died to date of Covid 19, a higher proportion of BEM people have died, people from abroad who've come to work in the UK over the years have died. A sacrifice they didn't have to make - let's remember this when we come through it.  Tolerance and acceptance of all.

The Government has drawn in the state, like never before, to help for the good.   The concept of public service now includes the delivery driver, the small shop keeper, the bin man and Joe Bloggs, the public - me and you.

Europe seems to have split up slightly (I could be wrong) but countries seem to be looking after themselves - I hope not.

Asian countries appear to be managing this better - is it because they're used to more authoritarian governments and don't question authority - but just do what they're asked?

Surely the world will change after this - hopefully we'll have learnt a lot. Old ideas, old truths will be swept away.  We can't go back to what we had before - the days after will not be the same.

There has been some fantastic, wonderful responses from all sections of our communities - gladdening my heart as the humanity of human kind wins out, drowning out the cynics.

God Bless All.

Day thirteen of lockdown.

A beautiful sunny day where its easy to forget what's going on in the world - the crises that's happening worldwide.  We watched the Queen give an address to the nation - I'm not for or against the monarchy but did feel it was the correct thing to do - thanking publicly those at the sharp end and thanking us, joe blogs for staying at home and saving lives - not necessarily our lives or the ones we can see, but the ones we can't.

Spare a thought for the those on the frontline - NHS workers, emergency services, care workers, shop assistants, lorry drivers, politicians, those keeping us fed, watered and able to stay at home with light and heating.  It's a global problem spare a thought for the poor, homeless, disabled......

God bless all

Day ten lock down

The nation's into its tenth day of lockdown/social isolation measures.  I've noticed that, when I take my (often as possible!) morning meditation - where I relax, breath deeply, listen and be thankful, the road is quieter and the birds are singing a wee bit louder!

Had a massive fire last week burning loads of rubbish which smouldered for days, filling the garden with smoke for a while.

I'm keeping busy by trying to set a routine; mornings doing some work around the garden, orchard or the house, in the afternoon its trying to be creative, sort finances and sometimes a get bike ride in.

It's at times like these, when there's a national crisis, you realise how interdependent all our lives are and the knock on effect one 'domino falling' has on the other dominoes in the line.  The safety and welfare of our families and friends becomes noticeable more important in our lives.  A nation is isolating and getting its information from the news, its social contact from zoom and FaceTime - but you can't beat good old fashioned talking face to face.

Love and prayers to all.

Day Five of lockdown.

Feels weird being isolated here.  I think the UK is beginning to act sensibly as the sad news of deaths  in Spain and Italy reaches us.  I pray that change globally results from this - that we care more, we think of others more, we reflect more - we stop taking for granted what we have.  God bless all.

Day two of lockdown.

On Monday night, Boris locked the country down, apart from essential jobs and some other exceptions.  Seems very strange, we're here with a garden to sit in, sun shinning - we seem cut off from what's going on. Traffic has reduced on the main road and we're all being very careful to not get to close.

I decided to go for a bike ride this afternoon, which is allowed.  I felt I needed to touch base with the world out there, so that I don't loose sight of the reality of the situation and understand why we need to continue to distance ourselves from Rob and Vera.  The roads were quiet and the Bath Road felt like a ghost town but there were still people wandering around looking in the closed, shop windows.

Not sure how this is going to pan out for the UK and the rest of the world. Italy and Spain are struggling to control the virus and we, the experts say, are two weeks behind.  I feel for the families in flats, with no garden, no space, restless children and no money.

I'm moved by the nations response to the NHS request for volunteers - 405,000 signed up in twenty four hours.  It saddens me that people are still going out and ignoring the stay at home policy.

Looking out for others is what we can all do.

God bless all.

Manning The Exhibition.

Race week has been a wee bit quiet - just a few visitors.  The exhibition I feel looks great and I'm learning a lot from the experience.  In my down time I've been drawing up ideas. The response to the paintings has been fantastic and few works have sold.  Onwards and upwards 😊

William, Lois and Gill

William, Lois and Gill came up on Saturday.  On a wild and windy day we walked Leckhampton Hill - in between the howling wind we talked and caught up. Tales of adventures from Sri Lanka - William and Lois driving a tuk tuk around the island, seeing the largest animal in the world (a whale).

Great to see them all - thanks Sha for a fabulous meal!

A beautiful day for archery.

A cold but sunny winters day, great for archery.  Also got my pictures back from the framers - they're looking great.

A Weekend By The Sea

Just returned from a lovely weekend away.  Stopping at a small hotel in Teignmouth we strolled along the windswept beach and walked through the driving rain along the railway walk to Holcombe on the structure that was built by Brunel for the Dawlish to Teignmouth railway.  We were down in Devon to take Champagne tea at Lympstone Manor, a wedding present from Jonathan and Mellissa - a really lovely afternoon.

Climbing

A quick climbing session at the Warehouse - need to improve my fitness I think!

Cranham Spin

On a fresh winters morning we took to the hills for a two and a half hour blast on the bikes. Muddy tracks, slippy roots and a stiff breeze added to interest.