Profiles in the park.

 A dribbling mute.

Jamie

Isaac

Noah

Dyrham Park with the Lads

Magnum time.  They can be eaten in the prone position.

A serious discussion of the benefits of prone eating. 

New Home for the Week.

 

Cliff Barn, Sherston, and  very comfortable too.

New Hired Wheels.

Amazing.  We dropped lucky again, a Nissan 'JUKE' first registered February this year 2013.  Very stable to drive and a bit more oomph than our last hire car.

My first thought when I first saw the beast was Transformer.  Just hope I don't inadvertently press the wrong button and create a manic robot!!!

Seven Sisters Revisited.

 The Seven Sisters, or at least the first of the Seven.

 And boy was it wild,

Casting into the wind had these guys ducking their own baited hooks. 

We were here because this is where Gek and I became one, as it were.  Unfortunately for poor old Gek, she had badly twisted her ankle a couple of days previously,  all black and blue and unusable. No cliff top walking this day.

The Art I liked.

All Gek's work, but not of course

I honestly appreciated  Gek's efforts more than the other guys and gals.

 There is a Turner in there somewhere.

Exception was Clara's sculpted glass.  Very beautiful water droplet.

End of term bon fire.

End of term, end of academic year.

And so to flame.

That's the way to do it!!!

Fire glow in the buttercups, with moon shine.

Standen House, Sussex

Making full use of our National Trust cards and the last day of the car hire, we took off to Standen house.

It was the home of artists linked to the  Arts and Crafts movement being build to a Phillip Webb design circa 1892 -1894.

Not my cup of coffee but the gardens were lovely.

And so back to Work

After an exciting weekend, back to the jungle.  Not my wellies, nor coat but all my own hair.  Anna-Maire tasked me with clearing the borders of brambles and dock in one of the large borders here.  I am getting there but it is a slow job, being hampered by the foul weather. 

Brum - out and about.

In the centre of Birmingham, at the canal basin.  Great place for an evening dinner.

In the morning, out to Lightwoods Hill and Warley Woods and  Park

 We called here to see Ken's sculptures and ............

photograph the house in which Jenny and I spent our post grad days from 1971 to 1973.  We had the ground floor flat here at 92 Lightwoods Hill. 

Fun Engineering

Now the undergrads have a chance to engineer something for real.  Some real progress in engineering education to applaud.

Reunion - Old mates.

Richard and I shared a flat for our final year at the University.  Jackie and Richard were both  studying for the same degree  in the social sciences.  Brilliant to be together after all these years, having only just 'found' each other again a couple of months ago. T'was as if the 45 years off each others radar was just a blip in time.

From the Mech Eng Grads of 1968, none of whom I had been in touch with until a couple of months ago either. From the left, John and his wife, Jon's wife, me, Jon, Brian, Phil, and Chris.  What a day.  Perhaps on the 50th reunion we can gather a few more old buddies?

Birmingham University 45 Years Reunion - The Campus

 The Clock Tower.  It is known as ‘Old Joe’ – in honour of Joseph Chamberlain, the first Chancellor of the university and prominent politician

The open, green campus is still as inviting as ever it was.

And finally, after 100 years the semicircle of buildings that make up the Chancellor's Court has been completed with a totally in tune building, inside and out.  This the lawn on which I stood 45 years ago as a newly graduated Mechanical Engineer. 

This is the Centre for Russian and East European Studies where, in 1972/3 I was a researcher working towards a Ph.D.  Or was I spying for Her Majesty's Government?

The Emerson Effect

As seen on the walk back to the House.

The effect on Gek's paintings of this kind of environment.

The creative space.

Oak Tree House

This is our home for the month.  What to say.

Hartfield Way

 This is a school, believe it or not.

The Way is an old railway line that is now cycle/walking way between Forest row and Hartfield, about 3 1/2 miles.

Emerson College - To the woods

This young man is doing exactly what it looks like he is doing......knitting.  Not seen on a regular basis, a man with a beard knitting in public. Bless

 The Blue Bells are still with us, just.  Another few days of sunny weather and they will disappear until next year.

A classic English countryside scene.  

Emerson College has a lot ancient pathways like this one running up behind the campus.  Very easy to get yourself lost in the maze.

Emerson College - in the meadows

 Gek standing under a giant oak tree in a meadow of golden buttercups.  Nothing unusual about that you might think, but actually, she is waiting for a train or to be more precise rather, a steam engine.

And here she comes.

Absolutely gorgeous.

Powers by real steam.