31st July

Today, at 4.00pm to be precise, our son Owen marries Kim. Preparations have been going on for a year and the benefits are that even at this late hour everybody appears to be very calm, apart from one or two very understandable pre-match nerves. The ceremony, reception and evening event is all taking place in three Scandinavian tepees, all linked together which looks amazing. Owen and Kim are two of the most original thinking people I have come across so the day was bound to be anything but ordinary and I am very proud of them both. They have even managed to book the best weather of a, so far, appallingly bad summer. So all the best and every blessing to a couple who have the most amazing potential to make a real impact in the years that lie ahead of them. Pictures of tepee set up already on Flickr with wedding photos to follow.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/13615080@N00/

17th July

I recently read a book by Jim Curran - The Middle Aged Mountaineer - nothing much about mountaineering - more about a cycle ride he made from the Shetland Islands to Lands End. An epic journey and a fabulous story which has whetted my appetite for a motorcycle ride around the North of Scotland. I don't have the time for a leisurely ride so my intention is to begin the journey on Tuesday afternoon after work and ride as far north into Scotland as I can, stopping for B&B when it gets dark. With the long days and short nights I should be able to get some mileage behind me. I will then spend all day on Wednesday riding around the north coast of Scotland, heading down the west coast in the afternoon, again stopping for B&B when it gets dark. I will set off again at the crack of dawn to get back to work in Harrogate for as near to 9.00 am as possible. Obviously I haven't planned this in any detail yet and the distances may be too great to travel in that time scale, but the idea has been planted.

I'm also planning to do another bike ride during the summer months to South Wales to see my Mum. As you can see from the photo I have recently had a top box fitted to the bike which makes life so much easier when it comes to transporting stuff to and from work and when making visits into town.

Tomorrow (my day off) Mary and I are visiting London. We bought some cheap train tickets a few months ago and get to use them for a trip to the capital. I'm not sure what we are going to do and see when we get down there but just walking the streets of London is interesting in itself.

Last Saturday (14th July) a church party of 10 people climbed Snowdon - for once this summer it didn't rain and we had a fabulous time. Scafell Pike next?