Lola and the chocolate egg affair....

Easter Sunday and the family arrived for brunch followed by a highly complex easter egg hunt in the garden. After finding the nests with mini eggs in and recovering a series of clues all the kids had to do was solve the clues which would give a number of letters which then had to be re-arranged to discover where the treasure was hidden. It was only a matters of minutes, though, with all five brains working like they were taking part in university challenge that the problem was solved and the treasure found. Chocolate, lots of lovely chocolate, enough to have a chocolate feast....at this point the caring and responsible parents appear and tell the kids they mustn't eat more than a tiny piece in case the spoil their appetite or make themselves sick. So like the good kids they are they looked longingly at the chocolate eggs through the plastic windows in the boxes and were prepared to keep them for later.........except for Lola....she punched a hole through the plastic and grabbed a large piece of egg, stuffed it straight in her mouth and giggled.....

The next morning, easter monday, I woke early and found myself in a hotel room. That was not as strange as it may seem, since Steve and I were booked in for a track day at Rockingham race track. The track turned out to be brilliant, lots of curves and some good fast bits and we had a 200bhp Renaultsport Clio to experience it in. It was really good fun as we got onto the track for several sessions each and both had some tuition from an expert driver. I learned that I need to concentrate for more than three laps and Steve learned a new braking technique and make the car dance! (that, I think really means taking the car pretty much to the limit and being able to use the accelerator and power to steer the car!) I preferred to use the steering wheel and the brakes!!

Anyway, some shots will be posted on this blog and on flickr soon.....

Hit record in the making......

Yes, it has been a while since I last put finger to keyboard but quite a bit has happened and I thought it about time I made some comments. For the world, it continues to be an interesting time - and we all have something to say. It seems that the powers to be want us to see every day like Christmas and go out a spend our way out of the situation - trouble is by Boxing day we are bored with the presents and arguing about something else as the bill arrives! Anyway in an attempt to 'do my bit for my country' I have invested in a new recording studio...   Not a whole building that is - now they come in a box delivered to your door by UPS! However, despite the minute size, once loaded on to Mac and connected to a midi piano you can do pretty much what you could do with a huge room full of mixers, compressors, reverbs, and hundreds of instruments a very few years ago - I know it's not quite the same, but it cost 244 pounds!! including monitor speakers, vocal mike and digibox - flippin amazin' if you ask me ( I would say that I suppose). So now you may be getting the picture what my next little project is. Write a couple of hit download songs and make a few million in the process. I'm surprised no one else has thought of this before!!! My actual project for this year is to try to record some music to go with my own photos in some sort of finished way and also to get together with a ex band member and record some of the songs we wrote and performed some time ago. Car sales are also keeping me busy and it has been a very good month which we hope will continue. We are currently having a new patio area designed in the garden which could make a really good addition and somewhere to sit out and eat and drink through the summer. Attending a diamond wedding do for my parents today and having lunch again at Burgh Island next weekend as a birthday treat! Also have a track day booked in a Renaultsport Clio 197 for Bank holiday Monday, Steve's treating me, so looking forward to a fun day then. So we are all doing well and keeping fit at Highmead, including our recent additions. Bullet and Tinker, two six month old kittens, both black and quite hilarious at times. That's the update for today, so where is my guitar....and how the heck do you you make this stupid Pro Tools work???!!!......

How to spend you lottery winnings....

Today we had a bit of an adventure, visiting the Burgh Island Hotel for lunch. To say this hotel has the wow factor, if you like Art Deco, is an understatement. It simply is fantastic. The fact that it is on an island sort of makes it special, but it really is like going back in time to the late twenties or early thirties (well that's what I think it would be like because even I am not that old!!) As soon as you walk through the door you are totally transported to a different time. The whole place has been kept totally original and every view within the hotel is Art Deco. We've been to various places, like National Trust houses which give you an idea of what it must have been like to live in a different time (Coleton Fishacre at Kingswear is a lovely example of Art Deco) but at Burgh Island you can be part of it, which is really cool. The building is superb from all angles, inside and out and authentic in every way, furniture, fittings, decor, artwork etc etc and the atmosphere is wonderfully relaxed and laid back. I have posted a few images and some more on flickr. Even on a cold and windy January day, there couldn't be many better places to spend your day off! Can't wait to see what it's like in the spring with the sun shining. Looks like Burgh Island is the place to go in 2009......well you only live once don't you?

Burgh Island Jan 090044

Burgh Island Jan 090044
Originally uploaded by Russ4

Burgh Island Jan 090034

Burgh Island Jan 090034
Originally uploaded by Russ4

Burgh Island Jan 090007

Burgh Island Jan 090007
Originally uploaded by Russ4

Burgh Island Jan 090008

Burgh Island Jan 090008
Originally uploaded by Russ4

Originally uploaded by Russ4

Another year bites the dust...

So here it is merry christmas every buddy's having fun.. well not actually every buddy. There are several millions across the planet who are not having much fun, to say the least and it seems that, because so much is linked to cultural ways of thinking it is extremely difficult to work out how to improve situations. Or on a worldwide scale is it just another winter's tale? The tale, that is, of so called leaders of various countries who are so focused on power and control and don't really give a monkeys what is actually happening to their citizens. Terrified children not knowing what the hell is happening in Gazza, people dying of cholera in Zimbabwe and kids being taught how to be a martyr in Afghanistan and other parts of the globe. We really are the lucky ones, living in a country where we are being told to spend our way out of recession so we'll all survive, or we lose our job because another high street chain lost its way. We can still hopefully walk to the job centre without being blown up and drink the water straight out of a tap. We can still sleep at night without fear of a rocket attack and take issue with Sainsbury's or Tesco's when they have the audacity to run out of some commodity we 'need'. Good on Annie Lennox for voicing a non partisan plea for a cease fire and negotiation and supporting the peace protesters today... Also good on the shopkeeper in Settle who was brave and trusting enough to leave his shop open with a box for the money so everyone could help themselves, so he could have a day off. Everyone did pay up which really does restore your faith in humankind. 

So another year bites the dust and 2009 is upon us. We can only hope that some of the conflict can be resolved and some sort of sanity can replace despair regardless of race or creed. My only resolution is to acknowledge every instance I see of good overcoming evil and try to see the positive side to any situation. To my family, friends, aquaintences and yourself reading this I wish you happy, safe and prosperous 2009......

Party on...

It was one of those days you sort of dread and then it turns out sort of ok. A family event to mark My Mum's 80th birthday. Thank goodness we are such a laid back family who generally get on quite well with each other and appreciate each other. But the food was great, the children all played together happily, eating lots and having the highlight of having their faces painted by our new star face painter, Becky during the afternoon. Everyone worked together to make the day a success and the main thing was that Mum really enjoyed it. Mum and Dad stayed on to watch 'Singing in the Rain', the original Gene Kelly film in the 'cinema'. I have selected a few shots taken during the afternoon. So thanks to everyone for a very successful day, that is unless your name begins with S and you drive Subaru's to destruction!! But we won't go into that.....

snow1

snow1
Originally uploaded by Russ4

snow2

snow2
Originally uploaded by Russ4

snow3

snow3
Originally uploaded by Russ4

Explosive weather...

Thought I should blog today after some time after being woken around seven thirty by an almighty explosion - turned out to be an enormous clap of thunder - and that was followed by about an hour of heavy snow. I guess the temperature in the upper atmosphere suddenly changed and some very cold air collided with some warmer air! Still it was quite impressive as were the couple of inches of really good snow which accumulated, enough to make a few good snowballs and a small snowman! Typical Englishman's blog, this - talking about the weather - but it was the most snow I have seen for a couple of years in any month, let alone April! It came and disappeared within about three hours and now I'm looking out on a bright sunny morning! 

Since I am blogged on I better  make the most of it and fill in a bit since last time. I am a year older, have booked a holiday in France for the end of June, have changed the main car, have had a weeks holiday, have been working fairly long hours, have read a couple of enjoyable books, have done several gigs with the band and had a few successful film nights in our little cinema. Marg treated me to a superb meal for my birthday at the 'Conservatory', one of Exeter's better bistro's. The standard of food there is excellent and still as good as it was when it opened, probably four or five years ago. I am not a white wine drinker generally but we had one of the best bottle of white wine I have tasted with the meal which made it even better. It's a pleasant change to come away from a restaurant and not be able to fault the meal or service at all! 

After a week off I am back to the grindstone tomorrow (actually it's not that bad!) and try to keep the current positive retail trend going. Steve's business seems to be bucking the norm of late and we have been turning over an impressive number of cars on the site. Being part of a small business has the benefit of being able to react to market trends quicker and having a more appropriate stock to meet the customers requirements. Anyway, enough of that, the Bahrain Grand Prix is starting soon so I must strap myself in, and later we have friends round for another film night showing 'The Assassination of Jessie James' - so looking forward to that after reading some of the reviews. Bye for now....

Looks fab and actually works first time...

Just a quick blog on my new i-mac. It's pretty amazing and has sucked all my files, photos and software straight across from my old mac by firewire and they all work! There was some upgrading needed but not before time and when I plugged in my camera to download this weekends photos that worked like a dream to. The screen quality is brilliant so I am very pleased with this machine and thanks to Steve for lending me the firewire and pressing the right buttons to do the transfer.....