Its not white

I finally gave in and brought a new van, well second hand low milage all because my old nissan was going to cost me some more serious money, I have wanted to go back to a diesel engine for ages now, its what I enjoy driving these days.

The Nissan lasted me 7 yearsso I cant realy complain.so from now on its a Vauxhall Combo 1.7 DI.

I can still dream about other things can't I !.

Is it real or a kit car? Who cares it looked very good to me one day during the summer.

An Empty Nest

Yesterday Victoria left for Uni at Bath,
Jane and I are now alone here in Horsford which has left us feeling a little odd, now we have only each other to blame for light left on or things left were they shouldnt be, and there will be no more waiting for her to get home.
Life is going to change for us all, both here and in Bath, as we will not be there to run after her; it will be an interesting learning curve for us all but one more than the others, I feel sure she will cope and thrive, we will stay in touch using the internet, I remember my first days at Art school when I stayed away for the week at a time, she is away until I'm not sure when, Christmas? who knows,time only will tell.

25th Wedding Aniversary.

Today September 1st at 4:30 twenty five years ago Jane and I were married so today is our 25th Wedding Aniversary and we are trying to spend it together!

Time is never Enough

I know its been a while since I last posted and I will draw a line under the early part of the year as there seems little point writing about old events .

August 6th 7th & 8th saw the Bi- Annual seminar for the AWGB held at Loughborough which I attended and submitted work for the instant gallery I had a piece selected for the top fifty in the gallery again, which I was pleased to achieve a Bowl with a deecorated rim, I had submitted some other interesting pieces which you can see here I will post an image of the bowl when it is returned as it is at present away being photographed.

I did notice there is a great increase in the amount of coloured work that was displayed in the gallery compared to years past.

Friday saw the First ever internet auction to which I donated a piece from the Coral series which raised £340 for the cause The Youth Ttraining Scheme. The auction raised twelve and a half thousand pounds in total.

The weekend was informative, interesting and enjoyable, meeting old friends and having time to relax is always welcomed the Demo I gave on Sunday before lunch went well and was enjoyed so I was both happy and relieved.

The weekend always leaves me feeling tired and with mixed emotions as it only occurs once every two years. It answers questions and sets the mind in different/new directions this year the hot item for me is micromotors!

Nag Nag Nag!!

Well I deserve the above for not posting anything for some time but I will endevour to correct this shortly hopefully by the end of the week there is much work ahead of me so if it does not appear keep nagging and I will get it done.
I do so enjoy the postings but sometimes other thing must take priority. today it is another article for GMC Woodturning magazine, and the last part of my website rebuild which is almost there! Phew!. Thats three days work without doing any turning and then withdrawl sets in..

Last Weekends Trip To Ireland

Following an invitation to demonstrate in Sligo Jane and I flew to Knock on Friday 20th where we were hosted by some great Irish folk who showed us the best of local hospitality.

The demonstration took place in a members workshop. Thanks John, this is the usual way the club gets together each meeting.

This is john's closest neighbour and the view from just outsidethe workshop.

I quite like the isolation I have at my workshop but this is even more so than mine.

When needed the group got intamate to get a closer look at what I was doing.This happened several timesthey seemed extreemly interested in the type of decoration/colouring that I was doing.

The woodburner(front right) was used to heat the workshop.

I worked all day Saturday and Sunday morning after work we were shown some of the local attractions and found the area interesting even though I was not feeling on top of the world having come down with a nasty cold which went to my ears and caused a loss of voice which made things interesting to say the least it did make communication very frustrating at times towards the end of the weekend.

The cold was so bad when I returned home I went to the Doctor where he perscribed some serious medication for any infection that I was likely to develope following the flight home, my voice is at long last slowly returning but it is still hard work to speak and impossible not to do so.

Below are some pictures we took during our trip to Sligo and the local area.

We had bright sunny days,

Coastal views,Castles,ruins and even some stunning trees that had a very strange quality.

The atlantic Ocean at a quite time!

We are usually so lucky when we travel to new and interesting places.

This is a rebuilt/restored castle on lake shore.

Ireland is full of ruins like this but I particulry liked the cloisters at this riun.It was interesting to see the site is still being used for interment.

It was also good to see it being maintained.

If you look closely you can see a plane coming into land a knock airport t's not the disimilar to

Norwich some years ago a small airport uthat is currently under development which is no bad thing today.

I may post some more images in a day or two once I have edited them I will try to find images showing the the trees with the moss hanging off them.

The trip was great fun and we hope to go again hopefully to meet some more of the Irish turning community.

Thank you To the Sligo Chapter and especially my hosts you know who you are thank you again.

A busy week

As always the time goes so quick, the days just dont seem long enough and need to be longer the eary starts are paying off and the work is getting done ready for the weekend and the demo in Sligo Southern Ierland.There is still much to do so its back to the workshop after tea tonight.

Me and my Schnauzers

Here is a picture of me with my dogs outside my workshop Sammy left and Joshua right.

The boys rarely came into the workshop but would bark at the door for attention.


They are both sadly missed , they were with us for nearly sixteen years they enjoyed life and had lots of fun.


The house is so very quite now.

March Has Arrived

The last few weeks have been a little odd having buried our old schnauzer Sammy on Febuary 20th the place seems terribly quite without him but after 15 years that is to be expected,when not working we have tried to keep busy and this weekend I went and removed a tree from my mothers garden, it took quite a time to do as there is always something else that needs attention. Jane helped me clear up on Saturday afternoon.
The tree went to the dump.

"But Jane started filling the compost bin quite modestly!"

It was hard work we did have some fun, and Jane always likes to get stuck in to work like this so long as I do not push her too hard. We cut we chopped, we raked and brushed Jane helped crushing things into the wheelie bin until it was absolutely full as you can see in the pictures she does get carried away sometimes and I never try to hold her back.


Eventually Jane could get no more into the compost bin so climbed in to crush down the contents and allow us to fill it some more,

And it was full when she had finished!

All we have to do now is attack our own garden as it needs some TLC after the winter months, so I guess that's what we will be doing this coming weekend weather permitting.

There is never anything more satisfying than working together with my wife.

March Is Not Far Away.

We seem to have shaken the winter bugs at long last I do hope I haven't spoken too soon but the sun is out and we are feeling so much better than we have for a long time.Lets hope the good weather continues as bright as it's been today.
I managed to scrounge wet Ash and Silver Birch logs today so with luck can try some experimental tunings in the next day or two distractions avoided who knows where the Ash may be heading, I have a few ideas, I just have to shut the door and get on with it, as SWMBO says far to often to me. We used to have a guy working with us who also said far to often "don't say it do it " I think all to often we procrastinate about things and on many occasions it would be better to just hit these issues head on to resolve the problems that may arise as things progress.

Spring is around the corner. Hopefully!

We Have Been Ill Again!.

I know it has been some time since my last post but my wife and I have been ill again these winter bugs just won't go away no sooner you think you are over one than another appears, I have not been as bad as Jane but I do feel run down with no energy to get on with the work that I have/want to do still spring is approaching so things will get better I guess.

Plans For the Spring.

Last year I had a visit from some people from Sligo in Ireland, I mentioned that I would like to visit Ireland for a holiday.They however have decided to invite me to demonstrate at their club. The only problem with these trips is Jane gets see the sites while I work but as we are going for a long weekend I will get to see some as well. Ireland here I come this should be a fun trip.

Ongoing Everyday Work And Aspirations.

As always I have been working on my articles for GMC I am really exited about this current series.
Having been ill the website took a back seat but it is on a roll again it only needs a few more pics and another look over to get it finished before I can get it across to the guys I use, and it will be there but it does take time and we need all the info to be correct.

Here are links to blogs that may be of interest to you they both ask some interesting questions : http://woodturningblog.wordpress.com/
http://www.philip-streeting.blogspot.com/

Christmas and New Year.Gone

Allways a busy time with work promised and family calling it is impossible to sit down and write add to that the ongoing round of winter colds that hang on and seem to never leave for any lenght of time trying to update my blog has been impossible over the last few weeks or is it longer,now I will try to get on top again as I really enjoy doing this I find it helps me with my writing for GMC and allows the hand to nearly move as quick as the brain! well not quite but you know what I mean the fingers are getting much quicker and I seem to find the letters more easily than they used too.

Christmas and New Year Done.

January 13th Already and the new year is rolling on.But as I have not yet wished everyone new year let me do it now and start this years blog by reflecting on last year, which was a great year I gave many demonstrations around the UK which seem to have been received very well by those that attended, I have already got quite a few booked for this year and look forward to each and every one.

Invitation to South Africa

I have to admit the highlight of the year came in July for demonstration's and this was a three week tour of Sth Africa as their honoured guest which I was fortunate enough to be accompanied by Jane my wife which made the trip even more fun (our first holiday together for more than twenty year's)
I have to say the Sth Africans are amazing hosts and we would love to go back to see more of the country and the people. Jane loved every minute and had a great holiday! I had to work, still someone has to pay and it was my turn, I think we will go again if ever the chance came our way with out a second thought.

A Small Bundle of Happiness and Joy Arrived in May

Another highlight in the Year was becoming grandparents to Lilly Rose Jennifer's daughter who was born in May this was quite an event and one that took some time to get used to for all concerned so it was quite a year lets hope this coming year is equally challenging and demanding we can but wait and see.

The Year ahead

I think this could be a very interesting year with all that is going on in the world at present people have finally stopped talking credit crunch which I never understood and started using a word that often strikes fear into people and that is Recession I wonder what phrase or word will be used next I do remember the 1990's and the business's around us that went to the wall. We were lucky enough to survive without losing too much but I have to say I no longer trust dept recovery agents it doe's pay to keep hold of the purse strings in times like these and not to get carried away with the moment as can easily be done when new projects are being rolled out or planned.
I think the best way ahead at present is to keep your head down and to get on with the job in hand keeping an eager eye on those around you and listening to the rumour mills do what is needed to survive remembering the point to all that is done and we all have different agenda's I will say no more for now but keep watching you will find out more at a later date.
I may even get to update my website who knows it is that time of year to get it done!!! About time I hear some say if you have any ideas that you would like to see on the site let me know and I will see what can be done.