UK 09 Party

We had a fun party at our house tonight with the students from 2009 who are in town at the moment. 

Although they had been planning to spend the night in Vernon at the Bennion Ranch, the snowstorm this morning and the one predicted for tomorrow changed the plan.  With our smallish kitchen there was still the feel of cooking the evening meal at the youth hostel. 

Good times!

 I think I got a photo of everyone who came.  We had tons of food (I guess I should say "tonnes" of food), from jumbo franks to trifle to strawberries to pancakes, eggs and bacon.  Plus.  Pot luck is great.

Also whipped cream, pickles and olives, as you see below:

Hugs! 

 Discussion:

The guys looking cool:

Beth (Marshall's wife):

 More discussion:

 More hugs:

More guys looking cool:

Anyway, it was a lot of fun to see everybody, but we also missed the ones who are elsewhere.   

It would be really great to hear from people who are not here--where are you?  And pix.

Food and Class in the Open Air (Hathaway Garden)

St. Nicholas Park, Warwick

...on a Sunday after church. We stay at a hotel, and so have to find somewhere else to eat our sandwiches:

Queuing for food:

Fearless leader:
and Ultimate! (on Saturday of course):

A beautiful bony-faced, white-haired, blue-eyed man (with a beard) stopped his bicycle to ask what we are doing here. He said he is measuring the distance from here to Kenilworth Castle for a bicycle race. He said he is a retired teacher of engineering. Every time John would get distracted or walk around the little enclosure away from him, he would say, “Well, I’ll let you get on with it,” but he would stay if I asked a question. I think he was lonely. I think old people are often lonely and want to talk, and younger people don’t pay attention to them—often see right through them. And yet they are human and interesting—more interesting in many ways than the young ones—they’ve had more experience.

It is so cold, my fingers are freezing. A couple of squirrels are considering a commando raid on the remains of the food. I have a half-eaten Mars Bar in my pocket, my temporary home is less than a mile away, the sun is going down, and all is well. (2005)

Gargraves, Wet and Dry

Class:

Nap:

Another year, rainy and cold, hot chocolate at the Dalesman:
Architecture lesson at Gargrave Church:

Eating Out Of The Van

As we are often on the move in the middle of the day, with no fixed place of abode until evening, we eat out of the van. Here we eat next to Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh (2005), and here we have lunch at the park at Balmaha before hiking along the east shore of Loch Lomond to Rowardennan (2007):