Sir Ronald Pechell BT RIP

The damage to the lifeboat was worse than they thought. It looks like the boat is going to be scrapped. What's more undignified for it, is that it is being sent to Hartlepool to be stripped down. Imagine that, being hung up, stripped down with a hole in your bottom in the docks of Hartlepool!

Avoid drowning for a few weeks!

The was a violent storm on Friday night. I knew it was bad when we saw our bench flying across the garden. A northern wind brought with it stormy seas and unfortunately Dunbar's lifeboat came loose from it's moorings and ended up on the rocks, which in turn put a great big hole in the £1.5 million pound vessel. Ouch! So if you are up in Dunbar and decide to go for a swim or take your air bed out for a paddle then remember there is now no boat available to rescue you. Dunbar Lifeboat

I should also add to that list kite buggying. The other week i was doing some work on the roof of Scripture Unions camp down in North Berwick when I saw this bloke kite surfer in the sea. He looked like he was having trouble but then most kite surfers seem to spend more time trying to get it up than actually surfing. I spoke to a colleague and we decided that he was ok and probably would not appreciate us calling for help, so I went home. Later that day the BBC news caught my eye! Oops! it appears that his surf board was actually a buggy that had blown up in the air into the sea. A major search and rescue operation got under way including the helicopter. It was just like those adverts they use to have for the coastguard

Easter

A busy week in Dunbar has just passed. It was Holy Week and proceedings started last week with the churches Palm Sunday procession and Passion Play. We had a theatre group, the Covenant Players, in to perform in the local park. Despite it being very cold, we had a good crowd and the churches were sucessfull in reminding everyone what Easter is all about. There is a Dunbar tradition emerging of using the pipe band for every occasion. I am sure if Jesus was arriving in Dunbar for the passover on his donkey, then a pipe band would have been ahead of him. It worked well for us (photo).

All week I have been working with the schools. I was doing assemblies in Dunbar Grammar School on Easter. I talked about George Cadbury who demonstrated great kindness to his staff at Bournville because his Christian faith influenced his outlook on life..and then of course I talked about God's act of kindness shown through Christ. i have also been pulled out doing the Easter services for Dunbar Primary School where I was working with 2 year groups making films to be shown in the services. P5's picked up on this kindness theme and we filmed them telling everyone about how kind they are! The P7's were looking at the Easter story and I got them to think about characters who are either mentioned in the bible, or who we can speculate would have been there, or would be there in a modern setting. We then interviewed them with a news crew and created our very own passion plays (or films). We had interviews with the executioner, palm tree selling woman (Isabelle), Mary, security guards, forensic experts and even Jeremy Clarkson! I think those involved now understand the story and the people in it more. I was also pleased with the turn out of parents at the services. As one teacher said about a kid, 'his mum turned up for the church service, which is more than I can say for the parents evening.'

Yesterday we celebrated Easter on the beach at 8 a.m. The service is only 20 minutes long but for me is all about quality not quantity. As so much of Jesus' life revolved around being on the coast it just adds to the occasion being on a beach to reflect on his life. The fact it is almost freezing and the wind chill makes it even colder does not take away from the occasion. That said the the croissants and coffee served afterwards are quite welcome.

Finally we had all Emma's family around for the day, including Ethan, the latest arrival who was born on Friday to Mary and Jamie. The children were almost as interested in him as they were with Claire's new iphone.

Easter

On the road

The cross country season is behind us for another year and now our running races hit the roads again. The first one was the Lasswade 10 miler. This was a good run as it takes you down a valley and then back up again...so in other words it's hilly! Nevertheless I dug in and got a personal best of 65 minutes for that distance. The highlight however had to be the post race buffet. The fine ladies of Lasswade had been very busy with their home baking and trays upon trays of millionaire shortbread kept coming out. But even better than that was the fact that the race was sponsored by a lunch box favourite Tunnock's Caramel Wafers
, which explained why they were giving away giant sized ones by the box load. Keep the medals...just bring on the goodies! The only down side to the day was my kit bag got lost in transit for half an hour, so I was left stood around in the freezing conditions getting very cold in my vest and shorts. There was only one thing for it...have another Tunnock's!
The picture is of me at the finish with those not very thermal shorts and vest on.

Nice Guy Eddie!

I've been hanging out with the Royal's again. As if joining Prince Andrew for his garden party at Holyrood last summer wasn't enough, his brother Edward came to see where we stay. I had just nipped out for a pie at Smith's the Bakers when I noticed a crowd gathering in the John Muir Birthplace Museum next door. The police presence told me that they were not there for the scotch pies and cream doughnuts but instead for the Royal visitor. It seems Prince Edward was on his way to the borders (a region next to England & Scotland...not a book shop with a Starbucks in it) and felt fit to pop in and check out the museum. He just happened to be coming out as I was on the hunt for my dinner. I gave him a little wave to see him off, and who knows when I will bump into another. His mum is supposed to be around these parts in the summer, and the last time I saw her was when she opened G-Mex in Manchester in 1986.

Let the challenge...begin!

I think I vaguely remember Isabelle giving me some application forms to sign. She had decided to apply to go on the kids show Raven. Raven is a little man...perhaps not much bigger than a raven...who wields a huge staff that he sticks in the ground and all sorts of magical things happen. He has a team of warriors (children) who have numerous challenges to do including fighting off demons. So with a good Christian ethos to the show I was quite happy for Isabelle to apply!

The next thing we know is she's called up to Glasgow to the BBC for an audition with 80 other kids from Scotland. But there lies the challenge....getting to Glasgow for 6pm on a Friday afternoon when there is also an X Factor gig on. Unfortunately for her, Emma had to drive as I was working. 3 hours later she arrived. For most of the normally 1 hour journey she was in first gear. For the next warrior challenge she had to find something to eat. In the city that probably has the highest population anywhere in the world for fast food, chip eating fatties, and where the production of cholesterol is the main industry, you'd have thought there would be somewhere open. But for some reason the BBC's state of the art facility is in the middle of empty dockland...the sort of backdrop you would expect to see on Taggart. The only food place open was some hotel where a bowl of soup, some chips and a couple of cokes set them back £20!

Anyway the audition was ok it is hard to know what they are looking for. She seemed to enjoy the few activities they did, but most of the day seemed to have been spent waiting around with some whacky kids presenters! Whoop whoop...yeah...cool...fab...types. No John Noakes these days!

Caught Out

I thought you might like to see these pictures I got of Trefor the other day. He has a terrible habit of raiding the bin when we are out, and on this occasion there was nowhere for him to hide his guilt. Despite having a frosties box stuck on his head, he tried to pretend it wasn't there. It reminded me of a bible verse i think I first saw on a train. In fact I am pretty sure it was on a train station platform somewhere on the Festiniog Railway (someone out there can tell me which one). Anyway the message has stuck with me ever since...although I did have to look up the reference.

Number 32:23 "Be sure your sins will find you out".

Dirty Mags!

A couple of weeks ago we joined up in Ambleside with our fellows from St Margaret's in Burnage. There was 100 or so of us staying in High Point Youth Hostel. It was a good opportunity to catch up with everyone over a weekend at a leisurly pace rather than the rush we normally do on visits to Burnage. The building as you will see was huge and so we didn't really see the kids all weekend as they were running around discovering every nook and cranny. I am not sure if we carry some sort of curse, but just as at Grange we had trouble with the plumbing with the minor problem of the water going off. I don't think it was my mum again blocking up the drains, but with a 100+ people in a building with no water it soon began to smell....in fact so did everyone else as there was no showers or flushing water. It brought back fond memories of Criccieth Camps in the early years when we didn't have flushing facilities either, where a visit to the chemical loo included a game of 'who turd is it anyway?' the idea was to guess whose jobbie was sat smiling at you. For a similar game check out this

But despite the odours and pebbledashed loos, we all had a good weekend. Ambleside has gone up in my ratings since I last visited 13 years ago, where most of the shops sold crappy ornaments and stufff like that. Today its a busy little haven for running and walking shops. I managed to pick up a pair of high cut green fell running shorts that are the same colour as Dunbar RC's. I gave them a whirl the next day up a fell. Lots of the people there commented on how skinny I had become. That may be true from my running, but not as worrying as how fat many of them had become. It was moob city in there, and at the end of the weekend the number of empty beer, wine, whisky, gin, vodka, buckfast, whitelightining, Lambrini (the list goes on) bottles gave a clue as to why. I'm no body facist but I know that if you want to enjoy excessive amounts of food and drink you are going to put on the pounds unless you do a bit of exercise. Still everyone seemed happy so that's ok. Anyway above are a few snaps of the weekend. Cheers to our hosts Col & Jane who did a fine job...and jobbie (10 out of 10!)

What a great pair!

Just what you always needed. Found in a garden centre in Ambleside a lovely pair of tits! Solar powered glow in the dark ones for your garden. Why other than being able to boast the gag of 'I've got a pair of glow in the dark tits' would you want them. Blue tits are not nocturnal birds. If it was a glow in the dark owl then maybe I'd be tempted. And hang on...it's the middle of the Lake District where you only have to look out of your window to see more than your average number of the real things. Also found at the same place were rock shaped garden speakers. That's right speakers disguised as rocks. But why would you have speakers in your garden anyway? Ours would be better off with dog turd shaped ones as they would blend in better. And not forgetting the stick on bark faces. Because your tree might look a bit too...well like a tree and not human like, they have made stick on bark faces so that your tree can look like those scary ones on the Wizard of Oz.

Spoilt Papers

Ever wondered what to do with a really crap offer of new terms and conditions from your employer? Well East Lothian Council in its wisdom has upgraded people who needed to be, along with some dumbheads who don't even know how to count the extra dosh they will get. In return highly qualified people with professional expertese get downgraded. So pie munching white van man has more doughnut money, whilst others lose out. Emma was in the latter group along with her planning colleagues and were given a form to voluntarily accept the new deal. How handy it was when we were looking for some lining to absorb the guinea pigs piss and pooh in their cage! Her colleagues sent theirs along to for good measure. Not quite telling their personell lot to stick it up their arses...but not far off. Meanwhile you can get to look at our new arrivals...getting nice and fat ready for the summer BBQ's.

No34

There have been 33 otter sightings in East Lothian in recent years. I'm now No34 although judging by this picture I took perhaps it was just another rock!

Did you see that?

I did my usual Saturday morning walk with the dog on the beach. You get a lot of seals around there if you look hard enough. This time though I was fortunate enough to see something that I will probably never see again. It was an otter. It was sat on a rock eating fish and at first I thought it was a seal pup. But this thing had a tail and as i got near it there was no doubt about it. I watched it for 5 minutes or so and the dog started barking so I had to ditch it in the car, which allowed me to pick up my binoculars. When I got back it had gone. But then I saw its distinct style of swimming...hooping in and out of the water (I can see why these things have been mistaken for the Loch Ness Monster). I found it again around the corner on the site of the old outdoor pool...and then heading south. I will add it to my list of other wildlife spotted around here (still being headed by the big cat sighting of 2005) but I am never likely to see it again as they are nocturnal and shy normally. Keep your eyes peeled!

Staying on

After weeks of wondering whether to apply for that job at ADSA bakery, I need no longer need to bother. My funding has been renewed for another 3 years. I don't know where it has come from but somehow my management group found the huge amount needed to keep me on. There is also a small pay rise in it too so that I don't defect to the neighbouring towns of Haddington or North Berwick where similar jobs are on offer. It's all a big weight off our shoulders as the thought of moving again didn't really have much appeal.

So my ADSA career is over before it started. Actually I ended up going in there yesterday for something no other shop in Dunbar sells...goggles. Not even the swimming pool sells them. They sell nice chips, bacon rolls, sausage and egg rolls but not anything that might be useful for swimming. Dunbar hasn't quite got this health thing right. Hallhill Healthy Living Centre has just installed a bar in the top right corner of the badminton court! They do sell a good range of cakes though, and slush, and beer. None of that fruit juice and salad nonsense to be seen anywhere. And why should they? There's nothing more satisfying than sinking a few ales in the knowldege that you have just played footy or squash for an hour which was very healthy, and that you have earnt that beer.

Gremlins in the house

Over Christmas we took delivery of some new livestock. 3 guniea Pigs and a Rabbit. I don't think they have names yet but they are overrunning the house. The bunny has already chewed through the flex on the reading lamp (sadly it wasn't plugged in). Now the Guniea pigs are running amok in my kitchen. i have given up trying to catch them as they are working as a team against me so I have left them to it. Last seen gnawing away at a chair leg.
Anyway I found a website that might come in useful if things don't improve. Guinea Pig Fans click here

Theyr'e Gone..i think

Well if my calculations are right Colin & Sharon & the boys will be heading through to the departure loungs of Ringway Airport in around 1 hours time leaving behind a tearful mob of family and friends. Their first stop...Heathrow...then Hong Kong...Disney land Hong Kong (there has to be lots of racist jokes about that one i am sure) then their new home of Adelaide. By all account they were still packing late last night and wondering exactly what to do with the many items still at my mums house. I suppose it will find them eventually.

I have a very early memory of saying farewell to some distant relative as a kid. Until recently I could only remember it being at a train station and lots of people blubbing. I had no idea how old I was, but I discovered recently from my mum that I was about 3 years old. I think this is my earliest known memory and one that has stuck with me. Those psychologists amongst you will have a field day with tht information I am sure. Anyway it turns out the person was my mums cousin Susan who was emigrating. As it happens she too was off to Adelaide, where she is still living and likely to meet up with Colin some time soon.

We are not sure when we will visit them. Before that I ought to check that they actually left the country and didn't leave their visas behind on the kitchen table.

Family Farewells

Over Christmas the whole family (my siblings and wives, husbands and kids + a few Italians who tagged along for good measure) gathered together for one last time before Sharon & Colin and the boys clear off to Adelaide. Although there was a leaving party in Manchester too, we decided that one journey up and down the country in a week was enough and that we would make better use of our time on a weekend away. The venue was the newly refurbished Kents bank in Grange...the Wooldridges old holiday haunt that many of you will have been to. Whilst it's much better, there are still a few areas for improvement. It was a bit of a squeeze but we managed to get everyone in. However overcrowding took its toll on the loo that stopped working after my mum had been in it. Something she did caused a valve to burst! The other toilet also broke and started to leak. She denies any blame.

It lashed it down for most of the weekend but it didn't stop us getting out for a walk with Rob & Sarah, helping them with their new can collecting project. Me and Emma even found time for a game of arrows in the pub. There was plenty of quiz nights and pottering around. A final family photo was taken and off we went. We expect to be visiting them down under some time soon so there wasn't a sense of this being the last time we will ever see them. Still it's strange to to think that on our next visit to Burnage there will only be my mum and dad & Emma Beddows left living there from our family. For most of my life the Taylor family have lived within a few miles of Burnage and now in the last 3 or 4 years we have nearly all left. But as one Burnage boy once said 'don't look back in anger'...as I think we all left because the time was right and not because we were sick of it (the last bit was my words not Noel's).

I'll never be ill again?

In contrast to my healthy start to the year...I got a call up from the Dr's to tell me I am in the 'at risk group'. Of what you might ask? Flu apprantly. Because I am asthmatic I qualify for the vaccination jag. I'll have anything that's for free so I am now immune to 3 types of flu. The problem is, there are more than 3 types out there and you can bet your grannies earings that one of them will find me before the winter is out.

Running through the years

Well goodbye 2007 and hello 2008. Having spent far too much time socialising and eating a drinking over Christmas we decided to have a quiet Hogmany. We did the traditional 'Black Bun Run' with the running club. A mile and half sprint starting and finishing at the pub. We went back home and watched Jools Holland, just about stayed awake for the bells and then went to bed. Very boring. Because of this it meant I was fit enough on New Years Day to run the Portobello Promathon. This is a 4 miles sprint down the prom and back. Actually loads of people turned up (250 ish) and I was quite happy with my finish time of 24:20...which is 6.05 minute miles if you are interested. Then yesterday i did the Peebles leg of the Winter X Country races. That was hard...cold and wet. I came 29th out of 129 so again I am happy with that time. The kids did it too and did ok, although could make more effort to try and look like they are racing and not just out for a leisurley walk. So 3 races in a week is a good start to the year. What lies ahead? Emma is 40 this year and has decided we should do a marathon. She's looking at Amsterdam so watch this space. I had a quick look at other international ones....how about Rwanda...or Kenya? Either way it means lots of boring training, early rises and chaffing of my inner thighs!

Christmas 2007 in review

It's the last day of the holidays, during which my tinternet broke down (banging the router against the wall to sort out the loose connection didn't help). The 'D' Factor judging went well with Erin's cover version of Leona Lewis taking first prize and crying at being given the prize. However, in my opinion the warm up act..'Jake the Peg (dingle lingly lingy lum) with the extra leg' would have got my vote if I could. That routine never fails to raise a laugh.

The kids ended up moaning about how much church there was over Christmas. Friday with school, saturday for rehearsal for the nativity, Sunday for church, Monday for Christmas eve, Tuesday for Christmas. Unfortunately for them Christ's birthday celebrations clashed with the showing of Shrek the Halls. I had to do one extra and go to the midnight service to show the Christmas prayers we had done with the P5's. We went to Spott Parish Church on the big day as their services were a bit earlier and fitted in with the family gathering at Emma's aunty Ella's. Then it was back to ours for the Christmas dinner...well tea by the time it was ready. With just 13 of us it was pleasantly relaxed and everything was cooked in time for the Dr Who special.

In the lead up to Christmas we did a trip to the EastLinks Family Farm to see Santa and the live nativity. If you have any kids and in Dunbar it's worth a visit, although it is quite expensive, but good as a one off. Well Mary and Joseph were not actually there but the livestock were in the stable gathered around some tacky models. Santa was there and it turns out he is one of the local poachers! here is a picture of him with the kids. He has just said to them...'You must not get out of your beds when i come to visit'...and cousin Robbie replied..'only if i want a wee'.Ho ho ho!

Lost and found

A sigh of relief as Santa's missing sack of toys has been found in his secret hidout. This is good news as it means one less visit to the shops....hooray!

Old news, new news, any news will do.

It's been a long time since I last entered something on the Blog. The reason being that life has been very busy on every front in the build up to Christmas. Work has been a relentless round of school lessons, assemblies, special youth nights, making films and staff conferences. The last of it is this week where I am doing assemblies every morning in the grammar school and 2 carol services at the primary school (well they actually go to the church). Tomorrow I take on the role of judge in the primary school 'D' Factor talent contest (D is for Dunbar not diabolical). It's by no means a light duty...in my hands lies the self esteem of many a wanna be pop star, High School Musical extra and actors. And then there's the parents who will take the rejection of their child personally as they desperately try to compensate for their own failings as a child through their own kids.

It's also been busy with kids Christmas activities. Andrew is in the lead for the number of selection boxes aquired from all the different groups he belongs to. Santa keeps popping up everywhere I go, and we keep buying Christmas presents on his behalf and losing them. It's been good to have visitors...Sarah & Rob Graham last weekend and mum and dad the weekend before. For Christmas itself we have only got 13 for lunch as Emma's sisters are going to other places. At some point I need to go and buy some food. Emma's boycott of ASDA means early morning visits to Somerfield. Why? because they are still stocking their meat counter as if a major new supermarket never existed up the road from them. That means nobody buys it, so the next day its all marked down. Bargains galore...large chicken 87p, cod 74p, 2 packets of breaded chicken 99p. You just have to fight through the pensioners and Polish workers to get the best stuff.

Finally we are all preparing to say our farewells to Colin, Sharon and the boys who are doing a runner to Australia in January. Aparantly they are doing it to escape the church magazine rota. Somehow there's not a sense of 'that's the last we will see of them', and Emma is already timetabling a trip out there in the next couple of years. The world has shrunk with improved travel and the tinternet!

So in case i don't make it to the computer again before now and 25th December, have a good Christmas wherever you are.

Wedding dorks

One other thing I forgot to mention about Sarah’s wedding was the rehearsal. Throughout the whole thing there was a bunch of kids on the church roof. They had obviously inherited their parents genes that were evident at the Strangeways riots of the 90’s. They must be proud of them.

It reminded me of mine and Emma’s wedding when the local youths helped decorate the church by writing mine and Emma’s names on the church lych-gate in graffiti. They also nicked my uncle Harold’s taxi sign off the top of his car. We got revenge on them by unleashing Danny Love on the bagpipes. That scared them off!

Muck!

The first of the Borders cross country races got underway yesterday with a race in the English village of Norham. This is my favourite course as it takes you through marshes, cow fields and some pretty steep banks. This year the rope had been brought back. Basically the hill is so steep and muddy that you need a rope to pull yourself up. Greta fun and I came 21st out of 111. These races are not very serious and this was proven when the local farmer joined the run in his wellie’s and overalls. The kids also did a tamer version and did better than last year. The next one is in Dunbar where I am going to try and get in the top 15. As Raven always puts it…’let the challenge begin!’

That's ADSA price!

It finally opened its doors today after months...years of planning...ASDA opened its Dunbar store. Time will tell if it will bring closure to all the charity shops on the high street of Dunbar and the other little shops, but for now it is the new kid on the block and the way some locals talk about it ou would think the second coming has just taken place. Put it into perspective...its a shop that sells cheap stuff. It will never beat Mr Ullah's of Brunage Food Store. Anyway look at the photo of this multi million pound stores promotion shot. How emabrrassing for them.

Master of Disguise

It was Halloween the other day and for most of my life as a Christian I have been told how Halloween is a doorway to the occult and all that evil stuff. I have always accepted that as fact until we moved up here. In Scotland it a big event. The kids go mad for it and trick or treating (known as 'guising') is all good humoured and no real mannace is used to get sweets off the neighbours. In fact I drew the conclusion that celebrating Halloween is as much likely to cause a kid to fall prey to the occult, as selling Christmas cards at ASDA is going to cause someone to turn to Christ. Yes of course there are loads of other dangers but the kids round here always have an adult near by in case some perv lures them into his/her lair.
For Stuart, Halloween is the highlight of the year as he gets to dress up. He found good use for his wedding jacket....Dracula! Then my morals were put firmly to the test. Should I let him go guising? It was then I realised most kids in Dunbar know who i am through my schools work. So if I was to do it I had to go in disguise myself. So off i went dressed as a mummy wearing a balding grave diggers wig and a grey cape. Even with that on and no possibility of anyone recognising me I felt such a tit. The first door was knocked and my neighbour appears staring at Stuart (also masked) and then at me. He had no idea who I was but was clearly initimidated by the scene and ran in and gave Stuart a hand full of sweets. The next house was the same...and so on. It was as near to becoming an armed robber as i will ever get...masked and armed with a dangerous child. I couldn't believe how easy it was to get a bag full of sweets...but at the same time how embarrassing it was. We reached the street where one of the local fundamentalist Christians lives...and it was there I chickened out and returned home in case she tried to exorcise me or something.

Dunbar Crime

Andrew had his first encounter woth Dunbar crime last week. He had left his 2 month old bike at school to go to his mates house. When he returned it was gone. We checked with the janitor at the school to see if CCTV had picked anything up...but no as it switches off at 5pm! Useful CCTV that is then? Anyway having driven around some of Dunbar's higher crime rate areas...there aren't many so it didn't take long...we decided to report it to the police. To our surprise sat behind the counter was Andrew's bike in full working order. Someone had handed it in after they found it near the railway tunnel. It's just over a month until Christmas...it was a brand new bike...these acts of honesty don't really happen do they? What was even more amusing was that the police didn't even ask me for proof of who I was. They just handed it over.

Wedding of the year

Well since my last entry our Sarah has got married to Rob. It meant a trip down to Manchester for us all. As we were about to leave for the tedious 4and half hour journey, Cath rings to say that everyone in Burnage has got the runs and throwing up. As Isabelle was going to be a bridesmaid then we didn't want her getting it too. So to avoid the plague we went to Cheshire to stay in Cath & Rich's new pad in Knutsford. It's very nice there and very posh. We did our usual tour of the charity shops and the assistants just looked at us with pity as if we were in need of their chritable help. Its very nice indeed. In the mornings I went for a run to Tatton Park..the local country estate with a magnificent lake and woodland. I went for a call of nature myself and ended up surrounded by deer...and most wrrying was the stags who were growling at me and waving their antelrs. I asn't sure if it was a mating ritual or a message to tell me to sod off. Either way I wasn't hanging around to find out.
Anyway back to the plague...Thursday night at Cath's new house Isabelle decides to get it. Somehow it reached her and she threw up all over the walls and carpet. Better out than in! By Saturday she was fine.

So the wedding day arrived....where were Isabelle's bridesmaid shoes? In Knutsford was the answer...so off I went back to the Cheshire life. It was a fine day and good to see loads of people who we haven't seen for donkeys. All my dad's siblings were there too...a first since my grandma died. Everyone looked older and fatter. I do too but not that much.

So that's the last of the weddings for a while unless Rebecca decides to get married or Emma Beddows! Whilst we were there Sharon & Colin's visas for Oz arrived so it looks like our next family get together will be to send them off unless Rob & Sarah decide to have a baby...the race is on!

Photo: My dad and his siblings. Isabelle & Sarah and us all.

John Muir the movie

Last weekend we had the presentations for the John Muir Award that I ran with a load of youngen's in the summer. I also got the award for being involved. Part of it was making a spoof film about Muir himself. Needless to say it went down well with the kids. In the USA Muir is a hero, not just some local boy as he is in Dunbar. It will be interesting to see how they take it knowing how poor their sense of humour...sorry humor is. Apparantly it was shown here to some important JM people and there was a slight wind blowing in the room as the tumbleweed rolled past! Here's the link if you want to have a look yourself.

John Muir is the Conservator

School Camp

I have recently returned from school camp in the Trossachs. A week with 145 10 and 11 year olds doing loads of outdoor activities. The school have started to trust me enough (or are desperate) to give me a couple of the looney tune kids to look after. I had 10 lads at the start of the week to look after...by the end of the week there would be 8. The first was lost on Tuesday. His contract specified that if he was threatening or violent then he would be removed and put in a cabin with a teacher on his own....the alternative was going home. I just happened to be there as he tried to punch holes out of someone who gave him the wrong kind of look, so off he went cursing me because it was my fault he was in trouble? By Wednesday we had lost another. One kid had been a bit withdrawn and mardy all week. I thought it was because he was a ginger and used to living a life on the edge of things. He was also a bit spotty for a 10 year old...but then that's because he had chicken pox! I am a youth worker not a doctor... how was I supposed to know. Off he went too. I nearly lost another kid on our early morning run. The run ends up on a slide (see picture) which is fast anyway, but in the torrential rain its lethal as one kid discovered when his head nbanged off the sides of it at high speed.

There were lots of challenges like how to avoid Isabelle who was also there. I didn't want to be in her way and stand accused of being her embarrassing dad. Although to be fair if she had seen me on the flying fox or the cat walk she would have been justified. Here is a picture of me on the flying fox looking ridiculous. I also did the cat walk which is basically a beam accross two Scotch Pines about 30ft in the air. I decided that it might be fun to take a picture from up there...but as I stood looking down my legs were like Shakin Stevens performing This Ole House. Isabelle did the pole climb which introduces them to one use of a pole...they save the dancing stuff until they are grown up. It's simple...you climb a pole and jump off and try and hit a big red thing. Talking of poles...the centre was run by them and I take my hat off to their effciency at meal times. Every 3 hours we were given a cooked meal. The kids get hearty portions, but if you are anything over the 4ft 2" then chef thinks your'e an adult and gives you twice as much. By the end of the week I was feeling very lardy indeed. Still all the kids had a good time.

Cross Country?

Saturday was the start of the cross country season. It was a glorious day and a short race to warm us up for the mud, ice, thorns, crap and sludge that lies ahead of us this winter. 4 x 4km relay in Dunfermline. Dunfermline is like Dunbar in that it is rapidly expanding with new houses made by the same firms. Duloch Park was the venue for the race. 12 months ago when Duloch Park was chosen as the venue for the race, Duloch Park was just that....open fields, marshland, etc. Today Duloch park is a new estate and as indistinct as the next one. Duloch Park is now Duloch Muir...5 bedroom luxury houses with a field next to them.
The race itself was quite exciting as you have to get into a pen in the order of your team mates are going to run. Then as your previous runner returns the marshal lets you go and the adrenelin gets you running like mad. It was a tough long and winding road (dirt path) and I lost 4 places to beanpole athletes who flew past me. Eventually we came 28th out of 54 as a team, and I did my 4km in a slow 15:45. I think a bit of work is needed there then seen as the winner did it in 12: 20!

Of mice and men

They're back! Lying in bed at 3.30 am and straight above me I could hear the pitter patter of little feet, scratch scratch and other strange noises. It's the mice. Around about this time last year they graced us with their presence until I terminated what must have been the daddy of them all. I sent Emma off to the hardware shop for some more traps and she returned with an arsenal of devices designed to catch the vermin. None were humane traps and basically consist of the mouse breaking its neck whilst having its last meal. Peanut butter is apparantly their favourite last meal so I tried its on 3 of the 5 traps, and Kit Kat (no pun intended) on the other. The bets were on and by 4pm in the afternoon the kit kat was a clear winner with its first head. However within the next 2 hours SunPat took out 3 more. All has been quiet since and I am worried that I have eliminated Dunbar's population of wood mice. Time will tell, but meanwhile I am enjoying scratch free nights.

Those moles are a pest

Well one week after visiting the docs to have my huge mole frozen...it has fallen off. Somewhere on the floor of my car is a chocolate raisin sized blob, lurking under a seat waiting to jump on its next victim. After several years of my mole getting bigger and bigger on my neck, I decided to give it the chop as it was begining to seap and get so big that looked like tht bloke of the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

So there it goes...my first attempt at cosmetic surgery. That itself was quite interesting. Liquid nitrogen on a swab...it gives a little sizzle and stings...but painless enough really. My collar size has now been reduced by 2 inches and I can now consider waring bling!

Ouch!

Every day after school I take Stuart to the park to let off a bit of steam. On Monday he was joining a gang of other 6 year olds in jumping off the 8ft high climbing frame. Things were going ok until a ruffian gave him a push and he landed on his arm. The wail and the white/grey/green face were a good enough to convince me something was wrong. When we managed to get his jumper off the mishapen arm/elbow pointed to a break or dislocation so off we went ot he Sick Kids Hospital in Edinburgh. It really is called Sick Kids...and it refers to illness rather than some sort of cruel sense of humour that they might have....that would be Little Shits Hospital. On entry I was impressed by the efficiency of it all. Before you could say 'x-ray', they had him all needled up and ready, and off he went to be x-rayed which revealed a broken arm just above the elbow...and it had dislodged so was sticking out. Within an hour he was on the orthopedic ward and then in surgery having wires put into his arm and out again before 11pm. This also meant having to spend a night in the hospital and guess what...I got to stay too. It wasn't the best nights sleep I have ever had....a z bed in the middle of a ward full of sick kids crying all night, nurses walking past, beepers going off, shift changes, doctors running in and out, porters banging trolleys and generally everything but quiet. The enxt day Stuart got to choose his 'stookie' (plaster). Gone are the days of chalky scrim plasters being slapped on....now you get to choose your own colour from day glow pink, yellow, purple, blue or camouflage. Needless to say he went for the cammy option. This was too good to be true. The next thing is a play worker turns up...is there anything you would like to do? Playstation or X-Box, DVD's, craft, toys, painting,...the list went on. We opted for Garfield2, the box set of Simpsons, Pirates of the Carribean and then inbetween some model aircraft building and some glass painting. Going to hospital is like going to a them park. Lunch...that'l get em I thought thinking back to my 3 months in kids hospital with a broken leg and a diet of stodge, soggy greens and liver. I was wrong...pizza, curry and chips, fish fingers...custard, juice. This place was too good to be true.
Stuart got home and now his brother and sister are trying to find ways of breaking their arms so they can enjoy the luxury that it brings. I am just going to nick his chocolates!

Pictures:
Stuarts Arms broken and Stuart's new cammy stookie.

Missed Camp Moments No3

Ah well camp is over for another year and it sounds like it all went very well. I am glad it did because I would have been disappointed to see a good thing fade away and regret givign it up. There's one camp moment I don't really miss, and that is packing up the camp into a small garage on the field.
It's the last day and you want to be nice to people but they have been up until the early hours trying to get a snog, breaking into the castle, having some booze and other minor rebellious acts. So they are dead to the world and can't be arsed, I want to pack up and go home quickly and inevitably the clash of these two opposing forces leads to some abusive language and accidental whacking of people's heads with lengths of drain pipes and goal posts. Then there is that moment when you lock the cookhouse for the last time...turn around and find a brush or a set of hockey sticks still lying on the field. Your heart sinks, but they have to be moved. One year I remember it was a bucket full of slops from breakfast. I left it and I happened to be in the area 3 months later and emptied the bucket full of maggots then.
So fareweel for another year...or even forever.

I am in the news today

Today I appeared on the news twice. Well not me exactly, but people with my name.

1. Richard Taylor father of Damilola Taylor the 10 year old murdered in London several years ago. He was commenting on the problem of gun crime and how this nations young men are getting caught up in it. The tragic outcome as we know is more deaths like Rhys Jones.

2. The other is a memorial to Richard Taylor skate boarding legend who snuffed a while back.

Missed Camp Moments No2

My birthday. Apart from one year when for some reason the school holidays finished really early, I have for the last 20+ years always celebrated my birthday at camp. So Saturday was a strange experience waking up in a bed, in a house and not having to worry about what lay in the marquee. If I am honest I hate birthdays. I hate the unwanted attention they bring, I can never really think of anything I need and so what, I am a year older than last year. It is something we can't control and what are we celebrating?...not being dead?
That said I can remember some of my birthdays at camp. My 18th was spent in the Castle in Caernarfon. The castle pub that is. How times of changed...the leader of camp Steve Mathews bought me my first legal pint in there. I remember the journey back to Criccieth being a struggle after spending several hours in the pub. My 21st was a much more tame event. I spent it visiting the Bunny Farm in Llanstumnwy the resting place of David Lloyd George. (just as an aside he was actually born in Manchester but the Welsh think he is one of their own). The most embarrassing brithday had to be the one hung from the marquee with climbing ropes, along with a table to eat my breakfast on. The pull on my 'town halls' made it all a bit uncomfortable and looked even worse. For many years I shared my birthday with Rich Church. Big and Little Rich's birthdays. He must be in his 20's now. I wonder how he is doing?

Missed Camp moments No1

The camp bonfire (last night). Wet feet from walking accross the long dew soaked grass, the mating rituals of campers trying their hardest to get a snog, the strange sensation of a roasting hot front but a freezing cold back.

Trefor's lost something

Has anyone seen Trefor's wart. He had it on his eye lid the other day looking like a chocolate raisin....but now its gone and just a little scab is left to show for it. I am going to have a look in the cocoa pops to see if its fallen in there.

Dunbar the place to be

Just in case i ever doubted being in Dunbar is a good thing, a recent survey has proven it to be a fact. The East lothian Courier picked up on this last week.

Goodbye summer

Yesterday was officially the end of our summer. The kids went back to school. Whilst it has been a good summer, I shall be glad to get into some sort of routine. Isabelle is the worst for getting up. It takes her about 3 hours to put a pair of socks on, so half the day is gone before we can do anything. Then it rains and then it is time for something to eat....and so the day can drag on.

Despite the crap weather we managed to have a good summer. Isabelle did 3 Camps, taking advantage of my 60% staff discount with Scripture Union. We all went to Wensleydale to help Jonny out running the camp there. Lots of flanning and irreverant behaviour. Me & Emma & the boys did a Scripture Union camp. i thought it was going to be a bit boring and old fashioned, but it was suprisingly entertaining. I had a room full of lads to look after who were mainly unchurched and a little bit out of place on an Su camp. The rest of the summer was spent working on various projects and just mucking about locally. The other day we went up to Whiteadder where Andrew tried his dinghy out in the river.

It is the flower show season and on Saturday we went to the village of Oldhamstocks for theirs. Stuart entered various races like the sack race, I did a 1.3 fell run (except it was on the raod because the hill was too wet) and came 4th, and we had considered entering Trefor into the dog show but we were too embarrassed as he keeps getting his knob out in public.

So there it goes...another summer gone. Bye

Pictures:
Andrew in his boat at Whiteadder
Stuart on a tree climb at SU Camp in Kinross
Isabelle making a fire on her survival skills day with the country ranger
Andrew's ridiculous teeth. One of them fell out yesterday!

Let it go

Well it barely seems like yesterday when I faced the misery of leaving Criccieth for the last time in 2006. A year on and I am in the strange position of being here at home whilst this years camp starts without me and under a new leadership. This experience is like a parent letting its child leave home for the first time...hoping it will work out ok and trying hard not to take away their independence. Rory who is leading it has already been on the phone with questions that make me gasp...'do we have to have a leader in the minibus?'.....'we might move the marquee'....(have they spotted that embedded gas pipe where they are about to sledgehammer in some metal stakes?) Throughout the weekend I have been clock watching...4pm Saturday: The campers will be arriving any time now....6.30pm the first meal will be finishing and the teenage campers will be learning how to wash up....9pm evening meeting....Sunday 11am campers service....and so it goes. Yes I am missing it, but then here I am in Dunbar with no regrets at all. The countryside here is looking very good and life in this small community is different. I shall look forward to hearing how the camp went via Facebook and hopefully Youtube and hopefully not via the national news reporting a marquee being blown up, or a minibus full of campers being being stranded in a slate quarry because their minibus driver had a mishap with a bit of loose slagg.
Picture:
Criccieth Camp many years ago. I think the person in the picture is Ellen Millar
North Berwick Law in a sunset last week. It was one of the 2 volcanic formations in East lothian I ran over the summer.

North Berwick Law Race

Last week I did another hill run up North Berwick Law (first picture of the bugger...with Andrew missing a sitter playing against their local team). I had every intention of running it, but as soon as I got on to it I realised I would be walking along with everyone else (2nd & 3rd picture). Anyway, it was more fun coming down than going up it and I got a reasonable time of 25:07 and a medal. The good thing about these hill runs is that they are short and allow for more time in the pub afterwards. The downside is cramp and breathing difficulties all in the name of sport.

Poor Kitti's

An update on the Kittiwakes at Dunbar Harbour. A few weeks back I posted some lovely pictures of fluffy little chicks. Unfortunately for them the Danish have been fishing in our waters and have nicked all the sand eels and other small fish that Kittiwakes depend on. As a substitute they have been eating pipefish...a small fish with a long skeleton that is very bendy. When the chicks swallow it, it gets stuck in their digestion system and prevents it from functioning. Consequently they die. The consequences are that at the start of the season there was around 52 nests and 30+ chicks on Dunbar Castle. Last week it was down to around 15 chicks as all the others have snuffed it. I don't know what you can do about it, but thought you should know!

The 3 Amigo's...amen!

We go to Belhaven Parish Church and they have started doing communion every 2 weeks. They bring the bread and wine to you in these little thimble size glasses. In fact not unlike tequila glasses. Therefore despite it being a very meaningful part of the service and for many a special part, I found myself being reminded of the 3 Amigo's...that great 80's comedy classic. Here is a clip of the 3Amigos in the scene at the bar where they have a drink of tequila. Be warned...once you have seen it you might find yourself tempted to go in to a spasm a few seconds after you take communion wine from one of those little glasses....whatever you do...don't do the 3 Amigo's salute!

Flan'tastic

We all got back from Wensleydale yesterday having served on the CPAS camps there. Once again I spent a week with a load of squeaky kids but the joy of this camp was we got to cover them in flans in a massive big flan fight. It was a good week of catching up with old freinds from Criccieth. Having gone to Wensleydale worried about the state of the toilet after my experience at Scripture Union camp, I was even more concerned to discover i was sharing a cabin with Woody and Pete Hale. Combined they have the potential of causing a bio hazard in the toilet. Fortunately they have both gone all sophisticated and Pete is a wine and whisky connessieur and Woody is an evangelist and is known as 'Matt Woodcock' on the Christian conference scene.
I ended up running anmation workshops as I have discovered how easy it is. I am now sick of the smell of plastercine as I seemed to have spent all week playing with it, helping little kids make their own movies. I will stick them on Youtube for you to see. Our kids had a good time too but disgraced the Taylor family by entering the talent competition with a burp off. This was bad enough, but Stuart beat them all by playing the recorder through his nose. Still these holidays are ideal and if you have kids their age then you would be foolish not to send them on one. Anyway back to work for us all now Booo!

Boys will be boys

I've been away for a while on a Scripture Union camp so Iv'e not had time to post anything. The camp was actually in dorms, although we did get one night of camping out under the stars and in the company of midgies. Despite coating myself in Superdrugs extra strength midgie repellant...which is highly flamable and toxic, the little buggers kept going for me. It was hardly a fun night out as I was in the company of 16 under 11 boys who all had annoying squeaky voices. In a poor attempt to get them tosleep I told them that the game keeper was on the prowl and we had not got permission to be there. It shut most of them up one kid was nearly crying in fear. I was then woken several times throughout the night by a kid sniffing. It got worse and worse and eventually I had to go into his tent an give him some bog roll to blow his nose on. Nothing could be worse than this...that was until I went shopping with them in Perth.
I hate shopping...but with 8 lads my patience was being tested. First stop was the 99p shop where they bought loads of junk for their mums...but later gave it to the girls in an attempt to woo them. They also bought guns with rubber bullets. Guess who was being pinged by them all day? The rest of the day was spent touring sweet shops and toy shops. One kid downed a bottle of Lucozade Sport and Red Bull before my eyes. Needless to say he was climbing the walls for the rest of the day. Another had a flumpy foam sword. It was actually a giant kebab stick with marshmallows of all shapes and sizes stuck on to it to make it look like a sword. I had to confiscate it as he was lying in his bed eating it at lights out. And whilst we are moaning about kids...you should have seen the toilet. Their aim was well....piss poor! So poor that rarely did it make it to the loo and the puddle around it got bigger and bigger, forcing you further back. I think it was around 12 ft away from the actually toilet at the end of the week.

Anyway all that said we had a good week and our kids enjoyed themselves. Check Stuart's tree climbing pictures out. What a lot of these kids lacked was the space to muck about without some health and safety witterer jumping on them. We tried to do as much of it as we could and at the same time talk to them about God...a happy balance i wasn't expecting from SU. meanwhile Isabelle went off on another SU holiday in Crieff. She also had a great time without her annoying brothers. next week wer'e all off to Wenslaydale for another camp of a similar style. I think I will take my wellies for the loos this time. Here's the highlights film 2007 and also killershoes

Here kitti kitti!

Emma thinks I am a geek because I spent Saturday morning watching some birds. Dunbar is home to 'the most accessible Kittiwake colony in the uk'. I was passing it on my bike and saw all these real geeks photgraphing them. I went for a closer look and they were very 'accessible'. In fact you could spit on them, although it is more likely they would pooh on me. Anyway the little kitti chicks have hatched and are all fluffy. There was loads lying on the ground. Obviously not good at flying and the big seaguls eat them. I saw a herring gull swallow one whole after it had killed it by shaking it violently. So I went home and got my camera and anorak and snapped some shots myself for your pleasure. If you are really interested you can watch Kitti Cam....live footage of them on Dunbar's Castle. http:// Kitticam