Athletic Support Needed

Back from Cambuslang with mixed fortunes in my results.

100 meters = 3rd place in my category but 5th out of 6 in the race. Midway through the race I looked ahead at the winners whose thighs were twice as wide as mine and thought to myself 'this is not my strong distance'.

Long Jump = 1st place...out of 2 competitors. Only one foul jump too. The eye of the tiger was beginning to open!

400 meters = 5th place out of 6. Once the gun went off, and all the runners whizzed passed me, I thought to myself 'this is not my strong distance'. However I did manage to beat the Cambuslang runner who looked like one of those circus strong men, you know the sort with bald heads and twirly moustaches.

Javelin = 2nd place out of 3 in my category. However having never thrown a javelin it was only when I got half way through the run run up that it crossed my mind I was holding a lethal weapon and there were two marshals in the line of my fire. I threw it but forgot to stop running and ran on to the grass. For the second one I decided to slow down and use my dart throwing skill over speed. 26 meters, but then only to be disappointed to discover the record there is 64 meters. The 3rd one never happened. Because i was in the 400 m race, that was started late because the organisers were the biggest bunch of anally retentive knobs ever had fussed over trivial details, I missed the first round. The official refused to budge and I pointed out to her that it was her inefficiency and that her tone was not in the spirit of the games, but the old bag would not back down. I wish I had got her earlier with my missthrow.

High Jump = To qualify you have to clear 1 meter 50. Having never done high jump before this was a tall order as by now my legs were feeling very heavy, and I had no idea what technique you are supposed to use. I was all fro running up and doing a forward dive, but that's not allowed. You have to take off on one foot...but which one I don't know. Needless to say I only cleared 1m 30 and did not qualify.

4 x 100 meters relay = I don't know what position we came but I was delighted to have exchanged the baton without any hiccups and run a good race leaving the strong man and his team far behind.

Unfortunately we did not win promotion. For me the half marathon the day before was taking its toll as was the lack of any idea of how to do half the events I was in hindered my performance. Andrew & Isabelle did well, with him winning long jump and Isabelle getting 3rd in shot put and long jump. Today my legs are stiff as a board, I think I will have a rest.

Olympics

Daly Thompson, a true Olympian


The Olympics are here. I never intended to watch them but I enjoy the fact that for many of the athletes, getting there is reward enough and they get a few weeks off work, get the chance of becoming a local hero and get to go on a jolly. I also find myself watching sport I would never normally look at, like the equestrian event I am watching now. I have even gone one step further and actually started to participate in events new to me. Tomorrow I head off to Cambuslang with the kids and the running club for the final day of the athletics season, with promotion to division 2 to be played for. Because we are equal to the Cambuslang, we need to field as many athletes as possible in as many events to notch up extra points and win the promotion place. Just by entering an event, we get a point for the club. So guess who is doing the 100m, 400 m, 800m, javelin, shot put, long jump and 110m hurdles tomorrow? I've Googled how to do them so I will be fine (except all the instructions are for right handed people and I'm a lefty). I'm working on my grip and thrust and I have grown a bushy moustache so I can look like Daly Thompson

Flood Alert

Things are desperate when all we can write about is the weather, but unusual waether gets a mention. It rained for 36 hours on Wed/Thursday and there was some localised flooding here in Dunbar. The road was closed as it flooded under the railway bridge, in another incident my car was stranded in the car park that also flooded and required wading through...well paddling through 2 inches of water. But the main crisis was in the guinea pig hutch. Several inches (and rising) was dangerously close to swamping out the little critters. Since the execution...(sorry accidental death of Splat) we are all very protective of the others. I'm sure one was called Splash, and so concerned was Isabelle, that she actually got out of her bed before 11am. Not only that, she rescued them from the rising flood waters.

Today was the Haddington Half Marathon. The torrential rain was back and for me good running conditions. We decided an hour before to do it, which was a mistake as neither of us were in the zone, or really prepared. But then the rain stopped and the sun put his hat on and it went all humid. Crap running conditions. I pulled up at 11.5 miles with cramp, again at 12.5 miles, not enough fluid taken on and the price you pay for a staple diet of banoffee pie whilst at Wensleydale. Worst still we both have red sun burn in the pattern of our running vests. Emma showed hers off at the churches pool and pizza party tonight. More rain forecast tomorrow, and we are hoping for more flooding so we can get the dinghy out on park.

Herriot Country

20 minutes earlier thou were up that big t'hill behind thee.


We've just got back from 9 days in Wensleydale, home of Wallace & Gromitts Wensleydale Cheese, and the location for the books and tv series 'All Creatures Great & Small'. It's a nice place to visit and quite traditional and unspoilt given its close proximity to Newcastle.
Whilst there I managed to get a race in. TheHerriot Country Trail Run 14 km . It started at Castle Bolton in Redmire where we stayed, the same location for a pirate reinactment group. The day before I actually bumped into Captain Jack Sparrow who kindly offered to come and talk to the 30 kids we had with us from camp. Stuart talked to him for 30 minutes about his sword. A strange mix of swashbuckling blokes in pirates outfits, and bollock swishing athletes wearing running shorts!
The race clashed with the hottest day so far, and it got hotter as we climbed. Not a breeze to be found and at 8 miles I was feeling a little peculiar and broke my own rule of walking on a flat bit during a hill run. I managed to press on and got a respectable 67 minutes,putting me 35th out of 267. As far as I know I was the only Scottish Club runner, but overshadowed by someone from Dubai (i bet the heat didn't bother them) I can't complain at that as I have been eating yet more cakes and seconds and third helpings of everything on the camp and feeling a little bit clogged up.
Anyway, if you are ever hungry in the Dales, then you can only go to one place for fast food. Check it out for yourself. click here

Return to York

Acomb is No1 for charity shops and pies!

Our tour of Northern England included a couple of days in York staying with our pregnant and showing Sarah and Rob. Having wandered around York with a class of 30 kids earlier in the year, I was quite eager to get back there and look around without having to count heads all day.

I decided to go for a run. The last 2 weeks have been away and have involved eating lots of food, mainly junk and plenty of it. But I have had very few runs. Getting motivated to get out of bed and run in traffic in Manchester was hard so I didn't bother. York however has a couple of rivers running through it so I headed down one into the city centre where I had planned to run the circuit of the city walls. However the city walls are not complete and at 2 points they run and you have to find your way to the next section. I found myself right in the heart of the shopping centre in my skimpy vest and shorts, looking slightly out of place and lost. York is a city but it has a small town feel about it. I noticed this when I happened to see Anna Woodcock an old friend of ours and relative through marriage sat in her office window. It would be rude not to go and wave, and she politely came out to say hello to me. Eventually I managed to pick up the walls again and found my way to Acomb, the village where we were staying. Then I bumped into another person I knew. Derek Wooldridge used to run the camps in Criccieth before I did. He is a legend and someone I always associate with York. There he was walking in the rain. it was nice to stop and have a chat, although it must have been a bit strange for him to see me on his street on a friday morning.

The rest of the visit included a trip to the York Dungeon. Stuart was terrified enough to give a genuine gasp of horror, but not enough to be scarred for life. It's a bit pricey but worth a look if you get the chance. These actors come out and tell you tales and explain it all. The price was scarier than the horrors in there. We also visited Acomb. Acomb is a hidden gem. There are 6-or 7 really good charity shops, a Peacocks, loads of bakers, and other cheap and cheerful shops. We managed to stock up on Action Men, books and a few other bits you can only get in charity shops. There's everything a man needs in Acomb, I look forward to a return visit.

City Life - Church

Whilst staying in the hood of Burnage, we went to our old church St Margarets. The services there was quite a bit longer than the 45 minutes we get in Dunbar. 45 minutes in and Emma needed the loo and knew that the sharing of peace was coming up. Everyone gets up and shakes hands, whilst Emma gets up and shakes her lettuce!

Anyway we were only 3 shakes into the peace when a bit of a doo was going on in the central aisle. One of the old ladies had passed out. In fact her heart had stopped and right in the middle of the service those around her had to do CPR. The service could not go on until Greater Manchester Ambulance Service had come to attend. 20 minutes later they were there, and whisked her off to the MRI. The sermon hadn't been that bad! In fact there was a time when the service would have gone on, pretending nothing had happened, so it was good to see a bit of impro taking place.

This slightly sombre moment was broken when an old mate pointed out one of the notices to me. Sheila is the old Guide leader and faithfully does an annual afternoon teas thing for the women. However the notice read
- Wednesday: Sheila's p.m. teas

Now I am not sure what we were supposed to do with that information. Maybe give her a wide berth, say nice things to her, I'm not sure.

The visit was rounded off with one of St Margaret's legendary parish lunches. Basically everyone brings a pile of food and swaps it. Everyone gets well fed and you get to mix your meals. Curry and quiche, lasagne and egg rolls, rissotto and diced cheddar and cubed pinapple. Then for pudding, trifle and penguins, tunnocks and jelly, and cheese cake and curry (there was still some left so it seemed a shame to waste it).

City Life

We have just returned from our summer holiday city break. Living by the coast and in the countryside we now find a trip to the city is a welcomed change for us. You can't help have the small town mentality, when you live in a small town. In Dunbar you do know other people's business, people are related and not much happens. So off we went to Manchester to see the family and friends down there. It was a good journey, travelling under 70mph to save on fuel. At the service station in the Lakes a coach full of Asian people in posh traditional dress came in. They had obviously been to a wedding or something and looked very colourful. In contrast to Manchester, Dunbar has a tiny population of black people. I think there are no more than 15 black people that I can think of in Dunbar (adults included). So the sight of this crowd caused Andrew to point at them in amazement, causing us to cringe. 'Why aren't there any Muslims in Dunbar?' was asked and a brief history lesson commenced. Only 3 years ago he had been at a school where 30-40% of the class were Muslim. In fact much to the disappointment of the head, the kids organised their own football matches, the Muslims vs the Christians! How could he forget?

We had a trip into the city centre and the Trafford Centre. You could see Isabelle thinking 'why did we move away from this?' Even I was taken in for a few moments by the size and range of shops on offer. It lasted for 5 minutes and then I realised that these shops are only any good if you have some cash and part of the brain that tells you that wandering around aimlessly is fun. I used to hang around the Arndale Centre quite a bit in my teens. In those days very little other than the large escalators with tubes of flowing water down the sides of them were in place to entertain you. Wimpy was there long before MacD's, KFC and all the other fast food places cashed in on our desire for junk. These days the new entertainment is coffee. Yes it seems that you can't walk more than 2 feet without having to stop and have a coffee. Fortunately our Beck offered a staff discount at Starbucks where the kids enjoyed their frappachinos (cold milk shakes with a fancy name so you can pay £3 for the joy). Me and Emma had a cappuccino (only because it was one of the few items I had actually heard of). In fact we actually had a bucket of cappuccino each as they came in those oversized mugs they do. This led to an afternoon of visiting most of the public toilets in town for my own expresso's (no froth thanks). In a time of a credit crunch where do people find the time or money to sit drinking coffee. The good thing about it is people watching and most memorable was the tranny goth with 5 o clock shadow...it was there I realsied where Andrew got his pointing trait.

We did a few other things like go to Urbis, the Manchester Eye and went for curry. Very enriching and worth going to. They also have a Primark, so we were able to kit out the whole family for under £5. The city centre is changing rapidly with more and more high rise offices, hotels and apartments popping up. However there is little point to it all unless you have some cash in your pocket. I can't help but wonder if it is all going to come to a sudden end.

More about the trip later.

They're not young for long you know!

Photo: Isabelle on her way to the prom with her M8s!



Today marks the end of an era. Our oldest child left primary school. How old does that make a man feel?

It was a great day for them, and I managed to get along to the leavers assembly to soak up the occasion. The highlight is them all leaving the school for the last time, where they have to walk through a huge line up of all the other classes and waiting parents. Pretty impressive and a great celebration. They also had a prom, where lots of frocks and kilts were being worn and a load of 11 year olds arrived in stretched limo's and Hummer's. Pretty cool, all I remember about leaving school was having to do a line up and give Mrs Rudolph a kiss. I escaped via the fire exit!

We have worked out that the next time Isabelle, Andrew and Stuart will be at the same school together will be when Isabelle is in the 6th form. Now I will feel very old then.

Life's a Snore!

Check out this extra loud snoring. The image of the culprit is masked as she didn't have her teeth in!

Splat!

Photo: Splat in happier times, crapping on ELC's Single Status contracts

Have you ever considered that the name you give somebody could turn out to be a self fulfilling prophecy? Careful thought goes into choosing a name because it defines who you are and could even set you up, or let you down for the future. You know from your school days that certain kids with certain names, and simply because they have that name, will turn out to be either a complete nerd, a tearaway or pregnant with their 4th child by the time they are 13. I will leave you to work out the names in case one of them takes offence.

But names have a meaning and it goes for pets too. Trefor is named after a Welsh coach firm I am fond of (which is also a little Welsh village), Frank was named after my Uncle...so was Harold. And some animals live up to their names, such as pit bull terriers called Tyson, that really do bite your ears off. So when we got 3 Guinea Pigs at Christmas, the choice of name was also important. Spike for the long haired one whose hair stood on end, and Splat for the white one with a black face that looked like a splat of paint. But of course splat is also the noise you get if you drop a heavy on something soft and furry...something like a rabbit hutch on top of a stray Guinea Pig!

On Friday we noticed Splat was missing. They are out in their pen a lot so quite possibly a fox or the near by nesting buzzards might have had him. But a thought crossed my mind that perhaps he had got under the hutch. Sure enough, poking out from underneath it was a little paw. I lifted it up and there he was, Splat! If you have ever watched Tom & Jerry and seen how Tom ends up flat when an anvil lands on him, well then you will appreciate how flat Splat was. As a pancake! Legs spread out either side and wafer thin. Whilst not wanting to downplay the tragedy, it was very funny to see.

The guilty pet murderer was Emma. It seems she had lifted it up whilst cleaning it out, and thought Splat was inside with the others. Instead he was under their feet doing the Guinea Pig version of flower pressing. Poor Splat.

The World of Sport

Have you ever found yourself entering the world of the unknown? We are in the middle of doing so right now...entering the secret world of sport! Not the classic ITV sports programme (you can see that here)World of Sport but the world of football.

Andrew went along to play his first trial game for Aberdeen on Friday...in Glasgow! They have a West Coast training base there in Hamilton, so it's an hours drive as opposed to 3 and half to Aberdeen itself. The way it works is that the lads get a game and asked to come back if they are worth another look. Andrew and his mate Jack played well and did get asked back. The coach seemed an nice enough bloke but you like to check them out just in case. Also because i know little about the beautiful game, and even less so about the Scottish version of it. A quick Google search reveals Bobby McDonald was himself a Premier League player for Villa, Man City, Leeds and Oxford. The result was Cumbernauld United 3, Aberdeen 3. 'Come back on Monday' he said.

So last night we went back and met the staff before they played East Kilbride YC. Have you ever felt like a fish out of water. Well I felt like one floundering as these footy blokes talked footy. I just stood there nodding and shaking my head. Then another 2 appeared. "That's Peter Weir" said one of the scouts with a definate tone of reverence. The blank look on mine and Nick's (Jack's dad) prompted him to add "He played for Aberdeen and St Mirren and Scotland, and he is the head of youth for Aberdeen". So there I was stood amongst some proper footballers discussing my sons future with the club.

The game went well and Andrew scored. Both lads played hard but stood out. they have been asked back again on Saturday for a friendly, and then if that goes well they get a 4 week trial in the summer, including some games against the big clubs like Celtic, Rangers and Hibs. Then they get the offer to sign. It really is another world and there's loads for us to weigh up and think through. Of course it could come to nothing but we don't want to be caught like a rabbit in headlights if an offer does come through. Watch this space!

Ginger Twists

One of the things about ginners is that they get noticed. I reported on Andrew's hair dyeing disaster, which has turned out in his favour. Recently Andrew's team played a friendly against the mighty Aberdeen FC Youth Team. Unknown to us a scout from there had his eye on a few of our lads, including Andrew. But at first the our coaches were unsure who they meant when they described him as a the 'ginger kid on the wing'. Then it twigged, and sure enough he was asked to go for a game last week. So there we are, a big point scored for the gingers of the world...'ginners are winners'!

Wet One

Sunday was my first real taste of hill running. I've done a few short ones but none that require a map, whistle and compass and waterproofs. It was a 12km route that quite literally runs along the edge of the Scottish Border (only a wire fence to seperate us) and a route that takes in the end of the Pennine Way. You also need a small bag to carry them in. I searched high and low for one in the house and found the perfect solution, one of the kids England rucksacks. It might be child sized, but it did the trick. It also infuriated the Scottish nationalists who were behind me in the race. The alternative was a Spiderman rucksack, but that might have annoyed any baddies on the run!

Now having a map and compass is one thing, but knowing how to use them is another. I've been shown numerous times how to use them but I just can't retain the information. But then who would need a map and compass on a well defined route like that? Well it appears everybody doing the race. Cloud level was around about 2 minutes into the race. From there onwards you could only see 20 feet in front of you and nothing more. Knowing my weakness in navigation skills, I decided to follow the man in front. That of meant having to keep up with him, and at times I lost him in the mist which was scary. The mist also hid how high the hills were. I think I counted 5 hills, up and down them all, but number 4 was a bugger. It just went on and on. Also it was now cold and raining hard. The border fence I was following never seemed to end. Eventually I caught up with the bloke on the desecent and even passed him at one point, but then my laces came undone. Ever tried to lace your shoes with cold hands? I was still following him when suddenly he stopped! 'I'm sorry, I've gone the wrong way." Out came the map and sure enough we had. "We will just have to traverse". The diversion cost us at least 1/2 a mile but eventually our destination of Yetholm the end of the Pennine Way was in sight. So without further a do I finished the race (one second ahead of him) but in a poor 47th place. At the end it emerged that most of these hill runners don't actually know how to map read either, as nearly half of them had got lost too. Whilst I enjoyed the change, I think I will stick to roads and paths in the future.

Girl Guiding at ADSA

The Girl Guides are off to Switzerland on some expensive trip next summer. This means loads of fund raising to bring the price down and it also means parents getting involved. So when Isabelle and her squad of Guides headed off to ADSA for a bag pack they were looking for parents to help out. Reluctantly I got roped in. However it turned out to be a top afternoon of people watching. I spent the whole afternoon not only talking to people I knew, but seeing what goes into their shopping bags. Of course I realised that some items might be a bit embarrassing if I were to pack them. I'm sure the librarian wouldn't want me to ask her if i should put her Anusol in with her kippers, or ask the milkman if he wanted all 4 bottles of Gin putting in the same bag as his Smirnoff...I wouldn't need to as he could probably carry them in one hand like they do with the milk.(These are of course fictional scenarios in case anyone thought of offering the librarian a rubber ring next time they were in). Isabelle was trying to ignore me and sent me to another till, so I had thought of anding over a basket full of embarrassing items for her to pack, like lingerie, 10 packets of condoms and a box of feminine wipes. Anyway the day was a success with £1300 being raised and one or two eyebrows. I can't wait for the next one.

Now had we done it the following Saturday we would have been treated to a sighting of Gok Wan. Yes the celebrity flab fiddling dandy was in Dunbar's ADSA on his way back from Edinburgh. I hope so anyway, as it would just be awful if someone we knew appeared on that 'How to Look Fat Naked' programme....I think that's the name of it.
Picture: (Top) Isabelle packs another bag of shopping
(Bottom...as in the location of it not the content) Gok with the ADSA girls!

Pipe Band Day

Ever wondered what a swarm of giant wasps sounds like? Then head to Dunbar's Pipe Band day next year. Bus loads of pipers descend on Dunbar's Winterfield for a day of piping. The sound is really quite amazing. Amazingly bad but certainly one to remember. It's not that they can't play the pipes, but when you get 30 bands trying to play a different tune at the same time it sounds pretty bad. think a giant with a severe case of asthmah! Pipe Band Day is one of those things that has gone on for years and yet half the locals know nothing about it which is a shame. It is a good day out, with many people just enjoying the atmosphere, the beer tent, the bottles of Buckfast, the WKD, etc. There is also a spot of highland dancing for the kids and a new one on me...baton twirling! So if you fancy swinging your baton with a Gay Gordon then head this way!

Pictures:
Some Pipers had a crash landing on their magic carpet.
The pipers head into the arena for some ear drum piercing devil's music.
Some kid wearing some silly trousers.

Church of Scotland knees up!

A couple of weeks or so ago I got myself along to the Church of Scotland's National Gathering. Because everyone is so spread out thinly in Scotland someone had the idea of bringing them all together in a tented village. The highlight for me was seeing the Archbishop of York speak as he seems to be one of the few remaining Church of England clergy who has a believable faith and who seems to understand that there is a world beyond the 4 walls of his church/minster/palace! Through a distant relative (through marriage) I managed to get my account of the event on the Archbishop's website. Check it out for yourself

The report

It was a good event. It got a bit boring after a couple of hours, and the music was a bit tree hugging in style, and the venue was far to big. As someone said, 'it was like a size 8 foot in a size 10 shoe'. All that said, it was a unique opportunity to meet some of the Christians from around Scotland and actually support each other. When you go to these kind of gathering in England they are a bit competitive and you find that they are just full of people selling their wares...their latest book or resource that promises to change your church, another CD of 'Now That's What I Call Plinky Plonky Praise on those electric Piano's', 'Graham Kendrick: The Reggae years' and a new course that is slightly similar to the last one..in fact so close it's just an anagram of it 'Halpa'. Of course few of them deliver on their promises, and you come home fleeced of your pennies and annoyed at yourself for believing that some 'quick fix' answers to the problems of the church were out there. Without wanting to get into this idea of 'our church is better than your's' I shall look forward to the next Church of Scotland event and hope that it grows from strength to strength.

Permission to drown

The waters around Dunbar are safe again. After losing one lifeboat to the elements, the RNLI have forked out £1.1 million for a new boat. It arrived last week from Poole so it safe to get those air beds out and float out as far as you want into busy shipping lanes. More importantly the boat has arrived in time for Lifeboat Day later this summer. It's one of the town biggest events and well worth a visit to Dunbar.

Picture: Courtesy of
grianghraif (Flickr) Neville (the boat) arrives.

Ginger Nuts

Andrew has taken to tinting his hair with blonde highlights. However the operation went all so wrong the other day when first it went all blonde. In an attempt to reverse the damage, another dye was applied only to make things worse...it became ginger. Ginger hair is cruel anyway, but when it is not even natural then your in trouble. Fortunately he has had a 3rd colour added to heal the wounds....and a severe trim at the barbers for good measure. Now he is a different colour...not sure which but one that has got him noticed. All week parents and teachers have been coming up to me to pass comment his golden/ginger look. Today though some cheeky little tow rag came up and commented on my streaks...they are grey! Almost as cheeky as the little snotball who pointed out to his class mates my varicaeus veins

The Big One

I recently completed the Edinburgh to North Berwick road race. It's a 22 mile run, taking you along the coast through several of East Lothian's little towns. It's the longest run I have ever done in my life, and I was not sure if I would actually cover the distance. It all starts at the Meadowbank Stadium. Built in the 60's it is now due to be pulled down, but it resembles something from the Eastern Block with these grey concrete walls, rusty girders and rows of faded plastic seats. There was 137 starters and after a lap and 3/4 of the stadium we hit the streets via the marathon gates.
Each town has it's own features...Prestonpans the waft of chip shops and bakers and annoying youths shouting less than encouraging comments, Cockenzie...a power station and then you reach the posher parts like Gullane where Ronnie Corbett has a pad and where most of the land seems to be posh golf courses. A few supporters came out to cheer us on which actually helps. I was doing fine until 20 miles when I got to the top of a gradual but long hill, when cramp kicked in. Is this the 'wall' you hear marathon runners talk about? I don't know, but i had to work hard on not doing any permanent damage. Then the only woman I had seen in the race passed me, along with 3 Hunters Bog Trotters (It's the name of the club which is basically a load of posh blokes who fail miserably to be rebels in the white middle class world of running. They believe that drinking lots of beer, wearing brown vests and shouting HBT at every opportunity qualifies you for being the 'bad boys' of the running world. The arses of the running world perhaps!). Anyway 3 of them passed at 21 miles. Gutted! However, the end was in sight and somehow I made it with a an unbelievable 2 hours 31 minutes, 44 seconds. I had at best hoped for a 2:40 so I was very pleased. I also came 23rd! So I am hooked on the long distance stuff now....well whilst my body can cope that is.

Picture: Me at the finish. Emma reckons I lost 3 stone in that run alone!

Victory at last

I've been working with the PE teacher training up the school cross country team. Yesterday was the finals and we were the hosts so the heat was on. However our strict training regime seemed to pay off as we had runners win both the girls and boys race. In fact all our girls came in the top 20, and the lads top 21. This meant that we also scooped the team prize thanks to the efforts of the kids who really did try hard. I've now been roped in to coaching the athletics team. I don't actually know anything about coaching, so I will be blagging my way through it. I thought Fred Dibnah was the world number 1 steeplechaser! All that is needed is a bag full of motivational phrases....'beleive in yourself' 'that trophy has got your name written all over it'...you know the kind of stuff that you will find on some USA education website. Then sit them down and watch some motivational films like the Karate Kid, Fame (fame costs and here's where you start paying) and Cool Runnings. Well I suppose I had better go now and brush up on my javelin technique before someone loses an eye!

I Love Old York!

Aside to the luggage difficulties in York, the trip was a gooden! The main purpose for me going is to help the school out and to get to know the kids that I will be working with over the next few years. I did it 2 years ago and I enjoy the best response to my work with that group because they have got to see beyond the 'bloke from the church' veneer.

We stayed at the Race Course Centre, which is where the stable hands stay when it's the York races. We were sharing it with another primary school and a 6th form college from Colwyn Bay. How disappointed the 6th formers looked when they arrived for a wild living field trip, only to discover they were sharing a corridor with 30 primary school kids. No late night parties for them, or we'd set the kids on them.

I really like York. I've visited it for years for camp reunions and planning days, but normally I got no further than St Paul's Church or the Micklegate Bar. So it was good having the free benefits of open top tours, guided walks, a visit to every museum and even Castle Howard (quite boring really...wow it's a big house showing off the wealth of local posh people who exploited the poor...are we supposed to be impressed?). The downside was having to shepherd 30 kids around with me. Also the tedious routine of having to go around gift shops looking at crap replica Viking coins and genuine Roman snowstorms and pencil cases. I did get a nice surprise in Jorvik, the Viking Centre. My photo taken 2 years ago, is up on the wall as part of the display boards. Another part of the entertainment was a visit form one of those Viking reinactment people. 'Danelaw Dave' lives and breathes the Viking life and scared the pants off the kids. He was good but I wish he would use the toilet and not crap out of the window on to the streets below!

I know a lot of people in York and it was inevitable that I would see one of them. Rob & Sarah met up with us at the bowling, but apart from that I didn't see anyone until the last hour of the trip where I saw Beth Tew (Criccieth Camps) on the York Eye. Sadly we were just getting on and had to rush off afterwards to get the train so I didn't have chance to chat. Tom our bus driver was up for an award for best ambassador for the city. If you get a chance to visit then I'd recommend the open top tour bus as a way of understanding the history and geography and social background to York. we even got to see the York Ness Monster!

Carrying a lot of baggage

I'm just back from the Primary 5 week in York. 30 kids and a load of staff jumped on the 9.30am train to York and spent 4 days there sight seeing. More on that in later blogs perhaps. Anyway, there's one thing that seems to have defined this trip for me, and that is luggage.
Being the only bloke in the team, it was left to me to load the train with all 33 suitcases. Getting them on is ok, but getting them off when the train is itching to get on its way to London is slightly more stressful. The train pulls up and its a case of chucking the bags off as quick as possible. With seconds to spare it was all off, but it never crossed my mind that other people might have put their luggage in there with ours too. It was only when an irate American chap retrieved his bag from the platform that I realised trouble was ahead! The kids all lined up, picked up their bags, and yet somehow there was still a bag spare! Oh dear someone was going to be arriving in London with slightly less luggage than they set off with.

That was the first luggage incident. The second was outside the Minster in York. The climb up the 275 Minster steps was made
easier by leaving our rucksacks with 2 of the teachers. However this put temptation in the way of the local crooks, and one of them sneaked up on his bike and pinched a bag, emptied out the money and put it back and swapped it for another. It was like a scene form Oliver as 3 kids got their cash nicked, before some good samaritan intervened. The culprit is locally known as Nigel Flynn...so if you are ever in York and near the Minster and bump into a bloke called Nigel...check your wallet.

That night we were on a guided tour around York and some of the group needed a pee. I pointed them in the direction of some bushes, only to discover that there was a rucksack lying amongst them. I jumped in and grabbed it and hoped it might be the missing bag. After talking to colleagues, we opened it up only to discover it was full of sheets, a towel and some other bits that clearly belonged to one of York's vagrant community. Realising our mistake we went back to try and dispose o fit quietly. Unfortunately a large crowd of tourists had gathered, the alarm of the solicitors( whose gardens the bushes lay) had gone off and so we just had to dump it and run. How ironic it would have been if that was Nigel's bag!

The final incident was getting on the train back. On arrival at the platform, the guard tells me that the luggage needs to go in Coach 'F'. 'What end is that on then?' I ask. "Well it depends on what end First Class is...either the front or the back. 'F' is at the opposite end to 1st" replied JO.B.Sworth of National Express Trains. Sure enough as the laws of Murphy go, we were stood on the platform with all the cases, and First Class rolls up along side us. It was a mad dash to get them from one end to the other, but with the help of some locals (not Nigel) we got them in on time and delivered safely back to Dunbar where the guards were very helpful...and the fact the train was running late had nothing to do with their enthusiasm!

Young Guns

It was the Dunbar 10km race on Saturday and somehow Andrew managed to get the responsibility of firing the starting gun. It was just like being back in Manchester. Young kids waving guns in the air and police lining the streets. Anyway the race went well from my point of view. I got a personal best of 38:04 and a can of Belhaven Best for my efforts. The race is sponsored by the local brewery so all runners get a can of beer. You can't complain at that!

Geeks Galore!

Over the holidays we ventured out to the big smoke of Edinburgh for the annual Science Festival. It was Emma's idea and I have to say I was doubtful about it. Why would spending a day learning about science be interesting? Anyway to my surprise it was all very interesting. Loads of robots, experiments, bangs, etc....and nerds! You see the festival is a showcase for how good the universities are, and they roll out their students to run the festival. Most were pretty good at doing their bit, but be honest, most of us associate science with geeky blokes and women. There were plenty of them with no skills in dealing with kids at all. Not that Andrew played on that when he went in the dark room for the 4th time (your'e only supposed to go once). The geeks couldn't contain him. But it wasn't just the students who were like that. Loads of boffin brain kids and dads too. If I was a bully I reckon I could have made a fortune nicking 50p from them. Anyway, hats off to them, they kept our 3 entertained for 6 hours. Whether it will make them interested in science is yet to be discovered...let me think..."Andrew do you want to play footy with all your mates, or do you want to go and operate lego robots with Sebastian and Rupert?"

IAAF World Cross Country Championships 2008

Had a great day out on Sunday watching the worlds top flight athletes taking part in the IAAF World Cross Country Championships. As a runner it is quite inspiring rubbing shoulders with the best in the world. Our first encounter was the Irish legend, Sonia O Sullivan. She's the coach of the Australian women's team and there she was in front of us on the phone. We took position next to the junction of the small and big loop on the course. This meant we saw them running down hill as well as on the flat. 20,000 others were there and the races began. First the Juniors (Under 20's) and then the Seniors. We saw them all and half the fun was guessing the nation from their running style or outfits. For example several Africans went bare footed, the Egyptian girl went fully covered, and the Congolese woman just took her time (despite being lapped) and plodded in at 40 minutes. Emma can run faster than her and if her parents were from the Congo then things could have been so different! Also some amusing names...topped only by Gaylord Scilly (the sole Sechelles athlete).I have put a few of my favourite shots on here, but I have opened a Flickr account for the rest if you want to have a look.

Here's all the other pictures or see them as a
slideshow on Youtube

You little minx!

WARNING!!! NATURE FREAK IS HERE AGAIN.

My kids have now started calling me a nature freak. I can't help but notice...and comment on wild things that I stumble across. Living in East Lothian just means it happens a lot. Well the parental influence is rubbing off on to them. We were down at Hailles Castle having a game of hide and seek. i was on so I took the opportunity whilst counting to keep my eye on a reed warbler that was hopping around the river. Then I heard the kids shouting me over...they had seen something by the river. Sure enough the junior nature freaks had a find! it was a mink by the riverside. I was hoping it might have been an otter as they are supposed to be on that stretch of river, but it was smaller and black. Definately a mink and we watched it for ages until we realised Stuart was still hiding. It might have looked like a cuddly little creature, but they are partial to a meal of water vole or other animals that are in decline. This one was after a wren that was nesting near the reeds. They need trapping really but I don't fancy giving it a go. I remember all too well the boy in the next bed to me in hospital whose pet ferret had bitten his nose off (apart from the little bit of bone they were graphing skin to).

So if you fancy a new fur coat or a pair of slippers, just head down to the banks of the Tyne near East Linton and there is a 'do it yourself' kit waiting to be caught. Photo: Look closely at the crack in the log and you should be able to see the little devil

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