Life in bullet points

Just to keep Matt The Bakiwop happy, here is a genuine update:

  • I’m working like a mad thing at the moment. I haven’t even had time to update my work weblog, which is bad. Work is generally busy in a good way, though, so things are quite good. Just don’t mention the Germans.
  • We’ve been travelling a bit lately and I owe readers some photos from recent trips. So far this year we have been to Angers/Nantes, Utrecht/Maastricht/Aachen/Namur, Hamburg/Rostock and I made a solo trip to Vlaardingen/Aalsmeer. There have also been a few UK-based days out and there are some photos from those too. When time permits, I’ll upload some.
  • On the domestic front, I’ve been working on developing the front garden (although progress has been in fits and starts and has stalled again lately – I need to get the footings out for the retaining wall, but time constraints and the weather both conspire against me) as well as getting the side and back gardens looking good – I’ll try and sort out photos of that too.
  • I bought Hels a bike for her birthday and this has spurred me to sort out getting my bike restored after having left it in a shed for six years following the spectacular failure of the derailleur whilst bombing along the Avenue de Chartres in Chichester in 2000. Following a suggestion from Kate, I’ve taken it to Baker Street Bikes in Brighton for restoration and should get it back on Wednesday. All I’ll need then is to add a child seat for Tom and we’ll then be able to go out on family cycle trips (although bike mounts for the roof bars on the car would be good and I think I’d like to have the chance to dump the child seat so that I can get a few miles in on my own terms too).
  • We’ve started doing a bit more work to the house – currently, we’re remodelling the bathroom. Not a major change, just new paint, new taps and a new shower screen. We’re also eyeing the conservatory combine harvester (shhh, don’t tell Dave), which needs some major work – we’ve spied a couple of rotten timbers, which isn’t good. Repainting of the kitchen is also scheduled in for “somewhen”.
  • Tom has taken to refusing to go to sleep in the evening. We’ve just had him up for a 9.30pm snack, which he took whilst lounging in front of the telly in the living room – he has the makings of a good couch potato.
  • Finally, it’s the Garden and Art Event at West Dean, near Chichester, this coming weekend. I organise it. I’m seriously hoping that the weather improves considerably between now and then.

More updates. Soon. I promise.

6 Replies to “Life in bullet points”

  1. concerning germans – any time you have to talk to them start out the conversation with that wonderful World Cup chant you have. “One world Cup and two World Wars doo-dah, doo-dah.”

  2. It is absolutely fabulous to see a fellow family rider attempting to involve all the young ones of their tribe.
    I as a father of four have always had this problem but as the older two are able to ride on their own bikes off road I set about getting my younger two to ride with me on my full suspension Enduro 04. Referring to your comments about having a childs seat, I would like to show you my system that allows my children to ride with me all terrain over the Surrey Hills. I have a video on YouTube of us on those trails which was used in our Product Risk Assessment as an extreme case. The LOCT Bodyspace Child’s Saddle http://www.loct.co.uk . It is a fully inter-active riding experience for the ages of 2 – 6 which does allow the child to stand and sit behind the handlebars within the comfort of their parent’s arms. I am the inventor, as a parent I found that I was unable to share my riding experiences with my young children off road adequately so I made a saddle which caused quite a bit of attention when out and this is why we are now launching our product in May to the market. I would really like to have your comments on this if you have not seen this before. Kind regards, Charles Gordon
    http://www.youtube.com/littleonescometoo

  3. Good luck with your product and business, Charles.
    Our cycling is a little less athletic than that – sedate rambling on country lanes and cycle paths with nothing more exciting than the occassional WHEEEEEE! when we go downhill.

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