Today is the funeral of a good friend, as a result of a tragic accident whilst a pillion on her husband's bike.
Carol will be sorely missed by us all in the BMW biking fraternity and who was a great support to me when I took over as the Section Secretary was always prepared to help out with teas/coffees and ensuring everyone had enough to eat on the lunches.. My thoughts are with Dave, who also sustained injuries but must be shaken up by the accident and the outcomes..
It was yet another reminder to me that life is short enough, you don't know how much you can accomplish in this life before death sweeps her scythe under your feet, so treasure each day as though it were your last, and tell someone you love them before the words get lost in the winds..
Carol.. many thanks.. wish I could be at the funeral but unfortunately it isn't possible.
Showing posts with label BMW. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BMW. Show all posts
11 September 2009
27 April 2009
Zummerzet Weekend
I had a great weekend, camping in Cheddar near Axbridge in Zummerzet to attend the BMW AGM and met a lot of old friends and some new ones as well. We arrived on the Friday afternoon after travelling down, using the Motorway for speed because we wanted to get set up on the campsite and enjoy the evening entertainment. The campsite was superb, with individual pitches having both water and power supplied as well as a dusk til dawn light, and the pathways were great for motorbikes, the gravel not being slippery at all. I even managed to get a wolf whistle from another member, only because my bike and hers are the same model and colour, when he realised he apologised... sure and isn't that always the way, never for me but for someone else :-)
Once set up we went down to the bar, which was open for residents and enjoyed a couple of drinks I had some Pear Cider and we watched while other pulled in and then set up on the fields. The meals were good, and the bar/kitchen staff absolutely brilliant. We arranged a taxi to the AGM hotel in the morning with two other members which helped to keep the costs down, and then we settled down to an evening with old/new friends.
The AGM was more entertaining than most, the entire committee was either stood down, or not elected and has now got brand new people in positions all of whom will do their best to ensure we move forward as a club and not keep harking on to the good old days. While there are good reasons to keep history important, it is also necessary to realise that bike riders and buyers are a different kettle of fish with different needs in this century and we want to keep all of them happy with the club which will see some positive changes in the year ahead. But the most important change of all was to see the club bean counter get the chop, I have come up against him in the past and it was unpleasant to deal with him so I don't regret his departure one iota.
Saturday night saw a good night in the bar, for many a reason but not least of which was a new spirit amongst the members. More beer was drunk, and we headed back to the tents with a head spinning in the cold night air; unfortunately it was so cold I couldn't sleep comfortably and had to keep getting up to go to the toilets so was glad when morning came and a hot drink.
We left the tents up to dry out before packing them away, as the sun was shining brightly as we went down to breakfast one last time. Though the site was so good, I hope we get a chance to go back to it for a club event as there were a number of interesting places nearby that would have been good for a visit.
The route home took us through Bath and back out to the motorway, we were lucky in that the rain held off so the tent was dry when packed away as were most of the stuff, just needing an airing before being stored away ready for the next rally at the Spring Bank Holiday in Rutland.
Once set up we went down to the bar, which was open for residents and enjoyed a couple of drinks I had some Pear Cider and we watched while other pulled in and then set up on the fields. The meals were good, and the bar/kitchen staff absolutely brilliant. We arranged a taxi to the AGM hotel in the morning with two other members which helped to keep the costs down, and then we settled down to an evening with old/new friends.
The AGM was more entertaining than most, the entire committee was either stood down, or not elected and has now got brand new people in positions all of whom will do their best to ensure we move forward as a club and not keep harking on to the good old days. While there are good reasons to keep history important, it is also necessary to realise that bike riders and buyers are a different kettle of fish with different needs in this century and we want to keep all of them happy with the club which will see some positive changes in the year ahead. But the most important change of all was to see the club bean counter get the chop, I have come up against him in the past and it was unpleasant to deal with him so I don't regret his departure one iota.
Saturday night saw a good night in the bar, for many a reason but not least of which was a new spirit amongst the members. More beer was drunk, and we headed back to the tents with a head spinning in the cold night air; unfortunately it was so cold I couldn't sleep comfortably and had to keep getting up to go to the toilets so was glad when morning came and a hot drink.
We left the tents up to dry out before packing them away, as the sun was shining brightly as we went down to breakfast one last time. Though the site was so good, I hope we get a chance to go back to it for a club event as there were a number of interesting places nearby that would have been good for a visit.
The route home took us through Bath and back out to the motorway, we were lucky in that the rain held off so the tent was dry when packed away as were most of the stuff, just needing an airing before being stored away ready for the next rally at the Spring Bank Holiday in Rutland.
14 April 2009
And that was Easter
A grey and dank Friday morning, Max and I set off to Derby to stay with friends. Not my choice of weather, nor road, but M1 it had to be and filtering through the traffic was for me, at least, a slow progress.. admittedly faster than other car drivers because they were stationary... the reason I am slow is that those gaps that appear quite wide when you are approaching them, seemed narrower when travelling through. Only when I reached Leicester area did the drizzle turn more to rain and by the time I reached Derby itself I was dripping on the outside.
Though the friends had seen the bike before it was because I had lent him to SOH last year when his bike picked up an unfortunate puncture and the only solution was to lend him Max. It is a fair difference when you are used to riding a bike with a fairing to be riding something so naked and as it was a bitterly cold March day SOH reached his eventual location chilled to the bone. Now me, I ride with my electric waistcoat, heated grips and that does to a certain extent keep me warm so I don't mind too much.
Walked into the town centre on Saturday morning, a good 2-3 miles and it was a good pace but enjoyable in the spring sunshine. I ended up buying a Nintendo DS as they were doing a bargain on the pre-owned variety in a shop along with two brand new games this was the cheapest option I had ever seen. Though quite why today's pre-owned is better than second-hand beats me.. are they not the one and same?
We had steak and chips for our Saturday meal, along with some very potent pepper sauce... enough to fuel rockets to the moon but very nice with it..and the steak was some of the best I had tasted in a long while and the only chips I ever make are oven ones the home made deep fried golden ones that were served were delicious.
Sunday I took the bike over to Matlock Bath, to see the other bikes and their riders congregating along the main road was good fun and Max attracted his own comments notably 'What in the Hell's name is that!'... comes of having a belt drive bike.. usually reserved for Harley Davidsons. This of course meant that watching the Help for Heroes match in Bournemouth had to be postponed... but you can't be in two places at once.
Monday was a return home, to finish off the tidying up of the kitchen, to sort out what hasn't been done and what still needed to be done. While it is nice to go away, it is nice to return home to all things familiar.
Though the friends had seen the bike before it was because I had lent him to SOH last year when his bike picked up an unfortunate puncture and the only solution was to lend him Max. It is a fair difference when you are used to riding a bike with a fairing to be riding something so naked and as it was a bitterly cold March day SOH reached his eventual location chilled to the bone. Now me, I ride with my electric waistcoat, heated grips and that does to a certain extent keep me warm so I don't mind too much.
Walked into the town centre on Saturday morning, a good 2-3 miles and it was a good pace but enjoyable in the spring sunshine. I ended up buying a Nintendo DS as they were doing a bargain on the pre-owned variety in a shop along with two brand new games this was the cheapest option I had ever seen. Though quite why today's pre-owned is better than second-hand beats me.. are they not the one and same?
We had steak and chips for our Saturday meal, along with some very potent pepper sauce... enough to fuel rockets to the moon but very nice with it..and the steak was some of the best I had tasted in a long while and the only chips I ever make are oven ones the home made deep fried golden ones that were served were delicious.
Sunday I took the bike over to Matlock Bath, to see the other bikes and their riders congregating along the main road was good fun and Max attracted his own comments notably 'What in the Hell's name is that!'... comes of having a belt drive bike.. usually reserved for Harley Davidsons. This of course meant that watching the Help for Heroes match in Bournemouth had to be postponed... but you can't be in two places at once.
Monday was a return home, to finish off the tidying up of the kitchen, to sort out what hasn't been done and what still needed to be done. While it is nice to go away, it is nice to return home to all things familiar.
23 March 2009
On a lovely spring day
When I could have been watching the final playouts of the 6 nations, I was actually sitting inside a room, with 17 other people arguing the finer points of administration of the BMW Club. What was worse from my point of view, to get there was over hour and half of driving, I cheated to take the car rather than the bike as it does tend to go on overly long. So I arrived at half past ten in the morning, and we had a 15 minute break for lunch at 13.15 to 13.30.
Because of trying to catch up with messages on my mobile phone and trying to call them back, I missed out on the sandwiches, not a huge issue because I had a protein drink with me that I had instead which compensates when you miss on a meal. There were more than the reasonable number of egos in the room and I could feel my enthusiasm for the job waining at at alarming rate especially when old history was being brought up time and time again. If you consider that all these people round the table are volunteers and unpaid for their time you think we could actually work together, but it seems not.
We had another short break at 5.30pm and finally closed the meeting at 6.30pm, I felt exhausted and was glad at this stage I had opted to take the car as you don't have to think too hard as to staying upright. By the time I got home, I was too tired to eat properly, and only had toast and a cup of tea before sinking on the sofa in apathy to watch Casualty and to answer the messages waiting for me.
Thankfully, or not in which case you view it, we only hold these meetings three times a year.
Because of trying to catch up with messages on my mobile phone and trying to call them back, I missed out on the sandwiches, not a huge issue because I had a protein drink with me that I had instead which compensates when you miss on a meal. There were more than the reasonable number of egos in the room and I could feel my enthusiasm for the job waining at at alarming rate especially when old history was being brought up time and time again. If you consider that all these people round the table are volunteers and unpaid for their time you think we could actually work together, but it seems not.
We had another short break at 5.30pm and finally closed the meeting at 6.30pm, I felt exhausted and was glad at this stage I had opted to take the car as you don't have to think too hard as to staying upright. By the time I got home, I was too tired to eat properly, and only had toast and a cup of tea before sinking on the sofa in apathy to watch Casualty and to answer the messages waiting for me.
Thankfully, or not in which case you view it, we only hold these meetings three times a year.
19 March 2009
Positive things
Lists can be useful, and focus your mind. The following is some of the things on my list :
1) I have decided to redecorate the house, overdue by years. Will take some time, but I have enough of that and that isn't as negative as it sounds it will be therapeutic and not only that but some very good friends have said they will help me out with the kitchen upgrade.
2) I have two holidays booked, one to France and the other in the UK. The bike will also get some usage this year at long last as I heard on the grapevine that the weather is going to be stunning. Take it from me :-) I have earmarked places I want to visit while I am in the UK, and just working out the best route. Friends have invited me to visit them, in US and in Australia but at the moment I need to root myself here before I too get the urge to run away from things.
3) The garden is going to benefit from an overhaul, again not a five minute job but I have plans in hand that should see it easier to maintain. I would like to be able to grow my own veg but it is a big garden and can be a bit much at times.
4) I plan to lose some weight, its not healthy nor do I like my body in the shape it is in. I have already made a start and want to continue the trend.
5) I brought a ticket to watch the Barbarians play Bedford next month, though sadly I can't make the Redruth v Cambridge game which I had hoped to do as something else has come up. I am considering getting hold of a ticket to see Northampton Saints play but it may well be next season.
6) I will be going to the Rutland Rally in May, the National in August and the Blackbull in September all bike events and by then I will have fathomed out the GPS connections to my bike. It is bluetooth and I need an adapter and a powerlead as the other one is on the ex's bike and I have no means of retrieving it.
7) I am entered in the race for life, and plan to do this in under 40 mins - it is only 5K in distance and I can walk 2K in 15 minutes now so I don't see this as unattainable. Training is going well for this.
8) I want to reduce the amount of 'stuff' I have and anything surplus to requirements will be donated to others using freecycle or sold if it has a decent value as I believe that I have clutter which though it might come in useful is simply not necessary. Not only that but as I get older I will want to downsize accommodation and rather than leave it to when I am less able to deal with it I plan to start now.
1) I have decided to redecorate the house, overdue by years. Will take some time, but I have enough of that and that isn't as negative as it sounds it will be therapeutic and not only that but some very good friends have said they will help me out with the kitchen upgrade.
2) I have two holidays booked, one to France and the other in the UK. The bike will also get some usage this year at long last as I heard on the grapevine that the weather is going to be stunning. Take it from me :-) I have earmarked places I want to visit while I am in the UK, and just working out the best route. Friends have invited me to visit them, in US and in Australia but at the moment I need to root myself here before I too get the urge to run away from things.
3) The garden is going to benefit from an overhaul, again not a five minute job but I have plans in hand that should see it easier to maintain. I would like to be able to grow my own veg but it is a big garden and can be a bit much at times.
4) I plan to lose some weight, its not healthy nor do I like my body in the shape it is in. I have already made a start and want to continue the trend.
5) I brought a ticket to watch the Barbarians play Bedford next month, though sadly I can't make the Redruth v Cambridge game which I had hoped to do as something else has come up. I am considering getting hold of a ticket to see Northampton Saints play but it may well be next season.
6) I will be going to the Rutland Rally in May, the National in August and the Blackbull in September all bike events and by then I will have fathomed out the GPS connections to my bike. It is bluetooth and I need an adapter and a powerlead as the other one is on the ex's bike and I have no means of retrieving it.
7) I am entered in the race for life, and plan to do this in under 40 mins - it is only 5K in distance and I can walk 2K in 15 minutes now so I don't see this as unattainable. Training is going well for this.
8) I want to reduce the amount of 'stuff' I have and anything surplus to requirements will be donated to others using freecycle or sold if it has a decent value as I believe that I have clutter which though it might come in useful is simply not necessary. Not only that but as I get older I will want to downsize accommodation and rather than leave it to when I am less able to deal with it I plan to start now.
02 March 2009
Max n me
Max is my bike, and yesterday we had the first ride out of the year, not without a lot of heart pounding on my side as still being a bit of an emotional wreck I was not 100% certain I would survive, but balanced against that is a little bit of inner strength that when I am on the bike seems to look after me and not let me do anything too stupid.The roads were dry, and not too greasy. The weather cold but sunny and misty so the ride over to Towcester was enjoyable. I don't usually like to lead, but because some friends came over to ride with me I knew the way across the myriad of roundabouts in Milton Keynes to get to the A5.
Lunch was good, friends to catch up with and good company. Breaking the news to them of the demise of my relationship was hard and many a tear was shed and not just from me; if anyone can tell me when that will stop I will be grateful as it seems like the well is not yet dry.
Tonight I have a meeting with ICAS to try and iron out some of my issues relating to recent events, I am not looking forward to it, but it may help me in the longer term.
27 February 2009
Masterchef
While I don't particularly like the new format of Masterchef, I do enjoy watching it as the amateur cooks start off with a fairly high level to start off with and finish on a real high with professional looking food. I can only dream of attaining those sort of heights in my culinary tastes.
I was glad to see the winner was Mat, he of the big flavours and even bigger portions turn out to be the finalist who could serve up a starter of rabbit, a main of crab and a desert of lavender mousse with bramble coulis... I might just have to look up that last recipe for my other blog as I love the smell of lavender and enjoy the flavour in food.
This morning, I went to the gym before work, we are lucky having the facilities here at the University so afterwards I could stroll into the office. By my reckoning I have a lot of work to do in the gym to make amends for the food I have eaten over the past year or so.
This weekend, I am going to tackle the garden, hoping that the weather will hold up long enough for me to get out there and do some work, I still need to prune the other apple tree, the pear tree and also the hedge between me and my neighbours. The latter is of some concern as a) I need to do it before the birds getting any ideas of nesting and b) before it becomes too tall for me. I don't do heights and I would feel more comfortable if I knew someone could hold the ladder for me but I don't and the only other option is to pay someone to come in and do it for me... which I would rather not do.
Sunday, I have the last of the winter meets at Towcester and am determined that I will go by bike unless something else arises. A couple of friends are coming over to ensure that I don't have to go by myself, which is good of them. The support of friends is important to me right now and so are your encouraging messages.
I was glad to see the winner was Mat, he of the big flavours and even bigger portions turn out to be the finalist who could serve up a starter of rabbit, a main of crab and a desert of lavender mousse with bramble coulis... I might just have to look up that last recipe for my other blog as I love the smell of lavender and enjoy the flavour in food.
This morning, I went to the gym before work, we are lucky having the facilities here at the University so afterwards I could stroll into the office. By my reckoning I have a lot of work to do in the gym to make amends for the food I have eaten over the past year or so.
This weekend, I am going to tackle the garden, hoping that the weather will hold up long enough for me to get out there and do some work, I still need to prune the other apple tree, the pear tree and also the hedge between me and my neighbours. The latter is of some concern as a) I need to do it before the birds getting any ideas of nesting and b) before it becomes too tall for me. I don't do heights and I would feel more comfortable if I knew someone could hold the ladder for me but I don't and the only other option is to pay someone to come in and do it for me... which I would rather not do.
Sunday, I have the last of the winter meets at Towcester and am determined that I will go by bike unless something else arises. A couple of friends are coming over to ensure that I don't have to go by myself, which is good of them. The support of friends is important to me right now and so are your encouraging messages.
08 February 2009
I wish to order
- Two days worth of warm sunshine
- Temperatures in double figures (preferably positive rather than negative)
- No wind!
Bring on spring, I don't even mind the gardening chores that will bring but enough of this winter weather..
After 6 inches on Thursday, with another 5 inches on Friday we had a cold but not snowy day on Saturday and so ventured out onto the ice roads to the shops in the village as we had heard on the gossip lines that the lorries had made it in to deliver milk and bread.
Then in the afternoon we enjoyed the first two games of rugby of the 6 nations, and Sunday afternoon after a trip out, yes we left the village for the first time since Thursday. We had a meeting of the BMW club at Greetham where we held a bring and buy... well attended given the weather and everyone enjoyed their sausage and bacon rolls.
Roll on tonight and yes we have more snow.. no longer are the paths clear.. having cleared them late Thursday and again Friday they are now covered in the slippery white stuff. Hence my order to whoever is in charge of the weather, I will even pay for express delivery...
01 February 2009
A little later
than expected and the snow has started to fall in earnest. We arrived home 29 mins ago from our regular BMW meeting in Towcester and ominous clouds were gathering in the East. No sooner had we parked the car in the car port and covered SOH's car ready for his early morning start than the blizzard began to blow.
The wind chill is massive and the temperature outside dropped from the balmy 3 deg C to just over zero deg C in just over 5 mins and now the white stuff tinges the ground. I hope we don't have too much as we have some important stuff going on at work tomorrow and it is a long trek round by leg if I can't take the car to work.
Zeltus, meanwhile, is in Sunny Spain in t-shirts and shorts enjoying a break from the Gites, though his journey down hasn't been all that good as the car suffered a catastrophic failure in an essential drive component and has been taken to Benidorm to be fixed... what you can afford least to happen, usually does when it causes most mayhem.
Have a good Sunday
The wind chill is massive and the temperature outside dropped from the balmy 3 deg C to just over zero deg C in just over 5 mins and now the white stuff tinges the ground. I hope we don't have too much as we have some important stuff going on at work tomorrow and it is a long trek round by leg if I can't take the car to work.
Zeltus, meanwhile, is in Sunny Spain in t-shirts and shorts enjoying a break from the Gites, though his journey down hasn't been all that good as the car suffered a catastrophic failure in an essential drive component and has been taken to Benidorm to be fixed... what you can afford least to happen, usually does when it causes most mayhem.
Have a good Sunday
18 January 2009
Finally the Christmas season is over....
SOH and I attended the last of our Christmas occasions with the post Christmas Dinner last night in Lincolnshire... glad it wasn't as cold as it has been over the past few weeks; it would have been pretty miserable at -9 deg C driving over 150 miles on the round trip.
So our Festive season started on December 6th and ended on Jan 17th, a sum total of 7 weeks.. and all related to the BMW club.. now perhaps we can look forward to other things in the next few weeks; like Valentine's Day, Spring, getting out on the bikes again..
What are you all looking forward to?
So our Festive season started on December 6th and ended on Jan 17th, a sum total of 7 weeks.. and all related to the BMW club.. now perhaps we can look forward to other things in the next few weeks; like Valentine's Day, Spring, getting out on the bikes again..
What are you all looking forward to?
19 December 2008
and the winner is ......
Thank you all and every one of you that entered to win the waterski-ing westies calendar.The amount raised in the raffle at the BMW Midland Section Towcester meeting was £73.50 which included the donations as well as raffle tickets sold (see the picture on the right which was written out by Janet & John who host the meetings there).
Which means that there is an outright winner (who guessed £79.00) of the calendar and that is :
I mentioned that there was a link between the number of individual entries (There was 11 entries) and that the Air Ambulance fund will benefit, so and I will put in £1 for each and every one of you for the Air Ambulance fund which will be a drop in the ocean for their finances but will count. Every motorcyclist supports this sort of charity but never wants to be a recipient of their services.
Commiserations to all those not lucky enough to have won but if want to get one of these calendars for yourself (they also do cats, jack russells and hamsters as well) the link to go to is here Paul and Steve would be pleasantly surprised to hear from you.
Trixie, can you email me at wise_herb at btinternet dot com with an address to send it to and hopefully you will get it before the New Year.
15 December 2008
Giveaway Time
I did promise a give-away today, and was trying hard over the weekend to come up with some witty way of writing something challenging.. but haven't managed to come up with anything but the following.
Where the 144 mince pies went, all and every single one was designated to go to another home. 36 went to some friends that can no longer make them, so giving them mincemeat wasn't an option this year instead I just added theirs to the big batch I made on Saturday. 72 went to the BMW Club for the Sunday meeting held at Towcester, something I started to do a couple of years ago as we have a festive gathering on the second Sunday in December.
Finally the remaining 36 are for work, we have a staff meeting on Wednesday that I was 'volunteered' to provide the mince pies for.. then SOH and I want some to take down for his family in the New Year so I still have a few more to make before I can hang up my chef's hat this year.
Anyway, back to what I was saying about Towcester, 32 people came to the meeting, plus 3 helpers in the kitchen and a raffle was held in aid of the local Northampton/Warckwickshire Air Ambulance fund with prizes brought/donated by the members who attended.
Including donations it was a good sum of money and if any of you would like the giveaway, please put a comment to this post with the amount you think we raised (I will give you one clue it was under £100 and over £1 [For the US guys £1 = $1.50]) and the person with the nearest guess will win the prize (if more than one person is closest we will put the entries into a hat and draw the winners name) . All entries to be posted by Friday 19th December 2008 at 12.00pm (so I can get it in the post this week if possible).
I had a contact from one of the creators of the Waterski-ing Westies calendar and now have a copy to give away to one lucky reader of the blog.. I had a look at it and it is very cute and appealing, not to mention extremely functional and useful calendar format. Will make a useful addition to your walls next year.
So let the entries commence and good luck to you all.
Where the 144 mince pies went, all and every single one was designated to go to another home. 36 went to some friends that can no longer make them, so giving them mincemeat wasn't an option this year instead I just added theirs to the big batch I made on Saturday. 72 went to the BMW Club for the Sunday meeting held at Towcester, something I started to do a couple of years ago as we have a festive gathering on the second Sunday in December.Finally the remaining 36 are for work, we have a staff meeting on Wednesday that I was 'volunteered' to provide the mince pies for.. then SOH and I want some to take down for his family in the New Year so I still have a few more to make before I can hang up my chef's hat this year.
Anyway, back to what I was saying about Towcester, 32 people came to the meeting, plus 3 helpers in the kitchen and a raffle was held in aid of the local Northampton/Warckwickshire Air Ambulance fund with prizes brought/donated by the members who attended.Including donations it was a good sum of money and if any of you would like the giveaway, please put a comment to this post with the amount you think we raised (I will give you one clue it was under £100 and over £1 [For the US guys £1 = $1.50]) and the person with the nearest guess will win the prize (if more than one person is closest we will put the entries into a hat and draw the winners name) . All entries to be posted by Friday 19th December 2008 at 12.00pm (so I can get it in the post this week if possible).
I had a contact from one of the creators of the Waterski-ing Westies calendar and now have a copy to give away to one lucky reader of the blog.. I had a look at it and it is very cute and appealing, not to mention extremely functional and useful calendar format. Will make a useful addition to your walls next year.
So let the entries commence and good luck to you all.
08 December 2008
The first - of our christmas lunches
Yesterday we headed up the A1 to Greetham and the first of our Christmas lunches, it was blue skies and sunshine on the way up, and very icy on the roads. SOH drove up, so he could have a drink with lunch as this time of year the police are (rightfully) on the hunt for drink drivers. The BMW club Midland Section holds its annual Christmas lunch, ably cooked by two members and willing victims (or was that family volunteers) and turn out 50 beautifully prepared roast turkey and all the festive trimmings Christmas lunches including a choice of trifle or Christmas pudding, for the attendees who pay a meagre sum of £10.00 per head.
This year was no exception, many of the crowd had been coming for years, yet still welcome new people to the ranks, and take care of those who this year have been unfortunate to lose their partners in life and crime by ensuring they were included in the festivities and even going so far as to present one person with a petrol can as he apparently drove his car dry trying to obtain ever more cheaper fuel; luckily he saw the funny side of it and joined in the hilarity.
SOH and I donated some of the raffle prizes, some of which were presents to us from other people but not to our taste and we hoped they would find a better home. One lady won a hand-sewn sewing box and pin-cushion in pink with stars on it and it was her first choice, far better for her to take an use it that it sit an languish in the box it had sat in since it was given to me and I know the friend who gave it to me wouldn’t mind me passing it on if she knew that I wouldn’t use it. The raffle raised over £113 pounds for the air ambulance that we support.
On the drive home, we saw some of the most spectacular sunsets, but as I was driving I couldn’t take the photographs I would have liked, but one bridge near Bedford caught my eye as a cyclist was passing over it and both he and the bridge were in stark silhouette against the magical red sky. The photo I found here is similar but a different scene showing a windmill, but it still is very beautiful sight.
This friday night, we have the departmental christmas dinner, and then on Sunday we have yet another.. is it any surprise that we are not having turkey for our christmas dinner?
16 November 2008
Today
Was our first official committee meeting of this year, having been elected last month, we only have 3 meetings a year so it is not an onerous task. Most of the work is done with the memberships needing to be done and reported on.
So at just before 9am, we headed up to near Newark to a place called the Friendly Farmer who don't mind us meeting in their cafe and we do spend plenty on teas/coffee and of course the bacon or sausage baps. There is also a butcher's in store with farm products and after the meeting, SOH and I took advantage of the delicious looking pork pies, and purchased a chicken and leek pie which we will have for tomorrow
Tonight, we are having stoup with left over chicken from the roast yesterday and make with the stock from the roast and lots of vegetables to thicken it all up and this will be eaten with garlic bread.. a perfect end to a dull day
Update :
So at just before 9am, we headed up to near Newark to a place called the Friendly Farmer who don't mind us meeting in their cafe and we do spend plenty on teas/coffee and of course the bacon or sausage baps. There is also a butcher's in store with farm products and after the meeting, SOH and I took advantage of the delicious looking pork pies, and purchased a chicken and leek pie which we will have for tomorrow
Tonight, we are having stoup with left over chicken from the roast yesterday and make with the stock from the roast and lots of vegetables to thicken it all up and this will be eaten with garlic bread.. a perfect end to a dull day
Update :
- recipe for Stoup is on the recipe blog...
- Just for Annette, SOH and I make up 1/4 of the Committee for the Midland Section BMW club.. and the reason we only need to meet 3 times a year is a lot of our work can be done by email and it helps to keep costs down.
06 October 2008
Sunday Meeting
We had the first of our Winter meets at Towcester yesterday, a gathering of like minded souls of the BMW club who meet for soup and a roll and slices of home made cake from the kitchen of the Goddess Janet who turns out moist sponges you can only dream of making.
Due to the poor weather, we didn't have a great turnout but enough of us to raise neary £40 for the Air Ambulance with a raffle. SOH and I won a pen and a CD containing the vintage bike journals that one member put together which will be useful as we both like to look through the old journals.
One prize in particular seemed to be most unpopular, being ignored until the end when it was won by our neighbours at lunch; but they kindly gave it to us as an engagement present when they heard our news.
Haven't had many unusual presents like that, but I am sure we will find a way of preserving it for posterity.
Update :
What was it?
A tin of Meatballs in Gravy
:-)
Due to the poor weather, we didn't have a great turnout but enough of us to raise neary £40 for the Air Ambulance with a raffle. SOH and I won a pen and a CD containing the vintage bike journals that one member put together which will be useful as we both like to look through the old journals.
One prize in particular seemed to be most unpopular, being ignored until the end when it was won by our neighbours at lunch; but they kindly gave it to us as an engagement present when they heard our news.
Haven't had many unusual presents like that, but I am sure we will find a way of preserving it for posterity.
Update :
What was it?
A tin of Meatballs in Gravy
:-)
30 September 2008
18th September
We had an early breakfast, the missing companions stayed missed (though this was a hotel they had apparently arranged) and they didn't show for the ferry either...
Tony and Sue just missed us having breakfast, but came to see us off and as they don't live that far away we will catch up with them before too long.
We arrived at the dockside before too long and having got through passport control (yes folks despite rumours to the contrary, our passports were checked to ensure we were entitled to come back to the UK); though because we were on motorbikes, we were not required to get off and have them searched, unluckily for us we simply had no room for goodies, but we will know better next time.
The ferry crossing was calm, much better than last time and all too soon we were back on British soil and heading home.
SOH will say that due to my suggesting let's go up the M1 that it took longer to get home than if we had gone up the A1 but in my defence I said I didn't mind which of the two roads we took - but honey, next time I will defer to you :-)
Total Mileage for the trip : 1943 miles
Many happy memories and we are already looking forward to our next trip abroad.
Tony and Sue just missed us having breakfast, but came to see us off and as they don't live that far away we will catch up with them before too long.
We arrived at the dockside before too long and having got through passport control (yes folks despite rumours to the contrary, our passports were checked to ensure we were entitled to come back to the UK); though because we were on motorbikes, we were not required to get off and have them searched, unluckily for us we simply had no room for goodies, but we will know better next time.
The ferry crossing was calm, much better than last time and all too soon we were back on British soil and heading home.
SOH will say that due to my suggesting let's go up the M1 that it took longer to get home than if we had gone up the A1 but in my defence I said I didn't mind which of the two roads we took - but honey, next time I will defer to you :-)
Total Mileage for the trip : 1943 miles
Many happy memories and we are already looking forward to our next trip abroad.
18th September 2008
We had an early breakfast, Premier Classe hotels start serving from 6.30am so it was easy to make an early start and get on the road by 8am. Today was a shorter ride, only 170+ miles (est) to Boulogne and we wanted to get there and have a look around.
Also in our mind was the fact that having 'lost' our companions of the trip so far, we wanted not to catch them up on route but to arrive at the hotel before them and be nice and calm in trying to resolve the issues.
SOH had a GPS system, but the roads to Boulogne were well signposted, and we made a good team as our riding styles are quite similar (just think pipe and slippers - comfort mode)
We made good progress, stopping for fuel and a coffee on route; even so we arrived at 1.30pm and the hotel lets you book in even though the manager isn't on duty with a electronic system; easy to do and even displays the instructions in English as well as French.
We changed clothes, and went in search of some lunch before taking a look around. While we were walking back from Decathlon we noticed that a bike contained Tony and Sue was arriving so we walked back to have a chat with them; they were staying on an extra day to look around Boulogne town (we had established by now that we were just too far out of town to walk and neither of us fancied getting the bikes back out).
We arranged to meet for dinner, taking another visit to the Buffalo Grill where I had the cowboy platter and SOH had a lovely steak and between the four of us we drank two bottles of St Emilion so we were very happy as we went off to bed.
Daily Mileage : 183
Total Mileage so far : 1815
Also in our mind was the fact that having 'lost' our companions of the trip so far, we wanted not to catch them up on route but to arrive at the hotel before them and be nice and calm in trying to resolve the issues.
SOH had a GPS system, but the roads to Boulogne were well signposted, and we made a good team as our riding styles are quite similar (just think pipe and slippers - comfort mode)We made good progress, stopping for fuel and a coffee on route; even so we arrived at 1.30pm and the hotel lets you book in even though the manager isn't on duty with a electronic system; easy to do and even displays the instructions in English as well as French.
We changed clothes, and went in search of some lunch before taking a look around. While we were walking back from Decathlon we noticed that a bike contained Tony and Sue was arriving so we walked back to have a chat with them; they were staying on an extra day to look around Boulogne town (we had established by now that we were just too far out of town to walk and neither of us fancied getting the bikes back out).
We arranged to meet for dinner, taking another visit to the Buffalo Grill where I had the cowboy platter and SOH had a lovely steak and between the four of us we drank two bottles of St Emilion so we were very happy as we went off to bed.
Daily Mileage : 183
Total Mileage so far : 1815
17th September 2008
We had the luxury of a warm double bed, and a shower that provided a ample supply of hot water so we were well looked after by Zeltus and his wife.
More so when we went down for breakfast and had fresh croissants from the Boulangerie (just across the road) so hot that when Jan went for them they were almost too hot to carry comfortably.
The guests that had accompanied us had been told by SOH and myself that breakfast would be basic, but Jan did us proud with cereals, fresh pastries, piping hot coffee and tea and cold meats and a baguette to choose from on the kitchen table; sadly these two so called guests managed to put a sour note into the breakfast and Zeltus and Jan were left fuming at their unbelievable rudeness and bad manners.
We set off at 9.30am, only because we were prolonging breakfast as having eaten too much last night we were still stuffed and also we wanted to spend the time with family. Zeltus got his bike out and accompanied us as far as Limoges, he needed to buy dinner for that evening but also to replace the wedding anniversary champagne that we had drunk the night before, so that he and Jan could celebrate properly.
Going across country to the A20, Zeltus took us by the chateau where Richard the Lionheart died from his wounds he got at Chalus - another missed photo opportunity.
We took the A20 northwards to Orleans, the scenery changes quite quickly as you rode along, but the long open roads on the E9 road after Orleans let you see for miles ahead. Though overtaking in the side wind was not fun, and on the second occasion I got blown back out into the traffic by a gust of wind and after that I rode a little more cautiously.
Chartres was skirted, and I longed for a stop at the cathredral (another place I have promised myself a visit to so that I can take the pilgrims maze), but I had to satisfy myself with the view from the traffic lights.
The cathedral had some scaffolding up, which you can't see from this viewpoint.
Our stop was some 30 miles north of Chartres, at a place called Dreux (we still don't know whether the x is silent or not). We arrived early evening and noticed the restaurent was about 500 metres up the road, but not a great distance. However our companions at this point lost the plot completely and decided to leave us as he didn't want to walk that far; instead he drove another 40 miles to Everaux and book in to a different hotel. By this time we had enough of their behaviour over the past few days and were glad to be on our own.
We had an excellent meal at the Campanile, where Vanessa made us feel at home and when she established we were staying at the Premier Classe hotel just down the road she gave us a free drink and we got 10% off our bill.
Tomorrow, Boulogne and then home.
Daily mileage : 263
Mileage so far : 1632
More so when we went down for breakfast and had fresh croissants from the Boulangerie (just across the road) so hot that when Jan went for them they were almost too hot to carry comfortably.
The guests that had accompanied us had been told by SOH and myself that breakfast would be basic, but Jan did us proud with cereals, fresh pastries, piping hot coffee and tea and cold meats and a baguette to choose from on the kitchen table; sadly these two so called guests managed to put a sour note into the breakfast and Zeltus and Jan were left fuming at their unbelievable rudeness and bad manners.
We set off at 9.30am, only because we were prolonging breakfast as having eaten too much last night we were still stuffed and also we wanted to spend the time with family. Zeltus got his bike out and accompanied us as far as Limoges, he needed to buy dinner for that evening but also to replace the wedding anniversary champagne that we had drunk the night before, so that he and Jan could celebrate properly.
Going across country to the A20, Zeltus took us by the chateau where Richard the Lionheart died from his wounds he got at Chalus - another missed photo opportunity.
We took the A20 northwards to Orleans, the scenery changes quite quickly as you rode along, but the long open roads on the E9 road after Orleans let you see for miles ahead. Though overtaking in the side wind was not fun, and on the second occasion I got blown back out into the traffic by a gust of wind and after that I rode a little more cautiously.
Chartres was skirted, and I longed for a stop at the cathredral (another place I have promised myself a visit to so that I can take the pilgrims maze), but I had to satisfy myself with the view from the traffic lights.The cathedral had some scaffolding up, which you can't see from this viewpoint.
Our stop was some 30 miles north of Chartres, at a place called Dreux (we still don't know whether the x is silent or not). We arrived early evening and noticed the restaurent was about 500 metres up the road, but not a great distance. However our companions at this point lost the plot completely and decided to leave us as he didn't want to walk that far; instead he drove another 40 miles to Everaux and book in to a different hotel. By this time we had enough of their behaviour over the past few days and were glad to be on our own.
We had an excellent meal at the Campanile, where Vanessa made us feel at home and when she established we were staying at the Premier Classe hotel just down the road she gave us a free drink and we got 10% off our bill.
Tomorrow, Boulogne and then home.
Daily mileage : 263
Mileage so far : 1632
28 September 2008
16th September 2008
We had a good night's sleep and with a shorter day in front of us we opted for a slightly later start. This also allowed the frost on the bikes (yikes - frosts!!) to warm up before we set off for the days ride to Zeltus's.
We were in the midi-pyrenees, and though we didn't know it we were only 27 miles away from my old neighbours who left home to live and run a Chambre d'hotel in France; I didn't realise this fact at the time otherwise we might have been tempted to call in on them as well.
We headed up through France, through the Lot region, and it was extremely pretty; particularly so was the port on the Tarn we passed through and a very scenic little village that I forgot to make a mention of the name of but would have like to have had a coffee at if we had the time.
The Paper mill at Sarlat, gets a mention as it was extremely pretty and as we drove past it could have been right out of the middle ages; Zeltus thinks that it is a modern recreation but it was very good and hard to tell.
We stopped for a photographic moment (a first for us) at Jumilhac le Grand, the Rapunzel story is supposed to have originated from here; SOH in trying to turn his bike somehow lost the battle of weight vs obverse camber and she hit the deck, but luckily only a few scratches and no major wounds or trauma.
We manoevered the bikes in front of the fountain and took this picture :
We were only 6 miles or thereabouts from Zeltus at this stage, so we called to see if he wanted to come out on his bike, but he preferred to wait for us at home. I had been there about 3 years ago (yikes - really that long ago?) but as we neared his home it started to look very familiar; he lives opposite the church in the village so it wasn't difficult to miss him.
After making the suitable introductions, and changing into more comfortable clothes we sat down and had a pre-dinner drink before Zeltus kindly drove us all to the restaurent, making two journey's each way to ensure everyone could get there - cheers Bro.
The restaurent was typical french cuisine, and specialised in local dishes of the perigord region. I had the assiette perigord and shared with SOH who had the vegetable soup while Zeltus's wife shared with our leader the delights of her plate after giving me the dish of creme brulee with fois gras (which was delicious) and I look forward to trying in again in future.
We pigged out far more than we should have done and all of us felt full that night and it was hard to do justice to the spread that Zeltus and his wife put out for us the following morning.
The croissants and pastries came from the boulangerie just 2 mins away across the road along with cereals and cold meats we had a feast; unfortunately the two guests we had taken with us were not pleasant breakfast companions and I can only apologise to my brother and his wife who had put themselves out on our behalf and who didn't mention a word in front of them publicly. I know they felt upset at how these two 'guests' were rude and obnoxious given that Zeltus and his wife had only just got home from Cornwall and then were faced with opening up a gite, cleaning it and preparing for our stay with less than 24 hours notice and got very little thanks from our companions for doing so. If it helps we appreciated very much
It was too short a visit, but we have promised to go back before too long.
Daily Mileage : 147
Total so far on holiday : 1369
We were in the midi-pyrenees, and though we didn't know it we were only 27 miles away from my old neighbours who left home to live and run a Chambre d'hotel in France; I didn't realise this fact at the time otherwise we might have been tempted to call in on them as well.
We headed up through France, through the Lot region, and it was extremely pretty; particularly so was the port on the Tarn we passed through and a very scenic little village that I forgot to make a mention of the name of but would have like to have had a coffee at if we had the time.
The Paper mill at Sarlat, gets a mention as it was extremely pretty and as we drove past it could have been right out of the middle ages; Zeltus thinks that it is a modern recreation but it was very good and hard to tell.
We stopped for a photographic moment (a first for us) at Jumilhac le Grand, the Rapunzel story is supposed to have originated from here; SOH in trying to turn his bike somehow lost the battle of weight vs obverse camber and she hit the deck, but luckily only a few scratches and no major wounds or trauma.
We manoevered the bikes in front of the fountain and took this picture :
We were only 6 miles or thereabouts from Zeltus at this stage, so we called to see if he wanted to come out on his bike, but he preferred to wait for us at home. I had been there about 3 years ago (yikes - really that long ago?) but as we neared his home it started to look very familiar; he lives opposite the church in the village so it wasn't difficult to miss him.
After making the suitable introductions, and changing into more comfortable clothes we sat down and had a pre-dinner drink before Zeltus kindly drove us all to the restaurent, making two journey's each way to ensure everyone could get there - cheers Bro.
The restaurent was typical french cuisine, and specialised in local dishes of the perigord region. I had the assiette perigord and shared with SOH who had the vegetable soup while Zeltus's wife shared with our leader the delights of her plate after giving me the dish of creme brulee with fois gras (which was delicious) and I look forward to trying in again in future.
We pigged out far more than we should have done and all of us felt full that night and it was hard to do justice to the spread that Zeltus and his wife put out for us the following morning.
The croissants and pastries came from the boulangerie just 2 mins away across the road along with cereals and cold meats we had a feast; unfortunately the two guests we had taken with us were not pleasant breakfast companions and I can only apologise to my brother and his wife who had put themselves out on our behalf and who didn't mention a word in front of them publicly. I know they felt upset at how these two 'guests' were rude and obnoxious given that Zeltus and his wife had only just got home from Cornwall and then were faced with opening up a gite, cleaning it and preparing for our stay with less than 24 hours notice and got very little thanks from our companions for doing so. If it helps we appreciated very much
It was too short a visit, but we have promised to go back before too long.
Daily Mileage : 147
Total so far on holiday : 1369
27 September 2008
15th September 2008
A long day and tiring, but full of drama and scenery that we passed. We left the campsite at 9.30am and headed towards the motorway (peage) after refuelling, unfortunately our leader led us initially the wrong way so we ended up having to backtrack and lost about 40 minutes overall but we did get back on track fairly quickly.
The wind was quite strong, a disadvantage for motorcyclists as when you are passing lorries or open spaces it can catch you out occasionally. We passed by Salon de Provence on the Peage which on reflection it would have been easier to have used this on the journey down to the campsite but you cannot change the past.
Managing the toll booths on the bike is an artform; SOH would take a ticket and pass through, then me. Then the other side of the booth we would stop and he would hand me his ticket, then at the other end of the toll section I would hand over both tickets and pay for us both; I apologise now to anyone caught behind us in the queue.. as I took a while to co-ordinate getting money out and putting gloves back on.
We passed by Montpellier and the Camargue region, I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the white horses running alongside the black bulls but it was only a glimpse and I had to buy a postcard to get a decent picture, as the wind was so strong along this part of our route that you were having to hold on fairly strongly to make forward progress.
We were also entertained by some jet planes above enjoying the open space to play battle games with each other until they disapppeared off into the distance.
It gradually grew cooler as we headed northwards, we had been in heat for so long that it felt almost cold to us but we quickly acclimatised. We stopped for fuel, and a break from the wind, a scottish lorry driver en-route to Spain came over and chatted to us having spotted the English plates.
The Millau bridge is as good as I had imagined it would be we rode over it in blue skies and sunshine and it seemed to unfold before us. We were not so lucky as this photo shows the bridge with cloud underneat the structure, we had no clouds at all to impede our views but I am sure we will return one day (we would have considered returning to the bridge the following day, but we felt that it was just too much considering the days ahead and so regretfully have postponed it until another day).
We still had another 45 miles to go to our destination, and we were all getting quite tired and it was with some relief that we began to see signs appearing for Rodez where we would stop for the night. The hotel was warm, welcoming and a restaurent was nearby (even if it was only McDonalds).
Daily Mileage : 321
Mileage so far : 1222
The wind was quite strong, a disadvantage for motorcyclists as when you are passing lorries or open spaces it can catch you out occasionally. We passed by Salon de Provence on the Peage which on reflection it would have been easier to have used this on the journey down to the campsite but you cannot change the past.
Managing the toll booths on the bike is an artform; SOH would take a ticket and pass through, then me. Then the other side of the booth we would stop and he would hand me his ticket, then at the other end of the toll section I would hand over both tickets and pay for us both; I apologise now to anyone caught behind us in the queue.. as I took a while to co-ordinate getting money out and putting gloves back on.
We passed by Montpellier and the Camargue region, I was lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the white horses running alongside the black bulls but it was only a glimpse and I had to buy a postcard to get a decent picture, as the wind was so strong along this part of our route that you were having to hold on fairly strongly to make forward progress.We were also entertained by some jet planes above enjoying the open space to play battle games with each other until they disapppeared off into the distance.
It gradually grew cooler as we headed northwards, we had been in heat for so long that it felt almost cold to us but we quickly acclimatised. We stopped for fuel, and a break from the wind, a scottish lorry driver en-route to Spain came over and chatted to us having spotted the English plates.
The Millau bridge is as good as I had imagined it would be we rode over it in blue skies and sunshine and it seemed to unfold before us. We were not so lucky as this photo shows the bridge with cloud underneat the structure, we had no clouds at all to impede our views but I am sure we will return one day (we would have considered returning to the bridge the following day, but we felt that it was just too much considering the days ahead and so regretfully have postponed it until another day).
We still had another 45 miles to go to our destination, and we were all getting quite tired and it was with some relief that we began to see signs appearing for Rodez where we would stop for the night. The hotel was warm, welcoming and a restaurent was nearby (even if it was only McDonalds).
Daily Mileage : 321
Mileage so far : 1222
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