Rain and rain and rain and rain ...

It didn't stay fine for long yesterday! More rain today and rain forecast for the rest of the week - except for Thursday when there's a maximum temperature of 15C predicted! Today the temperature range is 4-12C I suspect it's at the lower end of the scale. I've got the fan heater on here in this little bedroom that serves as an office. On the plus side, Paul's feast yesterday evening was impressive: chicken and coconut soup, Thai spring rolls, rice and stir fried chicken and vegetables, chicken with pumpkin and ginger, prawns and ginger, and coconut custard, pumpkin and ice cream to follow. Dan liked it too. My new computer arrived today. Now I have to finish sorting out all the files on this one and try to somehow save my Outlook Contacts file - either that or do a print-out of it and type them all back in. Can't do a print-out at the moment though, because my printer broke down at the start of the year (just when I'd put a new ink cartridge in - sod's law!). The new printer is on it's way though. My PDA should arrive sometime this week too - and the folding keyboard. On Thursday I'm off up to Scotland for a long weekend - on a co-counselling residential. I've been feeling a bit out of touch with the co-counselling community. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Sunday, Sunday

Hooray, no rain today. Or not yet anyway. Dan is coming over to tea later on and Paul is cooking a Thai feast. If the weather holds up maybe we'll go out for a walk this afternoon.

Rain

I can't recall exactly on which day the rain started, but it feels as though it has rained for a long time. It's been cold rain, with a cold wind behind it much of the time. I stayed in most of yesterday and succumbed to the cold by putting the central heating on around 5.00 p.m. I always used to make it a rule never to use the central heating after the end of April - it may even have been March at one time.

Paul and I went out for a walk in the early evening yesterday. There was still a light rain when we went out; it ceased after about 20 minutes and it wasn't a bad evening after that - not great though. We were only out a little over an hour, taking the circular route from here through Weston Woods. The woods were thickly carpeted with white ransomes (wild garlic) and bluebells. There were clumps of cow parsley bordering the path through the woods too - at least were the path was wide and the trees letting light through. Ransomes remind me of Sibford as they grew in the small patch of woodland beside the path leading from the Manor up to the Hill. Cow parsley reminds me of East Garston. I remember particularly coming come from school for weekends and for half-term in the summer term and how, as we drove up School Lane towards our house the light was filtered through the trees that grew on either side of the road and the banks beneath them would be thick with cow parsley and the air heavy with the smell of it.

This reminds me that when I walked into Otley last week I suddenly spotted a small plant with a green cowl growing beside the footpath. Sure enough there inside the cowl was the sticky red-brown spike. Then I began to notice more and more of them. It is years since I've noticed any of these Lords and Ladies (or Cuckoo Pint) in the spring although I've often noticed them in late summer when only the stem remains, covered in a cluster of bright red - and poisonous - berries. Seeing these last week, I was instantly transported back to being six years old. It was when we first moved to East Garston from London. We stayed with Hester and Miriam Leavers at Yew Tree Coattage for the first few months, before moving on to a ground-floor flat in St. Jude's and then - six months after leaving London, and my Dad - to Old School House. The memory is of Hester, with her halo of white hair, pointing out the plants to me, showing me the delicate green cowl and the brown spike inside and explaining how flies were caught on the sticky spike and then eaten by the plant.

Sometimes I miss undulating Berkshire countryside, the green fields and the chalk of the Downs. Not often, but sometimes.

Today we spent the day in York as the Friendly Visit (i.e. Paul and Phil) were doing a spot at the folk day in the Black Lion pub. York was wet and the Ouse was running high.

The Turtle!

Paul composed a tune in her honour. It's a jig and he's called it 'Shoulder the Turtle'.

Obituary of Milhem Shakoor Bey

This piece is taken from the Egyptian Gazette. The name of the newspaper is written by hand along the top of the cutting, along with the date of June 6th. The cutting has been pasted into the Memoir of Mansoor Shakoor (see previous post).

The death occurred yesterday in Cairo of Melhim Bey Shakkour [sic], the prominent Syrian pioneer of the Sudan.
Shakkour Bey spent the best time of his life in the Sudan Service, accompanying many campaigns and often exposing his life to danger. Stopping one time to give a dervish water on the battlefield, Milhem Bey was brought to himself by a great shout from one of the officers. Turning round he saw that a dervish was aiming his rifle to shoot him down. The Bey commanded his servant to remove the rifle and give the dying man a drink.
Shakkour Bey was 61 years old, but he was young looking. He was a universal favourite with old and young, rich and poor.

You'll notice that either the author of the obituary could not make up his mind how to spell 'Milhem' or else the first spelling ('Melhim') is a typo. The term 'Bey' was a title given to senior officers in the time of the ottoman empire. The correct usage is to place it after the name , as it is used in the second paragraph. Apparently in modern Turkey it is a form of address corresponding to 'Mr.'

The date of his death must have been after 1896 as the portrait was painted in that year (again, see earlier post).

Milhem Shakoor Bey

Mansoor Shakoor was the brother of my maternal great grandfather, Milhem Shakoor Bey, of whom I have many photographs and a portrait (oil painting) which I had restored two years ago. The restoration of the painting rekindled my interest in family history. The picture restorer was very interested in the painting and particularly in the medals worn by Milhem. It was after this that I re-read the memoir and carried out an internet search. I also have a photograph of Mansoor and a photograph and painting of Hanna (or John) Shakoor, the father of Mansoor and Milhem. I had this painting restored at the same time.

Below are some notes that I made on Milhem two years ago.

Milhem (variously spelt Miltem, Melhim and Melham) was the younger brother of Mansoor Shakoor (see M.L. Whately A Memoir of Mansoor Shakoor of Lebanon, missionary in Syria and Egypt. Seeley, Jackson and Halliday, Fleet Street, London. MDCCCLXXIII / 1873). This book mentions another brother, Youssif, who taught at the missionary school in Cairo for a while with Mansoor. This Youssif, married a '‘lady from Dublin' before 1872 (i.e. before Mansoor'’s death).

Milhem was one of 6 children (3 m, 3 f). His eldest sister was Luceya, who died before 1872. His father was Hanna (John) Shakoor. The family were originally in the Syriac or Maronite Church (i.e. Christian) but Hanna Shakoor converted to Protestantism. (source M.L. Whately)

Milhem married Marian Chute of Chute Hall, Co Kerry,– possibly in the 1870s. They had two children: Trevor Mansoor Shakoor and Luceya Rose Shakoor (named after Milhem's late brother and sister). Both children were Irish citizens. Marian was the daughter of Richard Chute.

In the front page of the Memoir is a cutting of Milhem's obituary from the Egyptian Gazette newspaper. From this I know that he died on 5^th June. As the cutting is dated only 'June 6th' the year is not clear, but I worked out that it was after 1896 (I can't recall how !). He was aged 61. The obituary describes Milhem as 'the prominent Syrian pioneer of the Sudan,' and says that he spent '‘the best time of his life in the Sudan Service.'’

I have a copy of a document which says that Milhem Shakoor Bey, then 'Arabic Secretary of the Sirdar'’ received the Knight'’s Cross of the order of His Majesty Franz Joseph I, Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia and Apostolic King of Hongary [sic] on 1st September 1896. He is wearing this medal in the oil portrait.

As 'Arabic Secretary of the Sirdar' (i.e. the Commander-in-Chief) of the Egyptian Army, Milhem would have served under Sir Francis Grenfell and Alfred Lord Kitchener. Kitchener succeeded Grenfell in April 1892 (source: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/Kitchener/Kitch2.htm)

Milhem took part in the Battle of Toski in 1889. I have a faded photograph showing him and 2 others standing by the Memorial to the Battle. I also have a silver-tipped cane which belonged to Milhem. The handle bears the star and crescent moon of Egypt, with 'Toski' inscribed beneath it. It also bears the following inscription: 'M.S. from the SIRDAR 1889'.

The great invasion planned by Wad-en-Nejumi [the Memorial gives his name as Abderrahaman Wad el Nejumi] in the spring of 1889 brought Kitchener into new prominence, and after the fight at Argin, when the Dervish power seemed threatening, it became necessary to supplement his force. Two Egyptian battalions, a mule battery, and some cavalry were despatched to him in haste at the front, and these forces, with a Sudanese battalion, were under his command in Sir Francis Grenfell's victory over the Dervishes at Toski, August 3. Handling his troops with great skill, he made a detour with his mounted troops, and cut off Nejumi's retreat, thus forcing the battle, in the decision of which, with much desperate fighting, he took a leading part. Nejumi was killed, and Mahdism received a blow from which it took years to recover. The brave Dervishes had, of course, little chance, for their fanatical courage was met by trained and disciplined troops, British, Egyptian, and Sudanese, directed by very skilful generalship. Kitchener rendered great services in the subsequent fighting, as well as in administrative work, and came to be recognized as the man of the future in Egypt. (source: http://www.lib.byu.edu/~rdh/wwi/comment/Kitchener/Kitch2.htm)

I now know the names of five of the six children of Hanna (John) Shakoor, and roughly the order they were born in:

• Mansoor Elias Shakoor (m) -– missionary/teacher
• Youssif Shakoor (m) - missionary/teacher
• Miltem (or Milhem) Shakoor (m) - Soldier, 'Arabic Secretary to the Sirdar'’
• Luceya (or Luciya) Shakoor (f) - missionary/teacher
• Sikkar Shakoor (f) - missionary/teacher
• X (f) b. 1853/4 (aged 7 at time of Syrian Massacre in April-June 1860 - source Whately)

Of their mother, the Memoir says:

like most Eastern women of the period [she] was entirely uneducated (p.16)

At the time of the 'terrible Syrian massacre' of 1860 the Shakoor family were not together. Hanna was in Sidon and his wife and youngest child (aged 7) at a village about a day's journey away. Mansoor was at the American Mission School in Deer el Kamr with the two elder daughters and a younger brother (presumably the other missionary, Youssef) and the 'other son' (Milhem?) was at the Mission Station of Latakia. Whately relates how it took the mother ten days to travel to Sidon - a journey which usually took seven hours. Fortunately she had manage to arm herself with a letter of protection from a prominent local Druse, but nonetheless she had to hide in caves and cross rivers carrying her seven-year-old daughter on her shoulders. She reached Sidon wearing only a thin gown, having given away her outer skirt to another woman who needed it more. (Source: Whately pp. 30-7).

Whately says that although the Shakoors escaped massacre (or as she puts it 'escaped the sword of the ferocious Druse and Moslem') the younger people - along with many others of their age - were so affected that they never had strong health again.

In 2001, I found a reference to Milhem's wife 'Mary Ann' Chute in the Chute family pages on rootsweb and wrote to the compiler of these pages, Jackie Chute (USA) to amend them. According to these pages Mary Ann (or Marian) had married an 'M. Thaha'. Jackie's amendment read as follows:

WEC reference in notes is marriage of Mary Ann (Marian) to an "M. Thaha". The response of Marian's great-grandaughter, Anna Lucyea [sic] Foster Green. "Richard Chute. Wife was Hon. Rose de Moleyns, daughter of Thomas Townsend Aremberg Mullins, 3rd Baron Ventry. He changed the 'Mullins' to 'de Moleyns': 'by royal license, 16 February 1841, he took the name of de Moleyns in lieu of that of Mullins for himself and other descendants of his grandfather' (source: Complete Peerage, 1959). His grandfather would have been the first Baron Ventry. My great grandmother's name was spelt as Marian in Debrett's (though pronounced Mary Ann, as I said). Marian definitely married Miltem (or Milhem) Shakoor - perhaps Thaha was another family name. I have photographs of them both, though separately: she astride a donkey, presumably in Egypt (he was in the Egyptian army or worked for the government). I also have a portrait of him. He has a very dashing moustache! My mother's maiden name was Shakoor."

The information on the de Moleyns family comes form an old copy of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage which my mother passed on to me. I found out that the 'de Moleyns' was originally 'Mullins' from a book I once came across in the genealogy section of Huddersfield Library. I think that is so wonderfully pretentious to go from 'Mullins' to 'de Moleyns' to 'Eveleigh de Moleyns'!

More about the Shakoors

The reason I have info on my Mum's family is because my Great Great Uncle, Mansoor Shakoor, was a missionary and the woman who ran the mission school where he worked, in Cairo, wrote a little book about him - a memoir - after his death (from TB). This in true Victorian style of course!

On 5th February I wrote in my Anna's BIG Adventure blog that:

I'm planning a trip to Lebanon next Spring to see where my ancestors, the Shakoors, came from. This was inspired by finding a whole chapter of a book about my great, great aunt Luceya Shakoor (or Luciya Shakkur) on the internet - see Chapter IX of link. Thiss names the place that they lived in: Ain Zhalta in the Chouf mountains, south-east of Beirut. Since finding this I did a bit of research on the history of the area in the mid-nineteenth century. Amazingly, all of the Shakoors - who were Christians (originally Maronite, but converted to Protestantism) seem to have survived the 1860 massacres. According to newspaper reports of the time, 7,000-11,000 Christians were massacred by Druse between April and June 1860.

Luceya Shakoor was the sister of Mansoor. Both she and another sister, Sikkar, also worked in mission schools. In The Women of the Arabs, the American missionary Henry Harris Jessop D.D. (I'm not sure what 'D.D.' stands for, but it crops up below as well) writes that Luceya worked in a school (the American Mission School I think) in Deir el Komr, which was opened by a Mr and Mrs Bird in 1855:

Luciya taught in Deir el Komr until the school was overwhelmed in the fires and blood of the Massacre year, 1860.

In 1862 she taught in the Sidon School, and afterwards married the Rev. Sulleba Jerwan, the first native pastor in Hums. In that great city, and amid the growing interest of the young Protestant community, she found a wide and attractive field of labor. She was a young woman of great gentleness and delicacy of nature, and of strong religious feeling, and entered upon the work of laboring among the women and girls of Hums, with exemplary zeal and discretion. She became greatly beloved, and her Godly example and gentle spirit will never be forgotten.

But at length her labors were abruptly cut short. Consumption, a disease little known in Syria, but which afterwards cut down her brother and only sister Sikkar, fastened upon her, and she was obliged, in great suffering, to leave the raw and windy climate of Hums, for the milder air of Beirût. Her two brothers being in the employ of Miss Whately in Cairo, she went, on their invitation, to Egypt, where after a painful illness, she fell asleep in Jesus. Amid all her sufferings, she maintained that same gentle and lovely temper of mind, which made her so greatly beloved by all who knew her.

She has rested from her labors, and her works do follow her. Not long after her sister Sikkar, who had also been trained in Mrs. Bird's family, died in her native village Ain Zehalteh.

The text mentions two of Luceya's brothers being in the 'employ' of Mary Louisa Whately in Cairo. This would have been Mansoor (the eldest child of the family 'by nearly four years') and a younger brother Yousef. Mary Louisa Whately was the daughter of Richard Whately D.D., the Archbishop of Dublin. In 1862 she founded the British Mission School in Cairo. She wrote several books about her experiences as a missionary, as I discovered by Googling her. In 1873, after Mansoor's death, she published a memoir of him: A Memoir of Mansoor Shakoor of Lebanon, missionary in Syria and Egypt, published by Seeley, Jackson and Halliday, London MDCCCLXXIII. The memoir states that a memorial stone to Mansoor was erected in the hall of the school. This memoir refers also to Mansoor's brother, Youssif, and sister, Luceya. Youssif - according to the memoir - married a woman from Dublin.

The memoir also says that Mary Louisa’s adopted daughter (her name is not given) became the wife of Mansoor Shakoor some four years before his death:

‘[I was] endeavouring to educate my adopted daughter to be in her turn a labourer in the vineyard [i.e. a missionary] She was a distant relative of the Shakoor family, and it was understood that when the fit time had come, she should become the bride of the elder brother, who had early fixed his wishes on the plan.’ p. 62

It is interesting that both of Mansoor's brothers married Irish women and I have wondered if Mary Louisa was the connection with Ireland, or if there was some other connection. My Great Great Grandfather, Miltem, was the third brother. He had an army career and married Marian Chute from County Kerry, Ireland.

Some of the information I have on the Shakoors - including the memoir of Mansoor - comes from my Mum. The rest I have discovered in recent years through internet reserch - the stuff about Mary Louisa Whately for example and the chapter on Luciya from The Women of the Arabs.

Fitness frenzy!

I surpassed myself yesterday. I had a physio session at Cannons at 9.00, but I got there just after 8.00, having dropped Paul off at Menston station (he was on a course in York for the day). I decided to do a gym session before physio, so I spent 10 minutes each on the cycle, treadmill and cross trainer. After physio I had over an hour to kill before the Pilates class, so I decided - on the spur of the moment, to do a cycle class. Wow, that was some workout! After 45 minutes I dragged myself of the cycle, dripping with sweat and staggered into Pilates. That was another good workout of a different kind. I'm still struggling with the core stability! It's early days though. I reckon if I go to three classes a week I may be starting to get the hang of it after a couple of months! I've discovered that there's a good Pilates class on a Monday too. Sarah, the physio, says the Thursday ones are good as well, so I'll try one of them out tomorrow.

I was very tired yesterday evening. I feel ok today, though my neck is a bit tender from the physio.

Yesterday evening I finally grasped the nettle and ordered a computer from Dell - this after about three days of research! I suddenly realised that I was behaving as if my time is worth nothing and wasting a lot of time looking for bargains - which turn out not to be bargains if you cost out the time spent looking. I ditched the idea of getting a laptop after some good advice from Aisha. I'm going to get a palmtop and folding keyboard instead for using away from 'the office' (i.e. this very small room I'm sitting in now, surrounded by bookcases and books and papers). I did wonder if I would actually use the laptop as a laptop much, or if it would be too heavy for me to want to carry it around.

Today I've taken steps towards getting some coaching sessions for myself, contacting both Julie Kay and Helen Lill. I got a lovely email back from Julie almost immediately, saying she wants to hear about my travels and suggesting I be a speaker at one of the workshops on the current Springboard programme she's running. Eeek! Still ... it's an opportunity ... How many times in the past have I passed up such opportunities, making excuses such as 'I'm not ready for that yet.' Opportunities don't always come around a second time.

Helen Lill used to work for Bradford Council - that's how I first met her. So she is living proof - if ever I doubt it - that there is life after Bradford Council!

Ain Zhalta, Lebanon

I just found another link to Ain Zhalta, the village in Lebanon that my mother's family, the Shakoors, lived in in the mid nineteenth century. There are no Shakoors listed on the website, but there is a 'Zakhoor' listed as living locally (and serving on the village council at the time that the website was last updated between 2002-4) and two Shakkours from the village now living in the USA. There is also a link to a place called Kenmore in Washington state, USA, shown as a 'sister town'. Perhaps this is where the Shakkours from Ain Zhalta now live.

There is an aerial photograph of the village on the home page of the web site.

I want to go and visit this place.

Becki!

Photo taken at the end of April, when I stayed with Gris, Peter and Becki on my return from my travels. Becki was just 9 months old.

Women Inspired

This has been about the 4th day in a row that the temperature has been around 20°C. Of course the temperature when I was in Oz must have averaged over 30°C, but still 20°C is acceptable. I realised yesterday that after only 2-3 days I was beginning to take it for granted. Then yesterday afternoon there were a few drops of rain and a shower earlier today. It'll be much cooler tomorrow - around 11°C is forecast.

I've been keeping fit this week. I'm practically living at the gym! Yesterday I was there for about 4 hours, including my first physio session. On Tuesday I found a good Pilates class which I want to attregularlyalry - when I can. I haven't managed to get to any other classes since Tuesday, but I have been making good use of the gym equipment, the pool, sauna and steam room.

The first physio session was painful, but not unbearably so. The pain is a necessary element of the treatment in order to free up the joints and soft tissue. Yesterday Sarah did a lot of pressure massage on my upper back. Next week she'll do some work on my shoulder. I felt a bit bruised afterwards, which is to be expected. My neck is much freer though.

I'm still trying to sort out the buying of the new computer. I visited two branches of Comet yesterday in the hope that they might have the model I'm interested in in stock (as they sell it online) but they only had very basic models. I want to try it out before I buy it.

I made a start on a resume [can't put an accent on it in this blog writer] the other day and I've been thinking about goals. Getting fit and losing weight is one of them. I feel embarassed about this as if it's somehow a paltry, insignificant, narcissistic goal. It is important though. As a coach I need to present the image of someone who can 'walk their talk'.

I've been in touch with Worcnet (networking group for women working in North Yorkshire) and have booked myself onto some events. There's a networking day coming up in a couple of weeks - 'Women Inspired 3'. I went to the second of these last year and it inspired me then! I've met some good people through Worcnet and got to do the Springboard course and meet Julie Kay as a result. Julie was the first Life Coach I ever came across. This was about 6-7 years ago, when I received a flyer (through Bradford Women's Business Group I think) advertising a course she was doing. I didn't go on the course, but I did sign up for her newsletter and received it for a couple of years. Julie is an inspirational woman.

On Wednesday I went for a walk up Otley Chevin. I decided to revisit the route I used to take when I first 'discovered' Otley Chevin 20 years ago or more. This takes you straight up the front of the Chevin. Paul says he's never done this route! The link above refers to part of the walk I did, but I missed the tea rooms and just did the straight ascent. It is very steep! I met a man from Barnoldswick coming down who complained that the steps are made for giants. I stopped and talked to him for a while - about walking, ancient civilisations, Egypt, Thailand, Australia - which gave me a break. It wasn't far from to the top then. Up on the ridge I spent a while relaxing in a field and looking at the view. Our house is visible from up there. I walked back down a footpath and out onto the East Chevin Road, back down into Otley and home. I got home at the same time as Paul, who had cycled to work that day. He cycled again today.

Composting

I've been giving myself a hard time recently about not having done anything towards establishing my future economic productivity. Today I reminded myself that it will all fall into place. I'm following my usual pattern of accomplishing things: on the surface there may not appear to be much going on but I'm slowly working things through, thinking them over, composting. Natalie Goldberg writes about 'composting' in her book, Writing Down the Bones, and about its function in creativity. I'm sure its one of the stages in a creativity model I read about once, though it wasn't called 'composting'.

I had been putting off getting in touch with people since I came back. I'm not sure why, it just seemed difficult to take that first step. Then I had to get off my arse and get in touch with people, because I had to send out invitations to the forthcoming party that we are having (to celebrate getting married back in January). So I got over that hurdle. Of course, contacting people with a view to flagging up that I'm available for work is something different and requires a different approach.

By the end of the week I will have started work on some new goal plans for myself (the last ones I produced were very successful and got me to where I am now!) I decided this morning that I would put a message on the Fiona Harrold website to get some free coaching from one of the students, to assist in my goal-setting and also in my own return to coaching.

I will also do a first draft of a basic resume that I can send out in order to give people reasons to employ me.

I have been sticking to my health and fitness goals and really these are integral to and inseparable from my career goals. Yesterday I went for a physio assessment at Cannons. I was impressed with the physiotherapist that I saw. She was knowledgeable, thorough, dedicated and offered a range of options. I made an appointment for an initial session on Thursday. This morning I 'discovered' an ace Pilates class, also at Cannons. It's the best one I've found since going to Jackie's class five years ago. This Pilates class will now be a regular Tuesday morning appointment.

After the Pilates class, I spent 40 minutes in the gym, including 30 on cardiovascular exercise, then swam 12-14 lengths. I rounded the Cannons session off with 10 minutes in the steam room. I prefer the steam room to the sauna. It smells of aromatic oil (I'm not sure what oil - haven't identified it yet) and the heat and steam help to relax my neck and shoulders.

I've been drinking a lot of fruit juice for the last week or so - got out the juicer and stocked up on fruit and vegetables.

This afternoon I've been doing some more research on laptop or notebook computers - trying to decide what to buy.

Otley

The location of Otley is shown by the blue pin. It's a small, market town in West Yorkshire, UK, overlooked by a big hill called the Chevin. Otley is on the River Wharfe, roughly equidistant between the cities of Bradford and Leeds in West Yorkshire and the town of Harrogate in North Yorkshire. Administratively, the town comes under the Leeds Metropolitan District. It's close to the North Yorkshire border and Nidderdale.

One of Otley's claims to fame is that Thomas Chippendale, furniture-maker (not a male stripper) lived and worked here. There is a statue of him in the town centre.

Back o' th' Hill

Ooh, ouch! I've got a bit of lower back pain today. My neck and shoulders aren't too bad though and my legs are ok.

Paul and I went on a bike ride yesterday and did 26 miles in all. The day started out overcast, but then brightened up mid-morning. We set out at around noon and got back around 3.30 p.m. I think, having stopped for lunch at Back o' th' Hill Farm, the Buffers cafe, in Storiths. We had another unscheduled stop near Sandbeds, just outside of Addingham, when Paul got a puncture in his rear tyre. He mended it while I did 'girly' things like holding the pump for him! I also helped by pointing out that it would be a lot easier to put the new inner tube in if he fed it through the side of the tyre that was off the rim; and later pointed out - as he pumped the tyre up that there was a small portion of it still not bedded in on the rim.

Paul had suggested a ride out to Ilkley and back, along Weston Lane (on this side of the Wharfe). I then suggested that we might continue on from Ilkley, out through Nesfield and Beamsley to Storiths. This is a route that I'm very familiar with. I thought that Paul and I had cycled it together before, but he says he only discovered it recently, while I was away, so it must be over three years since I last cycled it!

The Buffers cafe has been open for years. It must be about 16-17 years since I first went there, on a ride with Bradford Cyclists Action Group. Storiths is a tiny hamlet, about a mile south of Bolton Abbey, off the A59 Skipton to Harrogate Road. The farm where the cafe is situated ("Back o' th' Hill") does seem to be a working farm. There are always calves stabled in the yard. The cafe itself is a bit of an oddity as it is nowhere near a railway line but - as the name implies - it has a railway theme. There is a model railway display upstairs and lots of railway memorabilia. The people who own the place are obviously railway enthusiasts. My ex father-in-law, John Gould, would have loved it.

We were lucky with the weather as it started raining about 30 minutes after we got home, as we were setting off to drive into Bradford.

MAP 1



Outward route from Otley (i.e. home) via Weston (point 1 on map), Ilkley and Beamsley (point 2 on map) to Storiths, near Bolton Abbey.








MAP 2

Return route, from Storiths on to Bolton Abbey, then back via Addingham (point 1 on map), Sandbeds and Ilkley (point 2 on map). From Ilkley we returned along our outward route the back road on the north side of the River Wharfe, through Asquith and Weston, as shown on the first map. We avoided the A65, apart from the section between Sandbeds and Ilkley.

It was a beautiful day. When I first got back here to Otley, on April 26th, the blossom was not yet out on the trees, although it had been in London, 200 miles south. The spells of sunny weather these past few days have brought all the buds on the trees out. The grass and trees are various shades of green, with pink and white blossoms. The white sugar-icing of the hawthorn (May trees) is particularly beautiful - they are always my favourites. I also love the creamy candelabra of the magnolia and the pink and white blossoms of the cherry trees. Both are abundant at the moment.

The week so far

It's been an odd week, this first week back home. It started with a Bank Holiday - May Day - of course. I've done a lot this week, if not entirely what I intended to do. I intended to write myself some goal plans this week and to re-establish contact with people. I've been giving myself a hard time about my lack of economic productivity, but this is ridiculous, given that I have only been back home for a little over a week.

What I have done is to put in place the first steps in my goal towards getting fit. I need to improve my strength and stamina in preparation for the planned cycle-touring holiday in northern Spain in August. We are planning on doing 700+ miles in 3 weeks and of course we'll be pedalling fully laden with panniers. To get fit I need to improve the mobility in my neck and shoulder as this slows me down, affecting my balance and body confidence. Improving my stamina necessitates losing some weight. In order to take the strain off my joints (not to mention the strain on my heart and lungs) I need to lose at least two stone, preferably two-and-a-half.

On Tuesday I joined the Cannons gym at Guiseley, on the over 50s, off-peak option. It's a good gym and has a pool - very important. I went for my gym induction on Wednesday and used the gym again yesterday. This afternoon - after a healthy lunch - I went to a T'ai Chi class, then spent 20 minutes (plus cool down) on the exercise bike. I've rounded off my session each day by having a swim, and a spell in the steam room and sauna. It's been great. I've been practising my Alexander Technique breaststroke - the glide - and crawl. The breaststroke is coming on I think. I haven't felt any ill-effects on my neck. I think I'm still scrunching up my lower back slightly though as I bring my head out of the water. I need to re-read the book and watch the video again. I tried to show Gris how to do it when I went swimming with her at the baths in Archway last week. My front crawl needs a lot of practise.

It is fantastic to have this time to myself, this time and space which I have created for myself. Paul brought me coffee in bed this morning before he left to cycle to work in Leeds. I read for a while - the Alice Walker book that was a leaving present from Ruth back in January. Then I got up, had a healthy breakfast and did some exercises. The exercises were just basic stuff and included some T'ai Chi warm-ups. One of these - the stretch - involved rotating my arms and this hurt a lot! It brought on what felt like extreme cramp in my left forearm and the old tingling in the elbow. I had to keep shaking my arm out. When I'd finished I did some percussive work on my shoulders and arms. The exercise does seem to have helped - or the percussive technique - or both. I need to get the rotator girdle in my shoulder working again. It's been over 2 1/2 years now since the accident and it is almost two years since one of the cervical discs slipped, ruptured or whatever. The physio I saw last year told me that these type of injuries have a life of about 2 years and that in that time the tissues should heal. So, it's time it was healed and the nerve in my arm freed and the tingling and numbness in my left forefinger gone!

I celebrate having looked after myself today!

It has felt like summer these past two days, reminding me that May is my favourite month, full of new growth and promise. I hope it's going to be good weather at the weekend and Paul and I can get out walking or cycling, or both. I just checked the BBC website to find out exactly what this 'summery' temperature is and apparently the maximum is 170C. That is pathetic compared to the temperatures in Australia and Thailand. It's a big improvement on what it was earlier in the week though. - I was really cold and kept putting the heating on. I don't usually put the heating on past the end of April.

We going over to Shipley this evening for tea with Dan. I think he's going to cook us some Thai food, using the lime leaves and galangal we gave him. I'm looking forward to it!

Back home

I got back here to Otley last Wednesday afternoon. Ironically there was a hold up in Leeds so I was much later getting home than I'd expected. I've travelled thousands of miles in the last 3 months, then got stuck in Leeds! The following day - Thursday - was my birthday. At the school reunion do at Graham's on Saturday 22nd - the day after I got back to the UK - Wendi said I was the only one who was still 50, being the youngest in the year. Well, I'm not 50 any more!