Saturday night saw the grown-ups’ party at the same venue, with a meal and a brilliant ceilidh. Congratulations Griff & [...]]]> From the Lakes we drove up to Peebles for Griff & Clare’s 10th Wedding Anniversary. On the Friday Amy had her fifth birthday party at Traquair Village Hall.  More photos on Facebook.

Saturday night saw the grown-ups’ party at the same venue, with a meal and a brilliant ceilidh. Congratulations Griff & Clare!

More on Flickr.

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Pip, Liz, the girls and I went [...]]]> We spent the last weekend of July camping in Norfolk.  We stayed in the back garden of the Duke pub in Bacton.  Nick, Nadege and Noe camped with us, and my Mum & Dad (in their motorhome) and sister (in our tent) stayed on the Saturday night.

Pip, Liz, the girls and I went to Merivale Model Village in Great Yarmouth on Saturday afternoon, which was everything I hoped for!

On the Sunday we spent the morning on Cromer beach where Indie had an early birthday party.  Then the Suffolk Mosses returned home and the rest of us searched out some prime kayaking grounds.

We ended up at Blakeney, which is a beautiful little coastal village.  Well, it’s not quite coastal – it’s separated from the sea by a mile or so of salt marsh, with a narrow channel connecting the harbour to the sea at high tide.  We were there at low tide, but as the kayaks only draw around 6″ I thought we’d be able to make it.

After an hour of wading along the mud, pulling the boats through the 3″ trickle, we gave up waiting for the promised incoming tide, turned round and waded back to the cars.  The trip was beautiful, and we met a surprising number of mud-dwelling Norfolk people in the middle of the marsh, but it wasn’t really what we expected.

Monday was spent hiding from the sun in Norwich castle, which is brilliant for kids.  Although they’re not allowed in the dungeons or battlements, which limits the enjoyment for not-kids.

All the photos are on Flickr as usual.

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Gin, Ol, Kitty, Griff and I (Pip was in a play in London so had to stay behind with the Grandparents for support) planned three nights of [...]]]> Our second annual Highlands trip was at the end of April 2010, to Dundonnell and Fisherfield Forest, near Ullapool in Wester Ross,  the Scottish Highlands.

Gin, Ol, Kitty, Griff and I (Pip was in a play in London so had to stay behind with the Grandparents for support) planned three nights of rough camping and Munro bagging.  It didn’t go to plan because Flybe lost my bag on the way up – I didn’t fancy a 4° night in a tent wearing just my jeans and t-shirt – so we spent Friday night and Saturday morning finding a place to crash, and borrowing bits of kit.   Anyway, once we’d begged and bought enough stuff that I could survive the weekend, my bag turned up, so we set off just 16 hours late.

The area is known as the Great Wilderness, and the further in you go the more remote it feels.  Because we’d started so late, we camped only about five miles in, on the bend of a river under some budding silver birch trees.  It was a perfect spot.

Even if it was surrounded by deer corpses – there were three within five meters, and they scattered the whole area, victims of this year’s particularly harsh winter…  After setting up the camp, we took a little stroll to some waterfalls a mile or so off.

On the Sunday we had a choice of hills.  The most dramatic, An Teallach, was not possible because the rivers were in spate and because the crags are dangerous enough in the summer when they’re not covered in snow.  The girl who lent me some waterproofs had a friend who slipped off the path two years ago and fell to her death.

We chose Beinn a’ Chlaidheimh, the northern summit of a long ridged massif of three Munroes.  First off, crossing the icy burn.  It was a simple climb, with just a little scrambling at the top, and the weather was good throughout.  The summit was attained after a few hundred metres along the snowy ridge, then we descended a little and stopped for lunch.

On the trip down we detoured to a waterfall before returning to another camp-fire, another great dinner from Kitty , and drank all the whisky we had left.

On the Monday morning we struck camp and walked out via the Shenavall bothy and the foot of An Teallach.  The route was boggy but beautiful.  We were back at the car for 2:30 and the airport for 4, and I was in the bath in London by 8pm!

Thanks everyone, I had a great time!.  Full photoset is on Flickr here, and there’s a map here.

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Photos here…

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Pip’s just turned 36 and we had lunch at Belgo’s, dinner at the Ship and Whale, [...]]]> Indigo was christened on December 6th, and we had a little reception afterwards.   Andrew the vicar scurrilously tricked me into participating in the service.  Photos here or watch the slideshow…

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Pip’s just turned 36 and we had lunch at Belgo’s, dinner at the Ship and Whale, and then the next night twenty of us saw Calendar Girls in the West End followed by several bottles of champagne in a dressing room backstage.  Only a couple of photos from the two days from me, but I expect there are more somewhere on facebook…

Finally today was Laurie’s nursery show.  Last year she was a leading role – Angel #1, but this year she was Irish Girl #2, and sat at the front of the stage to pick her nose then eat it.  A natural performer I suppose.  Photos here.

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]]> http://wheresbarney.com/mini/2009/12/16/december-i-christening-birthday-1-school-play/feed/ 0 http://wheresbarney.com/mini/2009/11/22/amsterdam-2009/ http://wheresbarney.com/mini/2009/11/22/amsterdam-2009/#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 23:22:05 +0000 barn http://wheresbarney.com/mini/?p=319 We nipped over to Amsterdam to visit Fi, Wim and Stephanie.  We drove over, via Dover, and got upgraded to Le Tunnel Sous La Manche on the way back, due to the storms.  So now Indie’s three months old, and has been to Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. France and Belgium twice.

It rained [...]]]> We nipped over to Amsterdam to visit Fi, Wim and Stephanie.  We drove over, via Dover, and got upgraded to Le Tunnel Sous La Manche on the way back, due to the storms.  So now Indie’s three months old, and has been to Italy, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. France and Belgium twice.

It rained so much we skipped the traditional parade of blacked-up city employees, and hid in the library instead.  Julia was over from Canada so we caught up with her and Steef as well.

Photos here.

The house was full, there were motorhomes in the paddocks, campers in the garden, and a jazz band in the bolt-hole.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were the guests of honour, and in the [...]]]> We spent this weekend in Kent at Pip’s parents’ house, celebrating their Ruby Wedding Anniversary.  Congratulations, Sally & David!

The house was full, there were motorhomes in the paddocks, campers in the garden, and a jazz band in the bolt-hole.  Archbishop Desmond Tutu and his wife Leah were the guests of honour, and in the Saturday night barbecue competition they chose my burgers over all others.

Sunday was a church service, then some memorable speeches and a lunch, accompanied by Jo’s Mother Hubbard’s Traditional Jazz Band, and the London Adventist Chorale.

On the Monday I took some formal photos, then Pip, Gin, Laurie and I went to the beach at Broadstairs with Venetia and Dave and their four boys.  I swam in the sea for probably the last time this year (and the only time in Britain!)

The rest of the photos are here.

Update 22nd July 8:15 – Pip took some (weird false colour) videos.  They’re on YouTube here, here and here.