April retrospective video

April was Springy, and I got the Mint Royale album at the CD fair in Oxford on the 11th.

30 April

Tonight was Jamie and Kate's leaving party in the Ship in Mortlake.  They fly to South America tomorrow, and may be gone for a very long time.  Seeing them off was fun, but I'll miss them.  Perhaps I'll visit them somewhere on their travels.  Taken at 23.03.

29 April

Went to see the Oxford Philomusica perform a concert of music by Ravel, Rutter, Debussy and Bizet in the Sheldonian this evening, with John Rutter conducting.  A very impressive concert.  Photo taken during the final applause, at 21.54.

28 April

Another training course today, though happily without an exam this time.  Went to see Veda Park at Tarifa tonight, and enjoyed seeing them again.  Photo taken at 22.13.

27 April

It's Tuesday, and choir has started again. I took this in one of the gardens of Keble College, at 19.23, before we started rehearsing.

26 April

Back at work today, and took this photo at 19.03 on my way home after a very disappointing session in the gym.  Anyone know where it is?

25 April

Very quiet day, mainly cleaning the house.  Went round to Leen's for dinner though, and she was proud to show off her nursery, including these carrot plants.  Taken at 19.27.

24 April

Went to see the Yarns at the Wheatsheaf tonight.  Good fun, and a good band worth checking out.  The singer, John, is a friend of Leen's.  Taken at 22.39.

23 April

Took my PRINCE2 Practitioner exam this morning, but I won't find out whether I've passed for a week or two.  Back to Oxford in time for some afternoon fun in the sun, and then the Rusty Bicycle this evening to say goodbye to Judy, who's moving out tomorrow.  Very sad.  Photo taken by Rich at 20.07.

22 April

After three days showing off the beauty of Eynsham Hall and its gardens, I thought I should give a more honest view of what my days here have been like!  So here's my desk in the training room, taken during the lunch break at 13.16. I've also now put a set of photos from the week up on Facebook.

21 April

Another day of PRINCE2 training, with nothing much else to report: the teaching is all day, and then there's homework in the evening.  Got this photo at 13.24, during the lunch break.

20 April

Just outside our training room here at Eynsham Hall, the are two trees covered in this beautiful blossom.  I think they're cherry trees.  Standing underneath them, the smell is wonderful.  I took this photo during a break at 16.42.

19 April

I'm away on a training course this week, learning the PRINCE2 project management methodology at Eynsham Hall.  It's an intensive course, and today was hard work followed by homework, but it's useful stuff and the food and surroundings are good.  Photo taken at 18.43 as a I had a wander round the grounds before dinner.

18 April

A really lovely day today.  Went to Epsom, as did Louise, Jamie, Simon and Helen, to visit Chris and Becky and their beautiful new baby Milla.  Photo taken at 13.58.  There are a few more photos on Facebook.

17 April

A beautiful day.  I spend most of it sitting in the garden preparing for my training course next week, but was too often distracted by the birds and gliders in the jet-free skies, and by the cat chasing butterflies.  Photo taken at 14.41.

16 April

Leen cooked an excellent dinner at her house for Arne, Dan, Diana and me tonight.  Lots of fun, as this photo might indicate.  Taken using my Gorillapod balanced a bit riskily on top of the door at 20.17.

15 April

A view of the Fairway, the centre of OUP's Oxford offices, from the top floor.  I don't go up there very often, but had a meeting there this morning which reminded me that it looks good in the sun, so I went back with my camera at 16.43.

14 April

Parliamentary hustings at the East Oxford Community Centre.  East Oxford is a marginal constituency, with the sitting Labour MP (Andrew Smith) in danger of losing his seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate (Steve Goddard).  It was a good event, though I'm still not sure how I'm going to vote.  Could go one of three ways. Taken from my seat in the front row at 19.02.

13 April

Taken from the bridge over to Port Meadow from Jericho, at 19.49.

12 April

Blossom near my house, because it's spring and it's pretty.  Taken at 18.24.

11 April

Successful trip to the CD and record fair at the town hall in Oxford today.  Too successful perhaps - laptop now merrily ripping CDs!  Taken at 12.57.

10 April

The hundredth day of the year was sunny and warm, so Stephen and I went out for a cycle.  We went up through Bletchingdon and Kirtlington to Caulcott, where our intended pub stop was closed, then on through Somerton and Deddington to Adderbury.  After a puncture repair and a couple of pints in the excellent Bell Inn, we got the train back from Kings Sutton.  Felt like summer.  Photo taken at about 10mph, on a very quiet road, at 16.18.

9 April

I met Leen's parents for the first time tonight, and we went for a really excellent meal at the Magdalen Arms.  Thank you very much to them!  Taken by one of the waitresses, at 23.15.  I've put some of my recent photos on Flickr now.

8 April

Jo took me in to dinner at Worcester tonight, which was fantastic fun - thanks, Jo!  Leen also got back from Belgium today, so we met for a walk around college in the sunshine before dinner, during which I got this picture, at 18.10.

7 April

We went out for Atomic Burgers this evening for Judy's birthday.  Afterwards, Stephen came round for a glass of wine.  He happened to have some spare dry ice from work with him, so we had a play, resulting in this photo taken at 22.28.  I've also now posted photos from the weekend in the Peak District, and Mark's 30th.

6 April

Taken with my camera dangling round my neck on my way home from work at 19.57.  Also, I've finally got around to doing March's retrospective video.

5 April

A slow start, a drive back to Oxford with a stop at Majestic in Banbury, and I end up with no photo of the day despite the beautiful sunshine as we neared home.  So here's the excellent old school building just round the corner from my house, taken at 19.23.  I particularly like the bell high up on the wall.

4 April

Happy Easter!  I went to St Paul's this morning, before we set out on a shorter walk than yesterday.  We started at the heronry at Trentabank reservoir, and then climbed up above the forest to the top of Shuttingsloe, the peak in the background of this photo, taken at 14.21.  Later, we had lunch at the Cat and Fiddle, a walk along the canal Macclesfield to the Railway View Inn, and then on to the excellent Waters Green Tavern.

3 April

I'm now in Macclesfield with Stephen and Rich, visiting Natalie and Gareth.  We went on a lovely walk around High Peak in Derbyshire, where I took this photo at 13.16.  Lots of other good photos today, which I'll put up on Facebook and/or Flickr when I'm back home.

2 April

After a fantastic breakfast at the Burlington Hotel (including Stornoway black pudding), we had another wander around rainy Birmingham, during which Leen took this photo at 11.06.  Then a failed trip to the Sea Life centre (huge rainy queues), an unimpressed look at exhibitions in the Ikon gallery, a laugh at the Birmingham Walk of Stars, and another trip to the cathedral.  It may sound like we didn't enjoy our holiday in Birmingham, which is wrong because we did, but perhaps more despite the city than because of it!

1 April

Leen and I are on holiday in Birmingham (!) tonight.  We were unimpressed by the beauty of the city as we wandered round it in the rain this afternoon, but enjoyed the Maundy Thursday service in the cathedral.  We later met up with Louise and Lou in Las Iguanas, where our waiter took this photo for us at 23.28.