Ringing Outing

Had an enjoyable outing yesterday, out to the Watton area. A combination of Cherry Hinton and Trumpington ringers were in attendance.

It was Amanda's first outing, and she got to ring twice at every tower - and rang very well.

First up was Watton, a beautiful ring of 6 accessed by a fairly steep ladder, with the tenor ringer standing on the trapdoor.

Next up was Caston, with a bit more character. Slightly lumpy and harder work than most modern rings, with the two trebles rung from a ledge (with part of the ledge being a flap by the door). Amanda got attacked by the 2nd rope, but recovered to ring the 3rd later.

Lunch followed at the Chequers in Thompson.

Then off to Shipdham. After a set of rounds and call changes, Ian queries whether the third was particularly deep set. Rather than a broken stay, it transpired that they had hastings stays and the dingler had fallen off.

After three rings of 6, the final tower of the day was Ashill, a nice 8. This was Amanda's first time on 8 (while we've been to Trumpington, she only rang on the back 6).

So, a good day, and thanks to Amanda and Stephen for organizing it all.

First Plain Hunt

I've been ringing Church bells - on and off - for well over 20 years. And, recently, Amanda has started learning too.

She's been making good progress, and tonight (regular practice night at Cherry Hinton) had a go at plain hunt for the first time. With moderate success, too!

For anyone else interested, ringing requires precious little in the way of musical ability (trust me on this one...), but a good sense of timing and the ability to concentrate are vital.

New Website

I've now got a new website, so that when the RFCGR closes down later this year I'll still have a web presence.

Currently, most of the underlying content is still at the RFCGR, but I'll soon get it all moved across.

Holiday Orchestra

This last week, the girls went to Cambridge Holiday Orchestra.

They changed the format slightly this time, with a bit more diversity and emphasis on younger/less experienced musicians.

Both girls enjoyed themselves immensely. I recommend Holiday Orchestra to any other young musicians in the Cambridge area.

And today we went to the end of course concert.

Brrrrrr........

Wintry drive home tonight. Raining at work, hailstorm on the A11, then sleet, and it was snowing properly - and pretty hard - as I got home. Temperature hovering just above freezing.

Decent weather for penguins, but I prefer something slightly warmer.

Congress may extend daylight-saving time

According to CNN, Congress may extend daylight-saving time, and save 10,000 barrels of oil a day.

I have to confess that I've always wondered about the sanity of Daylight Saving Time (here in the UK we call it British Summer Time).

And one choice quote:

The more daylight we have, the less electricity we use

Say what? There's the same amount of daylight, no matter how you shift the clock around.

I guess the real problem is that our lives are ruled by clocks rather than the Sun.

Wouldn't it make more sense to change work, school, and recreation hours to make more sense rather than monkeying with the clocks?

Ever feel like you're hitting your head against one of these? 

Sorting out the bikes

Spring is definitely here: pleasant temperatures, generally dry.

Spent some time this weekend getting the bikes ready. A quick clean to get rid of the accumulated cobwebs, tires brought back up to proper pressure.

Hannah moved up to Amanda's old bike, so her old bike went to the tip this morning and we spent some time at the park so she could get used to it.

Amanda's bike got the saddle moved up, and lights, mudguards, lock and basket (so she can use it for school). The snag was, you can only attach so many bits to a bike - I had to move the reflectors to get the lights on, and we ended up taking the basket off as the only way to attach the front light would have had it shining through the basket.

All that done, we're looking forward to using the bikes a bit more. I for one could certainly do with the exercise!

Idiotic Tea Leaves

We're somewhat unusual in that we still get milk delivered on our doorstep. Not daily, unfortunately, as we used to, but we still have real bottles of milk delivered to the house rather than buying it from the supermarket.

Anyway, we went out yesterday morning to discover that the payment we had left out for the milkman had been taken overnight. What's the world coming to?

Whoever took it must have been pretty dense. It's a cheque payable to the dairy, and of no use to anyone else. We used to leave out cash, at one time, but haven't done that for a while.

Musically Talented

Not me, I hasten to add!

Congratulations to Amanda on passing her Grade 3 Violin exam.

Hay Fever Season already

Looks like it's going to be a miserable summer. Itchy eyes, sneezy nose. It's that bothersome hay fever come to trouble me again.

I was told - when in my teens - that I would grow out of it. No such luck. If anything, it's getting worse.