Stroll by the improved river navigation of the Kennet river

Its not technically a canal as its made up of sections of the River Kennet. But whatever after a lovely pre birthday lunch with Kim while Lily was with her grandparents, we took a wander down a stretch of it near Woolhampton. Reading the boards along the banks they detail the 87 mile route of the Kennet and Avon Canal from Bristol to Reading. I cycled an 8 mile section to Aldermaston at the end of last year but I fancy a challenge so want to attempt more and possibly all of it. Maybe in stages or one mighty ride.

Birthday cakes

Every year around the time of my birthday I take time off. It all stems from the old days when I'd have half term from school and then go back to school and my birthday would be in the middle of the week and I'd be stuck in lessons. So when I went out to work I vowed never to work on my birthday again. This also means that I never take cake in to work like everyone else. Once more this year I booked time off but not the whole week so today I treated the office to two dozen Krispy Kreme. Greedy bastards ate the lot in an hour or two!

Deep in thought

I often wonder what a 17 month old thinks about. Most of the time Lily is blasting round the place, but sometimes she stops and seems to reflect on life. Or maybe its the milk she is about to guzzle or the racing car she was playing with 30 seconds before.

Innocent eyes

With a look like butter or even Cadburys buttons wouldn't melt in her mouth. Lily enjoying a small chocolaty treat today

Race Retro

Went along to the Race Retro show today, its a classic racing motorshow. Inside they have several halls full of traders and clubs advertising their wares from flat caps to books, oil to spark plugs. Outside they put on a display of rally driving around a small stage and this was the star of the show. Now owned by Jay Kay its a 1971 Porsche 914-6 driven in the Monte Carlo rally by Bjorn Waldegard. He was back throwing it around the stage making an amazing noise. The car must be worth £100k with its history, but after its run it was parked up in the corner of one of the halls with no barriers around.

Giddy up

Back into London for the third time this week. We were surveying for an install near Kings Cross station. The far end of the link was an old building that looked typical of the large warehouse style units of this part of London, hidden down side streets and converted to office space. This one turned out to be an old coaching house and stable block. To save on space the horses were kept upstairs accessed by this impressive ramp. Looking at it and the rest of the huge building, devoid of pillars or obstructions I kept thinking of a tricky two storey go-cart track set up!

Rush hour traffic

Coming out of London today in the A40 was hell, it was getting late, the roads were clogged and we just wanted to get home. As did the owner of this pre-war Alfa Romeo. With a toot of the horn he was away up the road smiling all the way.

Big wheel keep on turning

Theres something about a very expensive cars wheels swapped over onto a cheaper motor. This Passat has been smoothed and debadged and is sporting vast Bentley rims.

The City

Todays job was cabling ready for a full install later in the week. Most of the time I was indoors hauling data cables up riser cupboards, but for bits of it I was on the roof tops of London. In the heart of the City with the Gerkin as my backdrop.

Muffin time

Kim has been having a bit of a bake off with some work mates recently. Her offering this evening was a very scrummy rhubarb and custard muffin. Mmmm

American muscle and sugary treats

For the last couple of years we've been meeting up every few months at the Krispy Kreme Diner on the A3 New Malden. A dozen doughnuts, some coffeea and a chat with background sounds provided by a select of V8s and other classic engines.

Lunch @Bills

After a night partying and with Lily staying away we all met up again for a shopping trip. And after a shopping trip you need some lunch. Bills served up the goods when Lily chose a fish finger sandwich (I say chose, I picked it and she nibbled on half of it) If the service had been a bit quicker it would have been a perfect lunch.

Long reach

At work I get to hire some funky machines. Most of the time its small 20m units that just go up and down, but for this tricky job we needed some outreach. 20m of outreach at a height of 10m and for that we brought in the T37R. Its a marvel of technology that put us right where we needed to be. It comes with a basket big enough for several people and tools and has a nifty button that remembers where you reached out to and goes back and forth without anything more than the flick of the switch. Cost for the day with a driver, just under £1000.

We all live in a Yellow Submarine

I have nothing more to add to this photo really. It was built by a chap who builds bracketry for us as a promotional tool for his political party. It probably weighs several tons as its got lots of girders welding in and gallons of filler.

The Cardington Hangers

On several visits to Bedford I've spotted a pair of hangers on the horizon. Last year I drove up near them and they were massive, bigger than anything in the area. A bit of research revealed they were the old Airship hangers that the R101 was built and flown from. A mass of motorway closures meant that a diversion was needed to get home and a route passed the hangers combined with a need to fill up the van meant I got a close up view of both sheds. At 820ft long and almost 180ft square at the end they are vast. Apparently you could have slid Titanic in with only 40ft sticking out the front doors!

One of the sheds is still used for airship storage with the Goodyear Blimp residing in there last year and they are both hired out as film sets offering vast interior sets. I'd like to get inside one day and have a look around as they are truly amazing buildings

The rose is red....

....the violet's blue,
The honey's sweet, and so are you.
Thou are my love and I am thine;
I drew thee to my Valentine:
The lot was cast and then I drew,
And Fortune said it shou'd be you

Powerful downforce

I paid a visit today to the Jaguar Heritage Collection. I was working 10 miles up the road and it made a nice half hour break before heading back to the office. I took a load of photos but the one that really caught my eye was of the line up of scale windtunnel models of the various 1980s Le Mans race cars. Bolted to the wall high up they looked an impressive display.

Getting arty

It was the first birthday party of a friends art shop today. She runs classes for painting ceramics as well as messy fun for children. With an apron on and baby wipes to hand Lily set off on an artistic adventure. I'm not sure what it is she has created but she really enjoyed herself.

Back seat drivers

A couple of hour drive to Bournemouth for a family party is the longest Lily has had to be in her car seat for a long time. There was only one thing for it, break out the toys. With a honking horn, two different songs and realistic ignition sounds it kept her amused for the whole trip. This bodes well for the summer and some long rides in the Camper.

The white stuff

A week after the last load and its back again. Late last night it started snowing again. I was due to head round the M25 first thing in the morning and the last engineer from work to do that had a seven hour round trip for something that should have taken two hours! I packed extra food, hats and gloves and set off early. Scrapping the inch or two of snow off the van at 6:30am it didn't seem as bad as expected. As I rolled out onto the main road it had all melted away off the tarmac but nobody knew this and so pretty much the whole of the working world had given up meaning a faster than planned trip and an early finish.

£1000 per MPH

With a top speed of almost 220mph, the Lamborghini Aventador is an expensive car. 700hp from the vast V12 that sits out the back is the reason why. I get to see a lot of supercars on my travels, being in London a lot they are always flying past. But this was my first proper sighting of the new Lambo, its one mean and chiselled looking motor.

Stop and look up once in a while

Wandering down Broad Street, most people look as far as the shop window, but raise your eyes a few feet higher and a world of history unfolds. A lot of Readings shops are based in some very old buildings. One of these days I'll use a weeks worth of this project to get some photos of the best ones, but for now here is Waterstones bookshop, originally built in 1707 as the Broad St Independent Chapel with the ornate front being added in the 1890s. Inside it is a magnificent building, laying derelict for years until being restored and fitted out as the bookshop.

Work in progress

On my travels round the place I'm forever spotting random old vehicles. A few years ago I managed to win an online competition for spotting retro and classic cars. My haul was probably double that of the second place chap! So I have an eye for cool old cars, the merest hint of a front wing hidden behind a shutter door has me reaching for a camera. This old Beetle, mid restoration was parked on the pavement near a supplier of ours.

Are you sitting comfortably

Lily loves her books, she's now got so many that we've split them up stairs and down stairs into two boxes. She's got the bean bag Kim made her to perch on and read or we get kicked off the sofa and she sits there. A work friend of Kims has passed on this cute little chair that his daughter used. Lily was right at home, kicking back with a good read.

Let it snow....

Following this weeks dip in temperatures, Saturday saw a rise of a few degrees which can only mean one thing. Yep, bang on time according to the weatherman the white stuff started falling last night and this morning Lily got her first taste of snow, she was only a few months old when we had snow last year. With several layers and some wellies on she stomped around in the garden, falling over and generally having a laugh. We didn't stay out long and she slept through the whole sledging session later in the day.

Brrrr its chilly out there.

It was an icy -10°C last night and this morning the Camper was properly iced up, good job I was taking the Passat to drop Lily at my parents then! As I let the climate control do its work I marvelled at the ice formations on the side windows, slowly melting away as the sun beamed down.

Peek-a-boo

Coming up the stairs the tonight I heard the pitter patter of tiny feet across the landing. Normally this means a little face will appear by the stair gate but this time the beady eyes had spotted me through the banisters!

Catching the bus to work

With a lack of work vans to transport myself to the office I decided to fire up the freshly MOT'd Camper. It was a few degrees below zero but the sun was shining. Carb'd engines aren't huge fans of the cold until everything has warmed up so it was a little juddery to start with but with a pair of gloves on and the window down to save icing up inside it was a lovely drive. I know which car in the office car park I want to take home!

Carve it up

Our good friend Stu is leaving for the West Country soon, a new life away from chocolate factories beckons...he's off to a pasty factory instead! Trying to decide what to get him and the family a few friends grouped together and got a few humorous gifts ranging from a Ginster/Mars set to this. What says "so long and good luck" more than a chopping board with a photo of your Camper on!