Italian yard

Alfa Romeo made just over 1000 Zagato SZs. Based on the 75 with a body carved curve free its an unusual beast. Theres one thats often parked up on Park Lane in London and there was one on the forecourt of an Alfa specialst in the late 1990s. We found an importers of various Italian cars today. He had two in the yard along with seven Lancia Delta Integrales Evos and a Lamborghini Diablo as well.

Play date

We invited over our friends for a saturday morning cuppa and cake while the girls went out into the garden to play with Lilys new house and playarea. The sand table she got from Kims parents was also a big hit.

Bath time fun

Having not seen Lily since tuesday night I was eager to get involved in the bedtime routine once I was back. This meant playing with one of her birthday presents. Washable bath crayons. I have been assured they wipe straight off the tiles.....the grout we're not sure about yet!

Romantic meal for two!

Staying away means evenings away from the family. It also means dining with whoever I happen to be working with. James was my hot date this week and we ate for England both nights.

Free breakfast

We have a rule at work, start anytime before 6am and the company buys you breakfast. As we were heading to Leeds we were off at 5:45am so filled our boots at the services on the M1.

Birthday girl

Two years has flown by. Lily has gone from a tiny bundle of joy in an operating theatre to a walking, talking learning machine thats into  everything. We had a little party at home for her as the weather wasn't going to be good. She loved her new Little Tikes house, so much so infact she spent almost an hour inside after breakfast and returned several times dragging anyone who was nearby with her.

Little park with added toys

At the start of the month we cleared an area in the corner of the garden ready for a little bark play area for Lily. Fast forward and her birthday is tomorrow so the Little Tiles house we bought her needs building and setting up. I decided to take a day off work to do this and tidy up. The weather had other ideas and its been lashing it down since last night. Undeterred I put my work boots and a coat on and ventured outside. An hour of heaving plastic panels about and slotting things together and its finished. I hope she likes it and gets hours of fun just mucking about in the garden.

Party girl

We're in the party season right now. Lily and all her NCT toddler friends are about to be two, so for several weekends we have been off to parties. Its a good excuse for somebody to dress up.

Kop Hill Climb

First run in 1910 and stopped due to an accident in 1925. Kop Hill was revived as a hill climb for demo runs in 2009. I've never managed to get to it until this year. Hundreds of cars and bikes from all eras along with a Spitfire entertained the crowds. This 4½ Blower Bentley sounded glorious and looked amazing as it powered up the hill.

Motorbiking

My friend Keith has gone and bought a Ducati 748, and Italian bike. Now I keep seeing them every where!

Wedding cars

I came past Goodwood today. There was obviously a wedding on and the cars were lined up outside. I'm guessing the silver Rolls Royce was for "her" to arrive in and this 1929 6½ litre Bentley was for "him"

Viewing pleasure

I decided to treat myself to a new DVD at lunch time today. Having failed to see it in the cinema and being a fan of comic book films I've added it to the collection. Watched it last night with a pint and some nibbles and it was brilliant.

Clothing blast from the past

Ten or fifteen years ago I used to frequent a shop in the Broad St Mall called Cavaliers. It sold printed t-shirts, dog tags and various other gothy goodies (I was a semi Goth, I wore an Iron Maiden t-shirt and didn't wash!) Fast forward and its now a clothing print shop and has moved from its dark and dingy location to a warehouse unit. I was shocked to learn it had moved about five years ago and I hadn't noticed. Even more shocked to learn it first opened in Reading in 1976!

London skyline

A nice sunny day in the big smoke and a rooftop to stand on means good views. This time over St Pancras and Kings Cross.

More running in

Another weekend and another 100 miles put on the camper engine. This time Kim came with us and we also picked up her work colleague Steve. We headed down to the end of the Watercress Line and worked our way up finishing up in Alton for a cuppa with our friend Alan and ending the day at Lasham to watch the gliders. This was at Medstead and Fourmarks Station as a pair of steam trains passed by.

Kitchen helper

One of Kims friends was over for tea last night. I decided to try my hand at toad in the hole again (it was another success) Lily wanted to help too. So she was put on pea shelling duties!

Looking down

All week on our job somebody has been watching us from above. Not the boss, but  St Mary. Theres so many interesting little corners of this building that have parts of the church, that the school is built in, sticking out.

Last night away treats

Last night in Leeds before heading home tomorrow. We decided to head away from a frankly appalling pub next to the hotel and seek out better food and entertainment. A £10 all you can eat Chinese buffet and a trip to the cinema to see Total Recall ended the week nicely.

Gingerbread treat

After an early start on site I was getting peckish. Luckily Kim and Lily had thought to pack a few snacks for the week. Hand decorated by a two year old!

Overgrown

Work this week has taken me back up to Leeds. A few weeks ago I was here in the shadow of a derelict church. The main school building we are in was also a church, but its been renovated into classrooms. The grounds are still a bit of a mess though!

Last day on the job

Well, the last day on the Derby job, off to Leeds tomorrow. But for now I never have to trudge round that school again or align a projector in a boiling hot classroom in full PPE!

Running in

Having had a bottom end rebuild of the engine, the Camper now needs a 500 mile running in period. Basically a load of longish journeys to bed it all in before being tuned again. With Kim having some craft things to be getting on with and the fact I'm due to be away most of next week I decided that my co-pilot Lily and me needed to go on a daddy & daughter roadtrip somewhere. The sun was out, the sky was blue and the tank was full so we headed West down the A303 from Basingstoke to Popham airfield. They were having an Auster fly in so we were able to park up next to the grass strip and watch the planes land. We even got to walk around the planes and see the helicopter come and go. Lily loved it and spent as long watching planes as she did driving the Camper. When it came time for lunch it was a picnic out the side of the sliding door as the craft landed 50m away. With a slow drive home I managed to rack up 100 miles today. 400 to go now!

Windsor Concours

I've been to far too many classic car shows to count them all, but I've never been to a Concours show. Its basically a super posh do with very rare cars laid out in nice surroundings with a few people wandering round them. This is a 1938 Bentley Pourtout Coupe, its the only one of its kind. The lady in front is my gorgeous wife, also one of a kind as she accompanied me to the Windsor Concours of Elegance at the Castle to mark the Queens Jubilee. It was amazing.

Scribbling on the slabs

In honour of the Camper coming back from our mechanic and the fact the sun is beaming down I did a little art work in the garden before Lily got home.

down on the farm

Work today took us to Cambridge and a farm. Nothing beats a big old tractor (or brand new one for that matter!)

Play cars daddy

When I was leaving for work at just after 6am yesterday, Lily broke my heart by asking for me to play cars with her. I had no time to spare and she looked so sad as I left. Today I'm in the office so I have plenty of time to play.

FIRE!

You can tell when a building site is nearly finished when they clear all the important building site stuff out. Anyone needing a fire extinguisher had a long walk to the front of the site to collect one of these!

Behind the scenes at the paralympics

This was supposed to be a brilliant photo of Tower Bridge with the Paralympics symbol suspended in the middle! I was working nearby and thought I'd divert on the way back to get a snap. Turns out they hung the symbol the other way round to the five rings so i got a great shot of the frame work supporting it instead!

The joy of building

I had to drop some tools and bits back round my parents today, Lily tagged along for the ride and had a great time reading stories and playing with the bucket of Duplo that my parents bought. I have no idea what this monster is, but its 12 wheel drive with wild animals crawling over it!

Little park

We decided to buy Lily a Little Tikes play house for her birthday in a few weeks time. The problem with kids garden toys is they get left on the lawn and its soon dead underneath. What she needed was her own area that the house and some other bigt toys could be put. A 3m length of timber, some weed matting and 1600 litres of bark chips later and we turned this corner of the garden into a Lily park. Even with nothing in it she was running round and leaping off the decking into it. It makes the aching muscles the morning after all worthwhile!