Will G - A day in the Life......

Happy Easter Bunnies!

2007-04-10T20:07:00.000Z

Had a great weekend this Easter up in Newcastle; always a pleasure to meet up with good friends, especially since it's been a while. A great big thank you to Sam, Carl, Daniel and Snowy the dog, who demonstrated patience way beyond the call of duty with our Maisy, a true pain in the ass of a dog but dearly loved all the same!

The weather was great all weekend; dry, bright and, for the most part, quite warm to boot. The drive up was, thankfully, quick and painless, managing to avoid the usual Bank Holiday traffic delays after a fortuitous detour off the A1 and onto the A19. Lots of green and pleasant land passing by the window at speed and all of us in good spirits. Rosie did all of the driving (admirably) over the weekend and it made a pleasant change for me to be a passenger. Great to be able to relax and interact with the kids (me being the biggest one in the car it has to be said!) who, God bless 'em, must hate long car journeys with a passion! Luckily we played a few games to keep us amused and generally had a bit of a laugh.

Great to see Sam, Carl and Daniel again; can't believe it's been a year since we saw them last. School report reads: 'Must try harder!' A wee bit worried how Maisy and Snowy would take to each other but all turned out good really. Maisy her usual, daft, playful self and Snowy, bless her, didn't really give much of a sh*t one way or the other just a long as this tiresome ball of white fluff didn't outstay its' welcome! They both got on quite well considering; could have been a nightmare from start-to-finish which would have been fun........not!!

I love Newcastle. Everytime we go up there I am amazed and constantly surprised at just what they have on their doorsteps; a smart, vibrant City; beautiful, green, rolling landcapes, steeped in ancient history; wonderful and quick access to lovely coast and beaches and the Lake District or Scotland only an hour or two away. Fantastic. Northumbria in general, and its' people in particular, are truly blessed and fantastically warm, kind and generous people to boot, certainly the ones I know anyway, and I can't wait to go back that way again soon. Must be something in the water up that way; it's turning me into some big, daft Geordie I think. Hee, hee, hee!

Had a couple of great days out; Saturday was at Housteads Roman Fort, a second century relic built on Hadrians' Wall, followed by a trip into Hexham (don't mention the camera!). Sunday was spent at Tynemouth Priory and the weather was great; even the dogs got to enjoy it! The only dark cloud on the horizon was having to go home early because of work and being on call. Major drag. I think this new job of mine is turning into something altogether unexpected and unforseen; not what I envisaged at all. Deep down I think that I have decided to kick it into touch but that's another story; watch this space!

Many thanks for a great weekend to our friends in the north; see you all again soon!

Willg - the Chameleon :-)

Winding up or winding down?

2007-03-27T20:07:00.000Z

Can't believe how nice the weather is today compared to the cold, wintry blast we suffered only one week ago; I seem to recall driving home this time last week in a real, full-on snow blizzard! Last week - winter, this week - summer. Bloody typical of this countrys' weather but I guess its' also part of its' charm too! Desparate to get home and go for a blast in the countryside on my bike for an hour or so, encouraged by the fact that the cars' thermometer says it's 15 degrees outside and the sun is shining brightly still at 5pm. Not managed to get out for a decent ride lately, what with the new job, the kids/dog/wife etc so can't wait.

Decided to do the usual 15 mile route, which takes an hour or so, from home to Pipewell, to East Carlton, down into the Welland valley to Middleton, up Middleton hill (always a joy!) and back to Corby via the concrete monstrosity that is the Beanfield estate (never a joy!!).

Felt pretty good after the ride, especially considering I've not been out for a wee while on the bike; cant understand why Kevan said he was so knackered after his ride. Must be his age I guess, poor old boy! Ha, ha, ha. Still loads of beautiful, bright yellow daffs about and amazed by how much wildlife I came across in the hour or so I was out for; a fox, a kestrel, lots of pheasants, a little wren sat in the hedgerow warbling away and, best of all, a herd of about twenty deer just plonked down or grazing in a field between Pipewell and East Carlton. Stopped for a few moments just to admire the tranquil spectacle before me and marvel at the fact they were oblivious to my prescence; obviously down wind of them I guess. Not uncommon to find deer hereabouts I suppose, what with all the woods roundabout here being the last remnants of what was once the vastness of Rockingham Forest, in its' heyday covering some 350 acres between Stamford & Northampton and was once the hunting ground of William the Conqueror. Much of it has now been lost to arable land and open pasture but the deer still remain in some numbers in places and it's not uncommon to see a great big stag jump over a hedge onto the road in front of you, or to come round a bend in the road and find one standing there as happened to Kev and me one New Years Day whilst out for a bike ride a few years back. A bit of a shock at the time but a breathtaking sight all the same.

The only down side to being out in the countryside, for me, at the moment is the amount of litter that is in the hedgerows or dumped by the side of the road; truly sickening to see and says a great deal about the number of arseholes driving about these days who don't seem to give a toss about anyone or anything beyond their own shabby, selfish existance. Finished that McDonalds, toss it out the window; beer can empty, toss that off too; can't be bothered to take that old settee to the tip, lets' dump it here by the roadside, who gives a sh*t!

Who gives a sh*t indeed; not enough of us these days for sure. If I had my way all these hoodie wearing, baseball capped little tossers who literally seem to get away with murder these days, would be rounded up (if you ever could catch them at it), suited up in a new, luminous orange 'Guantanamo' stylee jump suit, shackled together at the ankles being made to clear up what should be our 'green and pleasant land' once more. Tony Blair take note; it's what I, and millions of other tax paying, law abiding, countryside loving people want to see. I don't want to waste my time preaching the values of right and wrong to my kids, trying to pass on to them the values of respecting the world around them, and appreciation of all the wonderful things that nature has to offer us, when a few mindless morons are intent on turning something most of us love into a rubbish strewn, rat infested, steaming cesspit of a world. Unfortunately it will never happen because the people who have the power to stop it and really make a difference are all PC addicted, spineless suits who have their own vested interests at heart, and it 'aint you, me, our kids, our beautiful countryside or our wonderful planet for sure. Oh dear, what a rant this turned out to be!

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Willg - the Chameleon :-(

Hectic Days!

2007-03-26T20:25:00.000Z

Been a while since I posted a blog entry so here we go again!

It's been a busy couple of weeks really, what with the ending/starting a new job malarky and all. On the face of it things seem to be going okay with the new job but it is very, very different to working at Compressor Engineering and me and my opposite number, Mark, have had a very hectic first week already. If I'm judging it correctly then this is what passes for the norm and, if I'm totally honest, is a bit of a shock to the system at present. Not entirely sure I'm comfortable with being at everyones beck and call, being pulled in lots of different directions and working my ass off all day with not much respite; it's all I can do at the moment to stop myself from saying "whoa, what the fu*k is this all about; chill out dudes!" (sounds pretty funny when I write down what I'm thinking sometimes, hee, hee).

I suppose I'm going through the 'all very new and a bit frightening' stage at the moment, comparing it to my old work routine and methods of doing things which simply become a bit of a safety net I suppose.

The company I'm working for are a parts supply outfit who are based at, and contracted to Morrisons, providing all the parts for their fleet of lorries, trailers and forklift trucks. The scale of the Morrisons site is awesome, simply huge. The vehicle maintenance unit service up to ten lorries/trailers at a time and the same amount, if not double that, of forklifts etc. The guy who has been running the parts stores, Phil, has been doing so single handedly for the past year and has been so busy that all the usual paperwork and documentation mechanisms I would expect to see to track parts in/out, reorder stock, return warranty/exchange stuff etc has all gone out the window. On top of that the fitters have been allowed to help themselves to parts in the stores from 6pm to 6am and not much of it gets recorded it seems, as well as robbing bits out of kits; a complete nightmare.

So at the moment I'm reserving judgment and waiting to see how it all pans out. Interestingly my new colleague Mark seems to be having the same doubts as me but perhaps now there are three of us providing cover up to 10pm it might improve slowly; some things need a bit of time I guess so that's what I'll give it. That being said, if the doubts remain and it looks like I've misinterpreted the job totally and made a big cock-up in taking it then I'll just have to accept it and sort it as quickly as possible; can't imagine that will go down too well with certain people for sure. Hey ho, whaddya know, isn't life a gas!

Toodle pip!

Willg - the (ever so slightly stressed) chameleon :-)

A New Chapter Begins.......

2007-03-09T20:18:00.000Z

Off to start a new job soon, Monday 19th March, so today was my last day working at Compressor Engineering. The end came quite soon really although I'd been a bit restless there for some time. I handed my notice in on Monday and, as is often the way of it, found that I could leave at the end of the week; no long goodbye then!

Compressor Engineering had been a part of my life for the last three years (to the day of my successful interview believe it or not) and although, for the most part, things were okay there I'd been a bit restless for a while and felt that the time was right to move on, hopefully to bigger and better things. Mostly sad to be leaving behind some fantastic workmates, the engineers especially, who are a great bunch of lads and I'll always have some good memories of the crack we had at times. The roll call of infamy is as follows:

Paul Hicks; Paul Seabrook; Matthew Bosworth; Ben Morrow; Chris Plumb; Darren 'Dazzlin' O'Rourke; Stuart Mayne; Nick Simpson; Darren Palliser; Derek Stratton; Glenn Swannell and finally the joker in the pack (who turned out to be the ace), Chris Tebbutt.

Chris Tebbutt is one of those people you happen across in life once in a blue moon if you're very lucky; genuinely funny and kind, always guaranteed to brighten your day with a wisecrack or stupid impression; able to mimic fellow workmates with ruthless but side-splittingly funny accuracy at will; recite word-for-word lines from TV, film or song, having you in stitches before you know it. Karaoke legend; a true gem.

I had the good fortune to work with Chris for three or four months when I first started at Compressor Engineering; he being a junior engineer drafted into help me in the stores till I found my feet, and being at a bit of a low ebb after the previous sixteen years that I'd spent working rotating shifts until it near did for me, it was, looking back on it now, the best tonic I could have been prescribed. In fact I'd go as far as to say that his sometimes childlike take on life, never taking anything or anyone too seriously, especially himself, has seriously helped me to get back to the happy and more contented place I now find myself in. Some of the funniest moments I've had in the past few years have been thanks to him; funny anecdotes about the consumption of not very legal substances, rave culture, youthful escapades in an Amsterdam brothel, trouble with work or the law, taking the p*ss out of workmates or bosses, misbehaving at school or college - you name it, he's lived it large and he's still only twenty four! Top bloke Mr T, I wish you well - "your motorcycle, your boots; give them to me now!!"

Hopefully will get to see them all again next week when we go for a few celebratory beers an a spot of ten pin bowling. Maybe a few pictures to post if I remember to take a camera.

As for the others at Compressor Engineering i.e the management; can't say with any truthfulness that I'll miss any of them. Not a bad bunch of people really (except one tosspot who shall remain nameless; actually two, no three!); a wierd vibe sensed from day one; too many hidden agendas, bad blood, empire building, mistrust and backstabbing for my liking. Probably not uncommon in many workplaces I suppose. Not my thing at all really. Too many people there with pound signs in front of their eyes whereas I much prefered giving good old fashioned customer care and service, taking great pride in doing so. Don't think they could figure me out at all; a fact that pleases me a great deal, ha, ha, ha!

Goodbye cruel world and hello sailor!!

Willg - the Chameleon :-)

A Very Good Week Indeed!!!

2007-03-04T20:51:00.000Z

Greetings fellow earthlings!

I am absolutely chuffed to bits this weekend for three very good reasons:

My sweet little angel of a daughter Freya, aged all of 6, got a fantastic school report at parents' evening. Working very hard, achieving all of her set targets (in fact well exceeding them) in all of her subjects, as well as being a well behaved, polite and caring little bod! This was Wednesday.
I went for a job interview, which I thought had gone quite well, and was offered the position four hours later. How cool was that! This was Thursday.
And the icing on this particularly delicious cake was the news that we, and thousands of other anxious parents up and down the land, had been waiting for, if not dreading somewhat; which secondary school would Jacob would be going to in September. Only the flippin' highest achieving secondary school in the county, Brooke Weston City Technology College, our preferred first choice, but in truth barely hoped for in our wildest dreams! Way to go boy, well done - we are all so very proud of you for your hard work so far; keep it up and you will fly very high we've no doubt! This was Friday.

Thankfully Jacob was lucky enough to get into his first choice of secondary school, a fact which fills us with immense pride and hope. It has been an agonising wait to see what the outcome would be and I am acutely aware that we, unlike a lot of other parents, have been very, very fortunate. God do I feel for all those who were to be bitterly disappointed with their childs placement, if indeed they were placed at all, like one of Jacobs friends at the moment who has no idea what school he will be ging to in September.

The whole process is, to be frank, completely sh*t. A complete lottery fraught with serious failings from start to finish. The worst aspect of it all was being conned by the L.E.A into thinking we had a choice at all; quite simply we didn't. There are only three secondary schools in our town and one of those is not worth an x on the ballot paper. That effectively leaves a choice of two and one of those, which looked a good school and would have been our first choice, does not fall into our catchment area; our best hope was an entrance exam and acceptance on a technology placement with very slim odds; not really worth the risk. That only left the third school, which probably would have been okay but presented a seriously poor first impression due to its' shabby condition and lack of investment in the infrastructure for goodness knows how many years. Truthfully it was hard to see beyond the shabbiness and see where a good education for Jacob was going to come from, especially after marvelling at the modern, state-of-the-art, want for nothing Brooke Weston C.T.C which all of the kids got to see first; how cruel was that! All against the backdrop of having to name each of the three schools as your preferred first choice to even be considered for entry, an impossible thing to do, and there you have it; the state of modern UK education under Tony Blairs' shambolic governance. Choice, what choice!

Still, at the end of the day, what can you do but take your chances and make the best of them, 'cos that's what were all going to do when it comes down to it. So once again well done boy, make yourself proud and we'll be right there with you - no pressure then, eh :- )

Willg, the Chameleon - a very proud father!

Grandchild

2007-02-18T21:21:00.000Z

She stumbles upon every day

as though it were a four leaf clover

ringed in a horseshoe.

The light is her luck - and its' thickening

into chair, postman, poodle

with a ribbon round its' neck.

She plays among godsends

and becomes one. Watch her being

a seal or a sleepy book.

Yet sometimes she wakes in the night

terrified, staring

at somewhere else.

She's learning that ancestors

refuse to be dead. Their resurrection

is her terror.

We soothe the little godsend

back to us

and pray, despairingly.

May the clover be

a true prophet. May her light be

without history.

Norman MacCaig.

Man-Flu; the struggle ends!

2007-02-16T18:50:00.000Z

Well what a bad result that was. Nasty cold germs - 4, Guthrie family - 0.

Not a very good week last week. All four of us were hit by these stinking cold germs which seem to be doing the rounds at the moment, and boy do they hit you hard!

The first casualty was Freya who had to come out of school a couple of days before they broke up for half-term because of a high temperature and feeling sleepy, Jacob not far behind a few days later. Plenty of Calpol was the order of the day but God do I hate it when either of my kids is not well, especially if they get feverish; frightens me to death. Thankfully they are rarely ill and, kids being kids, are resilient enough to bounce back quickly.

Rosie was the next to come down with a bad cold, hacking and coughing away like a good 'un (and still is almost two weeks later). And so that left only me. Like sharks circling a lone swimmer in an open sea, surrounded by impending doom, the inevitable; the dreaded Man-Flu!! Oh yes, not for me the simple inconvenience of a paltry and wishy-washy cold, no sir. The real deal was no steal let me tell all you women out there (stop laughing Rosie)! I had to take two days off work and take to bed because of this, let me tell you, that's how serious it was.

Thankfully I have recovered sufficiently for me to let the world know that, despite a few hairy moments (which felt a bit more tender than usual it has to be said), I seem to have kicked its' big bad ass and sent away it to infect another poor unsuspecting male for a short time, building up its' strength through the female population first of course!

Seriously we are all feeling much better, although Rosie is probably still struggling a bit with her cough; something to do with all those germs not wishing to leave the comfortable confines of her ample bosom just yet. And who could blame them - I've been struggling for the past 22 years!!!

Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha :-o

Willg - the Chameleon (the supreme, and not overly serious, Man-Flu Ass Kicker) !

The Chameleon - 'unmasked'

2007-02-06T21:34:00.000Z

Well I did promise you photographs so don't say that you weren't warned! All those of a nervous disposition may leave the room now.

Definately NOT for sale:

'One alpha male with genuine mileage on the clock (but not too much!); bodywork in reasonable nick with no immediate signs of anything about to fall off, although probably overdue for a good M.O.T. One careful lady owner who definately knows where the gas pedal is, and is frequently capable of driving said male up the wall or round the bend (and if he's really lucky, a quick trip to the heavens now and again!!!). Very good at carrying passengers safely, especially said careful lady owner and precious offspring. Hopefully enough in the tank yet to last for a decent journey; seems very fond of following no particular path, which might make for an interesting journey. Sometimes prone to stubborn behaviour and a seemingly unfathomable penchant for taking the hardest route, but none-the-less very reliable and guaranteed not to let you down (if he can help it!). Must be seen to be truly believed; viewing by prior arrangement only - see above mentioned careful lady owner for details'

: - )

Willg - the Chameleon!

Happy Birthday Mrs G.

2007-02-03T21:40:00.000Z

Happy 40th, oops!

Happy 39th Mrs G!!!!!! (the big one comes next year, oh yeah baby!)

Lots of love to my dear wife who celebrated her birthday yesterday. I could take the mickey by saying that although she is not quite over the hill, it's definately in sight. However, I'm far too polite for that; not to mention the fact that I would probably earn myself a slap for my trouble!

Rosie got lots of cards, just as she deserves, and some nice presents also. Jacob bought his mum a new gold toe-ring to replace the one she lost on holiday last year; he even used his own money as opposed to mine - definately not feeling well if you ask me; not at all like the tightwad boy we all know and love! Freya decided to get her mummy some nice, gluten free chocs and a girlie DVD to watch; bang on the money, what a girl she's turning out to be!

Special thanks to Susan & Kevan for babysitting for us while Rosie and I went for a nice, romantic birthday meal for two to Dunkleys at Castle Ashby. Always top nosh! Fantastic to come home and see both kids tucked up safely in bed after being worn out by their favourite surrogate Aunty & Uncle, not!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Actually, it would be better to congratulate the kids on their ability to twist the pair of them round their little fingers and get away with a Mega-late Friday bedtime! Oh dear Aunty Susan & Uncle Kevan; must try harder next time, ha, ha, ha!!

Love you wife!

T.T.F.N

Willg - the chameleon :-o

Being a pain in the a*se!

2007-01-26T21:00:00.000Z

Mrs G.

First of all a great big apology from me, to the one I love most dearly in all the world. I'm sorry babe for being a pain in the ass, and I'm also sorry for not being able to guarantee that I won't be a pain in the ass in the future too! But I promise I'll try harder not to!!

It's funny how you fall out with the people you love most in your life. Most couples fall out as the result of having an argument or a blazing row. I fell out with you because I was unhappy with a few things, probably blaming you unfairly and, me being me, became my usual introverted, distant self; blanking and shutting you out, and probably hurting you deeply in the process. Oh the irony of it; only we (I) could fall out by not having an argument! And there, also ironically, is the answer and the reason why.

I have always been, and for certain will always be, the type of person who when faced, from time to time, with lifes' stresses and strains, will become very quiet and reflective. Hell, you would probably call it downright moody and I can't say as I blame you for that. You see, that's the problem with, or indeed the beauty of, being married. There is nowhere to hide; you are forced to deal with your problems, face your situations head on, only together.

My childhood, for the most part, was a very happy one; something for which I count my blessings. However, there were times when it was blighted by parental arguments, very intense, sometimes physically explosive from both sides (hell, I even witnessed my Mother putting my dear old Dad flat on his back in the kitchen once, before proceeding to pour a bucket of water over his head!), and always very hard to listen to as a child. I would always try to retreat to a place of safety, calm and quiet solitude to try to make sense of it all, before emerging into the outside world again. I suppose in many ways, for me at least, nothing has changed at all. I still am prone to trying to escape from confrontation, wishing to avoid it at all costs, retreating into the only safe place I know exists to protect me, and in a funny sort of way, the ones I love the most. To the outside world, certainly to the people I hold dearest to me (and you know who you are), I can seem distant, introverted and downright moody at times. Probably I am and I deserve a kick up the backside every now and again to set me right. Just do me a favour; don't judge me too harshly, I am only human after all and they say that to err is to be human and for that I make no apologies, not even to you Mrs G!

I love you Rosie and I am truly sorry for upsetting you at a time when you were feeling particularly low; I hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me for being a total knobhead :-(

Willg - the (foolish) chameleon.

Words

2007-01-08T20:16:00.000Z

Greetings my fellow earthmen (and women!).

Anybody who really knows me well, and there aren't that many, not even me sometimes, will tell you that, deep down , I have a fondness for clever wordcraft and poetry. On the odd occassion I've even been known to write some myself, as my wife Rosemary will no doubt verify or shame me with!

I recently came across the following quotation, or to give it its' proper title, an 'Aphorism', by the late prussian philosopher Friedrich Nietzche. It was one of those fleeting moments which seem to strike a chord within you sometimes; to make you stop and contemplate their meaning and relevance to your life, or to simply marvel at the eloquent and evocative power that a few simple words strung together can have. Very deep huh?!

See what you make of this; I for one was blown away by it (no pun intended):

"If I wanted to shake this tree with my hands, I should not be able to do it. But the wind, which I do not see, tortures and bends it in whatever direction it pleases. It is by invisible hands that we are bent and tortured most."

F.Nietzsche

Willg-the chameleon.

The Forgotten Birthday!

2007-01-07T23:10:00.000Z

Just a quick blog to say that I forgot to mention the fact that I officially became 42 years old/young (delete as you see fit!) on January 3rd.

To every one who was gracious enough to present me with cards, presents and best wishes, a heartfelt thanks to you all, you know who you are!

Had a very nice day, once I got the work thing behind me, with Rosie and the kids, who had all handmade some very nice birthday cards for me, as well as presenting me with a cake to boot -carrot cake, carrot cake, de ye have any nuts? No, ye have no nuts! Ha, ha, ha! Special mention to my beautiful daughter Freya who went the extra mile, above and beyond the call of duty, to get up early in her 'goonie and slippers to give me a big hug and 'Happy Birthday Daddy' before I left for work. Priceless!

Happy days!

Willg-the chameleon!

First week (back to reality)!

2007-01-05T20:07:00.000Z

......and then it was all over!

So that's Christmas and New Year over for another 12 months then; thank goodness for that! Now we can all breathe a sigh of relief and return to some semblance of normality, or what ever passes for normality in this madly hectic and time pressed world in which we exist today!

No sooner did it arrive than it went just as quickly, it seemed. We had a slightly different Chistmas this year in that there were no major numbers for dinner; an opportunity to spend quality time doing whatever the children wanted to do instead of rushing around sorting drinks, chatting etc. I'd have to confess that I love doing just that, often to the point of not leaving quality time for myself and my beloved passion, photography! Something I need to work much harder on in 2007 without doubt; I desire greatly to be much more successful with my picture taking and if I could make my living from this wonderful artform (a long term ambition without doubt), then I would be a happy(ier) bunny for sure. End of term report reads.....'must try harder and harder and keep doing so!!!' Both of the children had a fantastic time with lots of nice presents; just how it should be for them as it's how Rosie and I remember our childhood to be. Happy days.

Nice to catch up over christmas with the few people we truly call friends, some near and some far away. Lovely to meet up with Susan & Kevan who have recently moved to their new house in Cottingham. Fantastic house, fabulous people and a good night spent in their company. The kids adore them both and we could not wish for better or more genuine friends than the two of them; we all love them dearly. Hopefully Jacob, Kevan and I will do a lot more walking this year. Sadly never got around to getting up to the Lake District for our 'boys' camp last year, so definately want to in 2007. Watch this space!

Lovely to speak to Sam, Carl and Daniel over christmas as well. The same can be said about these friends as well; truly warm, genuine and reliable people who, unfortunately, don't live so close at hand all the way up in 'Geordieland'. We all love going up to Newcastle to see them, a fantastic part of the world with fantastic, friendly people; if you get to read this Sam I promise we'll make a concerted effort to be up your way soon petal, it's been far too long I know and we both feel a bit bad about that.

And so the end of another short blog. Expect photos to come soon; busy playing with new computer and software so should be sorted in next few days. Only one problem; I always seem to be the one taking the pictures, who's going to take a nice one of me (wife and daughter take note!!)?

Ha, ha, ha and toodle pip!

Willg - the Chameleon.

New Years Day 2007

2007-01-01T21:00:00.000Z

Saw the New Year in with a kiss on the stroke of midnight (you'd better believe it!) from my beautiful wife, in bed together for a cuddle! (Perfect way to the start any New Year if you ask me!)

I had intentions of getting up early-ish to go for a bike ride at 8am; reset alarm a couple of times and eventually got up at 10!!!! Still went for my bike ride though - 15 miles, usual route; Great Oakley, Pipewell, East Carlton then down into the Welland Valley to Middleton, Corby and home again! Sounds easy when you write it down but felt a bit knackered at the end of it!!!

The weather was dry and sunny today but quite windy and cold too. Despite being the beginning of January it just doesn't feel like winter at all; why doesn't it snow in Engand any more? Stopping in a sheltered spot, out of the wind it felt more like a cool, spring day. Lots of green in the fields and a cloudless blue sky for the most part. Stopped for a rest half way round at my usual spot opposite the black barn, looking across the Welland Valley towards Middleton, Cottingham, Bringhurst and beyond to the Eyebrook Valley; a beautiful view to be sure and well worthy of a panoramic-photo stitch in Photoshop at some point (must look into getting round to doing that soon).

Felt really relaxed for a few moments; just aware of the wind playing wildly across the top of the grass in the valley below, like some vast, swirling green ocean moved by an invisible hand to the beat of an unheard song; lovely. Rudely brought back to reality with a car pulling into the layby beside me closely followed by a 4 x 4 blocking the road in its' haste to stop. Tossers! The sooner the government starts to tax the arse off these buggers, the better if you ask me (sorry Kevan!). I rather like my countryside quiet and unspoiled thank you very much and not overrun by assholes, out for a brisk run in whatever happens to be the latest 'in fashion' mode of transport.

Decided at that point to carry on down into the valley, which it seemed to be unusually busy with traffic and horseboxes for some reason. Must be some sort of hunt-meet or point-to-point on today; too many fookin' cars for my liking anyway! River Welland very full and fast flowing, having burst its' banks in a couple of places and flooding the nearby fields.

Continued onwards up Middleton hill (god my legs ached at the top!) and back into Corby, into the wind again for the last couple of miles, like I really needed that! Back home to be greeted by Freya who was really pleased to see her Daddy back again, and me to see her again too. Managed to avoid any New Years Day drink drivers, which was a bonus. Jacob upstairs on the computer in his bedroom; gosh that boy is being a pain towards his sister at the moment, so bloody selfish at times. Selfishness is an anathema to me, totally alien, and I really don't like seeing it in my son at all. I know it cannot be easy having a younger sibling at times but he really needs to be more tollerant of her, especially when she often worships him as an older brother (except for the time she stabbed him in the leg with a biro for not letting her do her wordsearch in peace alone!). I know, deep down, that selfishness is what has driven my brother and me apart and I pray to God that this never happens to Jacob & Freya. When Rosie and I are long gone from this world they will need each other and the sooner they realise it, the easier it will be to leave my babies behind. I just hope it won't be for a long, long time yet!

Toodle pip.

Willg-the Chameleon.

Welcome to the world of blogging!

2007-01-01T20:36:00.000Z

I have decided to become a blogger!

Nothing new to that, I hear you shout from the back of the room. Well for me it is something new, and perhaps a trifle daunting, deciding to share my life, if only the parts of it I am actually prepared to share, with all and sundry (and probably a few more people besides!). So what has prompted this decision to become a fully paid up member of cyberspace all of a sudden, I hear you shout from the back of the room (look, can you keep the noise down please; I'm trying to write my first ever blog entry here and you keep bloody shouting at me and it's putting me off!). I suppose truthfully it's a combination of different things really.

The ending of an old year often gives the opportunity to look back on our lives for a time; did we achieve what we wanted to in the past twelve months or are we yet to do so? Did we truly live life to the full or are we so wrapped up in our own little worlds that we shamefully fail to notice, and see the potential, of what an extraordinary and beautiful world is around us, every second, of every minute, of every day. The beginning of a new year provides the opposite; an opportunity to look forward in a positive way; to take stock and say "this is me and where I'm at; with the past, for better or worst, stretching out like an endless ribbon behind me to the moment of my creation; where will the ribbon stretch to now?". The truth is " any direction you damn well please; it's your ribbon and your choice! ".

A bit heavy perhaps, but sometimes we have to dig a bit deeper to reveal the treasure that's hidden!

My original intention was to try and keep a diary for the following year; something I've never thought about doing or felt I was capable of sticking to (only time will tell if the latter is true!). My wife was good at keeping one when we first met and having recently discovered it amongst the junk from the house move (embarrassingly only seven years ago) in the garage, we both had a good laugh together at the things she had written then about her life as a sixteen year old trainee butcher and general eyer-upper of the boy across the road; me!! I always admired the way she managed to keep it going and despite some genuinely cringeworthy entries, mostly centered around me it has to be said, it is a wonderful snapshot of her life, and mine to some extent, and is guaranteed to raise a smile from us both. Maybe one day our kids, Jacob and Freya, will get to read it and they to will get a good giggle as well; with a bit of luck I'll be pushing up the daisies by then and they can take the piss out of their mother, ha, ha!

It was, somewhat fittingly, my wife Rosie who suggested I write a blog instead of a diary. Despite not being wonderfully competent in most things cyber related, I could see the appeal at once and here I sit, writing my first ever blog entry. I'd like to think I will be able to post one every day but, realistically, being a 41 (soon to be 42!) year old father of two small children, with a full time job, a very demanding wife and pack leader to a cute, but halfwit, Westhighland White Terrier called Maisy, named after a cute, but halfwit cartoon mouse of the same name (just joking about the halfwit dog by the way; it's me that's the halfwit!), I'll post one as often as time will allow I suppose. Hopefully by the years' end it will provide principally me, and anyone else who views them, a snapshot of the life of one human being; his hopes, fears, aspirations, joys, sadness (you've got to be sad to be sat here typing at the speed of a six year old!), sense of humour, musical tastes (God help you, ha, ha, ha!) and general musings on life itself! Already I can see the potential of writing a blog and I hope I can do it justice and make it interesting enough to read, for the most part.

I am reading Peter Kay's, the comedian, autobiography at the moment and it is a bloody good read too! It has made me realise that we all, as human beings, have interesting things to say about our lives, stories to tell, both funny and sad and having lost my Mother, Father and dear Sister in recent years I have heard and witnessed since childhood some wonderful tales that will be told no more. How tragic that is. My sister Anne, after again hearing one of my mum or dads' tales from yesteryear for the umpteenth time and obviously knowing the punchline, would often say to them that they should write a book about their life experiences growing up in Glasgow or working on the taxis or in the steelworks in Corby. I sorely wish that she had done it for them, if she could have, because what a book it would have been; full of lifes rich tapestry of joy and heartache, merriment and sadness and above all, love. Just the way life should be. As Peter Kay would say, "we be jammin'! "

Toodle pip!

Willg - the chameleon!