School Sports Day 2011

School Sports Day 2011, a set on Flickr.

It was School Sports Day For Frodo and Samwise last week.

Mike Fryer. Memorial Tree Planting.

Mike Fryer. Memorial Tree Planting., a set on Flickr.

Mike Fryer. Memorial Tree Planting. A great way to remember a friend, who I'm sure would have approved. A Sweet Chestnut Tree Planted at Keele University. 17 July 2011. We also planted daffodils around the base of the tree, the children particularly enjoyed doing this. Words were said about the tree and the area it's planted in, about Mike, his life, his family and his friends and his Mum told us some tales of when he was a boy. The rain did not stop, but I thought that kind of fitted the occasion, and the tree has been well watered in. It would be good to come back this way again when the daffodils are growing.

Mike Fryer - Happy Memories

Mike Fryer - Happy Memories, a set on Flickr.

I've got a few more photos to scan in and add to this set. I'll post it again when I get around to it.

Mike Fryer. Memorial Meal UK.

Mike Fryer. Memorial Meal UK., a set on Flickr.

It was great to meet Mike's Mum and his Sisters on Saturday. We went for a meal at the Sneyd Arms in Keele. Many photos of Mike and friends were passed around the table, and stories were told. The boys introduced a small girl to the delights of The Beano. Samwise refused to have a sensible photograph taken.

Summer Flowers - Dahlias

Nottingham Trip

I've just spent 2 days in Nottingham - courtesy of work. I was sent down there to do help out with a resource shortage on a major project.
The hire car I was given had enough gadgetry in it to make Michael Knight envious. TFT display dashboard, in built Sat Nav, Bluetooth, USB port, a jack socket for my i-pod, text message display, pushbutton ignition, electronic parking brake, oil slick, ejector seat, machine guns etc.
Had to spend some time programming and configuring the Tech before I could think about driving away. The first thing the car did after pushing the button to start the engine, was to display a warning telling you not to get distracted and drive carefully!
I got to stay in the Crowne Plaza in the city centre - some fun and games negotiating the one way system to find this - even with a Sat Nav. Google Street View had proved useful the night before in helping me to recognise the location.
They gave me a room with a view - it overlooked the entrance to the Rock City nightclub, which explained the supply of courtesy earplugs and courtesy homeopathic sleep remedies. Fortunately it doesn't appear to be open on a Monday night.
Took the opportunity to visit some Old Friends, who treated me to tasty home cooked Tapas. Their younger daughter bakes a scrumptious chunky choc chip bun. Mmmmm! It was great to see them again, and have a guided tour of their new home/building project.

Internet Outage

Aaaargh! No Internet. Broadband was working but the router wasn't transmitting a wireless signal. Fantastic service from the BT Broadband Support line. One phone call, and a very polite and helpful help desk engineer diagnosed (i.e. confirmed that the router wasn't transmitting wireless) and resolved the problem (with a soft reset) in about 50 minutes.

Prize Winning Photography

Wooot! I've just won the Green Tail Monkey monthly photography competition for June, with this photo.

Fathers Day

Gifts and cards this morning from the boys. A new moleskine address book (the battery life is incredible), and a set of desktop Easter Island heads.
As a thank you, took them to the cinema to see the Green Lantern (there's far too many comic book superhero films around these days, and this is one of them), followed by a KFC meal.