After knowing someone for 30 years and seeing them almost on a daily basis, you think things may never change, so it came as bit of a shock when my friend John announced he was going to retire. After spending 40 years running his DIY shop in Framwellate Moor, Durham, he will be sadly missed by the local residents and contractors who have had cause to require his skill and knowledge over the years.

John was what the locals called a 'proper shop'. If you only required a few wood screws to fix a broken door hinge or a small piece of timber to fix a broken fence, he would supply you with them, just as readily as he could cope with orders for dozens of litres of paints and hundreds of metres of timber for your "bigger" jobs. Along with a large stock of hardware, tools, electrical, household and gardening ...
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During a day trip to Newcastle we ran across three really charming people in, of all places, a fish and chip shop. After being caught in one of their photographs, we were told they were in fact disguised as a group of Japanese tourists for the day. Their accent be-lied that statement and once they had joined us for a drink we found out they were actually Polish. As you can see from the photograph it didn't take me long to introduce them to the delights of the local ale.



Left to right we have Kasia, Maciek, Dorota and Judi.

So... for the terminally curious, Maciek and Dorota are married. Dorota and Kasia are sisters, and I have been told Kasia has a twin sister back home in Warsaw. After we spent a couple of hours just sitting and talking somehow the talk turned to music (folk music obviously) and I was ...
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The picture shows a modern 'artist' known as Guillermo 'Habacuc' Vargas and one of his most controversial works from 2007.
It consisted of a dog that was left to starve to death during the course of the exhibition. Instead of being prosecuted this is what has happened...
'the prestigious Visual Arts Biennial of the Central American decided that the 'installation' was actually art, so that Guillermo Vargas Habacuc has been invited to repeat his cruel action for the biennial of 2008.'

So it appears that cruelty is rewarded with world acclaim. If you missed the link to sign a petition to stop this maniac and bring him the rewards he really deserves, from the world animal welfare organizations, then click HERE

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Who in their right mind would drag themselves out of a nice warm bed at 4 am just to dress up in breeches and waistcoat to go dancing? Well your's truly did this morning; along with a few friends and their families. This was the traditional Morris dance-out to welcome in the official start of summer. My friend, Jonathon, persuaded a few of his friends and family to support us with our first dance-out after a lengthy absence. An hours practice with the guys at least came up to a standard worthy of any novice and the clashing sticks, bells and music echoed across the moors at the top of the Wear Valley, disturbing sheep and other sundry wildlife.

Did the sun rise? Well we were convinced, although it was quickly covered by a bank of cloud that threatened to spread rain right across to the east coast. To prove how ...
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For the first time in nearly 30 years, I have managed to fit in a bit of fishing. Despite some early season difficulties with a local club which caused me to withdraw my membership application, I decided to go back to one of my old stretches of the river and try my luck. Surprisingly, the owners still recognized me and I now have a permit to fish this privately owned stretch of river. It contains a natural supply of native Brown Trout, is not stocked with the easy to catch, "hand-reared" Rainbow variety introduced from America which are popular with the "Pay to Catch", fine weather sportsmen and because it flows through a natural, steep-sided valley does not attract many coarse anglers. An ideal setting if you simply want to pit your wits against a shy and cunning opponent and simply catch yourself a meal.
The results of a an enjoyable ...
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