Cambridge at Dusk (from my rollerblades)

I'm into silhouttes at the moment.

Roast beef, Volvo style

This full plate of food, including two yorkshire pudings (yum!), roast beef and veggies costs the princely sum of £2:50. Not bad!! Every thursday is roast day, needless to say my favourite meal of the week.

Sammy's 5th birthday party

She's looking more adorable than ever.

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An Insect's View - Portraits of a Hidden World

An Insect's View - Portraits of a Hidden World

Stunningly beautiful photos of insects here. And some lovely prose too in the introduction. Inspiring. I'd love to capture beauty like this...

Culture galore

Wow, what a great art exhibition. It's all the rage in London at the moment, booked up for months in advance. The story of Whistler (American )and Turner (British), their love affair with painting London landscapes and how they inspired Monet (French) in his impressionist style. We met up with Rosemarie and Nick and spent an exciting two and half hours exploring the paintings.

There were lots of interesting landscapes of London in the 1800's - what an awful place it was with its appalling polution and thick smog. Ironically however, it was the smog that brought Monet back to London over and over - he loved the ephemeral quality it gave the light and the moods it cast over the city. Oh well, i suppose there is a silver lining in everything.

I particularly liked Monet's paintings. My favourite paintings of his were this one and this one - both of the Parliament Buildings. There was also an amazing painting from Turner of the Parlimant Buildings burning down in 1834.

It was a wonderful exhibition and Ally was particularly in her element. In her words: "It was an explosion of light and a heady experimentation of colour, combining all my most beloved subjects - namely sunsets and travel." As you can see, she's becoming quite a poet.

Mamma Mia!

This musical has been on our life lists for over a year. And it didn't disappoint. The star of the show, apart from the fabulous music of course, must surely be the script writer. Very clever how she wove such a fun and entertaining story line around the songs. By the end of the show, we were on our feet, joining in the encores with unabashedly loud voices. That's Abba for you - absolutely irresistable. In my experience, only the coolest movies and shows get to use Abba as a sound track. Priscilla and the Desert. Muriel's Wedding. Now Mamma Mia. Colleen and Steve enjoyed the show as much as we did.

Picadilly Circus at dusk

It was great to meet up with Colleen and Steve again in London. They're both doing well - just returned from two weeks in Egypt which they loved.

A stroll through Bishops Park

To get to Colleen's flat from the station, we had to walk through Bishop's Park. A lovely stroll along the Thames through green foliage. Quiet and tranquil with the soft chirps of the birds to accompany us. Or so it would have been without Ally's wheeled suit case. It has the loudest wheels we've ever heard. Scraping and thundering along the pavement. Couldn't even hold a conversation over the clamor. Everyone looked up from their picnics to find out what the racket was all about. Needless to say, we've decided to give the bag away and get something a little more streamlined.

Summer evening

Our first true summer evening in Cambridge - warm and sunny and gorgeous. I went for a rollerblade by the river to celebrate

I took photos of these punts last summer - and did so again tonight. Very photogenic they are. As you can see, all the punts are named after words that come with the word "three", a clever play on the word Trinity. The river is very peaceful here - I sat and watched the sun go down as people lazily punted past. This is true Cambridge.

Sammy's 5th birthday - family party

What a beautiful cake!fx

Weekend in Jersey

We spent a wonderful weekend with Rosemarie and Nick in Jersey this weekend. Nick has changed companies recently, requiring a move from Guernsy and they are settling in. It was great to spend some qulaity time with R&N. And Jersey really impressed us with some gorgeous coast line and open spaces. It's a great island.

On Friday night, we went to a local performance of Carousel - a great "Rogers and Hammerstein" musical. We recognised lots of the songs without ever having realised they come from this particular musical. I'd like to see some more of their musicals now - particularly South Pacific which I remember watching as a kid (and being blown away - it was my first ever musical) but haven't seen again since. They also wrote King and I and Oklahoma to name but a few.

Aren't Rosemarie's ear muffs cute! I only realised when we had got home that I hadn't got any photos of Nick. He was on top form this weekend - making us all laugh all weekend long. He's a bit like Gramps - always full of funny stories. He has been in amateur dramatics for many years - and we got to see some great video footage of him in some of his previous musicals including Carmen, Carousel, Oklahoma and Carmen.

Memorable moments: The Dancing Queen of Duxford

In 2005, during my tenure at Volvo’s UK headquarters in Duxford, I found myself hitting a mid-afternoon slump. The quiet, focused hum of the open-plan office was making me feel a bit sleepy, so I decided to inject some energy into my system with a bit of "pumping" music.

I reached for my headphones, plugged them in, and selected a track guaranteed to provide a pick-me-up: Abba’s Dancing Queen. I cranked the volume, leaned back, and let the upbeat tempo wash over me. I was really getting into the groove, feeling the sleepiness lift, when I happened to look up.

Every single person in the office was staring at me.

Andrew, leaning over his desk with a look of mild concern, broke the silence. "Wow, Graeme," he said, "you might want to switch that off."

With a jolt of horror, I realized I hadn't seated the headphone jack correctly. The music wasn't thumping into my ears; it was blaring at maximum volume directly out of my computer speakers, serenading the entire department.

For a moment, I braced for a corporate reprimand for disrupting the peace. But then I remembered where I was. In an office full of Swedes, Abba isn't just music—it’s a national anthem. Instead of annoyance, I saw nods of appreciation and wide grins. They didn't care about the noise; they heartily approved of the choice.

Wimpole Estate

We visited Wimpole Estate, a local farm, to see all the new born lambs. Very cute indeed. I cannot believe how docile sheep are - they are quite happy for you to pet their little ones. We also met a plethora of other farm animals including pygmy goats (they'd make cute pets), Tamworth boars (they wouldn't), ponies, cows and chickens. The highlight of the day was watching the delight of the little children who were there in high numbers. Ally's aim of making me rampantly broody clearly nearly paid off!!

Cute little lambs

The Tamworth Two: This story was attached to the pig pen. Pictures of them here, their story is now told in a movie. What a wonderful story!

Update

Thanks for all the comments you've all been leaving recently - it's been wonderful to have the participation. Makes it all lots of fun for us.

It's been a short and relatively uneventful week except for Ally's first day at work today. The official verdict "It was ok!". A rather different company from Ally's usual - a somewhat older crowd with a different culture. In fact some of the people have been in their roles four times longer than the cumulative age of all the companies she has worked for. First company Ally has worked for where the men have to wear ties. So it will be a different challenge - but good experience on her CV. The company has been through a recent merger so it brings an interesting set of dynamics. Spot the euphemism...

Poor Ally missed the last and final episode of the TV reality program "Master Chef." She was stuck in traffic somewhere on the M 11 when it came on - a double insult to the injury of having to go back to the grindstone. Gutting. I called her on the mobile and pressed the phone to the TV speakers so she could hear the highlights and the announcement of the winner. We were delighted when out favourite won - the charmingly eccentric, slightly slap dash but hugely creative British lass beat the technically brilliant but "play it safe" stockbroker. All the food looked absolutely delicious and made me very hungry. Went straight to gym on Ally's eventual return and attacked a steak roll!

During the trip to gym. Ally promptly asked me if she could become a lady of leisure again. I said "Surely you'd be bored!" To which she replied "Over the past few months, have I ever once looked bored?" I must say it's been a pleasure having a gorgeous, energetic wife to return home to in the evenings - and a hot, freshly ironed shirt to wear in the mornings! I nearly missed the train this morning because I've had five months to forget how long it takes to iron a shirt and rather underestimated it...

Our new employee, Tom, started this week and he looks to have been a very good hire. Lots of relevant experience, and a jovial and fun chap to boot, I have high hopes. He'll take some pressure off the team too which is always nice.

The weather for the weekend is predicted to be sunny which is a big bonus. Ally is taking me off lambing tomorrow. Apparently we can get to feed the little darlings and Ally is hoping it will make me rampantly broody. Feeding little lambs is even on her life list. No doubt we'll take lots of cute photos - watch this space.

Sunday night, I've organised a two hour marathon tennis match with a colleague. We're pretty well matched so it should be mammoth contest. Except he's 23 and doesn't get quite as breathless as me. Hopefully I'll kill him with my serve and he won't have a chance to run me off my feet. I've officially been promoted from one on one "beginner" lessons to a group "improvers" course so feeling chuffed.

Can't think of any more news - so I'll sign off. Hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Progress (Cambridge life: 2004 - 2005)

Cambridge life

• Finding apartment
• Meditation for a year
• Ally HR plan

Diving

• Learn diving (Paddy course) in Egypt

Blogging and photography

• Start Life Trove with blogger
• Start photography
• Ixus-i to start, then Canon Powershot for Canada
• Capturing memories into Excel (to later become part of the blog)
• Picasa

Volvo work

• Finding passion and confidence in work
• Managing budget (pivot table)
• Mindmanager (for to do & strategy)
• Technical Director job description
• Getting Things Done (David Allen)

Purchases

• Canon S2 IS camera (12 x zoom)
• i-pod
• Canon ixus-i camera

Aint she cute

Ally has just had a lovely new haircut. Added to all her gyming and toning, she looking absolutely delicious. Yummy.

Cambridge Botanical Gardens

We spent the afternoon pottering in the Botanical garden, admiring the flowers and reading. Cambridge is blossoming back into it's beautiful self - so glad winter is ended. The Mallard ducks on the lake are in their breeding plumage with emerald green necks - beautiful.

Taking it easy

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Cute Luke

We had a lovely easter lunch with Johnathon and Amanda and their family. Johnathon's sister's little one, Luke, stole the show and won us all over with his big eyes. Went for a bracing walk (the weather is still blustery) and made a joint effort at the crossword. Could definitely have done with Gramp's inspiration cause we struggled and it finally beat us. Came home and watched Collateral which was enjoyable. Tomorrow I have to do some work unfortunately and we've got some tennis planned.

Easter in Cape Town

Thanks for sending the photos, mum. Hope too that the salmon was delicious. Unfortuntely Picasa has cropped poor Jo when generating the collage - but the photos are brilliant. It's great that Robyn could join the festivities - it was good to talk to everyone on the phone. Hope that Anthony's work goes well and finishes on time. Horrible to have to work through Easter.

A very wet Thetford Forest

Went to Thetford Forest for some fresh air. It started raining with avengeance by the time we got half way there and poured most of the time. But we had fun. Thankfully we'd decided to make it a day trip - not an overnight camping stint. We would have been cold and miserable. I think we'll leave the overnighting for the true summer which is on it's way. Clocks go forwards tonight.

Never too late for a happy childhood!

Easter at Kirstenbosch

Mum sent through these great pics of Sam and Matthew at Kirstenbosch. Can't believe how fast they are growing up.

Ah, India!

Bill and Lynne (friends of Mike ) have just completed their stint in India (part of a world trip) and made me laugh with their account. Really well written, it brought back some great memories - although I have to say we unfortunately didn't experience it in quite their style. I don't remember any marble bathrooms or "roofs lined with silk" from the hotels where we stayed - although the squalid backpacker toilets do come to mind all too swiftly! I'd love to go back to India one day but I don't think Ally shares my enthusiasm. Perhaps if I convince her we'll do it more like Bill and Lynne, I'll be able to convince her!

Update

We're looking forward to a relaxing four day long Easter weekend. Wish every weekend was this long!

Ally's new job has been finalised so we are very happy about that and she is determined to enjoy her last few days of freedom. She starts on April Fools day but hopefully that's just a co-incidence!

Work is going ok. I spent a couple of days this week in Brussels and the meetings went well. Our new team member at work, Tom, starts on Tuesday next week so holding fingers he'll blow us away with his brilliance. He certainly looks to have the goods in his CV and from his interviews.

Ally and I are off to play some tennis this afternoon and tomorrow we're playing with the idea of going camping (depending on the weather and it's by no means summr yet.) Alternatively, we've been invited round to Amanda and Johnathon for Easter lunch with the family on Sunday which sounds nice and warm.

We've been watching a couple of movies. Festen (The celebration) was a strikingly original Danish movie and Battleship Potemkin was an iconic 1920's Russian classic that was a little hard to sit through (ah the joys of counting down the Top 250 IMDB list).

We've become a little addicted to a bevy of reality TV programs recently. There's Master Chef, (attempting to find the UK's most talented new chef), and The Apprentice (14 ambitious youngsers battling it out to impress a cantankerous celebrity multi-millionaire and win a six figure salary) and Blame the Parents (showing just how atrociously kids can behave and the often equally awful behaviour of their luckless parents.) What was life like before reality TV!

Ally has caught my recent bug for non fiction hand has been attacking Bill Bryson's "A Short History of Nearly Everything" and Michael Cook's "A Brief History of the Human Race". Our conversations at the moment are a smattering of learned observations about evolution and history - peppered by reminisces from our reality TV moments. I've been reading Robyn's well recommended "101 things to do before you die" which is delightfully tongue in cheek.

Now that the weather is improving, hopefully we'll get out more!

With that, I'll sign off. Ally has just finished toasting some hot cross buns and I'm off to tuck in. Hope you all have a lovely Easter.

The pleasures of flight

I had a bumpy flight to Brussels this week on this rather small plane. I've always been a very confident flyer, even relishing a bout of turbulence now and then as welcome seconds of excitement amidst hours of flight monotony. But since flying weekly with Ryan Air and experiencing one ferociously bumpy landing to many (not to mention having to don my oxygen mask on one flight due to smoke in the cabin), I have become rather nervous in the air. The bumps on this propellor driven baby didn't help!

Ally clearing snow from the car

Volvo Group Headquarters

Volvo Group is an enormous company that scans the globe so you might expect it's headquarters to be a towering skyscraper in a bustling city centre. Not so. It's an attractive rambling "mansion" on top of a hill in Gothenburg with courtyard garden in the middle (see photo above). Most of the offices look out onto gorgeous views. A nice environment to work in. Those concrete jungalists could learn a thing or two.