Beth Rowley

Over the summer Anita brought my attention to a singer she'd seen on TV called Beth Rowley. She is a Blues/gospel style, not something I'd really listened to before. She had just released her first CD called 'Little Dreamer' which we bought and I haven't stopped listening to it since.

In August I visited Beth's website and noticed that she had just announced her autumn tour dates, one of which was at the Royal Northern Collage of Music in Manchester in October. Without hesitation I booked two tickets for Anita & me. This was quite an unusual event as I have never been to a concert before, although come to think of it I did go to see Don Francisco once at the Southport Theatre many years ago.

Well, the concert was fantastic and I really enjoyed it. We were just 3 rows from the front and next to the drums!

Check out her web site at www.bethrowley.com

The Rugby Season so far..........

Well not a bad start for Sale Sharks. The season tends to divide itself up into small groups of games for different competitions starting with the Guinness Premiership - after 5 games we are in 3rd position. A top 4 place is the main aim for the season as the top 4 play off for the Premiership Final held at Twickenham in May, a top 2 place would be even better as that would ensure a home tie.

In the EDF cup (a bit like the old football league cup) we were bottom of our group and did not qualify for the semi-final, all was not lost as may top players were rested and many young hopefuls from the academy where given first team game time.

The Heineken Cup (like the Champions league in football) has only just started and so far we have played 2 games - won one & lost one - so it's all still to play for.

Next weekend sees the start of the autumn internationals so we will have several top players away on international duty for England, Wales & Scotland. With several injuries as well, we will almost certainly need to call upon the services of some of the young players in the squad. Hopefully their experience in the EDF cup will hold them in good stead.

Why not visit Sale Sharks website by clicking here

Universities

September saw us visit various Universities with Hannah. We went to Lancaster, Liverpool & Manchester on 3 consecutive Saturdays. It was hard work & we were there nearly all day on each occasion. One of the problems we have is that Hannah is undecided which subject she wants to take, so we were visiting Biology, Chemistry, Geology & Geography departments. So far Hannah has ruled out Chemistry. Lancaster, which is a campus university, is currently top of the list. We will have another look around next spring.

Hannah is going to take a year out. Hopefully she will earn some money and also do some kind of missionary work.

The Credit Crunch

Well, first week back to work in August after our holidays and I had to review the staffing in my Department. My Director asked me to make some cuts as the level of work through the business had slowed down significantly due to the down turn in the housing market. I had to assess the current & future work load & then decide how many staff I could let go. I had already had a couple of staff leave earlier in the year which I had decided not to replace, so I only needed to let one person go. For the next stage I had to conduct a review for each member of staff to be able to come to a fair decsion on who would be made redundant. I was a hard few days. The total number of staff who were made redundant was significant. But it was absolutly necesssery if the business is to survive the credit crunch.

Olympics, Rugby, Christianity & Eric Liddell

This is an extract from the worlds best selling rugby magazine Rugby World (Sept 2008 page 88).

"Immortalised in the Oscar winning film Chariots of Fire, Liddell is best known as a devout Christian who won the 400m gold medal in the 1924 Paris Olympics in a world record time of 47.6 seconds. Ironically, the 100m had been considered Liddell's strongest event but, with the final scheduled for a Sunday, he withdrew at the start of the Games because he considered the sabbath as a day of rest.

One aspect of the Scot's life omitted in the film was his rugby career, which was brief but brilliant. First capped against France in 1922, Liddell scored 4 tries in 7 Tests, including 3 in the 1923 five nations when, but for an 8-6 defeat to England would have won their 1st Grand Slam. Two years later the Scots achieved that distinction, but Liddell was no longer part of the team having settled in China as a missionary. He was still there in the early 1940s when the Japanese invaded the country during World War 2; Liddell was interned in the Shantung Compound and died of a brain tumor in 1945 aged 43.

A fellow internee wrote later that throughout his incarceration Liddell was 'overflowing with good humour and love for life...it is rare indeed a person has the good fortune to meet a saint, but he came as close to it as anyone I have ever known'."

Eric Liddell is also the subject of a new book by Gordon Keddie called "Running The Race" (published by Evangelical Press). I am currently half way through and thoroughly enjoying it. I hope to finish it before New Year.

This will be our last holiday blog

This is our last holiday blog from Hawes in beautiful Wensleydale. On Sunday we went to the evangelical church in Leyburn as we did last week and had a good time. It is a very warm and friendly fellowship. Today (mon) we went to the castle at Middleham where king Richard III lived. We have had 4 very hot days with lots of sunshine. Some in the family have got sunburned! Tomorrow is market day in Hawes.

Hannah & Esther posing with the locals.

Hannah & Esther posing with the locals. This was the best day so far (monday). Tuesday we walked to Ingjeborough cave & had a tour of the cave which was so fascinating. We went on a bat walk late last night (wed) with a bat expert - complete with bat detectors.

Hello, welcome to my holiday blog 08....

This is a view from the caravan site looking towards Hawes. We've had mixed weather so far, but it's very relaxing. More to follow soon.

Le Tour de France

This weekend sees the start of Le Tour de France 2008. This is one of the greatest sporting events on the planet. I will be recording and watching all the highlights shown on itv4 at 7.00pm to 8.00pm each day.

Last years race was really controversial with many riders and some teams being expelled for taking drugs & missing drug tests. Let's hope this years race free from such incidents so we can concentrate on the cycling.

If you've never watched le Tour before then tune into the highlights show on ITV, particularly when the race is in the Alps or Pyrenees.

The fitness of these guys is unbelieveable. They cycle around 150-180 kilometres a day, everyday for 3 weeks. By the end of the tour they actually begin to loose weight, all the fat is burned up and the muscles begin to reduce.


Last year Le Tour was won by Alberto Contrador, my prediction for this year is Cadel Evans from the Silence-Lotto team. One thing is for sure - Le Tour will be won or lost in the mountain stages.

Something to Watch #1

With still around 2 months to go until the new rugby season gets under way, I thought this TV programme called 'Talking Sharks' would keep us going. If you enjoy this, keep visiting my blog for part 2. Enjoy!! (I did).

Ouch - my wallet

Well my teeth are finally fixed with 2 new crowns and looking good. My wallet isn't very happy though. It's feeling rather underweight and wondering where it's next meal is coming from. It may take it some time to get back to where it was last week :(

Please make cheques payable to "Parky's Crown Fund". All donations gratefully recived.

Many Thanks

Father's Day

I'm fast asleep, but then suddenly I'm disturbed by the bedroom door opening and the sound of girls voices. I look at the clock and it's 9.00 am. The girls voices are those of Hannah & Esther carrying a tray and on it is my breakfast - shredded wheat, toast & jam, fresh strawberries and a cafetiere of coffee and all beautifully presented. I sit up and enjoy.

It's now 1.00pm and we're all back from church. Esther kicks me out of the kitchen while she makes dinner. I know generally what it is as I went shopping to the market with Anita & Hannah yesterday. At the butchers I was asked what I wanted for Sunday lunch - I opted for a piece of rump steak, then we bought strawberries on the veg stall for pudding. Yum, yum the steak was cooked to perfection. Well done Esther!

However something else is going on, I'm still not allowed into the kitchen. All afternoon I've been barred - what is going on? It's now 6pm and time for a cuppa before church. I'm not really hungry as we had dinner quite late. Ah! at last I see whats been going on, with my cup a tea a piece of homemade caramel shortbread - mmm heaven.

Thanks girls for a wonderful Fathers' day - I love you both.

Ouch - my tooth

Yesterday one of my teeth broke while I was eating a cereal bar. It's snapped in two & the filling has fallen out. Tomorrow I visit the dentist to get it fixed. So wait for the next installment; 'Ouch - wallet'

This is my first mobile blog.

This is my first mobile blog. This is my dog ellie a border collie. She is 10 years old and still very lively.

Picnic in Bowland

Today we had a family day out in the Forest of Bowland. We stopped at one of our favourite picnic spots for lunch near to Dunsop Bridge - the centre of the Kingdom. Hannah enjoyed it so much she fell asleep, while Esther & Ellie played in the stream.

This is one of my favourite places in the UK. It's unspoilt, quiet, peaceful, a designated 'area of outstanding natural beauty' and only an hours gentle drive away. As a child I have many happy memories of paddling in the streams, building dams and generally having a fun in the water. Although I don't paddle or build dams anymore, it's great just to be out in the 'fresh' air sat in a deckchair reading a favourite book or magazine.

The stream was quite dry due to the lack of rain over the past few weeks. We also passed by some areas of hillside that had been on fire during the last few days (in fact last weekend, we could see large clouds of smoke rising from the Bowland fells as we drove along Shore Road on our way to Hesketh Bank).

Later in the afternoon we packed away our picnic & headed off to Dunsop Bridge for some delicious homemade ice cream. From there we made our way home via a stop in Clitheroe to check out a caravan site next to the River Ribble which looked pretty good, so may be we'll spend some time there in the future.

The Rugby Year

Well the Rugby Union season is just about over. Sale Sharks have no more games until September and we have had a disappointing end to the season. We missed the Guinness Premiership playoffs by one point, which was all our fault as we lost the last game at home to London Irish. On a positive note we did manage to qualify for the Heineken Cup next season. We have lost some good players for next season, mainly young Ben Foden to Northampton, who has played outstanding @ 15 this year, I'm sure he could go all they way & play for England in that position. But alas he wants to play @ 9 and that's what Northampton have offered him. On the bright side we welcome Matthew Tait from Newcastle & Dwayne Peel from the Scarlets amongst others.


England jet off to New Zealand for a couple of end of season test matches. I'm not expecting us to win, but I would like to see them put in some good performances. Our Charlie Hodgson has been recalled to the squad. He has been an outstanding player for Sale so lets hope he can take this chance & impress the new management. Unfortunately I don't have Sky so I won't get to see any of the games - roll on September.

My First Blog

This is my very 1st blog, hope fully subsequent entries will contain some items of substance and interest.