Ridlington - Belton - Ridlington

Led by Mel. Welcome back! With Barry, Maureen, Gordon, Eddie, Jill, Ken and me. Some sun, but cold - the first real frost of the year. Another sticky-boot day.



We parked at Ridlington Cricket ground, as instructed last time, then set off down Noel Lane, past the Old Noel Arms and down a muddy lane, where we met a mini-flock of Jacob's sheep.



Over a stile and along the field edge, then through a hedge.











We continued for a mile or so before coming close to the bridge over the river Chater and turning left along the Leighfield Way, which goes slightly west of south towards Belton-in-Rutland.

I cheated here - took this pic in July!

The path pulls uphill for a while, then down to the village. Belton war memorial has a welcoming wall for weary walkers.

From there we walked downhill and turned left very soon at a footpath sign. We crossed a field and then a footbridge over the stream. The path went uphill quite gently, and, when it met another path, we turned left to climb more steeply. From here the track is clear.























































The area feels quite remote, apart from Park Farm, which sits on a hill, in splendid isolation. We arrived back at Ridlington, after a walk of slightly less than 7 miles.

Pine Tree on Ridge

Trees at Highland Hammocks Park

While we were at the park, I saw Nathan doing something and couldn't quite figure it out. I snapped a picture first and then asked what he was doing.



He said he was feeling the tree move and when I did the same thing, sure enough you could feel it swaying.



We then talked about all of the cool things to do with trees, and moved to specifically discussing how neat the trees here are.











Next time we visit, I hope to get shots of the giant trees that Auburn calls Jurassic Park trees.



Living the life in sunny Florida!

Wordless Wednesday - Not the Yellow Brick Road

Wordless Wednesday - Not the Yellow Brick Road
Terre Haute, Indiana. Summer of 1980. Digitized ...Copyright © 1980/.. by Rebeckah R. Wiseman.

People Watching in Place du Molard

Our company’s European headquarters is about 15+ minutes by tram to Geneve city centre. Taking public transport like the tram is the best option in Geneva as it is free. You get a free tram ticket upon checking in at the hotel.

So after work on a Friday, I went to the city centre together with my Egyptian colleague. He’s quite well travelled but it’s his first time in Geneve. I told him I am going to the city centre to shop and if he wants to come along I will buy him a drink in town. He obliged.

We both had rose while enjoying Europe’s favourite pastime, people watching. I wanted to take more pictures of people, especially the well-dressed Swiss-French women but I got slightly distracted. A glass of wine peppered with a very interesting conversation has definitely won over my camera.

Fotos here:

Happy Valentines Day

This year, Nathan and I decided we were not going to do Valentines Day cards or gifts. Austin couldn't stand to see the day not being celebrated properly, so he not only got me gifts from he and Aric, he also bought for Dad. He did a great job!



I got two beautiful cards, one with a doggie that resembles my girl. I also got chocolate covered cherries that my girl snuck into, ate all of them and then puked all over my comforter and sheets and floor. Yes, I know dogs aren't allowed to eat chocolate...she did this while we were all at work and she somehow broke into our room. Now I know to put the chocolate up high so there is no way she can reach it. I also received Good N Plenty candy, and Ghiradelli candy. I ate those before she could get to them!



Thank you guys for such a sweet surprise. You made my day! I love all of my best gifts of love-my husband, five children and three grandchildren!



Happy Valentines Day!

Enjoying a ‘canchanchara cocktail’ and a serenade at the La Canchanchara Bar in Trinidad

I mentioned previously that Blondine and I drank our way through Cuba. We literally sampled all alcoholic concoction that is being thrust in front of us. Now, we are happy to report that we both like Trinidad’s famous fresh cocktail drink called ‘canchanchara’.

Canchanchara is a mixture of rum, honey, lemon juice, water and some ice. The base of a Cuban cocktail drink is always rum. You can enjoy this drink everywhere in Trinidad and in Cuba actually, however, in Trinidad, there is the ‘La Canchanchara Bar’ faithfully offering this drink to visitors.

Blondine and I went there of course and after ordering our canchancharas, we were exclusively serenaded by some locals. Very sweet! And we met the funny ‘Jose’ as well! It was late in the afternoon so there were not many people in the bar. We almost had the place to ourselves =)

Inside the La Canchanchara bar... not busy as it was very late in the afternoon. Trinidad is not like Havana. It is not rundown with tourists.

Canchanchara is a very refreshing cocktail drink. You will have to stir the drink until the honey at the bottom mixes with the drink.

And we got serenaded!

The serenade video at La Canchanchara Bar in Trinidad.

Jose was such a funny guy! He makes us laugh the whole time.

We were told that it gets lively here at the La Canchanchara bar in the evenings. There is music, dancing and all. Jose even told us that he will personally teach us salsa and cha-cha-cha dance if we come back in the evening.

Well, after dinner that night, Blondine and I were so tired, so we opted instead for a relaxing evening back at our farm hotel. A bit boring eh?

Pennsylvania From My Window

We are in such a beautiful area of Pennsylvania/Maryland. I'm enjoying how timeless it is here.

I'm enjoying being here when the view is full of bright, earthy colors.

I'm enjoying the rich history that is here.

Mostly I'm enjoying small town America and all of her goodness.

Living the life in Pennsylvania!

I want to adopt a cat

Recently I went out with Blondine for lunch at a really nice chic place in Amsterdam but will post more about this another time soon. So I picked her up in Amstelveen and when we went back to the car, we had a little surprise. Look who's waiting for us!



Awww, isn't she just soooo cute? I want to squeeze and pinch her.







This very relaxed cat was lying there like there is going to be no tomorrow. Seriously, the cat looked like she was having the best time in her life, lying on her back leisurely, no cares in this world, wriggling and rubbing her back. Even with our presence she was not moving away, she was just not budging! And she continues to wriggle and rub her back against the car, her head upside down and her eyes looking straight at me. If those teardrop green eyes could talk, she must have said, 'I haven't had lunch yet... can I come with you ladies please?'



Sorry Miss Cat but we cannot bring you with us to our lunch, so we need to get you down! Miss Cat protested but she eventually got down, albeit grudgingly.



I will let you in a secret wish. I really, really, really want to have a cat. Unfortunately, we don't know where to leave the cat when we are travelling. Dutchman argues that leaving the cat somewhere else, like an animal hospice is not healthy. He said cats are territorial and thus prefer to stay where they are.



Hmm, we could actually ask our neighbours, but Dutchman and I are not the type of people to inconvenience others. It's not us to ask favours from other people.



Helaas, I will just keep on dreaming until I find a solution.



Amsteleveen, The Netherlands

July

SST Update!

Sorting, scanning and trashing are coming along nicely ;-)

Last night I "finished" the three "shoeboxes" of pictures mentioned in my post of May 22nd, having scanned an additional 620 images, which took a little more than 26 hours over the past ten days, for a total of 970 images scanned. That covers my family pictures for the time period of 1979-... I bought my first digital camera in October .. so the pictures taken from then on are already digitized. Family pictures taken before 1979 are in half a dozen albums and still need to be scanned. Those pictures will have to be removed from the "magnetic" pages, scanned, and then put into archival quality albums. So they will take a little longer. Also those three shoeboxes have been reduced to two - there were a lot of duplicates and more than a few were blurry and out of focus.

A friend said she had a slide viewer so I borrowed it. However, it doesn't work! So I still need to figure out a way to view my slides to select those to send out for scanning. . . and, of course, I still need to caption and add identifying information to all of the recently scanned images.

That's me. Six years old. Summer of 1954 at Goose Lake.

Coaster Roadster!

Behold my beloved Raleigh DL-1 Lady Tourist! Lovely as usual, is she not?

Ah, but some things about her are not at all "as usual". Can you tell that the lady has had major surgery? Probably not, and that's the beauty of it; her classic roadster features have been left intact.

But oh, what's this here? Why yes, it's a Sturmey-Archer S3C coaster brake hub! And with it, the bicycle has been magically transformed to an unmatched state of fabulousity.

For those unfamiliar with the saga: The Raleigh DL-1 is basically the holy grail of vintage "Roadsters," particularly the lady's loop frame. These bicycles are elegant, comfortable and surprisingly fast. There is only one tragic drawback: They were made with rod brakes, which is a braking system that is not the greatest even in dry weather, and completely ineffective in the rain. I got my DL-1 last summer and it has been my preferred bicycle ever since, despite the poor braking power. Still, I hoped that someday a conversion to a more effective braking system would make it perfect. Imagine my elation that this day has come!

If you are wondering how we did this, I will first say that it is definitely a "don't try this at home" project unless you are mechanically inclined, or have a spouse who is. But to summarise: You will need to get a 3-speed coaster brake hub and to have a new wheel built around it. You cannot put the coaster brake hub in the old wheel, because these hubs were designed for a different number of spokes. If you are planning to keep the original rod brakes (which you have to, unless you want to replace the handlebars), the new wheel needs to have a 28" rod-brake rim. These are distinct from regular rims, in that they have a special notch for the rod brake pads to grip. Yellow Jersey sells these rims, and they can also build you the wheel if you send them the coaster brake hub.

And that is what we did: I got the hub from an acquaintance who happened to have one (and who sent this monogrammed reaction arm clamp to go with it!), and had the wheel built by Yellow Jersey. Upon receiving the new wheel in the mail, we stayed up half the night attaching it to the bike. There are various little nuances that made it, shall we say, challenging - but it is doable. I will post a more detailed account on Boston Retro Wheelmen soon; for now I still have PTSD from the process. But let's be frank: A mild case of PTSD is a small sacrifice for the miracle of a secret coaster brake on a classic rod-brake roadster!

After the coaster-brake wheel installation, I spent the following day riding the bike everywhere; it was difficult to get me off of it! I tried hills, high-traffic routes, bridges - all kinds of situation where the brakes would be put to the test. I even got stuck in the pouring rain on my way home from downtown Boston - which was not intentional, but perfectly timed for testing the brakes in wet weather. If you've been reading this blog, you know I like coaster brakes, and this one performs fantastically. Upon back-pedaling, it comes to a soft (non-jolting) but reliable stop, making hand braking completely unnecessary, other than for preventing the bicycle from rolling when stopped at a traffic light. One funny thing about this hub, is that it is very-very loud: a steady ticking noise when pedaling, amplified tenfold when coasting. Well, at least they can hear me approach!

It did not take me long to get used to the DL-1 having a coaster brake and to adapt my braking patterns accordingly. With the rod brakes, I used to plan my stops in advance and I feared rain. Now I am free from worrying about such things and can fully enjoy this wonderful bicycle. There are other ways of installing effective brakes on the DL-1, like attaching the rods to a rollerbrake hub or replacing the whole rod system with standard brakes and conventional handlebars. But I chose the coaster brake, both because I like the system in itself, and because it allowed me to preserve everything about this bicycle exactly as it was - making it my very own Coaster Roadster.