Burn's Night

Burns’ Night – a new event organised by Pendrell College (where Authentica holds many of its training courses). The picture shows Alan, Judy, Matt and Kirstin in the reception hall of the college just before we sat down to eat (yes, haggis was on the menu). In 2007, Matt will be offering the address to the haggis as well as giving a short (none too serious) after-dinner talk about the Bard.

Celebrating the Scottish Poet

 

No sign of Mr Toad

A long time narrow-boat enthusiast, Alison McCallum, had an early holiday on the Shropshire canals with her son David and his friend Finlay, Kirstin is looking on as Alison supervises passage of the boat through a lock near Newport. Kirstin and Matt enjoyed a splendid lunch on-board, prepared by David.

Going through the lock

 

Still (caravan) carzy, after all these years

Caravanning in the UK is now a comparatively rare experience for Kirstin and Matt. The spring trip to south west Scotland coincided with Kirstin’s 60th. The caravan is seen here at Brighouse Bay (a commercial site and not recommended) before moving on to New England Bay (Caravan Club site and also, sadly, not recommended). Thank goodness we have a caravan in France where people appear to know how to behave.

Bailey, Astra and Frontera, with K & M.

 

Now you don't

And once the old kitchen had been removed, there were even traces of the one before that!

Out with the old!

What's cooking?

The largest DIY task for the new kitchen was the creation of this slightly recessed space for the hob. Touch control induction rings make gas seem a strange way of cooking.

The ‘cooking niche’   

 

Cats need protection

As you might expect, Kirstin continues her work with Cats Protection. Here the Cat’s gazebo is seen at the Wolverhampton Steam Fair – a really good event with loads of interesting things to see.

There's no such thing as bad publicity.

 

Das U-Boat

St Nazaire is where the Germans built their U-Boat pens during the WWII. The scale of these structures has to be seen to be fully appreciated. This is now a tourist attraction including a museum to the transatlantic liners of the inter-war years.

A lot of concrete!

We have (other) ways of using concrete

Another remnant of the German occupation is the Grande Blochus, overlooking the Atlantic coast. This was a gunnery observation and range-finding installation for use against allied warships. The coastal towns of St Nazaire and Brest were among the most difficult German strongholds to be recaptured towards the end of WWII.

 

Setting sail again

A wonderful river trip from St Malo to Dinan (or the reverse) is offered during the summer. When we joined Alan and Judy at Dinan we undertook the journey on what was an almost empty boat. The old town of St Malo can be seen in the background of this picture.

Private cruise?

 

Not so green

The USA way.

One of Matt’s business trips took him to the USA, visiting Minneapolis and Norwalk (near Cleveland). One of the colleagues he worked with was Steve Shultz, see here with his Dodge RAM truck; if you think our 4x4s are large, think again.

 

 

 

New Year in Scotland

Grant’s guitar has become a festive season feature in recent years. New Year 05/06 was celebrated at Kirstin’s mother’s house in Dumfries and Galloway. Not all of the musical performances were of the best, but its about enjoyment, not perfection.  

The Dinan festival 2006

Every two years the town of Dinan in Brittany hosts a medieval festival (last reported on the 2004 family web page). The jousting tournaments are a highlight; cleverly staged but very dramatic. This shot was made possible by Matt’s 10X zoom digital camera.

Four knights on the trot

 

Happy birthday sweet sixty

We had dinner one evening at the Urr Valley Hotel, Castle Douglas as part of the celebration of Kirstin’s birthday. Kirstin seen here with Andrew.

Kirstin and Andrew

 

Now you see it

Those of you who have visited Damson Rest will perhaps remember the Sie-Matic kitchen that was quite a feature of the house. This is how it looked before work started.

The 30-year old Sie-Matic Kitchen

Ikea and Siemens; pure class

Then in with the new; solid oak (really) and Siemens appliances, including built-in warming drawer and steam oven.

You can see the wood from trees.

Cat in charge

Rosie supervised installation of the new kitchen window.

A very handy way in and out of the house.

 

Let the sun shine in

France – four visits again this year. The new sun canopy (with end panels to keep out drafts) is an example of the ever-changing format of our caravanning activities. This picture was taken at the Parc St Bridgette, near St Nazaire

Relaxing in Brittany  

More relaxation

Further south is La Rochelle and close to there is where Matt’s life-long friend Dugald Campbell now lives in retirement with his wife Elizabeth. A wonderful old French farmhouse in a rural area has to be the idyllic place to enjoy the benefits of being a ‘senior’.

Rural France

 

Its a Gas!

Matt forgot to mention last year that the Frontera tow car was converted to run on LPG (or ‘GPL’ in France). Here you see it being re-fuelled at about 40p a litre! Almost zero toxic emissions also!

Green Machine (well, red actually)

 

Another Green machine

Andrew became a motorist in his own right this year when he purchased a seat Leon. His pride in his vehicle is self evident.

My motor

 

Goodby Bailey, hello Avondale

Modern Style.

The Bailey Pagent Champage, never our favourite among the ‘vans we have owned, gave way to a rather trendy Avondale Bianco. The plan is to exchange the Buccaneer in France and return it to the UK where it can receive the TLC its age merits.