28 Nov 2010: A chilly walk into Leeds along the (mostly) frozen canal.

26 Nov 2010: Catching the first of the snow with a bit of a ride through Kettlewell, Middleham, Masham (some honey and sausages for tea), The Bull Inn in West Tanfield for a good lunch, and back. It was -2 deg C over Whernside, with enough black ice on the roads and lanes to keep things interesting.

24 Nov 2010: January 2006 to October 2010, a long journey.

21 Nov 2010: A grey day at Roundhay Park, taken with the 300mm AFS telephoto. A (temporary) post project depression has set in now that the PhD is over, and the weather isn't helping. I've seen this phenomena is a number of teams I've managed, and it seems to afflict creative and highly involved people the most. Although the best cure is to jump right back into another project, a post-project review can mitigate the effects as well as greatly improve one's learning from what transpired.

14 Nov 2010: A cold wet day. My computer is sick with a nasty trojan, so a break was necessary. I noticed the smoke rising in the panorama - a steam train was leaving from Bolton Abbey station. I didn't manage to catch up with it, so had to make do with images of a wet Dales near Winterburn instead.

10 Nov 2010: Working with Carl's walling project and the emphasis on recycling, I must say that I find the whole 'ecological/environmental movement a little disappointing. The myriad of efforts to save and recycle are admirable, but the real monster in the room goes largely ignored. Most people today have been brought up in a culture and business environment that is based on pre-Second World War thinking. In 1900 there were less than 2 billion people on the planet. There were about 2.5 billion on the planet when 'modern' management science developed in the 1950s. Today there are about 6.5 billion on the planet, and this has a fundamental effect on how we think, what we do and what we should be planning for. Source The Global Education Project"

07 Nov 2010: The greenhouse (affectionately referred to by friends as 'the bus shelter') is finally complete. It probably would have been easier had I built it from a kit. Future efforts will probably begin with the floor and use power tools instead of a hand saw, drill and screwdriver.

01 Nov 2010: Only 14 months since I submitted my thesis for examination, but here is the letter!

24 Oct 2010: Mother's new horse - Sir Henry - on the right. He's a very curious little colt, always a good sign.

22 Nov 2010: Springbok, Black Wildebeest (gnu) and Blesbok in the Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve. The Wildebeest was stomping, pawing and snorting the ground as we came out of a kloof onto the highland area. He was most unhappy with our presence and I wasn't going to push my luck to get any closer.

21 Oct 2010: View from the Big Wheel at Gold Reef City.

15 Oct 2010: Klipriviersberg Nature Reserve, conveniently located in the south of Johannesburg. Their website is here

06 Oct 2010: Over the northern end of Lake Malawi. Africa is very very dry.