Katz O'Clock

evening folks,

just a quick one today.

here's a couple of photographs of a clock i made for Anna's birthday (Anna Katz in-case the clock made no sense to you):



and



it's made from one piece of Ash and the hands are Walnut.

came out nicely i think.

hope you enjoy it young katz!

Honey-Bob - Week 2

ok.....where were we....?

oh yeah - dog sledding.

the plan was that we'd spend a week in the hills of Sweden driving our dog sleds from hut to hut (or Tipee - weather permitting) and learn some Winter Bushcraft skills along the way.

but.....there was too much snow!

i know - that's what we thought too, but it is possible.

the reason is that in order to dog sled you need an existing (compacted) trail on which to travel.

when we arrived there was more snow (for the time of year) than at any time in the last 30 years and so we were a bit buggered.

after heavy snowfall all of the pre-existing trails are covered and useless and so the only trails which had been remade afresh were some up into the hills to the Sami villages and not much else and so we were extremely limited.

here's a quick photograph so that you can see just how much snow there was around:



but we're getting ahead of ourselves - let's do things chronologically.....

we arrived (after a LONG drive) and had some food in a little log cabin belonging to the guy who owned the company we were using and then we drove even further into the hills and met our host/guide - Urban.

i know, i know - it's not a name but there you go.

here's the Urbanator himself:



he was a very friendly and hardcore fella (in a 'hardcore is pretty normal for round here' kind of way) and a lot of fun.

many thanks to him/you (if you ever read this Urban) for all of your time and effort as well as the chance to see the beautiful area you live, spend time with your amazing dogs and for all of the 'happy' meat!

check out their website if you're thinking of doing something similar here.

also on the trip were three other guests.

Joel and Corrie were a couple from Gloucester and Pepe, a whacky Mexican dude.

here's Joel giving Nikki one of his trademark 'you are a bit of a nightmare aren't you' looks:



and here's Pepe looking decidedly un-Mexican (he had no moustache, no poncho, no sombrero - nothing Mexican at all but luckily he did sound like Speedy-Gonzales):



apologies to Corrie but the only photographs of you are very unflattering and so we thought you'd prefer it if they went unpublished!

when we awoke the next morning we were greeted with this view from the house:



then we went to meet the dogs.

Urban has about 40 Huskies which sounds like a lot but he had to enlist the help of his girlfriend (Marlin) for this trip as there were so many of us and the going was tougher with so much snow.

here's Marlin with one of her dogs:



and here's a shot of one of my favourite dogs (sorry but i forget his name as i tended to rename them all with names i could remember anyway):



one thing that nobody tells you is just how insanely noisy it is whenever the dogs aren't moving.

when they're running it's silent bliss but at a stand-still it's pandemonium - utter mayhem which will drive anyone insane given enough time - really REALLY LOUD!!!

after spending a good few hours learning how to harness and secure the dogs to the sleds (and actually then doing it for ourselves) we went for a little tootle around just to learn the basics.

the next morning we were up early again but this time we packed up the vehicles and headed off into the hills for a full days sledding in the middle of nowhere.....

little did we know what the day had in store for us!

here's Urban and Pepe struggling through waste-deep powder trying to flatten the snow enough to set out the line of dogs in order to set-off properly:



and here's Nikki waiting with her dogs just before we started out:



everything began simply enough - me and Urban were on the lead sled with twice as many dogs as everyone else (as there were two of us) so that he could periodically jump off and help the others when necessary.

everyone else had 5 dogs and then Marlin brought up the rear with her dogs.

here's a photograph Urban took of me not long after we'd set-off:



about 45 minutes into the ride we had a spot of difficulty when a snowmobile met us coming the other way on the trail (which had only been made wide enough for one-way traffic with very deep powder off to either side).

in order to see us all safely past, Urban jumped off and helped everyone past while i carried on and waited half a mile or so along the trail.

now 10 dogs are very hard to manage (twice as hard as 5 funnily enough!) and they're trying to run the whole time with only a small foot-brake to keep them from running away (and a snow-anchor when you're stopped for more than a few minutes).

ok, enough excuses - to cut a long story short - just after this shot was taken:



my team of dogs jolted forwards and i lost my balance and fell backwards into the snow.

they then promptly buggered off without me!!!

i ran after them only to fall increasingly behind (eventually vomiting from the sheer effort of trying to keep up with 10 Huskies in knee-deep snow) and eventually i pretty much collapsed and let Pepe go after them on his sled (with half as many dogs and a person to carry).

after a few minutes Urban eventually caught up and i explained what had happened and to put it mildly he was not impressed!

after about an hour of running, chasing and eventually borrowing a snow-mobile to chase the dogs they were recaptured and the day could continue but, for a little while, everyone was thinking that i'd lost Urban 10 of his dogs.

we continued on before stopping to build a fire and have some lunch (pancakes cooked on a really cool skillet).

this took a lot of time and a massive amount of energy (as everything does with so many dogs and such deep snow).

it was starting to get dark by the time we'd finished and so we turned the dogs around and began to prepare to set-off back home.

me and Joel were at the back and couldn't leave our sleds alone but something was clearly wrong as we were stood there for over 45 minutes without any movement.

it transpired that Pepe's dogs had gotten loose (a cable had snapped) and attacked Nikki's dogs. Urban was elsewhere doing something else and Pepe didn't notice at first and so Nikki was left trying to control 15 fighting dogs on her own.

eventually Pepe and Urban arrived to help Nikki but just as they were beginning to get things under control two of Corries dogs chewed through their harnesses and launched themselves into the fight.

at one point one dog had another's head in it's mouth and Urban had to pretty much punch them to get them apart.

after much time and effort sorting all of this out we were once again ready to set-off but by this time it was completely dark and the weather had deteriorated to blizzard conditions.

on the way back the snow had blown over our tracks and the path was lost meaning that Urban had to keep stopping, wading through the very deep snow and try and discern where the trail might be.

it took us hours to get back to the vehicles by which time nearly everyone was exhausted and ready to go home.

at some points it was a little daunting and there were times when i considered that we might not make it back that night without help but it was BRILLIANT - we wanted an adventure of a trip and we weren't disappointed!

after some well earned rest we were up bright and early to do it all again.

we travelled out to a lake, cooked some lunch and then went for a snow-shoe walk and learn a few bits about winter survival in the area.

here's a nice tree we saw:



when we got to the lake we could see something/someone on the other side of the lake and eventually we realised that a guy had gotten his snowmobile stuck on the lake.

here he is:



so, me, Urban and Joel set off to assist the fella:



it's a little worrying at first walking on a frozen lake but you soon get used to it.

we eventually managed to free the guys snowmobile and went on our way.

as it was New Years Eve me and Joel went out to get some beers and bumped into the snowmobile dude as he was telling his friends (big hairy bikers on their way to a biker bar for New Years Eve) about how helpful we'd been.

when we asked if they knew somewhere we could buy something other than crap lager one of the big hairy blokes pulled a bottle of evil home-brewed Vodka from his pocket which was very nice of him (even if it did taste like paint stripper) showing that no good deed goes unpunished (isn't that the phrase?).

on New Years day we did the same loop again - here's a shot of Nikki on the way to the lake:



here's Nikki with Gail (one of her favourite dogs) when we got back:



and here's one of my dogs (Bob - who's mental - always runs sideways!):



a very VERY good time was had by all and i'd like to think that we'll dog sled again sometime (maybe strapping Rudie and Taco onto a sled???).

the next day we were up and on the road again - heading further north up into the Arctic Circle but that's a tale for another time.....

Honey-Bob - Week 1

ok, let's get this show on the road.....

as you may or may not know - we went away for a little while!

i think an itinerary is in order so that everyone can know what to expect as we progress through the goliath blogathon that is needed to cover our 5 week long honeymoon trip.

here's an outline of our trip (places we stayed):

- Home
- Meribel, Alps (visit the Kuelsheimer's)
- Bern, Switzerland
- Hamburg, Germany
- Linköping, Sweden
- Bräcke, Sweden (Week Dog Sledding and Winter Bushcraft Trip)
- Umea, Sweden
- Junosuando, Sweden (Week stay at an organic B+B with loads of activities)
- Lulea, Sweden
- Sundsvall, Sweden
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Berlin, Germany
- Freiburg, Germany
- Chamonix, Alps
- Meribel, Alps
- Home

where to start....?

ok, the beginning!

on the 23rd of december we (me, nikki, monkey-boy and the lump) drove to Valence where we were supposed to pick-up a hire car for our trip.

the fun started when the idiots at the hire place monosyllabically informed us that the car we had booked months in advance wouldn't in-fact be coming with snow-tires or unlimited kilometers as booked which left us in a bit of a predicament.

so.....after much deliberation (and a very nice offer from m.b.) we packed monkey-boy off in a taxi back home (to spend the whole of january without a car) and we set-off in the Boo on our whirlwind tour of 'Everywhere Cold in Europe'.

our first stop was in the Alps (Meribel) where we spent a few days with the family Kuelsheimer.

here's a nice shot of Luke in the flat - he sure is one huge baby (apparently bigger than 98% of kids his age and wearing hats labelled for 3 year olds)!



much fun, long baths and good food was enjoyed by all!

then (after a particularly nice organic/free-range turkey we picked up from Edith's on our way to the Alps) in the late afternoon on Christmas Day we set off on our big adventure.....

first stop - Bern, Switzerland.

the hostel owners had very successfully achieved the hard to pull-off interior design look 'barely converted insane asylum' which we enjoyed.

here's a snap of our cell/room:



not particularly inspiring and/or honeymoon-like.

the next day involved 10+ hours driving north into Germany (and not much more to be honest).

we stayed at an incredibly cheap and really quite nice hotel just outside Hamburg in which we had some mediocre pizza, a few very nice German beers and received some free kinder chocolate from a very nice barman.

ok - moving on.....

the next day involved much more driving (this is a theme of the first week - we covered over 3000km in 4 very full days of driving).

we went up into and through Denmark and into Sweden staying in Linköping in a very nice little flat.

finally (after another LONG day driving) we arrived at our first real destination.

near to the town of Bräcke in the middle of Sweden we were going to spend a week Dog Sledding and learing some Winter Bushcraft skills.

more on this in the next action packed installment of 'Honey-Bob' (to be honest this installment is probably the least eventful and so don't forget to tune in.....).

but.....i'll leave you with a teaser photograph of one of our new Husky friends:



week 2 coming soon to a blog near you.....

an apology

ok, ok, so it's been more than a little quiet on the blog front since Bob.

there are a few reasons for this.

1. it's been a little quiet at Simple HQ since Bob.

2. the main thing we were working on was building the terrace which was incredibly slow and we didn't want to put up photographs until it's finished.

3. the weather turned and so a lot of what we were doing was put on hold.

4. i did my back in (as did monkey boy at one point) and so this slowed things even more.

5. we went away for a month on our Honey-Bob.

so.....excuses made we'll hopefully be a little more active in 2011.

the big news for those who don't already know is that nikki's currently growing us a new Simple-person in her belly!!!

there'll be a large post(s) very soon about Honey-Bob as there's lots to tell you for sure.....

apologies for our tardiness and we'll be back to regular service from now on.

cheers, gairy.

BOB - Installment 3 (most probably last BOB installment)

Well even though it seems such a long time ago I wanted to write up the third and final Bob post.

Although it has already been almost two months since the event I often think about what a brilliant time was had.

I think Gairy has already written enough about it so i don't want to go on, but just to say another GREAT BIG THANK YOU to all those wonderful people who made it as special as it was.

Here are another load of pics that I think are worth seeing.

The dashing groom begrudgingly sporting his hand made, locally picked head garland.



Now, I didn't particularly want to post a photo of me - but this shot shows off the beautifully handmade dress that Rachel made for me.



I couldn't not include a picture of the best crackling I've ever tasted, now could I?



Here is a nice family shot of the Mannions.



This was the chorus of the speech/song that Anna and Briony got the whole party singing. It was hilarious. Even Gairy saw the funny side.



Paul was in charge of the music and he did a brilliant job. (I'm hoping someone sorted him out a chair at some point and that this shot isn't evidence of why his back was buggered the following day).



There were some big shapes being thrown until the early hours of the next day.



On the Sunday someone came up with the genius idea of using the barn for some wrestling.

Here are the two little'uns - no, not Alfie and Isla, but Briony and Arti.



Ben and Eddie were pretty evenly matched.



Here is a shot of Anna and Ben in a somewhat intimate hold.



Gairy and Matt also in a somewhat intimate hold.



We also had tug of war, this is a nice shot of Richard - winning I think?



All in all it was a great success and we're super duper happy!

Since then we have managed to get Sheepee 3 new lamb buddies, build them all a home and get to know them all. We've also started work on the terrace outside our big living room/kitchen and although it is very heavy work, it is coming along nicely.

We've also had a few visitors and had a lovely time identifying and picking mushrooms and cooking up a feast with them.

The weather seems to be turning, the leaves are beautifully muti-coloured and the temperature has started dropping. Bring on winter.

BOB - Installment 2

right then, here we go - round II.

since Bob i've found myself wandering past the B+B barn doors and looking in, seeing the straw on the floor, the bunting (i hate that word!) strung up and the bath still full of water/labels and thinking.....ahhhh, happy days.....

as most of you will know i'm not usually one for sentimentality but i genuinely had a grand old time at Bob and many times every day since i stop and think about how much fun it was ("stop it, i'm getting a tear in my eye" i hear you say!).

don't get me wrong if you lunatics had stuck around any longer it'd have driven me mental (not to mention the stress and strain of all the preparations, cooking and general running around) but i think we'd all agree that it was a damn fine weekend of a Bobbing - no???

ok, ok, enough gushy stuff - on to some more photographs.....

another ten of the best coming your way.

1. tent-city (where there is now a sheep enclosure):



2. the simple-shitters:



3. the beautiful map created by ali and anna (with a splendid frame by our resident artist - mr webber):



4. alfredo and isla (the best of friends - sometimes!):



(they're also identical from the back)

5. anna's 30th birthday.

SO OLD!!!!!

here we all are at the abbey having a spot of luncheon and a piece of chocolate cake (ok, ok, i had three pieces - christ, get off my back already!):



although this is strictly speaking an extra photo it's related and so counts as one so.....

this is a view of the abbey from above where we parked and walked down:



6. my new road bike:



ain't she a beauty?

oooops, sorry - how did that get in there....?

please disregard the above entry - completely irrelevant (but it's a good looking bike - no?)

6. (the real number 6) taco - the biggest, friendliest, hairiest dog in the world:



you gotta love 'im!!!!!

7. rooster-roo:



that's a hell of a photograph (nice one young katz).

8. it's officially booze o'clock:



so much booze - so little time!

from what i remember the beers tasted fantastic!

the wine and cider also went down a treat - a good result all round on the alcohol front!

9. bride and ceremonial official in a somber mood:



so serious!

10. dancin':



the dancing got started fairly early on but the dancing evening can really be split into two shifts.

- the early shift (up until about midnight)

star attraction - matt - throwing down some crazy shapes (including the patented 'putting out a fire' maneuver).

- the late shift (from midnight until 04:30)

main village idiot - gairy - making a complete and total fool of himself and refusing to be removed from the dance-floor until finally, at 04:30 when most people were trying to sleep in their tents mere meters away from the barn, i was hauled off to bed.

a big thanks has to be aimed at nitty for sitting on his ass doing his best to make it look like DJ's actually do something for a living (did i say that out loud?) - i mean for spending the evening playing some really great music - thanks buddy, it was very much appreciated!

ok, that'll do for Bob - Installment 2.

i hope you all enjoyed it as much (if not a little more) than i enjoyed writing it.

until next time.....

BOB - Installment 1

hello there folks, how the devil are things....?

seeing as Bob was such an event it seems only fitting that we blog it's ass in stages.

and so with that in mind i would like to welcome you all to the Bob - Installment 1.

this post is just a quick one to say:

thank you so much everyone for coming and for helping to make Bob the fantabulous success it turned out to be.

we thought we'd planned something that would be fun for everyone but we didn't quite expect it to be quite so much fun or to run nearly as smoothly as it did.

those of you (you know who you are) who gave your time and effort (above and beyond the call of duty) with the cooking, cleaning, delegating, organising, decorating, killing/butchering, playing and the rest are absolute heroes - without your help we wouldn't have been able to enjoy the weekend and we're eternally grateful for all of your hard work (and no, there will be no cash gift as thanks - honestly!).

although it's (about 18 months) too early for us to have any 'official' photographs i did just want to give those of you who didn't make it out here a taste of what you missed.

here are 10 very nice moments from Bob for you all to enjoy.....

1. our newest simple-person 'pee-pee-o-pee' (said with a hawian accent):




this is the sheep formally known as 'mouse' but it's now 'pee-pee-o-pee'.

she's a french rare-breed sheep with only two farms still breeding them in the Alps.

we've gotten the number of one of the breeders and are going to get a couple more so that we can help keep the breed alive in the future.

it was a wedding gift from Julio and Valerie - thanks guys.

2. a two meter long baguette (professionally cut by young mr nitty):



3. some high quality river action in one hell of a nice spot!



4. hand-made signage by miss katz and miss beavis.



5. rudie getting in on the ceremonial action - good 'ole rudie!



6. one hell of a pig roast (or so i hear as i missed most of it and was too drunk to remember the rest). a certain mr monkey boy put in a humdinger of a cooking shift (all day-night long) to make it that extra bit special - cheers buddy!



7. some serious displeasure at having to chop onions for 50 people:



8. the most anatomically accurate and comically genius wedding cake bride and groom ever (made lovingly by ali):



9. some bloody tasty local cheeses and home-made chutneys/piccalilli - MMMmmm!



10. and one beautifully written and elegantly performed speech/song by anna and briony.



these are just some of the many great and memorable moments (snatched from peoples facebook albums) and there'll be many (MANY) more photographs, moments and embarrassing stories being unveiled as they become available.

there aren't any individual 'thanks' going on here as i'd be here writing all night but needless to say we're forever indebted to so many of you for helping to make Bob one of the happiest days of our lives - thanks.

join us for the next thrilling installment of 'Bob - the blog series' as/when information, photographs and time become available.

cheers.