Mum on beach, in Berbera, Somaliland

Mum on beach, in Berbra, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Not so long ago, Mum!

Happy birthday. Lots of love from Fred and Charles

From a young Mum to a young Granny and Aunty Frances

Granny and Aunty Frances, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

This photo was taken probably in around 1920, just after the First World War, in which my Granny's brother Jack died on the Western Front, at the age of 19, shortly after bing sent there by the generals. This was something which affected the whole family for the rest of their lives, none more so, it seems, than their father, Grandpa Stewart, who was, apparently, a broken man after hearing the news of his only son.

Here are the two sisters, Frances Louisa and Irene Eunice (my Granny) in a lovely shot which I have tried my best to repair. Aunty Frances (on the left) apparently was very popular with the boys/young men and it was she who lived in Bournemouth and with whom we used to stay during the summer in the late 1960's.

From Angel Fingers to Angel Face

Mum in evening dress, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Been stuck inside most of the afternoon because of the rain (and this morning I spent most of the time in bed!). Decided it was time to scan a restore some of the photos Mum passed on to me for that very purpose. Here is a lovely one of my Mum from somewhere in the early 1950's, I imagine, looking very glamourous in her evening(?) dress.

The actual photo is only about three inches across but has more contrast than I could re-create on this digital image.

Climbing Alvier in Switzerland, August 1973

Climbing Alvier in Switzerland, August 1973 - one, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Here we are back in 1973, with Uncle John (RIP) and cousin Malcolm, climbing to the top of 7,000 foot high Mount Alvier in the eastern part of Switzerland, looking across to Liechtenstein.


This was our first sunmmer holiday since we came back from Australia in 1972 and we joined our Uncle John and Aunty Jane and family for three weeks in Switzerland, driving down in our brand new orange Volvo estate. I can remember taking the ferry across, and wondering at the hovercraft we saw, a boat floating over theater at high speed, a recent British invention. We spent a night in Bruges and after driving down through Luxembourg, the only time I have ever been there, we spent the next night in Freiburg near the Black Forest, which we crossed the next day before arriving at our destination. Nowadays a family would do all this in one day, but then there were notso many motorways in Europe, apart from in Germany, where we were told that Hitler caused them to be built. 1973, at just 28 years after the war is nearer to Hitler than it is to the present day, 34 years later.

We had visions of cucko clocks, Swiss cheese and yodelling and we were not to be disappointed, the old Swiss towns with their wooden houses and geraniums and shops full of, what we probably thought were wonderful souvenirs, cuckoo clocks being conveniently too expensive.

The house we stayed at was a wooden farm house, with duvets (the first ones we had ever seen), half way up a mountain overlooking a valley towards Vaduz and its castle in Liechtenstein, surrounded by meadows full of cows. I can remember my uncle and aunty being there, cousin Malcolm and Andrew as well, but I cannot recall Pamela being there too well. We used to see Malcolm and Pamela a lot during the summers before we went to Australia when we went to stay with our Aunty Frances in Bournemouth. Malcolm being a year or so older than me was my pal and he used to get me inot all sorts of trouble, but he was good fun to be with.

We spent a lot of the holiday, going out for drives and walks and picnics, also visiting teh very large outdoor pool in Vaduz and it felt like a real treat to go to a foreign country to go swimming. We tried and we tasted lots of stinky cheese and were delighted to drink milk directly from the cow without it having been homogenised and pasteurised (I think this is illegal nowadays).

At the house, we would spend most of the time playing cards and we were at the time addicted to Canasta. My card playing addiction would last through school, where I spent most of my spare time in the sixth form playing whist and poker, util at university card playng was not something one did any more. It was great to come ot Holland and stay with Fred and his living group and spend evenings playing Klaverjassen and, again, it is disappointing that this is not such a popular game in Amsterdam, where they even have different rules. Still, I still see myself as an old man one day, playing cards all day, preferably in a Turkish/Arabic cafe than in an old people's home, but this is for the future.

Highlight for all of us in Switzerland is the day we conquered Mount Alvier, which at 7,000 feet was the highest mountain in the area. This is a picture taken on the way up (or down). Thius was about the same height as Mount Kosciusko in Australia and it has always been the measure I have used to determine whether I am high or not, where for example one could put into perspective the altitude of both Sana'a and Asmara at about the same height.

Aunty Jane had family down in the valley, I think they actually owned the house we were staying in and I remember being told that they were very rich, millioaires maybe. Well, we went over there for dinner one evening and I can remeber how excited we were to visit their toilets. So rich were they that they had warm water spout up from the pot to wash one's bottom. We were in awe!

Like Top of the Pops (RIP)

Assab-Obock - thirty-eight, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Thursday evenings used to mean Top of the Pops, which during the 1960's and 1970's and a good part of the 1980's was one's only way to see one's favourite groups and singers on the TV. However, there were 30 songs in the Top 30 and later 40 songs in the Top 40, so in a period of 30 or 35 minutes, not all of them could be seen. This would mean that there were good weeks and bad weeks, based on how many of one's favourite songs were shown.

It is now a similar situation with Question Time, the hour long show where a panel of five politicians and journalists or public figures are asked questions by an audience chosen from the general public. The panel do not know the questions in advance but the BBC does. Just like with Top of the Pops all those years ago, a selection of topic items have to be chosen in advance for discusison by the panel, And like with Top of the Pops there are good weeks and bad weeks, depending on whether topics in which one is interested are discussed or not, and then the way the discussion of such topics actually pans out.

Well, it is like there has been the same number one for the past four years, worse that Wet Wet Wet with Love Is All Around or Bryan Adams with the US-UK War in Iraq being discussed EVERY week. A close number two for the last few months has been the problems of the Home Office, where barely a week goes by without some story of mis-management. And then there is the recurring theme of inappropriate behaviour by a politican or some other public figure (last night an ex-Minister for Education sending her son - albeit one with special needs - to a private school);.

In the meantime, we had the US dropping bombs on Somalia and the EU publishing plans ot reduce consumption of non-renewable energy in Europe by 20% in the next twelve years. All we get is a five minute discussion at the end of Tony Blair's confession that he would not like to give up flying off on foreign holidays. Yet the panel (whichever one it is, and yesterday's was good) always say that climate change is the biggest threat to our security. It is something to say, but discussions of such issues rarely get an airing on the mainstream media.... still.....

Top of the Pops is no more, I believe, having moved to Fridays and then changing its strict format (only risers and no songs two weeks in a row, except the number one song). There is a show going through the BBC vaults showing songs from the past, but just like the original, it is a frustrating process as very rarely do they show songs one actually liked as a child or teenager, being chosen in the main by middle-aged executives, based more on how things look in hindsight than they did at the time.

Whatever they do with Question Time, they should NOT move it away from Thursday evenings.

Happy Birthday, dear brother

Bangkok nightlife - Richard, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Dear Richard, Best wishes for a HAPPY BIRTHDAY. We hope all is well with you. Thanks again for the great time we had recently, missing you. Much love, Fred and Charles

Ludlow oak

Ludlow oak, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

A midwinter afternoon in the Marches area, the clouds breaking up enough to allow some sunshine through, an oak tree having lost its leaves, marking out the boundary of the grounds of Ludlow castle. We passed through here a week ago, choosing the A roads up north rather than the M5 and M6. We arrived later than planned but were rewarded with some lovely landscapes, such as this.

We did not stay in Ludlow too long, Fred not feeling so well and us being a bit on the late side to visit my Dad, but from what we saw we really liked the place, from the butcher's with the pheasants hanging up outside, to the wonderful local cheese shop, the castle and grounds and the quaint looking pubs. I had only known Ludlow from there being a racecourse there but it seemd to be a real working town, full of country folk, surprisingly prosperous and not too twee, not as if it had been taken over by tourists and casual visitors.

We managed to pick up a couple of copies of the new magazine Tate in Shropshire, which has been produced by my cousin Bruce, who is based further north near Shrewsbury. The magazine is a celebration of local food, whether it be sold at farmers'markets, delicatessans, pubs or restaurants. It looks great and I wish Bruce and Caroline much luck with their future issues.

Into the new year

Crewkerne Boxing Day pram race - the start, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Here we were a week ago, watching the Crewkerne Boxing Day pram race, sponsored by Oscars Wine Bar, following on from the start of the hunt.

In the meantime, it is a new year, already into its second day. Fred is getting better and I have been tweaking around with the layout of the blog and also preparing my CV, because it seems that my new year's resolution is to find a job. Fred's is to go on a diet, because of a deal he did with his pupils whereby if they could collect 1,000 euros for charity (edukans), he offered ot go on a diet. He has set himself the eminently reasonable task of losing only 5 kilos, although those kilos have to remain lost by the start of the summer! My plan is then to go without beer or wine in the evenings during the week, which should make a bit of difference. Then he can also give up eating licorice and fishermens friends on the way to work.

My search for work, which just started this afternoon - such was the bad weather that even a job search was better than going out into the wind, rain and mist - has led me more to temporary jobs rather than a permanent one and I have started to have the idea that I might try to take a master's degree in something like environmental science or international/sustainable development when the new academic year begins in September. The typical thing to do is to take an MBA, but having had 20 years of experience in finance and business administration, I'd like to broaden my knowledge base on the technical side. I remember environmental economics being my favourite course at university over 25 years ago when this sort of stuff was not trendy but I suppose it is still not too late to jump on the bandwagon. Fred has been heard muttering, but if I can get onto a course, my incentive to get a job to pay for it will be all the greater.

Happy New Year

South Africa - Bushy, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Fred and I are back home in Amsterdam now, having flown from Robin Hood - Doncaster-Sheffield-Nottingham airport, which is in fact, in the countryside just out past the racecourse in Doncaster. We have had a busy but enjoyable time in England, the last couple of days with Diana and the family in Sheffield, before than a night at my Dad's on The Wirral and before tha a night at Philip's in Gloucestershire. It was very nice seeing everyone and it was just a pity that Fred has not been feeling too well.

A year ago, we were in Zululand in South Africa, driving in our rented Kia from Eshowe to Insinkwe, having a puncture on the wya, which we just managed to fix before evrything shut down for New Year. We made it to Isinkwe, a bush camp near the Hluhluwe/iMfolozi National Park in good time to settle in before the New Year celebrations started by the pool. We had been told to be there by 7'ish as this was the time the local resident bushbaby might come down to feed on the fruit left out for him and , sure enough, he turned up!

No bush babies this evening, I expect, as we go to see in the New Year at Henk's, next door. Nice to stay local and greet all the neighbours outside shortly after midnight. There is a rope across the street so we can expect the bangers to go off and already it sounds like Beirut outside with all the fireworks going off.

So, like last year, this leaves us wishing you all....

Lieve allemaal,
We wensen jullie een prettige jaarwisseling en een Gelukkig en Gezond Nieuwjaar.

Liefs, Fred en Charles

Dear all,
We wish you a Happy, Peaceful and Prosperous New Year.

Love, Fred and Charles

Liebe Freunde,
Wir wunschen euch alle ein guter Silvesterabend und ein Guttes und Gesundes 2007.

Liebe Grusse von Fred und Charles

Cari amici,
Sinceri auguri per un felice buon anno!

Saluti, Fred e Charles

Boxing Day

Steavington hunt - meeting in Crewkerne - one, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Boxing Day is a holiday in the UK and most of the Anglo-Saxon world, being the day after Christmas, also known at St Stepehen's Day. The origin of the name is disputed but seems to have something to do with handing out of boxes of presents from the lords of the manors to the serfs.

Today, it is known as a sporting day, with some major race meetings taking place, a full programme of football and the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne (in which England have failed again dismally, but well done that man Shane Warne, captain of Hampshire Cricket Club, on getting his 700th wicket amongst the ifve he took today).

It is also a day for fox hunting and all the major hunts will have met up today and ridden off into the countryside with their hounds. By law, they are not actually supposed to be meaning to hunt foxes, despite the fact that hounds are trained to sniff out a fox and follow its trail. No, but if the hunt should happen to come across a fox, they ARE allowed to follow the fox and, basically hunt it to its death. This nonsense law was passed by the British Parliamnet two years ago after very many hours of Parliamentary debate. It was felt that Labour Party supporters had very fixed and negative ideas about fox hunting and that the Government should do something to meet their concerns. So they spent inordinate amounts of time trying to passs a Bill, which was meeting opposition from the House of Lords (unsurprisingly enough). Indeed so much time that there was so little time left to debate Britain's entry into a war in Iraq. Despite this being a much more important issue than fox hunting, the matter was given very little time in Parliament. Someone accused Tony Blair of being a genius ot have arranged it this way.

My view is and was that fox hunting should be left to the country people as a traditional pastime and large employer in the countryside and that we should not have invaded Iraq alongside the Americans. Mind you, while I was happy enough to enjoy the specatcle of the hunt meet this morning, I would not have enjoyed the business end of the hunt, just as I enjoyed the roast beef we had last night, regardless of what had happened earlier in the abbatoir.

Christmas bells

Christmas bells, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

In the meantime, we are enjoying a very nice Christmas here in Crewkerne and it seems we are about to eat... roast beef and yorkshire pud!

Merry Christmas.

A Merry Christmas to all

Red roses, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

As a happy and proud atheist, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.

Fred and I made it over to England yesterday, suffering only a two hour delay due to fog the previous day which had left most of the flybe fleet in the wrong place at the start of what is one of the busiest days in the air of the year. We were met by Mum who took us back to Crewkerne in Somerset where we were in time to watch the Grand Final of Strictly Come Dancing.

Fred had been keeping me up-to-date with all the comings and goings on the show while I had bene away and our two favourites Matt and Mark were, rightly enough, in the final. Matt better at ballroom and Mark better at Latin American. It was billed as being the closest final they had had but in all honesty, Mark Ramprakash had a much higher entertainment value with his hip gyrations during two amazing dances he performed out of the five and it was quite right that he was voted winner.

Today, a low-key Christmas Eve, starting off in Woolworths finishing the Christmas shopping, going out for a drink in the pub at lunchtime, with lobster flavoured and lemon and chili flavoured crisps as snacks, each packet costing as much as a plate of something delicious in Hanoi or Battambang. Battambang was in the news, well Hello Magazine, as it is in Battambang Province that Angelina Jolie had had a house built. She had just taken Brad Pitt and their three children there to look at the work being done by her foundation in helping a community up in the north-west. Good for them, helping putting Cambodia on the map and highlighting the continued problems of landmines there.

We are now waiting for my sister Fiona and her son Thomas to turn up and by the smell of it, Mum has another delicious dinner waiting for us.

In the meantime, an e-mail form Richard tells us that he arrived back in Nagaland safe and sound albeit with one or two problems on his flights back.

Happy Birthday, Fiona!

Fred and I would just like to wish you a very happy birthday. Hope you were not planning a party in the garden, as I heqar the weather isn't so good. Just turned a bit hotter here today, so just the day to go out to the near desert to see some more Dead Cities! Please congratulate Thomas on winning his sprint.... and better luck for you next time with the egg and spoon race... better get started with your training now!

There are lots and lots of handbag shops here..... so if you'd like one just let us know the colour... beautiful Arabian styles!