Wedding - Parts 1 and 2

So we are having a three part wedding. Part 1 was the legal bit at the Leeds registry office, Part 2 was the party at Katharine's Mum's house in Yorkshire and Part 3, yet to come, will be a party in Bergen.

Part 1 was on Friday the 3rd June. I hadn't realized that the Thursday was Ascension Day, so another religious excuse for a long weekend which meant that the flights were all chaos and expensive. So I ended up flying to Manchester. MAN used to be my main airport when I lived in Liverpool and it was strongly nostalgic passing through after being away for 10 years. I was picked up by my bro and we headed to Yorkshire. Not sure if it is the sat nav or whether Yorkshire only contains narrow back roads but I always have this feeling that I am A) lost and B) not going via a very direct route. We arrived in time for pizza.

Thursday was spent getting stuff ready, including mowing a large field of grass for car parking with two very small tractors mowers. Fun. The house and garden were looking fantastic and everyone had put in so much effort to make everything nice for us, it was moving. The reality was starting to dawn on me, I was getting married!

Two men went to mow, went to mow a meadow...

Friday we headed to Leeds registry office to do part one. There was Katharine and I, Sophie, Pat (Katharine’s mum), Laura Lolly, Les and Elin. We drove on small back roads (this time following Rik not the sat nav) and the traffic was terrible. The UK legal system insists that you go through a ceremony which is short and to the point. The woman who conducted the ceremony was lovely and it actually felt a lot more special than I had thought it would. The registrar selected some music at random and it was Greig, which was rather fitting and it all felt rather special.

We signed the register, took some photos and headed to a restaurant across the way for nibbles and champagne. Part 1 done!

Smiles all round

Back at Mytholme, folks had already started arriving and Friday night we had a very pleasant evening by the pool drinking and eating. Great to catch up with folk and the weather was stunning.

 A meal with family and friends before the big day

Saturday dawned overcast but that was fine, it was a bit cooler. People arrived, I was banned from seeing Katharine while she got ready. Dougal arrived with his E-type Jag which I held built into the service so I could take it for a spin. Les and I got into our kilts. This was the first time we had ever worn them (apart from trying them on Thursday). Felt good and Les quickly got over his initial reservations of “being in skirt that looks like a picnic blanket”. When we first unpacked all the stuff it was a minefield. We had no idea of what to do with half of it but we soon figured it out. We were wearing a Welsh tartan (St Davids). There is actually a Howell tartan but it’s not common enough that anywhere rents it.

Men in skirts- looking good!

So we greeted a few folk then climbed into the Jag. I had tested it with Dougal and it felt like driving a very fast, old car. Fun but scary. After a little bit of getting a feel we took it up on the moors and through its paces before heading back to Mytholme, after 30 mins of razing I felt ready to get married with a big smile on my face.

We arrived and stood in our appointed spot. Everyone else was assembled in the open tent. The musicians fired up the Hovis tune and Katharine appeared from the house looking gorgeous. We walked in together and the cameras were going like crazy.

 A very happy couple

Helen did a fantastic job of leading the ceremony that we had written and it all went perfectly to plan. After the ceremony we led the procession out and then greeted everyone at the main marque. Lots of old friends to catch up with and the time flew by. Then it was champagne and canopies before the speeches.

Laura was up first and did a fantastic job which included some pork balls and set the scene nicely. A lovely speech – we love you to Lolly! Then Katharine who was also great, followed by me. I was a bit surprised to find myself struggling with the emotion of it all. Les reset the mood very nicely with a speech that was, in his own words “like a skirt, long enough to cover the essentials but short enough to still be interesting”.

During the speeches  

Then the barbeque and some great food. Too many people to catch up with. Someone had calculated in a 6 hour evening with 120 guests that is only 3 minutes per guest! No wonder I didn’t get to speak to everyone. And that’s without time for dancing

The band came on and we did our first dance. Fortunately we had practiced so it wasn’t a total shambles. Then the band kept playing and playing. They were fantastic, it was like having my 50 favorite songs played live to me by a really good band! Hardly stopped dancing all evening. It was great night that finished for us at 2am. The DJ had quit at 1am and most people were gone home by the time we left for bed. A few hardcore folk partied until 4.30, good luck to them.

Dancing!!!

It was a fantastic day – its times like that you realize how many great friends you have. So good to see everyone together. And now we are married and it does feel different. I didn’t think it would, nothing had really changed but it feels better.

There are lots more photos on my flickr site include Chris D's excellent shots. There are more to come

Best and worst of the USA

Got married at the weekend!
Lots to follow on that but in the meantime I found some great maps on Strangemaps that show the best and worst of each US state. Classic. I love the fact that the Utah has the highest reported well being and the most porn usage - you gotta love those Mormons...

Not a stag do

So there is lots going on and not much time for updating the blog. The wedding is in three days and work is horribly busy but I still found some time to head down to Rosendal and be absued but a bunch of lads in the pre-marriage ritual that is the stag-do.

The original plan had been to go to Uskedalen, which is a huge granite climbing mecca. Four to 16 pitch routes up massive walls that make the Etive Slabs look like bouldering. Had scopped out a couple of possible routes and even a camping spot. Had also rounded up some likley lads and had carefully billed it as "not a stag-do" on the grounds that the I am too old for the whole strippers and gaffer tape thing.

But this is western Norway and the one thing you can rely on here is that the weather will be unpredictable. So when a series of north Altantic lows were queing up to dump record rainfall on us, it was time to re-think the plan.

So we still headed to Rosendal but instead of camping we stayed in a friends barn. He was a bit reluctant at first, and who can blame him, but he took pity and let us stay. This was good because it meant we had somewhere dry to sleep and somewhere dry to hang out, drink beer and do what ever.

Friday we drove down and what was supposed to be a quiet night ended at 3am when I put myself to bed having set myself on fire doing something with Sambuca. Next day we walked up a hill with a hangover in atrocious weather - it at least washed away the hangover.

That evening I thought I was getting off scott free but they forced me to dress as superman, stop traffic and try and crawl through a culvet. I managed the first but superman was too fat to fit in the drain and was let off the hook. There was then some odd drinking games and that was it really. So I did get off pretty lightly and I am glad for that.

Sunday we visited the stonepark then failed to find an open cafe before heading home. Thanks very much to 15 good friends who travelled from all over to not abuse me too badly, to sleep in a barn, to walk up a hill in shitty weather and to drink a lot and laugh a lot. I appreciate it chaps.

The following photos were taken by Ian, John and Keith, I didn't have a camera with me


Outside at Eirik's

Nice day for a stroll

 Superman at the barbi

Stopping traffic

The drain challenge

 Unfortuantly Superman is just too fat

 In the barn

Never good to mix alcohol, fire and a polyester suit

Friday Joke is back

WOMEN WHO KNOW THEIR PLACE

Barbara Walters, of 20/20, did a story on gender roles in Kabul, Afghanistan , several years before the Afghan conflict. She noted that women customarily walked five paces behind their husbands.

She recently returned to Kabul and observed that women still walk behind their husbands. Despite the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, the women now seem happy to maintain the old custom.

Ms Walters approached one of the Afghani women and asked, 'Why do you now seem happy with an old custom that you once tried so desperately to change?'

The woman looked Ms Walters straight in the eyes, and without hesitationsaid, "Land mines."

_____________________________________________________________________

These are sentences exactly as typed by medical secretaries in National Health Service Greater Glasgow


1. The patient has no previous history of suicide.
2. Patient has left her white blood cells at another hospital.
3. Patient's medical history has been remarkably insignificant with only a 40 pound weight gain in the past three days.
4. She has no rigors or shaking chills, but her husband states she was very hot in bed last night.
5. Patient has chest pain if she lies on her left side for over a year.
6. On the second day the knee was better and on the third day it disappeared.
7. The patient is tearful and crying constantly. She also appears to be depressed.
8. The patient has been depressed since she began seeing me in 1993.
9. Discharge status:- Alive, but without my permission.
10. Healthy appearing decrepit 69-year old male, mentally alert, but forgetful.
11. Patient had waffles for breakfast and anorexia for lunch
12. She is numb from her toes down.
13. While in ER, she was examined, x-rated and sent home.
14. The skin was moist and dry.
15. Occasional, constant infrequent headaches.
16. Patient was alert and unresponsive..
17. Rectal examination revealed a normal size thyroid.
18. She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until she got a divorce.
19. I saw your patient today, who is still under our care for physical therapy.
20. Both breasts are equal and reactive to light and accommodation.
21. Examination of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized.
22. The lab test indicated abnormal lover function.
23. Skin: somewhat pale, but present.
24. The pelvic exam will be done later on the floor.
25. Large brown stool ambulating in the hall.
26. Patient has two teenage children, but no other abnormalities.
27. When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room.
28. The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of fuel and crashed.
29. Between you and me, we ought to be able to get this lady pregnant.
30. She slipped on the ice and apparently her legs went in separate directions in early December.

Utah 2011

Just back from a flying visit to Utah - busy times!
Three days on the student field course, followed by two days with Christian and Oliver in the Wastach and Beckwith Plateaus. We were also joined by Ivar and Anja from Oslo for a day. This was followed by a day around Moab with students and then down to Cainville, which is possibly the most remote place (habitated) that I have visited in Utah. Great geology but a very odd feel to the place. Rather enjoyed it.
After two days laser scanning there it was back up to the Book Cliffs for a final field day before driving back to Salt Lake City.

In Salt Lake I caught up with Lance, an old river running buddy who I havn't seen for 15 years - time flys. Then did some obligatory shopping before flying back to Norway in time for May 17th.

Was good to back back in Utah, even if it was rushed and busy.

Also confirmed my previous suspicions that Delta Airlines is truly awful! Note to self "just because they are in an alliance with KLM doesn't mean that the staff are not exteremely rude, the planes are not crappy and falling apart and that you will have a pleasant trip". 

Will post more about trip and upload some picks some time soon.

Wednesday Movies - climbing

A nice compliation of climbing falls here, a strange person doing some wierd climbing here
And a nice, short ice climbing movie here

Off to Utah tomorrow. Looking forward to being back in the desert

Bird Cams

Last year we had a live Seagull cam with a couple of chicks on top of the science building in Bergen
This year we have a live eagle cam with a couple of chicks. Very cute.