Time Out

I spent a few days last week visiting my parents in Northumberland. It was great to see them as my mother is between operations to resolve a long standing issue with her knee and is more or less housebound during this period. My father is totally dedicated to looking after her and is blessed with good health and a positive attitude, both great things for a man of 79.... and that was the excellent thing as I was able to be with him for the first time on his birthday for many years. We celebrated with a Chinese takeaway from Alnwick, eaten in his kitchen overlooking the Northumberland coast as the light faded from the day.

I do visit the North East on a number of occasions each year, but it struck me on arrival that it has been a long time since I had done so in the springtime, let alone the precise date of my father's birthday! The plants in the garden that were flowering gave me a slightly strange feeling as I was not used to seeing these particular varieties and it gave such a familiar sight a slightly alien feel.

I very much enjoy the company of others, friends, family, associates and the new people who constantly touch my life, but one thing I love to do when I visit is to walk alone on the coast close to their house. The mind opens and matters can seem so much clearer from the reflection this enables. The view from their house stretches from the Farne Islands to the north as far as Dunstanburgh castle to the south and there are many variations to choose from in this area to stretch the legs. My favourite walks are along the dunes to the south ending up at Dunstanburgh or further to Craster, world famous for its kippers; or as on this occasion, north to Newton-by-the-Sea with views back across Embleton Bay to the south. This is how it looked on the morning of Wednesday 6th May :-

A lovely couple of days away and I also saw my good friend Andrew who is a farmer and has had a very busy time with the lambing season over the past weeks. It feels good to still have a close friendship going back 33 years to our first year at senior school, with all the experiences and memories that have been made in that time.

As one is never too far from the outside world these days, work continued while I was away and the result of one particular conversation I had just as I was about to leave will form the subject of my next post....

The Little Things Are So Worthwhile

At a wedding fair it is always a pleasure to meet other people engaged in the supply of services to those who have decided to tie the knot. Last Sunday at Ravenwood Hall Hotel near Bury St. Edmunds, this was again the case.

As I was a little out of my usual area for such exhibitions there were a number of new people to meet including Rachel Desira, a very pleasant lady who is a florist with a business name of The English Rose. I thought she was very apt to meet this week as St George's Day looms tomorrow.

I also met a harpist called Julia Thornton who had a little problem on the day....... she had cut her finger quite badly and was unable to play her harp. Indeed she had unfortunately needed to cancel an engagement the previous evening. I was pleased to be able to help her, as through a business I share with my wife, I could offer to send her some samples of aloe vera which would help the healing process and minimise the scarring. She was grateful and I agreed to send her the samples the following day. When I came to do this however I found that the last samples had recently been given away. So as not to let her down I sent her a tube with my compliments, otherwise she would have thought I had not followed through on our conversation. On returning home this afternoon from meetings in Chelmsford I was delighted to have received a beautiful card with some lovely words of thanks - it made the whole process so worthwhile and I won't forget Julia when it comes to recommending a harpist in future - I had heard her music on CD so I knew she was excellent!

Don't Give Up

Last night I watched an episode of "Around the world in Eighty Trades", a programme that had attracted my imagination but I had failed to catch to date. The subject matter is fairly self evident from the title as the subject funds his global escapades by trading in a variety of different ways. What struck me last night was his persistence in Shanghai to sell a consignment of South African wine in a country whose market for this drink is massively dominated by the French. Still, he carried on and his last contact when he was about to give up after a number of polite knock backs yielded a profit of almost £8,000....... and so, on to the next leg of his adventure.

This morning I sat in on a meeting following my local business referral group where the leadership team were explaining to a number of new members the best methods to maximise their BNI membership and help others along the way. Having been a member for 5 years, the message I heard was similar to the one in the previous night's programme - if you keep going and build or maintain belief levels then your success is far likelier to be greater than those who give up too early.

One of the visitors at our BNI meeting this morning was Julie Swanwick, Sales and Marketing manager from The Fennes Estate at Bocking, Essex. It was good to have a chat with her about her venue having worked there myself as toastmaster on a couple of occasions. I also remembered my first visit there a number of years ago to a Business Awards ceremony where Acer picked up a highly commended award for a previous business of hers.

Looking forward to a busy weekend of both business and social appointments.... I hope your's is a great one.

The Journey of a Thousand Miles..........

Having accomplished some administrative goals since Easter, that has allowed me to put into action something I have been considering for some time - passing on my thoughts, well some of the ones that may be of interest to others, via a blog. So, for all of you waiting to find out something about me and my life, well here goes. I suspect the topics I blog about will become more varied as time goes by and I become more used to this type of medium.

Over Easter I had the privilege of being toastmaster at two lovely weddings. Firstly, Kelly and Garry, now Mr and Mrs Lanning celebrated their marriage at Newland Hall at Roxwell, near Chelmsford on Maundy Thursday. Newland Hall is a lovely relaxed venue specialising in weddings and I was lucky to work with a Banqueting Manager, Chris, who I had the pleasure of working with last year at a marquee wedding in Great Dunmow. My second wedding was in Kent with the Reception at Dorton House which is a school for the visually impaired run by the charity, the Royal London Society for the Blind. This venue is a beautiful Georgian Mansion near Sevenoaks with a stunning staircase which was excellent to use for Rudi and Claire's grand entrance to their wedding breakfast. I was touched to receive a pair of cufflinks from Rudi and Claire as a memento of their day and I have worn them already.

Between the two weddings we had an Easter outing to Westcliff-on-Sea as my wife Acer and I took our daughter Zara to see The Tweenies live!! What an experience and great to spend time with friends Amanda and James and their little boy Alfie. This was my first real experience since becoming a parent of seeing the child-focused marketing operation in full swing - both impressive and disconcerting at the same time. As a family we also visited Woburn Safari Park over the weekend which was very well run considering Easter Monday must be one of their busiest days of the year.

So back to work since Tuesday and am pleased to have this blog underway.... my single step on this particular journey!