Tikhtak

Walking The 3 Yorkshire Peaks for Youth & Children.

Yes it is true! I am 41 and a half years old and have decided if I don't get this walk in now I may never do one. I will be walking 24.5 miles over three Yorkshire peaks to raise money for CMS Youth and Children's work in the UK. If you would like to sponsor me then just click on the donate button in my side bar on this Tikhtak blog or click on this just giving link. You can read more about the walk there too.

Jacob Isaac

This weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Jacob Isaac from Bangalore in India. We actually had met him in India in 2005 at the South Asian youth Conference where he was a speaker. He has again been in England as a speaker at Greenbelt this year. Jacob is a real entrepreneur and has set up numerous projects in Bangalore under the banner of Kerygma. They include an outreach coffee bar for young people, a school to train christian leaders and a rehabilitation centre for different addictions.

Back from Skiathos

Just got back from a picture postcard island off the coast of Greece, Skiathos. There  were so many lovely sandy beaches and coves and although the weather was hot -30 degrees, it wasn't too hot. Zara enjoyed her first taste of sand and sea water and on one day we managed a round the island boat trip while my Dad and Step Mum (who are still there as I write) baby sat for us. The picture on the right is our boat stopping off to see a ruin of the old Skiathos town, while the picture on the right shows that Skiathos was so beautiful that even old shoes produce flowers. I hope to upload more pics to flickr in the next few days.

Chain of Command

I stumbled across this sketch by Dave Walker from the church times  recently and I think it probably resonates with many youth workers all around the country. Take a look at Chain of Command in more detail  as well as other other observations and sketches by him.

How will Boris tackle London?

I am still trying to get used to the fact that Boris Johnson is Mayor of London and I am sure many Londoners are wondering what Boris will be like. Well if you are asking how will he tackle gun and knife crime on our streets? bendy buses? and rising house prices? then he gives us a glimpse of his tactics in a recent England v Germany charity football match. With the game almost over the super sub is brought on to make his impact. Click here to see how Boris will tackle the difficulties Londoners face.

May Sunshine

Saturdays and bank holidays are changing their nature as the football season draws to a  close. In the last few weeks we have already started to make the most of them  and admit there might be life after football!. We attended a May Fayre in Greenwich with May pole and Morris dancing and a pig roast to boot and then last Saturday celebrating Alanah's first birthday  with friends/Parents Jim and Veronica and Zara experiencing the delights of a bouncy castle for the first time, while the adults had a BBQ. More of the sunshine please ... Check out more pics on my flickr

Snowy Morning

Yesterday we all had a flutter on the Grand National. I managed to back the winner - Comply or Die, but more importantly was Zara's horse - Snow Morning came in third. Little did we realise that the very next morning her horse would have the last laugh. We woke up to a winter wonderland and with mobile in hand I snapped at evey opportunity on my way to church. Check out more winter wonderland pics on my flickr

Who said owners look like their dogs?

I know that owners are meant to look like their dogs but this was uncanny!! I was actually on my way to Goldsmiths college in Newcross Gate and I just noticed two flashes of white. So I quickly got my mobile camera out and took a few photos. I have been tempted to come up with a few captions  but not wanting to offend anyone I will keep them to myself.

Phil Gallagher's 40th

Last night we celebrated big Phil Gallagher's 40th birthday. It is amazing to think we started together at St Mary's College, Twickenham 21 years ago and he hasn't aged a day. It was also great to catch up with a lot of other friends from that time and the evening turned into a bit of a Simms reunion. All around the room Jo ( Phil's wife) had put up pictures of Phil over the last 40 years. One that stood out was a picture of the St Mary's College football 1st team. We had a good team and won the British Colleges cup and Lensbury cup in 87/88. So I thought I would add a picture from that time too. For more pics check out flickr

Photo published in Schmap

I took this photo back in the summer at the Rise Festival  (London against racism) in Finsbury Park and it has been used on Schmaps for London. I have put the Schmap widget in the side bar on the right hand side just scroll down and click on the events  to find the photo in the Rise advert. Chuffed to bits!