Headed up to Rylstone (just north and west of Skipton) climbing with some other people for the weekend. Drove up on Friday evening and arrived in the dark to find we thought we had two bits of different tents, met some gypsies who lent us a tent until the morning when we found we had all the right bits after all. Climbing on Saturday was pretty good, I think I climbed my first E1, seconded some HVS and VS routes and generally tore most of the skin from my limbs. Sunday was less busy but we headed over to the Cow and Calf area near Ilkley where I top-roped a fairly hard VS before we headed home.

It snowed, so I thought I'd head out and see if I could take some decent shots with my less-than-decent camera. The weather closed in, it snowed a lot more, I got very cold and the light was terrible. In the end I came back with some pretty crappy shots. These are the three which survived the cull.

Popped out to the local park to play off the two Canon 50mm lenses (f/1.4 and f/1.8) against each other. Just a few shots out of the few dozen I took which I liked the look of. And no, I haven't decided which one is the best lens for me. At least, not yet.

Walking in Wales.

Took a wander with Cormac and Steph around Wandlebury, then went back the next day on my bike to try out my new lens having a go at bird spotting. Didn't see anything other than a robin all day. In the end I came back through town and spotted a duckling zipping about at about 40 knots on the water. I managed to get at least one reasonable shot of it. I fully intend to go somewhere with more wildfowl in the very near future and put this kit to better use.

James got himself recertified (to fly) so a few of us jumped in a plane and he flew us to Skegness (well, why not?) and back.

Decided to take a walk, so walked to Ely. Seems to be about nineteen miles. Lovely day. Caught the leading edge of a hail storm, otherwise bright and sunny.

Jenny and I went to Greece. It was brilliant. We had lots of fun and did lots of walking and swimming and eating of food. Probably too much food, if I'm honest. Still, we didn't get burnt, which is nice.

"Ah, Boston in the Fall..." Well with Jenny out there for the next year or so I thought now would be the time to take advantage of a friendly face to show me around. It also being Thanksgiving we took a very short trip to Cape Cod to see what the place was like out of season. The answer: brilliant, cold, windy, deserted, wonderful. Also, this collection contains penguins, autumnal colours, climbing, a squirrel and vague attempts at being vaguely arty, vaguely.

A whole load of us (and Kris, who was over at the time) headed off to Porlock in Somerset to stay at (take over) a hotel on the coast. Walking, running, supporting the local economy buy buying lots of produce from the village shop, murder mystery parties on trains, hiring a whole cinema, kiting, horse riding, falconry, cycling, drinking, cooking, croquette, football (of a sort), pass the parcel, games console playing and all kinds of other things I don't recall were the order of the week.

I believe we also celebrated two birthdays at some point, too.

Stowe Gardens in Buckinghamshire. Rather a strange collection of buildings-as-art. Lovely weather though, and fabulous company.

Kris was spending some time in China, researching her Ph.D, teaching to get free accommodation and generally using her time usefully. Given she speaks/reads/writes Mandarin and knows an awful lot about China we figured it'd be the very best time for me to come and visit her and China. Especially as we both needed a holiday.

Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai, Yangshuo and back to Beijing again. Some fabulous hotels, amazing archeological and historical sites, lots of people (LOTS of people) and some truly astounding scenery. Not to mention some lovely company.

Kris and I took off on the train and bikes to Scotland, just a few dozen miles south of Edinburgh, for the week. We stayed in a fantastic place called Barns Tower just outside of the town of Peebles. Cue a large amount of excellent cycling, wonderful walking and even some time to just relax and read without interruptions from phones and computers. Bliss! It only rained a few times too, and we never got soaked. Much kudos to Kris for carrying two heavy panniers on a much heavier bike than mine!