Good Manors

It's not very interesting to start every post by stating how busy I have been but I do like to update my blog regularly and I have had no opportunity to do so for 2 weeks. Mel has just returned from a short break with her Sister Penny in the lake district so I have had to cope on my own for five days. Luckily I was away with work for 2 of those days otherwise I would have had to call the emergency services for help. I always enjoy being on my own for about an hour but then quickly miss someone to project my inane drivel upon.

On Monday I leave for Ireland for three days for customer meetings in Shannon. I always look forward to my trips as it is a beautiful part of the world and my customers are lovely people but I am particularly looking forward to this trip. My customer is well connected in Ireland and has negotiated an unbelievably keen room rate at Adare Manor which will make a nice change from the soulless places our travel policy normally allows.

In reality, I will spend little time there but still, Just Look at it!

As a consequence of my travels and workload I have neglected friends and family so my impending 40th takes on more significance as it will likely be the first time I will have seen everyone for months. We leave for France three days later and again I am looking forward to catching up with our friends on the other side of the channel. I'm not the best at keeping in touch with people and at the moment I am so brain dead by the time Friday arrives I am good for very little at the weekends. I normally save my half arsed resolutions for new year but my 40th birthday seems an opportune moment to commit to making more of an effort to stay in contact with the people that mean the most to me.

My main birthday present, a Panasonic Lumix G2 camera arrived this week and I was allowed to test it before it was put away and I think you can expect more photographs in future blog posts, it really is a thing of beauty. For the first time in my life I have read a user manual and I am determined to get to grips with photography as it is something that has always fascinated me. Whether I have a talent for it or not is debatable but between my fishing trips, France holidays and our regular walks in the countryside I should have ample opportunity for some good snaps.