As you On the 9th of September I went off to Northern Ireland to see my good friend Paul, who I know from university. Julia and Rachael, two other friends went too, and we all had a mad week crammed with lots of cool things, so I thought that I’d tell you about it. I wrote this post ages ago, but forgot to publish it, so here it is anyway

One of my favourite aspects of the trip was the incredible scenery that we saw. We made frequent visits to the coast, making the most of being situated a short drive from the sea. Much of the cliffs and rock formations were formed from volcanic activity a long time ago, and they have left magnificant formations all around.

Every time I go back to Ireland, I am always struck by the beauty of the land, something which I took for granted when I lived there. The amount of rain makes all the fields a vibrant green, almost too green! The coast line that we walked along was rugged looking and wild. There are many impressive cliffs and jutting out of the sea are magnificant rocks with archways and all sorts! Whenever I am in a place like that I become like a child and get really excited! Climbing everywhere was so fun and looking at the beauty made we wonder about God’s power and wisdom in creating it all. We spent some time just sitting down and watching the waves crashing against the rocks. I love the sea. Have you ever heard of the Giant’s causeway? That is one of the places which we visited. It is famous for its peculiar rock formations. The rocks there are hexagonal forming thousands of stepping stones out to the sea. It’s really magnificant. Take a look for yourself: http://www.northantrim.com/giantscauseway.htm

While we were there we were taught how to surf by a proffessional surfer (it’s harder than it looks!). We also spent some time offroading on bog-land with my friend’s landrovers, something which made normal driving look incredibly boring! One of the landrovers got stuck in the mud and it took 5 hours for Paul’s brothers to get it out again, but they enjoyed it and came back at the end of the day completely caked in mud from head to toe! Paul ’s cousin came up with his shotgun and a box full of ammunition for us to use to shoot clay pidgeons (pottery discs fired into the air). That was so much fun, and by the end I was getting used to it and hitting them pretty regularly.

Here is a video of our time. Sorry it is poor video quality:

Hi!

It has been a long time since I wrote on here. Last time was before I started my placement I think. ~Anyway, I’m here now.

My placement went extremely well, thanks to God. You know how I was anxious about it beforehand? Well, I had no need to be! By the end of the placement my confidence had been boosted a lot and I was looking forward to becomming an OT. I left with an ‘A’ grade, which will help considerably towards the final degree mark as it was worth 2 modules.

Now I am back home any enjoying the Christmas holidays. Jonney, Peter and I have been out on a few unicycle rides and have become aquainted with the new skate park in Hanley. Here is a video of our time there. It was fun putting classical music to it - a change from the common extreme sports music that most use. Hope you err…enjoy!

These days I have been speding more time on Youtube watching people’s videos. I’ve come across these hilarious chinese guys who lip synch to music. You might have heard of them as they are quite popular in China (apparently). Here’s one that I thought that you might like. All the others are just as good though, so you can watch them here: The Dormitory Boys

I hope that you enjoyed that as much as we did . Would you be able to translate any of what they are saying?

See you later. It’s your turns to post now Oh, and by the way….It’s 2007.

Hi!
As you know, every week I go with Jim on a unicycle ride in some nice countryside. This month we have had so much rain despite being told in the weather forcast that August was going to be even hotter than July (pretty hot!). However, yesterday there was a delightful break in this dreary dull weather and we actually got some sun! woohoo! Jim and I took the afternoon out and went to one of our favourite unicycle places called Trentham woods. Here is a fun video of me unicycling there. Enjoy!

Tomorrow morning a group of us are going to help out some friends in moving out of their house, so I’d better go to bed as we have an early start. In the afternoon I will be helping Jim with another circus skills workshop as part of a fun day in a local park. We will be teaching people how to unicycle, juggle, use the diabolo and other things. Actually I really enjoy it and find such satisfaction in teaching other people how to do those things, possibly even more than doing them myself.

Anyway, see you later!

Stoke-on-Trent is set within some very beautiful countryside and it doesn’t take long to get out of the city, which is a real blessing. Just north of where we live is the Peak District, a national park with beautiful hills and lakes. This is where the area of the Roaches is, and is probably my favourite place to go to in England. They are rugged looking, with rocky outcrops, impressive cliffs and pretty fields, full with heather. It looks down upon Rudyard Lake and Stoke-on-Trent lies discretely in the distance, far enough away to not cause a blot on the landscape. We enjoyed climbing the rocks up to the highest point and watching the sun set behind the hills, bathing the cliffs in a beautiful orange glow. That time was very special and it was a shame to say goodbye to the family the following day. We will miss them

On Saturday I went with Peter and my friend Jim on a unicycle ride in a nearby park. This was the first time for a long while that we have gone on a ride together, so it was very cool. We enjoy riding in the woods on bumpy paths and whenever we see a dangerous hill, we ride down it and see if we can reach the bottom without falling off. By the end of the ride I was caked in mud and my coat was ripped, but it was worth it! Here’s Peter riding down the hill (turn your speakers on).

Monday morning was quite interesting as I was asked to look after Laura (5), Emma (2) and Esther (baby/wa), for a few hours, while their parents were away. I have never had any experience with babysitting, so I was a bit anxious, especially as they are so young. The kids are great fun though, and everyone was still ok when their mother returned which, believe me, was a big relief! At one point the baby started crying upstairs, so I left Laura and Emma to play with their toys as I checked up on Esther. My mother had given me tips on what to do if the baby cried and I tried everything. Nothing worked. Just then I heard Emma crying downstairs, so I left Esther for a bit and went to see what the problem was. Laura had got the comb that she wanted. I looked across at Laura and she was trying to comb her hair. Suddenly she picked up a pair of scissors and attempted to chop a big chunk out of her hair! I stopped her just before she did it and when I asked her why she tried, she said “my hair is tangled”. I can only imagine what her mother would have said if Laura had succeeded!

In the evening, Ally, Peter and I all drove off to the roaches again, and enjoyed the sunset ….AGAIN! That must be the third time that we had been there in the space of a week, but I never get bored of the place. I took a panorama from one of the hills, but as I was browsing through the pictures later, I deleted the last picture by mistake. Ally was not very happy, and he reminded me of the fact that I am always doing silly things like that. I deleted the final picture of the Lei Feng pagoda panorama whilst in Hangzhou, and worst of all, the video of Gillian and I doing silly dances in the aisle of the plane on the way back from Chengdu! D’oh! Ally still hasn’t forgiven me for that one….

Yesterday, we took the day out and we drove up to Leeds (north east of Manchester) to watch England pay Pakistan on the final day of a cricket test match. There were so many people there and it reminded me a bit of China! We spent most of our time queuing in the car, in lines of people or waiting for public transport. However, the game was excellent and England thrashed Pakistan getting all their players out for only 155 runs (points). That was…good! J Take a look at the SWEET panorama that Peter took (note the ‘twins’ on the right side of the picture carrying beers up the steps J):

I’m sure that that has inspired you to go out play a game of cricket. It has for me! See you later!