APY is the way I'm feeling

So today I bought a new battery for APY 150G my 1969 Beetle - I drove it to the evening celebration tonight over the winding road to Saltburn - fabulous handling - what a car!!However it does need a respray and probably one new wing now as rust has started to appear. It is 5 years since the rebuild so I need suggestions as to the colour. I'm thinking NAVY BLUE WITH ICE BLUE AND WHITE FEATHERED FLAMES! Anne thinks lurid pink! As so far none of the children have made an attempt on it - any colour is a possibility

Journey of a lifetime

Well what a couple of weeks since the french holiday. Surfing on God's blessing! Have been very busy at work but it has been very enjoyable, with some extremely unwell patients to see, including a mystery patient brought into the hospital completely mute, via sleeping rough on the streets of Edinburgh! Another patient is so ill we are doubling her medication every few days - in the words of Dr House "it`ll either kill you or cure you!" Just joking folks!

Strategically we are facing a season of complete change as we enter into the organised chaos of Foundation Trust application - bye bye comfy disorganised NHS and hello big business. Many of the staff are going to struggle with the transition into a sharper financial culture, however I am discovering that I love it. The sharper the decision and the greater the change the happier I am - a bit of an adrenaline addict I think!

The big fun recently has been doing some songwriting with a friend (Hi David), as a pair of old rockers we wanted to write a Rock anthem but ended up with a soft girlie ballad - which will be played after the encores in the set list! We now have to work on the rest of the set - get writing David!! He assures me that he has a "U2" style song on the go - cunningly using almost exactly the same chords AS OUR FIRST SONG! Well Oasis did quite well with that plan!

Tonight we are off to see Journey on their last date of the current tour - over 75 million albums sold worldwide and a new CD out - they are one of my favourite bands from the teenage years - so I will be in heaven tonight!

The Supermodel and the Doctor

Dr Anne occasionally has to visit one of my in-patient units where she has a "boarder", so when the nursing staff realised who she was (i.e. married to me!!!), they had a request for her.

Apparently one of my patients thinks that I am so handsome that she (yes the patient is a she!)wanted to meet my wife as "anyone married to Dr Bell must be a SuperModel!".

Anne seemed to find this vair vair amusant.

I happen to think that my patient is right on both counts!!

One of the Broken

Hi, this is God here,
Talking to me used to be a simple affair
Moses only had to see a burning bush
And he'd pull up a chair
Well it's been a long time since we talked in that way
If you're wondering what to say...
Sing me no deep hymn of devotion
Sing me no slow sweet melody
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me
I remember King David
With his harp and his beautiful, beautiful songs
I answered his prayers
And showed him a place where his music belongs
It's not too far from here come get up off your knees
If you're looking for ways to please...
Sing me no psalm you're not King David
Sing me no high hushed Glory Be
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me
Sing me no deep hymn of devotion
Sing me no slow sweet melody
Sing it to one, one of the broken
And brother you're singing, singing to me

La Normandie en Fevrier

We had another week in La Ferte-Mace - where we walked in forests and drank gallons of red wine in a country where you can get a St Emilion Grand Cru claret for £5 a bottle! We ate like kings and tasted Calvados in a local farm made by a guy who has won the Concours de Paris so many times that he has a special award from Francois Mitterand. We got the usual problems due to the surfeit of goats cheese, shellfish and unpasteurised milk that we have a penchant for when in France. Ou est les toilettes??

We had Ian and Nadine with us (and their daughter Alice) and they helped us choose the themes and colours for the dining room - so that the doors have been sanded and painted a kind of turquoise blue and the walls will be drawing the blue and brown out of the marble fireplace.

Libby - Jonny's Mother came to visit

Well, whilst we were down in Normandy for the week (see later) Jonny was left alone to manage the house. He let all the bread go mouldy and then decided to eat Anne's seville oranges which he thought were "minging tasting" so he threw them out. Accordingly we have no marmalade prospects at all.

Then Libby came to visit from Sheffield - they went to town together and they were seen by Jonny`s friends from school who said later "We saw you down town with your mother!"

Hard cheese Libby!!!

Happy Valentines day!

Well we are on holiday and about to go away for a week in Normandy. Work has been hectic and I am about to collapse in a heap, what with another visit down to the Lords, this time as an intimate group of four, to be grilled over an open fire. This has been followed by communications from the mental health Czar, Louis Appleby who I am showing around a new hospital in my patch in March - he wants to bring a Guardian journalist with him to talk to me about stuff.

We celebrated Anne's birthday at Ian and Nadine's, with Peter and Michele Guinness, great food, good walks and Michele did a great ladies day "Women as God intended" on the Saturday and I preached on the sunday on Overcoming Anxiety - all the talks are on the website http://marpleparish.co.uk/Services/sermons.htm

So off down to the ferry tomorrow and by 10 pm our time we will be at our french house - deep joy - can't wait to be in our bed there which is the same as our bed here - so guaranteed great sleep! Plus hardly have to pack these days yippee! Ian and Nad and Alice their younger daughter are coming with us so Ian and Anne will be chefs for the week - we are taking down an LCD telly for the first time to install for DVD watching - as this year quite a few people are staying in the house.

Anway see you soon

Bootiful Bird Flu and Doctors with guns

With the furore in the UK over the confirmed bird flu infection of the Bernard Matthews plant in Suffolk, meetings have been held to plan for a possible pandemic in humans.
This all reminds me of the 1970's sci-fi series "Survivor" where a biological weapon is released accidentally in Britain sending us back into the Dark Ages. I remember that the first thing you needed to get was a shotgun and shells to fend off the marauding gangs, then a Landrover and lots of diesel and tinned food. Finally you have to wear big Arran sweaters all the time.
What is being predicted is that 50% cases will need intensive care and ventilators and conservative estimates are of 200,000 extra cases over the normal need for ICU facilities. People will have to be turned away. On top of this is the fear that up to 40% staff will stay away from work, crippling support services and abilit to treat.
Finally the suggestion that we will need guns to defend the hospitals from angry mobs.
Not media scare-mongering at all!
Anyway that's enough for now I'm off to get my Purdey shotgun and some Arran sweaters!

Those magnificent Women in their flying machines

The lady is my Great-Grandmother Jobling, standing behind Mr George (in the fetching Beret), it is 1910 and they are on Gosforth racecourse testing the George and Jobling Biplane. She was the third or fourth woman in the world to fly.

The car is the Golden Ford as raced by Mr George, my Great-grandfather's business partner, at Brooklands in 1912.

The Bandroom at Farndale

Last night Anne and I went to what was surprisingly the best gig I have ever been to EVER!
I thought that Bo Diddley (1982) in the Bear Pit in Newcastle was great, Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown at the Albert Hall in Toronto was fabulous, BB King (twice) was memorable and moving in the 80's, Whitesnake in the early days tingled the spine with their arrogance, Ry Cooder had the tightest band so far, Michael Schenker had been the best guitarist I've seen (2003), U2 last year and the Stones when at Uni had the best big stage shows, and honourable mentions go to Yes, Elton John, Sade, The R 'n' B Spitfires (in various pubs in Newcastle!), the unknown blues band in Chicago, Camel, Robert Cray, and of course the incomparable Jethro Tull (3 times), the only band to come close in my view was Lindisfarne at their early Christmas concert parties at Newcastle City hall.
Back to last night, it was a clear starlit night with a blazing full moon, we were driving over the moors to a little village in Farndale called Low Mill - "Don`t stray off the path" echoed in our minds from "American Werewolf in London" as we drove down the very steep winding bank from the top of Blakey Ridge. We parked on the verge, in the tiniest village you`ve seen, near a shack where suddenly we found ourselves in a buzzing crowd. The Cava was uncorked, as well as the Chilean Chardonnay and we sipped throughout a moving, introspective set from Willy Mason on fingerpicked guitar - as an encore he played a new song - "How Old?" quipped a Wag in the audience - "last week" replied Willy, "that's not new!" replied the Wag - "How about 5 minutes ago?" - "You wouldn`t want to hear that one!" said Willy with a smile - "Why not? Is it about me?"! replied the Wag.
Then Eve came on with her two guitarists from San Diego, Mark "Twang" and "Cactus" Jim they traded furious solos on acoustics and matched Eve's awesome voice with some lovely harmonies and fingerpicking, country, rock, gospel - they did it all.
After chatting with Mark "Twang" (great stage name!!) we walked out into the frosty night, twinkling stars and the rolling moors lit by the full moon. We only just remembered not to stray off the path on the way home!

I`m in love - and she's a hottie!!

This week I succumbed to temptation and bought a third electric guitar!! I know, I know, but it was irresistable! I've always been a huge Jimmy Page fan and have always hankered after a Gibson Les Paul but when I tried one for a week I didn`t think it was worth the price. However the guy who owns that Les Paul told me about this guitar which is a Signature Les Paul (made in Japan to a custom standard), he bought one and prefers it to his Gibson as well as his Gretsch Falcon! It has the same fittings as a Gibson, with solid mahogany neck and body and a 3/4" quilted maple top, beautiful mother of pearl inlaid rosewood fingerboard. We lowered the action yesterday at work and today it will get the lemon oil treatment on the fingerboard. I have posted a pic of Jimmy with his, so you can compare - all I need now is that tasteful dragon embroidered jacket!
As for the price, well shall we say it has been the best bargain I ever have negotiated! E-mail me if you are interested in one - they are not being imported into the Uk anymore and are really hard to get hold of.

Angel of the North

After finishing my university January Exams, myself and a few flatmates had a week off before the next semester officially began. We decided to go on a few day trips in the local area and one of the best was to the Angel of the North. We got the bus there in pretty good weather; but as soon as we arrived the sky darkened, the wind picked up and it started violently snowing! We braved the elements and walked up, you could see the clouds sweeping over and the snow falling for miles around. It was absolutely amazing. As soon as we got the bus back it cleared up again and there was blue skies!

After dark literature review

So what books are you reading? - currently I have on the go three fabulous books - Future Shock by Alvin Toffler, which is an analysis of the rate of change in society over the last 100 years with a particular focus on the effect of the pace and transience of life today on our psychology - it was published in 1970 and I read it as a teenager but wanted to revisit it in the light of my current role in the NHS - the other book is the Toyota Way by Taiichi Ohno which is equally challenging re the analysis of wasted resource in organisations (just don`t think about the amount of wasted time in church organisations!!!), the final one is Authentic Happiness by Martin Seligman which is absolutely amazing tho' written from the perspective of a non-christian psychologist - the church could learn a lot from this man!!
I am about to start Day Watch which is translated from the russian and is the sequel to NightWatch which is a gothic romantic thriller set in present day Moscow, played out on a dramatic foreground of vampire hunts, shapeshifters, and magical battles contrasted by gritty descriptions of urban decay in Russia.

Barmy weather!!!!

Ok - this is ridiculous - today was 12 degrees (Aberdeenshire was 15!) at least 9 degrees above the monthly average - the hawthorn hedge is budding and the daffs are blooming. Anne and I went to Saltburn beach to have Cocktails, it was so warm.
Dreading visiting cold Arizona in March!

Gambling and Foreign Aid

Middlesbrough is being granted a licence to develop a large Casino, Manchester will build a SuperCasino! We already have the National Lottery, now established in the nation's psyche.
As Britons, we gamble away £60 billion annually, compared to the government giving approx £5 billion in overseas development aid which is 0.48% of our GDP. The USA gives about 0.2% GDP in overseas aid by comparison and is the meanest country, whilst Denmark is the most generous.
Food for thought, at least for those of us who have food on the table. Government Aid is not only stingy but also is frequently tied to specific countries and often companies and with demands to liberalise the import export market (benefitting the donor country) according to prevailing policies etc. Usually the amount of aid received is less than the subsequent cost to the recipient country in terms of increased imports. Hmmm what does that make you want to do?

Another week goes by

Ok what are the Bells up to at present - this week we went up to Newcastle to see Robert Ward get "Licensed" by the Bishop of Newcastle as the Non-Stipendiary Assistant Curate to the St Lukes Spitaltongues Fresh Expressions Initiative Newcastle - which I think ought to be abbreviated to "Express Phlegm Church"- he basically has been given an old church next to the Dental and Medical schools which was closed down due to lack of congregation. The service was a bit boring and religious until Robert was presented to his congregation and there was whopping and a hollerin` with a stampin` of the feet - afterwards there was champagne and cake and JJohn gave a little talk using Robert's name as inspiration - and someone gave him £50,000 for heating as there is none at all, on the night.
Anne has been viral, watching House and Joan of Arcadia on DVD - the latter is a very clever take on Joan of Arc where a 16 yr old girl gets visited by God and given tasks to do (Angus and Debbie like it too!).
Angus signed a letter to Lord Carlile who was quoted in Hansard as saying (after our visit the other week) that we were a disaffected faction who were unrepresentative in our views - OK NOW WE ARE VERY DISAFFECTED!!!
Ruth is back today, Jonny does his SATS for american university tomorrow and we have a family do up in Newcastle with my brother and sister tomorrow.

Morning walk to work

Anticyclone on the way!

Ok so I bragged too early. We have been enjoying warm temps for too long, the anticyclone that has been over America (snow in texas!) has moved out over the Atlantic and is on its way drawing polar air over the uk this week - subzero temps are on the way, at least for the South East coast hahahaha. Thank
Mind you there is an ominous report of a high pressure system building up over Scandinavia - which threatens that media scare story of "siberian temperatures".
Let`s get pistis meeting went well yesterday with people really getting into seeking God for personal "rhema" words.

saturday cook in

Well what do you do on a wet Saturday afternoon?? Of course being girlie Bells you turn to the cookery book and find an interesting cake recipe and spend the next hour hunting out ingredients, popping out to the shops to get the things you forgot on the first shopping trip and having a lot of fun. Debbie and I made this amazing flour free battenburg, filled with ginger preserve, covered with mascarpone icing and topped with freeze dried strawberries, coated in white chocolate! Typically we would probably all prefer a good old fashioned chocolate cake, but were happy to pass slices of this one on to various friends with flour intolerances/ or baking phobias!! Good times.

The song "Oxygen" by Willy Mason

i wanna be better than oxygen so you can breathe when you're drowning and weak in the knees i wanna speak louder than ritalin for all the children who think that they've got a disease i wanna be cooler than TV for all the kids that are wondering what they're going to be we can be stronger than bombs if you're singing along, and you know that you really believe we can be richer than industry as long as we know that there's things that we don't really need we can speak louder than ignorance cause we speak in silence every time our eyes meet, on and on and on it goes, the world it just keeps spinning until i'm dizzy time to breathe, so close my eyes and start again anew i wanna see through all the lies of society to the reality happiness is at stake i wanna hold up my head with dignity proud of a life where to give means more than to take i wanna live beyond the modern mentality where paper is all that you're really taught to create do you remember the forgotten america justice equality freedom to every race just need to get past all the lies and hypocrisy make up and hair to the truth behind every face then look around to all the people you see how many of them are happy and free i know it sounds like a dream but its the only thing that can get me to sleep at night i know its hard to believe but its easy to see that something here isn't right i know the future looks dark but its there that the kids of today must carry the light, on and on and on it goes, the world it just keeps spinning until i'm dizzy time to breathe, so close my eyes and start again anew if i'm afraid to catch a dream, i weave you baskets and i float them down the river stream, each one i weave with words i speakto carry love to your relief