Mega monsters are even more mega

For those of you eagerly awaiting the triops update we have the latest..... they are even bigger, well, admittedly one has a much smaller tail, one of the others got a bit peckish one evening, you know how it is-9 o`clock and you need a little something..... However, they are all still shedding their skin every 2 days and are now about 3 cm long. James is very pleased with his first pet and especially likes them when they swim on their backs, so the second photo shows off all their little legs.

Meanwhile, the rain is gently trickling down the window pane, the central heating is on and I might light the fire. We are losing our suntans and are back to wearing woolly jumpers. Joy!!

Processing negative events - the bike crash!

2 hours into our big ride across the Lake District, just as we were anticipating the joys of ascending Kirkstone Pass - a kairos event ocurred.

This is greek for "a great big crash" - I would like to say we were tearing up Ullswater like a couple of hooligans kneedown round the bends singing "Bat out of hell" but unfortunately we were doing a sedate 35 mph in touristy traffic when going over a hump in the road with a left to right bend on a wet road proved too much for my suspension. The rear tyre, which decided to act like Torvill and Dean, skated alongside me putting me side on to the road - the bike then highsided and threw me onto the tarmac.

Somewhat painfully I staggered to the side of the road and did a bodycheck - memory present, limbs x 4 and all moving then uoaarrghh very sore elbow!

Phone calls sorted out bike recovery and people recovery and we headed on to visit Dominic and Ellie in their new house (See the pic of us all) where we celebrated life and fine gardens with champagne and ibuprofen cocktails. By now unable to move my left arm I protested "its only a bruise" and one handed narrowly beat mein host at Table Tennis - hohoho - a sweet moment as ..................

when I returned to work on tuesday with a nonfunctioning limb, x-rays confirmed a fractured elbow (head of radius)!! The films were taken in Guisborough at 9-30 am and reviewed by the radiologist 10 miles away in Middlesbrough at 9-35 am digitally on the computer. This was demonstrated to me at subsequent review by the Consultant at East Cleveland Hospital on thursday where on his desktop computer he enlarged the digital images of my bones to show me the fracture line stopping short of the articular surface (very good news). X-ray films don`t exist anymore! When I was a new Consultant if I wanted to enlarge the image, I had to lean close to the film, now a stroke of the mouse zooms in on the digital image with fabulous clarity!!

So I had x-rays done at 15 mins notice, 5 mins walk from my office, with a Consultant review 2 days later - this was not special treatment as the local service is an on demand one and I witnessed fellow crippled patients lurching into the local A and E in East Cleveland Hospital and getting immediate access to a Consultant review if needed (mind you only available on thursdays).

Who says the NHS is in a state? I was proud to be part of this "free at the point of need" health care system!! Long may it continue

Since then strapped into a velcro strait jacket I have been taxied about the place and this may continue for a couple of weeks as I`ve been told not to drive.

And the bike? - it is probably written off! Well if it was a horse I would shoot it!!!! My friend Rollo who was with me feels that it has been a sign to get a modern bike that can go round corners, my brother believes it is a sign to get four wheels and a Caterham sports car, at work they think I need stabilisers - others think it was spiritual attack after preaching twice!

The British pint has been saved

The EU has done an about turn and allowed Britain to keep all Imperial measures for eternity (before we had to lose them by 2009).

The Crown on the Pint of beer is retained and after buying your vegetables in pounds and ounces and your carpets in yards feet and inches, you can walk a couple of miles to the pub and drink a couple of pints for evermore!

Concert season is upon us - from pomp to ballads

I have followed Magnum for 29 years ever since I bought their 1978 debut album Kingdom of Madness. I first saw them live at Reading Festival in 1980 along with Slade and Whitesnake (and Budgie and Marillion etc!). I have since then, seen them at the now defunct Mayfair in Newcastle and also the City Hall in the mid 80`s.
So how delighted am I, that they are reformed and back firing on all cylinders with a rifftastic bombastic new album called "Princess Alice and the broken arrow". It has to be the most pretentious title this year and it comes with an album cover by Rodney Matthews! The answer is "very delighted" as I have in my possession tickets for the new tour this month.

AND could it get any better - well it can! Dugald and I have managed to get tickets to see Rush in October on their tour for their new CD "Snakes and Arrows!

And finally we have tickets to see Iain Archer (ex of Snow Patrol) supported by Jacob Golden in the bandroom at Farndale in North Yorkshire. I`m going to see Jacob Golden who I think sounds better than Damien Rice and Jeff Buckley combined, with a bit of Nick Drake in there as well - listen to Out Come the Wolves and just shiver with schizoid fear - go to his website and his MySpace site to listen and be transported to sad sensitive balladeer heaven where weeping CAN go on for a season!! http://www.myspace.com/themusicofjacobgolden

mega monsters

What do you think of these amazing creatures? In our house we are divided; some people are afraid they are going to jump out and attack us, others prefer to see them as fantastic performers who can do flick flacks in the water while eating!!James has grown them from tiny eggs smaller than a pin head into these 2 cm long beauties. Called triops they are really little dinosaurs dating back to prehistoric times. We look forward to the fight to the death, which is inevitable according to the instructions. As yet they have no names but we are open to suggestions. I do have to confess this our 3 rd attempt at growing triops the first time i killed them by using the wrong water. Second time they just didnt hatch. To be recommended for those of you who aren`t great fans of pets, they are not smelly, dont wee/poo all over the place and don`t eat too much.

Evil Genius

Well there has been an earthquake in Kent yesterday at 4.5 on the Richter scale, the rest of the country has been bathing in the hottest April since records began (mid to high twenties) APART from the North East coast above the Humber WHICH HAS BEEN FREEZING IN COMPARISON!!! Aaaaaarrgghh!! Guess where we live!

Well we won`t get skin cancer that`s for sure.

So what`s happening - the highlight for me in the last few days was Anne and I getting prophesied over by Lois Gott after I preached at Ken and Lois` church in Newcastle last weekend - Anne and I will now be bringing Chicken Tikka Masala to the the souls of the nation! You can ring for more details!

I was accused of being a "henchman" at work as I tried to reign in a member of staff with an xs payment in their job plan - I was annoyed at the time as I felt I was much more the Evil Genius, masterminding the revolution from the NHS into the business environment of a Foundation Trust!

The Versace Pizza oven and the barbecue King

Well it arrived - inspired by the Arizona bbq`s we replaced our decrepit old chiminea with a "Mexican" Pizza oven Chiminea (we noted sadly that it was made in china). It is a great outdoor fire BUT also a fabulous barbecue when you remove the chimney which has an oven in it for baking! The chicken cooked in about 5 minutes!

last week of sunshine

After feasting on Nigel`s BBQ and helping the kids with their chocolate overload we went walking around the wash in the evening light sorting out the world and its problems. We find its much easier to do this when the sun is shining, and then a desert sunset.

Next day we all decorated pottery which will be glazed and fired for us, and brought back to the UK by lovely friends: it was lots of fun but who knows how the finished product will look. You could get some great sermon material out of that, if Angus was writing!

One of the final highlights was that we eventually got to go the Black Angus steak house, despite pleading that Angus really was his name there were no freebies with the logo on to bring back as a souvenir, but good steak anyhow!!

Next day we ( as in all of us Bells except Angus and Jonny) had to get up before dawn in order to meet the sun as it rose from the east. We then ascended into the skies by the power of hot air, no not Debbie and Anne discussing recipes again. Quite an amazing experience, felt much safer than going up in an aeroplane anyway. Gave us fantastic views and a real sense of awe. Also took this flukey photo with the moon.

Our final few hours were spent organising Jonny and his year out in Phoenix, starting this August, and eating out again, this time Nigel trying his best to make me like Chinese food. Then a final swim in the balmy evening air before becoming sardines for BA and coming home!

Barbecues and the Easter bunny

Nigel continued his master class on the barbie with salmon cooked on cedar planks,

serenaded by local musicians who played both forms of music .... Country AND Western!

On Good friday we went to Rawhide and had steak and then a Bull riding rodeo with the Easter Bunny - yeehaaw! Ride `em bunny!

Phoenix continued into second week

So we cycled round the estate working off the vast amounts of food that Nigel and Sue forced us to eat, along with the most fabulous Californinan wines. The Passover meal was one of the most memorable as Nigel and I found a butcher in Cave Creek where we got a 15 pound leg of lamb which Nigel spit-roasted on his humungous gas barbecue by the pool (how they have suffered for the Gospel!!). Did you know that there are 4 toasts throughout the Passover meal which have to be done with different wines? Suffice to say we were biblically accurate and went an extra mile!!

Anyway whilst we were exercising Nigel and Sue practiced for their retirement sitting out on their porch, don`t they look lovely for such old people?
Later in the week Nigel and I did a 4.8 mile hike in the hills by Cave Creek in the blazing heat and developed a raging thirst that could only be quenched at a genuine cowboy Saloon where they were doing a special price on chilled ice cold beers $1 pint which washed down a big dish of guacomole and melted cheese with chips. We sat at the table under the Welcome Bikers sign in the shade! Did I mention how hot it was??

Flight from Mexico back to Phoenix

On the way back across the border we stopped to shop for wormy Tequila and Mexican crack which we all enjoyed in the car (Toffee and peanut crack!). Given how chilly the weather seemed to be (sometimes less than 30 degrees C) we thought the Blanket selling garage would do a good trade!!!

The driving across the desert was difficult, requiring concentration what with all the sudden sharp bends and people with boats!

Once back in Arizona we started to warm up - here is Anne on our cycle ride round the housing estate

Flight to Phoenix - the second report

The evening beach walk to see the sunsets were amazing but blink and you missed them!

We all needed lots of rest as Nigel had just returned from Ecuador and Sue, the children and all the Bells had just come from the UK.

The abiding memory will be the "Barbecue of death" that Nigel did

on our balcony one morning complete with liquid fire of flaming fat pouring onto the barbecue frame near the gas canister (unfortunately not caught on camera as we were all running away at the time)!

Flight to Phoenix - the first week`s report

So we have returned from Arizona, after visiting the Mallon clan just north of Phoenix. To start with we were immediately dragged kicking and screaming across the dusty desert to the west coast of Mexico where we were told "don't pack any clothes, it's really hot there!"
This was the view from our balcony- yowza, but then the curse of the Bells caused the weather to turn nasty!

Ooo it was chilly I can tell you - the howling gale - the sandstorm, the rattling windows - it reminded us so much of Tynemouth in spring!!

We huddled in towels and ate spicy food to keep warm - then the next day glorious sun and allsorts of beach fun - huge digging projects, mucho beers and Napa sparkling wine, ridiculous hats and big white bellies on show. We went to Puerto Penasco "Rocky Point" at the northern edge of the Sea of Cortez.

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