In July of this year I will be walking the 84 mile long Hadrian’s Wall footpath. I am doing this in aid of The Joseph Salmon Trust, a charity that provides financial support to parents who have lost a child. This might be help with things like funeral costs for those struggling to afford them, or to allow the self employed to take time off in order to grieve.
Over the next nine days I will be showcasing the bloggers that will be hiking the trail with me.
Gary
Gary writes over at the blog Jerry Chicken. If you haven’t yet visited him over there then you really should. Not only does he write wonderfully (in a style reminiscent of a rather more masculine Alan Bennet) but he also paints some absolutely wonderful pictures. Just look at one of the ones he auctioned off in aid of the Joseph Salmon Trust in 2007:
Stunning.
I first came across Gary via the blogroll of a now retired blogger (anyone remember Island Girl?) and quickly decided that the quality of his writing was well worth abandoning my usual “no following bloggers within 15 miles of me” rule (a rule that has now been well and truely smashed with Rol, Steve, Insomniac Mummy, and Richard).
Gary’s blog is unusual in that much of it’s focus is anecdotes from his past. Mind you, as an elderly fifty odd year old I suppose he has more past to for mine stories from than most. Still, his presence in my feedreader is refreshing and often cleans the palette when I tire of reading about toddlers, memes, and the latest blogging scandals.
Gary has heroically offered to lead and organise his own splinter group of Hadrian’s Walkers: Team Gnu – who will be tackling the whole thing perched on bicycles. I’m not sure if that will be easier or harder to be honest.
Ian
Ian from Single Parent Dad is also a hero. He is single handedly raising his son Max after his wife died back in 2005 when he was just a baby. And he’s doing a damn good job of it too. Although I’m sure he’d argue that there is nothing heroic about it – he’s just doing what needs to be done.
Unfortunately as well as being a hero, Ian is also a complete and utter spanner. In the last three hours alone he has called me “dickweed”, “knobcheese”, and several other vulgarities that I don’t wish to sully my blog with at this time. And all this in the course of me trying to be friendly and arrange meeting up over half term holidays. The man is truly a fartknocker of the lowest caliber.
I am proud to say that I sort of “discovered” Ian’s blog. He’d been doing it for a while when I stumbled across him, but had made no effort to gain any readers. I encouraged him to engage in the wider blogosphere and now he’s more popular than me, the swine.
Ian has come up to visit us in Huddersfield , and we traveled down to see him in Birmingham on on quite a few occasions now (face it Ian, you live in Birmingham). And just in case you can’t see though all the bluster, I really value his friendship.
Well, sort of. I like his house anyhow, and Max has pretty some cool toys.
If you would like to learn more about the Hadrian’s Walk then you can visit our website. If you would like to donate then you can do so here.
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I used to like reading Jerrychicken when I was out in Oz as it reminded me of the red brick of Burley and a bit of Yorkshire personality. Its still one of the few blogs I manage to catch up on fairly regularly…
.-= Sam´s last blog ..4 Boasts =-.
@Sam, he definitely paints good pictures, both literally and with words.
dan
I will checkout these two blogs…you have good taste!!!
quiz me anytime on disaster films ( I am watching TOWERING INFERNO on TCM as we speak)
Years ago I needed counselling when Jennifer Jones nosedived out of the scenic elevator!!!
@john Gray, do you like the current crop of disaster films too, or are you set in the 70′s?
Now Dan…
don’t get me started………
I LOVE most disaster films including the CGI heavy 2010,The Day After tomorrow, and POSEIDOn….but they do not have the real qualities of say POSEIDON ADVENTURE and TOWERING INFERNO……
they also do not have the slightly camp style, dinner jackets (with ruffles) evening gowns made from tissue paper and hot pants!….which are all ingredients of a fab disaster flick……..
Now I could rant on and on about Shelley Winters getting stuck in the branches of an eighteen foot ornimental blue christmas tree but I wont….suffice to say…..the old ones are the good uns!!!!
@Dan,
.-= john Gray´s last blog ..The Cottage and Church =-.
Isaland Girl may be retired but she isn’t dead. She renamed herself but still stops by and makes me chuckle via comment every once and awhile. I miss her. I tried getting her to write a guest post but she politely declined. I will be trying again.
.-= ImPerceptible´s last blog ..Pondering Future In-Laws =-.
@ImPerceptible, Those were good days.
Something else I’ve missed, Gary is an artist, and that you have fallen in love with me. Now the reasons are clear for you to suggest coming to stay without Kerry xoxox.
.-= Ian´s last blog ..Parenting tourettes =-.
@Ian, Kerry has decided she is coming now. whether it is due to the content of this post is unclear.
I expect to expand my English cuss vocabulary with an extreme amount of strange ones.
.-= Arjan´s last blog ..Micmacs à tire la larigot =-.
@Arjan, yes, Monkeyboner.
@Dan, monkeyboner? Really? Just right after they’ve officially prohibited sex with animals in the Netherlands (don’t ask me why it wasn’t prohibited earlier)? That’s rude :P
.-= Arjan´s last blog ..Micmacs à tire la larigot =-.
Two good ones. And as a proud owner of some of Gary’s finest might I just say—he hangs very well.
Not quite sure how Ian hangs but he seems a good sort to hang with.
.-= Ed´s last blog ..Raising the Bar–A Tale of Two Raccoons =-.
@Ed, I’m not sure he’s got the equipment to hang. More like dingle-dangle.
Going to your mate’s house to play with his son’s toys? You’re all class Hughes. Class mate.
.-= Kevin Spencer´s last blog ..Things I Like About America: Spelling =-.
@Kevin Spencer, he has good lego.
Wow! I just wanted to say I absolutely LOVE that painting, it’s beautiful.
And good luck on the walk!
.-= Jo Middleton´s last blog ..Exploring my sinful side – the green eyed monster… =-.
@Jo Middleton, He’s a very talented man alright.
awwww. so sweet. Man love.
Wow! That painting is brilliant. I love Robin Hood’s Bay.
I love yours and Ian’s flirty ‘love to hate you’ banter. Makes me snort regularly!
:)
.-= Insomniac Mummy´s last blog ..Hot or not? =-.
I’d like to just defend Ian’s cultural roots here and state that this single parent dad definitely doesn’t live in Birmingham. I know this for a fact because Birmingham is populated by single parent MOTHERS. Ian lives in the middle of nowhere, got-it?
:0)
.-= Mark´s last blog ..Football: Bristol Rovers 0 Walsall 1 =-.