Baby Joe at four months

Frances, Christopher and Baby Joe came to Cambridge over the Easter period, and it was astonishing to see how much Joe had grown since we last saw him back in February.  He's a big lad, and is already wearing clothes aimed at babies who are considerably older.  Probably the biggest change, other than his sheer size, was that he now gives everyone big, beaming smiles which melt the heart.

On Easter Sunday, Harriet and I were on "grandparent duty", looking after Joe while Frances and Christopher went to have tea at the newly re-vamped University Arms hotel.  We took him to the Botanic Gardens, which he seemed to enjoy.  We certainly did. 

Baby Joe Comes to Cambridge

Our new grandson, born on December 14th, has made his first trip from Bristol to Cambridge.  It was a beautiful winter's morning, so Isla and I joined the Boreham family for a walk around the fields between Foxton and Newton.  First, a couple of Frances and Christopher with Joe in his rather splendid papoose.

Barbara and David - the other proud grandparents.

Isla, meanwhile, was more interested in chasing and fetching sticks...

...but sometimes she got left behind as a result!

Baby Joe is with us for the rest of the weekend, so hopefully I'll be able to post some pictures of him soon.

Cambridge CC President's "do" 2016

Every year, the incoming Cambridge CC President hosts a party during the summer, and I remember very well the time I had to do it back in 2010.  This year it was Barry Badcock's turn, and we had a very pleasant afternoon in Haddenham courtesy of him and Sue at the end of June.  From my point of view it was an ideal opportunity to take embarrassing pictures of fellow members, ideally when in the process of stuffing their faces with the excellent food on offer.  Apologies (sort of) to Chris, Charles, Trevor and Ken for the following pictures.

The "dumb blonde" in the next couple of images isn't Amber, in fact, but a much newer model called Saffron.  I know that Amber would have been as close to the food as possible, but Saffron seemed to be quite happy sitting in the shade with Helen.  Phil, meanwhile, appeared to have taken up the gentle art of dog portraiture.

Gareth, who hasn't been with the club long enough to be tainted, looked positively normal by comparison.

Curses, spotted...

I suspect the answer will be "no" next time I need help with an RPS newsletter after posting that final shot...

CRUFC take on Clifton (and wipe the floor with them)

Chris Fell, Cambridge Rugby Union FC's official photographer, was unable to go to yesterday's match as he was shooting a wedding in "sunny" Halifax instead.  Ann Miles was deputed for the day, and she asked me if I would help out.  I guess that makes me "Chief Assistant to the Assistant Chief" (with apologies to Michael Flanders).

I've never photographed Rugby before, so wasn't quite sure what to expect.  Well, here are some of the results.

Ouch!

I'm sure Rugby Union was never this balletic when I used to play it at school...

It's a constant battle to try to isolate interested periods of play while, at the same time, keeping an eye on the (rather cluttered) background.  A healthy dose of luck is involved in getting half-way reasonable shots, I discovered.

If you can keep your shirt when all about you are losing theirs...

Yet another try for Cambridge, who eventually won 46-7.

Group commiserations in the Clifton camp after the game.

They start them young at CRUFC!

The Chief Assistant pointing out her inept partner to Cambridge's Scrum Half, who had just scored a spectacular try.  Yours truly had failed to capture it; well, failed to capture it in focus, anyway.  The most valuable lesson I learned was to take a second camera body with a shorter lens on it, as otherwise it's almost impossible to guarantee that "big moment".  Oh well...

Thoroughly enjoyable, and it's definitely something I'd like to have another go at - if the Big Cheese(s) let me, that is.