Dancing with R&O

We went dancing on Saturday night and had a great time. Luckily R&O didn’t find the camera so the only embarrassing pictures are of them. This was New England dancing, in my mind somewhere between Irish set dancing and English barn dancing. We disappeared a little early due to being hungry and having a long day to look forward to on Sunday.

Gail turns bedroom Pugin Red

A very proud Gail decorating the bedroom. Dad would be proud as the colour is Pugin red. Did you know that Pugin design Killarney Cathedral.

Jim Lovell, Fred Haise & Al Worden

The day after the lunar eclipse we continue the lunar theme with a trip to London and the chance to meet Jim Lovell and Fred Haise from Apollo XIII. Jim Lovell was in great demand so I had very limited time with him; I mentioned the Christmas flight of Apollo VIII and the Genesis reading on the way home. He said that had meant a lot to meant people and the idea had come from a newspaper reporter.

Fred Haise had a lot more time for people and was very happy to pose for photos.

I also had time to attend a talk given by Al Worden from Apollo XV. I had met him first a couple of years ago and he had stood out from many of the astronauts I met because he was very happy to chat. I remember him talking about pubs he had visited in Filton while he was a test pilot working with Rolls Royce. The talk he gave was excellent and really gave you a flavour of flying to the moon.

The video is poor quality but the sound is fine, if you have 10mins to watch it he wonderfully describes the run up to and lunch of Apollo XV.

Lunar Eclipse

I had heard on the radio that it was going to be a lunar eclipse but I had completely forgotten. We were out for the evening and when we came pulled onto the drive a bright red moon was in front of us. The camera does it no justice but I am very impressed I managed to take a picture of it at all.