The love of cycling

Decided to scan one of the thousands of old family photos last night. I'm not being very active at the moment, giving the 16 stitches across my back a chance to heal, so I have a little more time on my hands, which actually feels really nice.

Also, it's -20C (windchill -28C) this morning, 28 February 2014. The forecast for tonight is -33C (windchill -41C)!! Tomorrow, Saturday, should start off at -32C (windchill -40C), but should soar to a balmy -25C in the afternoon - yeah, right! The next few days will continue cold, but by Tuesday, there should be a little improvement - and then the snow returns, ha. It did snow a little last night. Don't think I'll be going out anywhere for the next few days, which at least will allow my stitches to heal more before I have to stretch to remove the snow from my car.

Anyway, this is a photo of my Mother, Vera Kathleen Bassindale, taken by my Father on one of their endless cycling outings. Both my parents were very keen cyclists and loved being in the outdoors. My Mother shared her love of wildflowers with me and my Dad always had his camera with him, to capture the beautiful scenery, his family - and his great love of steam engines as they chugged through the countryside. I believe he had a pretty much complete photographic record of every engine in the UK (certainly England) and many from Europe. Various enthusiasts now have most of his train and traction engine photos, thanks to my amazing friends in England, who spent so much time seeing to this after my Brother died. My son inherited our parents' love of cycling : ) I seem to have inherited both passions, for which I am truly grateful. My Mother died in December 1998 and my Father had died many years before that, in 1976. Sadly, our main communication for decades was by letter, as I got married at 22 (far too young!) and moved overseas, usually across the other side of the world. Missed out on family talks and sharing of my parents' lives. Very sad, but it happens to many people when family members move away.