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<channel>
	<title>John&#039;s Ramblings</title>
	<atom:link href="http://john.crouchley.com/blog/feed" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
	<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog</link>
	<description>Personal record for family and friends - contact me: john at crouchley.me.uk</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:22:21 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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			<item>
		<title>New home monitoring setup &#8211; part 1</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/543</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/543#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 23 Feb 2010 21:54:12 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wireless]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[XBee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=543</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Updated 26/2/2010
I have been looking at revisiting my home monitoring setup for some time. Whilst I have considered plug computers and other slugs as the hub for this I keep coming back to the Arduino. An Arduino has enough CPU power, is cheap, very low power and I can maintain it should it develop a [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Updated 26/2/2010<br />
I have been looking at revisiting my home monitoring setup for some time. Whilst I have considered plug computers and other slugs as the hub for this I keep coming back to the Arduino. An Arduino has enough CPU power, is cheap, very low power and I can maintain it should it develop a fault.</p>
<p>For the sensor communications I have decided to standardize on the <a href="http://news.jeelabs.org/docs/jn4.html" target="_blank">JeeLabs JN4</a>. Most sensors will connect directly to the sensor controllers, but for the CC128 then I will use a bare board Arduino as a data concentrator.</p>
<p><a rel="attachment wp-att-544" href="http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/543/architecture" target="_blank"><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-544" title="architecture" src="http://john.crouchley.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/architecture.jpg" alt="new architecture for home monitoring" width="600" height="401" /></a></p>
<p>For the first part of this project I will build the data storage unit. This will have:</p>
<p>1) <a href="http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/seeeduino-v328-fully-assembledatmega-328-p-439.html?cPath=27" target="_blank">Seeeduino 328</a> &#8211; chosen due to the additional 3.3v power available.<br />
Update 24/2/10: I am revising this decision as the Seeeduino has placed the 500mA fuse on the 5v line (not on the USB 5v line), I need more than this (it is the LCD back light that draws most of this) and the fuse keeps cutting power. I will probably end up with a standard Duemilanove and put a 3.3v regulator in for the 3.3v devices.<br />
Update 25/2/10: Measured current required &#8211; 305mA (180mA without the LCD) &#8211; so it must be the regulator cutting out because the heat sink is not adequate. Moved to Duemilanove, with 100mA 3.3v LDO regulator and although the 5v regulator does get hot I do not have any cutout problems.</p>
<p>2) <a href="http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoEthernetShield" target="_blank">Arduino ethernet shield</a></p>
<p>3) <a href="http://www.digi.com/products/wireless/point-multipoint/xbee-pro-series1-module.jsp" target="_blank">XBee-pro 802.15.4</a> for serial wireless communications connecting to the Arduino via a <a href="http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/xbee%C3%82%C2%AE-shield-v11-by-seeedstudio-p-419.html?cPath=2" target="_blank">XBee shield</a>.<br />
Update: Using the <a href="http://news.jeelabs.org/docs/jn4.html" target="_blank">JeeLabs JN4</a> with <a href="http://www.hoperf.com/rf_fsk/rfm12b.htm" target="_blank">RFM12B</a> operating at 868MHz for the wireless communications</p>
<p>4) 128Kbyte I2C <a href="http://www.ramtron.com/products/nonvolatile-memory/" target="_blank">FRAM (RAMTRON)</a> this will be used to hold message queues &#8211; this is 3.3v</p>
<p>5) 2GB SD card &#8211; initially with <a href="http://www.ghielectronics.com/product/102" target="_blank">uALFAT controller</a> (I2C 3.3v), but I intend to use a SD card directly for the final version.</p>
<p>6) I2C serial LCD &#8211; based upon my own <a href="http://john.crouchley.com/files/ATTiny2313%20LCD%20and%20Keypad%20controller.pdf" target="_blank">ATTiny2313 I2C Serial LCD adapter</a></p>
<p>7) I2C battery backed <a href="http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=99" target="_blank">RTC</a> to use as a time stamp for all readings.</p>
<p>I am using my own level converter (based upon <a href="http://ics.nxp.com/support/documents/interface/pdf/an97055.pdf" target="_blank">this</a>) to drive the 3.3v I2C bus from 5v.</p>
<p>I have gathered the necessary hardware and will start detailed design at the weekend.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
			<wfw:commentRss>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/543/feed</wfw:commentRss>
		<slash:comments>6</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>Calke Abbey</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/535</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/535#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 22 Feb 2010 10:30:19 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Photo a day]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=535</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>A week ago we went for a walk round Calke Abbey grounds. Calke Abbey is National Trust and about 10 miles south of Derby.
As is usual I took a few (well a lot) of photos.</p>
<p>





 </p>
<p>I can see a face in this gnarled old Oak trunk.





 </p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A week ago we went for a walk round <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-calkeabbey">Calke Abbey</a> grounds. Calke Abbey is National Trust and about 10 miles south of Derby.<br />
As is usual I took a few (well a lot) of photos.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376846938/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4046/4376846938_fd0fe46d3a.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376104687/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4063/4376104687_2143a0d95b.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376106317/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4023/4376106317_881fe85da9.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376112383/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4065/4376112383_aa40b40302.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376862358/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2738/4376862358_66d71f7461.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376119035/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4007/4376119035_f97a1ff764.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376136063/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4048/4376136063_3b8aa84c3c.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="500" height="378" /></a> </p>
<p>I can see a face in this gnarled old Oak trunk.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376148681/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2791/4376148681_7d6a756840.jpg" alt="Face in gnarled tree Calke Abbey" width="500" height="391" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376905136/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4047/4376905136_251f28ff06.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376913570/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4056/4376913570_d11f857f7e.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376919316/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4376919316_8df66a6828.jpg" alt="Calke Abbey reflections" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376177625/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2747/4376177625_398d3dbf32.jpg" alt="Deer at Calke Abbey" width="500" height="436" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4376182455/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4061/4376182455_d1ab1e682c.jpg" alt="Deer at Calke Abbey" width="371" height="500" /></a> </p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Cannot post reliably &#8211; keep getting errors</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/518</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/518#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Feb 2010 09:39:47 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[comment]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=518</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>I am having great difficulty in posting anything that is not straight text &#8211; I suspect a Wordpress bug (recently upgraded to 2.9) but I cannot narrow it down. It appears to be when I have links to external sites. Wonder if Wordpress introduced a new security feature?
Got it &#8211; any post created with the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I am having great difficulty in posting anything that is not straight text &#8211; I suspect a Wordpress bug (recently upgraded to 2.9) but I cannot narrow it down. It appears to be when I have links to external sites. Wonder if Wordpress introduced a new security feature?<br />
Got it &#8211; any post created with the twitter upload plugin active and WP 2.9 or greater gets garbled. Disable and delete the plugin, then create new posts &#8211; all is good.<br />
Set up with different plugins and theme.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>0</slash:comments>
		</item>
		<item>
		<title>FIO (Arduino and XBEE) door, doorbell and others monitor</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/424</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/424#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:01:28 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[FIO]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HomeMonitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[XBee]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=424</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>I have been extending my range of inputs to the CurrentCost, Ardunio, Xport pachube logger.
In order to do this I wanted a wireless sensor module.
After looking round I chose the FIO, has an XBEE socket and ATMega168, very little else. Can be powered from a rechargeable LiPo battery.
The next step was to look at the [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>I have been extending my range of inputs to the CurrentCost, Ardunio, Xport pachube logger.<br />
In order to do this I wanted a wireless sensor module.<br />
After looking round I chose the FIO, has an XBEE socket and ATMega168, very little else. Can be powered from a rechargeable LiPo battery.<br />
The next step was to look at the power requirements. I am using a 1000mAH battery and with the normal FIO consumption of 65mA this would last about 16 hours &#8211; not very long. After some experimentation I found that if I ran the XBEE in pin controlled sleep mode 2 (less power used than mode 1 at 3.3V) and the ATMega in full sleep I could get the consumption down to 270uA. Switching off the ADC and the analog comparator got this down further to 170uA. Assuming that we have 30 minutes active per day (I&#8217;m hoping for much less) this will run for just under 1 month. In practice (this has been in place for the last 6 months) it runs for about 4 months before it needs recharging.<br />
I am using a low value on digital inputs 2 or 3 to wake up the ATMega and then the ATMega wakes up the XBEE.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4304008591/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4002/4304008591_051b01da5d.jpg" alt="" width="500" height="290" /></a><br />
To be continued &#8230;</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
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		<item>
		<title>A TinyXML library for the Arduino</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/454</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/454#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 11 Jan 2010 19:14:37 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[currentcost]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[xml]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=454</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>A lot of devices use XML these days &#8211; and parsing the XML by hand is quite complex. I use a CurrentCost CC128 power monitor and also Twitter. Both of these have an XML interface.</p>
<p>Over the last couple of months I have been developing a simple XML parser as an Arduino library &#8211; it is [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>A lot of devices use XML these days &#8211; and parsing the XML by hand is quite complex. I use a CurrentCost CC128 power monitor and also Twitter. Both of these have an XML interface.</p>
<p>Over the last couple of months I have been developing a simple XML parser as an Arduino library &#8211; it is table driven and so compact and easily modified. This is now ready for release &#8211; you can download it <a href="http://john.crouchley.com/files/TinyXML.zip">here</a>. The CC-128 example compiles at less than 9kB.</p>
<p>I have included a Twitter API example and also a CurrentCost CC-128 example.</p>
<p>The CC-128 example is being used to provide a data concentrator for CC-128. I am using an Arduino (Mini Pro 328) to take the cpu burden off the main Arduino,  processing serial data at 57600 baud takes up most of the power of an Arduino.</p>
<p>Connect the Mini Pro to the CC-128 using GND and CC-128 Tx to Mini Pro pin digital 1. The Mini Pro acts as an I2C slave for the main Arduino (simple connection &#8211; just link up GND, A4 and A5 &#8211; also 5V if you don&#8217;t have a separate power supply).</p>
<p>I have three current cost devices feeding the CC-128 &#8211; Electricity, Gas and a light sensor. It should be quite easy to modify the example for your configuration.</p>
<p>Master code to read from the CC128 I2C slave is roughly as follows<br />
<code><br />
  CC128Data cc128data;   // structure definition is held in the .h file</p>
<p>  Wire.beginTransmission(I2CADDR);<br />
  Wire.send(COMMAND);<br />
  Wire.send(SNAPSHOT | READALL);<br />
  Wire.endTransmission();<br />
  delay(5);      // give the I2C transmission and the slave time to deal with request<br />
                 // 2mS does not work - 3 does - give it 5 to be safe<br />
  Wire.requestFrom(I2CADDR, sizeof(CC128Data));    // request data structure bytes from slave device<br />
  byte* b = (byte*)&#038;cc128data;<br />
  for (int i = 0; i&lt;sizeof (CC128Data); i++)<br />
  {<br />
    *b++ = Wire.receive(); // receive a byte as character<br />
  }<br />
</code><br />
I will be writing up another post about the CC-128 data concentrator and the main Arduino, describing how to set up multiple I2C slaves all linked to a central Arduino CPU.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Christmas day 2009</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/450</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/450#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 25 Dec 2009 10:56:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Photo a day]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/450</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[


Christmas day 2009, originally uploaded by jcrouchley.

<p>
Presents under the tree all ready to be opened after scrambled egg and smoked salmon brunch, with bucks fizz. Nom nom. Despite appearances the tree is vertical &#8211; just a weird branch at upper right.
</p>
<p>Updated blog to use Ingoal’s Twitter Updater</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div style="text-align: left; padding: 3px;">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4213029540/" title="photo sharing"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2604/4213029540_49c1fa5237.jpg" style="border: solid 2px #000000;" alt="" /></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: 0.8em; margin-top: 0px;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/4213029540/">Christmas day 2009</a>, originally uploaded by <a href="http://www.flickr.com/people/22788868@N02/">jcrouchley</a>.</span>
</div>
<p>
Presents under the tree all ready to be opened after scrambled egg and smoked salmon brunch, with bucks fizz. Nom nom. Despite appearances the tree is vertical &#8211; just a weird branch at upper right.
</p>
<p>Updated blog to use <a href="http://twitterupdater.com/">Ingoal’s Twitter Updater</a></p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Playing with Arduino Nokia 3310 shield</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/447</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/447#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 10 Nov 2009 21:48:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ethernet]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[LCD]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Library]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nokia3310]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=447</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>The Arduino Nokia 3310 shield come from NuElectronics. I have been using this shield with an Arduino Ethernet shield together with Andrew Lindsay&#8217;s Nokia 3310 library. I upgraded the library to be compatible with multiple SPI components, you need to bend digital pin 10 so that it does not make contact and then connect it [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>The Arduino Nokia 3310 shield come from <a href="http://www.nuelectronics.com/estore/" target="_blank">NuElectronics</a>. I have been using this shield with an Arduino Ethernet shield together with Andrew Lindsay&#8217;s Nokia 3310 library. I upgraded the library to be compatible with multiple SPI components, you need to bend digital pin 10 so that it does not make contact and then connect it to another spare pin.<br />
Andrew has updated the library based upon my changes, you can download it from <a href="http://blog.thiseldo.co.uk/?p=383" target="_blank">here</a>.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Block diagram of current home monitoring system</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/445</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/445#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 25 Oct 2009 23:15:42 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Arduino]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Home monitoring]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HomeMonitoring]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=445</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>This is the current state fo my home monitoring system.

I am working on integrating a camera (pictures visible on a web site), sms and email.</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This is the current state fo my home monitoring system.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3842370868/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2477/3842370868_2400f5118b.jpg" alt="Home monitoring" width="500" height="377" /></a><br />
I am working on integrating a camera (pictures visible on a web site), sms and email.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		<item>
		<title>Vacation over</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/443</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/443#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 12 Oct 2009 09:46:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Photo a day]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=443</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>Just got back from Hungary &#8211; blogged here.
Now unpacking and back to work.</p>
]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Just got back from Hungary &#8211; blogged <a href="http://www.bearhugs.co.uk/blog" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
Now unpacking and back to work.</p>
]]></content:encoded>
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		</item>
		<item>
		<title>Somerset for the weekend</title>
		<link>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/417</link>
		<comments>http://john.crouchley.com/blog/archives/417#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 30 Jul 2009 08:00:48 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>john</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Photo a day]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://john.crouchley.com/blog/?p=417</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[<p>We spent the weekend staying a the George Hotel in Castle Cary.

Maria was making a bear with Gregory Gyllenship at a Bear Basics workshop. The hotel was comfortable and the food was good, but there was very little parking. Whilst Maria was at the course I went for a walk around the area.






I then waited [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>We spent the weekend staying a the <a href="http://www.greenekinginns.co.uk/somerset/inn_02/index.htm" target="_blank">George Hotel</a> in <a href="http://www.castle-cary.co.uk/" target="_blank">Castle Cary</a>.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3770253324/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2637/3770253324_c42f7b7081.jpg" alt="George Hotel Castle Cary somerset" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
Maria was making a bear with <a href="http://www.hugoshouse.com/" target="_blank">Gregory Gyllenship</a> at a <a href="http://www.bearbasics.co.uk/" target="_blank">Bear Basics</a> workshop. The hotel was comfortable and the food was good, but there was very little parking. Whilst Maria was at the course I went for a walk around the area.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3769452417/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2666/3769452417_6eae0c483f.jpg" alt="Castle Cary market hall" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3770252478/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2475/3770252478_477edefe26.jpg" alt="Castle Cary somerset" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3770253988/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3459/3770253988_2e07e9e0e7.jpg" alt="All Saints Church Castle Cary somerset" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3769456359/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3456/3769456359_134453c448.jpg" alt="Castle Cary somerset" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3770256314/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3455/3770256314_91c613d0a9.jpg" alt="Castle Cary somerset" width="500" height="378" /></a><br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3770257806/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3537/3770257806_5caaaa37f0.jpg" alt="Castle Cary somerset" width="378" height="500" /></a><br />
I then waited at the hotel to meet Claire who came over from Swansea for the day. Claire ran into traffic on the M4 and again in Bristol &#8211; she was 2 hours late! We had a late lunch and then picked up Maria. <a href="http://www.touruk.co.uk/somerset/som_street.htm" target="_blank">Street</a> is nearby so we had a shopping trip to the <a href="http://www.clarksvillage.co.uk/" target="_blank">Clarks Village</a>. On Sunday I had a quiet day looking for a <a href="http://homepage.ntlworld.com/scrumpy/cider/makers.htm#somerset" target="_blank">cider farm</a> and then watching the <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/motorsport/formula_one/default.stm" target="_blank">F1 Hungarian Grand Prix</a>, it was a good race and Hamilton won.<br />
This is the bear that Maria made &#8211; he is called Gerald.<br />
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22788868@N02/3769463087/" class="tt-flickr tt-flickr-Medium" target="_blank"><img class="alignnone" src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3490/3769463087_a21f2dd6dd.jpg" alt="Gerald" width="447" height="500" /></a> </p>
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