Since you been gone.....

The title refers to me. I've been gone a while.

I got a job... I didn't really mean to but the stars aligned and I ended up with a job three days a week. I work until 5pm. It is years since I worked until 5pm and it is not easy. I am in awe of people who work full time and blog...... Gillian springs to mind Tales from a happy house

I'm still working for myself as well so there's a bit of juggling going on.

Anyhoo..... Who cares about work, I've been out and about so here's some pics....

 We went to London and visited The Globe.  It is somewhere I have always wanted to go and it didn't disappoint.
And it rained while we were in there (we were under cover) but I was glad that it rained because that made it even more real, if that makes sense?
And the play made me both laugh and cry - unfortunately that's not that difficult these days.

Sweet peas from the garden, my favourite flower of the summer.  I love the smell and the hues.  This year the sweet peas have done really well and I have had a bunch in the house each week for ages.  I think this photo may be a bit blurred, or it may be my eyes.....

A trip to Newcastle, where we visited the Baltic.  We didn't look at the art.... well we did but I didn't get it (or have any profound or otherwise feeling about it) so we headed straight to see the kittiwakes instead.  They were much more interesting.

It was a while ago so I'm sure all these nests are empty now.

I went to the Air Tattoo as well which was brilliant but I'm not sure where the photos went.... I think they are in a cloud somewhere.  So one day when I get to sit at my laptop and find them properly I'll show you some absolutely chuff off planes.  Because that's what they were..... brilliant.... I'm building suspense and I fear I may fail to deliver.... I'll do my best xx

Silver Linings

Last week my car broke.  I was tanking along and a light came on and "Stop Immediately" appeared on the information screen.

Cue sharp breaking and a little bit of swearing.  I looked under the bonnet and it was clear that there was no coolant left so..... long story short.... ex-colleague came to my aid and I managed to get home.

Next day I arranged for the car to go to the garage.  They would look at it as and when they could, which I was prepared to take.

Upshot was I needed a new radiator but..... first silver lining......it would be done under warranty.  Hooorahhh!

So, I needed a hire car.

Head into town to sort out a hire car.  But if I hire it there and then they will charge me for 2 days, so "come back in 2 hours and you'll only have it for a day and the car will be ready and waiting to go".

Second silver lining.....I am a short hop from the Hepworth.  Marvellous.

Time enough for tea, cake and a stroll round the galley.

There was a photography exhibition by Martin Parr.  Lots of ordinary people doing ordinary things and a really good photo of some storage in a factory

I stared at this for far too long

At one end of the gallery there was a massive selection of photos, really technicolour showing real world things all together in extraordinary detail.

Look at the colour overload in that. 

Then I moved into the Barbara Hepworth part.  I love her work more every time I go.

This is a view of the outside of the Hepworth building.  The river was thundering down and this line of barrels would have been above the weir.  I suspect it broke loose over Christmas.  The photos were taken on the ipad so they're not super sharp.  There's loads more to see but I didn't want to be taking too many photos!

Anyway, at the end of the day, I'm driving in the hire car to collect my daughter, a journey I wouldn't otherwise have been making, and.....third silver lining.......a barn owl flew out of a quarry and down the hedgerow towards me.  I could see its face as plain as day.

So when my car broke and my heart sank I could not have anticipated just how much joy I would get out of the process of getting it fixed.  I've always been a glass half full Gal, but sometimes, just sometimes, even I'm gobsmacked how nicely things turn out.

www.hepworthwakefield.org  Definitely worth a look or a visit.  Excellent café, excellent shop.  Just excellent all round really.

The business of business

I used to work for a company but now I am working for myself.  And it's great but when I was sat at work I could surf on a lunchtime and post blogs and generally catch up with the world for an hour whilst cramming in a buttie.

Now I'm sat at the dining table tapping away on a laptop I find myself struggling to find the time to do that stuff.

I have a list in my 'work book' of things I need to do, phone calls to make, emails to send.  So I'm doing that and not looking at things that I like.  This is also partly because I could spend hours looking at the things I like and then I would never get anything done.

And I don't put the heating on because the business is new so I'm not making much money, so I feel guilty about putting it on.  Thankfully we got a multi-fuel burner installed and I don't feel bad about lighting that.  But when I do I have to keep an eye on the thing as it knows when I leave the room and it dies, so I find myself sitting and staring into the flames doing nothing.  Which is not very helpful...

It's all part of the transition.... and I have some work lined up so that's good.  And once I've made some money I'll maybe put the heating on (rather than extra clothes and fingerless gloves).  Although I'll still light up the stove as it is just so nice to have on... and so very warm, if a little tricky.

Any hoo in the interest of providing an update I went back to the river in town to see what the water level was like and it had gone down, so although this is not the river at its lowest, you can see just how much water was coming down over Christmas (left photo).  The newer photo is looking the opposite way but you can see from the legs of the bridge just how much water there was.

In the right hand photo you can see the barge, used for transporting goods, that came loose from its mooring upstream many years ago and which crashed over the weir and got itself stuck.  Cormorants sit on it from time to time to dry their wings. 

 

Anyway I must get on an do some work.... and I might take off the fingerless gloves, heating comes on in five, hurrah!

Blue Skies

This morning as I drove my daughter to school is wasn't raining......hoooorah!

I've been seriously considering whether I should be getting some wood and nails ready to build an ark.  Just call me Mrs Noah. 

But this morning it was pinky skies which gave way to blue, albeit briefly, before becoming cloudy but at least it's light.  So what if it's 4 degrees, I'm getting out the thickest socks and woolliest jumpers.  Ironically as I was in the car I didn't get a snap but it wasn't raining and that was bliss.

Before Christmas we took a trip to the East coast.  It was raining and blowing a gale.  We were aiming to get to Spurn Point but gave up before that as the wind and rain was bad and instead ended up on the beach at Kilnsea.  We were the only ones on the beach and the wind farm was generating some serious electricity....

You can see the surf whipping up and when we got back in the car I was rosy cheeked and numb of fingers.  As we drove back the roads were like ribbons of silver across the countryside in the flat light.

On the 28th December there was a rugby match in town, I wasn't going but I did go into town to see the river in full spate.

The footbridge was closed later in the day.  I shall have to get a picture of the bridge when the river is 'normal' as comparison.

Mu husband said that he has seen the river higher, but I haven't.

The weir which runs across from the flour mill was almost indistinguishable with all that water.

But the sky was blue that day as well and it feels like they've been few and far between since........

Running to Stand Still

There's a U2 song from the Joshua Tree album with that line and it is exactly how I feel at the moment.

Although this year as I don't have a job anymore I am more infront than last year.... or the year before.... it still feels like there is much to do and not much time to do it.

I went shopping with a friend recently to Leeds and the weather was foul, really cold and wet. Thankfully Leeds has some lovely indoor areas.  The Victoria Quarter is the best.  These are two shots from there.

 Yes, that is a piano

The choir in the second shot were singing and encouraging people to join in so my friend and I belted out 'Oh Little Town of Bethlehem', properly singing, not singing like you do at a wedding.

It was fun and in the slight warmth of the arcade with the carols ringing round it was impossible not to feel Christmassy, despite the wind and sideways rain.

I hope you all have a good one, that you manage to relax and that Santa is kind to you xx

Life gets in the way....

Crikey it feels like ages since I blogged.

We've had three birthdays since last time and now we are heading to Christmas. The tree isn't up, cards received are unopened in a pile and I still need to make a list of presents to buy.  Hmmm not much to do then.

Anyhoo, I thought I'd share a recent conversation......

My daughter was talking about her mate taking apart his Apple iPhone. She was seriously impressed with his ability to take the phone apart, but far more impressed with how small the screws were....

"Mum I've had bogies bigger than those screws".

You think you bring them up right and then........bogies......???

These are the flowers my step-daughter bought me for my birthday.  Lovely.  Those cabbage things are really pretty, but I have to say they don't last very well.  Are they really some sort of cabbage?  I should probably google it..

And finally a cat in a box... just because......

(he's a house cat who is the size of a dog and who likes to go for walks on a lead - hence the harness)

Pebble collecting

I called my blog pebble collecting and then made scant reference to pebbles thereafter.

So now you get to see pebbles......

This is the story of these pebbles, the smooth pebbles.

Many years ago we took a trip to the Ardnamurchan Penninsula.  It is a remote part of the Scottish mainland and the most westerly part of the mainland of Britain.  You get there on 30 miles of single track road with passing places, or you did when we traveled there 25 years ago.

We stayed at a cottage that looked towards Rum, Eigg and Muck.  The location was remote but beautiful.

As it was Scotland we took advantage of our right to roam and did a lot of walking.  On one of those walks we came upon a cove where the beach was sand and pebbles.  It felt like no-one had stepped on that beach for thousands of years.  It was remote and as I recall we got to it down an awkward gully.

The sound of the pebbles washing up and down on the beach was mesmerising and as I picked up a couple of the pebbles I was amazed by how smooth and soft they felt.

I stood and looked at all the pebbles and chose these three.

They are my favourite pebbles.  They are reassuring pebbles that feel like they have had a lifetime of rhythmically washing back and forth on that beach, slowly accumulating the restful solitude of the landscape.

To me they are more than pebbles, they are a link to a charmed place of solace.  Maybe that's the reason why I keep them next to my bed and why, each time I hold them in my hand, I feel a sense of the calmness of the beach from whence they came.

A Random Ten

Inspired by http://www.anniecholewa.com/   Bother - I wanted that to say 'Annie' but I'm not that good.

Anyhooo random bits and pieces.....

1. I went with my daughter to see Fall Out Boy and really enjoyed it.  None of my friends have heard of them.  I am therefore officially cool (yeah right......)

2. My fingernails are getting beyond the ends of my fingers which is an unusual state as usually they break before this point.  I'm not sure whether to file them or paint them.  I was going to take a photo but my fingers looked pudgy and not at all elegant so I'm not going to.  I'm thinking painting..... it may improve the look of them

3. The phrase Inspector Corner of the Yard makes me laugh, every time

4. I went to see Doug Scott do a talk on climbing the South West Face of Everest.  I found out he was from Nottingham.  I was born in Nottingham and my husband likes to say that  the only thing Nottingham is famous for is Robin Hood..... "and he was a Yorkshire man".  Ha.  Now I can throw Doug Scott back at him.

5. I used to do a lot of rock climbing

6. I used to bite my nails.  Works if you do the above.....

7. I get ridiculously excited when I see a buzzard over our house.  It's only in the last couple of years that they have come to populate this area.  There are lots of red kites nearby but we haven't seen one over the house yet.

8. I was speaking to a lady over the phone as I had locked my pin on a card.  I said I had previously used our first ever phone number for my pin and she laughed and said she did the same (and we were almost exactly the same age).

9. I currently have two knitted items and four crochet items on the go.  This is a significant reduction from earlier this year.

10. I don't like cooking or baking.  I only cook because I have to eat.  We are doing lots of trips to the hospital to visit my father in law so we are eating a lot of sandwiches.  I actually am happy with this, although I may need to extend to making soup as it gets colder......

I'm enjoying reading other random posts, although I have nothing of any educational value to share in mine....... sorry x

A Trip to Wharram Percy

One day we decided that as it was warm and sunny and all the jobs were done, that we would take a drive.

But it was a Saturday and on a warm and sunny day the roads tend to be busy so we took my little fiat and a map and decided to take a drive avoiding the main routes.

We set off towards the coast, thinking Bridlington or Scarborough or Filey.

We drove through villages that we never knew existed, on empty roads, with the windows down and the wind hurtling through our hair.  We turned off the radio as we couldn't hear it..... and took in our beautiful Yorkshire countryside.

We eventually came out on a road towards Brid, just before Fridaythorpe, at a point where you can take the official scenic route to the coast.

On this route you pass Wharram Percy, a medieval village, or rather the remains thereof.  We have driven this way so many times and never stopped but as we were on bit of a pootle we took a detour.

There were a dozen cars in the car park....... unexpected.....

And you absolutely cannot see where the village is from the car park.  You head down a path into a sheltered valley bottom where you cross a stream and walk up into the area of the village.  It was excavated for many years, with a farmhouse on the site being the base for the archaeologists.

http://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wharram-percy-deserted-medieval-village/history/

This link gives you more information.

On a sunny day it is a lovely place to visit.

We studied the graves and put together the story of a family from the names and dates.
We looked at the boards provided to see the layout of the village
We went into the church through one massive door.... I thought people were smaller then.

And finally I dipped my toes in some cold as ice water from the pond, just what was needed on a hot day.

 The church has been both bigger and smaller than these remaining buildings, dependent upon the time, the population in the area and the money available.

 There were no words on this tiny little cross, at least none that I could make out.

This is the massive door.  I'm 5ft 2" so you can see it's big.  My feet are wet on this photo and as I didn't dry them my sandals were damp all day.....

My favourite flower (of the moment)

This is my favourite flower of the moment  

The humble alstroemeria 

A bunch in the local supermarket is only £2

I have them in my bedroom 

I like the pink ones best

The colours are so delicate

Enjoy.....

Down to the Woods

I have lived in this house for 18 years and never entered the local woods.

I heard tales of needles, heard people on dirt bikes and at one time the police helicopter spent a LOT of time hovering over the woods.

A wood has the capacity to be a very scary place, think of Grimm's tales.  Bad things happen in woods..... or so the tales go.  So although the wood clearly provides an excellent habitat for the local wildlife I have never felt the urge to enter it for some reason.

Until this weekend.

One of my goals for this year was to make some sloe gin and for that you need sloes.  I did some research and found that sloes are in the wood.  I asked my husband whether I should go sloe hunting in the woods one day.  His response was to wait until the weekend and we would go together......  that says something I think.

So on Sunday we went off like an aged Hansel and Gretel into the woods to search for sloes.

And do you know what it was nice, really nice and not at all scary.

The sun was shining, which always helps and although there was a lot of rubbish at the point where we entered the wood once you got some way in the paths were clear and the dappled sunshine through the trees was a delight.

We saw a family out dog walking and some girls on horses.  We did some tree spotting, saw some butterflies, scared a bunch of rabbits at the edge of the wood and generally had a lovely walk.

When we came home I said that I was sad that we hadn't gone into the woods before.  It genuinely had not entered my head before to do so and that is all about the myth of the wood and the tales that people have told both locally and historically. So now on a nice weekend morning we have vowed to have a walk in the woods, to see the changing of the seasons on our doorstep and enjoy this space that is visible a stone's throw from our door.

Oh.... and we collected a small bag of sloes as well so a result on all levels don't you think?

Circle of life

Last weekend when out in the garden we saw a sparrow hawk fly quite low overhead.

It was circling, clearly looking for prey.

Just before it got to the wood it plummeted down like a stone.  We waited but it didn't come back up so it must have caught something.

It was quite exciting and something I haven't seen before.

Then this morning I went into the front garden and in the corner there were feathers, not in a ring, but all in a small area. I knew straight away that the sparrow hawk had taken the blackbird that frequents our garden. I speak to him (or her) when I'm hanging the washing or weeding, or I did.

I know it is the circle of life and all that but I feel really sad that my little blackbird friend is no longer.

On a happier note next door's sparrows are providing some excellent entertainment.  The sparrows have a nest in next door's loft and at this time of year they are roosting in the bushes in our garden. They are like a bunch of kids squabbling and sending bird feed everywhere and doing a great line in teasing the cats by flying by just out of reach.

I think I will take a cup of tea into the back garden to hear them chattering to cheer myself up.  And the garden is looking pretty good at the moment so all in all some warmth from the sun and the sparrows should do the trick and lift my mood.

Rugby league..... party on

Okay, now don't just turn away because of the title.......

If you follow any team in any sport you will know the highs and heartache of that particular pastime.

In our house we follow Castleford Tigers who had a sensational season last year.  I won't bore you with the details but what I will say is that life was better because they were winning.

They were even on the news when they got to Wembley as half the town went to see them off!

Okay, it's a small town but seriously there were a LOT of people went 'darn t'lane' to see them off.

We went on a bus organised by a pub in town.  Actually I think there were nine buses and at 7:00 am there were lots of people milling about in town waiting for buses and wishing they had visited the loo before they left the house.

We didn't win at Wembley, Leeds Rhinos (arch rivals) won, but you wouldn't have thought it on the bus on the way home.  I think this club is known for singing and having high spirits, even as a crushing defeat looms.  I have seen the fans doing a conga round the stands when the team have been on the wrong end of a drubbing.

So, not for us a gloomy bus journey home.  No we had several renditions of Sweet Caroline (the song played at the end of each game), there was talk about the team, the highs and lows of the game and of course some incredibly witty banter among the fans.  It was a great day out.

This year we're not at Wembley so we have decided to have a Challenge Cup party.  It will not involve half the town, but it will involve plenty of beer, plenty of banter and plenty of friends.  We are an eclectic mix who range in age from 20's to almost 70, this is just some of them.  Let's hope the sun shines.......

Curious....

I was sweeping the drive outside the front window, to get rid of the dust and dead petals when I noticed a small black lump on the floor.  When I looked closely this is what I found.....

It is, I believe, a Pipistrelle bat.
http://www.rspb.org.uk/makeahomeforwildlife/wildlifegarden/atoz/p/pipistrellebat.aspx

We have them round here and I'm not sure what happened to this one but it was there on the floor all dried out, but still with its teeth and furry body intact.

I measured it, because I thought it may be a baby, but that is the size of a fully grown bat.  There was no indicator of exactly how it met its end.  Maybe it lost a fight for territory, I don't know.

I felt sorry, because bats seem to be quite an unusual sight these days.  We do get them at dusk round here as we are close to a wood.  At one time, when my daughter was younger, we would all sit on the front doorstep watching them flap around the house.  At that time there were four or five that we used to see quite regularly.  Sometimes they used to swoop in very close.

I think I need to make a point to have a look at dusk to see if I can see the bats again.

I'm not at all happy that the very last bat that I have seen is a dead, dried up one.....

The Historic Dockyard and Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth

We had a beautiful day to visit the Historic dockyard.

There is a lot to see and it is definitely a whole day out.

This was a new exhibit, a first world war ship..... which wasn't open.  We were gutted as this was what we really wanted to see.  But I felt more sorry for two elderly chaps who had a connection with the ship and who had made a special journey.  When we looked more closely at the literature it did give the opening date but it wasn't at all clear if you just skimmed the leaflet.  Poor show.

However we did the Victory, which is a great ship to go round, especially if you are small as you don't bump your head at all.  The guides on board are very good and knowledgeable, making the story of the ship come to life.

We did the Marie Rose, which I haven't seen before.  All the artefacts in the museum are real, I think there were 19000 recovered.  The tales of the people that worked on the ship and reconstruction of their faces were incredible.  I was in awe of the amount of stuff recovered and the tale that all those items told in such detail.  I didn't take any pictures, but I wished that I had taken one of the building it was housed in as that was impressive.

I loved the patterns of the tracks for configuring the canons on the Warrior.

And as the Americas Cup was about to take place there were the different team vessels (catamarans?) being loaded in and out of the docks.

My daughter and her friend visited the submarine across at Gosport (the guide asked why they weren't laid on a beach somewhere) and we had planned a return for the tour of the Navy Dockyard, but when we went back it was closed because of the Americas Cup.

It is  great day, or couple of days out but it is expensive if you want to wander at will and visit all the attractions.  The ticket we bought lasts for a year but it is unlikely that we will be back within the year.  Thankfully Caravan Club membership got you two for one so it was half of what it would have been!

If you are in the area you must do the Spinnaker Tower.....

I have no idea how high it is but on a clear and bright day it is fantastic.  I like a glass floor (CN Tower, Blackpool Tower, Spinnaker Tower).

The views are amazing.....

Looking towards the Historic Dockyard.
Or just looking out to sea......

Returning

I've been away......

We went on holiday but before that I just didn't seem to have time to sit down, organise thoughts and actually put together a blog.

So..... The holiday........ We holidayed in this country, near Portsmouth in fact.  We have a caravan and we had stopped at a site on the way back from France last year and decided to go back. As the daughter is 16 she gets to take a friend and they stay in a tent.

Before we left we had seen two weeks of glorious sunshine and after a five hour drive we arrived in the rain and it continued to rain all night....... Suddenly a UK holiday seems like a very bad idea.

But actually it was ok most days.  I wore shorts for all but one of the days and it was warm, really warm most of the time.

So what did we do? (Prepare for a photofest.......)

We visited the Sammy Miller Motorbike museum.  Sammy Miller MBE owns and runs the museum with a band of enthusiasts.  He is a famous, nay legendary, motorcycle racer who won the British Trials Championship 11 years in succession, as well as a mass of other trophies.

My daughter and I were looking at all the cups and trophies that were displayed there; as she was completely knocked out by the sheer number of them and the fact that he was so very good over so many years; when he came over to us and said that a younger man had worked very hard to get all those and that each of them represented about 50 miles of riding. At that we were even more impressed. It is a genuine treasure trove for a motorbike enthusiast, run by a legend of a rider who is passionate about restoration and the sport, as well as being just a lovely man.  While we were there he was riding one of the exhibits up and down the lane.  If you are at all into motorbikes you have to, have to visit. Seriously, you do....

Boscastle pier.  It has some installations for making sounds down its length.  Some you can't utilise properly because they've had bits removed (vandalised basically), but you can play "Oh I do like to be beside the seaside" and a selection of other tunes on there.  It's fun and there is a long windbreak so if it's windy on one side you sit at the other.  Clever....

The D Day museum and Overlord Embroidery.  This is the tank outside the museum which is the same as the one used in the film Fury, which we had recently seen.  The Overlord Embroidery is a fantastic piece of art and much bigger than the Bayeux.  Well worth a visit and if you are short like me you can enjoy the tunnels without bumping your head.

Monkey World.  Ok, this is a drive from Portsmouth but we were 'down South' so we decided to go for it. I saw no monkeys at all for the first 15 minutes and was beginning to wonder if we had made a big mistake but soon we got to see some chimps and from there we saw a LOT of monkeys, including these Limas, who were enjoying Cheerios (who knew?).

This is the home of T.E. Lawrence (also known as Lawrence of Arabia) Clouds Hill, It was more of a weekend retreat than a home but it is where he occasionally lived and nearby is where he died.

When we turned up here my daughter and her friend were completely non-plussed, so we bought them ice cream and they sat in the sun while we had a look.  It is owned by the National Trust and is as Lawrence had it, other than the books which they are trying to replace over time.

It is a tiny gem of a house and just worth popping into.  Especially if you are in the area.  It is very close to the Tank Museum and Monkey World.  His garage is almost as large as the house, as that is where his motorbike, the famous Brough Superior on which he met his death was housed.

I haven't read any Lawrence but I enjoyed our brief visit here.  It was indeed a retreat and had a calm and peaceful atmosphere, just what was needed after a day at Monkey World.

Finally for this post a picture of my cream tea after a very competitive round of pitch and put.  We spent a couple of hours on the course near Portsmouth and it was great fun.  This cafe is called the Tenth Hole and so after a game it would be rude not to stop for a bite surely?

All the food looked delicious and I was happy because the scones had fruit.  Result.... on the cakes at least, I lost in pitch and put.....

More to come about the historic dockyard and Fort Nelson.  Bet you can't wait.....