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.....