It has been unseasonably warm of late and feels more like summer than summer did! So today, rather than doing all the jobs I had planned, we decided to down tools and visit the Lake District.
Setting off about 11am, we drove through Barnard Castle, which was a bit dull, weatherwise, and out the other side into great sunshine. The weather was lovely in Keswick, with bright sun and really warm. It was t-shirt weather, which we havent really had all summer. In fact, it was probably warmer than anywhere we have been except our first day in Athens in April!
One thing I really love about Keswick is there are several book shops, both new and second hand, including an Oxfam shop. So after a really nice (and reasonably priced) lunch of tomato and basil soup with warm bread, we headed off to find them and browse. To get there, we had to walk through the market, which was thriving and bustling with many stalls full of crafts, homemade meat products (like sausages), cheeses, and two photography stalls, selling beautiful pictures of scenery in the Lake District. I really need to try harder with my own photos and really get to grips with the techniques. I did take some photos, but I doubt they are anything like as good as those we saw at the market.
Finally we got through the bookshops and I managed to buy one which will be a Christmas present. So I'm not posting the name of it, because it might spoil the surprise!
After that, we went down to the Lake and that's where I took the photos. The water was sparkling in the sunshine and the boats were all lined up along the edge. I will post them tomorrow, when they have been downloaded onto the computer.
One ice cream later (complete with flake, of course) we set off to return home. Lovely day and lovely surprise, as we didnt expect to be going out at all. The plan had been laundry and gardening. I guess that will have to wait for another day....
Thursday, 29 September 2011
Tuesday, 13 September 2011
Sunday 11th September
Our church has been in the papers for all the wrong reasons! A man who had been attending arrived at the church during the week, having been beaten up. After he had calmed down, he went home, fell into a coma, was taken to hospital and later died. The police, of course, are treating it as murder.
After church, it was such a lovely day OH and I decided we would go hiking for the afternoon. We drove up to Beamish Open Air Museum, parked just outside and walked round towards Causey Arch and back through the woods.
The path wasn't too clear at some points and we missed a turn, but it didnt matter as the path we eventually found ourselves on was parallel to the one we should have been on and joined the next section just a little higher up the track.
The terrain was varied for such a short walk. There were some country lanes, then woodland paths and field tracks and paths.
We sat down for lunch in an open field, surrounded by trees. There we saw two red kites. They were really close, so close in fact we could clearly see the markings and the red of their tails. I didnt get any photos sadly as it took too long to change the lens on the camera. However, after lunch and two fields further over we saw what we thought was another red kite. It came closer and was in fact a buzzard. Got photos this time and will add them to this page once I have downloaded them from the camera.
Down through the woods, the path was less than helpful, but we soon came to a wide track and followed that down by the stream. Part way along, there was a bit of a clearing and we could see the wall of a nearby stately home. Squirrels were running along the top of it. Unfortunately they were the grey ones, rather than the red. Then we noticed one hanging from a tree close to the path. Because the land fell away at the edge of the path, the squirrel was about level with us, but the ground below it was several feet further down. It was hanging by its front paws by a thin twig and appeared to be injured.
We dont know if it had fallen or perhaps escaped from the buzzard, but it wasnt behaving normally at all. It seemed as though it couldnt move its legs, but was just hanging on for dear life by its front ones. There was nothing we could do, as we couldnt possibly reach it. Eventually it fell out of the tree, landed on the bracken below and vanished into the undergrowth.
Somewhere in the woods, we came across an interesting seat:
And passed a lake where we saw a huge heron. It didn't stay around long enough for a photo, but I took a picture of the lake:
Not quite sure what the signpost in the middle of the water is meant to be doing though!
As we approached the lane back to the car, we came across two female pheasants. They didn't seem afraid of us at all, so I was able to take some closer shots than normal:
All in all we walked about 4 or 5 miles around the outskirts of the Museum. We could hear the steam train and the fairground music as we walked. We could also hear other steam trains at the Tanfield Railway which was having a special event and we could see and smell the smoke. One of the paths we walked along was the bed of a long gone railway track and the fence that separated the path from the stream (Beamish Burn) was made from old railway track.
Haven't done a proper hike for ages and discovered that I am really unfit and out of condition. Note to self: must do something about that!
After church, it was such a lovely day OH and I decided we would go hiking for the afternoon. We drove up to Beamish Open Air Museum, parked just outside and walked round towards Causey Arch and back through the woods.
The path wasn't too clear at some points and we missed a turn, but it didnt matter as the path we eventually found ourselves on was parallel to the one we should have been on and joined the next section just a little higher up the track.
The terrain was varied for such a short walk. There were some country lanes, then woodland paths and field tracks and paths.
We sat down for lunch in an open field, surrounded by trees. There we saw two red kites. They were really close, so close in fact we could clearly see the markings and the red of their tails. I didnt get any photos sadly as it took too long to change the lens on the camera. However, after lunch and two fields further over we saw what we thought was another red kite. It came closer and was in fact a buzzard. Got photos this time and will add them to this page once I have downloaded them from the camera.
Down through the woods, the path was less than helpful, but we soon came to a wide track and followed that down by the stream. Part way along, there was a bit of a clearing and we could see the wall of a nearby stately home. Squirrels were running along the top of it. Unfortunately they were the grey ones, rather than the red. Then we noticed one hanging from a tree close to the path. Because the land fell away at the edge of the path, the squirrel was about level with us, but the ground below it was several feet further down. It was hanging by its front paws by a thin twig and appeared to be injured.
We dont know if it had fallen or perhaps escaped from the buzzard, but it wasnt behaving normally at all. It seemed as though it couldnt move its legs, but was just hanging on for dear life by its front ones. There was nothing we could do, as we couldnt possibly reach it. Eventually it fell out of the tree, landed on the bracken below and vanished into the undergrowth.
Somewhere in the woods, we came across an interesting seat:
And passed a lake where we saw a huge heron. It didn't stay around long enough for a photo, but I took a picture of the lake:
Not quite sure what the signpost in the middle of the water is meant to be doing though!
As we approached the lane back to the car, we came across two female pheasants. They didn't seem afraid of us at all, so I was able to take some closer shots than normal:
All in all we walked about 4 or 5 miles around the outskirts of the Museum. We could hear the steam train and the fairground music as we walked. We could also hear other steam trains at the Tanfield Railway which was having a special event and we could see and smell the smoke. One of the paths we walked along was the bed of a long gone railway track and the fence that separated the path from the stream (Beamish Burn) was made from old railway track.
Haven't done a proper hike for ages and discovered that I am really unfit and out of condition. Note to self: must do something about that!
Monday, 5 September 2011
Birthday parties and other things
Saturday:
Next Wednesday (7th September) is my father's wife's 80th birthday. To make it easy for everyone, they had a party at the weekend, so we travelled down to Sussex to attend. My brother came from Cornwall, with his girlfriend (haven't seen him for 18 months, though we do speak on the phone from time to time, and never met her before) and my aunt came from Norfolk. It was good to see everyone. Flo spent the entire evening on her feet and as far as I saw, didnt eat anything or drink either. Her daughters organised the party, so she didn't actually have to do anything, but there are some people who cant help being up and doing all the time, whether it's necessary or not.
We camped overnight at Mitchelswood Farm. It's a new camping venture, but they have been around some time as an equestrian centre. When we arrived, there was no-one at reception, so we had to call someone on the phone and they said just to pitch the tent 'anywhere' as long as it was on the campsite. It's a C&CC registered site which usually means no facilities at all. This one was a stage better than nothing at all - they had installed a portable loo and shower.
We got back to the tent at about 11pm (party wasnt too late and had started at 6pm). The site was slightly sloping, so in the middle of the night I had to turn round 180deg as my head was lower than my feet. It wasn't by much, but I couldn't sleep and was getting heartburn! That was when I realised just how noisy everything was. First there were owls - two or three different types, screeching or hooting about the woods (not a problem - I like owls); then the horses harumphing in the field next to the tents (I quite like horses too); then there was the party at the pub, with the heavy thump thump thump of the music - just far enough away so you couldn't actually make out any tunes! After that was the nearby A272 - cars were still running up and down and they could be heard quite clearly. And after that was the wonderful sound of being under the flight path to and from Gatwick. Not the most comfortable night we have ever spent!
Sunday:
I went to see my mother's grave this morning. Still no headstone - something her husband was sorting out. Will have to contact him and see what exactly he is doing or intends to do. It is after all 18 months and her grave looks very lonely being surrounded by headstones while hers is still bare.
When we got back to the campsite, we packed up the tent and again the reception area was unmanned. So we rang the number we had. A young girl answered but didn't know what to say to me, so kept me waiting 5 minutes while she got someone else to speak to me. The second person said that I needed to speak to someone else, but she would call him on his mobile and get him to come down. 10 full minutes later he finally arrived. We had been packed up for ages by then and were just waiting to leave. Had he been any longer, we were tempted just to drive off and pay later. I mean he was friendly enough, but you expect a certain level of service and we weren't getting it.
After that, we went to see Dad and see how he was coping with the morning after the night before. We arrived about 11.30, just as they were finishing breakfast! He had taken delivery of a compost bin for me, so we collected that and then were on our way back to the frozen north. We had been warned that it was getting cold overnight, but the temperatures were higher there at night than they have been here most of the day! Well, they dont call it the frozen north for nothing!
In the evening, I joined in an online party with some internet friends, which was novel but fun.
Monday:
This morning I was expecting an estate agent to visit at 11am. We have decided that we want to sell part of our garden as a building plot, but we also want to discuss whether it is worth renovating the house, or selling that as part of the building plot too. Basically we want to maximise the income from the property as we really want to move, for several reasons, not least being Hubby now works 70 miles from home which, while it is a pleasant journey which he doesn't mind, is very costly and time consuming.
By 12, the estate agent still hadn't turned up. So I rang the office. The receptionist told me it was in the diary for 2pm. Funny, she told me 11 when we discussed it the other day! I was not impressed. I was less impressed when she said the diary can sometimes automatically change times and dates all by itself - it shouldnt, but it does, she explained. Hmmm! She asked if I was still available at 2pm, which I am, but that's hardly the point is it!? When I repeated the conversation from the other day, she accepted that the appointment had been booked at 11am but the agent who is coming apparently always had it down as 2pm.
This is their second error and we haven't even asked them to market the place yet! I wonder what service their actual clients get? The first mistake was when I rang up to ask a question, which the receptionist couldn't answer. She told me someone would ring me the next day (the Friday) or the following Tuesday (after the Bank Holiday Monday). When neither happened, I rang them again and she was very apologetic. Apparently the estate agent had given her a message in response to my question, but she hadn't called me to pass it on. Retraining perhaps? Or just sacking?
When we do sell then, it is unlikely that we will be selling through this particular agent.
Meanwhile, I await 2pm with bated breath!
Next Wednesday (7th September) is my father's wife's 80th birthday. To make it easy for everyone, they had a party at the weekend, so we travelled down to Sussex to attend. My brother came from Cornwall, with his girlfriend (haven't seen him for 18 months, though we do speak on the phone from time to time, and never met her before) and my aunt came from Norfolk. It was good to see everyone. Flo spent the entire evening on her feet and as far as I saw, didnt eat anything or drink either. Her daughters organised the party, so she didn't actually have to do anything, but there are some people who cant help being up and doing all the time, whether it's necessary or not.
We camped overnight at Mitchelswood Farm. It's a new camping venture, but they have been around some time as an equestrian centre. When we arrived, there was no-one at reception, so we had to call someone on the phone and they said just to pitch the tent 'anywhere' as long as it was on the campsite. It's a C&CC registered site which usually means no facilities at all. This one was a stage better than nothing at all - they had installed a portable loo and shower.
We got back to the tent at about 11pm (party wasnt too late and had started at 6pm). The site was slightly sloping, so in the middle of the night I had to turn round 180deg as my head was lower than my feet. It wasn't by much, but I couldn't sleep and was getting heartburn! That was when I realised just how noisy everything was. First there were owls - two or three different types, screeching or hooting about the woods (not a problem - I like owls); then the horses harumphing in the field next to the tents (I quite like horses too); then there was the party at the pub, with the heavy thump thump thump of the music - just far enough away so you couldn't actually make out any tunes! After that was the nearby A272 - cars were still running up and down and they could be heard quite clearly. And after that was the wonderful sound of being under the flight path to and from Gatwick. Not the most comfortable night we have ever spent!
Sunday:
I went to see my mother's grave this morning. Still no headstone - something her husband was sorting out. Will have to contact him and see what exactly he is doing or intends to do. It is after all 18 months and her grave looks very lonely being surrounded by headstones while hers is still bare.
When we got back to the campsite, we packed up the tent and again the reception area was unmanned. So we rang the number we had. A young girl answered but didn't know what to say to me, so kept me waiting 5 minutes while she got someone else to speak to me. The second person said that I needed to speak to someone else, but she would call him on his mobile and get him to come down. 10 full minutes later he finally arrived. We had been packed up for ages by then and were just waiting to leave. Had he been any longer, we were tempted just to drive off and pay later. I mean he was friendly enough, but you expect a certain level of service and we weren't getting it.
After that, we went to see Dad and see how he was coping with the morning after the night before. We arrived about 11.30, just as they were finishing breakfast! He had taken delivery of a compost bin for me, so we collected that and then were on our way back to the frozen north. We had been warned that it was getting cold overnight, but the temperatures were higher there at night than they have been here most of the day! Well, they dont call it the frozen north for nothing!
In the evening, I joined in an online party with some internet friends, which was novel but fun.
Monday:
This morning I was expecting an estate agent to visit at 11am. We have decided that we want to sell part of our garden as a building plot, but we also want to discuss whether it is worth renovating the house, or selling that as part of the building plot too. Basically we want to maximise the income from the property as we really want to move, for several reasons, not least being Hubby now works 70 miles from home which, while it is a pleasant journey which he doesn't mind, is very costly and time consuming.
By 12, the estate agent still hadn't turned up. So I rang the office. The receptionist told me it was in the diary for 2pm. Funny, she told me 11 when we discussed it the other day! I was not impressed. I was less impressed when she said the diary can sometimes automatically change times and dates all by itself - it shouldnt, but it does, she explained. Hmmm! She asked if I was still available at 2pm, which I am, but that's hardly the point is it!? When I repeated the conversation from the other day, she accepted that the appointment had been booked at 11am but the agent who is coming apparently always had it down as 2pm.
This is their second error and we haven't even asked them to market the place yet! I wonder what service their actual clients get? The first mistake was when I rang up to ask a question, which the receptionist couldn't answer. She told me someone would ring me the next day (the Friday) or the following Tuesday (after the Bank Holiday Monday). When neither happened, I rang them again and she was very apologetic. Apparently the estate agent had given her a message in response to my question, but she hadn't called me to pass it on. Retraining perhaps? Or just sacking?
When we do sell then, it is unlikely that we will be selling through this particular agent.
Meanwhile, I await 2pm with bated breath!
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