Oop North

In the spirit of contributing to the blog - but not being bothered to upload all my photos again - here is a link to a round up of mine and Carl's recent camping trip. I have to say, if you haven't been to Northumberland, you must go, it is fabulous. And those of you going to Hadrian's Wall have some real hills to tackle! Link to Kate's blog Kate xxxx

Olympics

I feel this blog has been overtaken by Facebook which, to be honest is quicker and simpler. However, I feel that something should go on it once a month so I am just going to have a quick blog about how much I enjoyed the Olympics. I think everyone in the UK and especially those who experience public transport in the South East on a regular basis were kind of dreading it. Also the weather had been insanely wet this spring. However, once the opening ceremony started it was as if we were all enchanted including the elements. Nearly everyone entered into the spirit of the games with enthusiasm. Throughout the 2 weeks everyone was talking about it. You could chat to shopkeepers, workmates, friends and family and almost everyone was loving it. Usually, dry witty people I follow on Twitter were blubbering sentimental fans. On the tube the driver announced results passengers were cheering and smiling at each other. London felt like a different place! It was fantastic that you could go to Hyde Park and there was the Olympics in front of you for free! Before it started I thought the logo was rubbish and we all laughed at the outfit my friend Julie, who is a volunteer, had to wear. Now I feel a pang of nostalgia when I see them Since it has finished I feel the sort of sadness I feel when I have finished reading Harry Potter novels. Still, we have the Paralympics to come and we have tickets for 3 different events so lets hope we can do as well a second time. Here are some BBC montages to bring it all back Mind you however sentimetal I have become I still think the mascot was rubbish!

Holidays

 We have had a varied couple of weeks off, with mixed weather but we did manage to get out and about a lot.  Here we are a Rhos y Gylwen which had opened the gardens as part of the National Gardens scheme

 This was a coot feeding her baby at Slimbridge wetlands centre. 

 One of 4 stained glass windows in Hereford Cathedral which are stunning.  The commemorate A E Houseman

 Hereford cathedral has lots of icon type art up - here is a Madonna and child

 This is Ludlow - we didn't see much because it was late when we got there but we had a very nice dinner after a very nice cup of tea, so we were impressed

 This is Capel y Ffin which is tiny.  It probably holds about 20 people. It is on a back road (about an F road) between Hay and Abergavenny.  Eric Gill lived here for about 4 years, in a sort of monastry place nearby.  The chapel is still in use.

 Llanthony Prior.  Same road as Capel y Ffin, and was an Augustine priory up to the reformation.  It remimded us both of Strata Florida.  Lovely place.

 This is Tretower Court.  There was a castle here but in the 16th century they built a manor house.  As you can see CADW have done a brilliant job on presenting it. They could show Hampton Court a thing or two, especially in the kitchen.  They have had the painted backdrop done specially and it is scenes from the family history.  There was food set out, with all the cutlery etc, and the hangings have been done specially too.  It was absolutely brilliant.

 This is a shot of the kitchen, where they have had new oak cupboards made as they would have been at the time.  Where they have repaired some of the woodwork with new beams etc they have used oak and copied the way exactly as the originals

This is one of many loos.  This place had an en suite in all the major rooms.  They clearly decided on comfort when they built it as the main bedrooms have en suites as well as the downstairs rooms.

Back to work tomorrow, but we have Hadrian's wall to look forward to

Slip sliding along

 This is the beginning of today's walk at Strumble Head.  Behind Brian is a light house, which you can't see through the mist.  They did say it would be cloudy, but didn't mention that the clouds would want to come along the walk with us.

 Here I am dressed for the lovely summer weather with boots, gaiters, cagoul and hat.

 However by lunchtime it had cleared up a bit , and I had got a great deal warmer.  This is the memorial to the last invasion of the British Isles.  The French landed here in 1797 but were captured by the locals.  You can here more about it here. The cliff face here is very steep so we thought they were nuts to even try. There is a very good tapestry in Fishguard showing the whole story, done by locals to commemorate the event

 Here is Brian in a very pretty little valley.

 This is nearing the end and fatigue is setting in.

Here is one of the seals we saw on the way - not a great picture because they were too far away.  We also saw a curlew and lots of stonechats, as well as lots of gulls, oystercatchers, and cormorants.

The official distance is 6 miles according to the book.  The pedometer on the phone said it was 8.1 miles, so we are going for 7 miles.  I'm not sure how much the official distance takes in all the ups and downs, or whether they just measure it flat on the map.  There were a LOT  of ups and downs.  It was also REALLY REALLY MUDDY!  There were a few stretches where we could walk normally, but an awful lot of it was slipping along, or waddling along with feet either side of the very muddy path, plus it was really overgrown.  Using the Helen system it is a 4 goat path with an added slide mark for the mud.  We met a couple of American ladies and did actually get them to turn back because they asked if it was very muddy ahead, and we said, yes, it certainly was.

When we got to the tea shop in Goodwick I was ready for a good sit down!

However it didn't actually rain, and we did finish the whole distance, so we are weary, but very pleased with ourselves.

Yorkshire

We have just returned from an excellent weekend in Yorkshire. First stop was Hebden Bridge to spend a little time with Sue. Sue's mum has just moved to a nursing home Sue is clearing out her house. However she arrived with some trepidation as on Friday 22nd June there was bad flash flooding in the town. Apparently the river was rising 2 feet every 15 minutes. Luckily nobody was killed but a lot of people have had their homes and businesses ruined. A week later and the town has bounced back in an extraordinary way. A lot of businesses up and running again and people all pulling together. There are signs for help for flood victims and it would seem that Mrs Crabtree's house clearance couldn't have come at a better time as a lot of her stuff, like washing machine, cooker, bed linen can help people who have lost so much. Anyway on the Saturday the town's art festival started and there was a surprisingly good parade by the local people with Stomp like drummers, Jazz bands, amazing stilt walkers and brilliant costumes. It was really good and I think was a credit to the town. Anyway after that we went across the moors to Ripon. Which is really lovely. A beautiful cathederal and is famous for both Wilfred Owen and Lewis Carrol. It has 3 excellent museums. The Workhouse, the Police and the courtroom. We visited all three and were able to don silly hats so that is a result! In Ripon a hornman is appointed and he has to blow the town's horn every night at 9pm. This is a tradition that has gone on, unbroken, since Alfred the Great gave the town a charter. We went home via Burghley House which has an excellent Sculpture garden and a garden of surprises. I would highly recommend a visit to either!. Lovely weekend. Makes me proud to be half Yorkshire (OK a bit tenous, really) Picassa has decided I have had my full share of photos so if you want to see any you will have to go to Facebook

Busy Holiday

 We decided to build a wind break in my back garden, because it does get a lot of sea breezes.  In summers when we have sunshine I go out to sit in the garden, and then retreat indoors because it is sunny, but the wind makes it cold.  Hence the need for a wind break.  We started on the Saturday of my  holiday but unfortunately it was a bit wet.  Not as wet as promised but still wet.  Here is Brian on the frame of the new decking.  Below is the electric saw sheltering under the sun umbrella which worked very well as a rain umbrella and kept the saw and the extension lead nice and dry.  Unlike me and Brian.

 However Sunday and Monday were fine, so we did get it finished and here we are on Monday evening sitting out.  It wasn't actually windy but, had it been, I'm sure we would have been nice and snug.  It uses a pretty useless corner of the garden too, so makes more sense all round.  We have also bought what Ikea call a sail but is really an awning which you can attach and detach to use as a roof.  That has yet to be fitted.

 In return for Brian's labours over the wind break I have made new curtains for the cottage downstairs. The old ones were lovely but getting tatty. The photo doesn't do them justice as they look nicer than that really (she said with due modesty)  The lining is purple and there is a light clear voile with gold and white stripes on top which does look quite classy.

 Having finished our labours we grabbed the not wet afternoon today and went off to a garden near the Preseli mountains.  Here is Brian sitting in a little bower.  There were lots of benches and a very nice summer house to sit in to admire the garden

This is a baby wren we saw in the garden.  It was doing a good job of looking like the path so we ignored it and hope the parents went back to it.  Fingers crossed.

Back to work next week, but only 2 weeks in work and then I get another 2 weeks off.  There are some advantages to leaving holidays to the end of the year.

Twitter

I work at a shiny high Tech place and I sometime feel as if I am in the film Logan's Run but have somehow managed to dodge the bullet and make it to my 50s. Most of the people are under 35. Most of the people are also extremely clever. I am one of the stupider people and I have post graduate qualifications. Because they are young and clever it has been occuring me that a good means of selling the library services would be through Twitter. However, when I set up an account for home use a couple of years ago it seemed to be just people talking about what they had eaten for dinner. And so much of it! It was anarchy! But I am aware that many people are finding out work related things very quickly through Twitter. I knew I had to get to grips with it. Then I was talking to one of the young PR people who was grateful to me for going above and beyond with some bibliometric work I did for her (don't ask). She asked if I was on Twitter and when I replied no, that I needed to get to grips with it she announced that she would give me a Twitter lesson! Huzzah! I will become part of the Twitterati and have some chance of keeping up with the bright young things!

Night at the musuem

Erin has been living the Bridget Jones life in London for over a year.  She regales us with
stories of all the fun that can be had in our nations capital.  Most of it falls into the category of interesting but I would rather not ie hip hop karoake, cocktails that are on fire and clubbing, to - name a few.  However one thing that caught our attention was museum lates.  Once a month many of the museums have an adults only evening.  The Science museum's is on the last Wednesday of the month and yesterday Trev, me and Jill decided to go.  Erin had assured us that there were older people there and although it was mostly 20 somethings there were many 40 and 50 somethings.  There is all manner of things to do.   There were brass bands, Science talks, a quiz, cockroach tours flight simulators and for yournger people speed dating, drinking, eating and a silent disco.  It is such fun and such a good humoured atmosphere.
As it was our first time we just wandered around the museum and pressed buttons with no meddling under 10 year olds to spoil the fun!  They have a different theme each month and this month was Music and Science.  We went to the Universe of Sound exhibition where there was a virtual orchestra playing  the Planets by Holst.  They had filmed each member of the Orchestra and you went throught the exhibit listening to different sections of the orchestra and it explained how the instruments worked.  In the percussion section you could have a go with a Wii like interactive tutorial.  I got caught with a tamborine in my hand by one of the enthusiastic young members of staff who herded me over to the tubular bells.  I gave it a good go but Trev informed me that I was ahead in most of it.  I was also slightly deaf.  I wonder if most percussionist get a bit hard of hearing.  You could also have a go at conducting.
The staff are amazing.  Universally enthusiastic and as I am sure they only earn a pittance is admirable
Basically, it was a really fun evening.  Highly reccommended.  We intend to do a Zoo late next but probably leave the Natural History Museum until after the Olympics.

Hampton Court

We had a lot of fun on Saturday at Hampton Court, and here are some pictures of the day - mostly us rather than the arty farty building pictures - and the link to Picassa is here

Thanks to everyone who made it such a lovely day.

A few days in mid Wales

 Here we are outside the cottage on the very sunny last morning, just to prove that the sun did come out while we were away.  It had a lovely view over the fields in a charming and very historic village near Machynlleth called Pennal.  Owain Glyndwr wrote his letter to the Pope from there.

 Here is Brian enjoying very, very nice ice cream in Aberdyfi despite the winter coat and hat.

 The is the beach in Aberdyfi which is acres of sand and dunes.

 We went to the RSPB reserve at Ynys Hir where they filmed Springwatch last year and are going to be back there in a couple of weeks.  It is a beautiful spot on the Dyfi estuary with views for miles, and as the bluebells were out in the woods that was lovely too.  We went to the Dyfi Osprey Project (link is here) which has nesting ospreys and full 24 HD film cover and we saw Norah (mother bird) sitting on the nest and it is just amazing!  We also saw what must have been Monty (daddy bird) flying around too.

 This is Aberdyfi in the sunshine, which we got by  late Friday.  We were there Wednesday till Saturday, and it was pretty damp most of the time.  Cold as well, but we had a really good time.  We went to the Centre for Alternative Technology which was really interesting.  However for normal people all these saving the planet things do come in very expensive so I can't see me installing solar power or wind pumps anytime soon. 

We went for a walk to somewhere called Llyn Barfog which was uphill over a few walls with these ladder stiles but was lovely when we got there.

We had a real problem finding decent coffee for some reason.  Lots of cafes but the best coffee sadly was out of a machine in the Bird reserve.  So although we got 5 stars for ice cream, it got 1 star for coffee.

Ravello

Villa Cimbrone

View from our hotel room

Ravello

Amazingly beautiful.  Fantastic week!  I didn't think I particularly needed a holiday but I feel a lot better for it.

So here are my observations of ways in which the Italians and Italy are different from the Brits.

1.  They dress better.  This became clear to us while waiting to board the plane to Naples. 

2.  Emotions.  They are pretty expressive.  On the plane back the first attempt at landing was aborted and when we landed successfully on the second attempt the Italians on board gave a round of applause!  On the minus side of this emotion - our head waiter in the hotel was a bit needy!  To the extent that we were relieved it was his day off on our last night.

Mules working on a building

4.  Driving!! Not always necessarily a bad thing.  Italians assume they have the right of way and take risks and on the whole the other driver will accept this.  However, the Amalfi peninsula has only one road around and this for  only the last century and a half.  Before that it was boat and mule (both still used).  The road isn't too wide and is VERY bendy.  The buses beep (it sounds like a herd of roadrunners sometimes)  when they are approaching a blind bend so that an approaching vehicle will hold back but this doesn't always work and then it is gridlock with people having to reverse back etc.  We caught local buses and took a bus trip to Herculaneum and Sorrento so travelled the whole peninsula and it was slow progress.  I have to say the bus drivers were very patient and good humoured about the whole thing.  As for the scooter drivers......!

Gelato

4.  Pasta and ice cream are so much better there then they ever are everywhere else.

Herculaneum

5.  History.  The place is dripping with it.  I know we are not exactly lacking ourselves.  But in Positano they had Roman Amphoras just built into the houses as flower pots.  As for Herculaneum - just amazing.

Nativity scene in Amalfi

Shrine on a mule track walk we did (1100 steps down then up again!)

6.  Religion.  Little shrines and nativity scenes everywhere and the churches are still alive.  Actually, it really annoys me how disrespectful some tourists are.  Not just in Italy.  There were church services going on in side chapels at the Duomo in Amalfi and people were just walking in and taking photos!  How can they possibly think that is respectful behaviour?

Anyway, that's my observations.  Brilliant place - go if you get the chance. If you want to see more pictures you can do so here

Audience etiquette

Trev and I have been to West End musicals the last two Saturdays running.  If you were to meet us in the next few days we would probably greet you with jazz hands!  One was Sweeney Todd and the other Singin in the Rain which both originated at the Chichester Festival.  Both excellent but entirely different.
However, this experience has led me to think about audience behaviour.  It amazes me nowadays that audiences in both cinemas and theatres often behave as if they are watching the TV in their living rooms.  In the theatre it especially surprises me as the tickets aren't exactly cheap.  At Sweeney Todd there were two young men constantly checking their phones.  Although this was silent they were causing light pollution and clearly not paying proper attention to the performers but then gave them a standing ovation at the end.  Yesterday, there were two men behind us who kept commenting to each other although Trev's shush seemed to keep them quiet. The guys sitting next to me kept falling asleep and snoring!  I remember going to a performance of the Messiah and a guy in front kept humming along.  People seem strangely unaware of other audience members.
Infact there is a film critic who has a weekly show on the radio and he and his copresenter have issued a code of conduct for the cinema.  I think it should be included in school curriculums!

Paris

We have just returned from an amazing weekend staying with Joanne and Ted in their lovely Paris apartment.

The apartment is a 5 minute walk from the Eiffel Tower and absolutely beautiful 19th century loveliness.

You do have to go up 5 flights of stairs to get their but it is worth it and the view of the Eiffel Tower is fantastic.  We discovered that it sparkles on the hour each night.
The hospitality is second to none.  Not only did Ted give us a meal worthy of a michelin star.  Many fantastic courses with different wines with each.  But George entertained us between courses.  First with magic, then with guitar playing and then with joke telling.  Excellent.
We spent most of the weekend just walking and getting a bit sunburned and eating.  We had a picnic with the family in the gardens of the Musee Rodin. 

You are given a sticker for entry and everyone has stuck it on a lamp post just outside. 

It reminds me of Kieran's apple sticker collection.
Eurostar is a pleasure to travel on compared to the cheapy airlines.  So civilized and stress free.  Trev and Erin were so relaxed that they treated themselves to what looked like an egg McMuffin but had cheese added.  Luckily the culinary experiences improved once we hit French soil.
We did attempt to go to the Mausoleum at Les Invilides as we thought we should do something indoors but apparently you can't buy tickets after 4pm!  So we just sneaked in the entry door and registered the over the topness and that was sufficient. We also went to an exhibition at the Grand Palais.  We meant to go to the Musee D'Orsey but we kept sitting on benches

and eating icecreams or chocolate eclairs instead.
Excellent weekend in every way.

Spanish holiday

 We had a lovely few days in Spain, staying with Chris and Xavier and doing lots of sight seeing.  This is the inside of Sagrada Familia.  I have been to it a few times and up till now the inside has been a lovely glimpse of architecture with lots of scaffolding.  Now it is open.  And it is stunning. 

The quality of imagination in the building is extraordinary and it works completely.  The forest of pillars, the light from the stained glass, the tiny details have all come together to make a whole which is quite extraordinary. 

I urge you to go and see it.

Here we are in Parc Guell.  As you can see we had great weather - sunny and warm all the time.  We picked the right week to go, fabulous there and foggy here.

Lovely.

Eggcellent day out

Today to celebrate my birthday the Martin family went on the Faberge egg hunt around London.
There are over 200 eggs around various parts of London.  Basically it means you have a walk around the city with a kind of purpose.  We did the same thing for the elephants a couple of years ago.

Tea and birthday cake

We started on the South Bank where we met up at the Royal Festival Hall.  We had tea and birthday cake which Kieran had made.  Then nourished and refreshed we set off like the intrepid eggsplorers we were.

Alice at Southbank

Kieran scanning

Kieran scanned in the little barcode at each egg hence the endless updates on Facebook. We spotted several on the South Bank then on to Trafalgar Square. While crossing the Jubilee bridge we spotted men on the Clock of the Savoy Building. 

Men on the clock

Pelicans

Luunch in Green Park (Buck House in background)

At Trafalgar Square we didn't spot as many as we had eggspected,  but we were serenaded by an eggstraordinarily awful bagpipe musician.  Then on to St James's Park.  Succesful hunting along with entertaining  pelicans - what's not to like.
After that we went to Green Park where we had a picnic lunch over looked by Buck house.
A few more spotted and then on to Picadilly where we used the facilities at the Royal Academy and gawped at the enormous queue for the David Hockney exhibition.  We amused ourselves by then finding eggs in Pall Mall.  What a posh place that is.  Berkeley Square was lovely with some great sculptures.

Berkeley Square (no nightingales)

Egg in front of South Bank skating. (Kieran scanning again)

Alice blending with egg

We got to Hyde Park and had a tea break and then we had pretty much run out of steam.  We walked to Kensington but were a bit eggshausted by then so we all went home.

As a day it totally had the eggs factor!