Here are the pictures - I hope
Blogger and I don't seem to have a loving relationship at the moment
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Scattering of Matt's ashes
Here is a link to the rest of the photos I took over the weekend.
In my struggles with Blogger in the last post I seem to have missed out Sue completely!! She was definitely there, so I blame Blogger entirely
Here are the pictures
In my struggles with Blogger in the last post I seem to have missed out Sue completely!! She was definitely there, so I blame Blogger entirely
Here are the pictures
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Scattering of Matt's ashes
 |
| View from where we scattered the ashes |
 | |
| Pack Horse Inn - one of Matt's favourite pubs where we had lunch |
 |
| Getting ready to scatter the ashes |
 |
| Scattering the ashes |
 | ||||||
| Lunch in the pub |
This is the view from the spot.
As Blogger is playing up I am having problems putting these into order, so next picture shows the pub Matt really liked where we went to have lunch after we had scattered the ashes.
Although it looks like we are scattering them around the telegraph pole, we are actually throwing them towards the single oak tree down hill from where we are standing.
The view from the tree is lovely and the valley is quite beautiful. It is a lovely spot
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Lens envy
A couple of weeks ago the sun was shining and Trev and I decided to head for the seaside resort of Dunwich Heath. Our plan to have a picnic then walk along the coast for a few miles. Find a cream tea and consume it and then head back.
So when we got there we had our picnic in a force 10 gale. We had to hold onto the entire meal before it went flying off towards the Netherlands. So a quick rethink!
We both quite like birdwatching so we decided to do the adjacent bird sanctuary Minsmere which is behind the sea wall and more sheltered.
It is several meres with many an observation hide. We strolled for a bit then climbed up to the first hide only to realise the flagrant amateur birders that we are. I have never seen camera equipment and observation gear like it unless it was at the Royal Wedding or an observatory. These people had thousands of pounds worth of equipment! It was mind boggling. Whereas Trev had a normal camera and normal binoculars and I had a monocular. I looked like I was heading for a stamp collectors fare and had lost my way.
The true birders ignored us as we were not worthy of their attention. They were there for the day and were not giving up their seats for rank part timers like us.
Some of them had their children there. If every my children complain about the boring things I may have made them do in their childhood (OK they do have a point with Kenneth Brannagh's four hour Hamlet) I will point out how much more bored they could have been.
Anyway, we enjoyed looking at the birds very much and I think Trev is hankering after some better binoculars for his birthday when I thought I had planted the idea of a Kindle in his mind. Jill did point out that at a place like that you could stare intensely into a tree and you were bound to attract a crowd!
By the way the photos(Avocet and Marsh Harrier) were obviously not ours but of somebody at the RSPB with killer equipment!
So when we got there we had our picnic in a force 10 gale. We had to hold onto the entire meal before it went flying off towards the Netherlands. So a quick rethink!
We both quite like birdwatching so we decided to do the adjacent bird sanctuary Minsmere which is behind the sea wall and more sheltered.
The true birders ignored us as we were not worthy of their attention. They were there for the day and were not giving up their seats for rank part timers like us.
Some of them had their children there. If every my children complain about the boring things I may have made them do in their childhood (OK they do have a point with Kenneth Brannagh's four hour Hamlet) I will point out how much more bored they could have been.
Anyway, we enjoyed looking at the birds very much and I think Trev is hankering after some better binoculars for his birthday when I thought I had planted the idea of a Kindle in his mind. Jill did point out that at a place like that you could stare intensely into a tree and you were bound to attract a crowd!
By the way the photos(Avocet and Marsh Harrier) were obviously not ours but of somebody at the RSPB with killer equipment!
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Alice and Kieran's peak district adventures
I've been intending to write this blog for over a week now, so this is a little out of date, but never mind. For our anniversary Alice and I decided this year to go on a brief break to the peak district. We picked a location that was accessible by train, and a hotel that was inexpensive (more on that later). The weather was a little worrying, as unlike two years ago storm clouds were threatening, but actually we ended up only being rained on once, so all in all a result.
Considering we were only in Castleton for two days we managed to pack quite a lot in. We began with a tour of the amusingly named "Devil's arse", or peak cavern if you're being boring, so named because theres a part of the cavern which, thanks to the flowing of water, would give out loud farting noises across the valley, startling the locals, who naturally assumed Satan was hanging out in the caves eating a diet of baked beans and cabbage.
The tour was quite fun- the guide had a rather laconic manner that took a while to sink in. At one point she started talking about most haunted's visit, and I inwardly sighed and prepared to hear some nonsense about the ghosts of former miners... until she called them all idiots! Twas very pleasing. We also managed to gather a photo for Alice's extreme reading she has been doing for work
On the same day we went on a couple of short walks, one across the excellent little valley of cave dale, a very quick walk I'd found online which led us slightly off the beaten path, to the point where we were basically half walking/ half falling down a hill. Still, stunning views!
We visited another cave as well on the same day, feeling we'd met our quota (Castleton has four caves in the area), and ended the day with an awesome cream tea, with freshly made scones.
The next day we went on a 5 and a half hour walk around the whole of Castleton, covering the main hills, including Lose Hill and MAM TOR (it must always be named in capital letters!) We got some great views of the whole of the valley, and at the end of it felt like we had "done" Castleton successfully
All in all it was an excellent holiday, with awesome food at the Cheshire Cheese (definitely the place to eat if you visit Castleton), and great walks. The only downside was the hotel at which we stayed, Fern Cottage. It was a B and B that had seen better days. The owner had little to no manner, and barely seemed happy to see us. He also smelt so strongly that his odor infused the entire hotel, although thankfully the rooms were immune. The room wasn't too bad, but the bed had clearly seen better days, and was ludicrously creaky and not terribly comfortable. The breakfasts were actually ok, primarily because the fried food, cooked by the nice Irish house keeper who came in for the mornings, drove away the smell. Still, if we went again we definitely wouldn't be going to Fern cottage.
That said, it wasn't a massive draw back, as we spent most of our time enjoying the countryside.
Considering we were only in Castleton for two days we managed to pack quite a lot in. We began with a tour of the amusingly named "Devil's arse", or peak cavern if you're being boring, so named because theres a part of the cavern which, thanks to the flowing of water, would give out loud farting noises across the valley, startling the locals, who naturally assumed Satan was hanging out in the caves eating a diet of baked beans and cabbage.
The tour was quite fun- the guide had a rather laconic manner that took a while to sink in. At one point she started talking about most haunted's visit, and I inwardly sighed and prepared to hear some nonsense about the ghosts of former miners... until she called them all idiots! Twas very pleasing. We also managed to gather a photo for Alice's extreme reading she has been doing for work
On the same day we went on a couple of short walks, one across the excellent little valley of cave dale, a very quick walk I'd found online which led us slightly off the beaten path, to the point where we were basically half walking/ half falling down a hill. Still, stunning views!
We visited another cave as well on the same day, feeling we'd met our quota (Castleton has four caves in the area), and ended the day with an awesome cream tea, with freshly made scones.
The next day we went on a 5 and a half hour walk around the whole of Castleton, covering the main hills, including Lose Hill and MAM TOR (it must always be named in capital letters!) We got some great views of the whole of the valley, and at the end of it felt like we had "done" Castleton successfully
All in all it was an excellent holiday, with awesome food at the Cheshire Cheese (definitely the place to eat if you visit Castleton), and great walks. The only downside was the hotel at which we stayed, Fern Cottage. It was a B and B that had seen better days. The owner had little to no manner, and barely seemed happy to see us. He also smelt so strongly that his odor infused the entire hotel, although thankfully the rooms were immune. The room wasn't too bad, but the bed had clearly seen better days, and was ludicrously creaky and not terribly comfortable. The breakfasts were actually ok, primarily because the fried food, cooked by the nice Irish house keeper who came in for the mornings, drove away the smell. Still, if we went again we definitely wouldn't be going to Fern cottage.
That said, it wasn't a massive draw back, as we spent most of our time enjoying the countryside.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)