tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17589142766589771792024-03-14T03:10:46.443+00:00The Big Move - We've only gone and Done It!Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger251125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-72579620944234854532010-06-11T07:40:00.001+01:002010-07-03T21:28:02.136+01:00Formby - the last stop<div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">A little jewel on the North West coast is Formby and after leaving Manchester we headed west to stay for a couple of nights at the world famous <a href="http://www.formbypointcaravanpark.co.uk/">Formby Point Caravan Park</a>. The site is a little oasis surrounded as it is by sand dunes and pine woods. But best of all is the fact that it is only a short car ride away from Annita and her family and Ian and his daughters. </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaoZ5WtNI/AAAAAAAAEnI/i6RdVE27bTo/s1600/IMG_0515.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaoZ5WtNI/AAAAAAAAEnI/i6RdVE27bTo/s400/IMG_0515.JPG" /></a> </div><div>Lesley travelled over with us from Manchester and we all had a smashing time with Annita and John especially as Ian offered to drive us over to Liverpool. Needless to say my sister laid on a lovely meal for us all and it was great to catch up with everyone again.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaomhydII/AAAAAAAAEnQ/cv7tUiB5S98/s1600/IMG_0516.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaomhydII/AAAAAAAAEnQ/cv7tUiB5S98/s400/IMG_0516.JPG" /></a> </div>On the Monday Dave and I borrowed Ian's car and drove into Southport and despite the sky being overcast the weather was warm enough for us to enjoy our breakfast in the park on Lord's Street. In the afternoon Helen came over to the campsite to see us and we had a great time catching up with all her wedding plans for next year. <div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHao-SD4tI/AAAAAAAAEnY/oB80FeIi9fI/s1600/IMG_0519.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHao-SD4tI/AAAAAAAAEnY/oB80FeIi9fI/s400/IMG_0519.JPG" /></a> </div>It was strange walking though the pine woods without the dogs but we had a very relaxing walk trying to spot the illusive red squirrels.</div><div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHapBw3X0I/AAAAAAAAEng/mboKnU0J7BI/s1600/IMG_0523.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHapBw3X0I/AAAAAAAAEng/mboKnU0J7BI/s400/IMG_0523.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-69397478956711874602010-06-11T07:39:00.002+01:002010-07-02T11:07:02.162+01:00Manchester in the sunshine<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">I know very little about my maternal grandmother. I was still young when Nan Redfern died and I'm not sure where her family was from apart from some sketchy memories from my Mum. Apparently one of her sisters went to America ( I still have the doll that Nan told me had been sent from New York) and another lived outside Manchester. </div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; "></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">My Mum had memories of travelling from Bootle in the 1930s 'all the way' to Trafford with her sister Lilly, to stay with their Aunt for a holiday. How times have changed - <a href="http://www.manchester2002-uk.com/towns/trafford1.html">Trafford</a> is no longer a small village in the countryside, it has been swallowed up by Greater Manchester and is now most famous for the vast<a href="http://www.traffordcentre.co.uk/"> Trafford Centre</a> shopping mall.</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; "></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; "><a href="http://www.visitmanchester.com/families?gclid=COzzmY2-zKICFRg8lAodvERIwg">Manchester</a> itself has changed too and I'm sure that my parents wouldn't recognise the city from the one that they used to visit in the 1970s. The Metrolink trams are a cheap and easy way to move around the city and with more shops and bars than you can shake a stick at it's an ideal place for the thousands of students who live there.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOMtZUII/AAAAAAAAEmo/h6JxynVytwk/s1600/IMG_0508.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOMtZUII/AAAAAAAAEmo/h6JxynVytwk/s400/IMG_0508.JPG" /></a> </div><div></div><div>There is one thing that Manchester is famous for around the country and that's it's weather. It's known as the one of the wettest places in the country. This however is a myth! in fact the it has on average 140 days of a rain a year compared to the average in rest of the country of 154. So we really shouldn't have been surprised when we visited Lesley to find the sun shining and the temperature in the high 2os, but we were!!</div><div><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOQhQk4I/AAAAAAAAEmw/9kwTh9peu7M/s1600/IMG_0509.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOQhQk4I/AAAAAAAAEmw/9kwTh9peu7M/s400/IMG_0509.JPG" /></a> </div><div></div><div>A small oasis of green in the city centre is Piccadily Gardens, well not so green at the moment but definitely an oasis. </div><div><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOx_CbFI/AAAAAAAAEm4/4hMWEMlqUWI/s1600/IMG_0510.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaOx_CbFI/AAAAAAAAEm4/4hMWEMlqUWI/s400/IMG_0510.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">Lesley and I quite fancied a paddle ourselves but we were far too sensible so it was an afternoon of a long lunch in a little cafe in the Northern Quarter followed by a mooch around the shops before collapsing in the shade beside the Cathedral for a cooling drink alfresco before dinner.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaPKyOBsI/AAAAAAAAEnA/qfYAhYjMw-s/s1600/IMG_0511.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHaPKyOBsI/AAAAAAAAEnA/qfYAhYjMw-s/s400/IMG_0511.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-35305862656938134322010-06-11T07:37:00.001+01:002010-07-15T21:24:36.265+01:00Back Home<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">While we were away the dogs went on a little holiday of their own to a very nice kennel just out of town. Before we went to pick them up we let the cats have the run of the house and the garden without running them running risk of Murphy trying to get them joining in with one of his 90 mph romps around the flower beds!</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">Jess was particularly appreciative and rolled around the lawn (OK the dust bowl we laughingly call a lawn) to her little hearts content.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzHeljvI/AAAAAAAAEmI/DhXE7mg9kho/s1600/IMG_0530.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzHeljvI/AAAAAAAAEmI/DhXE7mg9kho/s400/IMG_0530.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Sassy is far too sophisticated for such nonsense and looked aghast at her sister's tarty behaviour </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzVTrkCI/AAAAAAAAEmQ/9e6IazS_290/s1600/IMG_0534.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzVTrkCI/AAAAAAAAEmQ/9e6IazS_290/s400/IMG_0534.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Before walking off in disgust!</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzjkTDrI/AAAAAAAAEmY/TilYL0DyB08/s1600/IMG_0526.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZzjkTDrI/AAAAAAAAEmY/TilYL0DyB08/s400/IMG_0526.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Even the poppies smiled...</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZ0C5ZSbI/AAAAAAAAEmg/2FwCbMgcI4M/s1600/IMG_0528.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHZ0C5ZSbI/AAAAAAAAEmg/2FwCbMgcI4M/s400/IMG_0528.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-6944010860100732762010-06-11T07:33:00.002+01:002010-07-02T09:43:32.273+01:00Borth<div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">It is becoming a tradition on our visits to Aber that we stay on the small campsite in Borth next to their world famous<a href="http://www.animalarium.co.uk/"> Animalarium </a> where the screeching of the peacocks is our early morning alarm call. Our other tradition is to meet up for dinner at the <a href="http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/25/25192/Victoria_Inn/Borth">Victoria Inn </a>on the High Street to sit on their terrace overlooking the Irish Sea to watch the amazing sunset and try our hand a Dolphin spotting. </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYxCtrsbI/AAAAAAAAElI/3Ns4gTMyXrs/s1600/IMG_0498.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYxCtrsbI/AAAAAAAAElI/3Ns4gTMyXrs/s400/IMG_0498.JPG" /></a> </div><div>The sunset didn't disappoint.</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYxiDEoZI/AAAAAAAAElQ/nTY6xse5HoA/s1600/IMG_0500.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYxiDEoZI/AAAAAAAAElQ/nTY6xse5HoA/s400/IMG_0500.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYx-zlFgI/AAAAAAAAElY/lMpMYINhETs/s1600/IMG_0501.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYx-zlFgI/AAAAAAAAElY/lMpMYINhETs/s400/IMG_0501.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>But the only things we saw in the water were some intrepid swimmers - never mind, we did see a dolphin earlier in the day when we were sitting on the prom in Aberystwyth and how cool is that!</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYyJHinRI/AAAAAAAAElg/np46c7Xk0Ls/s1600/IMG_0503.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYyJHinRI/AAAAAAAAElg/np46c7Xk0Ls/s400/IMG_0503.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-10446854075577599902010-06-11T07:31:00.002+01:002010-07-02T09:32:22.923+01:00Devils Bridge<div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">I love waterfalls and if I can view one without scaling a rocky cliff face and risk loosing my life in the process I will happily stare at one for hours. <a href="http://www.devilsbridgefalls.co.uk/">Devils Bridge</a> 12 miles outside Aberystwyth was once famously described by Wordsworth as a raging torrent, the day we went it was more of a trickle - who could have known that Mid Wales was having such a dry spring....</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYdmlRQuI/AAAAAAAAEkw/H5FgtmyL3V8/s1600/IMG_0487.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYdmlRQuI/AAAAAAAAEkw/H5FgtmyL3V8/s400/IMG_0487.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>Needless to sat I totally wimped out when found that there were about 3000 steps down from the road to see it, well OK I'm not sure how many steps but there were LOTS and they were very steep and there wasn't a handrail the whole way down! Those Victorian ladies must have had some balls to walk down them in their long dresses and unsuitable footwear!!</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYd1nTuXI/AAAAAAAAEk4/HaYyARc792I/s1600/IMG_0489.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYd1nTuXI/AAAAAAAAEk4/HaYyARc792I/s400/IMG_0489.JPG" /></a> </div><div>That said, it's a lovely place and well worth a visit (even for a scaredy cat like me)</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYeTupOJI/AAAAAAAAElA/olH3eNOjT5A/s1600/IMG_0485.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHYeTupOJI/AAAAAAAAElA/olH3eNOjT5A/s400/IMG_0485.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-29705830846898754932010-06-11T07:28:00.001+01:002010-06-22T23:21:35.202+01:00Road Trip<div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">When James first went to University, many moons ago, he bought me the <a href="http://www.malcolmpryce.com/novels.html">Malcolm Pryce</a> masterpiece <i>Aberystwyth Mon Amour </i>for no other reason that it had the word Aberystwyth in the title. Over the years I have become a huge fan of Louie Knight and all the other strange and wonderful characters that spill from Mr Pryce's wild imaginings, so you can imagine my childlike delight when on our recent visit to James and Claire not only did we see Louie's Dad leading one of his donkeys along the prom but Dave was ready camera in hand to record the event!!</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXixMC5PI/AAAAAAAAEkQ/QEzKE5S4fIk/s1600/IMG_0449.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXixMC5PI/AAAAAAAAEkQ/QEzKE5S4fIk/s400/IMG_0449.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>J and C didn't share my excitement but they were happy enough to partake in an ice cream from Sospan's even if I couldn't get them to the Druid run Moulin Club in Patriarch Street.</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjFlL4NI/AAAAAAAAEkY/knzkzqLCrdo/s1600/IMG_0454.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjFlL4NI/AAAAAAAAEkY/knzkzqLCrdo/s400/IMG_0454.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div>Instead they took us up to the <a href="http://www.forestry.gov.uk/bwlchnantyrarian">Red Kite Centre</a> to see those beautiful birds at feeding time, where the beating of their huge wings through the still air sounded like the gentle singing of Mfanwy at her very best.<div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjsXue7I/AAAAAAAAEkg/d5utD4F7SRY/s1600/IMG_0459.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjsXue7I/AAAAAAAAEkg/d5utD4F7SRY/s400/IMG_0459.JPG" /></a></div><div>On a day as warm and sunny as that one I am sure that even the Ladies from the Sweet Jesus League would have approved (well I would like to think so but we all know what those <i>Ladies</i> are really like!)</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjx7l6cI/AAAAAAAAEko/5h-2TsfvlBs/s1600/IMG_0464.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXjx7l6cI/AAAAAAAAEko/5h-2TsfvlBs/s400/IMG_0464.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-55025701731950968842010-06-11T07:25:00.001+01:002010-06-16T13:30:36.293+01:00Dover Castle<div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">As part of the <a href="http://www.dover-kent.co.uk/history/ww2b_dunkirk.htm">Operation Dynamo </a>commemorations, Dover Castle had a special weekend where you could visit the old tunnels where Admiral Ramsey conducted the operation to evacuate the troops from Dunkirk and in the grounds around the castle they had people in very authentic costume reinacting everything from NAAFI canteens to Home Guard emplacements to German check points.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCOZ7UgI/AAAAAAAAEjw/smr4n1m81PA/s1600/IMG_0408.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCOZ7UgI/AAAAAAAAEjw/smr4n1m81PA/s400/IMG_0408.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>The reinactors were very knowledgeable and it really brought history to life to be able to walk around the different areas . This woman was a recruiter for the WVS which eventually became the <a href="http://www.wrvs.org.uk/standard.aspx?page_id=43">WRVS</a>.<div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCsk1XlI/AAAAAAAAEj4/jnom3lt4RK4/s1600/IMG_0409.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCsk1XlI/AAAAAAAAEj4/jnom3lt4RK4/s400/IMG_0409.JPG" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>This chap was from the Home Guard and looked so realistic we expect Cpt Mainwaring to appear at any moment.</div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCzbIg4I/AAAAAAAAEkA/oCFIVQpCsaY/s1600/IMG_0411.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXCzbIg4I/AAAAAAAAEkA/oCFIVQpCsaY/s400/IMG_0411.JPG" /></a> </div><div>We took the 'little train' tour of the whole site and were stopped at the checkpoint by this officer and his troops. It was a little disconcerting to be asked for your papers but one man in our carriage who announced that he was a Basque and he had special papers really entered into the spirit of the thing!</div><div><br /></div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXDf_jmrI/AAAAAAAAEkI/m-6YUVVD0LE/s1600/IMG_0413.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHXDf_jmrI/AAAAAAAAEkI/m-6YUVVD0LE/s400/IMG_0413.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;clear: both; ">Every where you went there were people in costume, civilians as well as service men and women. They had ship out in the harbour and landing craft coming on the beaches and even a parachute drop. </div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-24797992667394722982010-06-11T07:22:00.002+01:002010-06-11T07:59:15.175+01:00The Little Ships<div>This year is the 70th anniversary of Operation Dynamo and the evacuation of 338,000 British and Allied troops from Dunkirk. </div><div><br /></div><div>In May Ramsgate commemorated the event with a gathering of about 50 of the remaining 'Little Ships' that played a part in that amazing rescue.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHblEQihnI/AAAAAAAAEno/djQiFgJ0UaI/s1600/_47927250_img_5751.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHblEQihnI/AAAAAAAAEno/djQiFgJ0UaI/s400/_47927250_img_5751.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5481403651331360370" /></a>It was amazing to see the way that so many of these ships have been restored and in the afternoon sunshine they were a truly memorable sight.<div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWJ4pim4I/AAAAAAAAEjQ/SmAjOllSg0A/s1600/IMG_0385.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWJ4pim4I/AAAAAAAAEjQ/SmAjOllSg0A/s400/IMG_0385.JPG" /></a> </div>While the Little Ships were safely berthed in the harbour before recreating their journey across the Channel to the commemoration events in Dunkirk on the quay side there were a selection of authentic vehicles from the Second World War.</div><div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWKbZupuI/AAAAAAAAEjY/pcjkUqGcIWo/s1600/IMG_0384.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWKbZupuI/AAAAAAAAEjY/pcjkUqGcIWo/s400/IMG_0384.JPG" /></a> </div>Including an original NAAFI van with staff in period costume selling tea and coffee in some very 21st Century paper cups!</div><div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWKydotBI/AAAAAAAAEjg/s2jm2jq2rjU/s1600/IMG_0390.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWKydotBI/AAAAAAAAEjg/s2jm2jq2rjU/s400/IMG_0390.JPG" /></a> </div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWLAuuqMI/AAAAAAAAEjo/3oLJvj_ScHI/s1600/IMG_0389.JPG"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TBHWLAuuqMI/AAAAAAAAEjo/3oLJvj_ScHI/s400/IMG_0389.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-83831323347191545202010-06-01T16:05:00.001+01:002010-06-01T16:12:09.915+01:00Found an old Album 2<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px">Mum hated having her picture taken but couldn't refuse her grandchildren anything - I love this picture, their smiles are beautiful.</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh2x_bOjI/AAAAAAAAEik/T7tuCicxahk/s1600/Top-1.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh2x_bOjI/AAAAAAAAEik/T7tuCicxahk/s400/Top-1.jpg" /></a> </div><div><br /></div>Not sure how I managed to capture this - Dave with a gun stuck in his ear and Lesley stuck to his arm!<div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh3bp8UNI/AAAAAAAAEis/VuxPVXksaJY/s1600/Top-4.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh3bp8UNI/AAAAAAAAEis/VuxPVXksaJY/s400/Top-4.jpg" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>This picture is special for two reasons 1) We were only a lovely camping holiday in Brittany and 2) Both the kids are smiling at the same time!</div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh3_DUfoI/AAAAAAAAEi0/XAZrDj441fM/s1600/Top-5.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUh3_DUfoI/AAAAAAAAEi0/XAZrDj441fM/s400/Top-5.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-27588893927945393652010-06-01T15:49:00.001+01:002010-06-01T16:04:40.533+01:00Found an old photo album<div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">Dave has been decorating the front bedroom and I decided it would be the perfect opportunity to sort out the old cupboard in there. When we moved I had packed all our old photo albums in boxes - many many boxes, but there was one I missed. So instead of sorting through the reams of cables and scart leads in the draws I've spent the past hour going through some lovely old photos.</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; "><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">I'm not sure when they were taken, I think it was either 1999 or 2000 but they did bring back some lovely memories - </div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeF9p3T9I/AAAAAAAAEiE/V5GRDkV_CAQ/s1600/Top.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeF9p3T9I/AAAAAAAAEiE/V5GRDkV_CAQ/s400/Top.jpg" /></a> </div>We were all together for a family party - Mum and Dad's anniversary I think - I can't believe that this was at least ten years ago - where have the years gone?<div><br /><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeGbgVt9I/AAAAAAAAEiU/igK69ACj3A4/s1600/Top-2.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeGbgVt9I/AAAAAAAAEiU/igK69ACj3A4/s400/Top-2.jpg" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div>I can't remember what Laura was telling James but it was very serious and very important!</div><div><br /></div><div style="TEXT-ALIGN: center; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeGzeycII/AAAAAAAAEic/EbeySs45vvo/s1600/Top-3.jpg"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/TAUeGzeycII/AAAAAAAAEic/EbeySs45vvo/s400/Top-3.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;clear: both; "> This is James and I at the <a href="http://duxford.iwm.org.uk/">Imperial War Museum Duxford</a> you wouldn't guess it from this picture but as a moody teenager James a) hated having his picture taken b) was totally embarrassed by his Mother and c) would only smile on point of extreme torture or bribery</div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-73778307290569837392010-03-23T16:10:00.008+00:002010-04-07T17:46:50.652+01:00Politicians for Hire<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S6j028iR0CI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/iHt8eC2MNak/s1600-h/images.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 112px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S6j028iR0CI/AAAAAAAAEfQ/iHt8eC2MNak/s400/images.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5451876573731999778" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">When I was a <i>very</i> lowly civil servant I was in a meeting one day when our new department head started talking about our 'customers' and how we had a duty to provide them with the most efficient and cost effective service possible. He then fired off a question out to the audience 'just who do you think our customers are?' quick as a flash came the reply, 'the public'. The poor man looked horror struck - 'no' he said 'the Department's Ministers' are our customers. We work for them.'</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Well call me naive but I thought that civil servants 'worked ' for the Crown and as such, in working in a contact centre, our 'customers' were ipso facto, her majesties subjects i.e. members of the public rather than Members of Parliament.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">This strange memory came back to me last night when I was watching the Channel 4 Dispatches programme, Politicians for Hire, where four Labour Cabinet Ministers were caught on camera boasting that they had used their influence to change policy in favour of business. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Now let me say that I never worked for any of the Ministers filmed, but some civil servants did. In fact a whole raft of people would have been employed in their offices, from the Permanent Secretary at the top of the tree right down to the poor sods who answer the phones from irate members of the public at the bottom. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">How proud they all must be today to know that all the years they have put in 'serving' their Minister, (for far less money than they would have reasonably been expected to earn in the private sector!) weren't wasted. Or the hours spent on developing new policy and strategies only to have them rejected because the Ministers and their advisers didn't want to implement them in an election year, would come in handy when their Ex-Minster was writing his cv as a Lobbyist.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">How very gratifying it must be knowing that some of the Ministers they worked for have used the knowledge gained in those Departments to such good effect.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I'm sure that the Support Grade Band 2 worker, trying to raise a family on £13,882 a year, is absolutely cock a hoop today to know that Stephen Byres referred to himself as 'a sort of taxi for hire' on up to £5000 a day.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">It seems incredible to me that these same Politicians who were claiming every penny they were 'entitled' to, are the same ones who are calling for swinging cuts in bureaucracy. Not that they will calling for a saving of the high salaried Special Advisers or the Whitehall Mandarins just the lower grade civil servants and public sector workers who presumably they consider dispensable. The biggest machine in the world will not work if its smallest cog is missing and more than one government department wont be 'fit for purpose' if the Politicians get their way by laying off thousands of its work force, or god forbid, outsourcing the work to a company whose only motivation is profit, not customer service. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">They will argue any job losses are through natural wastage, well it doesn't matter how they sugar the pill, once those jobs are gone they will never come back. Those departments that brought employment (all be it low paid) to areas of high unemployment around the country, will eventually close and as a result the job prospects for young people there will suffer for years to come. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The one office that wont suffer is the Minsters' own. They will make sure that they have the right people with the best qualifications advising them on policy, so maybe our senior civil servant was right all along, and the civil servants' first customer is their Minister? And if that's true maybe they would like to consider some kind of profit sharing scheme for their staff - out of the 'taxi for hire' money they expect to earn as a Lobbyist!</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">If you missed last night's Dispatches, shame on you, but you can catch it for the next 29 days on 4oD at <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;"><a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od">http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/4od</a></span></span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-29990022738694037412010-03-09T17:43:00.003+00:002010-03-17T16:24:23.912+00:00Up up and away<div>A couple of weeks ago, when, as luck would have it, Kent was having one of it's wettest weeks of the winter, Annita and John came down to stay for the week. </div><div><br /></div><div>I had been hoping that we would have enough fine days so that I could take them out and about and had mentally planned a itinerary that would probably exhausted even the most intrepid explorer. So it was probably a good thing that our outing were confined mostly to long bracing walks along the seafront in-between the showers, with just the odd walk into town and couple of trips along the coast.</div><div><br /></div><div>John however was praying for fine weather, having lugged his kites and cameras on three trains and two car rides to get here, he was determined to get some KAP shots. Now for those of you unfamiliar with KAP it stands for Kite Aerial Photography and not as I thought Kent Auto Panels (that's a whole different thing altogether) and it involves sending a camera up on a very impressive looking hand made kite to take aerial photos.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This first shot is taken from Fisherman's Beach looking across the MOD firing range towards Dymchurch.</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI_NXeeBI/AAAAAAAAEeQ/_C3VLZQZAeE/s1600-h/GetAttachment.aspx+(2).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI_NXeeBI/AAAAAAAAEeQ/_C3VLZQZAeE/s400/GetAttachment.aspx+(2).jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446691418852456466" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">In this one you can see the beach that stretches five miles around to Folkestone and next to it the Promenade that Annita and John walked there and back on. On what was probably the windiest day of the winter. Our intrepid couple put me to shame, I've been waiting for Spring to arrive and Dave to finish his latest contract before planning to walk there and hop on a bus back!!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI-_A5-4I/AAAAAAAAEeI/BqtBOWQ6Xq0/s1600-h/GetAttachment.aspx+(1).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI-_A5-4I/AAAAAAAAEeI/BqtBOWQ6Xq0/s400/GetAttachment.aspx+(1).jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446691414999694210" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"> And finally this is a shot of the road from the prom up to our place - I knew it was a sharp bend but hadn't realised till I saw this quite how sharp!</div></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI-fbTamI/AAAAAAAAEeA/iKGraR9O1hM/s1600-h/GetAttachment.aspx.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aI-fbTamI/AAAAAAAAEeA/iKGraR9O1hM/s400/GetAttachment.aspx.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446691406520478306" /></a><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-17959064895364806452010-03-09T17:32:00.003+00:002010-03-17T16:34:23.654+00:00One man and his Kite and the other with his dogs<div style="text-align: center;">While John was flying his kite Dave took the dogs down to the beach and managed to get a couple of shots of John's kite.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIQLXHd1I/AAAAAAAAEd4/6j7T6vW2Apk/s1600-h/IMG_0288.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIQLXHd1I/AAAAAAAAEd4/6j7T6vW2Apk/s400/IMG_0288.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446690610860226386" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;">The wind had to be just right to get the camera high enough to get the shots he wanted. Too little wind and the kite wouldn't fly, too much and he wouldn't have been able to focus the camera.</div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIPqucsLI/AAAAAAAAEdw/cPnmM0SZAR4/s1600-h/IMG_0314.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIPqucsLI/AAAAAAAAEdw/cPnmM0SZAR4/s400/IMG_0314.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446690602099716274" /></a><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIPDA4nVI/AAAAAAAAEdo/fA00sJFqxqE/s1600-h/IMG_0310.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S5aIPDA4nVI/AAAAAAAAEdo/fA00sJFqxqE/s400/IMG_0310.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5446690591439625554" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-8186342140843227192010-02-18T08:41:00.004+00:002010-02-18T09:35:47.487+00:00Our new home<div><br /></div><div>I bought Dave a new camera for his birthday last year and just after we moved down here he thought he would take some 'snaps' of our new home or "the work in progress" as we laughing call it. But when the smell of drying paint gets too much we escape and go out to catch the sunset .</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S30HaJV0ioI/AAAAAAAAEWQ/IuXvpSQbMO8/s1600-h/IMG_0233.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S30HaJV0ioI/AAAAAAAAEWQ/IuXvpSQbMO8/s400/IMG_0233.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439512070698863234" /></a><br /><div><br /></div><div>Some days we are lucky and get to see the fishing boats coming in. It all depend on the tides apparently!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S30HZ6amRjI/AAAAAAAAEWI/sjM760a6waw/s1600-h/IMG_0209.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S30HZ6amRjI/AAAAAAAAEWI/sjM760a6waw/s400/IMG_0209.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439512066692367922" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><u><br /></u></span></div><div>Like the Government we have a 5 Year Plan for or new home but unlike the Government we expect to complete the works under budget, ahead of schedule and the only tax payers money we will be using will be our own.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><div><br /></div><div>The garden room is off the back of the kitchen. We're not sure how old it is but the best guess is about 15 years. Eventually we will replace it with a bigger conservatory but in the meantime it's home to the computer and the dogs bed!</div><div><br /><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_rIst0XI/AAAAAAAAEV4/yPuK6EVLqFk/s1600-h/IMG_0186.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_rIst0XI/AAAAAAAAEV4/yPuK6EVLqFk/s400/IMG_0186.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439503566491210098" /></a><br /></div><div>Since this picture was taken we have had a cooker fitted in the kitchen (the previous owner took her's with her!!) with a posh new cooker hood, a new fancy radiator fitted to replace the old large one that was stopping us from fitting our big fridge against the wall, we've had extra electric sockets fitted for all my gadgets and painted the walls and changed the curtains and the window blinds. We just have to fit the new splash back behind the cooker and replace the wall tiles for it to look quite splendid. </div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_quntf8I/AAAAAAAAEVw/NMwSu9caGLU/s1600-h/IMG_0185.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_quntf8I/AAAAAAAAEVw/NMwSu9caGLU/s400/IMG_0185.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439503559490895810" /></a><br /></div><div>The hall didn't look too bad but I was tempted to rip the blue wallpaper off, instead I've just painted all the woodwork and doors and changed the artwork on the walls. Where the mirror is in the picture is now a collection of some of the paintings we have collected over the years. Bella isn't fussed either way, as long as we don't change the door mat she's happy.</div><div><br /></div><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_qdTWABI/AAAAAAAAEVo/rzJSdcStp_4/s1600-h/IMG_0181.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_qdTWABI/AAAAAAAAEVo/rzJSdcStp_4/s400/IMG_0181.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439503554842066962" /></a><br /></div><div>We haven't touched the living room yet apart from rearranging the furniture and getting new ceiling lights fitted (she took those with her as well as the cooker!) Eventually we will redecorate in here but not before we change the fire and get the carpet up and have wooden flooring laid, pale carpets and wet dogs do not mix!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_p1RKakI/AAAAAAAAEVg/1Z90SDKZHWo/s1600-h/IMG_0180.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/S3z_p1RKakI/AAAAAAAAEVg/1Z90SDKZHWo/s400/IMG_0180.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439503544095500866" /></a>We are still in the planning stage for an extension and will probably do any work over two phases - phase one will be working with the floor plan we have now while the more ambitious phase two will literally involve raising the roof. All these plans of course will involve the local planning authority so we don't imagine that we will be starting work on them any time soon! </div><div><br /></div><div>In the meantime we are enjoying what we've got already and timing the dogs last walk of the dog to coincide with the sunset. - wow it's not a bad life!</div></div></div></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-4278039879101772592010-01-12T15:43:00.001+00:002010-01-15T14:02:12.034+00:00The Big ChillWell it looks like at long last the snow is really gone, but according to some people the winter isn't over yet. Well knock me down with a feather - its the 15th January and the winter isn't over yet - would you credit it!<br /><br />Is it just me or do the reporters on the tv have a strange perception of what the weather should be like? I'm growing increasingly frustrated with some of them, especially those on regional news bulletins, who will report on the cricket in South Africa and then make a comment about how lovely and hot it is there when it's all snowy and cold here - well that's because its winter here and summer there. In this country we have generally cold damp winters, occasionally for a few weeks we will have snow further south than Scotland and even more occasionally the snow will cause problems. Africa on the other hand......<br /><br />Why do they all think that we want to live sub Saharan conditions? Some of us like living in a country that defined seasons. Cold in winter, mild in spring and autumn and warm in summer. As a rule we don't experience huge fluctuations in temperature, life threatening tornadoes or monsoon summers (ok I'll give you that one)we have a temperate climate which makes us get very over excited if it doesn't rain for a week when we go camping in the Lake District in June!<br /><br />But the thing that really makes me mad is when we are told half the story, for example, this week we were told that Melbourne had had one of it's hottest night with recorded temperatures of 37 degrees at midnight. The accompanying film was of young people sitting on the beach in the dark and a father in shorts and t shirt pushing his little baby along trying to get it to sleep in the heat. At the end of the piece the reporters just said that 37 was probably 'a bit too hot' but wouldn't it be lovely to feel warm again. What they didn't tell you was that across South Australia trains were cancelled because over head lines had melted, people without air conditioning were flocking to shopping malls, 43,0000 of them in one mall in Melbourne alone and In Victoria 30,0000 people were without electricity.<br /><br />So instead of brrr Britain cold and bad, hummn Australia warm and good maybe our dumbed down news reporting could be a little less simplistic and just give us the facts. And don't get me started on the weather presenters, their constant over exaggeration of the snow these past few weeks would be laughable if it wasn't so tragic. Last weekend with snow on the beach as well as the pavements and roads, Dave and I took the dogs out and started chatting to a fellow dog walker. We were all sensibly dressed for the cold and agreed that with the clear skies and light breezes it was a perfect day to get out and about but if we'd taken any notice of the weather reports we would be huddled in front of the fire dreaming of holidays on a tropical island. <br /><br />I love this country, I love the crazy weather, but I'm beginning to think that 'media folk' want to be any where else but here.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-90605810410489597062010-01-06T12:05:00.005+00:002010-01-08T12:23:54.625+00:00Christmas present and past<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Christmas 2009 was the very first year that we've spent the whole of Christmas day in our own home. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">When we were first married we used to travel up to Liverpool to spend Christmas with my family. Even when the kids were little our Christmas Eve was spent crawling up the M6 trying to explain to them that Father Christmas thought that it would be a great idea for us to stay with Nan and Granddad because we didn't have a chimney on our house.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I had reached the grand old age of 35 before before I'd even attempted to cook Christmas lunch in my own kitchen. Only months earlier we had uprooted and moved North and were now only 20 odd miles from my parents and had arranged to drive over to meet up with everyone on Christmas night.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">This set the trend for the next 19 years and our Christmas memories were of very early mornings watching excited kids burying the dog under mountains of discarded wrapping paper before they breakfasted on chocolate, me working away in the kitchen preparing the lunch while Dave took the kids round to the neighbours to deliver presents and have the odd gin and tonic along the way (Dave that is not the kids!), then after lunch was cleared away persuading everyone to get changed into their party clothes before loading up the car with presents and food for the party in Liverpool.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">We had some great times and could never understand when people would say they had had a 'quiet' Christmas. Ours were always frantic and chaotic and even after Mum and Dad died the tradition of a family time at Christmas was carried on, the first year in Ian's and since then at Annita and John's. Like most extended families it wasn't always practical for all the family to be there but as many of us as possible would get together on Christmas night to exchange gifts, eat, drink and be merry (in my case only on copious amounts of tea - I was the designated driver!)</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But this year we spent Christmas in our new home and with the best will in the world I didn't fancy driving the 600 mile round trip on Christmas night. We had a lovely time, eating too much, drinking something other than tea, having the time to prepare a lunch a la Delia with smoked salmon and prawn mousse; roast turkey with all the trimmings, including freshly made cranberry and bread sauces; and to finish off two puddings, the traditional Christmas pud with extra rum and a very potent rum sauce and for those who prepare a lighter touch a lemon and mascapone trifle made with Lemoncello. After all that food it was either fall asleep or get some fresh air, so Dave and I braved the elements and took the dogs down to the beach for a bracing walk along the sea front just in time to see the sun set.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Our day mightn't have started quite as earlier as it used to but the dogs still got buried under the wrapping paper and James and Lesley convinced Claire that it was a family tradition to eat chocolate coins for breakfast. We had a lovely time singing Christmas carols while Clare accompanied us on her new key board and everyone was far too polite to criticise my singing (or maybe they were just worried that if they upset me I wouldn't feed them) and we spent the evening slobbing out, admiring our presents and watching daft movies. We had a smashing day but we did miss seeing all the little ones (who aren't so little any more) but we did raise a toast to them and all those happy memories of Christmas past.</span></div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-79855019907539253312010-01-05T17:08:00.002+00:002010-01-05T18:09:16.224+00:00Happy New Year<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">It seems to have been months since I've written anything. No special reason apart from the computer out in the conservatory has decided to have a hissy fit and refuse to acknowledge the fact that we are paying BT a King's ransom for broadband. </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Claire thinks that it may be because there are too may walls between the box and the computer I take the non techie approach and try and fool it by quietly moving the dongler around until I get a signal then hurriedly stick it in position with Duck Tape. At the moment it is attached to the arm of the chair in front of the desk and providing I don't move, swivel or try and type the signal looks pretty good....dear god I am a loss to the world of IT help desks.....</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Rather than swear and curse at the screen and resort to 'rebooting' the thing by fiddling with the plug (Dave's favourite method of computer maintenance) I have decamped with the laptop to the comparative warmth of the front bedroom and now all I have to put up with is Jess the cat walking across the keyboard, Murphy fast asleep on the bed snoring away and Bella sitting on the floor looking suspiciously at the strange dog in the mirrored wardrobe doors. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I hate those doors and I'm looking forward to the day that I can take a sledge hammer to them. They have really strange mirrors, just like the ones in the old Hall of Mirrors in Southport Fair. They make everything thing look twice as big as it really is, for instance I look a right little pudge in them when in fact I am a svelte 29 year old. They have to go!!!</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-43548048040791277982009-11-17T11:54:00.007+00:002009-12-11T16:17:42.026+00:00We're Here!!<div>After what has seemed the most protracted house purchase in the history of real-estate we have finally moved down to Hythe in Kent. We were hoping that we could have been down here in time to enjoy at least part of the summer on the south coast but (obviously - what were we thinking of!) that was not to be. In the end we were grateful that the move went well and it didn't rain while Pickfords were unloading thirty years of boxes!</div><div><br /></div><div>The first week was whirl of unpacking, exploring the town, trawling the internet for cookers and radiators and then trying to arrange for electricians and gas fitters to do their thing the following week. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everything was going to plan, James had made the epic journey south for the weekend to help shift boxes from one side of the garage to the other and Lesley was due to arrive just after he planned to wend his way back to welshland (not that she was avoiding him but he was due back at work on the Tuesday and she was going to spend her reading week with us finishing her project with the bonus of constant hot water and three meals a day - oh for the life of a student!)</div><div><br /></div><div>But, as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men... just as James was loading his car Dave had a funny turn which turned out to be a small heart attack. The ambulance arrived within about 2 minutes of phoning 999 - apparently they had been parked up on the seafront! </div><div><br /></div><div>They put Dave on an ECG which didn't show any irregularity but later at the hospital his blood tests showed that something had happened. Now in the normal course of events they would have given him an angiography and an angioplasty, if one was necessary, the next day and then home the following day but unfortunately 2 out of the 3 cardio guys at Ashford Hospital had swine flu and they were having to transfer patients to Kings in London. As the faxes were being sent and telephone calls made between the hospitals sod's law intervened yet again when his ward was hit by a vomiting and diarrhoea bug. The hospital's infectious disease plan went straight into action and closed the ward to all new admissions and more importantly for Dave, all transfers out.</div><div><br /></div><div>The cardio team went into overdrive and scheduled extra operations to help clear the patients from the ward. Dave was down to have his procedure on the Friday but unfortunately he came down with the bug the night before and had to wait until the following Tuesday before they could operate. </div><div><br /></div><div>James arranged with work to stay down for the rest of the week and Claire braved the delights of British Rail to join him. Poor Lesley had probably the worst greeting at a railway station ever - 'Hi Lel, don't worry but Dad's had another heart attack' but don't know what I'd have done without them. Nothing was too much trouble, the week was a whir of hospital visits, electricians channelling out the walls for new cables, the plumber crawling up in the loft fitting new pipes for the gas cooker, taking out the old kitchen radiator then fitting the new whizzing hi-tec one and disconnecting the very pink sink in the bedroom (don't ask!!). Oh yes, I nearly forgot, Dave had also sold the old greenhouse that was taking up far too much space in the garden and had arranged for the chap who'd bought it to come and dismantle it that week.</div><div><br /></div><div>Things have settled down now, James, Claire and Lel are back in academia, Dave's home taking it easy and planning to start work next Monday - it sounds a bit soon to me but he's promised to be sensible and rather than commute up to London each day he's going to stay up in town during the week, at least for the first couple of weeks. </div><div><br /></div><div>We don't regret for one moment moving down here but it would have been nice to least have had a couple of months to settle in and meet the neighbours before we managed to bring Hythe to a standstill by blocking the road to traffic with an ambulance (we certainly don't do things by half) </div><div><br /></div><div>I haven't had much of a chance to get out and about with the camera but I thought that you might like to see some of the photos I took on one of our trips down here earlier this year.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQ0Z3wZI/AAAAAAAAEKU/6jj8KwCDNWg/s1600/CIMG1870.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQ0Z3wZI/AAAAAAAAEKU/6jj8KwCDNWg/s400/CIMG1870.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405044419952361874" /></a><div style="text-align: center;">The Royal Military Canal was built to defend England from Napoleon's advances. Did the job, the French must have got wind of the plan and decided not to invade after all!</div><div><br /></div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQm1Pe-I/AAAAAAAAEKM/1A81YKH4D9I/s1600/CIMG1876.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQm1Pe-I/AAAAAAAAEKM/1A81YKH4D9I/s400/CIMG1876.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405044416309066722" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">The main High Street is as pretty as a picture with lots of old interesting buildings and when I find out what they are I will let you know - all I've found so far are some very nice coffee shops and a very helpful hardware store.</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQGa_JHI/AAAAAAAAEKE/tq_zZqj0334/s1600/CIMG1891.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SwKTQGa_JHI/AAAAAAAAEKE/tq_zZqj0334/s400/CIMG1891.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5405044407609009266" /></a><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">This is the nearest beach to our house, it's only about a 50 metre walk from our front door. The round building are Montello Towers which were built at the same time as the Royal Military Canal for the same reason, to repel the French - they now mark the boundary of the MOD firing range. </div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-75887864357301724772009-10-06T15:57:00.002+01:002009-10-06T17:39:33.382+01:00More pictures from Blackpool<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">Ever since I was a little girl I have always wanted to ride along the front in Blackpool in a horse drawn carriage</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbJlukyGI/AAAAAAAAEH4/UHs1J1JD_5g/s1600-h/IMG_0139.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbJlukyGI/AAAAAAAAEH4/UHs1J1JD_5g/s400/IMG_0139.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">So for our special trip down memory lane we did just that!</div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbJ8IEp7I/AAAAAAAAEIA/RrmrqBpmWLE/s1600-h/IMG_0142.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbJ8IEp7I/AAAAAAAAEIA/RrmrqBpmWLE/s400/IMG_0142.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center">For Dave's recent birthday I bought him a fancy new Digital SLR camera and he had great fun snapping some of the iconic sights around the town</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbKZId5EI/AAAAAAAAEII/ZC8kRClHq_Q/s1600-h/IMG_0143.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbKZId5EI/AAAAAAAAEII/ZC8kRClHq_Q/s400/IMG_0143.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbK8DLpQI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/IS3Cj1NUCbw/s1600-h/IMG_0151.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstbK8DLpQI/AAAAAAAAEIQ/IS3Cj1NUCbw/s400/IMG_0151.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-1488251281389339582009-10-06T15:55:00.003+01:002009-10-06T17:35:46.562+01:00Blackpool<div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">It's been years since we've been to Blackpool. When the kids were little we used to enjoy our yearly trip up to see the illuminations but when they grew old enough to be completely embarrassed to be seen out with their parents we stopped going. We thought that to really appreciate the illuminations you needed to take little children to see their faces light up with awe and wonder as darkness fell and the illuminations were switched on. </div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">I can still remember the thrill of a trip to Blackpool when I was a little girl sitting in the back of Dad's van, foot sore after walking the Golden Mile to the Pleasure Beach, tummy full after a special supper in our favourite cafe and excited to be allowed to stay up 'till it was dark and know that it would be way past bedtime before we arrived home.</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">The last time we all went to Blackpool was when Mum and Dad were staying out in a small hotel on he Queens Promenade, so it was especially poignant for us to start our day there and walk into town along the seaside prom.</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">I think that it is fair to say that Blackpool was devastated by this government's decision a few years ago not to allow them the 'Super Casino' as they had been planing for it as part of their regeneration programme. What the bloody politicians were thinking of by awarding it to Manchester god only knows. Blackpool would have been the perfect and most obvious choice. It has the space, the experience and it genuinely needed a commercial boost to the local economy. The days of Wakes Weeks when whole towns from Lancashire used to decamp to the seaside are long gone. Our tourism industry is having to reinvent itself to the needs of visitors in the 21st Century and a Super Casino in the resort would have brought in new investment. </div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">That said, you can't fault the actions of the local council, they are investing heavily in a spanking new promenade and exceptionally fancy street lighting in the newly pedestrian areas behind the Tower but I'm convinced that the Super Casino would have made their task of regenerating what is admittedly in places, a rather run down town, a far easier task.</div><div style="text-align: left;margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; ">But when the sun is shining (which it did) and the sea is like a mill pond (which it was) there is nowhere finer than to stroll along to the Pleasure Beach, looking at the sights along the way.</div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstaeJJ-eII/AAAAAAAAEHY/t_i_cLLDBEw/s1600-h/IMG_0121.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstaeJJ-eII/AAAAAAAAEHY/t_i_cLLDBEw/s400/IMG_0121.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Who needs Paris when you have have <a href="http://www.theblackpooltower.co.uk/towertop.php">Blackpool Tower</a> with its circus, ballroom and if you venture to the top, views of The Lake District</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstaeUHhHXI/AAAAAAAAEHg/-SX6cA7etb0/s1600-h/IMG_0115.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstaeUHhHXI/AAAAAAAAEHg/-SX6cA7etb0/s400/IMG_0115.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;">Where else can you find not just one but three piers?</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sstae2Tb7UI/AAAAAAAAEHo/O1hCYbZRX_k/s1600-h/IMG_0114.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sstae2Tb7UI/AAAAAAAAEHo/O1hCYbZRX_k/s400/IMG_0114.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">and more trams than you can shake a stick at!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstafSGOHkI/AAAAAAAAEHw/xJT47RGElJc/s1600-h/IMG_0112.JPG"><img alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SstafSGOHkI/AAAAAAAAEHw/xJT47RGElJc/s400/IMG_0112.JPG" border="0" /></a> </div><div style="clear:both; text-align:CENTER"><a href="http://picasa.google.com/blogger/" target="ext"><img src="http://photos1.blogger.com/pbp.gif" alt="Posted by Picasa" style="border: 0px none ; padding: 0px; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: initial; -moz-background-origin: initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: initial;" align="middle" border="0" /></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-6589274373506153852009-10-05T11:01:00.003+01:002009-10-05T11:48:27.016+01:00A weekend exploring old hauntsAs the big day approaches (we've all signed our contracts and now we are waiting for the Solicitors to get their act together and exchange them!!) we are still working down our list of 'let's appreciate what's on our own doorstep before we move' tour. <div><br /></div><div>Even this far 'up north' we have been enjoying an Indian Summer, OK it's not been as warm or sunny as the South East but even so today is the first day I've woken up and considered putting the heating on, which is not bad considering its the 5th October. The trees around our garden are only just starting to show their autumn colours so what better time to wander through the woods at Norton Priory. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="http://www.nortonpriory.org/">Norton Priory Museum and Gardens</a> is one of the North West's hidden gems. It was originally the home to Augustan Canons for over 900 years before the Brooke family built their country pile there and settled in for the next 400 years. The museum has excavated much of the ruins of the old Priory and its undercroft and there are excellent displays of findings ranging from medieval tiles to Victorian buckles and belts. A short walk across the bridge takes you to a fine sculpture trail among the woods and a well kept walled garden. Autumn is a lovely time to wonder through the woods, the trees are just starting to turn and the conkers and sweet chestnuts litter the ground just waiting for small children to collect by the bucketfuls. We had a fine old time collecting windfalls in the pear orchard and sweet chestnuts from the path down to the walled garden unfortunately I was far too much of a wimp to collect any of the mushrooms springing from the woodland. Bella and Murphy were in heaven chasing the leaves being blown about in the gales and not even the imminent danger of being brained by champion sized conkers was going to stop Murphy from racing around trying to catch the lone grey squirrel who just about managed to out run him.</div><div><br /></div><div>The winds on Sunday had calmed enough for us to take a trip to the coast. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ainsdale">Ainsdale</a> beach was our first stop, I'd forgotten just how evocative memories could be, no sooner had we parked and wrestled the dogs from the back of the car memories came flooding back to me. Sitting in the sand dunes heavily pregnant with Lesley watching James and his Granddad digging a big hole while his Nan prepared the picnic lunch - happy memories and I swear that the tears in my eyes where from the wind (honestly) </div><div><br /></div><div>Next stop was the seafront in <a href="http://www.visitsouthport.com/">Southport</a> and after convincing Bella to walk up the steps to the pier we strolled up into the town and met Ian for a drink al fresco in the afternoon sunshine. More memories, most of them of little kids and happy grandparents wandering down Lord Street when the hardest decision of the day was whether James and Lesley would be able to manage an other ice cream before they went to feed the ducks in Hesketh Park - lovely days that I wouldn't swap for the world!</div><div><br /></div><div>This afternoon we are off to see the illuminations in <a href="http://www.visitblackpool.com/">Blackpool</a>. More memories, more smiles and I promise no more tears - well unless the wind gets in my eyes again...</div><div><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-55972539393292918292009-09-16T15:05:00.003+01:002009-09-16T17:14:31.362+01:00I've been a busy beeI've spent the past half hour trying to think of all the places we've visited on our 'lets appreciate what's on our own doorstep' trip, since we last spoke. That's the trouble with intermittent blogging you can soon lose whole days and never find them again. So rather than trying to list everything chronologically and in the process bore you into total rigidity, I thought that I would just ramble on and try and remember stuff as I go along.<div><br /></div><div>The Tatton Park Show was a totally surreal experience. For someone who is totally comfortable in a city and has been in exile in a semi rural environ for the past 18 years, it still comes as a shock that country folk really do wear Burber Jackets and green wellies and spent a lot of time training dogs to fetch birds that they've shot or rescuing birds that their friends might have only winged or perhaps made orphans. Maybe it's something do to with the climate or the fact that they don't have Sky tv, but an awful lot of them seemed fascinated by the chainsaw wood carving competition and were queuing around the show field to taste the ostrich burgers on the bbq. Not one to be phased by all this rural nonsense I decided to enter Bella into the beautiful dog competition ('No prizes ladies and gentlemen, this is just for fun') though when I say I decided that's no strictly true, it was more of a dare, because as you may know, Bella is probably the scardiest dog in the history of Golden Retrievers. She is terrified of little children, baby buggies, diggers, buses, electric lawn mowers, hoovers, vet's waiting rooms, riding in cars, in fact any new experience has her heart racing and her jumping up on me in the ridicules hope that I will carry her (remember she is a Golden Retriever!) Why we thought that trotting around a parade ground looking beautiful would be a fun thing to do, was, with hindsight, a totally mad proposition. She slunk around the ring and refused point blank to sit facing the judges, in fact she showed her total contempt for the whole thing by facing me and showing her bum to the bemused panel and even my whisperings of 'please Bella show the lady your pretty face' only resulted in her jumping up and planting her paws firmly on my chest with a look that said 'get me out of her now before I take myself off to the Dogs Trust and claim asylum'. The spectators (and Dave) were crying laughing and to add insult to injury she wasn't even in the final three! I think that her chances of becoming a show dog are nil!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>The one thing that both the dogs enjoy doing is swimming and last week they had a fine old time when we took them away to Ullswater in the Lake District. The campsite is right on the banks of the lake and only a short stroll into Pooley Bridge where there are some very fine hostelries serving some very potent locally brewed real ale. We were really lucky with the weather, it was glorious, but we hadn't realised quite how bad the rain had been the previous two weeks. The ground was sodden and we were all soon caked in mud, some of us worse than others. Fortunately the dogs washed off most of the mud swimming in the lake but it took two days to get the smell of damp dog out of the campervan, the smell of those animals can make your eyes water!</div><div><br /></div><div>We left the dogs at home when we went over the Bank Holiday to the Wirral Food Festival, which was probably a very good idea. Murphy would have run amok if he'd been within a mile of all the wonderful food on offer, everything from local Buffalo to organic veggies and artisan baked bread. It was a veritable feast for all the senses and with bags groaning with exotic delicacies we managed to find room in the freezer to keep us going in in all things wholesome for the next few weeks.</div><div><br /></div><div>In the middle of all this we have been flying up and down the motorway to Manchester helping to move Lesley into her new student flat. Our very brilliant daughter has beaten the recession and won herself a research fellowship at Manchester Uni and will be starting her MSc next month. So now Dave and I are all on our own again, well apart from the dogs, cats, fish and visiting herons. The move down to Kent is still on, despite Solicitors (don't ask!) but we are still waiting for a date. In the meantime we will carry on with the 'let's appreciate etc' trips, we're not even half through the list yet!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-18362227590235982932009-08-25T13:47:00.003+01:002009-08-25T14:51:22.631+01:00Southport Flower Show<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpPmelOh1UI/AAAAAAAAEDk/udM1d96FTRc/s1600-h/flowers"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 266px; height: 400px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpPmelOh1UI/AAAAAAAAEDk/udM1d96FTRc/s400/flowers" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373892193446647106" /></a>One of the things that I have always wanted to see is the <a href="http://www.southportflowershow.co.uk/site/celebrity-guests">Southport Flower Show</a>. So continuing our 'let's appreciate what's on our own doorstep' tours, last Thursday we set off for the first day of the show.<div><br /></div><div>With over 100,000 visitors each year, Southport is the largest independent flower show in the country and best of all, only an hour away from our house. Even with a mixed weather forecast the show ground was busy but not so bad that we couldn't walk around and see everything without fighting our way through crowds. </div><div><br /></div><div>Everything from the parking arrangements to the catering was very well organised and we even managed to catch a glimpse of Christopher Biggins who stayed long after opening the show to chat to the exhibitors and the paying public. He wasn't even fazed by the hoards of women of a 'certain age' who wanted their picture taken with him and he looked positively relaxed in his panama hat, Bermuda shirt and pale shorts - even if the rest of us were in in t shirts and jeans with umbrellas and raincoats at the ready for the inevitable downpour - well it is summertime in England - </div><div><br /></div><div>We had a lovely time and I bought lots of new seeds for next year, so providing that this bloody house move finally goes ahead, we can look forward to forests of tiny little sweet cherry tomatoes tumbling from their baskets outside our new seaside house next year - fingers crossed!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-50363276159460612612009-08-24T17:04:00.003+01:002009-08-25T13:46:57.309+01:00Gone Fishing<div>We've had quite a few viewers round the house this week. One couple brought the young children and while the grown ups were doing the whole 'what a fabulous room' thing, the little ones sat happily on the living room rug play with a magnetic construction toy.</div><div><br /></div><div>They were sweet little boys and after a cold drink they wanted to explore the house themselves I took them into the garden to feed the fish in the pond. 'What kind of fish are they' asked the nine year old 'we call the heron food' I quipped. After much giggling behind their hands they wandered off to tell their Mum.</div><div><br /></div><div>Now fast forward to Monday morning. All hopes of a lie in were shattered when the dogs started barking at 6.30am. Dave wandered down stairs to be greeted by the sight of a very hungry heron eyeing up the little goldfish in the pond. He opened the back doors to let the dogs chase it away but even with the sight of two overexcited young dogs charging towards it, the heron mearly flapped it's huge wings and settled on the grarage roof.</div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpK6ddjAWmI/AAAAAAAAEDc/js_tGxO8s7w/s1600-h/CIMG2035.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpK6ddjAWmI/AAAAAAAAEDc/js_tGxO8s7w/s400/CIMG2035.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373562320716847714" /></a>For the next hour or so the damn thing wouldn't budge, just flitting from the decking to the garage when ever the dogs charged out of the conservatory.<div><br /></div><div>Eventually it gave up the battle but only when it was chased off by four very angry looking magpies - maybe if he comes back for another try we should spray Bella black and white and teach her to squawk!!!</div><div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpK6dKUXboI/AAAAAAAAEDU/8p8xJK9uZJY/s1600-h/CIMG2036.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/SpK6dKUXboI/AAAAAAAAEDU/8p8xJK9uZJY/s400/CIMG2036.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5373562315555171970" /></a><br /></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1758914276658977179.post-9591247360205754002009-08-18T12:17:00.006+01:002009-08-25T13:30:56.692+01:00Let's appreciate what's on our own doorstep...<div><br /></div><div>We've been out and about again, this time we had a few days on Angelsey meeting up with three generations of the family who were on holiday there. We are very lucky to have this beautiful island virtually on our doorstep. Well maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration but with the excellent roads through North Wales, Angelsey is only about an hour and a half away.</div><div><br /></div><div>Our early morning start became something of an adventure when I had an unexpected phone call about half an hour after leaving home. "Hi Joyce, this is the Dale Winton Show on Radio 2. Dale really loved your choice of records for the 'golden oldies' slot and wants to know if he could talk to you about them on air this afternoon" - or words to that effect. Dave's expression was a classic as I relayed the conversation to him. He gave me that 'OMG what have you let yourself in for now' look, while I sat there giggling away like a teenager. </div><div><br /></div><div>So picture the scene at three o'clock, on the beach in Treaddur Bay clutching Dave's mobile to my ear (mine didn't have a signal!) wanding around so that the wind didn't deafen the listeners and ending up outside of the restaurant on the promenade with my back to the beach and face to the wall, chatting away to Dale Winton. And now the whole of Radio 2 knows during the long hot summer of '76 when I told my Mum that I was going out for the day with Dave we were really spending the weekend together in his little tent - oh the shame!!!</div><div><br /></div><div>The rest of our stay was much more wholesome with fishing in rockpools at building bonfires on the beach. The weather could have been kinder but it stayed dry and Paul swears that the sea was warm enough for swimming but you'll be relieved to hear that I didn't venture further than a little paddle so at least I didn't frighten any young children ;)</div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3cXV-00I/AAAAAAAAEC0/acR80bLfSwc/s1600-h/CIMG2026.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3cXV-00I/AAAAAAAAEC0/acR80bLfSwc/s400/CIMG2026.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371729415988237122" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3b1avjYI/AAAAAAAAECs/4kcA0GTCW0g/s1600-h/CIMG2025.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3b1avjYI/AAAAAAAAECs/4kcA0GTCW0g/s400/CIMG2025.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371729406881402242" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3bmpsN6I/AAAAAAAAECk/JM35FRfcLWg/s1600-h/CIMG2024.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3bmpsN6I/AAAAAAAAECk/JM35FRfcLWg/s400/CIMG2024.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371729402917566370" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3bAm2hjI/AAAAAAAAECc/qlqrsMNaXvs/s1600-h/CIMG2030.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_5Yb45drGaB8/Sow3bAm2hjI/AAAAAAAAECc/qlqrsMNaXvs/s400/CIMG2030.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5371729392705111602" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0