DOWN TO THE STREAM

It being one of the few fine days on Sunday last, we decided a walk in the hills was a good idea.   Not being able to do much on steep hills, we went along the Teggs Nose Trail on the flattish bit.

 

I tended to lag behind Mr. G and Max the dog, as I was photographing the lane, and the very large puddles!

The dry stone walls were covered in moss, because of all the wet we have been having, I suppose.

And the Hogweed looked very good against the sky

We eventually reached the stream, which I was very pleased about, as its quite a distance

      This really brought back memories of when we used to take my two grandsons when they were small, and they would jump across the stream, or wade in it, and then we would all climb up the hill, and go right round at a much higher level, and back again to the car park.   It really didn’t seem 15-odd years ago!   I wonder if the boys remember things like that?

 

When we got back we were very pleased to see the reservoir was not only completely full, but overflowing down the chute to the valley below.

At least we haven’t got a drought any more!

FOOTPRINTS IN MUD

 

 

One of my interests is armchair archaeology – it has to be armchair, I’m afraid, my days of kneeling in a wet trench, scraping away are long gone!

I am fascinated by the way ordinary people lived.   Emperors, Kings etc. leave me cold.   So when a while ago I read about some footprints which had been found down in Wales, I was hooked.   It was somewhere on the coast in mid-Wales at a place called Borth.   No human habitation had been found there before, so it was all very exciting.

If you want to read about it yourself, it is here.   One of the footprints was a child’s, aged about four years old they thought, and that really got to me!   I wonder what that child was doing there?   The coast was actually a long way further out then, and the child was on a salt marsh, where there is mud, interspersed with grass etc.

 

This is a photograph of the footprints.   They are about 4,000 years old

 

One of my other interests is writing, and I belong to a Creative Writing Group.   We have different subject each fortnight to write on, and this time it was – guess – footprints!   so I wrote the following poem, which I hope you will enjoy.   I know the footprint could have been either a boy or a girl, but for the purposes of my poem, he’s a lad!

FOOTPRINT

What was his name?  That little lad

Who stood in the mud

At Borth

Four thousand years ago

 

Was he lost, that little lad

Tears just welling in his eyes

His thumb in his mouth, as he stood

In the mud,

At Borth

Four thousand years ago.

 

Did he wander, that little lad

Away from his brother, his mother and dad

As he stood in the mud

At Borth

Four thousand years ago.

 

Was big brother holding his hand, that little lad

As he stood in the mud

At Borth

Four thousand years ago.

 

He left his print,

he feels so near

we stretch out our hand

to that little lad

Who stood in the mud

At Borth

Four thousand years ago

 

I hope my Group like it!

WET SUMMER IN THE GARDEN

 

 

It has been such dreadful weather this month (June) that we haven’t got out at all.   Luckily we have not been affected by the floods – I feel very sorry for those whose home and belongings have been ruined.

So I thought I would take you on a bit of a walk round our garden – everything is growing well, including the grass and the weeds!

 

        

I have antirrhinums in pots on the patio, and they have done very well.   I also have African Marigolds, and the raindrops on the petals looked like diamonds fixed in a piece of jewellery.

                                        

The pink roses have again gone riot among our orange honeysuckle!   I quite like the contrast.   If you look at the right hand picture you will see why I can’t prune the roses properly – the honeysuckle has longingly entwined itself around the roses!

                             

The Mock Orange is lovely again                             And smells gorgeous especially after rain

 

                                         

We have a very tall foxglove – If you look in the centre top of the photo you can see it peeping out from the Buddleia.   I reckon the flower spike is at least 4 ft. high!   We only spotted it when it appeared at the top!

And lastly a view down what I grandly term our herbaceous bed!   Last of the alliums and aquilegias, plus nepeta, astrantia and alchemilla.   Good old reliable favourites of mine!

Sorry this blog is rather late, but I thought I ought to prove I was still alive!

ODDS AND ENDS FROM OUR HOLIDAY

 

 

            

Taken from the coach as we visited Vigo, Spain

 

 

                    

Windows were often elaborate                  There were often cool spots in odd corners

                                                            of the streets.

 

 

           

Fascinating mosaics                                       And some very strange sculpture!

 

 

            

There were an awful lot of pigeons in La Palma     And a lot of fish in the market in Funchal

 

 

              

A Nursery School in Cadiz                                   The sunsets were gorgeous!

HOMEWARD BOUND

It really is time I posted another blog - where do the days go to? I suppose its all the jollifications we've had over the Queen's Diamond Jubilee that has totally confused me as to what the day of the week it is! However, here are some photos from the last two stops on our cruise. I think they were my favourite places - Madeira was so lovely, full of flowers, and Cadiz had so much history and a beautiful old town. The Jacaranda trees were in bloom along Funchal's wide avenues. The cathedral had some delightful embellishments! The fruit and vegetable market was very colourful............ ........... as were the flowers. Scorpion fish in the fish market didn't attract me! I don't know if the photo will enlarge if you click on it, but they have very sharp teeth!! Our last port of call was Cadiz, in Spain. I loved it! We were berthed practically in the town, just disembark, go through the Port Gate and there we were! Cadiz skyline This is the Post Office! Bit grander than most of our own dear Royal Mail establishments! One of the many squares in the town There were lots of fountains around - I felt cooler just looking at them! Hope you've enjoyed looking at my holiday photos - it seems rather a long way away now.

MORE CANARY ISLANDS

The Canary Islands are named for the dogs the Spanish settlers found there, Canis being Latin for dog and is nothing to do with the bird! Outside the Cathedral in Gran Canaria are four beautiful statues of dogs, which I have made into a collage for you. Being a dog person myself I was quite charmed by them and would happily have lifted one up and taken it home. Fortunately perhaps, they were large, very heavy and firmly anchored to their plinths!

The house of Christopher Columbus was very impressive, with the ornate stonework round the door and the balcony. This balcony was typical of the houses in the old town, and actually nearly all doors were decorated in some way.

Inside the house it was cool, and I was very glad of the benches! The museum was fascinating, and we could have spent far longer there than we did. One of the most interesting exhibits was an intricate model of how the old town was originally, being built around a ravine and a river (which has now been largely culverted). Unfortunately I disgraced myself by falling over having not seen a step. Mr. G was very annoyed, and gave me no sympathy over the very large bruises I collected!

We had some beautiful sunsets and sunrises whilst we were at sea, and this one was taken as we left Gran Canaria for La Palma.

Whilst we were on our excursion, those of us who were interested were taken to a silk museum and mill. As we live in Macclesfield, Cheshire, famous for being a silk town, were very interested in this, and were delighted to find that in the (Spanish) accounts of the silk industry, Macclesfield was mentioned! There were people winding and spinning the silk, and the dyed (using natural dyes) silk hung up to dry. It was just so beautiful!

This little town, where the silk Museum was, was in the Centre of the Island, but there were lovely little squares around, full of trees and plants.

Many of the pavements in these squares were beautifully tiled.

This big square was near the Tourist Centre, which was very helpful, and also sold some perfectly delicious sauces, some mild and some very spicy indeed. You could try them, and then buy what you liked. We bought a small three-pack of different sauces, and I need to go back to get some more!!

We were also taken to a little square in a village where an artist had made the most incredible mosaics. I'm no judge of area, but there were a lot of people walking around, on them and around them, so they covered a biggish area. There were also some rather strange sculptures!

And lastly I'll leave you with a photo of our absolutely gorgeous lunch. Now that is what I call a baguette! The bread was crunchy outside and feather-light inside, and the filling was just perfect! Next blog, and I'll try to get it done without such a long wait in between blogs, I'll finish off our holiday. I just hope you are not bored!

TO THE CANARY ISLANDS AND BACK !

We finally arrived back home on Thursday afternoon - since when I seem to have done nothing but load the washing machine up! However, it was all worth it, as we had a lovely holiday, with marvellous weather. The Ship was fairly large, but not so much that I found it difficult to get around. Our cabin was very comfortable, and it was wonderful to have a balcony, so that we could look out in the mornings to see where we were, and sit in the afternoon when we had been out and just wanted to flop down! I have chosen just a few photographs to show you, I will try and get myself organised and get some more out. If you are not bored, that is!

Our second port of call was Lisbon. The harbourside was surprisingly interesting (we had been told it wasn't!) and we found dancers doing some sort of Spanish Country dancing, in gorgeous costumes. Yes, that is our ship in the background!

Lisbon is very keen on having tiled pavements and squares, in lovely patterns. However, this particular pattern made me feel rather sick, as the ground looked undulating! I was, however, completely flat! Rather unsettling!

Many of Lisbon's streets are narrow, with lots of smaller shops. We took a coach tour round the city, which meant I could see so much more than I could had I had to walk.

We next went to the Island of Tenerife, where the temperature soared - not surprising considering we were off the coast of West Africa! It was a very mountainous island, and the roads went up and up in more hairpin bends than I thought possible, and then down the other side, of course!

Where the soil was good, vines were cultivated, and a very plesant local wine produced. The Islanders also grew lots of vegetables, and tomatoes in the south of the Island.

Las Palmas is the capital of Gran Canaria, and we took a taxi to the old town, which we found fascinating. We were able to go up to the top of the cathedral tower - no stairs, they had installed a lift! From there we could look right across the town.

This is the view looking over the main square from the Cathedral tower. I held onto the wall very tightly, even though it was chest high and very substantial!