Other Holiday Matters

Surprisingly we didn't spend all week searching for fungi as might have seemed the case from my last post. No, we did other things as well. After a bit of persuasion (ok and some bribery) the three of us spend some time cycling up Glen Lyon. This is supposed to be the prettiest glen in Scotland and it was trying very hard to live unto it's name. The scenery was fabulous....

The whole place is very lush, hardly surprising given the amount of rain.....

When we weren't cycling we tried out a few of the walking routes in the area. Both in the woods and above the tree line. The midges were pretty bad as soon as the rain stopped so it became quite welcome especially in the bracken covered areas.....

On one walk we met this fellow. He was very friendly although between you and me he might have been a bit too keen on getting close...

One evening we went on a Highland safari. It was absolutely brilliant. Out kilted ranger took us 'up the hill" to over 3000 feet in his Landrover. We saw deer, mouton hare and the views really were out of this world.....

My pictures don't do them justice.. I would definitely recommend doing this if you are ever in the area. We would like to go back in the winter as I am sure everything will look very different then.

I still seem to have lots to tell you about but I will keep it for another slow news day. xx

Footprints in the Sand.

I visited the beach. Ok not so big a deal but when you live where we do this involves a bit of travel. Admittedly I probably didn't have to go quite as far as  Tahuna in the North East of Scotland but I was up in the area anyway and was given an offer I couldn't refuse:-  to go and watch / help out with a pleasure beach ride. While the horses and riders did their thing in the rain (What else? We are talking NORTH here) I diddled about on the beach taking photos to show to you folks.....

Footprints in the Sand

Bits and Bobs on the Beach

And the real reason for being there, in the rain, in the first place.... can you spot them in the distance?

Mmm could take a bit of time before we can make them out properly. This beach is long, and I mean long, about 8km or so with no break..

Patience, patience.....

Possibly picture of the day at least for the people with horses.

BUT

To top them all .......

Maybe tomorrow the rain will stop. remember what they say... Red Sky at Night.........

The Key Tree and Other Wonders

I was going to post about the wedding cake but I don't have the pictures yet and so you'll have to wait a little longer.
Needless to say, I survived!  I managed to bake 250 or so cupcakes of varying sizes. (Exact count unknown due to a few of the lemon ones popping out of their cases overnight).
The Friday was a bit hectic with all of the pot constructing and icing that had to be done but I got there in the end. (Isn't it amazing just how sticky a kitchen can get?)
I thought that you might like to see a few more of the pictures that I gathered whilst away in Plymouth...
They have amazing things down in the far south you know....

They grow keys on trees.....

And weathered bones on the moors....

Friendships are made on the open grasslands..
What else? Yesterday I was asked to help out the Guides with their confectioner's badge.  They were to show that they could colour and use several types of icing. Apparently they had had a few disasters the week before and so now was the time to show what they could do. They did brilliantly.......

Cupcakes with meringue icing and fondant shapes...

Iced biscuits.. (I didn't have time to make those as well, hence the Rich Tea jobs)...
Now have you any idea what 250 cupcakes look like? No! Neither did I, here goes.....

Can you spot the other box off to the right? Hope it stops raining for you all soon...

Down South

As some of you will know, I have been away for the weekend. Thought you might like to know what I was up to. Well, Y and I went  down to The Scott 100 Conference in Plymouth. He was "Down" for 18months before I met him and so we were very keen to go along. It was brilliant! I met Robert Falcon Scott's grandson! Fame or what? There were lots of presentations and stands as you might expect but we also came across this pair...

They stayed dressed like this for the entire two days and must have been roasting as it was quite hot in the centre. I thought that they had been "Down" and were just showing off some of the old gear BUT.... No they had never been just very interested. And, here's the bit, they made everything themselves. Not one bit of what you see is real.

I escaped for one of the afternoons to explore Plymouth a little and came across this lady...

The best views were to be had from here. Go on take a look...

BUT please be careful as there are still pirates about...

Altogether the weekend was quite a whirl....

Finished off by going to collect my new computer and set it up, hence the delay in posting. Sorry folks but here is a last picture to keep you sweet.. A nectar leaking plant...

Weekend Wanderings

I spent very little of the weekend at home despite not being away in the true sense. On Saturday I was lucky enough to be taken to  Larch Cottage Nurseries at Melkinthorpe. We actually live quite nearby but I had never been before. This fantastic place is a cross between a gallery, a plant lover's dream, a restaurant and a statue emporium. Here are a very few of the highlights......



                                     How would you like this fellow to guard the garden?




                                    The rain failed to dampen the spirits of this poppy.




                                                           A new bird bath perhaps?




                                                                A new perspective....




A welcome stop at the stunning tea room before going on to visit some friends of the equine variety.......






                                          A bit wind blown up on the hill with the boss......




                                                   I'll scream and scream till I'm sick!.....




                        A moment of calm in a busy day.... More about today tomorrow in part two.

Easter at Acorn Bank.

We decreed a family outing was required after lots of effort in the garden over the past few days. More of which later.
K and I drove down to Acorn Bank whilst the much more athletic / motivated Y cycled and met us there for tea and cake. D was, of course, much too busy doing his own thing and so didn't come along / missed out.
It was a beautiful day and we wandered around the herb garden which, reputedly is the biggest collection in England. There was also an Easter egg hunt which K took part in (her main reason for wanting to go) and of course came away with a chocolate egg.
The tulips and other early flowers were out in abundance and after fiddling with my camera for ages, I eventually found the macro options, hence today's photo offerings.....

Arachnophobes look away now...

A peek inside this tulip...

Fern fronds just begining to uncurl...

Curled bark....

Yellow poppies..

Spot the pollen..

Blowing in the breeze..

Fennel fronds....

Forget-me-not..

I'm back. K and I had a lovely few days "up north". As you may remember from my last post, one of the reasons that I wanted to go up (apart from seeing family) was to take some pictures. The idea was to create some Moo cards for my Brother-in-law. Actually my sister would like some as well but one set at a time please. With a birthday coming up and the spring light at its best I snapped away in the garage and poked around in the shed. Isn't it amazing what you find in sheds....
I wanted the cards to reflect his interests, hopefully he will agree. Here is a selection of what I came up with. I didn't think you would want to see them all as I took full advantage of the different image on each card offer..... They are displayed pretty much as they will be on the cards as I really like the mini cards, very cute and a bit different.

Spring really does get going a bit later on Royal Deeside which is great as we can see it all again. The displays of daffodils in Aberdeen are ledgendary but these were on the road-side just outside the house....

The garden pond has a real spring in its step too. There were literally hundreds of tadpoles, tiny newts, pond skaters and new plant life abound....

K and I came home "over the top".. past Ballater and Braemar. The roads weren't too busy as the tourists are probably waiting until any chance of snow has gone, there are still wee pockets up on the tops. The weather was fabulous and we stopped a couple of times to admire the view (and visit cafes)...

This cottage is in Braemar, just look at the view....

The burns up this far are still quite high with melt water although further down the rivers looked less full as there hasn't been any rain for quite a while (in Scottish terms I mean).
The last stop on this part of the journey was to call into a house that I stayed in when I was very young. The owners were out but as the gardener was there, no pictures.. I thought it might seem a bit odd. There was no gardener when we stayed there and I have to admit it looks a bit sanitised now. The trees have been replaced by lawn and flower beds. The grass has been taken over by a swimming pool. (In a wooden house, probably a bit chilly for an outdoor one). Don't know what was wrong with the woods and burn personally but there you go....

To pack or not to pack.

Tomorrow K and I are heading over the border. It's a bit of a girly adventure, staying with my sister and just doing stuff. As I have to go to work first we won't be able to leave until about 5pm which means stopping to eat along the way. How does Dundee sound? Have you any idea how long it takes to drive to beautiful Royal Deeside from Carlisle? Nearly forever... well at least long enough to ask "Are we there yet?" about a million times..

What to pack? No I'm not organised!  Here I am blogging away when I should be packing. How about some of these?..
.

They may well be needed. But then we might go shopping... And visit my parents, and be nice to this fellow who is really much more friendly than he looks....

Chester


Perhaps I need to be more organised and should have bought some of these to take....

Actually much as I love my sister she wouldn't  have a hope as I took this photo outside Liberty's in London last week and I was too frightened to look at the price although they were THE most beautiful colour. Still it's the thought that counts.
Must go and put the camera in as I've been asked to do some piccies to use for Moo cards. A project... exciting! Have a good weekend Xxx

There and back again (twice)

I am sorry that it has been so long since my last post. I have had a few problems uploading to the blog. So here goes I will try again....
The weekend saw us heading to Blenheim Palace to the Brompton World Championships. D and Y were entered into the race and we were all especially keen to go as  I had missed it last year as I was in hospital. (Excuses, excuses). K and I were going as crew which was stretching it a bit as neither of us know anything about bikes but we can do support. It all started off well I thought  offering to drive the first leg of the journey showed real team spirit. All went well until we reached Preston. We decided to stop for something to eat. I managed to stall the car at the roundabout and the there was the unmistakable smell of burning. That would be an oops then!.
This is what we did as we waited forth nice man from the AA.

When he arrive d he did that teeth sucking, shaking the head thing and arranged for us to be taken back to Carlisle.
Very very early the next day we arranged a hire car and set off again. But this time we made it with no mishaps.
The weather wasn't up to much, very wet and windy but we had a great time.
We sawa huge quantity of folding bikes.....

Lots of mad people racing. Some of them had dressed up and as the rules state no lycra most of the men were in business suits. Kind of ties in with the Brompton theme.

Unfortunately due to our delayed start we didn't get time to look around Blenheim Palace but it looks spectacular. We will just have to go back for another look..... Even the gates were way over the top as you can see below....

D finishing the race, dressed up of course and only one of three in the kilt...