Christmas walk

Yesterday we went for a lovely walk and on the return home I spotted this leather delight. An early Christmas present of sorts.

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Favourite grey

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The grey paint they use to cover up graffiti and tags that turn up on walls around the city, is my favourite grey. The squares of it everywhere makes me very happy indeed.

Extreme camping

For the last week I have been living in a tent at Lanefoot Farm Campsite and it has been just what I needed. The weather has been changeable and challenging but somehow this made it feel more like an adventure. I saw so many animals, which made me extremely happy! The saying ‘The grass is always greener’ definitely applies to the Lake District, the grass is incredibly green and the views are outstanding! The first thing I found when I explored the campsite was discarded camping chairs and you can imagine how delighted I was. Here they are:

This pile of camping chairs looked like it marked the end of summer.

Here are some photos of the incredible views:

These are my favourite animals that I saw. The chicks were being taught how to catch and eat worms around our tent and they were super cute!

 

A sight to behold

A few weeks ago (Monday of the week of the riots) I had the best adventure I have had in a long time! My friend Mara sent me a text to tell me that there was a sofa on top of a bus stop on Mansfield road, and I almost fell off my chair! I immediately grabbed my coat and camera, and left the house on the hunt for a sofa related spectacle. En route I saw this dining room delight:

I didn’t believe that it would still be there, and I didn’t know whereabouts on Mansfield Road it was located. I briskly walked towards town eyeing up every single bus stop, excited at what I might see. I was getting closer and closer to town and thought my luck was running out, when I saw a rectangle silhouette on top of a bus stop and I almost jumped with joy! I turned around to tell someone ‘Look, look it’s a sofa on a bus stop, this is very rare indeed.’ but no-one was there. Mansfield Road is reknowned for odd characters, and I was fitting in just fine.

Perfectly placed council poster! I agree that putting a sofa on a bus stop is ambitious.

I crossed the road excitedly to make sure I saw it from all angles.

I walked home with the biggest smile on my face and an exhausted battery on my camera.

 

Types of time

I was having a conversation this week about the different types of time and how it becomes increasingly more difficult to make time for everything. I have been musing over the different types I think there are all week and categorised them as follows:

There is obligatory fun celebratory time, Weddings, Birthdays, leaving parties. There is fun time ‘just because’ which often happens without too much planning, like a trip to the pub on a Friday night. There are breaks away and adventures, camping, festivals, holidays. There are catch ups and chats, this usually involves drink or food as the centre point, pub, cafe or cups of tea on the sofa. There is inbetween time, usually on the way somewhere, to the shop, to work, on the train. Necessary time, work, life admin and sleeping. Relaxation time, watching TV, cooking, reading, sitting, going for a walk. There is also development time (couldn’t think of a better word for it!), learning, thinking, making art, trying something new. This list is not exhaustive and obviously everyone is different, but for me at this point in time these are the main ways I spend/organise my time. On Thursday evening I spent my favourite type of time, the fun type!

Me, Amy, Haydn and Al drove to a pub near the river Trent which was super lovely as one minute I was sat on the sofa watching one of the many terrible programmes I watch and the next thing I knew I was going for a drive. It was so good to get out into the countryside; there were beautiful reflections in the water and a very nice looking bird.

 

Photography Expedition

At the end of February Amy, Haydn and I went on an expedition to take photos. It was such a great Sunday afternoon activity! We went to Rufford Park and I was taught how to use depth of field. I have used this in the past but I have always struggled to retain the information (anything with numbers falls out of my head!). The weather was a bit bleak and we were very chilly, but we perserved and had good fun! Here are my favourite photographs:

Afterwards we sat down in the warmth of the cafe and had well deserved treats. I had a cup of tea and a blueberry muffin.

Merry Blooming Christmas!

I’ve had such a lovely Christmas! I’ve eaten, drank and documented to excess. On Christmas eve eve I saw a sofa which was an early Christmas present for me and probably a relief to the person getting rid.

Then on Christmas morning we had a ‘Pollyanna‘ moment in our living room. The sun was shining through the window, so we strategically placed the glass star in it’s path to create beautiful shadows and moving light. The cats thought it was all for their benefit, but they do think everything put on earth is for their benefit!

Then we went sledging, which is something I haven’t done for a very long time. It was so much fun although I wasn’t a natural talent. For all the chaos and grief the snow has caused people, you cannot fault it for the way it makes everything look beautiful!

Coastal walk

I have been away from the day job for a week now and have had a most wonderful break. Al and I went to Exmouth, Devon to visit my Grandma, go for walks and drink lots of ale. Grandma was on great form and we had such lovely conversations and huge amounts of laughter.

The weather was sent to turn on the Wednesday so we thought we should take advantage of the good weather on Tuesday for a long walk. We went from Budleigh Salterton a beautiful beach with a wildlife reserve to Otterton, a small village with a pub called the Kings Arms that sold Otter Ale and had a pub cat called Garfield. En route we saw stunning coastal views, a building called Brandy Head and a ghostly out of season caravan site.

I had three camera’s with me which might seem slightly excessive but they all came in useful. My SLR was the most used but I am ashamed to say the auto function is my comfort zone.

Saw this post it note on the beach with its biblical reference about evil deeds. You can click on the photograph to view its full size.

This was the bin in the toilet. I canny get enough of this kind of wear and tear.

There was an outdoor BBQ which would be an amazing setting for cooking fresh fish.

Sign post saying ‘POLITE NOTICE PLEASE KEEP TO THE FOOTPATH. DO NOT STRAY ON THE GRASS AREA, SOWS CAN BE VERY PROTECTIVE OF THEIR PIGLETS. PLEASE KEEP DOGS ON THEIR LEAD. THANKS.’ You can click on it to see the full size photograph.

We spent a lot of time at Brandy Head. It was such a beautiful building in beautiful surroundings. It felt like a discovery of sorts (even though it had a sign up telling you all about it). The reason for it’s name is because smuggling activities were rife along this coast, one of these being kegs of brandy. More recently it was used in World War II to test new aircraft mounted cannon and gun sights.

At the end of the coastal part of the walk there was this eerie out of season caravan park at Ladram Bay. Even the post box was out of order.

When we got to Otterton there was this lovely building weather worn paint.

Finally we arrived at the warm pub called the Kings Arm. Here is the pub cat Garfield. He sat on my lap which was such a great end to a great day. We drank Otter Ale and ate crisps which felt deserved after taking so many photographs!