Perfect Harmony

Perfect Harmony
Moored at Huntingdon

Thursday 31 October 2013

30th Oct.'13

The whole country was waiting for the big storm - St. Jude - to arrive at the weekend, but I'm glad to say we saw nothing of it up here. We'd been down to Somerset to visit Chloe and Sam in their new flat at Castle Cary and the drive down on Friday night was horrific. Lots of traffic and then lashings of rain and wind as we hit the bits of roads we didn't know.

I forgot to take any pictures so you'll just have to believe we had a good time! We visited Clarke's Village on Saturday and I was successful in getting a new pair of boots and a dress (for next years holiday!). We met Sam's mum, Rose, who was lovely and then in the evening we drove over to Rachel's to have a meal with the family there. Cue for more lashings of rain and wind which made us think that the coming storm was going to be nasty so we were pleasantly surprised by the easy journey home on Sunday.

Apart from a bit of rain overnight and some not too heavy winds on the Monday that was it really.

Somehow or another we have been delegated to write the quiz for the marina this month. I volunteered to do 'one in the future' but that was enough! I'm quite looking forward to it actually although I'm appreciating how difficult it is to get the right level. I don't want everyone to get top marks but then I also don't want to alienate everyone by setting it so hard they all feel bad about it.

We are sorting out the grocery list for Christmas - how many potatoes do 16 people and 2 toddlers eat? more to the point how much wine do we need for lunch? I shall err on the plentiful side I think.

Thursday 17 October 2013

17th Oct.'13

Happy Birthday to Jamie - a teenager today!


This was from our day out with Jan and Rog on the railway! We did a quick 5 minute trip up the hill and there was a path leading up further - we'll bring Paddy up one day next summer and walk it as it looked rather interesting.


I forgot to mention in the last blog that we'd had our solar panels fitted. Here's Tim who did a wonderful job attaching them to our roof. We can now go out next summer in the knowledge that we'll have enough power as they seem very efficient. Onboard solar if anyone's interested, a quick and professional job, simples!


The sun going down over the Yorkshire Dales. It was really beautiful and we had a good walk that evening.


Just one of the many pictures of the water in the gorge - this is where it emerges from a narrow crack in the rock and joins the main stream that has come under the road. It's hard to capture the beauty of the place.


Looking down from the road towards the campsite. We are just to the side of the telegraph pole almost obscured by a tree!


I'm standing on a bridge and behind me is towards the scene of John's falling in episode!


...and here he is - dripping wet from his unexpected dip! The small trunk you can see in the water alongside him is what he used to rescue his hard-hat from further downstream where it was merrily floating away on it's own little adventure.

 
York is such a stunningly beautiful city and I have countless pictures of the Minster and the walls but here's one of the river. This reminds me of a trip that my Mum and I did to York back in 1985 and we took a trip on a boat similar to this. It was quite cold and I have memories of drinking rum and black at the bar on-board to keep the chill out! It was a lovely weekend.


This guy in the Golden Fleece should have had the Steak and Stilton pie like I did. It was worth going back to York just to have another portion of it. mmmmmm.



Here's the pub, allegedly the most haunted in the City. I love the fact that it looks so small from the outside but then it goes back and back and back for ages. Apparently this is very typical of the width that identifies original ancient dwellings.


Last weekend we went back to the Ecclesbourne Valley Railway for a fish and chip special.


The weather was foul but Helen and Lloyd were enjoying their supper so much the chips were a blur! £7.50 for the train ride and a fish and chip supper each, it can't be bad can it? We would definitely do it again but maybe in the summer next time, when you can see outside a bit more.

I'm off to a wool show this weekend at Bakewell and then we're going down to see Chloe and Sam in their new flat the following weekend so busy times ahead.

Friday 11 October 2013

11th Oct.'13

Yet again a busy few weeks since I was last blogging. Retirement is really quite frantic I'm finding, but IMMENSELY enjoyable!

Jan and Rog came up to the Bubble once again, but unlike previously we were unable to take the boat down to moor there as it was so busy! Couldn't believe it when we checked and found not a space to be had, luckily we did this before taking the boat down. Everything worked though, just a bit of to-ing and fro-ing in the car, but it wasn't a problem. Luckily they are Strictly fans as well so both evenings we managed to watch the first 2 programmes of the new series. Sad but true.

On the Saturday we went up to the dales and after a lunch at Masson Mills (one of Arkwrights original cotton mills, for those who don't know) we went to Wirksworth and caught a little train down to Duffield and back. It was a lovely trip and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

 
Jan, Rog and John about to board the train! it was strange actually because the rail had been build to a wider gauge than normal so there were more seats than you'd usually expect. We've been on plenty of narrow-gauge rails in the past but never a wide one before.
 
once again photos are taking forever to upload so I'll try again later.
 
I spent a few days down with Rob and Michelle caring for Halden who was a bit poorly and had forgotten how exhausting it was to be a full time child-carer. I'm definitely too old to do it now for more than a short spell!
 
Then John and I went off to Yorkshire for a break (this life is tiring, I've mentioned it before and you need a break occasionally!)
 
We went first to Nidderdale which was wonderful. It was a lovely campsite, although John did moan a bit about the narrowness of the lanes leading to it. He got over it though and we are likely to go back. Just up the road from us was the Hay Stean Gorge, a pretty little hidden gem that we went to and had a wonderful time struggling along the slippery paths and exploring the cave on our own. I'm sure Jamie would have loved it!
 
We had a bit of an incident when we went along a bit that turned out to not be on the map for the general public when John slipped (almost elegantly....well not at all elegantly actually) and fell into the water backwards! Apparently it was very cold. He lost his hard hat when he fell and unlike most people who would have left it for a professional to retrieve, he had to continue slipping his way along the edge with a very large piece of wood and managed to retrieve the hat from where it had bobbed happily along to. We had been laughing at the groups of youngsters who'd been doing adventure stuff along the gorge and all the girls screaming, well they had nothing on the noises that John produced when he went in. I have to say he came out impressively quickly. Photos to follow!
 
After a couple of days there we went on to York and enjoyed the wonderful weather whilst re-acquainting ourselves with what must be one of the loveliest cities in England.
 
We got back and the weather has changed dramatically, winter is now in the air. Tomorrow we are off to the railway again with Helen and Lloyd as there is a 'fish and chip special' so we're off to enjoy ourselves, I do hope the weather isn't TOO cold!