Yesterday I took part in a strange phenomenon which seems to have taken over people's weekends, something which I've done before but not, it would seem as seriously as some people.
A car boot sale!
Do these sales happen in other countries?
Are they called car boot sales or something else?
It's a strange event which involves getting up and to the venue at some unearthly early hour. Once there tables of varying stability are laid out and boxes are emptied haphazardly onto them for members of the public to come and rummage through. The junk that some people are selling, and DO sell is quite remarkable. What's that saying? One mans junk is another mans treasure?
In years gone by I have been very occasionally to sell my junk at such sales. Usually on some muddy field somewhere. I remember going once with my brother and my mum. We had, like most people, a dodgy pasting table with its customary uneven surface which only dips in the middle as you load more and more stuff on to it.
I remember how we looked in horror when said table, laden with our prized possessions, toppled forward and into the mud!
In fact my brother was always a very good salesman at car boot sales. We all took our own things to sell and while my mum and I would stay at our stall, my brother would wander off and would often come back with a box. "not more stuff" my mum would say and he would end up selling the contents of the box for a lot more than he paid for the whole box.
Yesterday was a showery day which didn't really help although there were plenty of people there. Luckily we weren't in a muddy field but on a car park and my table is much more sturdy.
I was there to sell some books on behalf of a local scrapstore and was pleased that considering the weather I did ok. I'll definitely do it again but hopefully on a day when the weather is better.
I may even take some of my unwanted possessions, my junk, to see if it can become someone else's treasure.
Monday, 25 June 2012
Sunday, 17 June 2012
Spot the dog!
Me and the dog have just got home after a lovely weekend visiting my parents.
On Friday my mum and I went to the Birmingham Symphony Hall to Dance to the Music. For fans of the TV show Strictly Come Dancing it is a fabulous 'must see' experience. The Strictly Dance Band led by Dave Arch, with four brilliant singers played a variety of music, from blues and soul to disco and Cuban. What talented musicians and such excellent voices they boast. In addition they were accompanied by four of the Strictly dancers. Kristina Rihanoff and her dance partner Robin Windsor along with Artem Chigvintsev and his girlfriend/ dance partner and winner of Strictly in 2010 Kara Tointon. As well as dancing each dancer took the mike at some point during the evening and spoke with the audience. There was audience participation and by the end of the night we were all up dancing in the aisles. A great night out, well worth running through torrential rain from the car park to get there!
On Saturday morning I was up early to attend a tutorial for my Open University course that I'm doing about Diabetes.
I spent the rest of the day with my family. My brother lives with my parents and has just got home from a 6 week trip to New Zealand which happily resulted in him being offered a job there. So he is home to sort out all his belongings, sell what he doesn't want and get ready to go back out there.
Today is Fathers Day so it was nice to be able to spend time with my Dad. Mum & I had thought we could go out for lunch but poor Dad wasn't feeling too good so we scrapped that idea.
Get well soon Dad!
Maisie the dog loves going to my parents. She always gets very excited when she sees them and loves the freedom of their lovely big garden. Unlike at home Maisie has a large patio door to look out into the garden and can see all the birds, squirrels and brave cats who venture into the garden. Once she is outside she loves trying to chase the pigeons off next doors roof. However her favourite thing to do is to hide under the big Acer bush up the garden.
Can you spot the black and white dog?
On Friday my mum and I went to the Birmingham Symphony Hall to Dance to the Music. For fans of the TV show Strictly Come Dancing it is a fabulous 'must see' experience. The Strictly Dance Band led by Dave Arch, with four brilliant singers played a variety of music, from blues and soul to disco and Cuban. What talented musicians and such excellent voices they boast. In addition they were accompanied by four of the Strictly dancers. Kristina Rihanoff and her dance partner Robin Windsor along with Artem Chigvintsev and his girlfriend/ dance partner and winner of Strictly in 2010 Kara Tointon. As well as dancing each dancer took the mike at some point during the evening and spoke with the audience. There was audience participation and by the end of the night we were all up dancing in the aisles. A great night out, well worth running through torrential rain from the car park to get there!
On Saturday morning I was up early to attend a tutorial for my Open University course that I'm doing about Diabetes.
I spent the rest of the day with my family. My brother lives with my parents and has just got home from a 6 week trip to New Zealand which happily resulted in him being offered a job there. So he is home to sort out all his belongings, sell what he doesn't want and get ready to go back out there.
Today is Fathers Day so it was nice to be able to spend time with my Dad. Mum & I had thought we could go out for lunch but poor Dad wasn't feeling too good so we scrapped that idea.
Get well soon Dad!
Maisie the dog loves going to my parents. She always gets very excited when she sees them and loves the freedom of their lovely big garden. Unlike at home Maisie has a large patio door to look out into the garden and can see all the birds, squirrels and brave cats who venture into the garden. Once she is outside she loves trying to chase the pigeons off next doors roof. However her favourite thing to do is to hide under the big Acer bush up the garden.
Can you spot the black and white dog?
Tuesday, 5 June 2012
Jubilee Celebrations
And so our long weekend of celebrations have come to an end.
Since before Christmas, a small group of us have been meeting regularly to plan our local Jubilee event. We had so much planned, very exciting stuff. Music, dancing, food, arts & crafts, childrens races etc. each of us had little jobs to make it all come together.
It's been great fun and on a personal level it's meant I have become more involved in my community, I've met new people, made new acquaintances.
Our special day was planned for Sunday.
Saturday arrived and a group of us met at the community centre and playing fields to put up marquees and gazebos ready for the following day. The past two weeks have given us glorious sunshine but Saturday was 'drizzly'.
Not to be put off we continued, all hopeful that Sunday would dawn as a brilliant and dry day!
When I awoke on Sunday I was saddened to see it was dull and overcast and it had been raining overnight. I was actually woken up by one of our stall holders phoning me at 7am to ask what the field was like, was it waterlogged etc. As I don't live right next to the playing fields I couldn't really answer!
I'm happy to say that although it rained almost all day, many many people came and supported the event. About half of my outdoor stall holders turned up - hardly surprising! All but one of my indoor stall holders arrived too. One outdoor stall holder arrived, set up her gazebo and stall and then decided to take it all down and go home.
All in all though it would seem that all the stall holders did well, people bought things so they were happy. Meanwhile some of our scheduled outdoor entertainment happened inside instead. Every time I got a chance to go inside the community centre, it was packed with people. Watching a gymnastics or dancing display, listening to the Samba or Jazz band or viewing the wonderful displays of memorabilia set up by a local museum
and another by a lady who had worked for several years on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship.
We did cut our day short slightly but all in all it was a great day. Once people started packing away we set about taking down all the gazebos and tents. We stored them at the Community centre overnight and met again next morning to load them onto a van and return them to their owners, the Farmers Market, who had kindly lent them to us.
Hubby and I arrived home literally soaked through to our skin! We stripped off and had a lovely soak in a hot bath.....aaaahhhh bliss, followed by a much deserved hot chocolate.
We caught up on the National Jubilee events. What a sight the Jubilee pageant was although it did rather feel like we were looking at a motorway of boats! It was such a shame that it rained and I did feel sorry for the Queen who stood up for the whole thing. I know there were two throne like seats which she could have sat on but they were in entirely the wrong position. They should have been positioned facing to the side so she could easily have sat down and watched the boats going by.
Last night we took part in our own local Beacon lighting. It was quite something. We went up with our neighbours to a hill not far away. We had to drive over several fields until we arrived at the beacon. Two locals had been up to build it earlier that day, it was huge!! Several folk were already there, sat around on hay bales, wrapped in blankets. We took some wine to drink and all chatted. It was lovely to see people arriving, either the same way as us or emerging from the other side of the hill by foot.
At about 2215 the giant bonfire was lit as we all sang God Save the Queen and raised our glasses in a toast! It was wonderful to see the fire take hold and we set off fireworks as it blazed brightly. We could see for miles around and could see several other beacons, some brighter than others, in the distance.
When we came home we watched the rest of the Jubilee concert. It was such a great spectacle, especially where the stage had been built. There were so many famous artists playing. Highlights for me were Robbie Williams, Tom Jones and Gary Barlow and the Commonwealth choir. That brought tears to our eyes. The group Madness playing on top of Buckingham a palace was a stroke of genius especially when accompanied by the amazing lighting effects which were projected onto the front of the palace. It was truly wonderful to see so many thousands of people all there on the Mall, enjoying themselves, waving their Union Jack flags and cheering.
It was such a shame that Prince Philip was not able to accompany the Queen, but I'd like to think he's secretly relieved to be able to rest his feet and watch the coverage on TV from his hospital bed.
Today was the thanksgiving service followed by the Queens procession and fly past. This, once again, was a fabulous event. It's watching such things as these that make me so proud to be British. Seeing the beautiful carriages and horses, the accompanying guardsmen on their horses in their colourful uniforms is a brilliant sight. Hearing the bands playing and the crowd singing God Save the Queen is heart lifting.
I hope as a nation this has lifted our spirits as we look forward to the Olympics starting next month!
God Save The Queen!!
Since before Christmas, a small group of us have been meeting regularly to plan our local Jubilee event. We had so much planned, very exciting stuff. Music, dancing, food, arts & crafts, childrens races etc. each of us had little jobs to make it all come together.
It's been great fun and on a personal level it's meant I have become more involved in my community, I've met new people, made new acquaintances.
Our special day was planned for Sunday.
Saturday arrived and a group of us met at the community centre and playing fields to put up marquees and gazebos ready for the following day. The past two weeks have given us glorious sunshine but Saturday was 'drizzly'.
Not to be put off we continued, all hopeful that Sunday would dawn as a brilliant and dry day!
When I awoke on Sunday I was saddened to see it was dull and overcast and it had been raining overnight. I was actually woken up by one of our stall holders phoning me at 7am to ask what the field was like, was it waterlogged etc. As I don't live right next to the playing fields I couldn't really answer!
I'm happy to say that although it rained almost all day, many many people came and supported the event. About half of my outdoor stall holders turned up - hardly surprising! All but one of my indoor stall holders arrived too. One outdoor stall holder arrived, set up her gazebo and stall and then decided to take it all down and go home.
All in all though it would seem that all the stall holders did well, people bought things so they were happy. Meanwhile some of our scheduled outdoor entertainment happened inside instead. Every time I got a chance to go inside the community centre, it was packed with people. Watching a gymnastics or dancing display, listening to the Samba or Jazz band or viewing the wonderful displays of memorabilia set up by a local museum
and another by a lady who had worked for several years on the Queen Elizabeth 2 cruise ship.
We did cut our day short slightly but all in all it was a great day. Once people started packing away we set about taking down all the gazebos and tents. We stored them at the Community centre overnight and met again next morning to load them onto a van and return them to their owners, the Farmers Market, who had kindly lent them to us.
Hubby and I arrived home literally soaked through to our skin! We stripped off and had a lovely soak in a hot bath.....aaaahhhh bliss, followed by a much deserved hot chocolate.
We caught up on the National Jubilee events. What a sight the Jubilee pageant was although it did rather feel like we were looking at a motorway of boats! It was such a shame that it rained and I did feel sorry for the Queen who stood up for the whole thing. I know there were two throne like seats which she could have sat on but they were in entirely the wrong position. They should have been positioned facing to the side so she could easily have sat down and watched the boats going by.
Last night we took part in our own local Beacon lighting. It was quite something. We went up with our neighbours to a hill not far away. We had to drive over several fields until we arrived at the beacon. Two locals had been up to build it earlier that day, it was huge!! Several folk were already there, sat around on hay bales, wrapped in blankets. We took some wine to drink and all chatted. It was lovely to see people arriving, either the same way as us or emerging from the other side of the hill by foot.
At about 2215 the giant bonfire was lit as we all sang God Save the Queen and raised our glasses in a toast! It was wonderful to see the fire take hold and we set off fireworks as it blazed brightly. We could see for miles around and could see several other beacons, some brighter than others, in the distance.
When we came home we watched the rest of the Jubilee concert. It was such a great spectacle, especially where the stage had been built. There were so many famous artists playing. Highlights for me were Robbie Williams, Tom Jones and Gary Barlow and the Commonwealth choir. That brought tears to our eyes. The group Madness playing on top of Buckingham a palace was a stroke of genius especially when accompanied by the amazing lighting effects which were projected onto the front of the palace. It was truly wonderful to see so many thousands of people all there on the Mall, enjoying themselves, waving their Union Jack flags and cheering.
It was such a shame that Prince Philip was not able to accompany the Queen, but I'd like to think he's secretly relieved to be able to rest his feet and watch the coverage on TV from his hospital bed.
Today was the thanksgiving service followed by the Queens procession and fly past. This, once again, was a fabulous event. It's watching such things as these that make me so proud to be British. Seeing the beautiful carriages and horses, the accompanying guardsmen on their horses in their colourful uniforms is a brilliant sight. Hearing the bands playing and the crowd singing God Save the Queen is heart lifting.
I hope as a nation this has lifted our spirits as we look forward to the Olympics starting next month!
God Save The Queen!!
Monday, 28 May 2012
Paddling down the River Severn
A few years ago we went on holiday to the Dordogne in France and whilst there we tried our hand at canoeing, in open Canadian canoes. We had a great time and this prompted us to buy our own. We have used it most years during the summer months and it has come on holiday with us to Ireland and France too.
We have done a lot of paddling down parts of the River Wye but not so much on the River Severn.
On Saturday we woke up to lovely weather. Good job as this was the day we were going paddling.We set off for Welshpool about 45 minutes drive from us. Just north of Welshpool is a small village called Pool Quay.This is where we were launching from.
This part of the river is narrow and meandering. Not many villages lie close to the river bank so it is a great place to see wildlife and animals.
Our plan was to paddle down river to meet hubby's daughter, her partner and grand daughter (E&N)for a picnic lunch. Although by road the distance wasn't far, by river it would be about 15miles.
The first few miles were narrow and meandering. In some places the canoe could just about fit through between fallen trees. In past months and years the river has flooded and it was easy to see how high up the water level had gone. This had caused such obstructions to impose themselves on the river. Often we had to bend forward to avoid low hanging branches. The river was followed by the Severn Way - part of the path following Offas Dyke.
As we paddled, Maisie sat in the middle of the canoe, enjoying the views as they passed by. We thought that on such a lovely day we would perhaps see other canoeists, fishermen or walkers but the only other person we saw was a lady walker, who had stopped for a break to read a book on the left bank. She looked rather amused as we came floating past with a dog in a lifejacket.
As the river twists and turns we kept coming round a bend and seeing the imposing view of Breidden Hill in front of us. "There's that hill again!" At the top of this is an obelisk or pillar. Apparently it is called Rodneys pillar, a monument named after an Admiral Rodney. As we snaked our way along the river, our view of Rodneys pillar and the hill changed. It became apparent that half the hill is now being used as a quarry. Huge steps have been carved into the hillside, such a shame. As we continued Breidden forest came into view on the hillside.
We saw a beautiful heron on several occasions who would fly off ahead of us down the river, as if acting as a look out, telling the river inhabitants of our imminent arrival. We also passed several groups of swans who seemed quite taken aback by this strange watercraft.
Round one bend we came across some unusual bathers-
As well as bathing cows we also passed sheep with their young ewes, sat on the river bank.
After two hours of paddling we had covered about six miles and we stopped for a quick break, bums and knees were getting numb and Maisie fancied a quick run around and a swim.
We have done a lot of paddling down parts of the River Wye but not so much on the River Severn.
On Saturday we woke up to lovely weather. Good job as this was the day we were going paddling.We set off for Welshpool about 45 minutes drive from us. Just north of Welshpool is a small village called Pool Quay.This is where we were launching from.
 |
| Our route - from Pool Quay (bottom left) to The Royal Hill Inn (top right) |
This part of the river is narrow and meandering. Not many villages lie close to the river bank so it is a great place to see wildlife and animals.
Our plan was to paddle down river to meet hubby's daughter, her partner and grand daughter (E&N)for a picnic lunch. Although by road the distance wasn't far, by river it would be about 15miles.
 |
| Getting ready to launch from Pool Quay. |
The first few miles were narrow and meandering. In some places the canoe could just about fit through between fallen trees. In past months and years the river has flooded and it was easy to see how high up the water level had gone. This had caused such obstructions to impose themselves on the river. Often we had to bend forward to avoid low hanging branches. The river was followed by the Severn Way - part of the path following Offas Dyke.
As we paddled, Maisie sat in the middle of the canoe, enjoying the views as they passed by. We thought that on such a lovely day we would perhaps see other canoeists, fishermen or walkers but the only other person we saw was a lady walker, who had stopped for a break to read a book on the left bank. She looked rather amused as we came floating past with a dog in a lifejacket.
As the river twists and turns we kept coming round a bend and seeing the imposing view of Breidden Hill in front of us. "There's that hill again!" At the top of this is an obelisk or pillar. Apparently it is called Rodneys pillar, a monument named after an Admiral Rodney. As we snaked our way along the river, our view of Rodneys pillar and the hill changed. It became apparent that half the hill is now being used as a quarry. Huge steps have been carved into the hillside, such a shame. As we continued Breidden forest came into view on the hillside.
We saw a beautiful heron on several occasions who would fly off ahead of us down the river, as if acting as a look out, telling the river inhabitants of our imminent arrival. We also passed several groups of swans who seemed quite taken aback by this strange watercraft.
Round one bend we came across some unusual bathers-
As well as bathing cows we also passed sheep with their young ewes, sat on the river bank.
After two hours of paddling we had covered about six miles and we stopped for a quick break, bums and knees were getting numb and Maisie fancied a quick run around and a swim.
We started off again and as we approached the first of only two bridges on our journey we encountered a small shallow patch which creates a riffle, almost a rapid type effect. It is best to kneel down as you go through these and keep paddling as the water is flowing much quicker here and you speed through, trying not to get too wet! Although when you see it, it can give you a dull ache in the pit of your stomach with dread and anticipation, once you have gone through it, you feel wonderful and almost wish you could go back and do it again.
Lower down the river we felt the effects of the wind much more. As the river widened, the wind was sometimes blowing against us. If we stopped paddling we found we were actually going backwards. This was more hard work now and we realised that we weren't going to get to our rendez vous point by 1pm as originally planned. Luckily we had intermittent mobile signal so phoned ahead to let E&N know we would be late.
After 12 miles we passed the River Vyrnwy tributary. You can actually paddle up there if you are feeling fit. This is where we passed back into England from Wales. From this point of the river the border between England and Wales actually runs down the middle of the river. We passed under the second bridge at Crew Green. Its an interesting looking bridge as it is an iron bridge, once a locomotive bridge,and was converted to a single track road bridge in 1962.
Finally after 4 1/2 hours in the canoe we arrived at our final meeting point, the Royal Hill Inn near Edgerley. It has a beautiful outlook onto the river and also boasts a small campsite. We dragged our canoe out of the water and fell into a heap on the picnic blanket to refuel and catch up with the family.
We had a brilliant day, saw all sorts of wildlife that you would never see if you were driving along a road. Life from the river is worth looking at from time to time.
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Thursday, 24 May 2012
Where does the time go?
Can't believe I've been home a week already and so much has happened!
I got off the ship and came home via my parents house to pick up hubby and Maisie the dog. I had ordered my groceries online to be delivered between 8pm and 10pm. We arrived home at 5 minutes to 8pm and the delivery lorry must have followed us down the street because he drew up a minute or so after!
Next day I started back at work doing feet at 9am. Both Thursday and Friday were quite busy, catching up with patients who needed their feet doing, answering questions about where I had been and telling the odd sea tale here and there. I've been thinking that I might print out a few of my favourite sea photos and take them round with me. I'm sure a lot of my patients would like to see them.
Saturday was a baking day in preparation for the event of the week taking place on Sunday. Our grand-daughters christening. Hubby's daughter had also asked me to be a godmother which I was very honoured to accept. So we had visitors staying with us on Saturday night ready for Sunday too. We had a great evening catching up with each other and then on Sunday we all trooped off to the Christening.
The weather, thankfully, was lovely. It meant that after the church service we were able to go back to their house and eat outside in the garden. They had organised a neat sort of caterer in the shape of a lady with a trailer which had a log fired pizza oven on top of it. She made pizzas to order and they were delicious.
Afterwards we laid out the desserts. I had made a trifle, mini tiramisu cakes and scones with clotted cream and homemade jam. Along with several other desserts, there was plenty for everyone!
It was a lovely day. I had been quite nervous actually as hubby's ex-wife was also there and I didn't want to upset her in any way which would spoil the day. But happily it all went well and there was no bad feeling.
I've been back to my groups this week, knitting yesterday and Applestroodle tonight, It has been lovely catching up with my friends again and also a few people have said how much they have enjoyed reading my blog. That has made me happier, knowing people are actually reading this and enjoying it too!!
So a week has flown by and what will this next week bring...................Jubilee event planning....that's what!
I got off the ship and came home via my parents house to pick up hubby and Maisie the dog. I had ordered my groceries online to be delivered between 8pm and 10pm. We arrived home at 5 minutes to 8pm and the delivery lorry must have followed us down the street because he drew up a minute or so after!
Next day I started back at work doing feet at 9am. Both Thursday and Friday were quite busy, catching up with patients who needed their feet doing, answering questions about where I had been and telling the odd sea tale here and there. I've been thinking that I might print out a few of my favourite sea photos and take them round with me. I'm sure a lot of my patients would like to see them.
Saturday was a baking day in preparation for the event of the week taking place on Sunday. Our grand-daughters christening. Hubby's daughter had also asked me to be a godmother which I was very honoured to accept. So we had visitors staying with us on Saturday night ready for Sunday too. We had a great evening catching up with each other and then on Sunday we all trooped off to the Christening.
The weather, thankfully, was lovely. It meant that after the church service we were able to go back to their house and eat outside in the garden. They had organised a neat sort of caterer in the shape of a lady with a trailer which had a log fired pizza oven on top of it. She made pizzas to order and they were delicious.
Afterwards we laid out the desserts. I had made a trifle, mini tiramisu cakes and scones with clotted cream and homemade jam. Along with several other desserts, there was plenty for everyone!
It was a lovely day. I had been quite nervous actually as hubby's ex-wife was also there and I didn't want to upset her in any way which would spoil the day. But happily it all went well and there was no bad feeling.
I've been back to my groups this week, knitting yesterday and Applestroodle tonight, It has been lovely catching up with my friends again and also a few people have said how much they have enjoyed reading my blog. That has made me happier, knowing people are actually reading this and enjoying it too!!
So a week has flown by and what will this next week bring...................Jubilee event planning....that's what!
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