The Lake District

We had a few days in Grasmere recently and met up with friends. We arrived in rain and left in rain- well that is the west side of Britain! On the leeside we are more sheltered and receive less precipitation from the prevailing winds from the SW.

Eeh! The four of us laughed our way along Loughrigg Terraces,

 sang in caves giving echoes of the Welsh National anthem across Rydal Water

and got lost coming off the 'coffin walk'; This lot were happily sitting on the stone used to rest coffins as the dead were carried from Rydal to the church in Grasmere;

we were bathed in the warmth of the sun and the company of each other.



We did encounter two money trees- they seem to be the thing to do now on various popular walks. Does the money get collected every so often and go to charity?

Finally the leaves are turning and pavements are covered in the rustling carpets of brown, russet and bronzed debris dropped or blown from nearby trees.

The forecasters reckoned the isobars were going to bring a ' STORMY MONDAY' but the ensuing chaos stayed in the South while the North ambled its usual late October self through the day, oblivious to London's tree covered train tracks.

I am having a serious think! I wonder how much it would cost to take this awful Windows 8 hard drive and get a PC company to wipe Windows 8 and put on Windows 7. THAT folks, is what I am going to do........

'Wear it Pink'

Each month seems to have been claimed by some charity or other eg November sees the growth of bristling, male moustaches earning donations in Movember for funding research into prostate cancer.

October is a month nailed by breast cancer charities and the last Friday is 'Wear it Pink Day' for Breast Cancer Campaign. Wear it Pink- so I did! This year I did not fund raise due to a big fundraising coffee morning for MacMillan 3 weeks ago- perhaps next year.......

The Millennium Bridge lit pink on Friday October 25th 2013

The Tyne bridge highlighting the importance of research into the causes and treatment of breast cancer

Apologies! Try as I might ,I am unable to give you the whole photo which I have on the draft blog -yet when I go to print it does not produce the whole photo. In fact I cannot get out of this photo frame- and cannot scroll down the blog. Aagh!

 

'Sunshine Over Leith'

Well that was unexpected! I didn't realise it was going to be sung all the way through! I used to line dance to the Proclaimers. The Ladies went to the independent cinema- The Tyneside- after a rainy day when we definitely did not walk 500 miles. Luxurious, ample seats with a huge screen that if I sit too near , makes me feel queasy.

I jotted notes every few days in my writing notebook but have been so busy I did not get the chance to get on here to blog.... so tonight is the night.

Thomas Scheibitz I am not a fan! We viewed this gentleman's exhibition at the Baltic on the South bank of the Tyne; not memorable and not understood; last of my thoughts on modern paintings are that I could do better- ie produce pictures that were at least recognisable.

'Rough Justice'

Tom Conte left us with a real dilemma- guilty of murder? or not? As an audience we were the jury and we had to make a decision; he claimed he would not have a chance if we were all Catholics- who probably believe in the sanctity of life. Surely it matters not how disabled someone is-  holding a cushion over their face while they struggled till movement ceased , has to be deliberate so is murder? It was noteworthy that many of the women in the audience voted 'guilty'; H1 disagreed with me and considered the main character 'not guilty' Apparently Glasgow audience said virtually unanimously 'guilty!

The Theatre Royal is a beautiful theatre but sitting in the stalls, many of us could not dwell on or consider the importance of the British Jury System because we were dwelling on our personal discomfort- our posteriors were in such pain from the uncomfortable chairs; we all ended up making our coats into cushions-the prices for such very expensive tickets should provide soft seats for patrons' bottoms!

Are we the only country which operates the jury system? As the film states-   '12 good men and true'? (or women!) It is such a responsibility, holding someone's life in your hands. As yet I have not been called to serve on a jury. Have you?

Hips and Haws

The hedgerows are full of fruit; hawthorns' haws, rosehips, elderberries, blackberries (brambles to us Northerners).....

Tucked away out of the wind we walked from Craster, sheltered behind the Whin Sill ridge; it was amazing how much there was to pick if we had only brought receptacles in which to put all this natural treasure.

The harvest was in and stored ready for winter bedding.

Looking right and left, we used the public right of way across Embleton Golf Course; we slithered down onto the beach and headed back south with a strong wind coming in off the North Sea. The sands were lashed by white water; we put hats on, hoods up and heads down as we explored along the Bay.

One by one, we clambered up smooth, rounded rocks and arrived back onto the links. Looking back, the tideline of shells and bladder wrack marked the shore. Waves crashed and pounded in while the backwash hissed as it washed back down the strand.

 Before us Dunstanburgh Castle stood proud against an almost cloudless, blue sky.

We skirted below the stonework and dodged the startled sheep.

Surf coughed up a spume of  shivering foam into the rock crevices below us. How I wish I'd been able to conduct a field trip to demonstrate folding with the cracked peak of an anticline and obvious sedimentary layers buckled in a syncline.

With all that fresh air I slept like a log.

We were back within 24 hours to harvest blackberries; purple fingered we headed home to welcome visitors for a dinner of mince and dumplings and banana custard.

After so many years counting calories, it pays to have visitors round for meals- then you have to widen your menu and in this case, I went back to family meals served in days of yore. Now- who's for apple and blackberry crumble and custard? Will this get me the title of 'Star baker'? Move over Ruby!

Great North Run

Autumn- season of mists and mellow fruitfulness- crab apples

The beech is yellowing; chestnuts, always the first to bud, are also the first to die off: they are drifted gold and crackling crisp already; conkers spike between the withering fingers. In a matter of days the trees have decided winter is coming and leaves are falling.

Berries on the holly - a sign of a bad winter to come?

We had a few cold days; it rained during the Great North Run; since then we are experiencing a glorious, Indian summer of blue skies and warm sun.

Standing at the 11 mile point, our hands got hot, voices hoarse and arms ached- but it was worth it to see the lift our applause gave to runners.

D3 had previously done the Great North Run twice and The Marathon of the North so this year decided to do a Northumbrian Run of 10K at Matfen; We sipped a cappuchino  at the old School tearooms while waiting before heading for the finish to welcome runners in; then we used the day to backtrack along the route and found the tiny church at Ryal; I wonder what height the benchmark records?

The view from the entrance was a vista over the Tyne valley... breathe deep, see pistachio coloured fields drying khaki or ploughed umber and ochre....recognise the change of season.... and smile in welcome....

We also went to London and wandered along the South Bank;

we gazed up at the London Eye,

sipped Pimms in the sun while the Thames moved majestically under Big Ben's stare before sliding off downstream under bridges we country cousins cannot name.

We located ourselves near the 'Lying in Hospital' near County Hall- Florence Nightingale had been there before us.

We added to the day's excitement by having a late night Turkish meal while D3 glimpsed a shadow which hardened up into a mouse!

Though not back to rough ground/distance walking yet we went to meet ' the gang' at Frenchies' tearoom in Wylam- a delightful, catch-up rendezvous.I carefully indulged in just a cuppa as we had arranged to go for an Indian meal with a friend later.

Once again Windows 8 has thrown me- I cannot download my photos from my camera so must seek help. Agh! It used to be so easy. With advice later I shall fill in the blanks!
A suggestion- do not get Windows 8- it has not speeded anything up which was the reason we saved to buy a new hard drive; it takes much longer to go through all the click processes to get to the folders you want for pictures- and though they are loaded from my camera and stored up right- some of them import to my blog or emails on their sides- aaaaagh!

I am going to calm down with Downton.

A local trip

campanula

Although I am a Novocastrian or Geordie ie a Newcastle upon Tyne native ( well actually I am a Geordie Northumbrian! but I'll not get too pedantic!) and know lots about my city, I have never been on the Hop On Hop Off bus till today; £6 for an allround one hour trip- unless you hop off at different tourist attractions; to get back on just make sure you hang on to your ticket to show the drive as you reboard the bus; it was interesting and gave enough information to satisfy (without inundating passengers or boring us).

mock orange with a beautiful perfume

We wound our way round Newcastle and Gateshead, only hopping off for a lunch break on the Quayside; the day's solitary downpour missed us as we were dining in the Pitcher and Piano.

Rose of Sharon- hypericum

If you want to see the Millennium Bridge go up, check out the times on the noticeboard inside the glass buildings above the hydraulic rams on the side of the 'Blinking Eye'.

dianthus

I have finished reading 'Wolf Hall' at last; since I have been unable to do much in the way of work for the last few weeks I have taken a lighter break and read ' Call the Midwife' by Jennifer Worth but now I am ready for my next tome....

Perpetual sweet pea

Now where is Nelson Mandela? On 'A long walk to freedom'..... here goes..... this may take me some time....

The Alnwick Rose

Our Alnwick Rose was bought for us for a Silver wedding present by a friend. I an going to be honest and say it is not my favourite rose because it is so densely petalled (which a lot of expensive David Austin roses are) that the bees cannot get into it.

Japanese anemone and a rose

 

Another Silver wedding rose in the foreground! We went to an old friend's 70th birthday (secret) party at Blaydon Rugby Club recently- we bought A. a rose to plant; the beautiful, fragrant, peachy-orange, tea rose  was called 'Warm Wishes'. I hope she enjoys the rose as much as I enjoyed the party!