lizblog

Ruth came to see me!!!!

After an incredibly busy week ... school Open Day, Parents' evenings, and then OFSTED, I had a really brilliant weekend with Ruth. She had to endure a boring Friday when I was at school, but we had a good curry to compensate.

Saturday was great. In the morning we went to Hannah's (my partner in grime at school - well 4 and 5 year olds can be very messy!) where she kindly let us ride her lovely horse, Ellie. Ruth rode most of the time doing clever things like trotting and cantering. I had a little turn where I did a little gentle road walking. It's over 10 years since I last rode. Maybe I should take it up again.

First we brought Ellie in and groomed her, then Ruth got riding.

Then I had a turn.

Thank you so much Hannah, it was great!

In the evening we went to The Sage in Gateshead to hear (and see) three brass bands. We really enjoyed the concert.
Today was church, then Newcastle, a brief lunch at Starbucks and then Ruth got on the train home.

Tonight I have my first rehearsal with the Northern Sinfonia Chorus. Very exciting!!!

Belatedly ...... my Summer .... part 2

So, in August I began my round Britain trip. First to Huddersfield where I stayed with Louise and visited various friends. I also went to look at the small woodland area at Hepworth school as I'd really like to have something similar where I work.

The woodland area at Hepworth School.

After that I wended my way to Ruth's house, shopping, a lovely Indian meal, where I also saw my brother Ian and his wife Caroline. Caroline made a catnip filled toy mouse for Ruth's cat. She spent the evening dribbling on it.

Thence down to Hereford to visit my friends Kath and Tony. I had a lovely few days with Kath. We went to Witley Court, an amazing ruin that was once a highly regarded country palace hosting fantastic parties. All a bit sad now in its ruined splendour. Well worth a visit as is the chapel next door which has an amazing Baroque interior.
  
The fountain, house and chapel interior at Witley Court.

Then back to Ruth's briefly and then onto London to visit Ali. We went to the Wallace and Gromit exhibition in the Science Museum and then saw Stomp, a group I have long wanted to see live. It was great to spend time with Ali ... lots of catching up to do!

Then back to Ruth's ..... Thank you Ruth for being my resting place.

Then back to Huddersfield to see more friends .... thanks for a lovely lunch Sue and Gordon!

Then back to school.

Now the Summer is long gone and I have been very remiss in my blogging activities. It is my intention to try harder ....

Belatedly ..... my Summer .... part 1

July ......

I did dog sitting, already blogged (you can tell what captures my interest!!!), but this was preceded by a visit from Ed and Laura. We went to Wallington Hall and had a lovely meal at Hanahana.

Wallington Hall Gardens, a bumble bee and some very large mussels!

After a few days with Asher (Ed and Laura were at the Edinburgh Festival, we met up on Holy Island. It was a beautiful sunny day and I finally found the little garden.

The special little garden near the castle on Holy Island.

The next excitement was a visit from my friends Paula and Dave. Both teachers, I have worked with both of them and they now have a lovely little girl called Niesha who is my surrogate granddaughter.

Paula, Dave and Niesha ..... awwwww.

Treasures of the sea

Last Friday I went down to Seaham to visit Jac. She had promised me the exciting prospect of finding sea glass on her beach. It is her beach. She lives right across the road from it and sees the waves and the sun setting and everything from her very own windows, so, in my book, that gives her ownership.

Sure enough, after a very pleasant few hours delving into the pebbles along the seashore we had amassed a bowl of beautiful coloured sea glass. My final project is to make a mosaic to decorate my porch .... I think a few more visits will be necessary. Now I have been initiated I can sneak onto Jac's beach unsupervised .... though, should she spot me from her very own windows I might get a cheery wave ..... even a cup of tea.

After the sea glass hunt, we ended the visit with a very pleasant prawn-based meal .... my kind of meal .... look in the fridge, see what you have and cook something tasty with it. It was very tasty.

Thank you Jac for a very pleasant afternoon and a lovely tea.

Treasures.

Boxing clever .... not

So, yesterday I received my new BT headset from Play.com.

The box it came in felt a little like overkill.

Dog sitting

Well, next week I am going to undertake the dog sitting venture again. Not with Laddie this time, but with Asher, my son Ed's dog. She's a border collie, friendly, affectionate and obedient , well for Ed, I will hopefully gain this respect too. She's a cute dog with interesting TV viewing interests. She loves wildlife programmes and becomes very engaged with the TV, slightly dangerously if not kept in check. Nothing she likes better than a TV dinner after a long walk. Sadly Newbiggin beach is out of bounds, so I will have to go further afield for doggie walking, but I'm sure we'll both have a good time. Ed and Laura will surely have a great time in Edinburgh at the festival.
After a few days we are going to meet up on Holy Island where I will return the dog and they will proceed up to a wilder part of Scotland to have a holiday. (Yes, I have checked the tides.)

Here's Asher ..... awwwww

  

Poppy

I love these big opium poppies. Bruised and battered by the rain, it has managed to show its face in the garden.

Cragside

The house at Cragside is a Victorian mansion which towers above the impressive grounds. There, that's the tourist information over with. Louise and I went there the other weekend. It was damp and misty, which added atmosphere to the whole visit. (and had the added benefit of ensuring that there were few other visitors). We just loved the whole place. The little river, the magnificent bridge ... wonderful.  

We walked up through the woods on little narrow paths. It must have taken for ever to lay all the slabs of stone making these paths up, beautifully done and making the walk very doable. Right at the top of the woods there are broad paths which form part of a road which goes right around the estate. We drove right round this track before we went home. It had stopping places so it was possible to park and get out of the car and view nearby attractions. At the top of the woods the grounds open out to an unexpected nearly moorland area with a solid rock base, part of that crag?

  
The other attraction is the Labyrinth. Through an imposing entrance ..... then a secret tunnel woven from interlocking rhododendron branches leads in and out of the woodland.

If you are up this way, it's well worth a visit. :-)

Louise exercises

When Louise last came up to see me, we took the opportunity on a misty Saturday to go and visit Cragside.

Louise used this to further her physical prowess by using the various climbing and balancing equipment scattered round the gardens.

  

She rounded it off with a nice energetic walk on the crowded beach.

  

Nature Close-ups

I seem to be getting more and more pleasure from taking photographs of the beauty and strangeness of the nature around me.

On a recent botanical garden visit I took this selection of photos: some beautiful, some interesting and some quite strange.