More Walks

Nice walk around the fishing ponds and community orchard this afternoon with our old chums Tone and Pene after lunch. I made a nut roast with all the trimmings and Hazel made an experimental apple turnover ( and whipped cream ) which was a great success. Quite mild out todays and felt overdressed in my duffle coat - phew! Home afterwards for chocolate dates and tea. Hazel made the choc dates ( with peanut butter and peanut topping ) which is a very healthy treat ( really yes, it really is!) . We watched the spider in the window spinning a web for Halloween. We like add on these extra entertainments for all our guests!

Walk To The Fishy Ponds

Yesterdays wanderings around the community orchard and the fishy ponds. One lone fisherman shooing off some inquisitive swans. "They are after my bait box!" Quite a rare thing - a fisherman - they usually go down to the river. Bright sunshine with ominous grey clouds in the distance. The rain held off thankfully. Nice to get out and stretch our legs. The willow horse has had a trim except for the antlers. Maybe it's a reindeer after all?

Nantwich

This mornings wanderings around the charming town of Nantwich to do some shopping and visit the market etc. There was also an antique market on at the town hall or whatever its called. Some bargains included some silly games, two postcards from Southend and Westcliff , a nice Ry Cooder CD that I'd never seen before - a live radio broadcast from 1974. Hazel found a few things too including some tapestries, a glass eye and a small frame. I had some time to spare before meeting up with Hazel again so went in the local museum for a look at the cheese making equipment and the shepheards smock.

Swan Feeders

This mornings wanderings around the local fishing ponds to feed the swans and ducks. They had some peas and grains already so rejected our stale bagels and who can blame them! The only bird interested was a passing seagull that swooped down and grabbed a chunk before the coots could sniff it. The corn has been harvested. Hazel expresseda desire for a metal detector after watching The Detectorists for the umpteenth time. It does look fun but not sure I have the patience for such things. Cutting up bits of paper is slow enough!

Reyjavik - Iceland

Nice few days in rainy Iceland. A lot milder than we imagined despite looking online for tips. Felt a bit too hot for a duffle coat! A good quality rain mac would have been preferable! We managed to avoid showers most of the time diving into shops, cafes and museums etc. The Penis Museum was particulary entertaining! Expensive though - like most things in Iceland! Everything seemed twice as much as the UK prices. Luckily the Air B&B had a great kitchen with some foodstuffs already supplied so most evenings Archie and Meriel did the cooking.

Lovely to see the Northern Lights ( bucket list ticked ) and place where the two tectonic plates meet, the massive waterfall with its own rainbow! My camera's battery ran out so didnt get a shot of any of this. I have to rely on Archie, Meriel and Hazel to supply those at some future date. Most annoying!

OK just a few. More soon!

River Dane Orchard

This afternoons walk around the fishy ponds by the River Dane. Fed the invisible ducks with our stale bread. Saw a couple in the distance but they flew off as did the coots. Maybe the voles and rats will eat it? It was quite warm out - for end of September. Not as much invasive Balsam as in previous years thankfully.

Edinburgh

Interesting two days in Edinburgh . Long train journey - bit of a nighmare going stuck with noisy family of mostly kids running riot. Arggh! Better coming back. Whilst Hazel was off chatting to Nigle Hivers I went off on my own to look round the museums and art galleries, of which there are in abundance. Especially liked the National Museum Of Scotland which was massive and crammed full of amazing stuff. Science, art, biology, fish, whisky, etc. etc.

Lucky with the weather - very sunny and quite mild. I was dressed for rain showers which never came - only on the way home on the train around Dunblane or Carlisle? the heavens opened. Edinurgh still crammed full of tourists despite being in middle of September - must be awful in the Summer! Feet ached from all the walking so took rests on park benches and people watched - pigeon watched etc. Worried Hazel wouldnt make the train home - got to Waverley station just in time! Gulp! Nice to get home eventually at 9.30pm and collapse into own bed.