Friday 27 August 2021

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: August #4 ... Bucket

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

Right up until the last minute I thought I was going to be giving Astrid’s weekly challenge a miss for this week ... I mean … 'bucket' … I really had no clue πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚πŸ˜‚

Then I went out back to do that job that becomes my nemesis at this time of year … it seems to move on from a therapeutic half hour to a job that is a bit of a pain … the dreaded basket deadheading.

To be fair it does make a massive difference and definitely does seem to magically rejuvenate a tired looking basket … but I do tend to have fallen out of love with this task by the end of August.

These are the pots and baskets which are taking up my time … plenty of sticky petunias …


Close up some don’t look so good … but from a distance they still look like an explosion of fireworks …


The urn has been my favourite this year and still has plenty of life left in it. The fuchsias are ones I managed to over winter from last year and have done really well. I will definitely be trying that again this year …

But the topic was bucket I hear you say … well … I'm afraid this is all I’ve got …

It does look pretty close up though ...
Well I think that’s enough deadheading for one day … I’m off to see what other bucket inspiration I can find 🌷🌸🌹🌺🌻🌼

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Tuesday 24 August 2021

A Week in The Peaks #2 :: A Scenic Drive

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

It was Tuesday and the second day of our stay in Foolow, Martin was feeling a little better so we headed into Bakewell for a bit of a wander ... we weren’t out long, but did have a good mooch and a look around Bath Gardens, which were looking lovely ...


We did have a quick stop at the Monsal Head car park and came back through Cressbrook for the usual fabulous view ...
On Wednesday Martin was feeling rotten and decided to spend the day in bed, whilst mum and I opted for a tour of local villages picking up a few Geocaches on the way.

We started out in Eyam, where we called into the church to have a look at the plague window ...
We also had a photo stop at Eyam Hall ... 
It was then off to Grindleford for a quick stop at the war memorial ...
... and the church ...

... before heading for Hathersage station ...

... and St Michael and All Angels' Church, in search of Little John ...

There was then a very quick stop in Hope ...
... before a bit more of a longer stop in Castleton ... on of my favourite Peak District villages ...

There may even have been a quick refreshment stop with a bit of a view ...

From Castleton we decided to call it a day and made our way back to Foolow to see what Martin had been up to whilst we'd been out on our magical, mystery tour πŸ˜€

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Friday 20 August 2021

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: August #3 ... Dog

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

Martin and I are so not 'dog people', so this week's challenge by Astrid wasn't the easiest for me. That's not to say we don't like dogs ... just that we are definitely more in favour of cats ... far less effort πŸ˜‚

Saying that we do have  a few doggy friends ...

This is Jake ... the soppiest cockerpoo ever ... and very accommodating when I needed a model to demonstrate the dog bandanas I started making a while back ...

If you've followed my blog for a while you may have spotted Charlie from time to time too ... the loveliest and best behaved springer spaniel ever ... he really is just one of the gang, and I think he enjoys our annual catch ups as much as the rest of us ...


If I thought this week's challenge was tricky ... the word for next week is 'bucket' ... I really have no idea where I'm going to go with that one πŸ˜‚

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Monday 16 August 2021

A Week in The Peaks #1 :: Padley Gorge, Surprise View, Reservoirs, a Waterfall and some Stepping Stones

Hi there everyone πŸ˜€

Back in July we were due to spend a week in a holiday cottage in the tiny village of Foolow in The Peak District. It didn’t exactly go to plan … with the start of our holiday being delayed by two days because the holiday cottage had no hot water or heating … and coming back a day early because Martin was struck down for most of the week with, what we can only think must have been, food poisoning.

Luckily we took mum away with us so I at least had some company whilst Martin was confined to barracks and we did manage to get out and about a bit.

We arrived on Sunday and by Sunday evening Martin was not feeling well at all. He did risk venturing out on the Monday, but it was pretty much a case of him dropping mum and I off and then picking us up again a bit later.

Our first drop off was at the top end of Padley Gorge ...
... where the plan was for mum and I to walk to Grindleford Station, where Martin would wait for us. As ever the views at the top were just lovely ... 

I did have to do a bit of a double take here ...
It so looked like there was someone laying in the river ... but upon closer inspection it was just a couple of boulders ... but it had me fooled for a bit.

It was a lovely walk down through the gorge, though we were up away from the river for the last part ...


Eventually we saw evidence that we were still on the right track ...

It was a fairly steep descent down to the station and we were very glad that Martin had dropped us at the top rather then the bottom!

After a bit of a pitstop we took the short drive to Surprise View car park, where the plan was to risk a short walk along Millstone Edge ...

It really was beautiful up there, the heather was just starting to flower ...

... and the views from the footpath were amazing ...




Things didn’t quite go to plan, as the weather soon came in ...

... and we opted to cut our walk short, before we got soaked through ...
We opted for a drive to the Longshaw Estate car park and had some light refreshment and partook of the facilities, whilst waiting for the weather to pass over.

Once the weather had perked up a bit we headed up to the reservoirs, where Martin dropped mum and I in Fairholmes car park. We walked up to the Derwent dam to find it dry as a bone … totally different to when Martin and I visited a couple of years ago ... it was still pretty impressive though ...


We walked up the steps, which are a real killer, to the top of the dam where Martin was picking us up ...
I don't think I'll ever tire of the views from the top of the Derwent Dam ... it really is a lovely spot ...



There was time for a few selfies ...

... before jumping in the car and driving right up to the top of the reservoirs, where we managed a quick sandwich with a view ...


The last time Martin and I had been up here there had been lots of rain so it was really strange for us seeing the water levels so low.

We headed back down, with a few photo stops along the way ...




... before passing back over the bridge ...

... to start making our way back to Foolow. 

There were two more quick stop offs planned for the way back … the first to see if we could find the Yorkshire Bridge falls which turned out to be very straightforward ...

... and the second to find the stepping stones at Hathersage. We managed to find somewhere to park up just off the main road and we left Martin in the car whilst mum and I headed over the fields to see what we could find.

We weren’t disappointed ...

Some of the gaps between the stones were a bit wide but I couldn't resist walking across, whilst mum waited ...

We made our way back to the car and decided to call it a day ... heading back to Foolow and The Old Dairy πŸ˜€

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