Photo Scavenger Hunt :: March #4 ... Light and Dark

Hi there everyone 😀

I know I say this every week but I really can't quite believe it's Friday again already and time for the weekly photo scavenger hunt link up hosted by Kate at I live, I love, I craft, I am me.

Our challenge this week is ... Light and Dark.

It's the last time that Kate is hosting the challenge so I want to say a massive thank you as it's really given me the chance to get to share some of my photos and ramblings with a new group of people and it's also introduced me to some new blogs which I am now following regularly.

All is not lost though, as from April the challenge will be hosted by Astrid from Dragon Stitches and Stuff by Astrid and I am already looking forward to seeing what our challenges will be for next month.

So ... back to 'light and dark'. This has been one that I've struggled a bit with and if it hadn't been Kate's last week I think I would have left it for this week but I've dug deep into the archive and this is the best I could come up with ...

This was taken in Beacon Park in Lichfield on a glorious sunny day back in 2015. Now I know that I've taken photos of white swans for real before and managed to get some lovely shots when in Kingsbury Water Park, but I've trawled back through to 2002, when my digital photography days began and I can't find them for love nor money ... perhaps my digital filing system wasn't quite so good back then.

Whilst  I couldn't find any white swan photos I did manage to find this one ...

A white peacock in all it's glory ... taken in July 2007 in Cornwall ... I believe it was at the Otter Sanctuary. Isn't he spectacular ... a little odd, but totally spectacular.

For dark I knew exactly where I was going and that was back to Dawlish in September of 2014, when we visited for the day from a holiday cottage we were staying in on Dartmoor. The black swans are a bit of a local tourist attraction and we couldn't resist spending a while with them ...

So that's me for this week and the final challenge both for Kate and for March. Can't wait to see what April brings ... see you there 😀

**********************************************************************************

Random Ramblings :: A little bit of Gardening

Hi there everyone 😀

A couple of photos popped up on Timehop today that really brought home how late everything seems to be this year. This time last year the prunus was in full flower ...

... and this time two years ago the magnolia was looking amazing ...

This year there is not a sign of a single bloom on either. The buds are all there ... I guess they are just waiting for a bit on sunshine and a bit of a rise in the temperature.

It has most definitely been a bit on the cold side for us for much gardening to have got under way, though we have made a start on a few jobs ...our top patio has had its first jet wash and the arbour has had a coat of paint and a new roof ...

Our next job is to tidy and reposition all of the pots back on to the top patio, before moving onto clearing and jet washing the lower patio, which leads down the garden.

In spite of not doing that much there have been a few garden centre visits ... after all what else is there to do?

I’m not entirely sure where everything will go but we are building a bit of a collection of plants for placing. Our first purchase was these two roses ... we don't come across purple ones in garden centres very often and we couldn't resist these two ...

Our next visit and we couldn't resist this gardenia ... something we've not had in the garden before ... it's an evergreen, but does flower and looks like it should do well in shade, so I do have a spot in mind for this one ...

We also picked up this Daphne ... another plant we've never had in the garden and I hope it does well because, for us, I would say it was pretty expensive. I did have a spot in mind at the bottom of the garden for it, but having got it home and realised how beautiful the scent of it is I think it needs to be closer to the house so it may end up in a big pot for now ...

We also picked up four bright red primulas, which will just give a real pop of spring colour ...

We have had one more garden centre visit, where we bought another plant we've not had in the garden before and, again, I do have a nice shady spot in mind for it ...

I am really hoping that they all settle well as our garden can be a bit temperamental sometimes. Over the years we've got to know what will grow and what will just disappear without a trace but as these are all first time plantings it will be a bit of a lottery.

One other job we have done is to say goodbye to our hostas. They used to do really well but we repositioned the pots into one of the borders a few years ago and they’ve not done well since. It was time for a change so I spent an afternoon emptying the pots and tracking down some ferns that had self set around the garden ... which were planted into the pots to replace the hostas ... I’m hopeful they will do well in the shade of the magnolia ...

You can see I've already found a spot for one of the primulas ...

We don't have much red in the garden at all, though I did notice a few tulips starting to make an appearance in the pot of spring bulbs that I have had now probably for about six years ...

We have also started off a fair few seeds ... with mixed success ... the cobea, tomatoes, peppers and chillis are doing well ... not so good for the cosmos, lettuce and leeks which all started off well, but seem to have bolted and then shriveled and died. I can only think that it may have been too warm for them indoors.

I'm hoping to do a bit more sowing and planting this month, maybe over the Easter weekend. I'm hoping to start off French climbing beans, herbs, more lettuce and cosmos. I think I will just buy my leeks from the garden centre and plant out later in the year.

If the temperatures warm up and bit and we get a bit of sunshine hopefully the garden will soon start to look like a garden again, rather than just an expanse of bare and mossy grass and dull, brown borders. I am so looking forward to being able to use it as a relaxing space to spend time again ... but know that to reap that reward there has to be effort invested first 😀

**********************************************************************************

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: March #3 ... Sunset/Sunrise

Hi there everyone 😀

It's that time of the week again ... time to link up with Kate over at I live, I love, I craft, I am me for this week's photo scavenger hunt.

Like all of the topics for March this week we have a choice of two options ... sunset or sunrise. Well if you know me well, you will know I'm not really one for being awake early enough to catch a sunrise but I do like a good sunset.

Favourite spot to catch a sunset has to be Crackington Haven, not far from Bude in North Cornwall. Many a time we've timed it so we could be driving past at the right time of day to make it definitely worth a stop ...

In September of 2015 we did have a holiday on the island of Guernsey, which was just lovely, and we did have a few evenings out chasing sunsets ... we weren't disappointed ...

Looking back through old photos is so making me long to be out and about exploring again. Our first break this year is booked for May ... rearranged from last year ... I am so hoping we get to go this time 🤞🤞🤞

*********************************************************************************

Random Ramblings :: Not much to say really

Hi there everyone 😀

So ... it's Monday, which makes it my normal blogging day and for the first time in a long, long time I found myself a little short on inspiration.

There really has been nothing much occurring, other than reading, over here over the course of the last week or so and with no days out or trips to tell you about I was really struggling for what to share.

There aren't even any random photos of everyday ordinary sitting on my iPad or phone waiting to be shared ... not much going on in the garden, it has just been sooooo cold ... and we don't seem to have been anywhere in absolutely ages.

On a bit of a whim I suddenly felt the need to get out so we headed down into town for a wander round our Castle Grounds to see what the local Parks Department have been up to.

We parked by the green bridge and walked across Ladybridge, which used to be a main road link into town but has been pedestrianised now for a long old time. A few years ago a number of stone engravings were installed on the ground, mapping out the ancient history of our town ... starting back in 757, when King Offa of Mercia built his first royal palace in Tamworth ...

We spent a while on the bridge watching the river and the masses of seagulls, geese, swans and ducks ... before heading into the Castle Grounds under the old gatehouse and past the statue of Aethelflaed and spotted a splash of colour in the undergrowth ...

Having Googled when home it appears these are a variety of anemone ... commonly known as the Grecian Wildflower.

We wondered alongside the old castle hill, which was having its first strimming of the year, aiming for the bandstand ... flanked by stone flower beds, interspersed with pathways of crazy paving, which always look stunning ...

Today they were filled with masses of primulas of all shades ...

You can always guarantee a good view of the castle from in front of the flower beds ... as long as you can get down low ... as there are always people sitting on the benches at the top of the flowerbeds ... and today was no exception ...

We then headed through the black metal gates to the sound of a lonesome busker and took in the view looking back into town ... there's a great view of the top of the town hall with it's wonky cupola and St Editha's church in the background ...

We then headed across the white bridge over the river for another view of the castle ...

On this side of the river you can find Tamworth's Planet Trail which was installed to commemorate the millennium. It is based on a similar trail in our twinned town of Bad Laasphe in Germany. Basically there are sculptures of all of the planets in our solar system, laid out around The Castle Grounds to represent relevant distances between the planets. The trail sets out from the sun ...

From here we wandered along the back of the immaculate looking bowling green, for another great view of the castle ...

We were heading for the wisteria walk, which looked very different to when we'd last seen it back in the summer ... there really is no clue here to how fabulous it will look when at its best ...

Here it is looking absolutely fabulous in May of last year ...

We sat awhile under the arches ... remembering the warmth of the sun and the heady scent of the blooms from our last visit ...

We had company for a little while ...

Before long the little bit of sunshine there had been disappeared and the sky went a bit on the dark side ...

Time to head back over the green bridge and to head for home.

We'd not been out long but I think it did us both good. We just can't wait to be able to get back out and head a bit further afield. We are very lucky with what we have on our doorstep, but it just doesn't beat proper countryside and the coast.

Hopefully we won't have to wait much longer 🤞🤞🤞

*******************************************************************************

Photo Scavenger Hunt :: March 2021 #2 ... Look up/Look down

Hi there everyone 😀

I was really struggling with the subject for Kate's photo scavenger hunt today, which is look up or look down, and didn't think I was going to be able to find anything to contribute.

Having racked my brains I opted for a bit of a trip down memory lane. Back to 2005 when  I was still working, pre blogging, when budgets were generous, the value of recognition of employees was understood and the cost of flights was cheap.

Having worked for the same organisation for 30 years I guess it’s inevitable that there were ups and downs. When I look back now I can clearly see that both were linked to the leaders and the teams that I worked with.

A particular highlight was a fabulous ‘Christmas do’ which actually constituted of a couple of days in Paris.

I have to say I was more nervous about going than excited ... but it ended up being one of the most fabulous trips ever.

We did all the touristy things ... the Eiffel Tower, Montmartre, Notre Dame, an open top bus tour, lunch in a Cafe, dinner in a restaurant on the Champs Elysee and all night drinking in a bar close the hotel for some, followed by catching the early morning sun at the Sacre Coer.

There are not many of the old team left in situ ... most having either retired, like me, or moved on as part of, what seemed like, an annual restructure ... or 'cull' as it used to be known.

Anyway here are my photos for this week ... looking up ... at night ...
... and another by day ... which I turned into small photo canvasses as gifts for close colleagues when the team got broken up ...

There really isn't that much I miss about working, even though I was there for such a huge and important part of my life, but I always think with great fondness about that team and the experiences we shared ... maybe some of them will be reading this ... who knows 😀

*********************************************************************************

We'll always Remember ...

Hi there everyone ...

You may know that we lost dad on 24 January after a short but rotten illness. We finally got to say our last good byes at his funeral last week.

He was a loyal follower of my blog from the very start, though he would often say he didn't really need to read half of my posts ... as he was actually there when a fair few of the events I wrote about actually occurred.

Nonetheless it seems right that there should be a post dedicated totally to him.

I'm not going to go back right through his life ... though I will share this photo with you ... of him as a very good looking young man in his RAF uniform ...

We found out that dad was poorly on the 5th of November last year and from the moment we heard the news there was a poem buzzing around in my head and I just couldn't stop thinking about it.

I ended up writing it down and incorporating it into a photobook which I gave to dad as an early Christmas gift.

It kind of sums up how I will best remember dad and that's what I'm going to share with you now ... though I will only include a selection of the photos that I used as there were just so many ...

For Dad ...

We'll always remember the 5th of November, not for fireworks, gunpowder nor plot.

We'll always remember the 5th of November, at 6.35 on the dot.

When everything changed ... and not for the better,

when everything just seemed to stop.

Freshwater Bay ... Isle of Wight

We'll also remember the 10th of whenever, for days out and getting away,

for Dad full of smiles, after walking for miles and finding a fabulous sight ...

Top of Mount Snowdon

A crack in the rocks with a waterfall tumbling,

the Kidwelly Castle with walls all a crumbling ...

Kidwelly Castle

The scale of The Kelpies, a meal in The Treehouse ...

or scanning The Cairngorms, hoping to see grouse ...

The Kelpies

We'll also remember the month of September ... when normally life would be found

on another adventure, north, south, east or west ...

or even across to the Isle ...

The Needles ... Isle of Wight

With narrow lane driving, but safely arriving, to park up and stay for a while.

To be taxied about, all over the place ... more places to see, big smiles on your face ...

Incleborough House ... East Runton

More memories to make and always ... with cake ...

Coffee & Walnut ... Edensor Tea Rooms

Castles and houses ... and gardens and parks ... countryside and coastal walks.

Cornwall and Devon, true slices of heaven

every day really does count.

Finding a paper is always a caper, the crossword your favourite thing.

At solving the clues you never do fail, you really are our crossword King.

Drum Castle ... Aberdeenshire

Flying kites on the beach ... Widemouth and Summerleaze ...

Widemouth Beach ... Bude

... but Crooklets the favourite for sure ...

Crooklets Beach ... Bude

Though for scones and for space, then Northcott's the place ... you really could ask for no more ...

Northcott Mouth Beach ... Bude

Scaling mountains by train ...

Snowdon Mountain Railway

... and clifftops by steps ...

Steps up from Llanbedrog Beach

we'll always remember that old tin man ...

Wondering could we all get to the top.

Please as punch to find ... yes that we can ...

The Tin Man ... Llanbedrog Beach

We'll also remember not going too far, still finding great fun things to do ...

Geocaching at Tunnel Woods ... Nr Swadlincote

Just wondering about and mooching around ... and generally just chilling out ...

Geocaching on the Chatsworth Estate

Come rain, shine or snow, we go with the flow

and always make of it the best.

A bit of a walk, a hunt and a find ... we always are up to the test ...

Geocaching at Coughton Court

We'll also remember more simple provender ...

of BBQs, gardens and fun.

Where you always take part, with plenty of heart

though younger ones more often won ...

Garden Olympics - August 2016

We'll also remember the family dinners with everyone gathered around.

You play the great host, the role you love most ... nowhere else would you rather be found.

We all are together, we know not forever ... but hoped we'd have more time than this.

There'll be sadness this year, not quite so much cheer

The good times we're all going to miss ...

Cromer Pier

You know we're ok, we're settled and well, we all have all that we need.

We wish you could stay, you know that we do, but from you we'll all take the lead.

Take your time, please don't hurry, stay as long as you can, enjoy the life that you have.

About us don't worry, we'll look after each other 

and keep you close with the love that we have ...

💜 Robert George Belson ... 28 Feb 1942 - 24 Jan 2021💜

******************************************************************************