Sunday Sevens #67

These Sunday’s come round awfully fast! Here’s another Sunday Sevens, seven or more pictures from my week. Thanks to Natalie at Threads and Bobbins for devising the series.

Back Yard Nature Guardians:

Though aimed at children I decided to sign up to protect my precious back yard(en). Back Yard Nature are looking for guardians to protect a chosen patch of nature. Though the initiative is in its infancy there will be seasonal missions to accomplish. Save the bees will be the first. I have noticed that I have seen less bee action in my yarden this summer. It is a concern.

Art for the Yarden:

On Thursday David came home with another bargain from his work’s shop. An owl garden ornament which rocks and moves with the wind. I think it’s quite striking! Definitely a good addition to the yarden.

Owl Ornament

Riley

Walking the dog:

I took Riley on another solo walk this week. We took a 2.8 mile walk around our local park. I think Riley enjoyed the walk as much as I!

#walk1000miles:

Since I am now counting to 2000 miles, here’s my weekly total. I’ve walked 38 miles this week, meaning my overall tally is 1,111 miles.

New Life:

The saga of the herring gull chicks continues. The nest at the front have retained their two chicks. However the nest to the back of our house has had another loss. David noticed there was only one chick left, the other had either fallen or was tossed off the chimney. Come morning the chick was nowhere to be seen. Probably food for another gull? Nature can be hard to witness sometimes.

RSPB Membership:

Guillemots

Linnet

Meadow Pipit?

Rock or Meadow Pipit?

Silver Studded Blue

South Stack

Stonechat

This Friday, David and I visited RSPB reserve, South Stack on Holy Island off Anglesey. We saw thousands of guillemots on a cliff face and enjoyed a picnic overlooking the Irish Sea, with stonechats, pipits and linnets bobbing past. To end our visit we spotted silver studded blue butterflies fluttering over the heath-land.

That was my week, how was yours?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

December Photo Challenge 2018 – Day Eleven

Day Eleven: For today’s photo prompt of angel, I decided to post a picture of The Knife Angel. The recent installation of this eye catching, emotive sculpture by Alfie Bradley can be seen outside the West Door to the Liverpool Anglican Cathedral until 31st January 2019. The 27ft tall sculpture is composed of 100,000 knives collected from amnesties across the UK. ‘The Knife Angel shows solidarity with all affected by knife crime,’ states the cathedral’s website. The sculpture is a very striking piece, the skill is in the art of making the knife blades look like wing feathers. I was very impressed.

Do you like sculpture? What is your favourite piece?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Sunday Sevens #53

Last week I wanted to participate in either a Sunday Sevens devised by Natalie at Threads and bobbins or the monthly #photoanhour organised by Louisa and Jane. However I ended up doing neither. So for this week I have decided to try and gather pictures and gossip for another Sunday Sevens.

Guest:

Last weekend David and I had our first guest staying at no. 49! My online friend Jennifer, who was touring Europe, decided to free up a weekend to visit myself and Liverpool. On her two nights stay with us, she met Riley whom she is a big fan of and took in the sights of the city. It was a fun weekend!

Jennifer meets Riley

Jennifer and Lambanana

Beatrix Potter 50ps:

In the past couple of weeks I have been successful in obtaining not one, but two 2017 Beatrix Potter 50p’s. Mr. Jeremy Fisher and Tom Kitten have joined my collection.

From 2016’s collection all I need is Jemima Puddle Duck. In 2017’s collection I require Benjamin Bunny. I have just discovered that in 2018 there is another collection of 50p’s produced, featuring yet another Peter Rabbit, Flopsy Bunny, The Taylor of Gloucester, and Mrs Tittlemouse. I wonder if I will find any of them?

Have you collected any of these 50p’s?

Book I am reading:

At present I am reading How to be a Champion by Sarah Millican. It was on offer on Amazon Kindle for .99p so I could not say no. I’m not au fait with autobiographies, but I can imagine the narrative to be spoken in Sarah Millican’s quirky voice. I can’t say that I’m enjoying the narrative style much. Though being of the same age, I’m finding many parallels with my youth. I can only read further and see where the text progresses.

Have you read this autobiography? What were your thoughts?

Bee in the City:

On Wednesday David and I had a day off work, so we decided to pop over to Manchester and see a few of their bees. We spent two hours walking the trail and spotting 28 bees. There are over 100 to see!

Mr Benn

Queen Bee

The Birds and the Bees

Vera

#walk1000miles:

Though I have already accomplished 1000 miles. I am still accumulating my mileage for 2018. This week I have managed a reasonable 30 miles, bringing my annual total to (all the ones), 1,111 miles. I am eagerly awaiting the production of the 2018 medals, so I can add it to my certificate.

So, that was my week, how was yours?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Hoodwinked!

My love for Wild in Art trails comes as no surprise, given the amount of art trials I have seen in past years. You can read about my colourful celebration of such art trails here. This year is no exception. I await (in)patiently for Manchester’s Bee in the City. It was seeing their Cow Parade in 2004 that started all this mad cap trail following!

At present Nottingham have a fun take on the Robin Hood connection to the city with their Hoodwinked trail. 33 colourful robin statues bring a splash of colour to the streets. The trail runs until 30th September 2018.

David and I drove the 2.5 (ish) hours from Liverpool to take in a visit. We parked at the Trinity Square car park, which at £4.40 for up to two hours I felt was a little steep. The city is compact and easy to navigate. A friendly gentleman offered us tips on how find all the robins, though we were only on a whistle stop tour. We managed to find 17 robins out of the 33, not bad for an hour and a half walking. Below is a collage of some of the robins we found!

Captain Jack Robin

Robin Hood and Christine

Green Man of Sherwood Forest

Max

Sherwood Forest

R2 Tweet2

Rocket Robin

Where’s Robin

I was happy to see that it was people of all ages who were looking out for the robins. It was nice to visit a city I have not been to previously, and would probably visit again if there’s another trail.

Have you visited Nottingham? What were your thoughts?

We decided to lunch at Sherwood Forest. How can we visit Nottingham without taking in the forest associated with Robin Hood? So we drove the 40 minutes from Nottingham to Sherwood Forest, where we paid a reasonable £3.00 for all day parking.

Sherwood Forest

Robin Hood and Little John

Major Oak

Sherwood Forest, though reduced by deforestation, housed some striking looking trees. We luncheoned surrounded by many oak trees and visited the Major Oak. Estimated at around 1,500 years old, it looked I thought, not much older than the Allerton Oak at Calderstones Park! We only spent an hour at the forest before we headed on our long journey home. There were many walking trails for visitors with more time. I would have liked to have walked further into the forest.

Have you visited Sherwood Forest? What were your impressions?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

 

30 Days Wild 2018 – Day Fifteen

Day 15: I decided to turn to The Wildlife Trusts for inspiration. Their app suggesting 101 Random Acts of Wildness is free to download and easy to use. Today’s choice was to explore somewhere wild.

I walk past a community woodland daily, so decided to make a quick visit before work.

Mab Lane Community Woodland is part of the Mersey Forest and was opened in 2010. Before that the land was disused and a spot for fly-tipping. However the land was developed, 20,000 trees were planted and now there are pathways for both walkers and cyclists and is a haven for wildlife.

Mab Lane Community Woodland

Bees on bramble

Mab Lane Community Woodland

Hoverfly

Californian Thistle

Sculpture

Clouds

On my short walk, I noticed bees enjoying the brambles, wildflowers among the grasses, swallows flying overhead and the noisy chatter of baby birds in the trees.

Do you have a community development like this one near you?

Thanks for reading, and stay wild!

Christine x

 

Sunday Sevens #50

I wasn’t going to do a Sunday Sevens (devised by Natalie at Threads and bobbins). I haven’t taken that many pictures this week, but I thought I would give it a try and see what I could come up with.

Beauty:

Among a bunch of flowers I bought this week, were some yellow roses. I thought how pretty the folds of petals looked.

Yellow Rose

Dan Brown’s Origin

Book I am reading:

I’m currently enjoying Dan Brown’s latest Robert Langdon offering, Origin. Though it’s punctuated with endless lectures on the many geographical and historical places in the novel. I am looking forward to finding out the true reason for Winston!

#walk1000miles:

A quick update on my weeks mileage, which has been 33. Bringing my annual total to 643 miles.

Yarden:

This Saturday, David and I took a visit to my favourite garden centre, Lady Green. We went in the hope of getting (shade loving) rockery plants for around the pond, but ended up getting the wrong type (sun loving). However the mistake was a blessing as the phlox I bought ended up in the main yarden around David’s recently moved acer. In total we bought five plants, and all have now got new homes. 🙂

Bee Sculpture

I also fell in love with some funky art for the yarden. These funny bee sculptures really do brighten the yarden up and at £3.99, weren’t too expensive either. 🙂

Riley Walks:

This Bank Holiday weekend has been unprecedented. The NW of England has been blessed with wall to wall sunshine and temperatures hitting 24°C. It truly has been a lovely Bank Holiday. On Sunday David and I took a hot Riley to a local nature reserve, Lunt Meadows. We visited Lunt last year as part of my 30 days Wild, so decided to go for another 4.5 mile walk around the reserve.

Christine and Riley

David and Riley

Lunt Nature Reserve

Greylag Geese

The sun was hot even at 10am! Peregrines soared before a cloudless blue sky, while greylag geese eyed us wearily. Bees buzzed among orchids and there were innumerous bird songs, most I could not identify. Speckled woods fluttered in nearby woodland. Orange tips, small tortoiseshells and peacocks, were all too fast for us to take a picture! Our leisurely morning walk flew by. Riley, though hot seemed to enjoy the different smells and sounds of the lovely nature reserve.

What have you been up to this Bank Holiday?

That was my week, how was yours?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

A Close Up With – The Kelpies

The Kelpies are the worlds largest equine sculptures, standing a towering 30m (100ft). They were constructed from a puzzle of 30,000 pieces of steel and opened to the public in 2014. Scottish Canals commissioned them to commemorate a new canal linking the Forth and Clyde Canal to the River Carron. Designed by Glasgow based artist Andy Scott, who drew inspiration from the Clydesdale horses that pulled heavy barges filled with the products of industry, through the Scottish canals. The Kelpies are a fitting tribute to these horses and the industrial heritage of the area.

In 2014 David and I took a tour of this wondrous feat of engineering and art. The Kelpies are lit up in a different colour nightly. We visited when they were red!

The Kelpies

The Kelpies

Inside the belly of the beast

Selfie with a Kelpie

Feeding an apple to a Kelpie

The Kelpies in red

A Kelpie in red

Evening with the Kelpies

The Kelpies

Have you visited the Kelpies? What were your impressions?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

Exciting Times Ahead – 2018!

I did a similar post looking forward to the new year of 2017, so I thought I would follow the trend and do a 2018 one too! There’s so much I have already booked for the new year! If all goes to plan 2018 is measuring up to be one wonderful year!! Here’s what’s to come in the year ahead.

Of the many events already filling up the new calendar are two concerts to see the Liverpool Philharmonic in action.

Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra

Recently whilst in town, I walked past a billboard advertising the return of a short run of Khaled Hossieni’s The Kite Runner at the Liverpool Playhouse. After reading the book and missing the first run of this acclaimed play, I just had to book tickets this time around.

The Kite Runner

Terracotta Army – World Museum Liverpool

Another much anticipated event happening in Liverpool in 2018 is the ticketed China’s First Emperor exhibition. Highlighting artifacts from the emperor’s spectacular tomb.

Street Art:

2018 is measuring up to be a fantastic year for street art trails. Here are just some of the Wild in Art trails I hope to visit.

GoGo Hares

Hoodwinked

Bee in the City

We have visited the lovely city of Norwich in the past, to see their gorillas and dragon trails. From the 24th June to the 8th September 2018, the city’s streets will be graced by colorful hares in their, GoGo Hares trail.

Nottingham have an imaginative trail called Hoodwinked, this year. The sculptures in the shape of robins are an inspiring take on the Robin Hood name! I can’t wait to see them!

Also, Manchester has a swarm of bees hitting the streets this summer in Bee in the City.

These are just a few Wild in Art trails happening in 2018. Will you be going see any of them?

And continuing:

#walk1000miles

30 Day Wild

Sunday Sevens

A Year in Books

This year I will carry on with initiatives such as:

• The Wildlife Trust’s 30 Days Wild in June
• Circle of Pine Trees, The/A Year in Books
• Natalie’s Sunday Sevens series
• Country Walking’s #walk1000miles 

2018 is the centenary of the end of WW1.

Middleport Pottery, Stoke-on-Trent

IWM Manchester

There will be forthcoming displays of Wave and Weeping Window by Paul Cummins and Tom Piper in the NW Region. The Weeping Window will be at Stoke on Trent’s Middleport Pottery in August/September and the Wave will be at Manchester’s Imperial War Museum September/November.

Follow this link for more destinations in 2018. Will you be visiting any of them?

As yet there are no holidays planned, but I do have some ideas. I just need to book time off work and to plan them!

What events/holidays are you looking forward to in 2018?

Thanks for reading,

Christine x

#PoppiesTour – Caernarfon Castle.

If you have seen my previous posts about the poppies at Yorkshire Sculpture Park and Liverpool, you will know that I am trying to see them as they visit various places around the UK!

Sadly we never made the journey to see The Wave at Lincoln Castle, but I made sure we booked free tickets to see the Weeping Window at Caernarfon Castle! The event was hotly anticipated and we managed to get a time slot on the penultimate day the poppies were being displayed. All other Saturday’s had been booked up! So on the 19th November, David and I headed for the A55 and Caernarfon.

Caernarfon Castle

Caernarfon Castle has always been on my list of places to visit. Seeing the poppies and the castle together was a perfect combination. Then add the free entrance to the castle whilst the poppies were at Caernarfon and it made for a fantastic day!

The castle was already bustling with people when we arrived at 11am. (Having parked the car for £4 at the harbour carpark). I have a feeling the castle has never been so popular as it has been since the poppies arrived! I now understand why you had to book a time slot to visit. The narrow staircases going up and down the towers were treacherous. It was bad enough climbing single file but when faced with people wanting to go past you on a narrow stone staircase, things grew a little scary! Thankfully we were only stuck on a tower’s staircase once, and I came away with a slightly grazed hand!

Stairway

The poppies were as I remembered them. Their emblematic hue made people pause, silently in awe. We took hundreds of pictures of the poppies and below are a selection of the best!

Once we had seen the poppies, we made the most of the free entry and explored the castle. We walked along curtain walls, took in the views from the towers and even managed to dress up at the Welch Fusiliers Museum.

We spent a good two – three hours at the castle and I would recommend a visit if in the area.

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From Caernarfon we headed home via two llyns (lakes). I was on the lookout for prospective swims for next year and two I had in mind, fitted the bill!

Llyn Cwellyn

The first was Llyn Cwellyn, actually a reservoir. Sadly there wasn’t much of a walk along the lakeside and we were only at the lake for about an hour. (Having paid £2.50 parking fee for four hours!) To make the llyn wheelchair accessable there is a wooden walkway but sadly, there was only one actual ‘beach’ in which to enter the water.

However the water was crystal clear and the shingle floor looked an easy entrance into the llyn that seemed to deepen quickly. David and I were the only people at the llyn, (while others headed for highs such as Snowdon). The area was so peaceful, the sun sitting low on the horizon, gave me a sudden wave of nostalgia. Wast Water came to mind. I wish I had brought my swimming costume with me and braved the cold!!

Afterwards, we headed towards Llyn Gwynant. Looking for parking places we passed Llyn Dinas which also looks a lovely place to swim!

We parked alongside Llyn Gwynant and headed for the shore. I got Terence (turtle thermometer) out and measured a very chilly 7°c!

 

Llyn Gwynant

Testing the water temperature!

Both llyns have got me super excited for next year. Spring/Summer 2017 can’t come quick enough!

Have you visited North Wales/Snowdonia? What are your favourite llyns?

Christine x

Grizedale Forest and Hermiston B&B.

On our journey north towards our bed for two nights, I planned an excursion to Grizedale Forest. It was the perfect opportunity to look for the colours of autumn. However, the day dawned grey and oppressive. Indeed all weekend the weather forecast was for heavy cloud cover.

Grizedale is the UK’s first sculpture forest and while David and I walked the route towards Carron Crag we looked for sculptures en-route.

17 Degree South, Linda Watson, 1997

The walk to Carron Crag took two hours. There are many other walks, some strenuous, others less so. Our visit was brief but Grizedale is definitely a place to re-visit. Have you been? What did you think of the place?

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Grizedale was an hours drive from our B&B, Hermiston Guest House. Hermiston is situated in the quiet village of Braithwaite, just 10 minutes drive from Keswick. On arrival we were met at the door by Helen who welcomed us inside. She carried my suitcase and showed us to our room, Skiddaw. The room was well appointed, in neutral colours with an en-suite (the shower was lovely!) The window opened to glorious views of the Skiddaw mountain range.

While we chatted about my wild swims over coffee, tea and cake in the guest lounge, Helen informed us that she had left me a gift for my birthday from herself and husband Phil. I was astounded by their generosity. They had gifted a bottle of bucks fizz! I was warmed by their kindness!

Hermiston Guest Lounge

David and I had planned on an early rise the next morning, meaning we would miss breakfast. Helen offered to make me a fruit salad to take on my travels, which I kindly accepted.

Even breakfast the day after was a relaxed and friendly affair. Phil served the meals and friendly chatted to the guests, showing real interest and giving suggestions on places to visit. Helen and Phil made us feel very welcome in their home. David and I really enjoyed our stay and would recommend their B&B. It would be nice to visit again in the future.

I can’t wait to write up and tell you all about my next adventure. Our full day in the Lake District was EPIC! 14 hours of wondrous sights and experiences! Do continue to follow me as I recount my short but wonderful trip to Cumbria.

Thanks for reading,

Christine x