Day Eight: Today’s photo prompt is shopping. David and I took a visit to Liverpool City Centre to shop for further Christmas gifts for the family. I was disappointed in the shops we visited as many didn’t have much in the way of Christmas decorations and there were no Christmas tunes to be heard! We walked 11,000 steps and five miles searching for the perfect gifts.
It’s been a tiring day.
Have you started your Christmas shopping yet?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
It is thanks once again to the lovely Sharon from Sunshine and Celandines for informing me of this Saturday’s #photoanhour challenge. I don’t use Instagram much, so here’s my photo an hour in blog form.
Photo and Hour – 18th February 2017
8am to 9am:
It always seems that these photo an hour challenges fall on days when I have nothing planned! My Saturday began like every other day, with me getting up to make my breakfast. Granola and black coffee, a perfect start to the day!
9am to 10am:
We visited my mum (next door) and spotted a lone daffodil standing proudly in her back yarden.
The weekly shop
10am to 12 noon:
Saturday is usually grocery shopping day but once we had unpacked the day’s purchases, David and I headed for the M62 and for garden centres/pet shops around Widnes. One of the garden centres we frequent, White Moss stands opposite the imposing Fiddlers Ferry (coal) power station.
Fiddlers Ferry Power Station
12 noon to 1pm:
Clipsley Pets and Aquatics
Sadly we did not find what we were looking for in Widnes, so we drove to pet shops in Warrington, before stopping at Clipsley Pets and Aquatics, in Haydock. We have been visiting Clipsley for the past three years and have bought most of our aviary from them. We visited today with just the intention of looking!
1pm to 2pm:
Who’s in there?
Travelling home seemed to take ages, more so with excitable new friends sitting in these boxes! 😀
2pm to 4pm:
After a busy morning, the afternoon was much more relaxing. David and I watched on while our new friends settled into their new home. Welcome to the aviary, Set (Gouldian Finch), Leaf (Blue Faced Parrot Finch) and Paris (Owl Finch). How beautiful are they? After all the sadness of the past few weeks, they have made me so happy! 😀
4pm to 5pm:
With the sun trying to break through the clouds, David and I pottered about the yarden. I re-planted an Euonymus Japonicus which was looking sad at the front of the house.
5pm to 6pm:
After doing some housework and before cooking the evening’s meal, I enjoyed a moment of calm by looking up at the clouds coloured by the setting sun.
6pm to 7:30pm:
This evenings dinner was a one pot stuffed pepper casserole. I just substituted the beef with bulgur wheat and topped David’s off with a chicken breast. It made for a wholesome meal.
7:30pm to 8pm:
I ended my photo an hour challenge by sitting in the living room and watched as the finches paired up and explored their new surroundings.
Finch aviary
How have you spent your Saturday?
Thanks to Janey and Louisa for setting up the challenge.
Christine x
1st January 2017. A new year stretched out before us unwritten. David and I decided to start our 2017 adventures in earnest. While many nursed their heads after the previous nights joviality, we headed up an empty M6 towards Cumbria, the Lake District. Our first destination, Banishead Quarry north of Torver.
We parked the car at Torver Village Hall, where they asked for a £3 donation. There was free parking further along the road, but as the day progressed they became very busy.
From the village hall we turned right onto the A593 and walked towards Crook Corner, and took the left-hand path that lead to Scar Head Caravans and Campsite. From there we followed signs to Tranearth before taking the right-hand path onto the Coniston Fells with the Old Man ahead.
The Old Man of Coniston
Banishead Quarry wasn’t hard to miss. A rocky path wound between huge peaks of spoil heaps.
Banishead Quarry
The gem of this disused quarry is a flooded excavation site, featuring its very own waterfall.
Banishead Waterfall
We could have carried on towards the Old Man, or indeed took a path from Torver towards Coniston lakeside but we decided to retrace our steps back to the car and head towards the car park at Coniston Boat Centre.
It was a perfect winters day, save for the bone chilling wind and the bright sunlight that seared the backs of our retinas.
After lunch we walked away from the car park, through a collection of shops (among them, one was an outdoor shop and another sold fudge), then through a kissing gate to a path that meandered towards Coniston Water, passing Coniston Hall and another campsite.
The path was popular with dog walkers and families with pushchairs alike. We spent a leisurely three hours walking to the shoreline and back.
Coniston Water
Have you visited Coniston? Any memories of the area?
Thanks for reading,
Christine x
Christine Lucas 