Friday 27 January 2012

iPhone Photo Friday 2

Well, it's Friday again and like last week I'm here with a roundup of this week's iPhone pics.

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  1. In an unplanned trip to Manchester's Arndale Centre last Saturday with Caroline, Trev and Charlie I spotted a Waterstone's bookshop.  And inside it I spotted Pioneer Woman's book!  I didn't expect to see that in a UK bookshop.  In blogland Pioneer Woman is huge and I even have one of her cookbooks which I posted about here in 2009.
  2. The Arndale Centre isn't a place I ever shop so some of the names were new to me.  Hotel Chocolat being one  in particular.  I was mesmerized by it's classy displays.  It's got to be a chocoholic's paradise!
  3. I am familiar with Apple and was happy to see one if its stores on Saturday.  I popped inside and had a word with a sales assistant.  I wanted to make sure that Face Time is free UK-USA just as it is within the the UK.  Happily it is.  I want my sister in Arkansas to get an iPhone now so we can chat face to face and knowing that it's free I'm hopeful she'll be getting one soon.
  4. My lovely cousin, Sylvia, and her equally lovely twin daughters came over to visit on Sunday.  Sylvia brought me a little gift.  A  china teacup and saucer, (made in England) that holds a fragranced candle.  Very pretty, thank you, Syl!
  5. I collected George and Nicholas from school on Tuesday because their mum wasn't well.  They were both so happy to see me.  I must make a point of doing that more often.
  6. A self portrait.  Don't know what to say about that.
  7. Nicholas stayed for tea last night while George was at football practice.  We played "Hide the Thimble".  He was as good as gold.
  8. "Curious Case of the Vanishing Killer" was a headline in the paper today.  Deaths from heart disease have dropped remarkably in the UK in the last decade!  Good news for once - but it didn't make the front page.  It was tucked away inside somewhere.  Shame isn't it?  You'd think that good news like that would be welcome on the front page once in a while.
  9. And finally, we've got snow.  Picture taken with a new little App on my iPhone.  Fisheye lens, it was free and it's fun.

And that's it for now.

Kathleen

Monday 23 January 2012

It's a Boy Thing

I collected Charlie from Nursery at lunchtime.IMG_0373b

There's some work being carried out at the back of the railway station in our little town.  I parked the car and let Charlie have a close up view of the diggers in action.  There was another lady there too with her little boy in his buggy watching the goings on.

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It's plain and simple.  Little boys love diggers.

Kathleen.

Photos taken with my iPhone.

Friday 20 January 2012

iPhone Photo Friday

A few iPhone pics from an uneventful week.  By the way I have nothing against uneventful.  Uneventful is relaxed and easygoing.

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  1. Plenty of fruit in the house. Trying to eat more of it.
  2. Tuesday was a day without rain, Charlie and I went for a walk in the park after Nursery.
  3. I took Charlie to the visitor centre at the lake yesterday.  We spent ages following the road sweeper around, he was fascinated by it!
  4. Charlie made a train in the visitor centre theatre.  I bought a ticket for Devon.
  5. I'm really enjoying the library.  Spent a leisurely hour there this morning.  There was a knitting group in full swing.  Like I told you, this library is a friendly place.
  6. My books.
  7. The dreary, rainy view from my computer room window.
  8. Pretty new shoes - a sweet pressie from my daughter, Caroline.
  9. One of my very, very favourite photos of all time!  It's of me and my girls taken many moons ago.  I remember the day clearly.  We had gone to Manchester to meet my lovely cousin, Sylvia.  We are in St. Ann's Square sitting outside a cafe, not something we did very often in those days.  Sylvia took the photo.  Do you remember that day, Syl?  I wonder if you girls do?

Do you know, I think I could write a full post on that little photograph.  The little brass frame is one of a set of three I bought that year with money my dad gave me for Christmas.  I got them from Marks and Spencer.   I made the pinafore dress Victoria is wearing.  I remember her modelling it in the garden for me when it was finished and my next door neighbour, Muriel, saying what a good job I'd done.  Muriel was ever such a lovely lady.  Caroline's was a little sailor dress from Marks and Spencer and I loved it.  I thought both the girls looked really nice that day.  Just a couple of weeks after the photo was taken we went to Arkansas to my sister's home for our summer holiday and had one of our best holidays ever.

Ok, I'm done reminiscing, it was nice though.

Kathleen.

 

Sunday 15 January 2012

Wycoller Country Park

A sharp frost covered the ground this morning but that didn't stop us from enjoying a day in the countryside.  Actually, for me, it only enhanced the pleasure.  I love to get all wrapped up and get out in the fresh air when it's cold.

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Victoria, Gary and the boys joined William and I today for an outing to the village of Wycoller and its surrounding Country Park.  Wycoller is said to be one of the prettiest villages in Lancashire and is only a 45 minutes or so drive away from our doorstep.

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None of us had ever been to Wycoller before so we were all in for a treat.  Quaint and pretty to say the least and mainly traffic free too.

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Wycoller is in Bronte country, follow this link for info on that connection.

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Above you can see the remains of 16th century Wycoller Hall on the left.  A visitor information centre is in the barn on the right of the photo. 

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The boys loved it.  There was plenty of room for them to run around and ride their bikes.  I imagine it's a different story on a summer's day when the place will be heaving with visitors.  It was fairly busy today in the depths of winter.

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Seven bridges cross Wycoller Beck and I think it's the one above that is reported to be around 1,000 years old!  That's George above, I guarantee he was wishing he'd got his wellies on so he could go paddling.

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Lots of old houses, quite a few of them for sale.  Pretty as this village is, I don't think I'd like to live right in the middle of it, it must be like living in a goldfish bowl!

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Picnic area complete with duck pond. 

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Another bridge - maybe it's this one that's 1,000 years old?

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Did I mention it was cold!

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Beautiful landscape.

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An abundance of dry stone walls.  Little boys just have to climb don't they?

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Rich farming country I think.  Tons of sheep in the fields.

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It was a lovely day and we had a great time.  George posing for me!

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Here I am in the ruins of Wycoller Hall with George.  He particularly seemed to be having a good time today and wants us to take him back again.  I think that can be arranged, no problem!

Kathleen.

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Puppy Guide Dog

Whilst taking our little dog, Muffin, for a walk round the neighbourhood the other day I met this lady and her little dog, a beautiful Labrador puppy.

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We stopped to chat, how you do, dog owner to dog owner. 

This 16 weeks old Lab is a Guide Dog Puppy in Training.  I discovered through our little chat, perhaps everybody else knows this but I didn't,  that the Puppy Walkers keep the puppies for around 12 months. Their task is to socialize them and give them basic training.  The puppies are taken everywhere with the walkers, on buses, trains, in crowds, mixing with other animals etc.  At the end of the 12 months the puppies then go on for actual Guide Dog Training. 

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He looks angelic doesn't he? The walker was telling me though that he was really lively and quite a handful to look after.  I'm sure she'll sort him out.  After 7, or was it 8 puppies, I think she knows what she's doing!

Kathleen.

Sunday 8 January 2012

Worsthorne and Hurstwood.

The plan today was to take a hike.  IMG_0295b

In particular, this little hike.

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Which I came across in this recently purchased little book.

So, William and I got our act together and even though it was raining, drove the 30 minutes or so to Worsthorne.   Ever the optimist, I was sure the rain would stop before we got there and that we would, as promised in the guide book, be able to drink in the "sweeping views of hauntingly beautiful countryside".

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I was wrong, it didn't stop.  We got to the start of the hike and looked out across the field and the "gentle ascents" that would lead us up to Hurstwood Reservoir.  The hilltops were shrouded in very low lying mists.  It didn't look like we were going to see much of that "hauntingly beautiful countryside" today.   

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So we beat a slow retreat and decided instead to explore the village of Worsthorne.  (He loves that hat.  Me, not so much).

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I have to say Worsthorne is a pretty village, unfortunately today it was a pretty smelly one.  One of those "healthy" country smells was in the air.

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I think the farmer and his bovine friends had been doing a bit of team work.

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Lots of quaint cottages.

 

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This charmingly named Foxglove Cottage is for sale.  I looked it up when we got home.  If you fancy a nosy here's the link to the estate agent selling it.  Although pretty inside at £169,950 it's not cheap!

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I love the rolling green hills and dales and dry stone walls of our beautiful English countryside.  I just wish the rain would stop for a while so that we could enjoy it!

Kathleen.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Bramsche

William, unusually for him, had the afternoon off work today.

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So we went out for lunch.  Not far, just to Bramsche.  No, not the town in Germany but the new cafe bar in Todmorden that I've taken a liking to.

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I particularly like to be in a cosy cafe reading the paper when the weather outside is wet and miserable - just like it was today.  I snapped this photo as a group of ramblers all togged up in waterproof clothes passed by on the other side of the road.  It gives you an idea of just how wet it was - and still is!

Both images taken with the Instagram App on my iPhone.  I don't know how I ever managed without Instagram.  I think I'm addicted to it!

Kathleen.

 

Tuesday 3 January 2012

Kids today...

... have all manner of super duper high tech, computerised games and gadgets to play with.  My grandsons are no exception.  Eight year old George for instance got an iPod Touch for Christmas.  He and his brother, and dad too for that matter, play on the PlayStation, play games on the iPad etc., etc.  They're very lucky little boys at their house.

But ... when my grandsons come to my house we (I say we because I'm usually in the thick of it!) play different kinds of games.  Very often we play games with lots of pretend in them but often too, it'll be a "proper" game such as Hide and Seek, Hide the Thimble, Draughts or a game of cards.

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George stayed over with us the night before last and we played cards and then Ludo.  Funny isn't it?  All the technology that's around but you still can't beat a good old board game like Ludo!

I wonder what games George will be playing with his grandchildren?

Kathleen.