Spring Bank Holiday Weekend, Bay View and Silverdale

The Bank Holiday weekend got off to a fine start. Not.  I received a phone call from Bay View on Friday afternoon saying, once again, that because of high easterly winds there was damage to our awning.  Oh no!  The same thing had happened just a couple of weeks ago.  Caroline, Trev, Charlie and I were going up there on Friday evening anyway for the Bank Holiday Weekend with Billy joining us on Saturday afternoon after work.  Heading up the motorway heavy traffic and incidents made our journey take more than twice as long as it should’ve done.  Finally making it to Bay View we discovered a tear in the awning and a dint on the side of the van but a good neighbour had put the awning back up for us.  Apparently it had totally collapsed.  Trev set to and sorted it out and then when William arrived on Saturday there was more sorting and patching up and we’re now hoping it will last the season.  Next year we won’t put it up until June and just hope that will be better.

There was good news though.  Good weather was forecast and it materialised too!

Saturday morning we walked along the footpath to Archer’s Cafe for breakfast. We had pretty greenery and blue skies on one side...

.. and the estuary and blue skies on the other.  A flock of sheep was also out for a walk.

This was my first visit to Archer’s Cafe – Caroline and Trev had discovered it a week or so ago.  A working farm, campsite and cafe combined.  A lovely setting and so convenient to get to at just 1.3 miles from Bay View.  I know it’s exactly 1.3 miles because of “Strava”, a new iPhone App Caroline introduced me to.  It’s a great App.  It records the length and time taken of your walk (or run if you’re that way inclined) and even shows you a map of your route. I love it.

The weather was good so we naturally ate breakfast in the fresh air.  In colder weather it’ll be nice to eat inside the cafe with two woodburners sure to make things warm and cosy.

Charlie, now 5 years old, was having a lazy day.  He rode in the buggy both there and back!

Horses having a lie down.  Never seen this before.

Saturday afternoon William and I explored the area a little and took in Silverdale Caravan Park.  This is a sister site to Bay View.   William and I actually have holidayed here in the past.  The building behind him houses a lovely swimming pool, cafe, shop etc.

A pretty, immaculately kept site, the vans are set in and amongst woodland.  Regulations state all vans must be green in colour.

This is the view a lot of those vans have through the trees.   See William up there?  He’s holding his belly in for the picture.  We both have to do that a lot these days!

Saturday evening we all strolled through the site, stopping for a drink at the onsite bar/restaurant.  Charlie entertained us with star jumps.

So from a none too promising start the weekend shaped up pretty good!  More to come from this weekend but right now it’s bedtime for me.

I’m linking this post to Outdoor Wednesday.

What On Earth Is Going On With The Weather?

The weather is always a topic of conversation in the UK and no wonder when it’s the middle of May and parts of this country are having snow, gale force winds and floods but precious little sunshine!   I rarely leave the house without making sure that I have an umbrella in my bag!

Despite the weather yesterday morning Caroline and I walked up through Ealees to the lake.

Look at those clouds.  Fortunately for us they only dropped one or two spots of rain on us and really we had a lovely walk.  We even sat outside the visitor centre and enjoyed a coffee.

Following a public footpath up through a field away from the lake this little cottage can be found.  A date stone above the front door proudly states it was built in 1721.

Harley, Caroline’s dog, is a veritable water baby.  He just loves it.  He’s a labrador/ border collie cross and we think it must be the labrador in him.  Those eyes are beseeching Caroline to throw a stone for him.

My sister, her husband and grandson are leaving the sunshine of Arkansas and heading our way for a holiday in a couple of weeks.  I’m really looking forward to their visit and I’m really hoping the weather bucks up before then for them!

I’m linking this post to Outdoor Wednesday.

Until next time,

Donkeys are Adorable.

It has been a gorgeous day today. 

Midmorning I put Muffin on the lead and set off for a walk around the neighbourhood in glorious sunshine.

I didn’t take my camera with me but everywhere looked so green and pretty that I whipped my iPhone out and started snapping pics along the way.

Luscious green fields.  Heavenly to see after all the dull grey days we’ve had this winter.

Muffin, now 14 and a half years old isn’t as energetic as he used to be and by the time we were halfway round he was panting like crazy.  Lucky for him the door was open at the King Bill where I asked the landlord for some water for one thirsty little dog. 

On the way back I passed the field with the donkeys in.  They saw me coming.  I made a couple of clicking noises.  As you do.

Seconds later there they were at the gate, waiting for me to pet them.  I’m sure they were smiling at me.  Aren’t they cute?!

Look at that adorable face!  Lindsay, the lady who owns Attica Yarns, the wool shop I love going to, has a couple of donkeys on her farm.  Both rescue donkeys, one is called Roy and the other, Thomas Church!  Unusual, funny and cute name, Thomas Church, for a donkey don’t you think?  It makes me smile every time I think of it.

I’m linking this post to Outdoor Wednesday over at A Southern Daydreamer blog.

Blues Skies, Nothing But Blue Skies…

…and it’s a Bank Holiday and we all know it usually buckets down on one of those.  So the blue skies and sunshine this Bank Holiday weekend have been a welcome surprise to all the sun-starved people of this little British isle.

William has been busy all weekend tidying up the garden, creosoting the fence, power washing the flags and painting all the woodwork in the house.  All this while suffering with a bad back that rarely eases up on giving him pain.  I don’t know how he does it all but he’ll be like a man possessed until it’s finished.  So yesterday morning while he was doing all that (my offer of help was turned down) I drove over the tops to Hebden Bridge where I met Victoria, Gary and the boys for an al fresco breakfast in The Square.  A little bit of excitement awaited me there.

One of my favourite TV programmes is Great British Railway Journeys presented by the colourful Michael Portillo - a British journalist, broadcaster, and former Conservative Party politician and Cabinet Minister.  I have the shows on series link so I can watch them minus adverts and as and when I want to.  Imagine my surprise and delight when I spotted Mr Portillo walking toward me over the old pack horse bridge in the centre of Hebden Bridge.  He was obviously filming for the programme.  I couldn’t believe it when I thought about it afterwards but, I stopped him to say hello and tell him I loved his railway programmes.  I had my camera round my neck so without further ado I asked him if I could please take his picture.  I only took the one shot and I was so glad when I put my glasses on and checked to make sure it was a good one and not blurred.  He certainly stands out in a crowd with his flamboyant style of dress don’t you think?

After the excitement it was onto the park where the  boys spent an energetic hour or so.  Nicholas above mimicking his dad in the basket swing.   George was doing the pushing.

This morning more stream jumping was on the agenda.  George even asked me to bring my camera and catch him in mid-air over a different part of the stream.  I was more than happy to oblige.

Nicholas waiting for me to get sorted before he sprang into action.

And over he goes.  Needless to say before it was all over this little fella was wet through!

With all the sunshine this weekend a Margarita didn’t feel out of place and courtesy of my thoughtful older daughter, Victoria, that is exactly what I had last night.  Very nice it was too!