27th March photo - vinyl revival

Steven & I have recently dug out our huge collection of LP's and Northern Soul singles. The turntable was just sat there in the study not being used so we felt it was about time it was. So this photo of a vinyl record is my photo for the day.

My LP's are old sloppy ones Diana Ross and the Supremes and Marvin Gaye etc, whereas Steven's are the likes of David Bowie etc. Its lovely to hear my old records again (not Stevens!) and its making me feel very nostalgic. We were always very precious about our vinyl, so they are all in very good condition, so the sound quality is good.
I don't mind turning the LP's over after 20 minutes or so to play the other side - but the Northern Soul singles are a pain because often they only last 2 minutes or so. They remind of a time in my youth though, when Steven & I could dance the night away at a Northern Soul all nighter. We have never lost our love of Northern Soul and still have it on in the car or on CD's - the poor children were reared on it and know practically all the words to all the songs! Liam seems to enjoy it the most.

26th March photo - bizarre Shropshire inhabitants!

Well I thought I had an idea what today's photo would be as I was out geocaching with a friend. Perhaps me or Pat holding a cache or landscape or something like that - but no - today's photo is a pack of Llamas and Alpacas!! Bizarre I know!

We were driving to the first cache when we came upon this field full of funny furry animals - so we had to stop and investigate and yep - Llamas and Alpacas they were - so this just had to become my photo of the day. What with these and the ostriches - that I could not photograph last week (no SD card) - I am coming to the conclusion that Shropshire has some very strange inhabitants!

After this little delay to the start of our day out - it actually turned out to be very successful - 2 hill climbs and 2 finds!
First we climbed Black Radley Hill and found the cache under a lone Monkey Puzzle tree on the side of the hill - how did that get there - perhaps another funny Shropshire thing.

Then as the weather was so nice we ventured to the bigger neighbouring hill Heath Mynd at 1483 feet. It was a bit of a slog as there was no proper footpath so we had to clamber over heather and bracken to the top - but when we got there we were rewarded with gorgeous views all around - made the climb up totally worth it.
It was very windy on the top which made taking photos rather tricky - I am clinging on for dear life here - having just scrambled over rocks etc in the 10 second delay on my camera - must buy a new remote for it.

Too blowy to even pose for a shot!

Geocaching around Llanymanech

I had a day out geocaching around Llanymanech yesterday. Half of the town is in England and the other half is in Wales - which causes great problems to them because sometimes it can get quite political, as they have to wait for Welsh ambulances when an English one is right there and vice versa and the Welsh Assembly give away more things free than the English government!!

Anyway it was a delightful place to visit - but I had a very disappointing day - caching way - because I had 3 DNF ( did not find) caches!! I am sure they were all there - Just that I could not find them.

Llanymanech Heritage & wild life parks were very interesting and they had lots of information boards explaining - how the history of mining and industry have shaped the landscape.

This is the wynch at the top of a steep hill used to transport the lime out of the rocks down to the bottom of the hill.

These are the tracks going down the hill to carry the lime.

And this is the person in charge of the brakes!!!

This is the view from the top of Llanymanech heritage park over the town and leading to the Briedens. On top of the hill is Rodneys Pillar - thats my next challenge - to climb up to that - I have been waiting for some good weather to do this one so I can make the most of the views from the top of it.

25th March photo - the Grand

Well I got my theatre shot - its not brill but I will use it as my photo of the day because I want my album to be a record of where I have been, what I have done and who I have shared the year with.

Swan Lake was a feast for the eyes and ears. The dancers were gorgeous, the costumes and set a delight and the music just beautiful. Steven had booked fab seats - on the front row of the balcony, so we sat mesmerised. One strange thing though - only half the cast came out for a bow at the end - perhaps the others couldn't be bothered to wait and had gone home early!!

24th March photo - scones!

I have spent the morning baking - pineapple fruit cake and fruit scones.


The scones looked so delicious spread with a little Lurpack butter for my lunch, that todays photo was an easy choice.

23rd March photo - Eleanor in central Park

Clearly I have not taken today's photo - it was taken last week while Eleanor & Peter were in New York. She sent me 2 DVD's containing over 2,000 photos that they had taken - so I have spent the day deleting most of them from my laptop and main computer - so as this has what has occupied most of my day I feel justified in using it! (and its lovely and I can't wait to scrap it)

And this is a photo of her poster presentation of her research work, at the Conference they attended in Chicago and their reason for the trip to the States.

21st & 22nd March photos

No blogging done this weekend as Steven & I were away doing something rather novel - signing on the dotted line for a new caravan!

I think this is Steven's mid life crisis - I suppose its preferable to another woman or a fast car! He has been hankering after one for 12 months but I have not been so keen, but I finally relented after speaking to one of my friends. She said to go for it now - you don't know what is around the corner. She & her husband had made lots of plans of what they were going to do in his retirement - only for him to die 2 years before he retired and none of those plans fulfilled. This made me think and she is right - we only have one life so we should live it.

So this weekend we became the proud owners of this caravan at Clarach Bay in Wales. As you can see it overlooks the sea which is lovely - but is also quite noisy. The crashing waves woke us bright & early Sunday morning.

This is the view from the bench at the front of the caravan - roll on warmer weather so we can sit outside and enjoy the view.

This is a close view of the beach - it is mostly sand but at one end are layers of stratified rock which are very dynamic to look at.

But it makes the most lovely rock pools to play about in.

In the afternoon we had a wonder about the beach and site looking for photos for Sunday 21st and I think it will be one of these final 3.

This wooden fence over the river to the sea.

These beautiful stones on the beach.

Or this strange coloured seaweed.