8th December photo - finished Christmas cake

Apart from the post holiday chores I have been doing today - I have also finished my Christmas cake. I am delighted with the ribbon around the outside of the cake, as I had been looking for just the right one for ages and I found it Saturday in a Florist shop in Bowness and the red & gold 'merry Christmas' came from a posh baking shop in Bowness as well. They had the most gorgeous black glass cake stand - but at £50 - thought that was slightly too much of an extravagance, which would most probably got broken on the train journey home - so I reluctantly had to leave it in the shop.

However hard I tried - my holly berries - would just not go into really round balls - so we have slightly elongated ones!! The glitter on the holly leaves is edible glitter! - it was one of my 50 presents for my birthday - glad I have found a use for it.

Right off to scrub the red & green colouring off my hands now!

Cumbria trip - photo round up

Just a small (!!!!) collection of photos from our trip to Cumbria.

Yes Steven has a mouth full of food! - We found a lovely homemade fudge shop selling so many different varites of fudge that we just had to try some - and we kept it as a reward for reaching the top! The gorgeous view from the top of Brantfell.

Another view from Brantfell.

GPS in hand - on our way to find a geocache. We found 9 caches while we were away and it was a fantastic way of exploring the area - it took us to places that I am sure we would not have otherwise found.

On Momday we took a boat trip to Ambleside and visited the Stock Ghyll waterfalls - which were tumbling very fast and loudly due to the recent rains - so it was a great time to visit them.

After the waterfalls we continued on to our first summit climb in the Lake District - Wansfell Pike & Baystones.

The only trouble with Summit climbs in December is - the winds on top seem determined to blow you off and you take the risk of poor views! We had a white out on top - but superb views over Ambleside and the surrounding fells as we climbed up.
At the lakeside was an abundance of widelife. Someone was throwing bread to them - this was the resulting scrum!

Our first walk was up to Orrest head - which fittingly was the same first walk that Alfred Wainwright took about 70 years ago - starting off his love affair with the Lake District - I can see why - everything about this place is magical.

Me with my first Lakeland cache on Orrest Head.
Everywhere we went there were waterfalls galore - I like the way the camera has captured the rushing water here.

I took loads of photos - but have spared you all of them - think I will make up another photobook of our trip.

5th, 6th & 7th December photos - a few days in the Lake District

Steven & I have just spent an amazing 3 days in the Lake District. We stayed at Bowness on Windermere in a lovely hotel called the Craig Manor which overlooked Lake Windermere. I had lost some weight before I went, but I think it has all gone back on thanks to the 4 course meal at dinner each night. We walked everyday and saw some amazing sights and took hundreds of photos - but I have with great difficulty, whittled them down to just 3 - one for 5th, 6th & 7th - will post some more tomorrow, to give a flavour of visit.

This photo was taken down on the shores of lake Windermere at dusk. We had had a long hill walk in the afternoon - but I was desperate to see the lake so we headed down here on our way back to the hotel for dinner. The photos taken with my Panasonic bridge camera have this lovely blue hue - the ones with my Nikon DSLR are just black blobs.

Sunday weather was actually quite nice and we had taken a nice hill walk up on Brantfell, overlooking the lake, but the weather changed as we were leaving and these clouds came over - patchy though allowing the sun's rays to poke through. We have some nice proper colour photos of the lake - but I like the colours of this one.

We had our first summit walk today and watched by a fabulous water fall at Stock Ghyll - but I have ended up choosing this photo of the head quarters of my spiritual shopping home - Lakeland!! (thought you might like this one Vicki!!!) We had our lunch in the Lakeland cafe on Saturday when we arrived and it was delicious - even the home made cake - the diet had to go on hold for 3 days!, but tonight as we waited for our train home - it looked so lovely all lit up with the huge Christmas tree outside - that this is today's photo.

4th December photo - Lime Kilns

Today my geocaching travels led me to the Lime Kilns at Porth Y Waen. I have driven past the spot many times and wondered what they were like and today I found out. They are all old, disused and rather overgrown now - but you could see that they would have been fascinating in their hey day when they were all lit.

Limestone was be broken down by hand and successive layers of coal and lime stone were built up. When the loading was complete the kiln would be fired and the fire would spread through the load. Typically a kiln took a day to load, 3 days to fire, 2 days to cool and a day to unload, so a 1 week turnaround was normal. All 7 of the kilns were worked a day at a time - so there was a good rotation system.

inside the kiln - showing the air vent at the back. Its a shame that they are so overgrown with vines and creepers - but is was quite atmospheric.

The footpath to the Lime kilns followed the old tram way tracks which used to take the lime away to the nearby Shropshire Union Canal for transport around the country. The tram way was constructed before 1820 and ran for 1 1/2 miles, working by gravity down to the canal and pulled back empty by horse. The tramway was closed in 1913, but the rails survived until 1939 when they were pulled up in the great scrap metal drive at the start of WW2

3rd December photo - new geocoin

Was not sure what to post for today - when luckily a package containing 2 new geocoins arrived from America and this months coin is so vibrant that I thought it would make an ideal POTD.

I have 2 coins each month from the geocoin Collectors Club and I set them off in the geocaches I visit and then I can track them on their journeys - some are abroad and have travelled thousands of miles. Some sadly have disappeared when the caches have been found by muggles (non geocoachers) and taken away. I am looking forward to starting these 2 out on their journeys very soon.

2nd December photo Christmas lights

I was in town tonight to see a film at the Old Market Hall - so thought I would grab the chance to take some night shots of the lights in town as they look so pretty and sparkly. However - Christmas lights it turns out are very hard to take photos of and mine are not particularly good - but as it is now 10.30 - it is too late to take anything else - so I will pick my POTD from one of these!
The lights in the Square in front of the Old Market Hall cinema.

Lights along along High Street.

An empty Square after the shoppers had all gone home.

The old & the new!

I thought this florist shop window looked nice & Christmassy.

1st December 2009 World Aids Day

Today is World Aids Day and the Red Ribbon is the international symbol of support for people living with HIV. Wearing a red ribbon is a way to raise awareness about HIV as well as to break down stigma and prejudice.

Today's photo is the above photo - my red ribbon which I am proudly wearing on my uniform.

There are 80,000 people living in the UK with HIV and 7,700 new diagnosis were made in 2008.

Here are some basic facts from World Aids Day web site

What is HIV?

HIV is a virus that attacks the body's immune system - the body's defence against diseases.

Are HIV and AIDS the same?

No. When someone is described as living with HIV, they have the HIV virus in their body. A person is considered to have developed AIDS when the immune system is so weak it can no longer fight off a range of diseases with which it would normally cope.

How is HIV passed on?

HIV can be passed on through infected blood, semen, vaginal fluids or breast milk.

The most common ways HIV is passed on are:

• Sex without a condom with someone living with HIV
• Sharing infected needles, syringes or other injecting drug equipment
• From an HIV-positive mother (to her child) during pregnancy, childbirth or breastfeeding (but with effective treatment and care the risk of transmission can be greatly reduced)

I don't know anyone with HIV... do I?

Today there are more people than ever before living with HIV in the UK, but less people report knowing someone with HIV. People with HIV generally look healthy and many do not find it easy to tell other people, so you may not realise if someone you know if HIV positive. To learn more about the different groups of people affected by HIV view the statistics.

Is there a cure for HIV?

No, but treatment can keep the virus under control and the immune system healthy. People on HIV treatment can live a healthy, active life, although they may experience side effects from the treatment. If HIV is diagnosed late, treatment may be less effective.

How can I protect myself and others from HIV infection?

Always use a condom when having vaginal or anal sex. You also may want to use a condom or dental dam during oral sex although the risk of transmission of HIV is much lower. You can get free condoms from a sexual health clinic, which you can locate at via the fpa website. Never share needles, syringes or any other injecting equipment.

What's it like living with HI