23rd April photo - woodlands and workplaces

I have been out geocaching again today and visited some fab places - from lovely woodlands to historical industrial workplaces. Again tons of photos - but not sure which one to choose for the daily photo yet.

My first cache was found after a lovely walk down some country lanes and into a small woodland which was carpeted with bluebells and ferns just about to open. Despite taking tons of photos in the woods - none of them really focused in and the lighting was not right - so just a poor offering of what was actually quite a spectacular sight!

After this I drove to Coalbrookdale - home to the famous IronBridge and did a few caches around here. One cache led me to the top of a hill and which gave lovely views over the World famous Iron Bridge in one direction and these huge modern day cooling towers at the power station in the other direction.

Despite tweaking this photo - I cannot improve the lighting - think something is wrong with my camera!

On next to the Quaker Burial ground and these stones are memorials to many famous people. This area is the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution starting with the process of how to develop Iron and these are the tombstones of the industrial pioneers.

The stones are so old now that it is actually hard to read the inscriptions - this is one of the best. Then back into more more woods - Loamdale Dingle - for another tricky cache hidden under this bridge - I did get a little mucky!

The woods were next to The Museum of Iron so I paid a visit to the grounds. This is the original furnace - dated 1638 - where Abraham Darby first smelted iron ore. It is housed in this modern day building - which I think is rather nice.

The arches behind the building are home to another Industrial Revolution invention - the railways!

All in all a fab day out and there are still lots more caches to do in the area so I can't wait for a return trip.

22nd April - sweeties - opps!

A quick post today as I have got a busy day ahead - somebody is 50 on Saturday so I have a lot of preparation to do for that.

Today's photo is some sweeties! My diet is only going fair at the moment - I am trying to do it without going back to Slimming World - but without the ritual humiliation of a weekly weigh in to keep me on the straight & narrow, I am finding that I am not being as strict with myself as I should be.

My only redeemer is that it is only liquroice not chocolate!

21st April photo - tumbling tomatoes

Today I planted up my outdoor tumbling tomatoes - so it was an easy choice of photo for today.

I bought this outdoor wall hanging planter many years ago now and its great because a grow bag fits into it perfectly. At first I used to fill it with flowers - but once we discovered tumbling tomatoes that was it - each year now we have a bumper crop of yummy tomatoes. They grow really well because the garden is south facing and this wall gets sunshine on it all day long.

Here's hoping for bumper crop of tomatoes and another photo oportunity in the summer.

20th April photo - delightful bench

I found this lovely bench whilst out walking today and thought it was lovely. I like the natural materials, natural contours, the gorgeous views I had when I sat on it, but most of all I liked the sentiments engraved into the seat. This place was obviously special to others and what a lovely way to remember them at their special place.

Later on I found this bench and thought - oh perhaps I can make a collage of benches today - but sadly did not see any more! I don't know if the owner of this seat had left the watering can here on purpose or accidentally - but I thought it looked lovely and this picture came a close runner up in my choice of photo of the day.

19th April photo - Thomas Telford

Back to Telford again this evening to do a nice little geocache. This one has been on my to do list for ages but the square where it is hidden is always thronging with people and I did not want any people getting in the way of this lovely sculpture and spoiling my photos - so waited until evening (19.30hrs) and the place was deserted, so I was able to take photos and find the geocache without anyone else about.

As usual - I have taken far too many photos - these are the ones I like the best so will choose one from these.

The man in the sculpture is Thomas Telford the famous engineer and builder of roads, canals and bridges and from where the new town of Telford got its name. This square is quite high up and overlooks the town - so I like this photo of Thomas Telford standing and looking over his town.

18th April photo - book I am reading

This is the book I am reading at the moment and I can say without a doubt that it is my top 3 books that I have ever read. This is my 3rd time round and I never fail to be amazed at the fortitude of the victims of the Holocaust. This book was recommended to me by my tutor at the time (Arim Grunbacher - whose parents were children in Germany during the war), when I was doing a module for my degree on European History and I am so glad that I was able to track it down.

The author Marc Roseman had interviewed Marianne Strauss in his role as historian at Southampton University to hear about her experiences during the war. After she died her son contacted Marc to say that he had found a large trunk of his mothers documents relating to the war and would he like to see them. What he found was the most fantastic record of Marianne's past and what was even more remarkable was that these had survived at all, because as a Jew she was constantly 'on the run' during the war. This book has constructed her tragic war experience from these amazing documents.

There were formal documents and passes but the most poignant were the love letters between her & her boyfriend Ernst from his incarceration in a concentration (death) camp. Also recorded were the Gestapo's report on how she escaped from them when they came to round up her family - she just ran through the front door while they were down in the basement, but she did not have time to say goodbye to her parents and brother and she never saw them again.

Frustratingly she did not tell the author about any of this when she was alive and I kept wishing that she had told him, so that he could have found out more - but as he very succinctly put it at the end of the book - had she wanted to share this with him she would have done. Survivors have many different ways of coping with the horrors they faced and in Marianne's case she dealt with it by only talking about minor matters and keeping the worst memories buried deep inside her.

17th April photo - another shop in town

Before Jess left this morning - we went into town so that she could stock up on some goodies from her favourite deli - Christophers.

This is a long established independent deli in Mardol and is a firm favourite with the 6th form students in town. They all head there each lunch time to buy chocolate brownies, flajacks or any of their delicious cakes. When Jess first went to Norwich, I used to have to send her parcels containing some of Christopher's goodies as she had withdrawal symptoms from missing her daily visit. She is quite recovered now but does like to take a few back with her.

I like to buy their quiches, which they make fresh on the premises each morning - so are usually still warm when I am carrying them home.