Photo An Hour January 19th.

So I was in the beautiful Scottish Capital when #photoanhour was happening over on Instagram on Saturday. Time to join in and post a few photos of my day. 🙂

First of all I had the best ever lie in. Usually I am up and about before 7am. Being away from our pets for a weekend meant no early morning wake up calls. Definitely bliss on Saturday. By Sunday though, we were missing the noisy little blighters, and fussing over every cat and dog we came across. 😉

So anyway here is how Saturday panned out in Edinburgh…..

9am ~ As we had strolled up the Royal Mile on Friday, today we decided to head over to the New Town for breakfast. We passed the impressive Scott Monument, a stunning gothic pinnacle.

10am ~ Found an Italian cafe , which I can’t remember the name of. Good coffee though and tasty breakfasts. 🙂

11am ~ It was a bracing cold day, so where better to head for some warmth, than The Glass Houses at The Royal Botanic Gardens. We kept toasty as we explored the ferns, tropical plants & cacti.

Noon ~ Time for a brew in the Terrace Cafe, and a nice slice of cake. 🙂

1pm ~ We had headed out of the centre of Edinburgh to a lovely neighborhood called Stockbridge, which has a wealth of independent shops and cool cafes. This bookshop called Golden Hare Books on St Stephen Street has so many titles to choose from…and a cosy wood burning stove.

2pm ~ Not far from Stockbridge is Dean Village, a picturesque and very Instagram able residential area which we found by following the waterside path. The beck is known as The Water of Leith and the buildings are quite beautiful.

3pm ~ There are no shops or cafes in Dean Village, so we retraced our steps back to Stockbridge and found Smith & Gertrude , which is all about cheese and wine. We indulged!

4pm ~ I’m glad we had walked everywhere today because we also ate a lot and drank a lot! These are cocktails at an almost hidden subterranean bar called Bramble on Queen Street in the New town.

5pm ~ Back at the hotel slobbing out and watching Dogs Behaving Badly. The eerie violet light can only mean, we are stopping in a Premier Inn. I actually thought I had booked us into the Hubs By Premier Inn nextdoor, but somehow I hadn’t. Not sure what happened there!

6pm ~ A quick shower before heading out.

7pm ~ A snapshot taken on the Royal Mile. The cathedral is st Giles Cathedral and on the left is the Mercat Cross. Look out for the tiny unicorn on the top.

8pm ~ Pudding at an American Diner on the Royal Mile.

9pm ~ Sad to say I am now tucked up in bed. I was thinking about starting my new book, but I’m absolutely knackered!

I’l be back with more from Edinburgh soon. Thanks to Janey and Louisa for organising #photoanhour.

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2018 In Photos.X

Wow, its the end of another year and happily its been an enjoyable one. 🙂 Its always nice to do a round-up post and I originally found this idea on Bev’s Blog, way back when. Next year I will have been occupying this little space in the blogger sphere for seven years. How did that happen! I still feel a constant compulsion to share my life with you all ~ so here’s my 2018 in photos……..

Walking in Whitewell with my sis.

In January I started a walking challenge. Inspired by fellow blogger Christine, I signed up for the #walk1000miles challenge and joined this helpful facebook page for ideas and motivation. The idea is to walk 1000 miles in twelve months. I was pretty confident I could do it, but how fast? Also in January Wil and I spent A Long Weekend In The Lake District. , where we walked round Derwent Water and made snow angels in the snow. 🙂

Snowdrops at Hornby Castle.

February was abundant with snowdrops this year, so I dragged Wil on a Snowdrop Walk near Morecambe and we also saw lots on an amble round Skipton Woods.

We spent the most freezing cold night away in Haworth in March. I have never felt so chilly!

Great Wall Of Four Stones, Bentham.

By April Spring had arrived at last! I was still donning my walking boots more than my party shoes. We explored the Tolkien Trail in nearby Middle earth country and discovered this countries very own Ayers Rock on the Lancashire/Yorkshire border.

From what I remembered of May, it was hot! This months adventures included a night away in Manchester ( loved the street art in the Northern Quarter), making terrariums, finding a A Mermaid in the Trough Of Bowland. , camping in the Lakes and conquering my first of the Yorkshire Three Peaks.

My God daughters at ‘Break in the Clouds’.

The wonderful weather continued in June. We had another camping weekend at Bolton Abbey. I walked up another of The Yorkshire Three Peaks and went to a Festival in Gisburn Forest. Fabulous Summer memories.

Lou and I at Another Place.

It was amazing to catch up with my old school friend/now Canadian citizen Lou in July, after not seeing her in nine years. She hasn’t changed a bit!

Highlights from August included reaching 1000 miles in the #walk1000miles challenge. Yay! I didn’t stop walking though. I kept those boots on and hoped to reach 1500 miles by the end of the year. This month Wil, Hugo and I had the best holiday in Scotland with two weeks spent exploring North Uist in the gorgeous Outer Hebrides and Kilmartin Glen.

Three Chimneys ~ The Yorkshire home of the Railway Children.

Lots of walks in September , my favourite being a Railway Children Walk around Haworth, finding locations from the classic film.

Woodland walk, Bolton Abbey.

Autumn arrived and so did crunching through leaves. We went for a Spooky walk with family in the grounds of Bolton Abbey.

November is my Birthday month so another trip was planned. 🙂 Stopped in Ravenglass on the Cumbrian Coast for a few days with friends, went to a chocolate making evening and enjoyed a birthday night out round Clitheroe.

And so it is December and 2018 is nearly at an end. I feel like its been an enjoyable month and looking back, a pretty fantastic year !

Enjoying a Wham Tribute Night in December!

Having walked 1649 miles this year too, I am definitely motivated to carry on walking in 2019, and hopefully get even more mileage under my belt.

Thanks again for stopping by. Wishing you lots of great adventures in 2019. X

Early Autumn.

September, a month where Summer’s warmth lingers on as Autumn brings in nippy mornings and changing colours. These past couple of weeks I have definitely been feeling the Autumn vibe. Nuts and berries are abundant on the trees, sycamore helicopters are spinning in the breeze and the path through a nearby woodland is carpeted with acorns and conkers.

Woodland walk.

I am feeling especially Autumnal lately as I actually won this lovely Autumn themed Giveaway over on Paula’s ‘Typewriter Girl’ blog. What a wonderful surprise! I opened my parcel yesterday to find it filled with gorgeous gifts. There is a beautiful fabric covered notebook, a rather jaunty journal, four Fall themed notecards ( the photos taken by Paula herself) and even a bar of Green & Black’s Dark Chocolate, velvet edition. I feel utterly spoilt! Paula writes about her native Ireland, her glorious flower garden and her adorable Basset Hound Boris, amongst other things. Bob by her blog and say Hi. 🙂

A parcel of goodies 🙂

More Treats at The Chocolate Works.

A combination of sunshine and showers today sent me ducking into a local café for coffee and a treat. I couldn’t resist. 🙂

What films remind you of Autumn?

I have been searching on good old Pinterest for films that get you in the mood for Autumn. Movies where you can snuggle cosy under a blanket and watch characters crunch about on golden leaves or get their hands on a book of spells. Here is a list of ~

Autumn Inspired Films.

You’ve Got Mail ( 1998), The Fantastic Mr Fox ( 2009), Practical Magic ( 1998), Dead Poets Society ( 1989), St Elmo’s Fire ( 1985), When Harry met sally ( 1989), Rushmore ( 1998), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), Far From Heaven ( 2002), Beetlejuice (1988) and Hocus Pocus ( 1993).

What plans have you this Autumn?

Sunday Sevens 29th July.

A compilation of my week…..in the form of a Sunday sevens, 7 photos from the last 7 days, as devised by Natalie at Threads & Bobbins .

Seaside. My week started with a mini trip to the seaside. Just look at the gorgeous colour on the Heysham coast. Plus I managed not to lose my sandals in sinking sand on this excursion. So that’s a relief!

In Hiding. It was my nieces 8th Birthday recently and as she is a mini David Attenborough in the making, her Mum & Dad gave her camouflage gear and a Hide. As she lives in the countryside its not unusual for Roe Deer, Hare and even Stoats to pass through this meadow next to the house. Yesterday we just got blown around in the wind..but it was a good giggle. 🙂

Bee In The City. If you find yourselves in Manchester over the Summer, the colourful Bee In The City Art Trail has flown in. 100 Big Bees are dotted round the city, as well as 130 Little Bees. I captured a couple on camera whilst out in Manc with the girls. As ours was a shopping/drinking type of trip we didn’t really get involved in the trail, but there’s plenty of time to return. They will bee in the city until 23rd September 2018.

13 Years. Wil and I celebrated 13 years of being together this weekend. Here we are yesterday evening at my nieces Birthday Meal. XXX

Happy Blogversary. And this one crept up on me ~ hence the not terribly original photo of a piece of Rocky Road with a candle stuck in it ( Very nice Rocky Road btw, from Betty May’s Kitchen in Clitheroe) ~ its actually 6 years since I started this blog. Wow! I am still loving my little space here on WordPress, and would like to thank everyone who stops by occasionally. Thank you!!!!!

Here’s to another great week!

Hawthorns Photo Scavenger Hunt ~ June.

Phew! What do you think of the Hot Hot weather we are experiencing here in the UK at the moment? I am definitely not used to this kind of heat. I find myself only truly enjoying the temperatures either early in the morning or after 8 at night. Reaches for a tub of Ben & Jerrys! Here are my photos for this month’s Scavenger Hunt….

Yellow. I was definitely tempted to post a flower picture here, but instead chose this photo of band member Holly Ross of The Lovely Eggs on stage at Break In The Clouds Festival ,

which we went to last weekend. Not everyone can rock the colour Yellow…but I think she can. 🙂

Starts with a T. Has to be this Tiger I saw chilling in the sunshine at Blackpool Zoo a few weeks ago.

Lilac. My Mum’s garden was buzzing with insects when we visited earlier in June. I forgot to ask her what flower this was. Any gardeners know the name of it, feel free to let me know. 🙂

Starts with a G. Back to Blackpool Zoo and a group of Giraffes. Apparently a Group of Giraffes is called a Tower. 🙂

Silver. After checking on the #30dayswild facebook group, I discovered that this busy moth I photographed in Gisburn Forest is called a Silver Y Moth. You can’t really see on this photo , but it has silver y-shaped markings on its forewings.

My Own Choice. Cute socks worn by my goddaughters at the festival we went to at the weekend.

Thanks for dropping by and stay cool…X

June ~ Photo An Hour.

Every so often I remember to join in with #photoanhour on Instagram, and yesterday was one of those days. The concept is simple. Just take one photo of whatever your doing every hour and join in with the hashtag #photoanhour. Either Janey or Louisa chooses the date each month.

8am. Wake up to a damp day. So crumpets are a yummy breakfast treat.

9am. Out and about with this guy. 🙂

10am. Looking round the market in my hometown of Clitheroe.

11am. A few jobs done so shelter from the rain in Escape Coffee Bar. I love the fresh mint tea here ( healthy) and the choolate dipped granola bars. Not so healthy!

12 Noon. Chillin at home with the pets. 🐶🐱

1pm. Catching up on some telly. Hidden is a welsh detective drama and is pretty good. Reminds me a little of Hinterland..

2pm. And still relaxing….😄

3pm. Out with Hugo again. We had planned to walk along the river to a neighbouring village. But it began bucketing down so we stuck to Brungerly park instead.

4pm. Had a shower to get warm after a soaking in the rain.

5pm. Filling in my Nature Diary. I am recording what wildlife I see on my walks every day. I have got quite addicted to it. 🦋🌹

6pm. The Big Bang Theory is on TV as usual. 🙂

7pm. Heres a Manchester Tart I bought on the market earlier. 😁

10pm. Totally missed the past couple of hours photos. We were watching a film. I then had the choice of starting one of these 3 books. Which one do you think I picked?

Thanks for dropping by. X

March Photo An Hour 2018.

Hi there on this gorgeous Spring day! We are definitely due the little bit of sunshine that we are experiencing at the moment. 😁 Yesterday I joined in with Louisa and Janey‘s photo an hour over on Instagram, for the first time in ages. I thought I would record my day on my blog too. Here goes….

7am. My clock is fast, its actually just after seven, and everyone is awake. Sigh!

8am. Breakfast is oats so simple with blueberries and a smidge of peanut butter. Wil thinks I’m pretty disgusting. He hates peanut butter!

9am. My washing up view this morning. A breakfasting starling. ♡

10am. We’ve decided to walk to the nearby village of Waddington and back. We start our walk in Brungerly park and head along the river Ribble.

11am. We happen upon some friendly fellas. Alpaca and Llama. They are very inquisitive and the black and white llama does try and take a chomp out of my rucksack. 🤣

12 Noon. Early Lunch. A tuna toastie in a cafe in Waddington.

1pm. On the way home through Waddow Hall estate.

2pm. Vibrant crocuses. Spring is here in Clitheroe at last. 😁

3pm. A brew at home and a slice of homemade ginger cake. I have decided to no longer buy in biscuits and cake. Because I hardly ever bake ( even though I have a sweet tooth! ), this will hopefully be an incentive to do more and be slightly healthier….hopefully.

4pm. Chillin with this girl. 🙂

5pm. And now chillin down the pub and trying to work out where we should stay on our way home from the Hebrides in August. Thinking maybe somewhere round Oban, but not sure yet.

6pm. Some pub companions. Stan and Smudge the Springer’s. 🙂

7pm. Hadn’t planned on stopping in the New Inn this long! So resorting to taking a photograph of my hare brooch that is pinned to my earth squared bag. Both were presents from my lovely friend Jo. 🙂

8pm. We called in at an Indian takeaway on the way home , so here’s salad, dips and poppadoms.

9pm. Wil is watching Californication on Netflix but I am pretty much beat ! My day ends here and bed beckons. I am officially sad!

Thanks very much for dropping by. I had better go and sort out that alarm clock!