Pairs - this year and last year

I went back to the Westbury White Horse on Sunday for an annual Geocache meet.  What a difference in the weather!  2014 was cold, bright and sunny, this year mild, murky and drizzle.  The drizzle did stop in the afternoon so we were able to go for a walk.

2015

2014

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

This is the last pairs post, it has been a fun theme - thanks Helena.

Advent Calendar - 24

Merry Christmas to all my blog readers!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Pairs - Zoom in - Zoom Out

My pairs post has a Christmas theme, this is the Christmas tree in Cabot Circus, Bristol, not very inspiring this year!  (that's my opinion)

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Me on Monday

Waving to Sian and all my blog readers, today was a Christmas bring and share lunch at a friend's house, it gave me a chance to wear my Christmas jumper and was a wonderful start to the Christmas week.

It was a busy weekend. Saturday was playing carols in the Market Square, the weather very mild, we all thought it was strange not to be freezing cold as we usually are.  After a while the rain started so we stood in the Market Cross before moving onto play inside where lantern making was taking place.

The afternoon was spent watching another Christmas film and finishing the snood I had been crocheting for a Christmas present.  I was pleased with the colours in the the yarn.

Sunday was wrapping presents and and with my sister a visit to my Aunt with a trip to another garden centre where we had lunch, we actually saw some sunshine the first time for a couple of weeks but today we are back to heavy clouds and rain.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Also linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 20

Following on from yesterday's gifts, if you are lucky enough to get a gift from Tara she will wrap it in greyhound paper!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 19

Gifts

I haven't wrapped all my gifts yet - this photograph is from a previous year on Christmas eve, I cannot put the gifts around the tree in advance as Tara thinks they are all for her and would open them all!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 18

This photograph was taken at Trinity Close in Burham on Sea where most of the houses are covered in lights, each year they raise several thousand pounds for charity.  I know someone who lives in one of the houses, they start checking and putting up the lights in October.

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 16

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 15

Getting ready for the big trip next week!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Me on Monday

Waving to Sian and all my blog readers on a dull, cloudy Monday (on Tuesday!)

Saturday was a dark drizzly day - another day to stay in so I wrote my Christmas cards, made to do lists for what I have to do in the coming week and watched another Christmas film in the afternoon.

Sunday was still dark and cloudy, it feels like it doesn't really get light at this time of the year.  I visited a new to me garden centre with my sister and brother in law, there was some lovely Christmas lighting the photo shows the entrance,  I didn't buy very much was it was good to wander around.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Advent Calendar 13

Playing with the focus on my camera

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 12

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Pairs

My pairs post features a pair of chimneys and this will also be my first photos for the Winter Scavenger Hunt - number 16, A chimney.

The Winter Scavenger Hunt  is hosted by Eileen at In my Playroom and Joy at Daisy Row.  Do visit their blogs for more information.

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Advent Calendar 8 and 9

Day 8

My first photograph is from a shopping centre, I took the photo a couple of years ago and I am glad I did as I returned this year and there was no display which was a shame.

Day 9

This is a decoration from my tree last year, I haven't put up my tree yet this year!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 7

Today shows a photo of Tara's Advent Calendar, behind each door are two treats which she enjoys eating, she now knows what it is all about and gets excited when I get the box down from a high shelf each day!

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Me on Monday

Saturday was band rehearsal for our concert which will be on Friday evening, my son came along as he has been staying for a few days because as well as work he also had a school concert, a gig near Castle Cary and a concert in Dorchester, staying with me meant he didn't have to drive so far.  We had lunch together then he left to go to Dorchester, I enjoyed his company for a few days.

Saturday afternoon I visited a friend and then my Aunt, in between I walked for an hour with Tara.

Sunday the weather was very dull with drizzle so a day to watch a Christmas film and start crocheting a Christmas gift using some of the yarn a showed you last week.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Advent Calendar 6

While walking Tara yesterday I saw something sparkling through the trees and found this tree alongside the path, incredibly we also met the people who had planted the tree after Christmas a few years ago, they said they decorate it in stages adding to it each day.

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 5

I have noticed when walking Tara that lights are beginning to appear on houses in the area, I imagine there will be many people decorating this weekend if they haven't done so already. We found this one last year on our way home from a Christmas concert.

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 4

Day four of the my advent calendar shows a shop window in Glastonbury.

This shop always has a beautiful Christmas display each year.

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 3

I love to visit garden centres at this time of the year to see all the decorations for sale.

A Christmas village

Linking with Julie's Scrapbook where you can find other blogs taking part in the Advent Calendar.

Advent Calendar 2

Festive wrapping paper all ready for the gifts I haven't purchased yet!

Advent Calendar 1

I saw this idea on Eileen's blog In my Playroom (thank you Eileen) and followed the link to Julie's Scrapbook where she is inviting people to join in with an advent calendar posting anything Christmassy each day until Christmas Eve.  My sister and I shared an advent calendar as children and I seem to remember it was the same one that came out each year.  No chocolate advent calendars in those days!

Christmas trees at the garden centre

If you want to join in the information can be found on Julie's blog here

Me on Monday

Monday finds me very fed up with the weather - grey skies for a week now, rain and high winds all weekend.   So I stayed in all weekend (apart from walking Tara).

Band was cancelled on Saturday so we have one more rehearsal before the Christmas concert!  We will be playing carols on Wednesday for Dorothy House a local hospice, the Christmas season has started!

It was a weekend of housework, editing photos for my project life album, knitting and watching TV.  I record programmes during the week as what I want to see is often on at the same time, so it was time to catch up with Monty Don and the History of Gardens and Simon Reeve in Ireland.

This will be a coat for Tara I am using up yarn that I have had for ages.  

Today I popped into the local wool shop and purchased some yarn for making Christmas presents - hopefully - as what I intend to do doesn't always happen!

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Pairs - Near and Far

My pairs post this week comes from my walk on Sunday near Shepton Montague in Somerset.

This is 'The Towers' where I went for my 200th geocache find.  They were built in 1755 by Lord Ilchester as an entrance to his estate Redlynch park.  There is some information here if you want to read about them.  Redlynch Park house was used during WW2 to house the United States Army 3rd Armored Division - known as the The Third Herd.  

This is the view from the other side of the towers a few miles away.

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Me on Monday

I am waving to Sian and my other blog readers on a cold but sunny morning.

Another weekend gone.  Saturday was sunny but with a very cold wind, it was so cold Tara chose the short route home in the morning and I wasn't sorry, so it was a day at home pottering around.

Sunday was a morning out geocaching with my sister, I reached the number of 200 finds.  Not a lot in geocaching terms as some people find 100 in a week, but I am not one to chase numbers. I prefer to take my time to enjoy the countryside and of course take photographs.

Some views from our morning out:

One of the geocaches was hidden near this sign.

Shepton Montague Church

On the hill in the distance is St Alfred's Tower which I visited a several years ago, if you are interested you can read about it here.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Pairs

It is carnival time here in Somerset, my pairs post features the carnival floats (carts as they say locally) lined up ready for the evening parade.

and a closer view of one of the floats:

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Me on Monday

A weekend of a birthday, geocaching and a Christmas Fair.

We had a family lunch for my son's birthday, unfortunately my daughter was unable to come as she was unwell with a virus.  His girlfriend made a delicious cake:

Sunday my sister and I went to the Greyhound charity Christmas Fair, where I bought my greyhound themed diary, Christmas cards and calendar.  The event is always well attended and everyone brings their greyhounds who greet each other - greyhounds love meeting other greyhounds.

I just had to take a photo of Tara standing by this carved tree near to the village hall.

Afterwards my sister and I went to find some geocaches in the area, we found three at different churches nearby.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.

Pairs

The photos for my pairs post this week were taken in Wells.  This is the gatehouse at the entrance to the Bishops Palace.

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Pairs

My pairs post are from a walk to the park this morning.

Leaves still on the trees

Leaves on the ground

Pairs is a wonderful meme created by Helena at her Creative Maven

Book group

I have been going to a Book Group for a while now and thought I would write about the books we read.

Last month we read The Girl in the Polka Dot Dress by Beryl Bainbridge.

The book is set in the summer of 1968, Rose and Washington Harold set off on a journey across the USA to find Dr Wheeler who they both knew in the past.

I found this book quite a difficult read and did not finish it which is unusual for me, I normally keep going no matter what.

Unfortunately none of us in the group enjoyed the book.  It was the last book written by Beryl Bainbridge, in fact she died before it was completed.  It was published anyway but we agreed it would have been better not to publish it.  The book did have some good reviews, but we felt there was not really a story and the two main characters were not very likeable.

Have you read this book?  What did you think about it?

Me on Monday

Waving to my blog readers on a foggy morning!


It was a busy Saturday and a restful Sunday this weekend.

Saturday started by helping on a stall with a Christmas Fair for a charity (Dorothy House, a local hospice) in the morning, it was organised by my sister's friend in memory of her husband. We took £74 on the stall and overall the amount raised was £620 which is a very good amount as it is held in a small village. 

In the afternoon, my sister and I went to Shearwater for a geocaching event, then we took Tara for a long walk around the lake. My back has not quite recovered from the fall but I find walking even though it is painful does help. It was a beautiful afternoon and very mild.  We both remembered visiting the lake with our parents when we were young.  Last time I visited Shearwater it was pouring with rain so it was good to see the area on a sunny day.

We found out later that the bus belongs to Noel Edmonds (a TV celebrity), he was there dressed up in a halloween costume and visited the geocaching event and signed the log book, unfortunately we missed him as we had left for our walk.  

Sunday was a catching up day and watching a film in the afternoon.  

Tara out on Sunday afternoon without a coat - very unusual for this time of the year.

Me on Monday is a wonderful idea started by Sian from High in The Sky.

Do visit her blog to see who else is taking part.