Chelsea Flower Show

Have just returned from a weekend in London at the famous Chelsea Flower Show which is an annual event for the London well-heeled (and Aussie tourists. Lorraine, Tori and Vicky went while I cuised the markets on Portabello Road. Here are a selection of photos.

Last day at Sandal

I have had a regular job teaching Science to a Year 5 class at a local school called Sandal every Friday, and occasional Mondays, for the last 10 weeks. This school was originally a high school, then a middle school and now a primary school. There are no plans, apparently, to turn it into a nursery school (pre-school). It is set in beautiful spacious grounds and the children are the most polite, responsive and inquisitive that I have encountered anywhere, in any country. Today was my last official day there (I may have a few more days there in June). I will miss this school and the great group of children (and staff) that I worked with. Today we went outside and threw boomerangs as they are studying Australia. All I have to do is talk! Good-bye Year 5 at Sandal!

Walking with the lads

After tagging along with the girls last weekend, I was invited by a group of local lads, five in all, to walk with them on the moors near Hebden Bridge. They set a cracking pace and I'm pretty sore now after covering 12 miles of some fairly rugged country. Here are 2 photos of the same place overlooking hebden Bridge taken 8 weeks apart.

Same blog.....new layout!!!

More moors

I suspect this path across Ilkley Moor has been a transport route for thousands of years. There are certainly signs of sustained use for a long time.

A beautiful summer's day

More shots of beautiful Ilkley which is about 8 miles from our house. There is a bath house there where people used to "take the waters". This was believed to cure almost everything, except sunburn. We walked about 8 miles from our house to Ilkley then caught the train back. Some of our fellow ramblers were very sunburnt.

Rambling on Ilkley Moor

"It were a beautiful day so we decided to go a-ramblin on Ilkey Moor with a few friends for summat to do". There was a slight gender imbalance but...hey, do I look worried. When the sun finally does come out the Brits are very quick to shed their gear and make the most of it! The other ramblers are all from Lorraine's school. They are Richelle, Angela, Cath and Debbie.

What's this guy thinking.....

.....probably not much

Is it loaded?

We stopped at this castle at Carrickfergus in Northern ireland (as you do) and noticed this guy leaning over the edge. On closer inspecion it appears that he has been standing there for a while....

Another Honey!!

COngratulations Chris & Tanya. Go Jules!

Remember Ken...

We have become totally reliant on our friend Ken (alias tom-tom) who sits precariously on the windscreen of the car and goes everywhere with us without complaint. We took Ken with us to Northern Ireland and it turns out that he knows every turn there as well! Go Ken! Well.... he does have friends in high places.....

Message to Sarah & Luke

I'm counting the days!!!

Message to grandmaster Pete

It's your move!!!!!!!!!!

Message to Sailor Pam

My blog wins

Message to Bowral Bill

Yeah...I see why you emigrated.

Mums are always right

My 60 year old Mum reckons that whenever she tries to connect to our blog her whole electrical system fails. The computer crashes, the power goes off, the lights go out, the heating fails and she is thrown back into the stone age. She has to cook over an open fire in the back yard, put on every stitch of clothing she owns and sit on a street corner with a begging bowl. Okay...I exaggerate just a little but my Mum (she's 84 actually) blames the loss of power in her house recently to her attempt to connect to our blog. Mum....it's not my fault!!

Lorraine's artistic nature photos

These shots were all taken by Lorraine at the rope bridge.

solution for uncontrollable children?

Remember the "caution - control your children" sign on the wall of a castle in Carlisle... I may have found a solution at the gaol next to Down Cathedral in County Down, Northern Ireland.

Goodbye Helen....

You won't be forgotten

Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

This is a major tourist attraction on the Irish north coast. The brochure calls it a "precarious" rope bridge but its pretty tame really. Apparently there has been a rope bridge here for centuries to allow access to the small island to catch the local schools of salmon which swim past at various times of the year. The current bridge takes about 10 seconds to cross (max 8 at a time!) and has no doubt been thoroughly checked out by fun police, but the surrounding views are excellent.

gorse....?

What's gorse - you may well ask? Gorse (ulex europaeus) is dense green spiny shrub with brilliant yellow flowers. It is flowering at the moment, totally dominating the landscape across Northern Island. The flowers can be used to make pickles and, along with the bark, produce a yellow dye. They've also been used to add flavour and colour to beer, whisky, wine and tea!! In ancient times the flowers were used for their purging effects and in the treatment of a range of diseases such as scarlet fever and jaundice. The seeds have been soaked and used as flea repellant! What a star performer!

The Giant's Causeway

The north coast of Ireland is stunning. It is hard to do it justice but we did our best. These photos are of the Giant's Causeway, a major tourist attraction as you can see.

More faces of Belfast

The old and the new stand side by side