International Brigade Commemoration

By chance I came across this small and touching ceremony in Princes Street Gardens last week. The commemoration was of those from the Lothians and Fife who died fighting with the International Brigade in the Spanish Civil War.

Black Racer

Hi, my name is Coluber constrictor.

I'm the first snake of the spring.

It's really warming up, so you'd better watch where you step.
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Not sure if this is Coluber constrictor constrictor (northern black racer) or Coluber constrictor priapus (southern black racer).
I don't have a "snake name meanings" dictionary like the one for birds, but fear not, there's a beauty of an online guide that covers reptiles and amphibians. I especially like the page on mythological references. My husband always jokes that I want to find a new plant species so I can name it after myself. Previously I've always claimed that I'd name my hypothetical find something descriptive. But now I'm not sure that I could resist slipping the name of an ancient Greek fertility god in there somehow.

Once on a High and Windy Hill

Once upon a time, long, long ago...

... a young man and a young woman went out on a blind date.

I fell madly in love.

Does it show?



Sixteen months later we were married. I came across the bill for our church wedding, the other day, and it made me smile.
We were married in a large and beautiful parish church, with vicar, organist, choir, bell-ringers, etc all for the princely sum of £31.55. What a bargain!

My wonderful mother made my dress - it was white velvet - and I carried a bible and a single red rose. George's family travelled down from Newcastle, in a mini-bus. Unfortunately they were a little late and my father and I were driven round and round until they were seated!

I'm sure our reception was lovely, however my main memory of it is that people kept disappearing and reappearing - it turned out that Newcastle United Football Club were playing in an important match...the League Cup, whatever that is..and they were nipping out to find out what the latest score was!




When we arrived at our honeymoon destination in The Lake District the very first thing George did was to put on the television, to watch 'Match of the Day' as the Newcastle United football match was being shown... We are still married, so I must have forgiven him!
George's lovely Uncle Jimmy quietly gave him a bundle of cash during the reception and told him to have a good time. Thanks to his generosity we were able to treat ourselves to a fabulous seven course meal at the Aynsome Manor Hotel, which was just a short drive from where we stayed in Cartmel. Here is the bill - a fabulous meal, wine, coffee and superb service all for the sum of £10.80! The couple who ran the place were wonderful to us and really went out of their way to make it memorable and enjoyable.








That was 36 years ago.

A lovely meal is going to cost a little more than that today, but you're worth it!Happy Anniversary George.xxx

Yo-Ghund!

I'm tantalized by all this waiting! Hurry up you guys!
You may recall that I got yummalicious yoghund for my birthday at the park! Well... after din-din tonight, I got more peanut butter yoghund! A whole carton of it! Scrumptious! I am focused!
Staring at Dad who's about to serve me the delectable treat of all treats! Can't wait!
He starts me out with a bit and then...
lets me have at it!!!!!
Until it's all... GONE.... whimper! Oh how I love National Ice Cream Day!

Settlement

Last weekend I had to confess myself slightly disappointed at the rather poor second half produced by Gold Coast United in Brisbane on Friday night. There was nothing for it other than to get on the bike and find a decent ride somewhere. I set off on Sunday morning for the old fashioned Springbrook/Numinbah/Tomewin circuit. The start was a little slower than I normally like, and I wasn't sure whether that was lethargy or just an early morning westerly wind. Either way, the climb toward Salmons Saddle at Springbrook soon shook that loose.

I was far more concerned with the potentially treacherous descent on the other side. I have ridden up Pine Creek Road a few times and measured 24% gradients there. This sort of thing tends to make one slightly nervous about descending the road -- especially in view of the fact that I hadn't done it since the infamous crash back in July. As it was, the disc brakes on the Salsa Vaya worked beautifully and gave me another of those "what the hell are you worrying about?" moments when I reached the bottom, turned south, and set out on the next part of the ride.



Why did every motor-cyclist on the Gold Coast want to share my ride today? It's enough to make you think disparaging thoughts about people who are too poor to afford a Harley (i.e. all of them) but still want to be "bad dudes". The ride through the southern part of Numinbah valley is indeed, beautiful, but these guys made it a lot noisier than it might have been the day before. A couple of them also saw fit to pass right in the middle of corners on the descent from Numinbah Gap -- again I can thank my disc brakes for making a potentially tricky situation into an easy one. Somewhere near Chillingham I got a little tired of the noise, and decided to head for a dirt road that I've eyed off for a while.

I knew Settlement Road would be quiet. As it was, I didn't see another human along the way. What I didn't realise what just how lovely the switchback dirt road that snaked it's way though Springbrook's southern foothills would be. The forest here was pretty dense for the most part, but it occasionally gave way to some really stunning views. After climbing for a few kilometres, the road deteriorated as it went past a fence line, and I decided to call off the chase here -- but only after admiring the view toward Mt Hobwee and Bald Mountain.
After this, there isn't a lot to tell. The Harley wannabes virtually disappeared after I passed Chillingham (apart from one lot at Crystal Creek). The only thing noticeable out here was the north-easterly wind that had replaced the south-westerly that started the day. Oh well, this bike tends to cope with headwinds better than any other I've had previously, and I still had Tomewin to throw at it. The climb over Tomewin was quite enjoyable, and almost rejuvenating. It left me with plenty of energy for finishing off the ride home, and another 130km racked up.

Another great ride was had. I also now have something to look forward to on the horizon, but I'll reveal that in another post.

Hambleton Peninsula circuit

5 miles. With Terry, Eddie, Barry, Gordon, Carol, Ian, Kate and Jill. From the end of the road round the cycle track anticlockwise. Drizzly at first, then clear and fine - coolish wind. Lunch at Don Paddy's.

Hambleton Old Hall

We paused for a break at the two benches overlooking Hambleton Old Hall. Fishing boats floated on the water. The bluebells were delightful. We saw lots of swifts hunting insects, and Carol assured me the loud birds we we heard were blackcaps.

Pre-teen spirit

My cutie-pie niece, in the shirt she's not allowed to wear to school any more.

I can't remember if she was actually sent home, or just asked not to wear it again.