A curious case of birds of a feather fly together

Bird Strike

The blue Tits have taken up residence in the Caravan

Having scoped out and rejected both the Bird house

and the Bird box.

Such was their haste to gather some bedding material

that the male flew out of the box straight into the path of the incoming female.

 Wham ! in the blink of an eye they collided and crashed down onto the ground where they lay stunned for several minutes . Entwined in what appeared to be a passionate embrace .

I picked one up thinking it was dead, but no it was just stunned

 Hopefully they will have a good season and not abandon their nest like last year

Mid Air Collision

Silver Wedding

The fourth of July is celebrated in America as " Independence Day" but in our family it marks the wedding anniversary of Paul and  Michelle . Never more so than this year. Their "Silver Year"  Their 25th Anniversary no less.
So it was that last weekend Sunday 10th July we gathered at " Santos Higham Farm Hotel" for a family reunion and celebration lunch.

The "Lunch" had been postponed from the "official " date in order to allow members of the family to gather from the corners of the globe .

Namely, for Jessica to return from Melbourne, Australia. It was touch and go as even then she only landed in the U.K on Saturday morning.

Gary just makes it in time { stopped to wash his socks !]

 Michelle's brother Stephen from Sussex. Gary and family from Ashby de la zouche and us from north Wales and Pam and Ber from around the corner in Wingerworth. 

How it was  25 years ago ,

And Now !

For us the weather was kind the setting was good and the Lunch  excellent  . 
This Lunch is only one of the several Celebrations Michelle & Paul have planned. Family. Friends, Colleagues.

Where do the years go ?

Now and then

Wonder where we will be in 25 years ?

Michelle made the wonderful cake and did the all the decoration






Around up of the day and some old and some new 

Howard and Meg

Paul and Mchelle

Jessica and Alistair

Paul and Michell

The Happy couple

En Famile

Scotland and the Lakes. Holiday 2011. part the last

Last blog:

  Sunday came with a bright start .So I rose early and stole out to catch the early morning light and explore the photo opportunities .

I was not disappointed I knew from our previous sojourn where the possible vantage points might be .

  And felt well rewarded .


 
Later in the morning we went for a drive around the Lakes heading towards Coniston . On the way [down a narrow lane ] we passed this little jem,it is exactly the kind of house we are looking for on the dendrochronology project albeit in stone  .

 It certainly looks like a Tudor hall house. The gable end appears somewhat weakened by the intrusion of a doorway through the fire place, Notice the blocking of a window . A nice feature is the use of slate 'eyebrows' to help keep the rain from the windows.

The adjacent out buildings appear contemporary and the later farm house shows the continuity of occupation and all very nicely kept.

And so on to our destination, Brantwood the Lakeland home of John Ruskin the Victorian polymath, John Ruskin was born in London on 8 February 1819. He was one of the greatest figures of the Victorian age, poet, artist, critic, social revolutionary and conservationist.

We had a tour of the house and some of the pictures are taken through the windows that Ruskin would have looked out of.

We went to the coffee shop for our elevenses it was here that I espied an intersing looking flan.  What is that I inquired .Why that sir, said she in a Lakeland accent ,is pear and almond . Jean would like that, something unusual. Two slices then, I say . It's quite expensive says the wench £4.50 a slice . What ! Well it does take three days to make the pastry, qhoth she.
I blanche as the thought strikes me .Good job I did not order the 'thousand year old eggs' in the Chinese yesterday then .

Any way I bought a slice , and do you know what, it tasted  just...like three day old pastry.

It was nice to see the old steam boat still plying its trade on the lake and the contrast with the sail boats made an interesting scene.

Moving on . we had a little tour around some more of the Lakes and returned to our base. we were so full of pear &almond flan that we decided to forgo dinner and made do a snack instead. courtesy of a Tesco's meal deal .

Later we went for a an evening stroll and encountered a bevy of brides . whether this was the 'Brides of the Lakes Convention' or Hen Party was uncertain .What was certain was that they were laddettes ,very drunk and very silly . but they were having fun  . I am not sure which one was the 'Lady of the Lake ' but I can see why he kept the sword !

Home tomorrow!