Scavenger Hunt July

It's the end of another month which of course means it's Scavenger Hunt

organised by Greenthumb @ Made with Love.

Most of my photos this month where taken whilst on holiday

in Yorkshire and Northmberland.

C is for ....

Cafe in the Valley Gardens Harrogate.

They serve a very nice cup of coffee.

Dough

Well near enough I think.

9pm

This was taken from our front garden a couple of nights ago.

In your bag.

This was the contents of my bag for my patchwork

group yesterday.

Together

This is the button shop in Harrogate

I don't think I have seen so many buttons together in one place.

I did buy some and then lost them during the day somewhere.

Typical.

Lever

One of the gates on Hadrians wall.

Liquid

Theres a lot of liquid between the mainland 

and this island. Not sure which island it is.

My view of the day

The finishing straight for the first day of Le Tour.

On the wall

Translated it means,according to Google translator, 

 "Citadel of the famous fountains"

Pool

In the Studley water gardens.

Stem

The stem of a very old Wisteria.

The man trying to get out of the shot is my brother.

Sweet

My macaroon at Betty's tea rooms.

A visit to Yorkshire isn't complete without going to 

Betty's tea rooms apparently.

It tasted fantastic.

So thats my contribution for this month.

Time to look up next months list.

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Gillxx

Roman Holiday

Where did that week go, I had every intention of writing this

at the beginning of the week but life has overtaken me--again.

It seems weeks ago that we were enjoying the last couple of

days our holiday in the Northumberland.

Our last day was fantastic as I forfilled  one

of my ambitions.  This was to walk along Hadrians wall

or at least part of it.

It is such a historic monument and set in such stunning scenery.

This is Crag Lough.  Looking down on it from the top of the Crag

the water was so clear you could see the Swans heads under the water.

Walking is not really for the faint hearted as

although , we only walked 5 miles  as the crow flies,

the up and downs added quite a bit more.

I love the fact that, in places, you can see the wall stretching

away in the distance, but the tree was our destination.

 I couldn't find a picture of the tree which didn't have me

lurking in a corner somewhere but any of you that

have watched Kevin Costner in Robin Hood
( A family favourite from years ago)

this tree is where Morgan Freeman utters the 

immortal words 

" is there no sun in this accursed country"

Mr T insisted on standing on the wall and shouting it,
luckily there was nobody else about.

 A late lunch and the rest of the day was spent in Vindolanda.

Vindolanda is the site of archaeological excavations

which have going on for over 40 years and will be continuing

for a few more years yet.

It is the site of a succession of forts, the first thought to have 

been built around AD 80's.

You can watch and talk to the diggers while they continue to

explore the secrets of the site. It has a great museum

(next to a cafe)

showing the finds and adding some background to

what has been done to restore some of them.

They have found everything from leather boots and textiles

to the Cerialis archive. These are a collection of

postcard sized sheets of wood which have been written on in

Ink. They cover a wide variety of subjects

from children's writing lessons, shopping lists, official forms

and letters home to loved ones.

I found myself riveted  by the whole place

but particularly with anticipation whilst watching the diggers.

Every time someone picked something up,

I found myself wondering what it might be but the only thing

I saw them dig out was a nail of some sort .

Nevertheless I would have loved to have had a go myself.

Luckily whilst we were there the weather was wonderful

but I'm not sure I would have been so keen to work there in the cold and wet.

Hope you all have a great weekend 

wherever you are and I'll see you again soon.

Gillx

National Treasures

We all have a list of places we would like to visit

and things we want to do, don't we.

Well on my recent holiday to Yorkshire and Northumberland

 I have been lucky enough to have done several of the things

on my list although

I can't believe we have been home nearly a week and

I'm only just showing you some photo's.

This was our first stop after leaving Harrogate.

Fountains Abbey and Studley Water Gardens

were on our way North and it was one of the places on my list.

It's one of those places you see on the T.V quite a lot and 

looks very  atmospheric.  

It certainly lived up to my expectations and Mr T and I 

spent several hours wandering around and sitting by 

one of the lakes drinking coffee in the sunshine.

It was built in the 12th century by Cistercian monks

and is the best preserved abbey of it's kind but fell victim

to the dissolution of the monasteries in the 16th century.

The water gardens are a Georgian addition and 

are set in lovely grounds. It is now run by the National Trust

and is well worth a visit if your near Ripon.

These little fellas were hiding in the eaves of the visitor

centre and had quite an audience.

Next day was Bamburgh Castle which took my breath away.

I have to admit it was not on my list but was 

on our way up the Northumberland coastal route

and was a fantastic place to stop for lunch.

It was too nice a day to actually go inside the castle

and beach was calling us. It gave us a wonderful view.

You can imagine how daunting it looked to attacking armies

can't you.

The local giants left their dice just laying around on the beach.

Next stop Holy Island, Lindesfarne.

This has been near the top of my list for years.

It was mid afternoon before we could cross the causeway to the island

due to the tides but it was worth the wait.

Enough said I think.

I'll leave the rest for another post.

Have a great weekend.

Gillxx

Dosie Rosie Welcomes Le Tour.

I am ashamed to say that, although

I have been around the world,

I have never been this far north in the UK

and the reason I have come here now is to see 

a bike race.

Not just any bike race of course but THE bike race.

Mr T and I have been following the Tour De France 

for over 20 years ever since we  literally 

came across it whilst on holiday

in France. 

We waited with other delayed tourists and their 

children as well as a whole village

of locals and  watched in fascination as this caravan

of  strange carnival like vehicles went past throwing

everything from hats to sweets and tubes of chestnut puree at us.

A while later along came this pack of cyclists with hardly

an inch between them, covering every inch of the road

and with a few seconds they had gone.  That  didn't matter though

as by then we were all so excited 

that we were totally hooked and 

not just on Le Tour but on cycling.

We have spent the last 20 years following the Tour of Britain,

City centre cycling and of course the Olympic road race in Surrey,

so when we found out The Tour De France was starting in UK

there was no way we were going to miss it.

So off to Harrogate we went.

One of the first thing we saw was the infamous knitted bunting

which was everywhere.

And yellow bikes----everywhere.

They must have used gallons of yellow paint.

Wonderful works of art made out of 

Glass

and Wood.

 French coffee vans 

and miles of trucks.

The organisation is amazing with TV companies from all over

world and large TV screens everywhere.

The graphics on the control centre are incredible.

And the welcome has been out of this world.

So we were all set for the arrival of the cyclist.

Along with hundreds of thousands of others

from near and far. 

The couple standing next to us in their cycling gear

were from New Zealand.

And as quick as a flash there was Mark Cavendish

(in the pale blue and red helmet)

flying past 100 metres before he unfortunately crashed.

 They were followed by dozens of cars carrying spare bikes.

And the people we had spent all day chatting to 

wandered off saying what a wonderful time it had been.

Time for a Fish and Chip supper before watching the highlights

on the TV.

So on to Day 2 when the race just skirted Harrogate

and the crowds were out in force again. 

Some even brought along their sofas for a comfortable wait.

Not quite so fast this time as it was near the start

of the race so much better photos.

The Yellow Jersey for one day only.

The next stop for the Tour is France, 

Next stop for us is Northumberland so 

even further North.

Gillxx