a few pics...

Wonderful Wiltshire has some real hidden gems..

today we went to Avoncliff for a walk... blimey we got a tad wet, as the heavens opened as we were heading along the towpath,, sod it we thought, and we kept on going!

It was stunningly beautiful there.. just a bit soggy!

this is the aquaduct that takes the Barges over the river... the pic was taken from the slightly flooded gardens of the crossed guns pub..(named because near a rifle range in the 2nd world war!)

sadly because of the rain i didnt take as many pics as id normally do..

maybe next time!

March challenge

Im back... no excuse for not being about, just havent!

A Facebook friend in Brunei has set herself a photographic challenge for march and has thrown down the gauntlet for others to join in.
she has set a list of 16 things to capture in the month of march, and then  add them to your blog/facebook/whatever..
I may just give this a go, its just something a wee bit different and hey, gotta love a challenge..

Thanks Kate.

the list is as follows.

1.  Celebration
2.  Stripy
3.  Empty
4.  A game
5.  New
6.  Work
7.  Growing
8.  Home-made
9.  Favourite
10.  Blue
11.  Evening
12.  Pattern
13.  Flight
14.  Yesterday
15.  Fabric
16.  Loud

Oxtail stew

Ok... its a stew made from the chopped up tail of a cow!

Howe tasty can it be...

well strangely.. the gravy was awesome.. but i couldnt bring myself to eat the meat

it still looked too much like it was to me.. its just a thing i have..
if it resembles what it once was, then its a big fat NO!

anyway the boys enjoyed gnawing round the bones!!

I also made these..

ginger sponge (another recipe from them Hairy Bikers!) and also

pumpking apricot and oat chewy bars.. aka Flapjack!
these also had the addition of some dessicated coconut and peanut butter in them too..
very yummy, and very nice with a cuppa tea..

The oaty bars were a BBC good food Rachel Allen recipe..
her recipes for most things are pretty good... she is almost a new younger Mary Berry if you ask me...
although Mary Berry will always be my cooking hero!

Portsmouth..day trip..

Memory lane for me..

Met up with my very old mate Sally..(old as in time known not her age!)

and we chatted for 2 hours but sadly, she was on a tight schedule, so we crammed as much chat as we could into those 2 short hours..

After Sally had left i wandered through the Guildhall square..oh my..

i was once told that if a virgin stood on them steps, the lions guarding the Guildhall would roar..

they didnt roar then, and they didnt roar today!!

there was a deonstration happening, less cuts, more pay etc etc .. teachers this time..

i stopped and listened for a while..

All these protests in the world..

Do they ever really make a difference??

anyway.. a few more pics of the area..

Guildhall Door, i dare say not a tradesmans entrance!

I then walked on to Southsea.. in the glorious sunshine..

when i reached the seafront i was gobsmacked to see a very large missing object..

There used to be a very large big wheel at the funfair.. sadly its gone, along with most of all the OLD fair...

its all changed ..

most of the fair was bahing closed doors, and was undergoing a bit of a makeover..

but i still managed to get a few pics 'between the bars!'

i walked along towards Old portsmouth, and spent ages just looking out to see..

and did a whole lot of people watching too..

i could take pictures all day.. of anything and everything, and i have to admit, im getting the hang of the Olympus too..

i had a lovely day..

Thanks for reading..x

playing with the Olympus and mourning (still) my Lumix

just a few shots taken with the Olympus..

sadly im not a proper photographer..

these arent the best..

but

food on the hoof..literally!

A few more pics..

The Hoe..Lady Astor lived along here

Ok.. i gave up adding more pics last eve as the uploading of them was taking forever..

so im just adding a few more pics .

It was lovely to go down to Devon & Cornwall.. but as always, time went fast and it would have been good to meet up with lots of people we know down that way, but theres never enough time, and we always end up spreading ourselves thinly..

decided im not doing that anymore.. so we will head down that way again in the future and maybe spend longer than 48 hours... we may even have a holiday...in a kinda we lived there its not a holiday way??

Tea rooms on the Barbican

Smeatons Tower

Early morning walk, this is the Tamar

H & Amber.

Me H & Amber (cooold!)

The Frozen Tamar Valley.