Lazy, Hazy days of Summer

We had a real stay at home and do nothing day .......


......With a beautiful sea view outside, we decided we would take advantage of it and watch the view .... 


....so we saw the Ferry off on its travels .... Plymouth we think .....

......couldn't quite make out what this rather large ship was carrying ..... I guessed containers or trucks but PJ thought it couldn't be containers as they weren't stacked high enough!!.....


...don't think we'll ever know .....

.... some brave person found a hot air spiral, spending some time just sailing back and forth over the cliff top .....

...... there was a session of this ...... really was too hot for this type of work, the noise was awful but the sweet smell of cut grass was enjoyable ......


..... we spotted several small boats, different sail formations but very pretty as they sailed past ....




.... I managed to finish a few ATCs .... in between the crocheting....

.... and eating .... 
....and drinking ...... 
speaking of which ...... 

....PJ found a new wine glass while we were out yesterday so he spent the day reading his books and testing out his glass!!

Well wouldn't you??

Then, as we were trying to decide what to have for our evening meal .......
... the Ferry made its return journey past the window .......

..... we settled for the crab in a salad - easy when made with tomatoes and eggs brought from home.......




..... and as the sun set in the west ........... red sails ..... almost calls for a song .....

Torquay & wine & crabs!

We had hoped to visit our friend today but she has been taken poorly so our plans were changed.

We decided to go into Torquay and check out the charity shops there for books and wool.

As we had missed the bus and didn't want to wait for another hour, we decided to order a taxi and reach the ferry across the bay that little bit quicker.

Our journey was very smooth, and the boat docked a wee bit closer to the town so that was less distance to walk.  

As we walked round the harbour we noticed this big fella.......

We travelled up the hill to the shops at the top and slowly worked our way back down.  It was a fruitless journey so we decided to stop and have lunch, just a sandwich and takeaway coffee.  We stopped at Warrens Bakery, bought a pasty, sandwich and two coffees.  The staff were so friendly and PJ said the pasty was delicious and I can vouch for the sandwich!!!!

We continued our journey down the hill to the main road where the named shops lined the road.  PJ bought his books from Smith's and I popped into Poundland.  

Well, I had a lovely shock inside ....all the wool was reduced in price!!!  

Bearing in mind my little blankets .... I think it is time to stock up with wool!!!

I bought lots of balls of wool, several shades of pastel colours but my favourite was the white wool, it has just a sparkle in it of silver.

We sat outside at Shiraz which is right on the quayside, and had one or two drinks, then went inside for a meal.  
They serve ample portions of lovely food, no wonder they are so popular.

Web photo

While we sat outside, I ordered a fresh crab from the stand in the harbour, the lady dressed it and brought it across to our table in a cute brown paper carrier bag.  

Delicious!!  Can't wait to try it.

We travelled back to Brixham on the local bus, inside as my knee is still hurting a bit from all the standing and walking around on the Open Day, but we did find another two rhinos. 
I have some walking poles with me and, although they draw a few looks, they have helped me enormously.  I don't do the Nordic Walk but use them as one uses crutches, and then fold them up and put them away after use.  Marvellous things!  I have certainly walked up and down a few hills using them!!


After we came home we watched a film starring Maggie Smith.  I thought this was based on a very funny book I read some time ago but it was based on a different one, quite sombre in places but enjoyable.

We sat with the curtains open and the passing ships could be seen out at sea .... in the distance .... and as the day closed they changed to small lights bobbing out in the darkness ........

On the road again....

We started out with rain and it stayed with us all day .....
We transferred the chickens out to their hotel in the rain but were they bothered .... not at all!!
I felt quite let down as I thought they would create as they were put into their travel boxes .....silence!
I thought they would run around when they went into their Bird & Breakfast .... no! 
They just started scratting around and eating their food as though they were at home!!
Ah! Well!  We were off to the seaside so at least they were happy.
We came down here to visit friends but it also means we get to do a bit of sightseeing as well.

We travelled into the local town to buy a new jumper for PJ as I had shrunk his old one!!  After buying his jumper  we had a look round the shops and even managed to pick up a couple of crafting magazines from Harbour News - the best newsagents in town! (according to the owner!).  I noticed this building as we walked down the high street, haven't noticed this on our previous visits.

We didn't stay in town long as the sun shone and it became very warm ..... 

.........not good for me so we came back to the chalet and sat outside for awhile .......

We have a different chalet this year but it is the same beautiful view .....

......and the same old birds flying around.

As we are further along in the line of chalets this year we have access to this view of the bay, we often wondered why people stopped to look over the bushes just here!

....... another visitor flew round investigating the various tables and deckings outside.

We have met several folks this year, everyone seems much more friendly this year, our first day has been really pleasant. 

A Presentation

Geoff and Mary were celebrating 60years of marriage and, with the usual load of banter, a collection was made.  



We managed to purchase a beautiful cut glass vase, took it over to the Jewellery Quarter and had it engraved with all the details.  
Once we had the engraved vase back in our possession, it was decided to make a presentation at the barbecue.

When everyone had arrived and had been served with food, wonderfully barbecued by Ben, the CEO came to make the presentation to Geoff.  

After a few words, during which he looked as though he was praying but I can assure you he wasn't!, the presentation was made.  

I think Geoff was a bit lost for words but he was very pleased.  
He came round to everyone later to thank us all individually.

Sometimes there are really lovely times down at the Steam Engine works, it seems almost like a family outing!!!

Visitors to the garden today

Last May we discovered a visitor coming into the garden, a grey squirrel who we promptly named Cyril .... although Cyril did have her young one with her!

Cyril has visited the garden several times a day since then, so much so that I filled a feeder full of peanuts in shells - just lately this feeder has been emptied every day.  We have seen Cyril climbing onto the bird feeder and extracting the peanuts, morning, afternoon and evening thinking she deserved all those peanuts for all the hard work she does.  Well, I did until this afternoon.

I was ir***ng and had one of the French Window doors open so that I could see up the garden .... along came Cyril ....  or was it ...... as she took off down the lawn another  'Cyril' appeared from out of the bushes!

Cyril II tried out the fat balls ......

.... then she tried out the sunflower seeds ......

....... had the cheek to just sit there and feed her face ....

How did I know the difference?  Cyril plants her peanuts in our garden, Cyril II runs down the lawn, climbs the fence to next door and plants her peanuts there!!!
I watched enthralled and then realised I wasn't the only one out there .......

Eventually I had a pile of nice neat flat clothing all ready to go upstairs to be sorted ....... pleasant days are hard to come by at the moment ......

Tyseley Open Day 2016

We are not having an Open Weekend this Autumn, we are taking part in Birmingham Heritage Week so the Loco Works are open for three days.
We arrived early, PJ was looking after the car park as usual and I was 'volunteered' to sell tickets at the gate, but I managed to take time off now and again to take photos so here is a photo heavy post!!
Somewhere out there is a road bridge over the railway and that's where lots of folks gather to view the Steam Engines when they are going out on tour.  
I am given to understand that The Flying Scotsman can be seen from there this morning  ...... really?
Now this is a sight you very rarely see ..... the Visitors' Garden .... all kitted out with chairs and tables, ready for the picnicker to sit a while.

I thought I would take a few photos of the engine itself before the paying public were allowed in.

If you look carefully you can just see it peeping out above the huts .....

.....  you'll have to be quick .....

...... steam's up.....!!

I managed to get a little closer, there it is ...
.... parked up ..... 

.....I must walk round to see if I can get any closer ......

Time is getting on so I must get back to my position ready for the gate to open.


Just outside the gates are these two steam engines .... I called them Traction Engines but was quickly told that they were STEAM engines!!



Just look at the queue .....

.... from the gates it snakes across the car park ......

...... way back to the Warwick Road and the main entrance.....

.... and they are still coming .....

.... the gates don't open until 12.00hrs ......




Then the gates are open ...... the engines are flaunting themselves on the turntables .... 

.... and Flying Scotsman  is open for business .... if you haven't pre-booked ... you only get to look and not cross over the tender ......

Towards the end of the day as the cars slowly left the carpark, I noticed that someone else had crept out for a ride round .....


....creeping is not really the way she rolls.....

..... she steams .....

New 'window boxes' for the Signal Box

 Back in June I sorted out the 'window boxes' from the workshop/garage and cleaned them up. 

The repairs I made to them last year have dried completely so I just needed to tidy them up a bit, brush them off and then paint them up.
Although the original ones I painted had a gold tudor rose, I decided that this time I would painted them just a uniform colour.  Now that the Signal Box has been completed (almost anyway!) they do not need any decoration apart from the flowers.

There will be one box on each fence panel, two on the signal box and two on the Platform fence.

Here is everything I think I will need, soil, drill, hooks, plants, window boxes and polystyrene 'bits' for the bottom of the boxes.

First off the hanging basket is planted up and hung ....


..... while I am planting, PJ hung the boxes on the Signal Box and another Volunteer, known to us at Roger 2, shaped the hooks to enable me to hang the boxes on the fences.

My goodness ...... that hedge needs a hair cut! .....

Now we have the boxes hung back on the fences ...
... they are planted up with plants that have been donated by our neighbour.  

When I planted up the centre bed earlier in the year, I reserved some of the plants for the Signal Box Garden.  

This is how the signal box looked back in 2002, so tired.

Now it is all spruced up and looking good, didn't really need the boxes to make it look good but  ......

After I had finished planting, I started to tidy up when the Heavens opened up and it rained ... and rained ..... 

  
I was really looking forward to seeing all the plants in full bloom but alas and alack, it was not to be so.  The hot weather came along and without my care, and just intermittent watering by other volunteers, several of the plants died.
I hope to be on site before the Heritage Weekend so that I can check out the gardens and titivate them up a little bit before the visitors come.