The ramblings of an old duffer on "news" items, rants, observations of the world around me, my daily life or whatever else attracts my attention.
If I have not posted anything for a while, it may be because I am roaming about in a campervan see www.kenandkathleen.blogspot.com
Please comment if you feel inclined, at least then I know I am not talking to myself (again).
It is our 25th Wedding Anniverary on 31st January.
The original plan is a short break in Bruges, but eventually we opt to return to Keswick, where we spent our Honeymoon.
We left on Monday 30th January.
The weather is not brilliant as we drive via the Hartside Fell.
Cold and a bit murky on the east side of the Pennines.
But, it begins to brighten as we head west, by the time we join the A66 after Penrith, the cloud is breaking and there is sun on the snow capped hills.
It could be Switzerland, but, it is the English Lake District.
The apartment we have rented is just perfect, warm and cosy, near the town, but tucked away with a view over the river Greta.
This is the view from the living room window.
By the time we have unpacked, it is too late for a "serious" walking experience.
We settle for a little circuit along the shore of Derwent Water.
Past the Theatre by the lake, and a little diversion through Hope Park, for this view of the snow covered hills, before heading past the boat landings.
Here there are always lots of ducks and geese, waiting for passers by to supplement their diet with bread and scraps.
Soon, we leave the "town strollers" behind, and head for Friars Crag, this must be one of the most photographed places in the Lake District, but today, we have it to ourselves, except for the odd dog walker.
We head along the shore, it is flat and open, easy walking, so a good introduction to the next few days.
Through a small wooded area, to join up with a path heading back toward Keswick, where we (well, I) undo the good work with coffee and Malt Loaf, in the Skiddaw Hotel, in the Market Square, Kathleen is her usual restrained self and just has the coffee.
On Tuesday, the actual day of our anniversary, it begins overcast and damp, as well as cold. The plan is to walk the circuit of Derwentwater.
Armed with a flask of coffee and some sandwiches, we head off across the fields, to the village of Portinscale at the head of the lake, then following along the lake toward Manesty and Grange.
This side of the lake is much quieter than the Keswick shore, there are fewer houses and the road is much smaller, but most of our route is off the road in any case. We fail to spot any wildlife, not even a squirrel! Our Indian tracker skills are clearly lacking.
We do hear a woodpecker, making the familiar tap tap tap noise as it pecks at a tree trunk, but although I wait quietly, as Kathleen marches on, I fail to actually see it!
As we approach Manesty, the path runs close to the shore again, and I take the opportunity to try some artistic shots, I leave it to you to judge the degree of success.
It is lunch time and we find a fallen tree to sit on and have our sandwiches and a hot drink. We are only yards from the Keswick to Borrowdale road, but this is the view from our picnic site and not a person in sight.
Unfortunately, it remains cold and overcaste.
But, as we head back along the lake shore, past Lodore and toward Keswick, the cloud begins to break up, and we even see a little blue sky.
But, the brightness does not last, and soon we have cloud again, although it does produce some dramatic sky scenes.
After just a little short of ten miles, we retire to the pub to warm ourselves infront of the fire.
The first of February, and as I clear away the breakfast dishes, the sun is shining. It looks as if it is going to be a beautiful day, so the decision is taken, we are going to do a walk which involves climbing Latrigg.
There are several routes.
We have chosen a one which takes us through Fitz Park, to the old railway station and then along the old railway line, before crossing the River Greta.
Passing under the A66, and then following the opposite bank of the river through a beautiful wooded area, which I think is called Brundleholm Woods.
The climb is slow and steady,
until we are high above the river,
then on through the woods, an easy route to follow, there are not too many options!
Eventually, we emerge from the woods, into brilliant sunshine,
with sweeping views on our right.
and now a choice or which way to go, we must turn right, up the hill,
and over the stile, and up and up.
almost at the top, and a pause for breath, with the excuse of taking a photograph!
and eventually, we are on top of the world, well, on top of Latrigg that is, and at since it is a 1292 foot climb, that will do for me.
This would be a prime spot to have lunch, but, despite the sunshine, it is freezing cold, with a brisk wind blowing from the east.
So, we descend a little, and find a handy picnic spot, in the sun, and with a tree trunk as a seat and table combined,
but with superb all round views.
So, on down, back to Fitz Park, and after 7 miles, Kathleen is ready to partake of a cream scone.
So, it is off to Brysons's cake shop, coffee and a cream scone for her, hot chocolate and a pice of "sly cake" for me.
In the interests of keeping fit, and losing weight, we embark ona 20 mile cycle ride, using one of our "regular" routes, to Whitburn, along the coast to South Shields, and home via Jarrow.
I take the opportunity to use my new toy, ie my Drift Action Camera to record the event for posterity.
I am still very inexpert, the first half or more of the trip is shot with the camera in the wrong orientation (by 90 degrees).
Apart from playing, sorry, experimenting, with the camera the ride is quite enjoyable. We even see a squirrel hopping across our path, as we cycle through Jarrow.
This time I make use of video editing software to join it all up into one piece and reduce the length. What a task that is!, it is so slow. The editing is bad enough, although I suspect faster disk drive(s) and more RAM in the computer may overcome that. The upload time to the internet is also painfully long, not really sure how that can be overcome!
It is all still very amateurish, but given I am a total amateur, I am reasonably pleased with the result. Now there is the whole area of adding a soundtrack and captions to explore!
Sunday evening I amuse myself copying the megabytes of precious recorded video to my PC, and learning how to edit it in the most rudimentary way.
The edit and uploading takes so long, it spreads over Monday and Tuesday too.
In moments of boredom, waiting.... I attempt a few shots of the birds feeding as if their lives depend on it (which I suppose thet do, actually) at the bird feeders.
I also try a few attempts with the video, but without much success.
A quick check on the bathroom scales reveals that by riding about on a motorbike instead of my bicycle, I have managed to gain 10lb in weight.
I have now returned to my regular exercise regime, and have managed to lose 2lb, without having to significantly reduce my food intake (I like eating, and drinking). This is much to Kathleen's annoyance, since she has lost only 1lb!
The weather for the most part continues to be kind, quite amazing, since it is early November.
The sun shines on Sunday, and after filling the bird feeders, I feel I have done enough exercise to justify a spin out on my motorbike.
I have been buying a new toy, or as Kathleen would say, "yet another new toy". A Drift Action Video camera. The idea is to capture some of my outings, so I can watch them in the future in the Nursing Home, which is probably where we are all going to end up unless we are lucky enough to just fall off the perch nice and neatly, no long period of dependancy or illness, just a nice quick end.
On that happy note.....
This is my first attempt at using the camera. It is on my bicycle. As you can probably tell, I did not manage to get the mounting angle correct, so the whole things looks like I am riding along at 45 degrees to the vertical!
All I can say of this rather poor effort is, the camera has done its job admirably, ie the quality of the image is spot on, the least said about my contribution the better.
It is the second last day of September, but the weather is like it is supposed to be in July, dry, sunny and very warm!
Hard labour in the morning, cutting two metres off the neighbours Leyllandi hedge (with his agreement of course).
After lunch, I turn my efforts to fitting the rear hugger to my motorcycle.
The fitting instructions which came with it are scant to say the least, and yesterday evening I retired defeated.
But having slept on it, I have it cracked, the part which was giving me a problem was this bracket on the right hand side of the bike, it was not clear which way round it should go.
Not that any one is interested I suspect, but it goes with the studs towards the tyre.
I think I could do a better job than "Powerbronze" at writing the fitting instructions, that is if I wanted a job, which I most definately do not!
I am having a great time, I just have to be careful not to let Kathleen see how much I am enjoying myself, otherwise she will dream up some chore which needs doing!
By the time I have finished tinkering with my motorbike, Kathleen has gone out walking, so this leaves me free to go out for a spin, great fun.
I think I should have taken the winter liner out of my jacket and trousers however, because the weather is so hot, I am sweating profusely as I cruise around, it does nothing to add to my "cool" image!
The day starts with a beautiful morning. The weather certainly seems to be improving, not before time.
I manage to fit in a lot today, a trip out on my motorbike, to have a check on Martin's allotment. At this time of year there is not a lot to do except pick the crops. Tomatoes, beans, beetroot. The fact I am on the motorbike limits me to just a haversack full!
The rest of the day is spent walking and gardening.
Wednesday and the weather is even better, it is like a summers day. After the chore of food shopping at ASDA, we go cycling.
I spend the evning attempting to fit the recently purchased "hugger" to my motorbike. I am usually pretty good at this sort of thing, but I retire defeated. I will have to consult Google for inspiration.
Bikers are protesting because the EU are trying to impose new rules on riders and pillion passengers relating to Dayglo clothing, preventing modifications to bikes, and banning motorcycles over 7 years old from urban areas.
