Meeting Matt and Nicole

The weather wasn't too good today, a bit chilly, but at least it didn't rain on us. We managed to find each other in a very busy Tesco car park, and Matt and Nicole followed me in their hire car back to my village. We have a small cafe in the High Street which has recently been taken over by new owners, it seemed a good opportunity to check it out with my guests. Actually, the truth was I couldn't be bothered to cook lunch, and I wanted to be nosy and see what the cafe was like. It isn't a greasey spoon type cafe, in fact they spell it with a double eff so I suppose that makes it a posh caffe. The food was very nice, a treat paid for by Matt. Thanks Matt.

I had two or three ideas of what we could do, we opted to go for a walk along the hills above the river to Alkborough. I have posted about this place before, it's one of my favourite walks. There is a turf maze there, and they both had fun walking the whole distance, eventually ending up in the middle.

Round and.....

round they went.

I'm sure we have been this way before. No we haven't keep going. Eventually they did get to the middle.

Little Rocky came too, he enjoyed his extra long walk.

Lo and behold, who should turn up with his two black labs was my friend Paul and Ollie and Alfie. A nice coincidence, and time for a chat.

And here are the happy couple, you couldn't wish to meet nicer people. We chattered the whole time, it was lovely to hear about their lives in New Zealand.

To Matt and Nicole, I hope the rest of your holiday is brilliant and you have a fantastic time. It was great meeting you and I am so chuffed that you made time for me. Safe travelling.

Blogger friends unite!

Today's the day.......when Matt will be visiting, all the way from New Zealand. Got to dash, clean the house and make myself look presentable. Waiting for the text any time now. So excited that a blogger friend from the other side of the world has made time to see me, in his busy holiday schedule. Catch you later.

Bradford fountains at night

Won't keep you in suspenders, here are the last few pics, Bradford City Park at night. The small fountains were lit up with pretty colours when I came out of the theatre. The magical scene looked fabulous, couldn't resist taking a few more shots. No more words needed, hope you like them.

Must see : fabulous photographs

WOW WOW WOW. You must look at this. Stunning fantasy photographs by Kirsty Mitchell, in the Daily Mail. You will be blown away.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2145760/Wonderland-Kirsty-Mitchell-heart-breakingly-beautiful-photographic-series-memory-extraordinary-life.html

A day out in Bradford

Thank you for giving me the day off yesterday, and thank you for your Birthday wishes, yep, I have just crossed the line from 62 to 63, and if I was to be honest, I wish I was going backwards instead of forwards. I'd love to do the whole lot again, ha ha. But it's forwards we are all travelling in this life we have, so best make the most of it.

Yesterday was my birthday day out. Last year I was in Scotland, blimey that year has gone quick. I arrived in Bradford at about 10am. I got off the M62 just past Leeds and followed the A650 in, and found a wide street to park. I couldn't be bothered to wait for a bus, it was only fifteen minutes to walk into the city centre. The Tourist Information Office gave me a free street map, and there are lots of these finger post signs about. 

My first stop was the National Media Museum. It has eight floors of galleries, three cinema's, and an amazing collection of cameras telling the story of photography from the beginning to the present day. You can learn all about animation, video games, making TV programmes, early TV and how it began, and you can select your favourite from over 1,000 classic programmes, and watch it in a sound proof booth.

This is how they set the scene, and film a drama. You can play with the cameras and it talks you through the process.

Then you can stand in front of a camera and put yourself in a scene. Hello Teletubbies.

I say, is the PM coming out to play today, ha ha.

I also had a go at reading the news, you sit at the desk and read from the autocue, then it plays and you can watch yourself on the tele. I took some photo's but I've deleted them, I look awful. Don't know about 63, I looked more like 93, yuk!

Right next door is the Alhambra Theatre, a beautiful building. I had a look inside to see what was on, I wonder if they have a seat for tonight's performance? I came out with a ticket in my hand. I like these spur of the moment decisions. No rush to get back, car is safe hopefully, and I rang Janet to ask her if she could see to the cats. So tonight it's 'The King and I'. Whoopeeee.

This is Bradford City Hall, in the City Park. There is a massive high tec water feature, the biggest of it's kind in the UK. The lake is quite shallow, you can easily walk across it. In this pic there is very little water in it so you won't get your feet wet. It seems they can regulate the amount of water they pump into it.

The front of the City Hall, a very impressive building.

I had a look at the Cathedral, it isn't a very big one, but very attractive and in immaculate grounds.

This caught my eye, the cherubs adorning the sides, and the contrasting skull at the bottom.

I love stained glass windows, especially those with lots of red and blue.

I walked a little way out of the city, and came across this on a piece of waste ground. There are many neglected and abandoned buildings like this old mill. They have such character and a lot of history, it's a shame we can't save them all.

The University in Bradford is huge, lots and lots of buildings. This is just one of them. Everywhere seems to be on a hill here, lots of steep bits to climb. The students were just coming out when I passed, it was very busy. There are lots of student accommodation blocks in this area, I saw signs up saying flats to let.

After a bit more walking about, and visiting a couple of galleries, and picking up something for my tea from Morrisons, I went back to City Park to wait for the show to start. The big fountain in the centre has now been switched on. Can you see the rainbow?

As I sat eating my pasta, dressed in my thermal trousers, walking boots, sweatshirts and jacket, it wasn't that warm, I wondered why on earth are these people walking into the water and getting absolutely drenched. They were having great fun, but weren't they cold, and how were they going to get home, dripping all over the place? Perhaps the young 'uns don't feel the cold.

I have to admit I had difficulty staying awake throughout the whole performance. Felt myself nodding off just before the interval. I had a good seat, in the second row with no one in front of me. The performance was excellent, the singers could actually sing, great voices, and the costumes were colourfull. The dance routines were very polished, and the children performed to perfection. I woke up in the second half, ha ha. Some pics of the interior. Photography is not allowed during the performance.

I have copied the advertising leaflet, no I didn't buy a programme.

It finished about 10.15pm, and I was back home just after midnight. Straight to bed as I was very tired. I have some more photo's which I will put on tomorrow, because they are worthy of their very own post. I took them last thing, after I came out of the theatre, and I'm very pleased about how they have turned out. Toodle pip.

A few bits of shopping to do

Today I had a few places to go to, so I made a list. Do them all in one day instead of going back and forth wasting petrol. First off was the cash and carry. I needed some fruit juice and they had some Pineapple, three cartons for £1. I also got four tins of hot dog sausages for 50p each, not for me, my doggy friends like them. Oh, and I bought some salt to put on the weeds, thanks for your suggestions.

Next was town, I always park on the edge and walk in, I won't pay for parking. Bank to pay a bill and market for dog treats. I checked the charity shops because I want a medium size milk jug either glass or pot. Can't find one anywhere, probably because I only want to pay about 50p. It needs to be big enough to hold a tin of evaporated milk, but not too big, it's got to fit in the fridge. No matter, I can wait till the right one comes along.

I also had a scout round for Felix pouches on offer. The posh stuff, As Good As It Looks, is £3 at the moment, but I don't want my cats to get a taste for that. I want to stick to the bog standard one, which often comes on offer at £2.50 a box. Not to worry, I have not run out yet, I can wait for it.

While I was in town I called in to the Arts Centre, where they have two new exhibitions. The paintings have been on display for a couple of weeks now, but local florists and flower arranging clubs were asked to design displays, taking their inspiration from the pictures. The flowers then were placed in front of the paintings. I think this one works rather well.

My favourite was this one. The flower lady has replicated the colours and shapes of the lego bricks into her flower display. Very clever I thought, she has used square galvanised containers with a splash of vibrant colours.

This is an interesting one. The picture behind is that of dried winter undergrowth, I think the flower arranger has interpreted it exactly.

After town I went to Skippingdale, this is a retail park which has just had some new life breathed into it with the arrival of new shops opening. It became quite run down when Tesco moved out and went into their new store by the motorway, then Focus, the DIY store closed. Now all the units are occupied again, and it's in a handy place to call into. I went to the Pound Shop to see if they have any more cat litter. I was lucky, they had four bags. I am stocking up on this as it is so cheap. I asked if they had any more in the back, the assistant said they didn't, but they have a delivery on Thursday and could order some for me if I wanted a lot. I thought that was quite good, now the girls know me they offer to get me what I want. Can't be bad eh, ha ha. I'm not sure how many bags she meant when she said a lot, so I said not to bother, if they are going to be having some in anyway, I would just take how many they happened to have when I called in next time.

Next and last stop was Tesco, just down the road. I took my till receipt in from last night, as they had overcharged me on a reduced item. You have to watch the yellow stickers, sometimes they don't always fully cover the bar code, and the till will scan it at the original price. One good thing about Tesco, if they make a mistake, you always get a full refund. I got back the full price 85p which I was charged, plus the reduced price 23p I should have been charged. So I got the item free plus 23p. While I was there I got a bottle of baby shampoo for 9p, baby bath for 11p, and a pack of 300 nappy bags for 35p, the cheapest dog poo bags you will find. A quick scout round to the reduced sections and I found some grapes, and cheese scones.

Tomorrow I am having the day off. The car is filled up with petrol and I'm going for a city day out. Somewhere I have been meaning to go and visit for a while now. There are several free museums and art galleries, so I'll pack my sandwiches and get off early in the morning. I'll bring some photo's back with me. Oh, and I have promised myself I will have whatever I want tomorrow, because it is a special day, so I might spend some money. Toodle pip.  

The weeds are growing well

With all the rain we have been having, the weeds are springing up everywhere. It's difficult to keep on top of the job, no sooner I have cleared some away, then they come back again. I don't mind a few weeds as it gives the frogs somewhere to hide, but the downside is it also gives the slugs and snails a hiding place as well. I'm not a fan of perfect gardens anyway, some of them are quite boring. A little bit of mess here and there makes it more interesting.

I tidied this bit up today, it's right outside my dining room window. I've tried the trick of pouring a kettle of boiling water on them, they shrivel up and die, but then they come back again. And I'm not going to spend my money on some nasty chemicals.

So there is only one thing for it, get down on my hands and knees and scrape the beggars up with a sharp knife. This is the equipment I used to do the job. One kneeling mat which is a a piece of foam I kept from an arm chair I disposed of. A sharp knife, small brush and dustpan, and a small bucket to collect the debris and transfer it to the bin.

And there you go, a neat and tidy corner in the garden.

Goodness knows how long it will take me to clear this away from the side of the house. It really could do with resurfacing, but I can't afford it, so it looks like I shall be on my knees for quite some time. Shall I say a prayer for you while I'm down there, ha ha.

I've been to Tesco tonight, stocked up on a few things I was running out of, and managed to get quite a lot of reduced items. Two cauliflowers for 20p each. Three bags of brocolli florets for 25p each. Punnet of nectarines for 42p. Little gem lettuce for 22p. And guess what, just as I am finishing that humungus bag of carrots which I bought from a roadside seller for £1.50 on the 21st February, tonight I couldn't resist buying a 2 kg bag, reduced to 23p. More flippin carrots to eat, ha ha. I won't put the whole shopping list here and bore you to death.

Anyway, bed time. Good night.