Bubbles in the USA (mark 2)

Falls, ponds and trees

 

A Truly Tree-delicious Tansley

14th December 2018

 

We were off to a good start with Maggie, Alison, Jo and the Helens all meeting up according to Jo's very precise timetable of activities.  A good wintry sunshiney day ordered by yours truly. Plus, Betty and Bob promised their very best behaviour too.  Pam would arrive later but Charlotte and Julia were lighting up London, so a bit too far to come.

 

Proof of progress.

 

Clearly, today was going to be...

..a barrel load of fun.

 

The last time the babes had attempted this trip, it were raining a fair bit, with rumours of lashings of water tumbling down the street and from above, drenching the wenches.  So much so, that Lynn (with an alleged soggy bottom) declared an about turn and headed back to the pub.  She made sure this was not going to happen again, so joined us later in the dry. This was as far as some babes got last time.

 

Maggie does a rain-check and declares we can continue.

 

We tootled along with wonderful views of the long and winding road through Tansley.

 

Bob is allowed to take the lead

 

 

Betty: Fancy a luxury holiday, Bob?

Bob:  Nah.  Julia's offered to take us in!

 

We found a path which led us into the woods towards the waterfall.  To liven up our walk we had a little practice of how to watch kiwis in the dark, which involved a lot of very precise military style manoeuvres.  Needless to say, we didn't see any. Perhaps it was because dogs aren't allowed in kiwi areas. We did however see a couple of alpaca which are allowed to live in kiwi land.

 

Versatile alpaca, available for nativities.  Speciality: doubling up as sheep or camel.

 

You've been framed!

 

Babes a bit lost in the wood

 

About turn... it's this way!

 

Whilst trying to get back to the proper path, we try a bit of cloud spotting

 

Success!

 

And we eventually find a bit of a waterfall, but it isn't the right bit. 

 

Good for a tree-creeper though.

 

We do another about turn and end up going in the right direction. 

 

Jo cleaning up the poster.

 

Middle pond reflections

 

Lower pond reflection.

 

And finally, we arrive at exactly the right place, a little further down the way than originally thought. It is a beautiful waterfall and definitely worth the wait.

 

 

 

 

But perhaps it is a  bit too much for one person...

 

Ahhh.. not another one!

 

The ruins of the old, now not working multi-purpose mills: lead smelting, bleaching, saw mills,   of Lumsdale are still quite impressive. A pity the ground is still polluted with little growing on it.  History suggests we should learn from this, but.....

 

 

 

Two ruins for the price of one!

 

We can't linger.  Gotta meet Lynn.  But we do stop to admire the local countryside.  There is a bit of a bark off with a field of sheep.  And despite some very sturdy stares, Betty succeeded in frightening the whole flock away.

 

Up the Rams!

 

We make it in time to the Gate Inn, espying Lynn with her coffee and Pam joins us just intime for lunch.  There is quite a lot of catch up to be had and a lot of advice given.  Stop storing and get rid of stuff!  Just incase you get peckish later, take a doggy box-bag when travelling in the States and NZ. If you've done three morning paper rounds on a round of toast, you are entitled to lunch.  Cook all things at 200 degrees c.  When in Marrakech, check out Yves St Laurent's garden and clothing department... much better than the souks! 

 

Maggie with a man on her head!

 

Further treats awaited us, in of all places the car park!

 

Yep.. seasonal exchanges.  Anyone left out?

 

In convoy, we then tootled down the road to the local church for our next surprise.  A delightful collection of locally decorated Christmas trees.

 

We all agreed with Alison's favourite.

 

Further treats were instore at the local Garden Centre for most babes, but no photos to prove it. The Helens drove off down the somewhat busy A38 in a blaze of a blindingly good setting sun. I passed you Helen, did you see me?

 

A small bird list of 12 for the day, but a rather festive count:

 

Blackbird

Coal tit (bird of the day)

Great tit

Crow

Magpie

Mallard

Mistle thrush

Sparrow

Starling

Tree creeper

Wood pigeon

Wren

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bubbles goes cruising (again) again!

Second Fun Friday

ILAM

9th November 2018

 

First Fridays seem to be turning into second Fridays as first Fridays seem to be popular days for people doing other things! so here we are on the second Friday of the month meeting at Ilam at 11.03 as 11am at Ilam is a bit confusing.

We don't have Helen J to organise the weather for us but we have our fingers crossed that the rain will stay away. 

Maggie, Lynn and Charlotte aren't able to join in the fun today and Helen J is presumably fast asleep on the other side of the world.

Bob and Betty seem very pleased to see each other again but they are both a little bit disappointed when they are put back in their respective vehicles whilst the rest of us go for coffee.

 

We certainly aren't going to lose Julia today!

 

In an attempt to be well organised and efficient Helen M has printed off the walk leaflet - however on closer examination it seems that we have step 1 of the walk and then step 7,the other steps are presumably still in the printer! thankfully Alison has picked up a leaflet and is quickly given the responsibility of walk leader.

What a very responsible dog owner - just don't forget where you have left that little parcel Jo.

We are all trying to remember when the last time we visited Ilam was - Alison has a distant memory of a school trip which no one Lee can remember - apart from Julia none of us have visited recently which seems a bit of an oversight as it has much to recommend it.

 

After a bit of a false start we set off on the correct path - hard to miss when we were on the right side of the river and look we spotted some seagulls in the distance - but then we all heard a voice from very far away say 'There's no such thing as a seagull'

 

Not sure what the languages are or why those ones have been chosen.

Come on Pam its this way.....

.........not this way, although it looks quite tempting

 

For some reason Pam kept very quiet about the fact that she had a proper map in her bag - obviously reluctant to take responsibility

Bob watching the birdie and Betty ignoring it completely - or perhaps she had spotted the dipper which we kept seeing (has to be bird of the day as it is about the only one that we have spotted!)

 

 

There's no doubting who the figure in the distance is

Having reached the stepping stones the question is are we brave enough to cross them with two lively dogs in tow

Of course we are brave enough - and it was all going so well until Betty fell in and had to be rescued by Julia and we had just been talking about the risk assessment we should have completed.

On the way back the rain caught up with us but at least we had managed to stay dry for mot of the time and even though it was grey and damp everywhere looked very beautiful.

Back at the start we said goodbye to Jo and Bob who had to be elsewhere and with a soggy Betty safely in the van we headed to the  café for lunch, cauliflower and stilton soup all round.

Up coming travel plans were discussed and minor scandals were touched upon.

We had hoped to do the short walk round the grounds after lunch but decided to save it for another time 

The tables on the lawn outside looked lovely and we resolved to make this a venue for a hummer visit when we can make the most of them.

 

 

 

 

First Friendly Fun Friday

Cromford Canal

5th October 2018

 

 

Today was the first Friday of the month and therefore the start of a new movement.  The babes, keen to try out new ideas, have decided to pilot meetings on the first Friday of each month. First Fridays are, therefore, not days to forget; planning should be easier. So with date set and after quite a lot of tweaking, the venue and timings were finalised.

 

Those who could, met at Cromford Canal Car Park.  After a bit of a battle with the car park ticket button,  an understanding sorted out amongst the dogs, we finally were able to greet each other with hugs and laughter. 

 

Marvellous behaviour.

 

Someone had the bright idea of asking a passing gentleman to take a photo of all of us together.

 

Hmm.. something is amiss here. 

 

 

Helen J has either been cropped out or the gentleman needs a lesson in button pushing!  Button pushing is clearly a learned skill in the Cromford car park. 

 

Heading up towards the canal, we were met with a rather splendid display, staffed by a volunteer who seemed less than enthusiastic to inspire us.  Although he was 'badgered' later on with a caterpillar query; it appears he has perhaps volunteered for the wrong post.

.

Basil, escaping a brush with the dogs.

 

Distracted by red caped children in a canoe, the pecking order of the dogs decided the walking  order of the babes too.  Betty occasionally allowed Bob to walk alongside her, a sneaky kiss too quick for the camera! Clapton, meanwhile, sporting his freshly-clipped-coat, wasn't sure whether he was supposed to get on a boat in Cromford and travel up to the Caledonian canal on a barge, or wait until he got there. Best do as Charlotte says, Clapton.

 

An eerie silence crept amongst the group as we watched a local peaky blinder at work

 

Very focussed....

 

Clearly, a dab-hand at his work.

 

We tootled along until we came to a natural stopping point. Well, we hadn't started with a cuppa, and talking is thirsty work.

 

 

It turns out that Charlotte really is Barbara Woodhouse in disguise.  With a nudge, a prod and a marvellous trick of landing a dog biscuit on his forehead, somehow Bob realises that this is the cue to sit down! Whilst Charlotte offers lots of other advice, Bob has other ideas..

 

Mrs Woodhouse can't see me from here!

 

We really hadn't given ourselves enough time for chatting or extending the walk over the bridge as we needed to find Lynn

 

Maggie would have led us on a good walk from here!

 

So, we tootled back admiring the signs of autumn

 

 

 

 

  And, as the weather was still holding up (obviously ordered in advance by yours truly), we found Lynn sitting outside the café ready and waiting for a good old catch up.

 

Press the button for the baby photo, Lynn.

 

Ahhh... wonderful news.  Jo is a grandmother.  Lots of excitement but there were times on our walk when we weren't quite sure which of her baby boys Jo was talking about; let's hope the pooping competition doesn't last for too long!

 

Lynn had lots of exciting news about her new house, her old house, her woods and storage issues.  Charlotte gave a lot of good advice.  Somehow we ended up talking about funerals again and how to avoid the high costs.  Donate to medical science, of course!  Less sure about the storage system here though as none of us wishes to lose a body part even it if is post departure.

 

Dog blood donating is apparently a thing for some dogs, especially Clapton,  but Betty was pleased to learn that she was not the requisite size, phew.   However, she made a very good attempt at giving Helen J a Brazilian butt lift.  Not a nip'n' tuck you understand; a new idea: twisted lead wrap around.

 

We then waved an early cheerio to Jo as she was off for her first grandchild hug... ahh... cute!

 

At which point, Clapton went for the cute dog award for the day

 

 

There was paltry attempt at bird-watching today, but probably, despite a valiant effort from a kestrel, the orphaned little grebe did win our affections for the day.

 

It's a bit confusing having two bird names!