A Garden Post and a Pair of Magpies

Nice weather for the Easter Bank Holiday , and we've managed to get the umbrella up , which seemed to contain an unwelcome infestation of flies, though hopefully our resident spiders and frogs will have devoured them by now!!

Also managed to get a photo of two magpies in our garden ruined by the fact that in was taken through the kitchen window , the flash went off and scred them away, still this is the result.

And here's a short video of the garden featuring "Always With Me, Always With You" by Joe Satriani which is available here:

The Odd Postbox..

My dad's job / hobby is the maintenance and installation / de installation of postboxes between Carlisle and Buxton . I saw this odd one on our recent Tideswell holiday which was one that he put in.









Previously I've come across few oddities such as this one in Worcester.








And then there's this similar one in Buxton which is probably another of my dad's.






And finally a Chinese style one in Stowell Street , Chinatown , Newcastle!!

Around Tideswell

Just a little more on the Peak District holiday , and more recommendations . Tideswell is a great village with some great buildings such as the afformentioned Natwest Bank,
with it's Griffin at the Front door:

Then there's the corner chippy , which highly recommended , opposite the bank ,and is another striking Tideswell building:

Just near to Tideswell , is the village Litton featuring the excellent Red Lion pub , which apart from being excellent features some incredible caving photographs on the wall , the work of Robbie Shone who's gallery can be seen here:

Tideswell - Cathedral Of The Peak!!

Just back from a week in Tideswell in Derbyshire , the Peak District. Took a great cottage (Rose Cottage) for a week details of which are here.

Tideswell is incredibly friendly as well as having a bank with working cash machine, two chip shops , three pubs (which serve food) , at least three churches including St John The Baptist the afformentioned Cathedral of the Peak, a Post Office, and Art Gallery and a few cafes.

First Mow Of The Year

Today , well yesterday , was the first mow of the year and lawn doesnt look too bad.

We also repotted a Bay Tree that we got for Christmas , which looks very nice on the decking.


And the Silent Roar / Sonic Gun combination (see here)seems to be keeping the garden cat poo free.

Spinal Tap Live Down My Street!!

Walking back from the hospital the other day and I spotted this front garden decoration:

I wonder if Spinal Tap live there? Further round the corner there's some shops , and with the so called credit crunch another one has gone west (the sign reads Winterschla, but it took me ages to recall what the shop was, a "Mr Q" discout drink shop. Previously it had been the just as badly named "The Local" and prior that I think it was a "Threshers". Glad to see that the ridiculously specialist "Tent Awning Clinic" can outlast a cheap booze emporium!!!

Waiting For Pudot .. and there's more

Tried another Gourmet Society restaurant , Starters and Puds , next to the Theatre Royal in Newcastle and they've come up with a novel concept to get you back fairly quickly. Have your starter , go and see your play , then come pack for your pudding!!! Our next theatre appointment is "Waiting For Godot" featuring Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen , so we'll see what happens!!!

On another note a friend pointed out Camp Karma in Yorkshire , which led to discover the extremely interesting looking "La Rosa" hotel in Whitby , which is definitely on my list!!