Monday 18 June 2012

Pannal Jubilee Olympic torch

It has been a very hot and sunny day today. Now where did that come from as it has been rubbish for days. Been told it will not last so that is great. Cats never came in last night so they were enjoying a mild night. They are in now looking shattered after their night on the tiles. There seems to be more excitement over the Olympic torch coming to Harrogate than the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. Has been said that Harrogate Council has republican tendencies. Wonder if that is true. Surely not. Anyway the torch arrives here. Sorry to have to say I will not be going to see it I am playing golf - weather permitting. A young man Jonathan Sherwood age 19 has carved a beautiful Jubilee chair from an oak tree donated by friends of ours. It was his own idea and it is in the Valley Gardens for all to see. 

Friday 15 June 2012

Is it winter in Pannal

It is perishing here and there is a lot of rain.  Central heating on. Can't get doing summer things. No long warm evenings in the garden come to that no long warm days either. We have a little stream at the bottom of the garden which is now not a little stream. Even the cats Marble and Tigs think it is winter and come in to lie in their beds. When I open the door for them to go out I get a you are joking look. From what people have told me I do not think the Jubilee event at St Robert's church was a success. Not many people turned up. There was a lot of memorabilia for the last sixty years. As well as my books, photograph albums and cuttings of the village I had kept my Coronation mug presented to all children in 1953, Silver Jubilee mug and a mug I had given from Dunlopillo now no longer there. Unfortunately the ghastly office block still dominates the village but the company and all the workers gone. It its place is a business park and horror of horrors a concrete batching plant. Down my end of the village it is quiet but at the top there are concrete lorries coming in and out. A loop hole in planning allowed them to be there. Spent a day running in and out trying to put some bedding plants in the flowerbeds. Everything is gigantic because of all the rain and very green. Our roses on the bungalow walls are out and very beautiful they are. They have been there 45 years now and have featured in many magazines. Wonder how long they will go on. Hoping for summer soon.

Monday 11 June 2012

Pannal and beyond

Weather here rubbish went to Scotland for 10 days and it was hot and sunny. We have 4 children Susan, Michael, James, Richard and when they were young I would not fly anywhere so we spent all our holidays  in Britain and as a result we have been all round the coast and a great number of places inland. Then we started visiting the islands Isle of Wight, Isle of Man, all the Scilly Isles and smaller ones like Bardsey and Shell Island, Angelsey. Scottish islands are marvellous Arran,Skye, Mull, Ulva, Great Cumbrae, Bute, Jura, Islay, Easdale, Luing, Orkney, Shetland, North and South Uist, Benbecula, Eriskay, Harris and Lewis, Barra, Vatersey, Mingulay (where I, who is afraid of heights had to clamber from a small swaying boat up the side of a steep cliff no steps or handrail to the top. Walk a narrow path above the sea to get to the beach and after a few hours when my heart had stopped pounding I was told I had to go the same way back which was worse as on the way up I did not look back but this time I had to look down. I very nearly colonized Mingulay to the tune of one inhabitant. Only peer pressure got me on that boat.)  Rum. Eigg, Colonsay.  This holiday it was Arran, Gigha, Kerrera, Lishmore, Coll and Tiree. Coll and Tiree had amazing beaches with white sand and blue/green water. The islands were all beautiful but our favourite was Coll. The beaches were isolated and one had to walk to reach them over grass covered in an abundance of wild flowers. Susan and our grandson Alex came with us. Frequent ferry trips which Alex found exciting (we did too) the longest trip was four hours returning from Tiree to Oban.Met some lovely people both living on the islands and visitors. German people seem to like Scotland. Be prepared though coming from a fairly hectic lifestyle nothing is done in a hurry. As one lady in Coll said to me the kettle takes a long time to boil here. We found places to eat mostly hotel bars which were very few and far between and in Tiree Hotel I had the best knickerbocker glory I have ever had. I am still dreaming about it. Returned to Oban still bathed in sunshine but got a rude awakening when we stayed overnight with our friends (Terry and I have known each other since we were 4) in Glasgow when we encountered rain.
Home to Pannal more rain, cold and today grey skies. Missed the Jubilee (60 years of Pannal) to which I contributed a number of items so will have to find out how well it went and write it up in a later blog.  I did have the first copy of the new look Harrogate Advertiser and I think it looks like The Metro which is the free paper handed out to rail passengers. To me it is a comedown from a quality broadsheet to a tabloid.