In The Pink

Its the simple things in life as they say, picking tomatoes from my garden, harvesting the rhubarb and eating it fresh for my tea, waking up early and heading downstairs for a blogging session before the village awakens. Ah the joys of a quiet Saturday morning with these thoughts in mind, my only company a cooing Wood Pigeon outside and a softly snoring pupster. Keep good company.

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Well here we are again, there's not much point posting about why I can't sleep, we all go through it at some point, but often I find heading for my blog is a good cure. It takes my mind of the 101 worries or jobs that seem to fill your hear when morpheus evades and usually after a hot drink and a few minutes distraction I can get back to sleep for the short time between now and the alarm clock. We moved to a new house 6 months ago and there are two reception rooms, as such I can come through to what we call the music room and set up without disturbing the pupster. Our old house had one living room, open plan to the kitchen, where the pups would sleep and my midnight blogging sessions would result in much heavy sighing and staring from them as their rest was disturbed.  I popped into the living room when I came down just now and Roxy pup lifted her head briefly to give me her usually sweet acknowledgement, but now she has lowered her head back to the couch and resumed s...

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 My thoughts and prayers are with everyone affected by the attack in France last night. Image Credit: Eskipaper

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Yesterday morning it rained heavily and we all went for a long walk to enjoy it. Some of us enjoyed it a little more than others. This was not the only roll Roxy pup had on her walk but it was the only one I managed to capture on camera. When we got back I made the most of her soggy state and gave her a bath; she was then towelled off and hair dried (a necessary step to prevent her getting stiff) and after resembled the Pink Panther when he comes out of the tumble dryer....an image I have long been searching for on the internet. I got a letter from the Dogs Trust on Friday that said 'Life Begins at 14', and I thought Roxy was doing to fabulous job of demonstrating that yesterday on her walk.

Well it seems like quite a few of you are still there and blogging! Hooray! However for some its been a very long time and some blogs have now become private. I have kept a few old favourites on my bloglist in the hope that bloggers may return, I have had gaps in blogging myself over the past 10 years, and now I am off in search of new blogs. What better way to start a relaxing Sunday morning.

I have had a resurgence in blogging of late and have noticed that many old friends in the blogosphere have moved on, some remain, and I have encountered many new bloggers, or new to me anyway. As such I am going to spend the morning visiting blogs and updating my blog list. I have never been able to effectively summarise why I love blogging so much, and at times why I continue to do it, but not everything needs to be rationalised! Blogosphere here I come! Image Credit: HD Wallpapers

Inspired by the findings of my last post I have been searching for sculpture closer to home and have discovered this chap, Sultan the Pit Pony located outside of Hengoed, created by Welsh Artist Mick Petts . Image Credit Steve Brockett Isn't he stunning! From the images I have found he is definitely something to be appreciated best from the air which I won't be able to do myself but I am still looking forward to visiting and getting a feel for this piece of work from the ground.

I came across these amazing sculptures via a blog post by This I Do for Sky Watch Friday and had to share them. They are 30m high sculptures created by Andy Scott to acknowledge and horses that worked for many years on the adjacent canal and took 8 years to construct. I find them absolutely stunning. The name Kelpies relates to the mythological beast, a shape-changing aquatic spirit said to haunt rivers or streams usually in the shape of a horse, and possessing the strength of 100 horses. I do so love blogging, I always learn something and enjoy exploring and sharing our amazing planet.  Image Credit BBC Today I have learned what Kelpies are, who Andy Scott is (the most amazing sculptor) and added somewhere to my list of places to visit.

This is where I spent my lunch break today, and I treated myself to a short walk along the path in both directions, thus completing a small section of the Pennine Way, a walk I hope to one day complete in full with Mr Dancin.

This is my friend! AND, this is my friends debut novel. Louise Jensen has been an author for years writing for various publications and now has her first novel in print. As a friend I could not be prouder, except that I am because she is truly talented. I have my copy on pre-order (I wont let her give me a copy as I want to buy my own, that seems fair) and cant wait for it to grace my bookshelf. Louise writes under the genre Crime and Psychological Thriller, if that's your bag, or its not usually but you just fancy something a little different, I urge you to pick up a copy and slip between the covers, you will not be disappointed. Louise Jensen Website

I am really worried about the upcoming EU Referendum. Its seems like it will be very close and I have clear and passionate feelings about which way I would like it to go. I don't usually do political canvassing, especially on this blog, but I really felt I ought to put my argument across in short before the vote, as there are also apparently many people who are undecided, and it may help give them another perspective. These are my main thoughts: Better together - surely if we are going to move forward as a race of people we are better together. A world divided is no way to go forward, particularly given current climatic and social issues. The EU represents a union of nations and that should be encouraged. You've got to be in it to win it - how can we have an impact on the shape of a united future if we are no longer at the debating table? Could it be that the spotlight on this issue, highlighting many failures of the EU, is just the time when we could effect ch...

We had a great trip to Conwy Castle yesterday, more images to follow, but something I particularly noticed was the use of red sand stone as a decorative feature on archways, doorways and around the fire places. This is something I had not noticed before at other castles of the time. The stone is softer and as such can be sculptured to greater effect and the colours and marble patterns through it are stunning. The designer of this castle was master castle builder James of St George who worked on many castles on behalf on the then King Edward I. We have visited serval of them and while they share attributes they all are all different places to experience.

Today is Day 1 of our weeks holiday. We are not going away as such but will be making the most of the amazing surroundings with a good few day trips as well as getting some jobs done around the home. This afternoon we are going here... the amazing Conwy Castle, although I don't think the weather is going to be like that. We will however enjoy exploring a new castle, and travelling the beautiful road through North Wales. I shall report back on our day later. Image Credit: Cadw

The skies round our way have been settled of late, lots of blue or lots of grey but no particularly interesting clouds or spectacular sunsets or sun rises. I am sure if I braved the outside at an earlier hour I could have caught something but this week I have settled for yellow skies over the River Stour in Kent...oh to have had my canoe with me. To see more Sky Watch Friday shots from around the world click HERE.

My camping trip yesterday was brilliant, I had a lovely pitch on a quiet site, next to the river, with a lovely walk along the river into the village for my tea. Definately a spot I will be returning to.

Tonight I am camping and I CANT WAIT!!!!! Its been a long while for one reason or another but it is one of my favourite activities and I always sleep the best with all that fresh air. Image Credit: Cool Hunting It probable wont be like this as it is raining here today, and I am on a camp site and not in the middle of nowhere, but I really don't care, I can't wait to get my camp set up and then go off for a yomp for the evening before retiring to my sleeping bag. I stay away for work once a week and have been planning to camp as soon as the weather was warm enough. I have camped all year round but when you are up for work the next day (early to boot) a goods nights rest is vital so I have waited until the cold spell shifted. Only 4 hours until I am off to get set up...and counting!