30th November, 2014...The end of 'no-coats' November!

Well...the last day of November, and not one shred of frost in sight...I've still got roses in my garden!

 

Lovely long shadows, mild air and we are still not wearing our winter coats!

 

 

 

The Greengate Fundraising machine did very well on Friday.....

 

 

....and even Santa came! Lots of Christmas Fairs on at the moment....we used our day off to visit yet another one!

 

 

Nice bit of community spirit around in Barrow at the moment! None of this 'Black Friday' grab,grab, grab...that's nothing to do with Christmas, that's just pure greed!

 

 

It reminded us of the old 'Emmerdale Farm' opening shots down here today....very rustic, almost Yorkshire....we were waiting for Amos and Seth to come walking over the hill!

 

 

 

 

What about the new homes on the Promenade....it looks like up-market Torquay or something...I'd love one of those as a holiday home!! Talking of new homes...maybe we won't have to look at the 'Manor Farm' housing estate after all....don't want to jinx it by saying anything else!

 

 

This guy was watching us as we walked down by the beck...there are some signs that the season is turning, but not many!

 

 

 

An ex colleague of mine gave me his collection of Furness Abbey postcards to have a look through and there are some fascinating shots of the ruins in days gone by....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fascinating stuff.....If anyone is interested in seeing the whole collection, get in touch! I love old buildings....that feeling of energy that a long history brings.....I'd love to renovate an old house!We lived in 'Dunvegan' on Hawcoat Lane when we were younger.....what a place that was...I'd love to own it now! I think the Victorian builder William Gradwell built the whole house for himself, but it has since been divide up into three properties.

 

 

Isn't Furness Abbey a stunning place!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

16th November, 2014...speeding along towards Christmas!!

Slept for an eight hour block on Friday night and a nine hour block on Saturday night, along with a two hour power-nap this afternoon....never been known before! I am usually the worst sleeper in history, but this morning at 6.30am I lay there bemused thinking 'I hope it isn't Monday, because I should be out of here in an hour and I haven't washed my hair!' It was a stressful week last week, on so many levels, so I can only attribute it to that! And Christmas! Which has arrived with a vengeance at work!!

Abbey House is beautifully festive already...looking forward to our staff party there in a few weeks time! It has been a very mild November and there has been no work to do in the garden, as nothing has died back yet. Lovely down at Furness Abbey this weekend too!

 

 

Plenty of water in the beck now! Frankie is getting that 'long, lean, teenage look'. Where does the time go?

 

 

We walked around the back-woods of Furness Abbey today, and wondered what these rocky escarpments were?? One is very rough, and looks natural, but the other looks like a giant wall of some kind?

 

 

 

Frank enjoying himself though...........

 

 

.......especially with his burger and chips!!! Abbey Mill was packed out this morning, which is great!

 

 

 

We were looking at some of the trees around here today, and reckoning some of them are at least 300 years old! Many are fallen or covered in fungi, but I bet they could tell a fair few stories if only they could speak!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The paths and meadows are littered with insects, grubs and cob nuts and the local birds seem to be having a feeding frenzy....do they know something we don't?

 

 

 

Lots of fun was had by our school on 'Children in Need' day last Friday, and our Teddy Mountain to be raffled off at our Christmas Fair, was particularly impressive this year! I feel so lucky to work with the group of kids and colleagues that I do.....funny, generous, kind and so characterful....long may it continue!!!

 

 

Don't forget to come!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9th November, 2014...Remembrance Parade and ruined roast dinner!!

Heavy sun- showers punctuated by a glimpse of blue sky as Barrow remembers the fallen today!

                    Superb turn out by the people of Barrow.... a sea of multi coloured brollies!

 

 

 

Nice to see some ex-Greengaters in the cadet squads!

 

 

Here's mine and Mr. Hillman's dream again...reviving our biker pasts!

 

 

And a lovely show of Woodcock family solidarity! Felt rather sorry for them though...it was pouring at this point...but good to turn out for our town!

 

 

And an arty 'SteveHillman' shot of Walney Fire appliances and the bikers again. I love living here! The community spirit is fantastic...tried London...hated it!

 

 

So, we briefly tried for our Abbey visit, but talking, (and rain) got in the way rather a lot so here are some archived shots from last November. Unfortunately, I'd put a roast dinner in to be ready when we got home but misjudged the number to put it on....to say it was blackened was an understatement, so we had cheese and crackers instead, although the house smelt like we'd had a roast!!

 

 

 

It didn't look like this today...and here's an archive shot in York Minster of me and Frankie...yes, I seemed to have a mullet haircut!!! It was only ten years ago!

 

 

True on so many levels this week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

29th October, 2014...Furness Abbey and York Minster!

After a very busy half-term, then weekend of weddings and wedding fairs, we actually managed a couple of days away, and where better than York, to view the Minster!

 

 

What a stunning building....standing there, you can't take in the engineering it has taken, across about 800 years of it's life.

 

 

 

 

Inside, there are now different exhibition stands, charting the history of the actual building of the Minster, from the first stone being laid, up to now, where the constant repairs are taking place to glass and slabs. Fascinating!

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are interested in ancient buildings, it's an exceptional display in an exceptional place!

 

 

And the other family members were intrigued too!

 

 

Candles have been lit...ghosts have been hunted!

 

 

 

It does get you thinking about how stone masons and builders crafted Furness Abbey...wooden scaffolding and lots of rope I guess, but actual stone carving doesn't seem possible in cold, damp Furness, with crude tools and mud everywhere, and relatively soft stone....unbelievable. There was the opportunity to purchase a piece of old limestone that had been removed and replaced from the Minster, and it was tempting.....but it felt wrong to remove pieces of the original building and cart them off to Cumbria...they seem to be crying out to stay together!! Mr Hillman thinks I'm a bit batty, but it was weird!

 

 

Lovely hotel though, ten yards from the Minster, so spooky at night...it was originally built to house the visiting Minster clergy...hence the name!

 

 

Lot's of other fascinating Tudor buildings too...look at Mulberry Hall, which is now a shop!

 

 

And if you like all things Tudor, the latest 'Shardlake' is just as good as all the others!!

 

 

 

So, after a few days of Yorkshire's history, we headed down to Furness Abbey for something more local!

 

 

And what a beautiful morning it was.....unlike the 'biblical' rain that was falling when we got back into Cumbria yesterday tea  time....what was that all about?!

 

 

Abbey Mill had a cosy look about it....another building with an uncanny sense of history when you go inside!

 

 

Spectacular views from the top this morning too!!! That has definitely been my kind of holiday week, and the 'old dears' have been married for thirty years come Monday!!

 

 

And here are our 'diva' children!! Where did they come from!!