Hotel Ash Cottage is closing for refurbishment or at the very least some autumn cleaning ( ha ha ha )... we have had a lovely run of friends and family to stay - lots of good food, too much drink and an awful lot of laughing and general hilarity. I love having people to stay - its not the biggest house but everyone mucks in and it all works out in the long run- we get to show off Northumberland and take them to special places we have found - we get out and about boost the local economy in various local cafes and pubs, We get to eat lots of scones and cake without feeling guilty - after all some ones on holiday here!We've been fortunate with the weather, summer has finally arrived and we are making the most of it - when my daughter and her family were here it was glorious and we took the opportunity to go to Alnwick Castle, a treasure hunt in Warkworth, sandcastle building on the beach, kayaking, sun flower party... with our visiting friends there were more beach walks, less sand castle building, more cafes and pubs, crossword puzzles (???) and yesterday we went to see the Tall Ships Regatta at Blythe Port.
The local press claimed to be expecting half a million visitors I booked parking and we expected delays and traffic - but the event organisation was excellent no queues at any point and plenty of facilities. The Tall Ships were magnificent. 23 ships from several different countries - different ages and different styles but all resplendent with huge furled sails and a complicated masts and riggings bobbing along the quay side. They all looked very colourful with lots of flags fluttering in the breeze. We went aboard the Christian Radich which is a 3 masted full rigged Norwegian vessel measuring 73 metres long built in 1937 with beautiful wood and brass trims - it is quite large and has a crew of up to 50 often with an additional 80 trainees on board. I love boats of all shapes and sizes, there is something quite tranquil about them as they float about making interesting clinking noises and sometimes strange creaking sounds. The Tall ships are in a different league to most other local boats and while I like to imagine them in full sail streaming along on an ocean wave I can't quite lose the image of the huge masts tossing about in huge storm waves and the very thought of it makes me feel seasick. Also the ship we boarded was quite big but I don't suppose there is a lot of living space below deck with that many people crewing and training - potentially a tad claustrophobic and certainly little personal space should you ever get any personal time... I think there would be a considerable amount of hard work in being part of a tall ships crew but what a fantastic experience it would be.
The boats themselves are stunning but there are also lots of detail in the fixtures and fittings which are interesting and sometimes quirky - lots of photo opportunities for artistic inspiration at a later date - lots of ropes and knots and beautiful wooden chests and rails. 
Alongside the Tall Ships event there was quite a lot of other things and displays to look at - music and street entertainment and quite a lot of marine science exhibitions which for some reason included a very prettily marked tortoise and a friendly orange lizard... not entirely sure why they were there the stand was busy and I didn't get chance to ask.
It was a good day out shared with the Headingley Posse who can always be relied on to be entertaining, they have now gone home, some of them have jobs to go to tomorrow - we here are fortunate and really just need to return to a routine - prepare for returning to college, dust off teaching notes for tutoring and course delivery and resign ourselves to a quiet house and hopefully enjoy an indian summer!
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