Planet Ruby Starrs

Another reasonably successful Star Weekend in the bag...  Many of the the usual suspects plus a couple of returning faces got together at Ninebanks Youth hostel for a weekend of  talks on the universe from Dr Fred and mountains of grub laid on by me... All went really well except we didn't get particularly clear skies so only managed a bit of observing the moon and a couple of stars. The lack of observing doesn't seem to dampen anyone spirits though. People use the time as a good opportunity to catch up with each other, swap stories and discuss and share resources.  Several people had been to see the eclipse in America last year and hadn't got together since then so we were able to share photos and experiences - one person had a really good time lapse video of the light failing as the Eclipse became total. Even with bad weather these weekends are always fun, its a very eclectic mix of people - mixed knowledge, masses of curiosity, and a very diverse range of interests w

At Easter I went to a design and craft fair at the Witham Arts Centre  in Barnard Castle.  It was full of quite delightful stuff, most of it excellent quality, innovative and unique in design, but the best bit was I met Becky Sunter, a weaver who runs classes on weaving in Darlington.  I was soooo excited! I was soon to learn that that Becky and her colleague Jane run a small (actually its quite big) studio called the Weaving Rooms in Darlo and they run classes which seem to cover every aspect of loom weaving and tapestry weaving - I signed up straight away for a table top loom weaving course. Today was my first class. it took me ages to find the place, its really well tucked away in the back streets of an area of Darlington I am not familiar with - ha ha like I know anywhere in Darlo!!!  It was worth finding!  Set up over two floors its full of looms for all sorts of weaving.  The walls are covered with various weavings, patchwork pieces, shelves with masses of different yarns - i

We had a long last day of the holidays... we got up early and took the ferry back to Fuerteventura, and then we had a walk on the dunes - its quite spectacular the way there is a great raft of serious golden sand and then it just stops and turns back into lava lava lava rubble.... the weather look like it was picking up again but it was just pretending.. as we neared the sea over the dunes the black cloud blackened, the wind roared and we made a dash back up to the car. There were quite a few goats scattered around the sands they didn't seem bothered by the weather - its probably nice when it rains for them. We stopped and had lunch and a look around Puerto De Rosario - not much there really, lots of cafes and industrial type ports...  We delivered the car back unscathed and then did a bit of people watching in the airport. The flight home was slightly longer then we expected as we had to do an emergency stop over somewhere in Portugal as a passenger became ill and needed

We are of course, allegedly, privileged to be experiencing wind and driving rain on holiday then stuck at home – but then again its quite disappointing to be on top of the best crag in Lanzarote soaked to the skin with a force ten gale driving the rain drops into your back like little cacti spines haha… it stopped being fun after about 20 minutes and looking at the black sky coming up the gorge over the hill we had to admit defeat and turn back to the car.by this time we were wet through to our pants – once down the ridge and more sheltered it wasn’t so cold but it wasn’t comfortable either.   It was so wet I didn't bother taking any pictures!!!! Of course as soon as we reached the car about a mile away the sun broke through the clouds and for a few moments it promised to be glorious – we were tempted passingly to retrace our steps and try again, until we looked up and across the hillside – grey almost black scudding clouds as far as the eye could see so we climbed in the

Caldera Blanca One of the reasons for coming to this part of the world was to explore the volcanic regions – we were a tad disappointed to find driving around and exploring the main group in the Timafaye national park has to be done as a tour – due to limited access, its just not practical to let endless tourist do their own thing.  After a bit of research we found a walk up a volcano on the edge of the national park which was acceptable.  So that’s where we headed.  We parked the car in a cinder car park and hit the trail.  It was a slag stone heap cinder path cut through the lava fields.  The lava flows went on for miles all around us mile after mile of just black lumps and chunks of stone, some very jagged looking others having really smooth flowing surfaces.  On some of the rock a grey lichen has formed but for a great part of the landscape that is the only evidence of life.   the ascent begins The day wasn’t too good weather wise – however it was perfect for this walk

We spent an often cloudy, very windy day (even the odd rain spot) driving round the Island of Lanzarote experiencing the various influences and art of Cesar Manrique.  Manrique was a local artist who was passionate about his home land and also about nature. He very quickly realised that Lanzarote was a special place but in danger of being ruined by tourism and strove to influence all developments to keep the integrity and beauty of the Island intact. As a result much of the architecture is low rise and allows natural features to emerge or not be destroyed but more incorporated – he managed to get all the right people on board at the right time and although he did employ some extreme tactics – for example taking industrial diggers out in the middle of the night to remove advertising hoardings as he objected to seeing signs for Coca Cola and other familiar brands when nature was much nicer - he has helped to create a pretty island.  He felt very strongly that the islan

We got quite a shock as we headed for the ferry to go to Lanzarote for the next few days, we had to drive through Corraloje and it was massive and heaving with people even pinker then me!!!   We both realised what an oasis Tindaya had been and how even while we drove around the Island of Fuerteventura ( that’s the advert reminder thing again) we had managed to avoid any large conurbations and lulled ourselves into thinking the islands were quite unspoiled spots!!! We were so shocked by the ‘big’ town we didn’t even stop to look around – we just drove round a mad one way system – several times it felt like, and got the next ferry out. I was worried then that the place we would be stopping in Lanzarote would be like Corraloje and we felt really sorry to be leaving Tindaya behind with its braying donkey and goats in the next garden… The boat ride was wild and bumpy but we were able to sit outside – I wish I had covered my nose up, its very red now, - and we had no difficulty find

I'm loving the Canary Islands, the place we stayed on Fuerteventura was in the middle of nowhere, completely off the beaten track - quite a few english people living here but very few tourists to be seen.  There are two local bars and one serves food - the menu being on a black board and only in Spanish - the staff speak no or very little english so it was a chance to show off my limited spanish and I felt very pleased with myself as I managed to order two meals and drinks and get a doggie bag to take home - all in spanish. Below our Fuerteventura apartment there was an artists studio, a welsh woman who makes art using goats skulls she has found on the local hillsides.  there are loads of goats and consequently loads of goat skulls... some she just cleans up and mounts on lovely pieces of wood others she experiments with!!  Inspired by the carnival held every Easter she has developed a range of work known as her drag queens.  She has completely blinged up the skulls using

Today on the gloriously sunny island of Fuerteventura ( I feel like I'm reintroducing after the adverts) we explored the northern coast, where there were loads of lagoons, people, and more wild seas... it was a small seaside town called Cotilla - very Spanish and surprisingly tasteful as tourist places go.  we haven't been to the 'big' towns yet but we are struck by how unlike mainland Spain holiday resorts the island is, all the hotels seem to be low rise - or at least are in the smaller towns - tomorrow we get the ferry to Lanzarote and that is from a huge tourist town so the buildings there may well by high rise and more like we expected. if you look closely there is a girl doing a handstand in this picture!!  (show off) The coastal rocks were mainly black and volcanic and we drove through a very varying landscape - at one point it was just a vast volcanic lava spill, a little bit like Craters of the Moon we visited last year in Idaho USA. Fields and fields of

Suddenly we are experiencing a lot of sunshine!!!! its FANTASTIC...Our first full day in Fuerteventura found us walking in sunshine taking on a couple of the local caminas - one along a gorge to a small hermitage and the other a wild and windy cliff top meander to a rather marvelous massive esoteric rock which was almost an island and had a huge natural hole in it.  We didn't start the day too organised! the supermarket was closed last night so we were badly supplied for breakfast so after getting up later then intended - but then again we are on holiday - we got into our much more suitable hire car - a fairly old renault clio - much more our style than the merc hire care we had last time and hit the high roads of Fuerteventura intending to find somewhere nice for breakfast. view across island Surprisingly we got sidetracked, missed several breakfast opportunities and somehow ended up at an amazing viewpoint  - the Mirador Morro Velosa, a kind of visitors centre on top of a

Its always a strange feeling when you change countries.  This morning we were speeding along the A68 to avoid rush hour traffic, heading for the airport - it seems like a different world.... now, a few hours later, we are sitting on a terrace in a small place called Tindaya - north Fuerteventura drinking beer and eating crisps thinking about which of the two completely non touristy bars to eat in later - this is Spanish time and no one even leaves the house before 9.00 by which time I will be ready to eat a scabby horse!! We've landed in a lovely spot, quiet surrounded by hills, birds singing, overlooking a nice tropical garden and an extremely helpful and friendly host who has given us some pointers about how to use the two and half days we have on the island to our best advantage.  We booked and Air B&B and its a winner small, basic but a good location- it took some finding -  Spanish hoses dont seem to think numbers or names on houses are a good idea so we drove ro

In amongst preparing for birthday celebrations and sorting out stuff for a brief encounter with the Canaries next week I decided to try a makeover for our fireplace surround in our living room.  We live in rented property so decorating and changing major features isn't always simple or feasible - anything done has to be able to be taken back to how it was before I got my grubby mits on it!! The fire surround is a dominant feature in the room. I think its probably original to the house being built in 1924, its very typical of the style seen everywhere beige and brown marbled tiles quite uninspiring but in our case the actual surround is a lovely rounded shape - very pleasing to the eye and it makes up for its unprepossessing colours. Taking some inspiration from a blog I am following, Jigglemawiggle (really worth a look for recycling home ideas) - using some old OH acetates and photoshop, I sourced some en-caustic tile designs from the internet and scaled them to the right size

I've been up to my armpits in Birthday arrangements for Dr Fred 60th celebrations... I've been so busy - partly because I kind of wasted the one good day we have had pottering around the garden when I should have been closeted upstairs hiding in the attic making Dr Fred a scrapbook illustrating the rather fab almost 25% of his life he has spent with me.   I really needed a sun fix and I really needed to sit in our new garden and contemplate how it might look this time next year... so i did just that, I planted loads of pots up and set some seeds off and then when the rain started AGAIN I went back upstairs and continued my serious labour of love!! It started as a birthday card and then turned into a home made book and then got very quickly out of hand - how do you par down almost 15 years worth of photos to illustrate every adventure and good time?  well basically you don't, as I had left this all to the very last minute and it was a mammoth task I used more or less w