More Lake District....

theres snow on them there hills.....

We had rain - snow - hail - wind - and glorious sunshine all in one day on our lake district trip last week.... just another little day trip out to find some hills and quiet solace among lambs and sprouting bracken. Was a mixed forecast but we went anyway and while Dr Fred headed up the crag up a hill near Langdale - the rain came in and I sat eating chocolate under a totally inadequate umbrella and consequently we got got moderately wet but managed to avoid the worst by having lunch and wee kip in the back of the van - well not exactly a kip but a snuggle under the duvet as the hail ravaged the van - it made us feel very nostalgic for sleeping in the van but still very little camping open quote where we want it!

how to spread out wherever..

Later when the weather settles a bit a went for a wander up Loughridge fell - Dr Fred went looking for esoteric rocks (and didn't find them) I wandered about and did a little bit of painting - it was quite a busy little path and the sun came out and it was all very pleasant so nice we didn't really want to come home. We decided to drive back the scenic route and we stopped of at the Badger Inn for a bite to eat - they have a garden area where Badgers come and eat and you can watch if you are quiet - sadly we were too early to see them but I've looked on the web cam since and sure enough lots of Badgers.... Food was good though and we were able to sit out in the late evening sun and enjoy a slice of ordinary

sketching with watercolour pencils and fine liner

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RubyStarrs in Paris...

Finally we have made it to Paris. It was a bit of a long travel day - we decided to come by train so we could experience the full glory of British Rail or whatever it's called now which actually delivered perfectly on time... and then the Eurostar which was incredibly disappointing! All that beautiful St. Pancreas Station and the Eurostar is sited in the dungeon... overcrowded, dark, lousy facilitated space... and then the train was an hour late it felt like a long time before we got any fresh air - but eventually we wound up in gay Paree... We navigated the metro and found our airbnb gaff. A mere 70 steps to the fourth floor on a rather lovely winding wooden staircase to a very nice roof top flat which is comfortable and gives a view across a lovely Courtyard with some obviously much posher flats. It's located really centrally about two minutes away from the Opera Garnier so a very good location for getting everywhere...

Funchal

So after three days at sea we finally hit Funchal in Madeira. An escape from the ship, and I have to say it was very pleasant indeed. First of all the weather is really splendid. Especially when you know that everybody else in the UK is suffering grim storms and vile winds.. Over here it is between 22 and 25 degrees is really quite warm. Funchal is a pretty city. It's built on a hill it with lots of lovely white houses with stunning red roofs. In order to get the best of it we walked along the sea front until we got to the cable car and we took it up the hill. It was a really good ride much longer than we imagined and it's quite weird because it goes right through the town - completely over everybody's house... So not only do you get a lovely vista of the bay but you can view the beautiful rooftops and get to look in everybody's gardens and to look at their picnic sets.. clean washing nice plants... scratty backyards.... We got off th

Another Day in Norway where our Trusty Traveller finds Tromsø, Trolls and Totally misses Aurora....

Tromsø - the most northern city on the planet... Its quite a pretty little town with lots of wood fronted shops, but of course like everywhere like this, it is just one big tourist hive and every shop is selling 'indigenous' gifts- didthe Sami make aurora themed mugs and fridge magnets? Nearest I'll get a polar bear (i hope) Although I have to say I did like the big stuffed polar bear and black bear and I am presuming that these are either not real (unlikely) or culled as they sometimes have to be. But most of the stuff is just northern lights tat or Troll tat. Peer Gynt.. famous worldover To be fair the best bit of Tromsø for me was the Troll Museum! We went to the art gallery which was quite interesting (see instagram account) but not astounding, but I always like to look at the local art. We had a mooch around town in the snow and then we went to find the Trolls. This museum was absolutely crazy daft... it was totally dedi

Planet Ruby Starrs

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