A well-earned break

We decided we needed to get away for a little while and Melanie had some family history she'd been wanting to research in Cornwall so we figured we'd combine the two.

Although we had around 130 photos on this trip a whole load of them were churches and gravestones (family history, remember).

We went all over the place though and found some really cute little villages on our quest.

Cornwall's got some oddities though, for one, it's windy, all the time. Secondly, the roads... maybe it would have been okay in the days of horses to have roads/tracks wide enough to fit two horses en-passant but when it comes to automobiles that's not such a good idea. It also doesn't help that pretty much every road has a car-high wall either side of it made out of stacked stone and earth. Makes seeing around corners a bit of a challenge, oncoming traffic gets interesting too, especially trucks.


We had a good break, went roaming through the tiny villages looking for Melanie's ancestry, stayed in a cute little farm cottage and had a nice relaxing time away from the stresses of work. All in all, a few pounds well spent!

Easter Snow!

Happy Easter ya'll ...

what's better than chocolate? ... snow! and it's snowing! eeeeeee

here's a piccy of what it looks like out the back right now - it started about an hour ago - dunno if it's gonna settle but there's big fat mothers of snowflakes dancing around out there so that's good enough for me.

we didnt' buy any easter eggs this year - it just seems crazy, the packaging is ridiculous - so don't feel left out if you didn't get any chocolate from us - we didn't even buy any for each other. although I did make chocolate brownie last night ... that's our easter treat.

Eggs

Goose ... duck .... chicken.

Ohhh and ....

prolly no-one cares but me. But we are going to see Andrew Bird again on the 26th April at the IndigO2 (millenium dome ...eh?). Seats in the Kings Row ... muahahaha. Literally jumping for joy. Oh i'm such a Bird junkie, it's true.

"So I go a little overboard, but hang on to the hull
While I'm airbrushing fantasy art on a life
That's really kind of dull
Oh, I'm in a lull"

Other's ring my bell also .... Evelyn Evelyn for example.

BrrrrrRRRRR!

Not that i'm complaining or anything. This past few days has been nothing but sunny, blue, clear skies and all that. But omg so cold! It's supposed to get down to -5 to -6 ish tonight. I put the ice-cube tray outside just to see if I could make ice-cubes overnight .... teeheee.

Today we visited the 3rd oldest building in the UK (last week it was the 2nd oldest building but that's the joy of Wikipedia). Saint Peter's on the Wall near Bradwell on Sea in Essex. This wee church was build in 654 by St. Cedd, on the foundations of the gate-house for the Roman fort of Othona (Roman place-names are so grand).

I presume it was called on the wall because the walls of Othona were stilll visible when it was built. Today it is surrounded by fields, ocean and sky. Not a wall in sight.

It was a lovely sunny day - but the bristling cold wind out there on the coast totally took the edge off any warmth that was being provided by the sun. I swear my lips were so numb I couldn't pronouce B's and P's properly! Brrrrrr! 100% worth it though ..... 1400 year old buildings rock!

Nectar of the Apple Gods

I would just like to point out that cider (and also perry for that matter) is a very under-rated beverage.

We have now made two visits to Middle Farm which has a very cool shop/shed thing full to bursting of barrels of various cider's, perry's and fruity wine's (it smells cool in there). A rather fun afternoon consists of getting oneself a wee plastic vessel and proceeding to make one's way around the shop/shed thing tasting all the lovely delicious fruity alcoholicy beverages. The proprietor likes to educate interested parties in all the subtleties of his trade (he kept Mike talking for ages ... hehehe more time for tasting for me!). Consequently we have now come away with 6 different one litre containers (recyclable at least) of various amber coloured liquids and there are definite plans afoot to go back for more.

Cider rocks ... and sloe gin is also rather yum.

Disgraceful

I can't keep starting my blog posts with comments on how bad I am at updating. Truly disgraceful.

So I hear that it's rather hot at home .... 'like the outer suburbs of Lucifer's domain' is one memorable quote. No matter how homesick I get, I don't miss the heat. Cold is much more preferable.

Some snowy bitterness wouldn't go amiss though ... to any weather gods who may be listening. Apparently it can snow as late as April, but there is a definite springey feeling in the air so I won't count my Pukeko's before they're hatched.

The sensation of going home for a holiday is very odd. Being re-acquainted with places full of memories makes me realise it is memories that are missing here. Of course the last two years haven't been a complete blank. But there are no physical reminders here of time spent and things done with the people I miss so badly. Ack - throat lump. Where's that damn bright side when I need it.

Slightly drunken photo shoots in St John's College in Cambridge in the cold wee hours of a Sunday morning - that's a plus. Can I be a stoodent at a super old college? Even their loos are cool.

And 10 points to who can name the movie that this lovely ruined castle featured in (that would be the pic to the right). I was even kind enough to take a photograph from the same angle that I believe a scene in the movie was shot from - though it's been a while since i've seen it so I could be completly wrong. Shelley I expect you to know this! I like this castle a lot .... a very nice design around a hexagonal court in the centre. Much of it was destroyed in the civil war when some Parliamentarians discovered that garderobe drains were a great place to stuff lorry loads of explosives. Very effective. The family then built themselves a grand new house and turned the ruin into a garden folly - complete with garish tea-house from which to admire the skeletal remains. Of course I can't give you the name until you guess the movie ...

One of my favourite new pastimes is night-time photography. We invested in a tripod which makes said favourite new pastime a lot easier! We took this photo of St Peter's Church at Wisborough Green about a week ago. The church is on a hill overlooking the village. I particularly like the cross shaped shadow on the buttress .... which is actually just a signpost but suitably churchy.

Anyway, the hostel is accepting guests - the rates are very reasonable - free infact - so no excuses. Go rob a bank and get your derriere here!