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Josie left a comment on my blog and  I noticed that she belonged to Bloglovin. |So I joined too! It's worth clicking on the button at the side or the link above and checking out a few more blogs. You can get facebook and twitter to let you know when there is new stuff but I don't do that but if you become a follower you can take advantage of it.
Cheers Gillian

Easter Outings in the North of England...Ullswater, Bollihope, Low Force/High Force

To start with, a pic of Billy being happy enough to show his trust in us.

Followed by us showing our trust in Billy. I put the picnic basket on top of the fridge to keep him from leaping up there. It didn't work!

Easter came and went with a variety of weather over the country. We watched the sunshine forecasts for the North of England and went to Pooley Bridge on Ullswater, in the Lake District, on Easter Saturday. A gloriously sunny day. There was still some snow on the tops and young lambs below in the fields alongside the lake.

It takes less than an hour and a half to leave home, pick up the papers and stuff at Sainsbury's, drive along the A688 past Raby Castle and the deer park, through the pretty village of Staindrop and the lovely town of Barnard Castle and on, up and over the Pennines to this place. The journey is better than the best coach tours.

I shan't tell you where you can park with views like this and spotless facilities for £4.50 a day!!!... Oh alright I shall. Park Foot Campsite

Next doors campers/parkers had a young lad with a penchant for cetaceans and we met him first with his shark. He offered it to us but we declined. We are older and wiser and can see when something is deflating of its own accord.

He was fonder of his Orca and worried about its possible beaching on the rocks.

Our walks along the lake later in the day showed the levels of water activity. Still far too cool for me to join in. This sort of thing in April needs very young blood and a very good wet suit.

On the Easter Monday we drove through the Bollihope valley south of Frosterley. An ancient and unique environment. Remnants of Roman settlement meld with mining activity through the ages. Lead, iron and limestone have all been vital to this area.

These are old but artificially created landforms.

On Easter Wednesday the weather was too good to go to the pictures to see "Noah", so we went for a walk instead. We headed up to Low Force. DJ had walked Low Force to High Force before while I was at painting class,and wanted to show me how lovely it was.

To get there you have to cross the footbridge at Bowlees.

One at a time.

Low Force looks like this...

and after a two mile gentle hike through the Strathmore Estate to the south of the Tees, High Force looks like this...

On the way we walked past lots of sheep...

and sheep with with lambs...

At last we returned to the car park at Bowlees, cooked some bacon butties and then went down to the Visitor centre for an ice cream.

Cheers Gillian

Lovely Little Lambs

We went over to The RSPB site ...Saltholme...near Teesside.

The birds are not bothered by the industry, It makes no noise and only has small smells.

In the distance are some large gas and fuel containers and in the greater distance is the cute shape of Roseberry Topping..

I love the Transporter Bridge too but..........

Someone, somewhere inside the Saltholme "Lambing Shed" had helped this lovely Shetland Black Sheep mum give birth to two white babies. The second baby shown here is only about ten minutes old and hasn't yet found how to suckle.
If you live nearby it is a grand place to go to.
Cheers Gillian

A BIT OF A BIG BLOOMER

I cleared out the house freezer and made all the little left-over loaf ends into a bread pudding.

It helps me to feel less wasteful and it does instead of fruit cake with the morning coffee for a few days. I do this one with lots of fruit and a tablespoon of marmalade for a nice tang. I did forget to put it away last night and even though it was well wrapped in foil, Billy has had a taste too!
Then I put some stuff in the breadmaker to make dough, so that I could get it out and form it into a different shape for a change.

It ended up like a bloomer and I scattered it liberally with wheatgerm to give it a nice topping.
After it had been in the oven for a few minutes I smelled burning and discovered that wheatgerm is not a good topping choice...it burns easily.

Never mind. The loaf came out beautifully risen and with a lovely texture. It was a half and half wholemeal and white. Next time the wheatgerm will go inside the bread. I was determined to use it because it had taken me four supermarkets to track some down and at last I had found it in Morrisons.

We had some for tea with a bowl of pasta.
Cheers Gillian

WEATHER OR NOT

 There are many good reasons to live in the north-east of England  but the weather is not one of them.
While the south sunbathed in the warmest days of the year we woke to thick fog and have done so now for a few days. Temperatures are generally cooler but markedly so this last week. That was a shame because my sister was visiting and so we had to resort to going to the pictures, visiting Aunt J and staying home to play with Billy and the new "Bananagrams" game.

Billy tolerates being played with quite well.

But he likes to collect a fee for his part in our entertainment.

And I'm still keen on the bread machine. We roll out a loaf every few days and are pleased enough with it to give a couple of loaves away.
Today I might get round to making dough in the machine and baking it in the oven. A new shape would make a pleasant change.
The campervan is out of hibernation so we shall spend some time getting it ready for the days when the sun shines hereabouts. If that doesn't happen soon we shall just get in it and head south for a spell.







Cheers Gillian

A FEAST OF FRENCH FOOD

We went to Versaille.

The weather was too wonderful to wander round inside so we sauntered into town for a pavement lunch with everyone else.

And then set off to view the produce at the market, starting with the vegetables. It is asparagus season. I must admit these look like some of the best I have seen and the bunches were a fine size. Good enough for a meal.

The salad veggies were so fresh.

There were filleted fish...

...whole fish...

...shellfish..

...and fishmongers...

There were quite a few stalls selling prepared foods. Versaille is a high socio-economic area and this is reflected in the type and price of the foods available.
Ready made delicacies and pastries and cakes abounded...

Here are glace fruits and petit-fours.

Splendid tortes and gateaux.

Snails and hors d'oeuvres.

And various marinated bits of squid and octopus.
But the major indicator of the wealth of this Parisian "suburb" was the take-away homemade soup.

I have magnified the pic to reflect its value. If I had to live in Paris I think I could make a fair living out of selling soup.
Back in the centre of Paris the previous evening (a mild Friday night) we had witnessed a long queue for the free soup kitchen held outside a church, right next to some smart restaurants along one of the boulevards. We ate splendidly inside one of them! It was also common to see bodies wrapped up and asleep on the pavement, in sunny spots and sheltered corners and even in the middle of the busy paths. A city of contrasts. Many of the poor seemed to be recent arrivals. Such cities still provide a massive magnet for the hopeful.
Cheers for now,
Gillian

PARIS AIR POLLUTION

We were in Paris last weekend and the weather was gorgeous. The sun shone on the Eiffel Tower by day...

... and the stars shone by night...

It also helps that it is lit up by electric lights and they twinkle for a few minutes every hour on the hour. This is a video of it...

If someone can let me know how to rotate it to upright, I'd love to know because I can do it with pics but not videos and I often take shots with my camera pointed portrait.

The next day Sacre Coeur also looked wonderful against the blue sky...

... but it was obvious that not all was well with the Paris air. The view across Paris looked like this...

There has been a news item today about the increasing air pollution. Parisians were given three days of free public transport last week to encourage them to leave their cars at home and this week they are being made to leave them behind every other day!
As we sauntered along the Left Bank on Sunday the traffic was suddenly stopped for a ROLLER BLADE ride...

We could see them coming across the bridge and then past us for a good many minutes.

Probably thousands of them!!!
It didn't please the motor traffic who were all held up at police road blocks for the duration but we loved the spectacle.
More spectacles later.
Cheer Gillian