A Quiet time...

Well, Christmas is over and done with for another year. Don't get me wrong, it's nice to spend time with my friends and family, but there are certain things that have really annoyed me this year - one of them being the pettiness associated with a so-called friend of my family... And I use the term friend in the loosest sense I possibly can!

This so-called friend wrote in the Christmas card that was sent to Mum and myself "warm memories of David" - almost as if she was trying to rebuke Mum for having the nerve to stay friends with the widower of her best friend - Frances. As Mum said - "doesn't she think that I don't think about Dave?"

When I read the card, I was livid, and said that Mum could send a card back to her, but she wasn't to put my name on it, as I wanted nothing to do with the cow. Mum just smiled, and said that she wasn't going to send a card to her, as she had really scraped the bottom of the barrel with that comment.

Aside from that, my daft hog riding friend has been true to his word, and sent me the photographs of his cooking:

Ok - I admit that I agreed with the comment that the snowmen looked like Daleks in the snow, but I'm sure that they tasted ok...

The reindeer cakes... Well, I'll let people make their own judgment on them - I'm not going to drop myself in it for anyone!

I've also had quite a good joke sent in to me, from one of my late father's America colleagues...

A city cop was on his horse waiting to cross the street when a little girl on her new shiny bike stopped beside him.

"Nice bike," the cop said "did Santa bring it to you?"

"Yep," the little girl said, "he sure did!"

The cop looked the bike over and handed the girl a $5 ticket for a safety violation. The cop said, "Next year tell Santa to put a reflector light on the back of it."

The young girl looked up at the cop and said, "Nice horse you got there sir, did Santa bring it to you?"

"Yes, he sure did," chuckled the cop.

The little girl looked up at the cop and said, "Next year tell Santa the dick goes underneath the horse, not on top."

Guess I should call this entry quits for the time being, as I want to get an update for my MP3 player - which has decided to refuse to play most of my *legally* downloaded music...

Back tomorrow - provided I'm not too badly battered from my shopping trip to Milton Keynes with Mum...

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Hopes and dreams

Well, it looks like Amber is slowly improving, but it breaks my heart to see the kid all wired up, and needles going into her small body, in an attempt to get the antibiotics into her system, so that she has a chance of fighting off the infection.

My daft friend has been a real angel, and sent me the most beautiful picture of a sunset attached to an e-mail...

Karen hi,

I hope that you are ok.

I am sorry that I couldn’t be there for you, I feel as tho I had left you alone to deal with Amber, but we are so far apart it ain’t easy.

Here is that picture of the sunset I told you about - it does look as tho there is a star in the middle doesn’t it?

I hope you like it. God bless you and keep you safe may he watch over you for always. God looks after his own and he’ll look after you and Amber, trust me he will.


Take good care munchkin and I’ll speak soon.


xxx

That reduced me to tears, and I don’t mind admitting it, as at this moment in time, I’m emotionally wiped out, and this was the final straw for me.

But, thankfully, I’m skilled enough to cover my tracks where Carole is concerned – the only people I can’t fool are Julian & Quentin – and my ex, who has been a tower of strength to me.

Despite the fact that we’ve “split up”, he’s been a real help, and has made things as easy as he can for me, and has said that if I need someone to lean on, then all I have to do is call him. I know he means well, but at this moment in time, I'm having enough trouble with my emotions going haywire, without adding him into the mix again.

Time to call this quits - I'm going to try and get some sleep tonight.

Back tomorrow...

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Exploring the gardens..

Friday, Mum and I decided that we were going to go to the Botanical Gardens, as the pair of us are into our exotic plants...

The entrance was by the cable car, and was fronted by a magnificent pair of iron gates:



There was a wide variety of cacti, that I had only see growing under glass .. Things like the magnificent prickly pear - complete with it's stunning flower:



The rest of the garden was filled with plants that Mum and I had seen as conservatory plants in the UK, and occasionally in the wild, on our various travels...



But the one image that sticks in my mind is the famous Dragon Tree:



The hibiscus was the thing that Mum fell in love with, and I threatened to put sticking plasters on her finger nails, in order to stop her taking cuttings!



The rest of the gardens were lovely, and there was a small garden area located by the cafe.. The plants there were all poisonous, and I was quite taken with the idea of putting the cafe by them!




Time to call this entry quits - I'm being summoned for something!

Back tomorrow...

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Jerez de la Frontera..

Thursday, Mum and I went to Jerez de la Frontera. The only thing that I knew about Jerez, was the fact that there was a Formula 1 circuit there, and a famous horse fair that was held in May.

But, there was a lot more to Jerez than I'd realised... It turned out that the area was the sherry producing region of Spain! As far as I was concerned, sherry was the disgusting stuff that my great Aunt used to drink at Christmas...

The first stop on the trip (the one that I wasn't really looking forward to at all) was to the Harvey's sherry Bodega... (See http://www.jerezharveys.com/ for more info)



The main Bodega (pictured above) held about 1.5 million litres of Sherry, and the barrels were stacked five high, with the initials of the taster chalked onto the barrel, and the date that the various types had been tested:


That was a bit worrying for me, as I noticed that some of the barrels were leaking!


The various stages of the sherry making process were explained, and to be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the taste... The Spanish drink it straight out of the fridge, over ice with a decent lump of orange in it.

The second part of the trip was the bit that I was really looking forward to.. We were going to the Spanish riding school... (See http://www.realescuela.org/ ).

Outside, there was a mounted police officer keeping the traffic moving, and preventing the tourists being run over by the passing motorists:


The school itself was impressive, and there were ushers keeping an eye open for people with cameras, as photography was forbidden...

But that didn't stop me taking photos!



Time to log off and bog off - my dratted mobile's ringing...

Back later, if I get the chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Walking to St Micheal's cave - and playing with more monkeys!

The next point for me to escape to was St Micheal's cave. The signs from the visitor centre at the top of the rock said that it was 20min away... 20 min by car, maybe, but on foot, it was more like 45 min... But that could have been due to the fact that I was stopping every so often to take photographs of things that caught my eye - like this little crocus:



This wasn't growing in someone's garden - this was growing by the side of the road, in a gap in the rock!


The entrance to St Micheal's cave was nothing special - a tourist shop selling the usual bits and pieces, and a small hut where a seemingly bored fella checked to make sure that each visitor had a valid ticket.

The cave itself wasn't spectacular (not when you compared it to places like Cheddar Gorge), but the stactites were beautiful:

One of the stalactites had fallen from the roof, and had a section cut away and polished, which showed the most beautiful markings imaginable:



On the way back, I decided to stop at the so called Apes Den - where the second troop of Barbery Apes lived.. There were loads of signs up telling people not to touch the apes, but it seemed that some of the tour guides took no notice of the signs:


But the one image that did make me smile, was this one:



It was one of the younger monkeys, and had jumped over the fence in an attempt to try and avoid getting beaten up by this monkey:



Hmm - suppose I should go and sort the moggies out.....

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Heading up the rock... And playing with the monkeys!

Wednesday, Mum and I decided that we would head up the Rock, and see the monkeys. There were large notices saying that it was a £500 fine for feeding the monkeys, and tourists were advised to keep plastic bags out of their way, as they (the monkeys) associated the bags with food, and would rip them open if they couldn't steal them!

To get up the rock there are several ways - you can walk (a non-starter for Mum), get a tour of Gibraltar (which was expensive - the tours were about £40 per hour!) and the other way was to get the cable car.

That was the option that Mum and I took, and on the way up, I was able to get some really good photographs. (The camera has proven to be one hell of an investment!)

As we got towards to top of the rock, Mum and I spotted what we thought were scrawny chickens... It turned out that they were Barbery Partridges - and are extremely rare!

As we entered the visitor "centre", Mum and I both noticed that there were large signs warning about carrying plastic carrier bags. It turns out that the monkeys associate them with food, and will either snatch them away from you, or will tear them open to steal the food! We saw this happen, unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough with the camera to get the proof!


The views were phenomenal, and as I was looking, I spotted an aircraft... Ok - I thought that it was going to land in Spain, as the approach didn't seem right...


Then , the aircraft banked, and appeared to be skimming the waves!

The landing was something that I was interested to see, as I knew for a fact that the runway was rather intimidating - water on three sides!





The Monkeys were all over the place, and some would even pose for a photograph - if you were quick enough!


Suppose I should log off and bog off - I'm supposed to be getting on with some housework!

Back later, if I get the chance...

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

First impressions…

I don’t quite know what I expected Gibraltar to look like. The first day was really wiped out by the travelling, as Mum and I had been up since 03:00 BST…

However, the Tuesday was just spent exploring our surroundings, and trying to find somewhere to eat, as the hotel was on a bed & breakfast basis…

We found a really nice bar / restaurant in the bottom end of town – a square called Casement Square. Until a few years ago, it used to be a car park, but the Gibraltarian government decided that they would demolish the car park, and turn it into the local equivalent of an Italian piazza.

The rock itself dominates the skyline – there are very few places on the rock that you cannot see the rock from.

What surprised me, was the fact that there appeared to be houses bulit quite a way up the rock!

The food at the restaurant was really good, and reasonable – my personal favourites were the sizzling fajitas, and the swordfish steak!

Suppose I’d better call it quits – I’ve got things to do around the house.

Back later, if I get chance.

Karen.

I walk where others fear to tread

Back from my travels – Part IV - The road home

The final day of our stay, Mum and I went to the Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton - where one of the Concorde prototypes was located.


Most of the museum was poorly lit, and I admit that the date on the camera was set wrong - I'd neglected to check this when I selected this feature!!

Some of the display were quite good - I loved the display in the second hall, where the WWII aircraft were - the photograph below being one of my favorites:


However, I admit that my real favorite display was Concorde.



I have to admit, seeing the aircraft up close was a real treat, and I didn't realise just how narrow the aisle was!

As this aircraft was the prototype, there was still the test equipment on-board...


But the real surprise was the size of the cockpit!


The outside of the aircraft was just as beautiful as I'd always remembered:


Hmmm - time to call this entry quits - don't want to blot my copy book by getting caught blogging instead of working!

Back when I get chance.

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread

Back from my travels - Part III - The road to Taunton

On Thursday, after Mum and I had been to the Eden project, we decided that we would stay in Taunton so that I could go to the Fleet Air Arm museum at Yeovilton - where Concorde had been taken to...

Normally, the route would have been the A30, straight to Taunton - all dual carrigeway. Ok - there's nothing wrong with that, apart from the fact that it's as boring as hell for both the driver (Mum) and the passenger (me).

So, we decided to go across Dartmoor - right past Dartmoor jail!

Them, once we were off Dartmoor, we did use part of the A30... And alongside, were several windfarms. To be honest, I can see why the locals object - the turbines aren't the prettiest of things to look at...

I also managed to get another photograph - not bad from a car doing 70mph...

However, any joy that I felt on my holiday was cut off at the pass, when I turned on the news, and saw that London had been attacked. How these people can claim to be doing this in the name of Islam is beyond me, as Islam preaches peace - not violence!

Hmm... Suppose I should call this entry quits - I'm supposed to be working.

Karen

I walk where others fear to tread

Back from my travels – Part II – the Eden project…

On Tuesday, Mum and I travelled from our overnight stopping point at Barnstaple, to Bodmin, where we’d planned to visit the Eden Project at St Austell.

This is the first thing that you see as you enter the Eden Project - the Eden Horse. It's a driftwood sculpture, and it's one of those things that sticks in the mind...

As Mum and I had gotten what they call fast track tickets, it meant that we didn't have to queue up to get our admission sticker. Once we’d gotten our admission sticker, the Biomes came into view…

The Live 8 stage was still in place - it was located in an outside exhibition area, and behind it, the Tropical Biome on the left, and the Temperate Biome on the right…

As the Eden project was built in the remains of a quarry, the walk down would have tired Mum out, so we got the Land train down to the biomes. This land train was a series of carriages (of a fashion) pulled by a tractor! (They're in the top left hand corner of the picture below)

Once we got to bottom, we saw the second of the things that will always stick in my mind – the bumble bee statue!

As we got into the main entrance, we had the option of going right to the Temperate biome, and left to the Tropical Biome – we opted for the Tropical Biome.

The humidity was an awful lot higher than either Mum or myself could remember it being and this was confirmed by one of the guides who said that the humidity hadn’t been as high as this for a couple of years!

But, I managed to achieve one of my ambitions: - and that was get to the top of the stairs of the biome, and gets a view of things from the top!

At the top, there was the most welcome thing of all – a waterfall!


I will admit to standing in front of the waterfall as I took the picture and enjoying the spray that came off it – wonderfully cooling!

But that wasn’t the reason that I’d gone up there. I’d wanted to take some ‘photos of the Biome from a viewpoint that I’d not been able to manage in the past…

This shows the side of the quarry that the biomes are situated in - as well as showing the mist that was swirling in the top of the Biome...

 This shot shows just how lush the foliage really was - the view was something to behold!

This shot shows Pete the Panther - and I thought his expression was really sweet!

These are the famous Amazon waterlillys - the full sized leaf can hold a small child!

Then, it was into the Temperate Biome - which tends to be far more seasonal than the Tropical Biome.. Not to mention cooler and more comfortable to explore!


The Temperate Biome had a real mix of planting schemes, with plants from various regions of the world...
It also had an exhibit of vines -with statues in it, called The Rites of Diyonisus


There was also a waterfall in the Temperate Biome, but as the heat wasn't as great, I was able to appreciate the beauty a little more...


Unlike the Tropical Biome, the Temperate Biome had quite a few statues - this one made me smile - they're pigs.....


Then, it was out of the Biomes, and head for the outdoors...


But the one thing (apart from the Bumble Bee statue) that took my breath away was this:


It's amazing to see just what was used to make this statue - I was able to identify about 6 different items.

When we got back to the main entrance area, there was an announcment over the tannoy to say that London had won the 2012 Olympics... There were some French tourists in the same area as Mum and myself, and they looked really sick - as Paris had been expected to win!

Hmm... Suppose I should think about doing some w*rk....

Back later, if I get the chance...

Karen.
I walk where others fear to tread