The last sunset of 2009 over Rawmarsh.

2009 was a good year I hope the year to come is as good.
Good health and happiness to all.

Two inches of snow.

Wentworth village.
A walk from a place called Street, over the tops and back via Wentworth.
Two inches of snow is enough, any more is being greedy.
Me and our Blue, in the background is Elsecar.
Looking over towards Derbyshire.
Wentworth village and church. The snow was right nice and crisp underfoot.

I'm not a snow person!

We got a dusting of snow on the 17th then a little more on the 18th.
Due to the temperatures being low it stayed with us until the 27th.
We've so far had 14 nights on the trot below freezing, with daytime
temps hovering around 32/34'F. The night time temps ranged
between 16/24'F.
It's been the coldest December I can remember for many a year.
I have recorded the top and bottom temperatures for 30 year and
can see no evidence of global warming. I am a layman no one
is funding me.
All the Decembers of the first decade of this century have been colder
then the previous two decades.
December 1992 comes a very close second to this December.

December what a horrible month.

17th Dec 09. I hate the winter. It doesn't get light until 8am and it's
dark again at 4pm. It's cold and damp or raining, the sky's grey
and when the sun does decide to show itself it's so low in the sky it
blinds you when you're driving.
Now to put the top hat on it it's snowing brrrrrrr roll on April.
17/12/09 first snow this winter.

30'F

Last night was the first night below freezing point this autumn,
at least it was in my garden!
The weather has turned really miserable this past few days,
then again it always does around bonfire night.

Whitby

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Yesterday we went to Whitby for the day. Whitby is where the River Esk meets the North Sea.
It is on the coast of North Yorkshire. Being from South Yorkshire it is a place I have hardly ever visited. It is an out of the way place to get to from S Yorks.
Being from South Yorkshire I prefer the Lincolnshire coast,
it is easier to get to. Anyway we had a good day out, but I must say it's
not a resort for children there are no amusements!!!

Halloween night.

I think I like Halloween better than Christmas it's more fun.
Saturday we trimmed the hall and stairs to make a horror grotto then
waited for the trick or treaters to come. Una got lbs of sweets in and
didn't we need them. Children and parents came in droves,
all dressed in fancy dress. From 5pm until 8pm it was nonstop,
too many to count everyone liked the grotto,
and the sweets went down well.

William Brewster of Scrooby.

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I live a short distance from Scrooby, so I thought I would pay it a visit and take some photos.
Judging by the visitor book in the church he has quite a few descendants in America.
I hope the photos are of some interest.

Sheffield Lyceum Theatre. 15/10/09.

This was Unas birthday treat from our Steven. It was the first time either
of us had been, so I think it was a treat shared.
We went to see an adaption of the TV series dinnerladies it was brilliant
a real good laugh from start to finish.

A week in the Lake District.

Derwent Water.
Looking south from Blencathra.
We were lucky again with the weather, warm and dry every day bar Tuesday, when it rained all day. Tuesday we spent around Keswick with our waterproofs on, the rain wasn't going to keep us in. There are over 2000 miles of footpaths in the Lake District.
Sun 4/10/09 we walked to Scar Fell Pike. We've done it before but this time we went the opposite way round.
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Mon 5th We walked up Blencathra, not as easy as it looks walking up hill is never easy.
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Tues 6th It rained, I don't hill walk in the rain so we spent the day in Keswick.
Wed 7th We walked up Castle Crag then on to Seatoller. On our way back
playing in the river was an otter, it's the first I've seen.
They are much larger than I thought they were.
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Thurs 8th We walked to Grasmoor and Crag Hill passed a disused graphite mine, easy walking but the down hills really gets to my knees now.
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Frid 9th We walked to Watendlath and Grange fell. When we got to
Watendlath Farm our intention was to make for High Raise
but the weather started to turn, it also got very boggy under foot so we turned around and made for Grange fell. The rain held off but the wind got up and it also turned cold.
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Sat 10th After packing the car we went down to Keswick spent sometime
around the lake and town then set off for home.
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More to come.

Going to the Lakes today for the week staying at Keswick. Una's at home holding the Fort!

A go on the wheel.

A ride on the Sheffield Wheel.
Sheffield Town Hall.
Reflections.

Tomatoes.

http://www.photoworks.com/slideshow/album/A66E4F22105F?source=pw980This year as been a poor year for tomatoe growing. No one I've spoke to have done much with them. That is the Rotherham area, I can't speak for anywhere else.

Pumpkins.

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This year as been a great year for pumpkins and soft fruits.
I've never done so well!

Rotherham show. (at Rawmarsh this year)

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More than 70,000 people packed Rosehill Park for the 30th Rotherham Show.It was on for two days 12&13 September it was a good do!
We saw lots of old mates and did plenty of talking.

Butlins 07-09-09.

I've never known Skegness so hot, had a good time once again.

Planting. 06-09-09.

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Two weeks ago the farmer was harvesting wheat from this field,
now he's planting oilseed rape. Farming is not the same as it was
when I was a lad. They used to grow kale, mangles, suger beet, turnips,
swedes, barley, oats, wheat, and potatoes, now it's just wheat and rape.
Today I flagged him down to pick his brains, I wondered why some of my
potatoes had insect damage but farm potatoes don't. The answer is they
spray them every 7 days, and that's the reason they don't grow tates
anymore. He said it costs £1200 an acrea to grow potatoes, it's not worth
the trouble. When I was a boy where I live now was all fields there were
5 farms all within shouting distance of one another, now there are none,
this farmer comes from Clayton 10 miles away.

Red Squirrel.

The first and only Red squirrel I have seen in the wild. This one I spotted near Keswick Cumbria.
They have almost been wiped out in the UK by the American Grey Squirrel.
The American grey is much larger and more aggressive than the red squirrel.

Yesterday 88'F

It was the hottest day of the year, at least in my back garden it was.

France, before the memory fades.

I/we loved it!! Paris must be the tourist capital of the world it is a beautiful city.
I have never seen so many people doing nothing in my life. Thousands just sitting watching thousands milling about, strolling from place to place in no great hurry to get there.
So many people queuing with happy smiling faces.
We had a great adventure, yes France is a foreign country very few speak English, lots do speak
a leetle and that's it, I speak no French at all.
Saturday morning our plan was to take the train into Paris, I had been on google maps and found the station which was pretty close to the hotel really, only a few hundred yards away.
No one in the ticket office on the station could speak any English not even a leetle, but with hand gestures and point at the maps we finished up with two return tickets to Paris.
Once we were there another story starts.
We got off the train went up the escalator and found ourselves in a massive shopping mall, we walked from one end to the other trying to find the way out, no way.
We went up another escalator, another mall same again end to end no exit!
So we went up to someone in uniform, do you speak English? a leetle was the reply, could you tell us how to get out of here? I weel take you, so up two more escalators and we reached day light. The whole mall was underground I thought we were going to finish up on a rooftop car park. The guy in the photo is the one that rescued us from the mall.
I must say that when ever we asked anyone for help they would bend over backward to give it,
it was heart warming, the language barrier was no barrier.
On the return journey a young French girl saw that we were confused as to where the rail station was, we were actually walking on the road parallel to the road we should have been on,
so she took us all the way to the station like lost children.
The next day Sunday we were off to Versailles, this involved four train rides and a bus ride.
I don't know why I didn't do it yesterday but some months ago I bought a 4-language translator
Lexibook. Today I went armed with it, it has preset phrases, found the ones I needed press
the France button, no language barrier now!
We finished up with two all day runaround rail tickets a real bargain, freedom.
On yesterdays blog I've put photo links to all the places we visited. We have stories for each.
At the end of the two days we were Parisian, people were asking us the way.
We saw a lot of Paris the buildings, walked a lot of ground. The next time we go we will go in the Louvre we shall have the time to do it. I might even go in the Palace at Versailles both places take up the best part of a day to see at a leisurely pace. The one thing to be sure is
we will go again.
Two words of French I'll never forget sortie and gare.

Two days in Paris.

After 13 hours we arrived in Paris.
Just look on it as a sight seeing trip all the way from start to finish.

A week ago today we were strolling in the grounds of Versailles, cruising on the Seine, then to top it off up the Eiffel Tower we went.
A week ago yesterday we went in the most beautiful of churches, then the drabbest of Cathedrals Notre-Dame, then strolled in the grounds of the Louvre finishing off with a walk on the banks of the Seine. Paris is not a disappointment it is the most beautiful city I have seen.
Click on the links below for photos >
Saint Eustache church.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMOm
A walk to Notre Dame.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMK2
Notre Dameshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMLQ
A stroll to the Louvre.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMLy
The Louvreshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMMM/
A stroll along the Seine. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMPA
The EiffelTower second floor.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMNI/AA4A2D32102C?source=pw980
Back to earth.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMNq
Versailles the forecourtshare.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMMu
Versailles the gardens share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMRe
Back to Paris. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMOE
A cruise on the Seine.share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMKU
Our Hotel room. share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMQa

Another late deal.

Tomorrow we're off to Paris by coach. We jump on the bus at Rotherham Bus Station at 6-30am
and get off at the hotel in Paris ?pm. Saturday and Sunday at leisure returning Monday.

Rotherham salutes returning troops. 3-8-09

After being given the freedom of the Borough the Yorkshire Regiment
exercised their right to march through the town with fixed bayonets.

The troops have just returned from a tour of duty in Iraq.
They were given a rousing welcome from all around the Town.
They did their duty and deserve respect, they got it!
The Iraq war was and is a very unpopular war. The government of the time went against the will of the people and started a bloody conflict. Time will tell.

Says it all.

This came through the post today. I am a very happy allotmenteer.

Freedom day.

Nine years ago today I retired from the steel works, but not from life, so far it's been great!
The only fault with retirement; there's no holidays you just go away and come back, life is one big holiday. Come to think of it my life's been one big holiday even when I was at work. No grumbles.

Hedgehog.24-7-09.

Hedgehogs live in Europe there are none in America, so I thought you might like to see one.
They are a gardeners friend, they eat slugs, snails and earthworms.They really love cat Food.
When threatened they roll up into a ball and wait for the danger to pass.
They are covered with sharp spines like a porcupine for defence. Sadly they have no road sense and lots never get to the other side!
Photo link > share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=2CbtGLdyzaMSw

Sheffield big wheel opening day. 23-7-09

Sheffield Wheel & Town Hall.
Inside the Town Hall.
Next to the town hall is Sheffield peace garden.
The flag pole base out side the City Hall.
Sheffield botanical garden. Yesterday 23rd the weather forecast was sunshine and showers so we decided to go out for the day to Sheffield. If you rely on the weather forecast you'd never go out. Rule of thumb look at the sky, if it's blue with white fluffy clouds OK, blue with high thin clouds brill, Blue with black and white clouds a bit iffy, Black and grey and generally dull it's going to be more wet then dry. Yesterday the sky was blue with white fluffies we had a great day.

New Life

The day we arrived at Butlins.
Pigeon chicks must be the ugliest babies in the world only a mother could love them.
When we arrived I noticed a wood pigeon on the nest in the tree outside our chalet. It was obvious she was sitting eggs. Then the day before we came home there were chicks two of them.

July at Butlins.

Butlins circus acrobats, but no animals



This week the weather was really hot, unlike April when it was fine but cold. The sea was like a mill pond but too calm and too cold to swim in. We took the gear but didn't have the heart to go in. You have never been cold until you have been in the North Sea!!!