August can be a busy time

We had no particular plans for August but as we knew summer was drawing to a close every fine day was taken advantage of.  The photos  below are of a few walks we took from home along the river Wharfe.  We do have to keep reminding ourselves that we live here and it's not a holiday spot.

 

 



On one of the walks we decided to take in a nice lunch at Piccolinos a chain Italian eatery in Collingham.  It was a very relaxed affair with no one sharing our al-fresco experience, quite the romantic meal.

On the walk home we stopped to watch a few local anglers trying for some trout but the main catch is any number of carp varieties, tench etc.

Another evening after there had been reports of otters in the river near our front door we decided we'd take a couple of chairs, glasses and a nice bottle of red to share with the little furry visitors... We had a lovely time but didn't spot one otter.

This is a little tree rat that Gail throws peanuts at and is a furry animal.

Rock art what I created from stones we collected from the beach in Scotland, refer last month's blog...

An d then there was the Tockwith show.  The best little show in Yorkshire.  We were there to run the flat cap throwing and cuddly lion stall to raise funds for the Lions charities.  Of course we had a look at all the animals, tractors, crafts and show things too.

The cuddly lions were displayed in all their splendour

And the flat caps were thrown with gusto, the furthest some 17 meters, into a head wind.  Here am I being enthusiastic, the cap is leaving the picture at the top right corner.....

Can just make out Gail enticing people to win a lion to cuddle.

August is when the wild plumbs are ready for harvest in the hedges and parks behind our home.  This year was not such a bounteous harvest, lots of rain and not a very warm summer meant fewer fruits on the trees so wind falls were more the order of the day.  We collected enough for a couple of desserts , a crumble and some stewed. 

You may recall Bentley the Great Dane, well, Kate his owner and a good friend of ours decided she wanted to run a dog show and i helped her knock up a web site and ended up doing some judging... Lotsa fun www.bentleybark.co.uk

On yet another fine day we went to see the annual Ripon bathtub and raft race. Even more fun.  This is on the old canal

There was a couple there who collected or homed owls and we took lots of pictures, had some sit on our arm and generally enjoyed how pretty they are.

After watching a few races and seeing all the stalls we decided to cross the road and have a bite at the Water Rat, one of the very few pubs in Yorkshire that front a river where you can sit outside. You can see the cathedral in the background and we had a long and pleasant chat to a couple who lived in one of the houses you can see here... They had lived for 20 years in, you guessed it, Wetherby .... before moving to Ripon to retire.

 

As Gail then went off to work I had no one to remind me to take the camera on a tour of York and the river cruise so while I enjoyed the night with the Lions, which ended with a nice fish and chip supper in the York branch of the Wethertby Whaler, there are no photos of the beautiful river scenes or the pleasant weather we all shared on the night.

We had got a deal to stay a couple of night in a classy hotel down Cambridge way and this little pub was just down the road, we enjoyed a nice lunch before nicking into Cambridge to suss out things to do the next day.

We returned to the room and planned the tours we would do.  Gail chose a ghost tour.... And we both agreed on doing a punt on the river Cam.

This is our hotel, our room was upstairs on the left.

This was what the local streets looked like

Another bloody church

Some ducks in the village pond

After a business meeting which took up the first half of the day we eventually got into Cambridge

Our punter was a pretty californian who had studied in Durham and worked the punts with a deep and passionate knowledge about Cambridge, it's colleges and her stories made the tour a really wonderful hour.

Cambridge was always a trade centre and the river carried working punts carrying produce which was delivered via doors in the college buildings at river level. 

This was built to mimic the Rialto bridge in Venice but when Queen Victoria saw it she remarked how much like the Bridge of Sighs it looked and to this day it is called the Bridge of Sighs.....  you don't correct the Queen...

Gail found some big furry animals

This dog has a real good ghost story which Gail may recall but I wasn't paying attention

...This is the clock Stephen Hawkins unveiled.... It's a time piece that reflects the relativity of time.... It pulses at varying rates through the hour but is correct every fifth minute.  It is supposed to reflect that time is relative to your experience at the moment, sometimes seeming to fly past other times crawling by.... Every hour it strikes the time with the sound of chains thumping a wooden box, reminding us of the chains of time and the fact we all end up in an coffin   .....  yeah, right. 

Last thing we did in August was have a BBQ, our first in six years.  Held at a Lion's home in Wetherby on September 1 to be honest but still worth a mention in the August blog.   Lots of meat salad, wine and chat.  Gail is hidden in pink, playing with the dog, naturally.