UK country side

I have jumped forward to the UK with a few photos showing some of the autumn colour, all taken while we were in Northumberland. This is a wonderful county, so diverse in what it has to offer.
First a small village lane, then a butterfly sunning itself on a roman wall.
One of the wild cattle of Chillingham in a blaze of autumn color, these are supposed to go back 700 years with no human interference and the guy we went out to see them, with says they cannot be driven and can be quite dangerous as really no human can do anything with them, on DNA tests they are virtually clones.
Then the castle on the Holy Isle as a back drop to the fishing boats, a fascinating place you can still only visit when the tide is right and you can drive over the causeway which at other times is under water. We saw a grey spotted seal by it when we drove over, but with a line of traffic I couldnt get a photo. Lindisfarne Abbey is word renowned but the castle tends to dominate.
This last photo was taken in Kelso which is actually in Scotland shows the river Tweed and the houses running down along the bank, the virginia creeper was spectacular wherever we went.
Another foal this morning but thank goodness all was well and she was feeding it when I got there. The girls have jsut come back from the big horse of the year hack show and were terribly pleased as they got Best and runner up in the Show Hunter with two of our ponies and runner up leading rein to one we have leased out so all in all a satisfactory day.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.

French snippets

This is just an odd collection of photos that I took in Paris.
I loved this well I am not sure if it is a painting or a collage, any way it was in an art dealers window.
Then the difference in age, she was still smartly dressed but very old, and the young woman on the bike, cycles are every where as every one knows.
I did not eat one chocolate while we were in Paris, even though I had promised myself, but every time I caught a look at myself in a shop window I decided I really didnt need to.
In the Musee d'Orsay there was this delightful collection of school children being asked questions about what they had seen, they were gorgeous.
Then this wonderful art deco piece also in the Musee d'Orsay. I loved the colours they were so vibrant.
I am full of hay fever, not helped by the heat and having to go and watch two mares this morning who had foaled and we were a bit worried that the foals hadnt had a drink, so I had to sit in the sun and watch, in the sun because there was no shade close by so that I could actually see if they had latched on.They are coming thick and fast, we had three born yesterday and I am just hoping no one does it tonight as the girls are not home tomorrow either and nor will John be.

A bit more Paris

I didnt think I really was fussed about seeing the Eiffel Tower but when it came to the crunch I was just as excited as every one else. We found a sort of ferry service that you paid about 12 euros and could get on and off wherever you wanted to, well not quite, it had dedicated stops so we got on at the Jardin du Plants and went the full circuit, we didnt get off, my feet were killing me but I still stood out the back gawking at every thing and here is my shot of it from the boat.
The next photo was of a poster on a wall that caught my eye I have no idea what it was all about but I took its photo, I hope it is not any thing politically incorrect but I just liked the composition.
Then the wonderful I think it was a bronze in the Musee d'Orsay, it was absolutely beautifully done and I fell for it.
Another bit of window shopping, sea food this time, fish and cockles and snails and things, window shopping became my pleasure, I couldnt afford to buy but photos are a free thing to remember stuff by.
Finally John and I on our last night in Paris, we ate well and now we are home according to John expensively. The idea of sharing a dessert we could not get across! So we had one very delicious and not good for my diabetic self each.
Very hot home here today, I had been in the garden early and came in with a red face and I am also covered in bites, the wretched little things that attack me are about and I will itch for days.
The house doesnt look much tidier but at least the walled garden doesnt have huge thistles rearing up amongst the plants and the little things that love to grow in the cracks in the paving have been eliminated. All the many pots needed a water and this is supposed to go on until Monday at the very least.
I like autumn best!
This is a bit of Geoffry Dutton's The Inland Sea
"But when the north wind blows
Your graces suddenly become precarious.
Dust reddens a white rose, and lightening throws
A dead tree over a fire break"

Window shopping in Germany

I thought that today we would go window shopping, I had a lovely time snapping both my image and others in windows but I think it is fun and shows a bit about what was out there, book stores, ducks, dont you just love the ducks, I really wanted them, the African shop next to the Gutenberg museum, the shoe maker showing off his trade, well I
think that is what it is! I managed to get a lot of reflection of houses behind in this one he was in Eltville.
Finally I think this is just showing off the autumn theme but as there is a huge upsurge in Halloween all around the place there may be a splash of that as well.
Click to enlarge the photos.
A Doctors appointment today, have to have a medical to get my drivers licence, not that I havent got that as well but it is now all done until next year.
I have just realised that one of the reasons I dont feel 100% is that I have wretched hay fever, in the lovely autumn climate not a touch of it, now I am home the general feeling of not being quite right is back again, not helped by a stress boil that has developed in a not very comfortable place.
Quote from Titus Platus
"The day, water,sun, moon, night-
I do not have to pay to enjoy these things"

My mothers 97th Birthday and a bit of Paris and Germany

I had a very tiring but enjoyable day in Adelaide today, raced up to collect my mother, and that was a bit of a saga and finally got her into the car and to my younger sisters house where we had lunch, so here are the three sisters, my eldest on the left my youngest in the middle and my self on the right with our mother with her cake in the front. She still doesnt look too bad for that age.
We all feel it is a bit of here we go again, although last year she was rather more with it and able to walk better than today, still we take each day as it comes.
Of course I was so busy trying to get this photo in the right place I forgot the others, so next is of course a photo of Notre Dame, have lots of those and was trying to get photos of gargoyles, I took lots of gargoyle photos and actually bought a small not very impressive one when I was in York.
The Gare du Nord where we arrived from Germany on the train, a great train trip and so fast. It looks as if there is no one there but I can assure you there were plenty of people.
Finally another Birthday, John took this photo so he isnt in it but here I am with Gerd and Virginia and not looking terribly festive at all, but I think at that stage we had eaten and I had drunk quite a lot. This was in a lovely Morrocan restaurant in Mainz with great food.
I think my socks which I walked so much in I wore holes in them almost matched the stripes on the couch. One less thing to take home.

A little bit more

The Dom in Mainz, me sitting sketching it outside the Gutenberg museum, a storks nest on a chimney, but unfortunately no storks, and a half timbered house in Limberg.
If you want to see what I sketched, go here.

Eltville

This is in the midst of the wine growing area and so there are old presses dotted around the place, this was outside an old castle I think, or a fort, there were a lot of Roman ruins around this area. I have no doubt Virginia will tell me I am quite wrong, my excuse being that I was jet lagged at the time!!
This is in the process of being restored in places, whatever it was it had a wonderful garden in it, the walls were quite magnificent as you can see.
I am never quite sure of the origins of the next castle looking building, I think it is now a hotel, but it dominates the area and looks quite magnificent. It seems to be all part of the previous area but again I am not absolutely sure.
The last photo is to prove that two old people made it to Eltville, a friendly shop keeper with not much to do took the photo of us both. I think we are in front of a well of some kind.
We did actually drink a lovely riesling from this area but of course I cant remember the name of the winery who made it.
It is amazing how when you get home there are huge gaps in your memory, and of course you forgot to write it down at the time.

Germany

As usual I have managed to get these in the wrong order, and of course I am tired now as it has taken me almost all day to get the first of the photos into this computer, which is slow and not doing what it should.
The day is nearly over and I have the washing done, the suitcases put away and sorted most of the things I had to go through.
We were lucky that our suitcases were not over weight as I managed to get quite a few books and loads of pamphlets as well as stuff on all the places of interest we visited.
The first photo is of John and Gerd in a park near in Bad Camberg, I am not sure exactly what he was supposed to be but looked rather like a potaoto head. Gerd in typical funny pose, he is such a lovely man. We had a delicious lunch near here. This is a spa town and the spa was mindblowing.
The apartment that Virginia and Gerd has looks straight onto the Rhine and these barges pass all day long, they are incredible, I think from here they go through some locks and some how into the Danube and eventually to the black sea.
The next photo is of John and Virginia, not the best photo, in Limberg, showing the half timbered houses that are very typical of that area. We had some very wicked German cakes near here and wandered around and then had dinner at a of all things, Greek Taverna.
Lastly the view of Virginia's balcony and showing if you enlarge the photo a barge going along the Rhine.
There was a little red squirrel who was determined to put his hoard of nuts, walnuts and chestnuts, into the pots at the back here, such a gorgeous thing to watch.
I am afraid I am not being terribly informative but I hope my mind will perk up a bit tomorrow, looking forward to finally seeing a few other blogs as well. The little notebook didnt work as well as we had hoped, although wiifi is advertised as being available it wasnt as much as we had hoped.

I am home

Just to let everyone know that we are safely home but as we left North Wales on Thursday morning and we arrived back in Adelaide on this (Saturday) morning, we are over tired and not thinking very straight.
A wonderful trip but now to go through about a 1000 photos!