The Big Bamford House

Coast and castles

Although this is another one of my photographs, and I don't want to blow my own trumpet, too much, but I really like this one of the Northumberland coast. I'm not going to tell you where it is because I want to keep it the way it is - quiet.

Nature in all its glory

Came across these images of Katrina on the web and they really show the terrible power and beauty of nature. If you were faced with these situations would you turn and run in the opposite drection, or stare in awe?

Hitchcocks

On Saturday we all went to Hitchcocks in Hull. Hitchcocks is a veggie restaurant that has been operating in the city for about 15 years - no one in our party had ever been before. We were led around a small backstreet in thr old part of town and then into a doorway where we had to ring a bell.

A unusually dressed young women came to the door and asked us to climb a flight of stairs, that looked more like the entrance to a disney ride than a restaurant. There were stuffed tigers, monkeys and all sorts of things all over the walls.

Its a buffet style place, where the person that books a table first chooses the theme for the night. Tonight it was tex-mex, so lots of beans, wraps, chilli and corn. We ate, ate and ate some more and drank quite a bit as well due to the well-stocked bar. We had a bottle of great aussie red for only £12.50!

But the night had not finished, the puddings then started to appear - again an all you can eat buffet with tarts, ice cream, chocolate puddings...

Everybody is at it!

The whole of the country is playing cricket. This picture was taken on Mablethorpe beach where lots of little groups had set up there own cricket squares. How long will it last?

Flight time

This morning we took our first flight in a hot air ballon - what a fantastic experience. Read all about it in our photo album.

English Summer?

Should an English Summer contain sunflowers, or is this a strange side-effect of global warming? I manged to capture this great image on a great day near Evesham. The sky is picture postcard perfect and I love the way the sun shines through the yellow flowers.

Click image to see full size

feeling bloguilty

Since starting this blog we have begun to develop a strange new affliction, for which we have developed a new word to describe how we feel - bloguilt.

Bloguilt (blog gilt) n. 1: A sensation of guilt generated by significant time gaps between posts or comments added to ones personal web log. 2: The sensation of guilt generated by a lack of interaction with other web loggers via their web logs.

Any suggestions for a cure? Anyone else suffering out there?

anniversaries

Yesterday was our 8th wedding anniversary. We cannot believe how fast the time has gone. Thank you to everyone who sent such lovely cards and flowers. Yesterday we celebrated with a great night out at a local restaurant, the George Hotel in Hathersage. We had to choose somewhere to go that began with an 'H' as this is 8th year of marriage and each anniversary we visit somewhere that begins with the corresponding letter of the alphabet, so for our first we had to choose somewhere beginning with A - get it?

Here is a list of where we have been and what we have got up to, so far:

Year One - Aysgarth Falls, North Yorkshire

Year Two - Beeley, Derbyshire

Year Three - Catlowdy, Cumbria

Year Four - Doddescombleigh, Devon

Year Five - East Witton, North Yorkshire

Year Six - Falmouth, Cornwall

Year Seven - Cobo Bay, Guernsey

BFG 3 - The Machinist

Saw The Machinist on DVD last night. What a film! What a great film to watch after recently seeing Batman as this also stars Christian Bale, but this time as you've never seen him before. In this film it takes you a good five minutes to actuallly work out that its him. This has nothing to do with make up or CGI effects. The man has simply lost a bit of weight and got a new haircut.

But what an effect this new look has, afterwards you feel as if you need to watch the film twice. The first time you will just stare at Bale, the second you may be able to watch what else is going on! The film has a great visual quality, looking very gloomy and other worldly. This may be something to do with the fact that it was filmed in Spain and made to look like the US. The plot and feel has shades of Fight Club and Momento and may not be the most original film out there - it does not quite measure up to the plot originality and visual style of the likes of Oldboy but is a treat to watch.

Another bonus is the creeping fear the film generates, we both watched many scenes from behind a cushion - when his arm is in that machine you just know what's coming! But above all we recommend this film simply to honour Christian Bale taking method acting to a new high (or should that be low?)

It's grim up north!

It always gets us a little upset when people assume that beyond a small, rather unpleasantly over-populated patch of South East England the UK is a cultural wasteland. Not true we say! The Yorkshire Sculpture Park is a great example. It has a internationally important collection of Henry Moore and Hepworth art works, four excellent indoor exhibition spaces and the huge parkland.

Then, if by any chance you get fed up of all that you've got the unique attractions of Saltaire with its world-leading Hockney collection and the best art bookshop I've ever seen (and a damn good cafe!) you can then round off the day at the Crucible in Sheffield, arguably the most innovative and exciting production house in the country at the moment.