One area that I have always wanted to visit is Cornwall. It’s lure for me personally is partly its lore (King Arthur) its breath-taking scenery and I plan to take numerous photos of everything I see whilst there. We will be staying in a mobile home which will be used as a base for our daily visits to such delights as Tintagel, Lands End, St Ives, Carbis Bay and St Michaels Mount. I would love to visit every wonderful place there is in Cornwall, but there will be obviously time restraints on just how much we can cram into a weeks visit and how much our money will stretch to of course!

The artist in me will want to sit down with an easel and paint brush no doubt, but my trusty camera will have to suffice instead. I love the photos of those quaint  fishing villages dotted about, and I’m intrigued by the numerous caves seen along the coves and beaches. Just how much we will be able to investigate is open to question and how much our aching feet can stand of course. One activity I don’t see us taking part in is surfing, though we might try some horse riding if there are stables near by. By the time the holiday ends and we return home, I shall probably need a week in bed in order to recuperate!

The other area of the British Isles that I have never set foot in is Wales. We plan to rectify that shortly in March when we join a day excursion on a Compass Tours train to Wales, aptly named the Welsh Mountaineer. This excursion will be taking us through some of the most picturesque welsh countryside where we will be travelling through the heart of Wales and following  the route of the River Teme to Offa’s Dyke, Llandrindod Wells the Tywi Valley and onto Cardiff, where we will hopefully have enough time  to grab a bite to eat before our journey back home via a different route.

Of course, this journey through the heart of Wales and its enjoyment of the stunning countryside will entirely hinge on whether or not the train staff have bothered to clean the carriage windows sufficiently so that we passengers can see it in all of its glory. If not, you might read of TG having to resort to sticking her head out of the carriage door window in order to get some really clear camera shots. Unfortunately this train will not be headed by a steam locomotive but will instead being pulled by a diesel engine. Mind you, these diesel engines are often the focus of train enthusiasts in the same vein as their steam cousins, and we will no doubt  see many photographers and train buffs on the station platforms and along  the route as we travel.

That’s the travel plans so far for this year, all hinging on finances (state of) and my ability to curb my ‘money no object’ daughter who is already scouring Amazon every chance that she gets on the computer, so I’m going to have to be vigilant, as always.

TG

I stayed as much in front of the other walkers as I possibly could, mainly because I try not to get too many of the walking party in my shots, and also because every time I stop to take a shot the rest go marching by and I have to run in order to catch up. What was amazing was that the whole stretch of the canal looked rather strange and ethereal because the side that we walked on was shielded from the sun and therefore covered in frost, whilst the opposite side was bathed in sunshine and frost free!  This afforded some quite interesting pictures of a contrast not only in light and dark, shade and sunshine, but heat and cold as well.

A Frosty Walk along the canal VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Finally here’s a panoramic stitch which encompasses the strangeness of it all for me, the gorgeous colours on the far bank, the resulting reflections in the still water, and the cold frosty side that we were walking along.

Following the walk, we ended up in ‘The Old Ship Inn’ which as many of my readers will no doubt be aware is currently one of our favourite eating venues, where we both enjoyed a bowl of their delicious warming Copper Dragon Stew with Herbie Dumplings.

TG

 Following the last few days of constant rain and gale force winds, which have caused me personally to be confined indoors as I simply refuse to go out in the rain, we were able to venture out this morning and enjoy some glorious sunshine and blue skies at last.  ‘Hurray’ I thought as we walked down to town, enjoying the rare glimpsed winter sun in the sky, ‘let’s hope that’s the last of the rain!’ only to have my hopes instantly dashed as we landed home and found the dreaded card laying on our doormat.  Yes, you’ve guessed it! He’s been! The best rainmaker in the whole wide world has called whilst we were out! So sorry everyone, it will be rain as usual from today, my blasted window cleaners been!

TG

I simply wouldn’t have coped with any of it without her by my side. She’s been my full time nurse, my companion, she’s been there to cheer me up during the darkest hours, and been strong enough to take the brunt of my moods when I’ve been down. Now I know why she was sent to me those thirty odd years ago when I asked him up there why, why me? when she was born, probably in exactly the same way as any parent does when the child they were expecting to receive hasn’t materialised, and they have received an entirely different child in its place.

And she is in her element when the tide is turned, when its her looking after me, calling the shots, being in charge and she is brilliant at it. I have always stated that had she not had learning difficulties or been saddled with the label ‘Down’s Syndrome’ that she would have gone into some kind of ‘caring’ role, as a nurse or some caring profession. Its in her nature to be caring, and she went above and beyond what many people  would have done whilst I was ill. She was ‘on duty’ twenty four seven at my side, and during that awful week that followed my return home after my operation, when (as it turned out) I had a septic infection, she became who she really is, a nurse nightingale, oblivious to her own needs and focusing only on mine.

TG

P.S  I’m sorry that I haven’t been blogging of late, but intend to return to my usual favourite pastime in the new year, when hopefully K and I can resume our gallivanting around the Yorkshire countryside on numerous adventures and quests, so back to normal! (I hope!)

She was rewarded for her efforts after I ‘clicked’ them over to the wall.

Of course she insisted that the white one was ‘Shadowfax’ from the Lord of the Rings! At this point, the others joined us and both ponies were given various sweets to chomp. Polo mints mainly.

On arrival at the canal, most of the group wanted to continue in the opposite direction along the canal because the weather was so enjoyable, but K had made plans for us to go to Halifax for some serious spending (she needed a new watch basically as her strap had broken) so we parted company at that point as we made our way back to town. This part of the canal is in my opinion, one of the nicest stretches anyway, so I took some more shots.

If you look very closely at this one, you may be able to just make out two fishermen fishing in the river Calder.

As you can see, cyclists often use this stretch of the canal because the tow path is wide enough for walkers and cyclists to use.

Amazingly enough, this is taken just outside town! We are really lucky that you can enjoy sights such as this just five minutes walk from town. Also I took this because there are bull rushes growing in the foreground of the picture.

TG

Yesterday we enjoyed a wonderful walk alongside the canal in the gorgeous sunshine that we are all currently enjoying in the UK.  In a way, it’s not the best weather to walk in, simply because you do tend to get rather hot, but we were all armed with plenty of bottles of water to drink in order to avoid getting dehydrated.  After all meeting up in the bus station where we all distributed ourselves into various cars for the journey to the start of the walk, we set off at about 11.15am. It wasn’t too warm at this stage, and the side of the canal that we were on was well shaded by the trees.  We have both missed going on the walks of late, and therefore K was having a real problem keeping up with the others. She has never been too good at walking on uneven surfaces, and this part of the canal does not have a very wide ‘walkway’, its  just a narrow path with lot’s of uneven grass at either side.

It was also quite muddy in parts shaded by the trees, despite the last few days of sunshine. On the return journey, the inevitable happened. K fell in the mud. We were all making our way under one of the bridges, and the path was very muddy where it hadn’t been able to dry out. I told her to walk at the top where there didn’t appear to be as much mud. Her foot slipped from underneath her and down she went. I just couldn’t stop her from falling despite the fact that I was holding her arm. She ended up covered in mud, all down her trousers and her shoes. It did dry out somewhat during the rest of the walk though, so she was able to go into Witherspoons for a meal at the end of the walk where we could get the chance to cool down. Hope you all enjoy the photos I took along the way.

TG

The first important feature of any Elder Scrolls game is that if you can see it, you can go there. There is absolutely no area closed to you, as in real life, you can walk anywhere, swim, climb, open doors to houses ( although if they are locked and you break in, you’ll be put in jail) there is no ‘keeping to a set path that you can’t leave’. Similarly, you can do anything you like, go adventuring into old ruins or caves, or forts seeking out treasure, begin the main quest, stand admiring the view, do smaller quests, join a faction such as the Mages Guild or the Fighters Guild, become a vampire, be a thief, a scoundrel or a goodie two shoes that everyone admires by only doing good deeds. I’ll leave you all to guess which path I usually take.

Elder Scrolls races in Oblivion VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

You can fashion your character to look exactly how you wish, and also choose which race to be. Yes, there are different races in the world of Tamriel, Elves (though they look nothing like Legolas in the Lord of the Rings) Orcs, Imperials, Britons, Khajiits, Redguards, Argonians, and lastly the Nords. Each race originally come from a different province in Tamriel, for example, the Nords come from the cold lands in the north known as Skyrim. Each race have their own attributes and weaknesses. The Khajiits for example, who resemble the feline cat family in looks, are good at sneaking. So its up to you to decide who to be and what you look like. The character creation in an Elder Scrolls game is really comprehensive and you can create a very unique looking character. As you move about the world of Tamriel, you can play as I prefer to do, first person where you see everything as if through your own eyes, or alternatively you can choose third person, where you play as if following  yourself from behind. Some people prefer this view, I don’t. Luckily Bethesda do give the player the choice.

So lifelike is the Elder Scrolls world, that you become fully immersed in it. Trees sway in the wind as do flowers and grass, it rains ( in fact it rains so much I feel right at home there!) it thunders and lightens, it snows if you are in the higher mountains in the north, its dark at night time and if you look up to the stars, you immediately know that you are not on planet Earth. In fact, the only clue that reminds you that you are playing a game is the health meters, compass etc at the bottom of the screen.

To fully explore everything in Oblivion, the last Elder Scrolls game, would take roughly 200 hours and the next instalment promises even more adventuring! What ends up making the world of Tamriel so believable though is the history. Just like any good saga such as the Lord of the Rings etc, it is believable because there is a full history to the world in which you find yourself. There are thousands of books for the player to read in libraries where just as in our world, you can read exactly how the Ayleid ruins which are dotted all over Tamriel came about and the complete history of Tamriel. It is all so believable, and once you become immersed in the Elder Scrolls world, its amazing how the time in this world passes you by!

Bethedsa’s ability to ‘tell a good story’ or create a ‘good quest’ is initially what sucks you in, you find that you simply can’t put it down, its like being inside a brilliant to read book where you simply cannot wait to turn the next page. The difference is of course that you are the main character in that story, it’s all about you and the in game decisions you make. Like most people, my life is pretty mundane, housework, shopping, cooking etc, the usual daily grind, so you can just imagine how being able to become the heroine who saves everyone from certain destruction can become so enticing! As I always play as a Nord (which is pretty ironic, seeing how I feel in this world about the cold winters!) I will feel that I am returning to my birthplace in November when I set foot in Skyrim and begin my latest adventure. Just as long as my readers are aware that after 11/11/11 I probably won’t be blogging much, I’ll be far too busy killing dragons and adventuring!

For more info http://elderscrolls.wikia.com/wiki/Skyrim

TG

On the walk down to exercise class, we were accompanied by the sound of ‘Squeak, clump, squeak, clump’ coming from the general direction of K’s feet.  As I couldn’t decide whether it was coming from her left trainer, her feet or her ankle bone,  I’ll have to oil the lot just in case.

TG

Back on Ward 12, I was also placed back in, what had been previously referred to as the ‘cold room’ where I didn’t get a wink of sleep for the cold temperature on my last stay on Ward 12. This time however, one of the staff nurses assured me that this was NOT the cold room, that was across the corridor. Hmm. The nurses station is right outside the door of this room which is why it tends to be used for very ill patients and sure enough, no sooner had I placed all of my clothes and toiletries in cupboards, drawers and the bathroom, and got myself settled in, than a staff nurse entered and told me I would have to move to the four bed ward, as a patient was due in who was very ill.

I had been told by the X-ray department secretary in her correspondence to me, that I would be having the procedure done first thing in the morning, but as the time ticked slowly by, there was no sign of anyone arriving with a wheelchair to take me down. I asked one of the staff and she rang to enquire on my behalf, informing me that it wasn’t going to be done until the afternoon. Hmm. I was of course getting more and more nervous by the minute! Transferring into the shared four bedded ward gave me something to take my mind of the upcoming procedure if nothing else.

Then we had a slight disagreement between the staff on the ward and myself regarding whether or not I could have something to drink. The instructions sent to me by the X ray secretary had firmly stipulated that I was to have nothing to eat or drink from midnight the night before. Of course we had the dinner ladies coming round asking me what I wanted to order for my dinner, and by that time I was absolutely starving! The ward staff insisted I could have a cup of tea (at about 10.00am) after consulting with the X ray department about it. (Meanwhile, I was secretly wishing they would all get their act together!)

After waiting all day (and becoming a nervous wreck in the process!) finally at about 16.00pm, a man came around the corner pushing a wheelchair and speaking my name. Here goes! What a ride! He must have been trying to break some record or other regarding how fast he could get a patient down from Ward 12 to the X ray department because I was fairly whizzed down there! I swear we were taking corners on one wheel! As if I wasn’t nervous  enough already! I wondered what my blood pressure would be if they took it before beginning the procedure, clinging to the hope that it would be postponed because it was too high!

On arrival, I was introduced to all the nurses (well, X ray department nurses dressed in maroon) and the man who was to do the procedure who was dressed in green with matching hat. He discussed the procedure with me and did a little drawing ( which of course I know off by heart from the internet) of my kidney and the stent going down from it to my bladder, I asked my questions, and then they led me into a room which contained a portable Toshiba scanner and a very high bed. I had to climb onto it with the help of some steps and then lay down on my tummy.

I was informed that the scanner was ‘acting up’ and had crashed. Hmm. Mind over matter? Have I finally learned how to control hardware with my mind? I waited atop my perch whilst they fiddled with the scanner. Finally some cold wet stuff was placed on my back, and he scanned the area where my kidney was. I saw him beckon over some of the X ray nurses, then he went into another room, finally returning to tell me that my kidney was now normal size and that therefore there was no need to continue with the procedure!

For a moment, I forgot how high up in the air I was, and very nearly did myself an injury jumping off the bed! I have never been so relieved about anything in all my life! The nurses were laughing with me as I yelled out ‘My prayers have been answered! There really is a God!” and the surgeon thought I meant him and was well chuffed!  One of the nurses accompanied me back to the ward, and I very nearly skipped all the way back! A doctor came to see me and I was told I could go home. I was dressed and out of that hospital before you could say ‘Jack Robinson!’

TG