AndyBlog

Jac, in place.

In her element. I love this one.
(worth a click to enlarge)

Fish

Fish is the only food that is considered spoiled once it smells like what it is.

P. J. O'Rourke (1947 - )

A taster from Lindisfarne (Holy Island)

So many good shots from this trip with TL and her daughter to Lindisfarne. The weather just about held up and the good piccies just kept on coming in - thanks mainly to the efforts of TL herself. She's good at the photography lark. I decided to put a photo album online.

Click HERE to view, or use the link to photo albums in the side-bar.

Taken in Huddersfield

Taken a little while ago:

“Finally, SPAM.”

Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings...

Me: Goodnight.

Ruth: Goodnight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

Me: How do I stop them from biting?

Ruth: Punch them in the face.

-=-=-=-

(Ruth is TL's elder daughter D1C2)

A local music night

I was out last night with many friends and acquaintances at The Black Pearl restaurant, coffee house and pub. This place used to be called “The Old Ship” - which is strange because it has clearly always been a pub.

I took my keyboard along and joined in with the many and various musical meanderings. The bulk of the night was taken up with the vocal and guitar playing genius of one A. Mavin (Occupant of Belgium), but one or two other lovely people had a go as well. It was very nice.

A proper and lovely account of the night can be found on Jason's Blog, along with pictures. I promised myself not to take any, and was as good as my word.

I enjoyed the night very much indeed, despite being rather tired. Adrenaline is a truly wonderful thing. When playing live music, and having a good time, it literally floods through me, making me feel tremendous. After the gig, I strode around confidently and packed my gear away into my little car. I felt wonderful. Sometimes, it takes the absence of pain show things as they are. I thoroughly enjoyed that half-hour of forgetting weariness, pain, or anything else that is currently bugging me.

Music really is a powerful drug. I love it.

That Seahouses Thing

Visitors mean nice trips out, and yesterday was no exception. TL's friends from London were up to see her, and (I suppose) me too. we had a lovely drive up to Seahouses, and enjoyed great good fortune in finding a car parking space.

Left: The happy group, TL, Ali, Joy. Nice people. Right: Joy remembers a joke from a past year whilst a complete stranger eats chips next to her.

A boat, not utterly dissimilar to the one we travelled on, although ours had a covered section which kept me nice and warm, which was fabulously welcome, as I had forgotten to bring my coat. The downside was that photography was all but impossible. Step in the multi-talented TL, who deftly picked her way to the back of the boat to deliver the following gems.

I feel I should offer no explanation for the hardcore picture of TL's ear canal. It was a gratuitous shot, and one that I will treasure forever and alway.

The guano-covered cliffs of the Farnes. Beautiful, in their own way. The Kittiwakes certainly love them.


Grace Darling's lighthouse, or one in the same place, at the very least. Her rescue of shipwrecked sailors, it appears, was special because she was a woman.

Why more cliffs, you ask? Well, try clicking on this picture, and maybe you will see why I like this one the best.


Four National Trust bird wardens live here in season and keep track of the populations of Seals and birds. They are not Seal wardens though. There are no Seal wardens here, just bird wardens. There is no information available to tell us whether they resent their extra role. If you happen to meet one, please ask them and tell me. Thanks.

After returning to harbour in Seahouses, it was inevitable that we would eat fish and also chips. we did this in the open air, in the cheapest fashion possible. we were sure we wouldn't meet anyone we knew, so it was safe to be cheapskates. It was great meeting Ian at this point. Thanks for dropping by, Ian. It was good to see you.

We returned home to box shifting and soup. In that order.

So ended another day.

Otter Sands

After the rain of Friday, we pounced on Saturday's morning sun, quickly descending on Otter Sands. It's a particularly beautiful stretch of sand and rocks and one that I hope to return to a fair amount. Who knows, you might think it looks like a pleasant place to be as well.

A sand pendant, and the great sand cliffs of “fairly near the sea” that day.

A view along the rocks towards the main beach.

Druridge Bay lies just to the north, round the headland. We'll go there another day and discover further delights, I'm sure.

It was so good to arrive here and do a little enjoying of the local beauty. We've spent too much time organising the house and moving boxes around. Finally, I can report that our little house is just about the way we want it. We have no idea how long we will be here, but the being here will be relatively painless, at least for now.

Ian is coming to work his woodly magic later today. When he has gone, we will have a good deal more space to work with kitchen things. Sadly, little seems to be able to be done for the smell. Please visit us and experience it first hand. It's unforgettable. If it persists much longer I may wash.

So, I guess this is where coming to NBTS ends and being here begins.

First Latte

Rebecca gleefully sips our very first Newbigginarian latte

Ah yes, it definitely looks like it's hitting the spot.

There comes a point, when moving into a different house, when one makes the shift from “moving rules” to “normal rules”. I believe we have now reached the “normal rules” stage. To reflect this, we have changed from “moving cutlery” to “normal cutlery” and “moving mugs” to “normal mugs”.

To top it all, I decided I was comfortable enough with my new existence to fashion a latte coffee for the lovely Rebecca.

So I did.

Some days...