Merry Christmas

MERRY CHRISTMAS .....

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Snow - again

This Sycamore tree looking rather cold and bare - just waiting now for Spring - little does it know that it's going to get a prune in February ...

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Snow

No sign of the snow going - the warmer weather that was promised for the weekend does not look like it will appear .

Both gnome and palm are going to get cold ....

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Out of a job ....

The latest casualty in the football world is our local Manchester City F.C. manager Mark Hughes who has been given his marching orders after 18 months in the job.

Many would say that he has not been given enough time to sort the club out but the new owners are not satisfied - so he has to go.

To be replaced by Italian Roberto Mancini who has an excellent track record in the Italian League.

Will Roberto succeed where offers have failed ..... ???

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Snow

Back from a two week jaunt to Spain and what do we have ??

Snow Snow Snow ......

Somewhat different from the sunny Costa Blanca but be warned even in Spain snow can strike - while we have been enjoying the sun down on the beach the rest of Spain has had snow .

And yes the Spanish are no different to the British - they are obsessed with the weather as well - the daily TV news bulletins keep everyone updated with the latest snow fall or blizzard and interviews with local people and what they think of the weather.

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Allotment 11- Sprouts ...

One of the great hopes for this year was growing sprouts both at home and at the allotment as I'm really partial to their taste and they are so expensive in the supermarket.

Well you could say that I've wasted my time - a great disappointment - the sprouts at the allotment seem to be bolting and at home the plants have produced nothing.

One plant that has been a great success this year has been turnips - eaten with everything.

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Computer Problems

A very frustrating last few months - constant loss of internet connection especially when viewing Blogs .

We've run all the usual diagnostic checks , changed filters and even had BT engineers look at the phone line.

Constant lost of the internet connection eventually causes you to loose interest with the computer and you constantly worry " will this thing work ".

However hopefully yesterday this problem was solved ( keeping fingers crossed ) - yet a new " bigger and better " filter was installed and a new router put in place ( new to me - always is in these situations )

Let's hope all will be OK !!!

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Heaton Park - The Donkeys ...

Time to have a groom and smarten up ......

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Miserable Miserable Weather !!!!

This week has certainly been a shocking week for rain - it's been constant ...

Even at 2 o'clock in the afternoon it's getting dark - everywhere is wet and lifeless .

Moan moan moan !!!

The weather has been so miserable - roll on the summer ....

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Golf ..

Early morning golfer at Heaton Park - our current weather has not been kind to these people ..

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M60

Hazy November morning - the M60 seen from Heaton Park - snaking it's way towards the Airport via Stockport

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Rochdale - Hollingworth Lake

Do you want an ice cream ?? Is this big enough ??

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Rochdale - Hollingworth Lake

Hollingworth Lake's local pub - The Wine Press - seen across the lake .

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Rochdale - Hollingworth Lake

A rather windy day today in the UK - here at Hollingworth Lake the wind is whipping up the waves .

Not many people about today apart from one or two bird watchers with their special cameras - I guess that in very windy weather there is a chance of seeing some rare species that has been blown off course .

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Allotment 10- Lots of digging needed ..

Now we've taken over more land a lot of digging is needed to clear the accumulated weeds - hopefully this will be done before the end of November .

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Allotment 9 - End of season ..

It's nearly the end of the growing season down on the allotment - fees now have to be paid for next year and the plots tied up for the coming season ...

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Grassington - Shopping !!!

Some of the shops you'll find in Grassington.

I can confirm we've been in the Dales Toffee Shop on many occasion - sweet tooth !!!

You'll always find something to spend your money on in this pleasant little village.

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White Rose

The white rose of Yorkshire proudly flying above the roof tops of Grassington - personally I prefer the red rose of Lancashire.

When the local " facilities " were decorated with red roses on the tiles "someone" tried to scratch them off the walls and indignant letters were written to the local newspapers demanding they were replaced by white ones !!!!!

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Grassington - Shenstone Gallery

Money to spend ??

Why not treat yourself to a work of art ??

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Bowel Cancer Screening

Everyone living in England and between the ages of 60 and 69 is being invited to participate in a programme to screen for bowel cancer .

You are sent a kit and are required to provide samples from your bowel motion - all in the privacy of your own home ..

Not 100% accurate it will still help in the early detection of bowel cancer for some people.

Let's hope that this exercise is a great success and it helps to reduce the impact that bowel cancer can bring..

A good idea from the NHS !!!

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Grassington

Away from the main streets of Grassington it can be quiet - sometimes !!!

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Grassington - When ???

Grassington - but when was the picture taken ? 1880's ??

No - this summer !!

Just a few adjustments to the colour and Bob's your uncle .... !!!

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New camera ...

As a special treat for my birthday I now have a new all singing digital camera - a Panasonic TZ6 " Lumix ".

Hopefully once I have read the 130 page instruction booklet I'll have some more photographs ...

In the mean time I'll have to raid my old photo collection.

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Rochdale Cenotaph.

Tomorrow - Sunday - is Remembrance Sunday when the Nation remembers those who died in the two World Wars.

A service of remembrance will be held here at the cenotaph in Rochdale - around 11 a.m. - the time that World War I ended ..

People will be remembering also those who have died recently in Iraq and Afghanistan ..

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Guy Fawkes

Tonight - November 5th is Guy Fawkes Night or commonly known as Bonfire Night.

This special day celebrates the downfall of the plot on the 5th November 1605 by Guy Fawkes and others to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London.

Bonfires are held and fireworks let off throughout the UK.

Last night we attended a council run firework display in our local town of Heywood - disappointing in that the weather was wet and windless. The smoke from the fireworks did not disperse and clouded the sky obscuring some of the firework display.

This year there seems to be less fireworks being let of by individuals in the streets - I guess there may be a lack of money, and people do not want to burn up what they do have, in the sky !

November 5th is always a good time to create a bonfire and get rid of all your rubbish without attracting complaints from your neighbours about the smoke.

Today several fires were burning merrily on our allotment site as people took the opportunity to get rid of rubbish.

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Important day for the TV

Today we had to retune our Television - when I say "had to" it was not compulsory but failure to do so would result in loosing some TV channels.

And why ???

Well the north west of England is going digital and the analogue signal is being withdrawn - as a result many of us have had to buy bigger and better televisions !!

This change over will be completed by early December and then we should all have a choice of even more channels and better picture quality .. problem is "they" keep on repeating the same old programmes and are we really better off ??

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Big sale in UK ... !!!

When things get really tough financially you often have to look around and try to sell something you no longer need.

Well Mr Brown our beloved P.M. has decided to have a great big sale worth 16 billion pounds or 25 billion US dollars.

IT'S SALE TIME IN THE UK !!!

To go are the TOTE , Dartford Crossing ( a road toll bridge) , Channel Tunnel Rail Link, Student Loan Debt and their part ownership of URENCO the uranium processing company.

The Banks are to be split and some parts sold off thus enabling the government to claw back some of the money they lent out to the Banks at the start of the financial crisis.

Now can you trust Gordon ? The man who sold our gold reserves at a knock down price !!

Watch this space .....

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I worry ... !!

I worry when I walk around our housing estate and see that many neighbours are having a new roof ..

There is nothing wrong with having a new roof but when the property is only 40 years old ??

Is a new roof the latest must have fashion or are they really falling to pieces ?

I'm afraid that I'm of the generation that expect a roof to last at least 100 years ..

My "last a lifetime" PVC windows now need replacing - a lifetime I'm told only lasts 20 years - very strange !! Any new purchase will only have a guarantee of 10 years !!

I'm at this stage in life when everything is starting to wear out in the home and needs replacing ... including me .

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Linton - G R

Still inside the church I assume GR stands for George Rex - in this case King George III.

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Linton - Inside !!!

Just as pretty inside - the church of St.Michael & All Angels, Linton

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Linton - At rest ...

Some rather old gravestones in the churchyard of St. Michael & All Angels at Linton.

A pleasant place to end one's days ..

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Linton - St Michael & All Angels

Down by the river you'll find the -pretty country church of St. Michael & All Angels.

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Linton - Peaceful scene ..

You'll find this little bridge not far from the Falls - quite a pretty little scene ..

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Linton - Linton Falls

Back to the Yorkshire Dales for a number of photos - this time to the small village of Linton which is not far from Grassington ..

Here the famous " Falls " which always attract quite a few visitors on a good day

When the river is high and fast flowing after a good rainfall then an impressive sight can be had - the river rushing and gushing at great speed ..

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Poor Sunday !!!

It was a poor Sunday for our local football teams -

Manchester United lost to arch rivals Liverpool 2-0 and had a player sent off .

Our other team Manchester City managed a 2-2 draw against Fulham but this sort of display and result is not good enough for a team that has set its sights on being in the top four at the end of the season.

So watch this space .......

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Lymn - More photos from our morning trip ..

Still at the garden centre - this pirate guards the wildlife pond ....

This car is certainly going nowhere fast ..

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Winter here soon ...

Well it's that time of the year ...

Tonight the clocks go back one hour - we may gain an hour but the evenings will feel very cold and dark.

I guess winter will be soon with us !!

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Lymn - A morning trip

A wet weekend and nothing to do so out and about with a trip to the Willowpool Garden Centre in Lymn.

Lots to interest the discerning shopper ...

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Allotment 8 - More work !!

November 1st we take on more allotment land - and this is what the new land looks like - weeds weeds and weeds ..

A lot of digging here I think ..

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Allotment 7 - Why do it ??

Why do this ??

This is the entrance to our allotment - and " someone " has decided to dump their rubbish by the entrance gates .

The sad thing it that most of this could have been dumped in a wheelie bin rather than leave lying around the area for other people to pick up !

The beauty of Britain ....... !!!

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Stamford - Flowers ..

A few colourful flowers to greet the visitors on their arrival in Stamford ...

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Stamford - the pub

One of Stamford's many public houses !!

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Stamford - Stamford Baron

This part of Stamford is in Northamptonshire not Lincolnshire - these small back streets are in an area known at Stamford Baron.

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Stamford - the alley ..

Quaint little alley with a few shops - including a Thai " take-away "

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Stamford - Down by the river

Start of a new week and I shall be showing the remainder of my Stamford photographs this very week ...

I think this area down by the river is usually called " The Meadows "

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Bad summer ..

It has been a bad summer - wet and wet !!

Some plants seem to have thrived in spite of this ...

The bamboo - this has doubled in size this year !

Pampas grass is just starting to flower - I'm very proud of this plant - in the past we've had problems growing pampas ..

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A repeat ......!!!!!

No apologises for repeating this photo of the River Roche in Heywood ..

And why ??

I submitted this photo to our local newspaper the Heywood Advertiser and last week it was printed in the latest edition ..

So very happy !!!

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Sad garden ..

Well summer is over and the flowers are starting to fade - next job in the garden will be to cut these down and tidy up the flower bed.

I've already started planting tulip and crocus bulbs ready for next spring ..

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From a window ..

I was quite impressed with this view of a rather pink sunset - taken from our bedroom window ..

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Robin

Here is our friendly robin in a more familiar pose ....

These seeds do not seem to last long before the birds have swallowed them all up ..

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