It’s been hot here, well hot for Yorkshire. Touching 30C for day after day. On top of that, it’s been seriously dry this year. Our area was the first in the country to get a hosepipe ban. Hardly a drop of rain for weeks, the reservoirs are no more than a third full. We do need RAIN.
Some things are just written in Stone…..
Hawklad loves F1 motor racing, so this year he got his first taste of seeing it for real.
The British Grand Prix at Silverstone. 165,000 fans about to get VERY WET.
Even the Drivers getting very wet….
One support race Red Flagged and stopped as the track was too dangerous.
Talk about four seasons in one day. Blazing sunshine, fork lightning, sudden wind storms, torrential rain.
But thankfully there was just enough blazing sunshine and three of the biggest sponges ever…
A peaceful walk in a Forest. But it’s not always this peaceful. It took the Forest Rangers quite a while to deal with the aftermath of the last storm which hit the area a few months back. Lots of tree damage still evident.
In the UK there is a new word hitting the dictionaries. One which has several meanings. The word is FARAGE. Often found in the phrase ‘Nigel FARAGE is a …..’
FARAGE can mean to some – a wise and gifted political orator who is a man of the people.
But FARAGE can also mean ….
a Charlatan…
a Dangerous Opportunist…
someone who feathers his own best…
someone who tells others it’s wrong to be a part of Europe, has denied the right of his countryfolk to have free access to Europe yet keeps his own European Passport, enjoys unlimited access to Europe for himself .
someone who screams immigration is bad/foreigners are taking all our jobs, filling our schools and hospitals, YET is married to a French Woman
someone who bemoans Europe for how it’s wastes taxpayers money yet then keeps his lucrative European provided pension for life…
someone who is a fascist…
someone who is a racist…
someone who is a right f#@### w#@@#£#
The word FARAGE can also been a family commitment. Hawklad is one of those souls who struggles to find fault in others. Yet with Nigel FARAGE he gets very frustrated, very angry. ‘How can people vote for him, how can they not see through him…’
Once the idea of FARAGE being our Prime Minister seemed like a joke, but then we did get Johnson and Truss. Sadly now his party are increasingly winning local election seats. Unbelievably it could just happen. He could be in charge in a few years time.
That thought horrifies Hawklad. My thoughts are unprintable… Hawklad has made me agree (I didn’t take much convincing) that if that disaster ever happens, then WE will seek to leave the UK. See if we can move to say Ireland or France or Germany or Switzerland or Canada or somewhere that will have us.
Whisper it, a few days of nice weather in Yorkshire, we can do it…
A bit of Sun brings out the hooligans.
This Swan is a bruiser.
Swims about on the lake until it sees someone he or she doesn’t like and then…. races out of the water to stand on the narrow lakeside path. That’s it, wings spread, puffed out chest and the path is closed. As we were walking towards the danger zone, we passed a couple heading back saying an aggressive Swan had forced them into a hasty retreat. As we passed we got a good staring at, but were granted a pass. The walker following us was not so lucky and after a brief standoff, the swan won….
Wonder why some people are allowed through and others are chased off. It’s not a nesting thing, as the nest is on the other end of the lake, and apparently the Swan is never aggressive there.
With one finger briefly dipped into the water I can confirm that the North Sea is absolutely frigid at this time of year….
That was Thursday, Friday was way more misty. Perfect weather to visit the cinema, or as my Mum would have called it, THE PICTURES. Dear Mum, when she was young she loved going to The Pictures but then life happened and she stopped going. For many Decades….
She did go one more time to see The Horse Whisperer. She was rooted to her chair as the credits finished rolling, a little disturbed to discover that the modern Pictures experience doesn’t include a PATHE News bulletin and the singing of the National Anthem. I’m also not sure what Mum would have made of the movie we saw on Friday, the new Bob Dylan biopic. A Fantastic movie but maybe wouldn’t have quite been mum’s musical cup of tea. However we loved it and Hawklad shared a thought while watching Timothee Chalamet hauntingly accurate portrayal of Dylan. Thinking of Dylan performing back in 1961 (even before I was born….) and then realising 63 years later, Hawklad got to see him play live just a few months back. Had to agree with him, that is mind blowing.
Over the last few weeks we haven’t seen much of the sky. Mostly it’s been like this….
But when it has parted….
On another misty, dark day, we were heading back from the City and passed a stricken smoking car. Suddenly I was taken back years. Back to when I was young and Dad’s 4 wheel pride and joy. His MK1 Ford Cortina, 1% Silver 99% Rust and Holes. Top Speed, who are we kidding, there was nothing TOP about that thing. Stationary to walking pace in about 2 days before the inevitable smoking breakdown. I had completely forgotten about that Henry Ford Miracle and strangely I was smiling.
Maybe that caught me off guard….
We drove past a Children’s Play Barn, I brought Hawklad here countless times when he was a toddler. Fun times, so many happy memories. But life moves on, he became too old to venture there. The Xbox world became way more attractive than climbing around a Pirate Ship Climbing Frame. Now he’s doing College and the Christmas Present list is way different now. As I took another glance at the Play Barn in the Rear View Mirror, feelings of melancholy swept over me.
An early online college finish for Hawklad and off we went for an adventure. Into the mist and drizzle…
We found ourselves by the famous old fishing town, Whitby. As the light faded, the weather closed in…
Definitely felt a bit more Gothic Dracula than Festive Cheer, but still fun. On nights like this you can imagine how Whitby inspired Bram Stoker to write the famous horror masterpiece.
Finally a few signs of the festive period…
Could the diet survive walking past one of the countries finest Fish and Chips restaurants…
We arrived as the clouds started to roll in. The clouds definitely looked increasingly threatening as darkness rolled in.
Storm Darragh is coming.
Part of the Christmas tradition now is to visit the December Illuminations at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park. They are definitely the largest illuminations around here, taking at least a good hour to walk round. Looking at the forecast, wind and rain due to hit Doncaster just after 5pm, this year time was short. Maybe I’m old fashioned but walking around outside illuminations works way better when you’re not dripping wet and frozen.
We made it to the last section before the heavens opened up. I really felt for the families (lots of them) arriving as we headed out to find warming hot drinks and food. There would be no cover whatsoever for them on their 2 mile trek from the now set in wind and rain. I so hope they could still enjoy the experience, we definitely did.
We were so lucky to get to see the lights as the site was closed today on weather safety grounds.
Is there anything more festive than hanging precariously off the side of a tree, trying to hang some Christmas lights. Yes there is…
Hanging precariously off the side of a tree, trying to hang some Christmas lights, in the freezing Yorkshire rain. Wow it was pouring down. The ladder was slowly and relentlessly sinking into the ground. Why do Christmas Lights instantly form into multiple wire knots that increasingly form into a massive birds nest like lump.
Unbelievably I managed to finally get some lights up, with just two mini wire ball nests. No time to bask in the sodden glory, a village resident approached with a bundle…
“Hi, just give you this leaflet. Great news, the Village has been successful in getting Dark Skies accreditation. We are officially a great place to see the stars and planets now…”
Perfect timing as I’m just about to switch on some 80 outside lights. I could see the look I was getting, one of those LOOKS….
Still that LOOK didn’t take into account two important factors.
ONE…. These are solar powered lights needing many hours of sunlight… Apparently 6 hours of Sun produces 12 hours of Christmas Lighting.
TWO…. This is YORKSHIRE, we don’t do hours of sunlight.
A rough calculation based on the last few weeks weather would seem to suggest we should get about 10 minutes lighting sometime in March…
A Dad trying to cope with the loss of his Partner and becoming a single parent. 