Skywatch Friday

On Saturday 8th August I crossed something off my bucket list - I went to see Wales play rugby at the The Millennium Stadium.

Blue skies, sunshine and 75 thousand other people.

What a fantastic day.

Pop over to the Skywatch blog for more skies from around the world.

My Month In Numbers - July

I seem to have missed a month or 2!

At the start of the month I took 1 plane journey from Inverness to Birmingham and then hired 1 car to drive myself to Wales and then onto the Cotswolds in to see my Mum first and then onto see my Dad. I only venture South of the border once a year (as I don't like flying) but funnily enough we are going back down next month - but this time we are driving which take considerable longer at 10 hours each way :)

I did take my running gear with me and notched up a few more (very hilly) miles to add to my 49.83 miles logged in July. I have done another couple of 3k races this month and actually managed to beat my PB in the first one.

I also purchased a new mountain bike - she is lovely and when Andy is back  action we will be hitting the trails. Not as much cycling this month with only just over 40 miles covered.

Whilst I was away I got plenty of reading done with 15 titles finished - a couple of my favourites were by Cathy Bramley and were the first books in 2 of her series - Appleby Farm and Wickham Hall.

But my most important number is 1 which is the number of furry new additions to our family. Meet Bella - not neutered or spayed by her previous owner she was a very young mum of 6 rather large kittens. Her previous owners then thought she was surplus to requirements and we have adopted her from The Cats Protection League. Maisie wasn't too impressed at first - plenty of hissing and a feline version of a mexican standoff ensued. But things are calming down now and they are tolerating each other. We are now a 2 cat household again :)

Please pop over an say hello to Julie and read everyone elses months in number.

Skywatch Friday

The weather this week has been amazing - but sadly due to work I haven't bee out an about to enjoy it.

A couple of weeks ago I ventured south of the border to visit family. One damp morning I headed over to Croft Castle to have a wander around the gardens with my camera. It is a truly lovely place.

Please pop over to the Skywatch blog to see more skies from around the world.

2014 Summertime Photography Scavenger Hunt.

For the 3rd year running I am taking part in the photo scavenger hunt hosted by Rinda at Gallo Organico.

I have just spent a week down in Wales and the Cotswolds visiting family - for the first time ever I think I didn't need "whose coat is that jacket" whilst in Wales - in fact I actually got sunbunrt. There is a first for everything.

I managed to cross off a few of the photo prompts whilst I was away.

1. A sign welcoming people to your hometown (or a nearby town). I spent quite a few of my childhood years living in Knighton and it is where my Mum and Mother in Law still live.

2. A garden gnome. Didn't see any in the local gardens but liked the look of this one in the garden centre.

4. A group of tourists. They had to be Chinese or Japanese tourists in the Cotswolds - taken on a walk up to Broadway Tower with my Dad.

6. An urban street scene. On a leg of my journey I stopped in Worcester (where I spent 3 years at university many years ago) and this is the main shopping street.

7. A rural landscape. One morning I drove to Croft Castle to wander around the lovely garden with my camera.

16. A sign in a language other than English. Although very few people speak Welsh in Knighton ( I certainly didn't hear anyone speaking it whilst I was there) most signs are bilingual.

17. A lamp post. Spotted whilst we were enjoying the sunshine by the lake in Llandrindod Wells (where I also started high school many years ago.

You can read more about the challenge here and hopefully I can cross off more prompts soon.  

1. A sign welcoming people to your home town (or a nearby town)
2. A garden gnome
3. Birds on a wire
4. A group of tourists
5. A rack of post cards
6. An urban street scene
7. A rural landscape
8. A tattoo on a person
9. A bakery
10. A photo bomb (someone found lurking in the background of photo; the lurker may have intended to disrupt the picture or may be doing it unintentionally, but the background lurker is a surprise to the photographer)
11. A horn
12. A mascot
13. A sunrise
14. A parade
15. A juggler
16. A sign in a language other than English
17. A lamp post
18. A water fall
19. A public garden
20. A bus (not a car, truck, lorry, camper or RV) with a picture painted on its sides.
21. A photograph of you with something representing the season (recognizing that the season will be Winter for our friends in the southern hemisphere). Note: you may not use a substitute for this item.
If you find something on the list too difficult, you may substitute one of the following items for anything on the list, except for Item #21:
Alternative A: A kite, hot air balloon or blimp
Alternative B: A bird house