Holiday

Back, but not quite

~ beetleypete ~ 80 Comments

I returned from the short holiday yesterday, and I am happy to report that it was a success. It didn’t rain, and it was bright and sunny every day until Friday, when it turned cool in a strong sea breeze. In fact, the small ‘cabin’ was so nice, I have booked it again for the same week next year. Let’s hope I am still around to enjoy it!

Unfortunately, I am not able to keep up with any blog posts that arrived while I was away, and have had to delete all the notifications in a very packed email folder. I wil do my best to start from scratch next Monday. Next week I will also compile all the parts of the last serial, ‘Vera’s Life’, into one complete story.

The dining area floor is being laid from tomorrow, so I have a couple of days of disruption to deal with first.

Ollie.

Ollie adjusted well to the change. He particularly enjoyed the good-sized porch, which enabled him to watch the world go by in the hotel garden. Almost everyone had a dog, and that gave him some canine friends to check out too. Once his bed was placed outside on that porch, he would happily lay on it all day, just watching the comings and goings. Anyone interested in seeing what they are like can use this photo gallery link.
https://www.bacchushotel.co.uk/gallery.php?gallery_category=log_cabins
However, his lack of energy and vitality is becoming increasingly apparent every day now. A three-mile walk on a warm day along the seafront to the next town of Mablethorpe almost wiped him out, and we had to bring him back on a bus. His first bus journey!

These photos taken on a phone show him looking his age, and upset me greatly.

From now on, his regular walks are going to have to be a lot shorter, and he will be in need of more attention and affection.

As for me, the break made me realise just how much time I spend blogging, to the detriment of everything else I should be doing. I am rethinking my future about blogging, and may be posting considerably less in the weeks to come.

Best wishes to all, Pete.

The Lakes: Pete and Ollie

~ beetleypete ~ 35 Comments

The last reblog of the 2016 trip to the Lake District. My friend Antony took these photos of me and Ollie as we got to the top of a long hike. You can see how tired I look! Reblogged for new followers, and please enlarge them on the original post for the best effect.

beetleypete

All photos are large files, and can be clicked on for detail.

Antony has kindly sent some of the many photos he took of myself and Ollie. I know that most of you love to see Ollie, so I have overcome the embarrassment of seeing myself looking worn out, to show you a selection.

Head down, determined to get to the top.
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We made it to the gate!
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A well-earned rest.
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I hope that you enjoy these extra photos. I am sure that you will agree that Antony excelled himself with these.

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Grasmere: The last day

~ beetleypete ~ 10 Comments

The last photos I took on that 2016 trip, reblogged for new followers. Please enlarge them on the original post for the best effect.

beetleypete

All photos are large files, and can be clicked on for detail.

Grasmere is a picture-perfect village in the centre of the Lake District. It has famous literary associations, not least with the poet William Wordsworth. He lived in the village for many years, and is buried in the churchyard of St Oswald’s. Other famous writers known to have stayed there include Sir Walter Scott, Thomas de Quincy, and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This has all led to the village being very popular with tourists, as well as making house prices unaffordable for most people. There is also the small lake of Grasmere nearby, which we did not go to on that occasion.

Because of all the aforementioned tourists, I didn’t bother to take any photos of the village. Anyone interested in seeing or learning more about the place can follow this Wikipedia link, or search Google images. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grasmere

We were…

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A dull day in Ullswater

~ beetleypete ~ 20 Comments

Two more photos from the Lake District trip in 2016. A dull day, bad light, and some rain. Please enlarge the photos on the original post to see them properly.

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All photos are large files, and can be clicked on for detail

On Wednesday, we decided to return to Ullswater, and try again for the ferry that had been cancelled in the mist on Monday. Unfortunately, we were losing the excellent weather that we had enjoyed since arriving in the region. Low cloud, a sharp drop in temperature, as well as occasional showers provided a dull atmosphere for both walking, and photography. We had to sit inside this time for the longer boat trip, which would drop us at the far end of the lake.

Once off the boat and walking, it was obvious that the weather was not going to improve that day. We had to carry on for more than seven miles of paths around the lake, many of them away from the shoreline. I still paused to take many photos, but the light was poor, so I…

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Keswick: Arriving and exploring

~ beetleypete ~ 8 Comments

The first two photos I took after arriving in the Lake District in 2016. Reblogged for new followers, and anyone who hasn’t seen them before. Please enlarge them on the original post for the best effect.

beetleypete

All photos in this series are large files, and can be clicked on to enlarge for detail.

Keswick is an ancient market town in the north-west county of Cumbria, almost 300 miles from Beetley, and bordering Scotland. It is in the Lake District National Park, and nestles at one corner of the large lake called Derwent Water. Popular with walkers, hikers, climbers, and the boating fraternity, it has been a tourist destination for centuries, and the town still depends on tourism to this day.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keswick,_Cumbria

We arrived there on the 8th, and collected the keys for our rented apartment just after 3 pm. It was a nice surprise to find late afternoon sun, in an area known for cloud and rain. The main thing I noticed was that it was significantly colder though. Only half the temperature it had been when we left Norfolk at 10 am. Antony knows the…

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Castlerigg Stone Circle

~ beetleypete ~ 18 Comments

Another reblog of photos from my 2016 trip to the Lake District for anyone who hasn’t seen them before. This time, an ancient stone circle, dating from around 5,000 years ago. Please enlarge the photos from the original post, to get a better idea of the site.

beetleypete

All photos are large files and can be clicked on for detail.

After dropping off some of our gear following the walk back from Lodore, we got back in the car for the short drive to Castlerigg Stone Circle, just outside the town of Keswick. Ever since I first saw Stonehenge as a child, I have always been very interested in such things, whether in large numbers as at Avebury, or in their use as Dolmen burial chambers, good examples of which can be found in Wales.

As we approached the site on the small access road, we were confronted by a large tourist coach coming our way. There was no chance of passing whatsoever, so I had to make a somewhat difficult reverse back the way I had driven. This went on for a considerable time, until we reached a place where I could pull off the road. There…

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Ashness Bridge and Walla Crag

~ beetleypete ~ 28 Comments

More photos of a trip to the Lake District, in 2016. These are posted for the benefit of new followers, and anyone who missed them at the time. Please enlarge the photos on the original post if you can, as they do look so much better full-screen.

beetleypete

All photos are large files, and can be clicked on for detail.

Thursday was our last but one day of the holiday, and we set off in another morning of dull weather. The plan was to take the short ferry trip to Ashness Bridge, on the eastern side of Derwent Water. From there, we would make the climb up to Walla Crag, which has panoramic views over Keswick, and the lake. After getting off the boat at the first stop, there was a short steep ascent to the bridge.
Antony informed me that this was the most photographed spot in the region.
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As we continued up to the crag, the weather improved slightly. I got this shot of the view behind us. The cluster of white houses you can see is the town of Keswick, in the distance below.
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After my exertions going up Helvellyn, I must have been getting…

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Buttermere: A gentler walk

~ beetleypete ~ 30 Comments

A short photo post from my trip to the Lake District in 2016 It contains the best photo I took during that holiday, so please visit the original post and enlarge that first one, if you can. This is a reblog for the benefit of new followers.

beetleypete

All photos are large files, and can be clicked on for detail.

The approach to the peaceful lake at Buttermere was made through the hair-raising Honister Pass.
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Perhaps when I was 25 years old, I might have enjoyed that drive. My MPV chose first gear all the way up, and the diesel engine was sounding like a tractor by the time we stopped before the descent, for the above photo. The downhill section was also a fairground ride, as I was on and off the brakes all the way into Buttermere. I concluded that I was happy to only have encountered light traffic during that trip.

The weather remained kind for the promised easier walk that Tuesday. Most of the path was close to the water’s edge, or not far from it.
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After a much more relaxing day, it was back to Keswick, to get ready to go out to…

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Helvellyn: My vertical limit

~ beetleypete ~ 21 Comments

More photos from 2016, for the benefit of new followers since then. A continuation of my posts about a short holiday to England’s Lake District.

beetleypete

This is a longer post, using seven photos to tell the story of my biggest walk to date. Please allow time for it to load on your computer. All photos are large files and can be clicked on for detail.

After the boat trip had been cancelled, we retraced our steps through the village of Glenridding, and set off in the direction of Helvellyn. This is the third highest peak in England, with a height of 950 metres, or 3,117 feet. Antony had told me that we would head for the ‘Hole In The Wall’ and Red Tarn, a lake inside the hill. Naturally, this all meant nothing to me, but gave me a mental target to aim for, as well as an eventual destination to achieve.

Anthony and Ollie ahead of me on the start of the path, heading for Lanty’s Tarn, on the way up. They look as…

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Just back, not even trying to catch up.

~ beetleypete ~ 90 Comments

Hello everyone. I made it back without incident, despite now being officially one year older.

I got the PC working eventually, (that’s another story) to discover that I had close to 100 posts to catch up on. That is never going to happen, so I have deleted them all, and started from scratch this afternoon.

Apologies to everyone for missing your posts, but even just a short time away, and I was inundated.

As for my serial, there will be another episode later tonight, or possibly tomorrow.

Because of panic-buying caused by the virus scare, we have to go out to try to find some food for the rest of this week.

I hope everyone is doing well, and that nobody has fallen victim to Coronavirus 19. Fingers crossed that our blogging community is not affected.

They are recommending here that we self-isolate. My normal life is self-isolation except for walking Ollie, so I might be alright.