With regrets after 32 continuous years of camping our bones and sinews are telling us to call it a day as far as setting up our own tent or towing a caravan is concerned. We are still happy to enjoy the freedom, fresh air and camaraderie of a campsite via a static caravan or tent after a few hours on autoroute or autostrada but on arrival the most labour intensive activity we intend to undertake will be grabbing some glasses and uncorking the wine…

So our lovely caravan is up for sale…

“2006 Sprite Alpine 4 berth caravan for sale in good condition and owned from new. Full of happy memories and up for sale only because we are moving on in years. Ideal for couple or family with small children. Easy to tow and a dream to set up once on site. It has been well looked after and is now searching for new owners who will also treat it with loving care! BTW no smokers and no dogs have ever entered this ‘van….”

See the rest here…

OK – Fowey in Cornwall has quaint little streets.

There are delightfully quirky coffee shops (Pinky Murphys and the Red Herring) and a superb deli (Kittows)….and if you stay at Duchy Cottage as we regularly do you can pop next door to The Safe Harbour and drink as much St Austell Tribute as you want without having to worry about being breath tested.

But, above all, the surrounding countryside is….perfect….

Snowdrops….the sign that spring is on it’s way. There were huge clumps of them growing on the grass verges in Somerset at the weekend and in our son’s garden…..

Hua Shan is a mountain in the Shaanxi Province of China, about 120 kilometres east of the city of Xi’an and is more than 2000 metres in height. Cut into the side of the mountain and overlooking a deep gorge is a pathway made up of three planks laid on top of iron bolts drilled into the rockface.

Walking along the planks, even with a safety harness, is terrifying but, if you fancy an adrenalin rush, this is the path to travel…..

Suggestion….cut the annoying music on the vid..

That unforgettable moment…….

Usually we post pictures of England in the sun but, of course, we often have days that are damp and dull – like this one.

Every Wednesday morning, whatever the weather, whatever the season, we, plus an assortment of other aged folk, do a 5 or 6 mile walk in the countryside of Sussex or Surrey – then end up in a pub for a beer and a sandwich.

So here we are, at the top of a very steep hill, wet, muddy but unbowed…

Mrs P in the middle in red, yours truly next to the guy in the hat next to the lady with the umbrella….

Excelsior!!!

Almost impossible to avoid slowing the pace down when you hear these two telling you to take it easy. What I love about the song is the reminder that in this modern world, when so much of our daily life appears to happen in the fast lane, there is a need to sometimes drop down through the gears and just unwind.

The beauty of angling is that it provides an excuse to just sit by a river, stream or lake and pretend to be doing something when in actual fact you are just gazing across the water at peace with the world.

Who cares if you don’t actually catch anything….

One other reason I like it – it’s a bloody good song sung by two masters of the genre….

Norman Rockwell would agree…

….and so would this man…

Old Isaac Walton summed it up in 1653…

” What would a blind man give to see the pleasant rivers, and meadows, and flowers, and fountains, that we have met with since we met together ?”

” And for the most of them, because they be so common, most men forget to pay their praises:
but let not us; because it is a sacrifice so pleasing to Him that made that sun and us, and still protects us, and gives us flowers, and showers, and stomachs, and meat, and content,
and leisure to go a-fishing. ”

…if ever a mortal heard the voice of God it would be in a garden…

These days on the cusp between September and October have been gloriously sunny and warm so it seemed appropriate for us to take a wander around nearby Sheffield Park. With grassy slopes, peaceful lakes and sweeping trees it’s a fitting memorial to the genius of Lancelot “Capability” Brown who originally laid it out 250 years ago.

Brown and other pioneers of English 18th century garden design rejected the formal, geometric patterns of the French tradition, exemplified by Versailles. Instead they endeavoured to create an ideal landscape reflecting the English countryside.

Rolling lawns, clumps of trees, all outlined against the sky and mirrored by the waters of lakes and pools, each one edged with paths and crossed by elegantly sculptured bridges….

Brown likened his work to that of the poet..”Here I put a comma, there, when it’s necessary to cut the view, I put a parenthesis; there I end it with a period and start on another theme.”

One key point to remember is that this could never be “instant” gardening….it had to be a vision that might take as long as fifty years to reach its final flourish.

He that plants trees loves others beside himself

A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in

Over the years subsequent generations have developed the garden in sympathy with Brown’s vision. On one edge is a path leading upwards….

….to a cricket pitch, laid out by a nineteenth century owner. Still the venue for rural enthusiasts to strive for local glory it also has an important place in the history of England’s cricketing annals for hosting one of the earliest matches between England and Australia in 1884.

The photographer photographed….by my Blackberry…

Next time you hear someone bemoaning the youth of today tell them about Alex Honnold.

No rope, no harness – just free soloing the NW face of Half Dome in Yosemite.

It’s hard to know what to make of Alex’s astounding ascents. No words can describe the difficulty and dangerousness of these ascents. It’s simply pure brashness. Let’s face it–the kid has a lot of chutzpah. Climb high Alex, and be safe.

Amen to that….