Blogs from Derbyshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 20

Not exactly in the Hope Valley but we are pretty close. Actually we're in Great Hucklow but only those in Little Hucklow know where Great Hucklow is. Why it's great is still a bit of a secret but as I sit in the beer garden of the Queen Anne and have a couple of ciders and chat with the locals it is getting better and better. The fact that everything just goes on the tab is a little deceptive and makes it appear that drinks and meals are free here. We haven't paid for anything for 2 days here! The shock will come as I sober up tomorrow! The locals are delightful here and even better I can still understand them! We are actually staying in an old pub. It's been an inn since the 1600‘s ... read more

D Day Minus 60 . Where in the world is Suzy the motorhome?. She is still sitting on the drive. She hasn't come out with us to day as we plan our trip from Chesterfield to Melbourne. Melbourne in Derbyshire that is. Not the one half way round the world. We needed to get out . Two months before our next holidays seem a long to wait. We don't want to travel far. We just want to find somewhere on the doorstep to break the monotony of early morning swims, of visits to the gym, of the grind of weekly shopping and to escape the summer weather. Sion of course wonders why we are not packing bags with clothes and I try to explain Melbourne in Derbyshire not Melbourne in Australia . I failed miserably and ... read more

We were invited to join the annual May bank holiday weekend trip to Derbyshire. A 20 year family tradition of walking and getting together. The weather remained cool and cloudy for the weekend with only a light rain for our last quick walk on Monday morning. We stayed at a lovely cosy cottage on the main street and did a number of walks with the family. We enjoyed dinner at the The Farmyard Inn and the next evening all squeezed in to the cottage for a takeaway Chinese meal. A great experience.... read more

A Chinese blessing recalls that "round the table peace and joy prevail. May all who share this seasons delight enjoy countless more". A particularly apt blessing for this time of year. We have been round the table, eating turkey with all the trimmings. Christmas pudding and crackers. The Christmas tree has been put up, decorated and taken down just before Twelfth Night. The Christmas cards have arrived, been inwardly digested and now fed up with all the glitter on the floor which falls from them they are reglegated to the recycling bin. Christmas has passed by for another year. The advertisements on the tv have invited us to order a new suite for Christmas delivery , 0% finance and if we did not want that we could try ordering one for Boxing Day with nothing to ... read more

Autumn. One by one the petals drop There's nothing that can make them stop. You cannot beg a rose to stay. Why does it have to be that way? The words of a poem that sums up Autumn. One by one the leaves have been turning to burnished gold, plum and crimson, buttermilk to bronze. Then they fall like confetti or snow falling onto the pavements . Crisp and crinkling under foot they invite a toe to poke through them. A foot to kick them and for a hand to scrabble to find a conker or acorn hidden deep within them. The mists roll in and set the scene. The spiders weave their silken threads from the last die hard fuschia to the branches of the Cotoneaster covered in bright red berries . The berries invite ... read more