At long last

After nearly a year my life is starting to get sorted out at last.
I have left my job of 28 years, moved 150 miles away from friends and family and looking forward to making new friends.
I will endeavour to post regularly and keep you all updated.
I have started to do a bit more artwork and get more back to nature.
So keep looking back to see my news and what I have been up to.

Back from Sunny Wales

We are now back from our holiday in Wales, again only 1 day of rain ( Thursday) but we did have rain in the evenings which made the walking a bit boggy and muddy in places.
The holiday started with us arriving into Talgarth on the back of a recovery truck!!
It was good for a change to be able to sit back, relax and take in the scenery.
Our first walk took us via Talgarth gliding club where we met a nice friendly bunch of people and I was able to collect the gliders numbers. We had lunch atop of the ruins of Castle Dinas, it was high and windy but a very good vantage point from which to enjoy Tomato soup.
Sunday because the car was out of action we took the bus into Brecon and arrived at St. Michael's in time for Mass. After the service we had a good long chat with the Nunn in residence and took some photos. Janice as usual was plugging pilgrimages to Walsingham and we learnt about the recent pilgrimage St. Michael's had taken to Fatima. We then purchased fish 'n' chips and found somewhere nice along the canal to eat them.We finished walking 5 miles along the canal but had to be back to catch the one and only bus from Brecon to Talgarth at 5:30.
The rest of the holiday was full of exhilarating walks, finding our way across fields of cows and sheep, across small brooks and streams, up steep hills and finding hidden gems like a small church with its yew whipping tree, we also visited Hay on Wye and bought several more books !!! Bluith Wells and Brecon again.
The car was repaired very quickly and cheaply by a local garage in Talgarth called Orion Motors. I would definitely recommend these guys to anybody they are friendly, knowledgeable and quick.

Looks like I'll have to book another Saturday as a holiday.

AFC Wimbledon were drawn against Scunthorpe United from n power league 1 for the 1st Round of the FA Cup.
The tie will be played at The Cherry Red Records Stadium ( Kings Meadow) on Saturday 12 November.Looks like I'll have to book another Saturday as holiday.
I was really hoping for MK Dons but they will have to wait for another round.
I will be attending the match with a friend who actually comes from Scunthorpe but who works down here. Loser has to buy the drinks !!

A selection from my personal art portfolio

Just a few of my paintings.

I took up painting after my heart operation as I had plenty of time at home.

some Pictures of Palma holiday

More pictures of my Palma holiday can be found here; 
http://www.flickr.com/photos/hedgehogspotter/
If this link doesn't work it can be accesed through facebook

Aircraft Spotters Delight

The main reasons we chose C’an Pastilla for our holiday were we had been there approx 14 years ago and back then it was a nice quiet resort, it had a nice long sandy beach, you could go out into the water a long way and the waves would only come up to your chest, we also wanted to be able to get into Palma by bus to revisit the Cathedral and we wanted to be near to the airport because when the wind is in the right direction the planes approach over the coast and are nice and low.

We had a nice afternoon flight; however once we had boarded the Monarch aircraft we were flying on we had an hour delay before take off, but once we were moving the flight went really well.

When we landed we had to find a particular travel desk in the terminal because as usual I had arranged the holiday myself so we didn’t have a tour guide to help us. We found the desk no trouble at all and the nice lady gave us our ticket and directed us to our coach for the onward journey. 30 minutes later we were in our hotel room.

Our room was on the 3^rd floor with a balcony, we had views of the sea to our left and to our right was a view of the airport, I could not have planed it any better.

We had booked a 10 day half board holiday, the hotel food was good and over the 10 days not one menu was repeated. There was always a fish dish, two meat dishes, a choice of pasta and a good salad bar along with a good choice of desserts including fresh fruits and ice cream. Breakfast did become a bit monotonous but again there was a good selection of cheese and meats and as much coffee, tea chocolate and juice as you wanted.

Our first full day was spent on the beach and in the sea, we had a great time trying to catch the fish as they swam between us. The only down side to being on the beach is the amount of people trying to sell you things, you’re always being asked if you would like a massage, fresh fruit or sunglasses but once you said no they went on their way it was just unfortunate that 10 mins later another person would come along and then another and then another.

2^nd day we set off to walk the coastal path to Palma with the intention of walking to the cathedral and as the aircraft were approaching over the sea we thought we would get some numbers as well. We couldn’t believe our luck not only were the aircraft approaching the airport from the sea, the footpath we were on went right to the edge of the runway, you could read the registration numbers without binoculars. We decided to explore and we found away from the path a nice secluded bay where we could swim, sunbathe and note down all the aircraft we were in heaven.

An hour and a half later we decided to continue our walk to Palma, when we were about ½ mile from Palma Cathedral and as it was now the hottest part of the day we decided to turn back and have a beer and a pizza at a beach hut restaurant that we had walked past and afterwards trudge slowly back to our secluded bay.

Over the course of our holiday we collected nearly 600 aircraft registrations 

We also saw some air force aircraft but amonst our favourite aircraft were the Yellow Tui, we even saw an orange Easy Jet which was painted in special colours to celebrate the fact that it was Easy Jets 200th Airbus.

Health and Safety Warning

I've been home from Mallorca 6 days now.

I had a brilliant time but unfortunately I managed to severely sunburn both feet.

My left foot was worse, swelling up to nearly 3 times normal size and a water blister over the complete foot.

The swelling has all gone but I still have blisters on my feet and I have just started to walk properly.
That’s what comes of going on holiday to Wales for 10 years; you forget that the sun can burn through the water!!!

So a reminder to everyone out there, don’t forget to apply lots of sun cream even if you are going into the water.