Birthday walk

So...a few photos from my big birthday day out.  I had a lovely birthday, the boys were in school so hubby and I planned a nice long walk along the coast path and a picnic.  The sky was blue and the day was just perfect.  

We walked a section that we haven't been to before, the coast path here spans 186 miles...all beautiful.  We are truly blessed!  

The real treat was stopping above one of the small coves which can't be reached by foot and seeing seals and their pups sheltering there.  The noise of the seals calling was quite something....really loud, in fact it stopped me in my tracks to see what it was.

Chester spent the day with us to...he is more keen than the boys to go for long walks!  It was a really wonderful day, over too quickly of course, but memorable and just the right way to mark a birthday in my opinion!

We've definitely been getting out in the mild dry autumn days.  During the school holidays we visited the Cotswolds in our caravan.  We've not been there before and it was a lovely introduction to an area that definitely needs more discovering.  The trees were what took my breath away, but the little chocolate-box villages were beautiful too...(I even found a lovely wool shop...bonus!)

It was lovely to go somewhere new and potter around.  Our caravan holidays always turn out to be super-relaxed, lots of sitting, reading, eating and chatting.  We did do a bit of walking, but honestly it was more about relaxing and not having to be anywhere else....just what we all needed!

I actually have lots of pictures and news to put on here....but it will have to wait...there's been reading, crocheting, knitting, drawing, running....gosh, it has been a busy few weeks!

South Africa - our first family visit.

Last month, as you already know, we had a family adventure......we travelled to South Africa to spend two weeks in the sunshine, visiting all the places that my husband (who was born near Cape Town) used to go to as a kid.  

We did a fair mix of everything, the touristy stuff, catching up with friends and a good deal of eating good food and relaxing.

Here are a selection of memories...(this is very abridged, and I won't bore you with details of all the lovely food we ate!)

We did the long haul, Birmingham to Dubai...Dubai to Cape Town...17 hours in total.

Unfortunately not everything went quite as swimmingly as it should and we ended up just missing our connection in Dubai as it was a bit cloudy  to land.  This meant us spending a day in Dubai.... as it turned out, it was a great experience for all of us, a chance to look around this spectacular place....Its all about the wow factor, interesting to see, but I'm happy if that is my one and only visit there.

(us wearing all the wrong clothes, but not having our suitcases meant no other option...it certainly makes me realise I will never pack the same again!)

 The tallest building in the world

So after we finally arrived a day later than hoped, we slept, caught up and then hit the road...

This place is just so beautiful....I didn't go with any  ideas what it may be like, and therefore was just blown away by the scenery....especially the mountains, rising up out of the sea....the blue-green seas the whiter-than-white sands.

This is Misty Cliffs, breathtakingly beautiful...

 Littlest boy holding a croc (with it's beak well and truly shut tight!)

Cape Point (which actually isn't the lowest point) a beautiful nature reserve with the Indian Ocean one side and the Atlantic on the other...one side warm....one somewhat cooler.  We had the most amazing meal in a restaurant overlooking the oceans, a memory hard to beat, and as one of the boys pointed out when I said how romantic the setting was, we were there on Valentine's day.

We looked out for baboons the whole time when we were in South Africa, but right at the end of the holiday, we finally saw them here.  (They have been a real menace in the past, and with tourists feeding them they can be fairly aggressive, they are not as dominant as they were thankfully, as people have been employed to keep them in the mountains where they are safer and people are not in danger of being attacked).  While we were at the reserve we saw ostriches and dassies also

           
 Around every corner there were views like this one....white sands and turquoise seas....stunning.  This is Noordhoek beach where my hubby went dogwalking when he was a young lad.

This is a photo taken from Chapman's Peak, a breath taking view across to Hout Bay where my Father-in-law used to work (which we later drove around to and saw seals on the dock)

This is the catwalk at Fish Hoek where my husband grew up.

Boulders beach where they have resident penguins.  While we were here, there were baby penguins, all fluffy and brown sitting in dug out holes in the sand....sooo cute!

We visited Cape Town (I bought some yarn!) and then we took the cable car up to the top of Table Mountain.

The views from the top of Table Mountain are glorious....what an awesome day it was.

The beach at Fish Hoek has people shark spotting in the high places.  When a shark is seen, a siren goes off to warn people.  The day after the boys were surfing, this happened and it really was quite chilling.  The shark had come in with the fishing boats.

When my husband was a little boy he regularly went surfing after school, but in the last fifteen years or so there has been a big increase in great whites.  I was relieved I  admit when the surfing finished!

 Middle-boy who turned out to be a real natural.

Littlest boy taking a break from the surf!

Mastered! (and thankfully I got the photo when they were both up at the same time!)  This day will remain with the boys, as they had a wonderful time.  This was a surfing masterclass from my hubby's old scout master who believe it or not is still doing the job today....we took the boys to cubs and learned about how the South African cubs run things.

This wasn't the trip of a lifetime, as we hope to go again, maybe even soon.  The husband took part in a marathon while we there, and hopes to do 'The Two Oceans' ultra-marathon next year.

I loved it....we only saw a small part of it, but it is an amazing country, and I can't wait to go back!

Blowing the cobwebs away

We've had a couple of beach days recently, where if there were any cobwebs about, they were well and truly blown away by the end!

I think the god thing about having dogs, is the necessity to be aired on a regular basis.

I don't often finish up a walk where I wished I had stayed at home.  More often than not, I more likely to be disappointed I didn't take my camera as I missed a great view.

The rock formations on this  beach are just amazing.  We visit here less often than the other beaches, and it has normally been when the day is sunny.  By the end of this walk,  we all had to totally strip off and change into dry clothes.

My camera is not water resistant, so it needed drying out after this venture!

Littlest boy never misses a photo opportunity!

 The wind was bracing so everyone just kept their heads down and plodded on!

This is a different day, a different beach....I love the way the rain drops on the lens distorted the view.

Out of focus, but can't you just taste the wildness of the day!  This is my in-laws dog who is holidaying with us for a few months.

And totally off topic, but it was at least worn in the above pics.  I made biggest boy a woolly hat, he chose the pattern from ravelry and the colours.  My first piece of stranded work, very simple but enjoyable....I would like to try something more difficult next time.

Six-month sprint

Six months in one fell swoop?  

The thing is.... that despite me not being here...... its all been going on still....so for my own sense of being up-to-date.....allow me a sprint through it all?

Blue bell woods at Ashridge, Herts.

Middle Boy's ninth birthday, chicken themed as you can see....and the main present?  Six hens with which to start his very own business.

Summer footie games with the cousins (actually, they were all out on Christmas day playing footie, so this is one for all seasons)

Summer days in my favourite formal gardens.

Pirate Day in our village, Big and Middle Boys canoeing.

Littlest Boy and  Mr. F kitted out to go

Middle Boy's trip to Birmingham Symphony Hall to take part with the school band in Music For Youth 2014.

Beach days

School sports days

Walking on the coast path

Dog walking

Dahlia....just because....

Painting commission of one of our local beaches

Biggest Boy starting comprehensive school

Being an early bird and beholding undisturbed beauty

Littlest Boy's sixth birthday

My first attempt at patchwork...

.....With a matching crib blanket for a new baby.

Mr. F's second marathon of the year in Chester....this boy is not just a pretty face, he shaved a huge 30 minutes off his previous time at 3hrs 43

Thomas hat for a first birthday.

October holiday to the Brecon Beacons

Taking the boys walking up Pen Y Fan and Corn Du

And at the top.... the mist was so thick I was slightly uncomfortable....but we made it to the top and back to the car before the heavens opened.

My holiday handwarmers

Red Kites feeding, an outstanding and awesome display!

The painting that went down so well, that it became three!

A bit of Christmas knitting thanks to Sarah, Crafts from the Cwtch

Littlest Boy's Christmas jumper for Save the Children

Christmas day magic

Boxing day in the rain and wind.....blowing all the cobwebs away......

So 2014, was a good'un!  Far more than shown here, lots of sunshine, happy family times, good food, giggles, knitting, painting, crocheting, music, baking, running (yes, me running!) German (my studies plod on) French another string to my bow with the Open University, reading, sewing

Gosh, looking at it like that, I can see why I didn't find time to blog.........

I wonder what 2015 holds?  More of the above I hope!

Here's wishing you a happy and healthy 2015 with new adventures and challenges, new skills to learn and experiences to be had!