Alphabet of Travel Snaps: S is for STAYCATION!

You know that thing, that global thing, that stopped everyone travelling? No, not the virtually unpronounceable volcano in Iceland… which, incidentally, caused the largest air-traffic shutdown since WW2. At the time, obviously. In 2010.

But this is 2020 (yes, still) and we all know what I’m talking about. So let’s move on.

Well, although there were brief windows of international travel possibilities, we chose to stay close to home to be a little safer. And I have to say, we discovered some gorgeous areas, often within a very short walk of our own front door, allowing us to be back in time for tea!

Marmosets are mean!

Hello and how are we all on this first day of June?

Since posting every day in April (*cough, cough) to accomplish the A-Z challenge, I’ve taken a month off from the blog to catch up on sleep other activities.

‘Where have you been?’ I hear you ask. Well, I’ve been to Africa to feed lions.

Kind of.

Out of the two options, feeding lions probably seems the less likely but that is exactly what I had the marvellous opportunity to do!

Wednesday Lensday: Animal Antics

It may be Valentine’s Day, but I certainly haven’t been giving my camera much love recently! However, a couple of days ago I ventured out to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park with my Mothership and set about snapping some beasts.

(If you’re in the North of England, YWP is well worth a visit and very good value for money, compared with many of the larger safari parks.)

The park is the only place in the UK that you can see polar bears – as part of their Project Polar, they currently have four males in residence and are continuing to upgrade their extensive roaming space and help with their conservation.

There are plenty of other animals on show too, from lions, tigers and leopards to my new favourite – armadillos! I could have watched them running laps around the enclosure all day. We were also treated to a ‘fight’ between two of the giraffes. Apparently, one is an annoying youngster that doesn’t play fair. But he’s only tolerated for so long!

Wednesday Lensday: A Game of Stones

Rock Balancing. So that’s a thing.

And it does exactly as it says on the tin: take some rocks and balance them on top of one another. It seems to have become quite popular in the last few years, being a way to focus the mind and a form of relaxation.

Unless they keep falling down, then it has the opposite effect!

Anyway, when we were at the beach the other day, I noticed several people indulging in the pastime, except all they were doing was finding the flattest stones possible and stacking them like pancakes.

If I’ve learned anything of the art form from the images on Instagram, it’s that you need to build them in tricky ways, such as resting a large pebble, to wobble around precariously on the pointy edge of a triangular one. No glue allowed!

So I thought I’d have a go – I reckoned I could at least manage a few perpendicular arrangements. I’m all about rakish angles!

Et voila! Maybe I’ll try dry stone walling next… 😉

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IMAGE CREDITS: All my own, so please ask before sharing. 🙂

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Opera House? No, Opera Bridge!

Like many people, I love a good bridge. I’d like to give some poetic reason, such as they’re symbolic of links between points in our life journey, but the simple truth is I just find them structurally appealing. Strong architectural lines with the added bonus of generally being near another personal favourite, water.

I’m lucky enough to live very close to the Humber Bridge, once the longest single-span suspension bridge in the world. Its arrival in the early 1980s put it firmly on the map as an iconic local landmark, for many, a comforting signal of home as it looms on the horizon after a long trip.

Seeing as I’m also a big fan of classical music, it was a given that I wanted to get tickets when the City of Culture team announced an event in conjunction with Opera North to walk the bridge to a unique, specially composed soundtrack: The Height of the Reeds.

Unfortunately, as tickets were free, they went swiftly and I lost out. Then, hurrah! They announced it had been so popular they were extending the run and this time I was in, albeit alone as we could only get hold of one ticket.

So yesterday, amidst the extraordinary heat we’re experiencing at the moment in the UK, I set off for a 5K trundle.