ABOUT ME

I live in a camper van with a West Highland Terrier for company.
My passion is creating images but it is a work in progress.
I am always willing to share what knowledge I have and can be contacted through the comments on this post or e-mail ADRIAN
ALL IMAGES WILL ENLARGE WITH A LEFT CLICK

Saturday 21 December 2013

BLOODY CHRISTMAS. (21/12/13)

I’m back in blogland and will catch up over the next few days. This month has been chaotic. It’s been a case of running in ever decreasing circles; with the constant threat of my disappearing up my own bum.

Thursday evening I got the camper back and set off from Tideswell for Darlington.

_MG_2406_7_8_tonemapped                       Tideswell basking in sunshine. When I left it was snowing fit for an Inuit. I arrived in Darlington late Thursday night. I got a phone call from the friend who had recommended my fitting winter tyres. I told him as far as I could tell they made no difference. The van was still a little tinker in a few inches of slushy snow.

Friday dawned damp and horrible. I was going to cook an early Christmas dinner. I also thought it prudent to do a little Christmas shopping.

_MG_2410 I detest towns and crowds.

_MG_2411                     The market hall Darlington. It is a wonderful building.

A quick change of tack as I heard from a reliable source that having built Tornado the enthusiasts in Darlington are starting work on a Greasley steam locomotive. The only downside is that she will be called the Prince of Wales. I trust he is popping a million or two into the project. If I were ever to win the lottery I would put up the whole five million cost to avoid his name on her. She ought to be called Typhoon.

_MG_2409 Plenty to buy but all far too expensive……it got worse.

_MG_2413 Would she like a posh tick tock. She may well have done but I got her a gift token from House of Frazer.

On I wandered to Sainsbury’s.

_MG_2415  It was, mercifully, quiet. I got us a big steak apiece, a bag of Anya potatoes, enough veg for a monster stir fry, a couple of large mushrooms and some blue cheese to lay over them. I spotted a ready made pudding, it was expensive at a tenner but I decided it is Christmas and ladies like a chocolate and fudge treat now and again.

I decided as the dogs don’t know owt about Christmas they wouldn’t mind it being a few days early. I got them a couple of chicken legs.

_MG_2416

_MG_2417 Molly and Alfies Christmas treat. They survive on sacks of dried food for most of the year. This is right up their street. A chicken and rice cake, fried chicken, an egg and a tin of steak and vegetable dog food. It takes them just over thirty seconds to pack away.

We had our meal which was convivial and filling. My phone kept going off so I had a look to see who was panicking. It was the garage they had found my winter tyres. Told you I thought they were a waste of money. They weren’t fitted. This morning I drove back to Derbyshire, got the tyres fitted and then drove up to Garlieston on the Solway Firth. A real sod of a trip it was. I hate driving in school holidays, the idiots on the road, I have to have four sets of eyes. They stop on interchange slip roads in Nissan Micras. I stopped thanks to the new brakes. The poor lad behind me with a curtain sider managed to stop. I’m old but not as daft as Micra drivers.

21-12-2013 17-58-21 My wanderings today are in blue. I’m in Garlieston, I have internet so will hopefully catch up with you all soon. I’m tired but am praying for some good light.

Enjoy what remains of the weekend.

34 comments:

  1. Oh Adrian ~ what drama ~ I hope they subsidised you for the extra fuel. That Christmas dinner for the pups looks pretty good. And nice to hear you had a nice meal too. Drive safely ~ We don't want any Micras as road kill. Oh, Happy Christmas to you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Carol, it was as much my fault as theirs I should have checked.
      It is ages since I've seen anyone stop when joining a motorway. Idiot he could easily have killed someone.

      Delete
  2. Hi Adrian, wow those little dogs of yours sure got a good meal for Christmas, I can imagine they were really surprised and happy to get it. I to hate shopping at this time of year, but it looks like you had a good time with your lady. You sure go for in your travels, hope you get your tires installed and get all ready for the big day. Take care and keep warm, keep you little dogies close as well. Merry Christmas if we don't hear from you before then.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Horst, they know as they see the muffin rings I mould the rice in.
      Thank you and you have a good day as well.

      Delete
  3. That's what I also say: bloody Christmas. Too much 'hustle bustle', and expensive stuff. I like the idea of the map showing where you are. Google is struggling to develop a 'real time' widget which is suppose to install with a java script and is a GPS. But when I say "struggle" I mean that I've tried to install it as a plugin but it gets very buggy. And I don't know how it shows on one's blog if your internet connection gets lost. I think it has a great possibility to work just displaying the last place you were at, even if your WiFi gets cut. It actually shows EXACTLY where you are, street and all. Could you have such widget? Some people don't like it because of the intrusion of privacy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Maria, I'll look into it on Monday as it's looking as if we are in for a big storm. I don't have GPS , my old SatNav broke so I'll have to see how it works.

      Delete
    2. This works with WiFi just like Google maps does, and you don't need a GPS. The issue is keeping up with this widget which finds you through the WiFi signal. It's a widget with navigation features and quite fancy.

      Delete
    3. I'll have a look a it later.

      Delete
  4. I loved all the images of towns and bustle, but I'm like you - would rather avoid them this time of year.
    Happy Christmas to you and the lady and the canines!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Katherine, it's all done and dusted now. I'm in a small harbour town with a few gulls for company. The lady is just a friend and she will stay in Darlington.
      You have a great Christmas.

      Delete
  5. I've managed to stay well away from any shopping areas. Like Margo Leadbetter I'm having Christmas delivered this year.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. John, a very wise decision. I enjoy food shopping but hate the rest.

      Delete
  6. Glad to see you again ... ADRIAN Were missing your adventures :))
    Good city, good market and good food, I love fried eggs
    Have a good time, no rain and a good Christmas!
    a hug.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Laura, Felix Navidad.
      I hope everything is sorted for more travels through next year.

      Delete
  7. Merry Christmas to you, the lady and your little companions. I have to go out to get some food tomorrow but will be there before most others are out of bed, avoiding crowds would be possibly the only reason I'd get out of bed so early. Then I'm off to the beach. I'm sure I'd never cope with Christmas in winter. Stay warm!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pauline, I shan't see the lass again till March but if she texts I'll pass your greeting on. I don't mind winter but at the moment we are only getting about six hours daylight. That is a pain. Have a swim for me.

      Delete
  8. That's one helluva big detour Adrian. I hope your weekend is much improved since the trip and that the weather doesn't get too fierce there although from what I'm hearing you could be in for a bit of a squall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Graham, Monday and Tuesday are looking as if they could be a bit wild. It's snowing in the Highlands.
      It was one hell of a drive. There was a time when I would barely have noticed it.

      Delete
  9. Hey, was already wondering what happened to you ... nice to hear from you ... Merry Xmas and a very Happy New Year ... smiles ... and love, cat.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cat, you have a really good festival as well.

      Delete
  10. The title is perfect for this time of year.

    Seems you've had a busy few days. The dogs dinner looked rather good, and I'm sure they appreciated it. I hope the female companion was equally appreciative of your culinary efforts.

    Tried the link you left on my blog the other day. I needed to install Tampermonkey first. Did that, and all worked. But, every time I fire up Chrome I get an error message, saying my Chrome profile is broken etc.
    Didn't know I had one, so I deleted it all. Can't be arsed with all that for now.

    Drive safe, keep warm.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Keith, it's all done now. I can spend my time wandering about and being grumpy.
      Ifr you e-mail Mark or just post a comment he usually gets back with a solution.
      I'm hoping that I'll not be driving anywhere now till the 3rd of January.

      Delete
  11. You have been missed!
    The first picture is really great. They are all good and interesting stuff to me as everything is different from here. It did me good seeing the meal you fixed for the dogs. Our animals are the best. Mine lives on dry food from a sack most of the time as well.

    I'll borrow one of your lines and say you are braver than I am to get out in the crowds and on the road. I'm very happy you survived it both mentally and physically.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. David, they usually gobble their Christmas and birthday dinners so fast they bounce straight back.
      The roads were lethal yesterday. I could have done without the drive.

      Delete
  12. I'm glad to see you again. Pictures are simply gorgeous as always.
    Merry Christmas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Claudia, thank you. It is good to see you back. Enjoy your Christmas.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I'm not a fan of last minute Christmas shopping either. Haven't got a lot of presents to buy nowadays, the problem that remains is that there are some food items one cannot buy too far in advance (like fresh vegetables).

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Monica, i'm not a fan of Christmas. I, like you don't have presents to buy but the cost never seems to decrease. New tyres for my son's car plus discs and pads....it all ads up. A bunch of flowers for the old Mrs Ward and I'm bankrupt again.
      Have a good Bloody Christmas.

      Delete
  15. Looks as though the four of you had a superb (early) Christmas lunch Adrian?

    That was a long journey to get to Christmas, nearly a long as Santa's?
    The good thing is that you arrived safely, your duty and the shopping done, just in time to hunker down and ride out the storm??
    Stay safe and have a good one...[;o)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trevor, it was a good do. It's a bonus if she is in a good mood.
      I have come to the conclusion that compulsory testing of all of us over sixty should be introduced. If I failed then so be it, better to fail than kill a ruck of folk. I ended up with a tractor unit almost alongside and an oblivious idiot in front waiting for a gap in the traffic. We eventually negotiated our way round him and with hazards flashing joined the M6. He had the nerve to toot at us. I guess he thout it was a give way or Stop junction.

      Have a good time and try not to be bullied. I have been at home for a week and was really put upon.

      Delete
  16. Pleased you are blogging once again. No longer do I need to scan obituaries or check out Interflora's wreaths section. Looking at your dogs' special meals I now know where the phrase "dressed up like a dog's dinner" comes from! Delicious appearance!...Err, I meant the dog food not yourself!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks YP, I'm not away just yet.
      The dogs usually get a handful of food chucked in a bowl. If I'm cooking for them it is only right to do the job properly. I did break an egg yolk but thought---Sod it!
      I'm a wreck I knew what you meant.

      Delete
  17. A post full of action here & some driving. That's an awesome feast for the dogs and quite a while since I've seen a street market like that … reminds me of being taken to Stockton as a child.

    ReplyDelete
  18. It took me a day to get over it.

    ReplyDelete