Photo Scavenger Hunt - May 2012

It's that time again and I've left it really late this month and once again had decided that I wasn't going to join in this time but somehow I've managed to find some fairly suitable photos from the ones I've taken this month.  The only photos I've taken specifically for the scavenge are front page, currency and beverage.   Thanks as always to Kathy at Postcards from the PP for giving us the topics.  Here is a link to other participating blogs.

Good Things

Bluebells in Strelley Woods, Nottinghamshire

Small Packages
A bit of poetic license here -  goslings at the side of the lake at Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent

Fragrance
Wisteria on the old summer house in the ornamental gardens at Wentworth, Yorkshire

Station

Cambridge Bus Station.  On our recent short break to Bedfordshire to see the Shuttleworth Collection we also spent a day in Cambridge, leaving the car behind and using the bus, mostly spent looking at fossils in the Sedgwick Museum but we did manage book shops and the Fitzwilliam Museum  as well!

Nose
Horn on the end of the nose of a rhinoceros sculpture at Trentham Gardens, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Front Page

Of our local newspaper which shows local Olympic gold medallist Imran Sherwani lighting the Olympic Cauldron at last night's festivities in Hanley Park.

Nine
Lock gate number nine on the down side at Foxton Locks, Leicestershire

beverage
A mug of fruit tea is so refreshing in hot weather

currency

Well, former currency!  Some old French francs found in an old purse at the back of a drawer.

Historic
Blackburn Monoplane 1912, the oldest British flying aeroplane in the world at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Yellow
Chicken of the Woods fungus growing on a tree

Do you see what I see?

A small cat (not real) on the bonnet of the old car, a 1926 Jowett type C, at the Shuttleworth Collection, Old Warden Aerodrome, Biggleswade, Bedfordshire.

Photo Scavenger Hunt - April 2012

Can't believe it's May tomorrow but it is so here, on the last day of April, are my Photo Scavenger Hunt offerings for this month.  I must admit that I've rushed around in the last few days trying to find  most of them as I started late and for ages only had three of the topics and almost decided to miss a month out but then decided I'd have a go.  Thanks, as always to Kathy at Postcards from the PP for setting us off on our quest with her choice of things to find.  Here is a -  link - to other participants.

Amazing

An amazing feat of engineering!  The Anderton Boat Lift, Anderton, Cheshire.  After our visit to Northwich earlier in the year we promised ourselves that we would go back and go down on the lift and make the river trip which we did last week.  The lift was built in 1875 to move boats between the Trent and Mersey Canal and the River Weaver ( now designated a canal and known as the Weaver Navigation)  At first it used water hydraulics to power it later it moved to electricity.  In 2001 it was returned to hydraulic operation.   It was, indeed, an amazing experience to travel down in the lift!

Can't live without

Even with the amount of rain tumbling out of the sky this month we still have drought conditions in many areas of the country.  I could manage without a lot of things but water isn't one of them. 

Direction

Direction for one way traffic on our walk back from Errwood Reservoir to Derbyshire Bridge

In/Out

Entrance and exit to a local garden centre

Indulgence

Whilst waiting to make the trip on the Anderton Boat lift we indulged in coffee and muffins at the very nice cafe in the visitor centre.  We watched through the windows as the boat we were going to travel in came up on the lift whilst Ted, one of the volunteers, sat with us at our table and told us all about the building and technology of the lift.

Multi-coloured

I think this stained glass window is multi-coloured enough to be acceptable although I took it right at the end of last month so I hope that is acceptable too.  The window is in the refectory at Chester Cathedral.

On the Move
A narrow boat moves gently into the Trent and Mersey Canal from the exit of Aston Marina near Stone in Staffordshire.

 Rock

A rock water fall seen on  our walk from Derbyshire Bridge to Errwood Reservoir.

Smile

I love the smile(s) in this print I have on my wall at home of one of my favourite paintings.  It is just a small section of the print which is from a painting called 'Love's Oracle' by Albert Ritzberger.  I bought the print from Nottingham Castle in the 1970s where the original was (and I think still is) on display.  I must visit again one day as it is ages since I saw the original.

Spring

A spring on my springy wooden cat!

 Sticky
Sticky fingers - Paul making bread with Emmer wheat flour which is extra sticky when kneading! 

Tangle
The reeds at the side of the Weaver Navigation were whipping themselves into a tangle as we passed by on our boat trip after descending from the Trent and Mersey Canal by the Anderton Boat Lift.

Well, that's my lot - I wonder what next month's hunt will bring?

Photo Scavenger Hunt - March 2012

Yet another month gone by so quickly!  It seems strange to be typing 'March 2012' as it has been warm enough this week to be late May or early June.  March it is though and here are my offerings for this month's Photo Scavenger Hunt.   Thanks, as always to Kathy at Postcards from the PP for keeping us on our toes with her choice of topics.  Here is a -  link - to other participants.

Buttons
A button design spotted on a cushion in Dunelm, Victoria Road, Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent

City

A busy street in the city of Chester, Cheshire.  Photo taken from the city walls on Tuesday 27th March.

Fancy
I've taken the meaning of fancy as ornate or decorative.  I loved this sign hanging from the balcony in Chester.

Fashion
Jane Austen style! Fashion plates from November 1813. I bought these postcards many years ago at Jane Austen's House in Chawton, Hampshire.

Half a face

Chloe likes the first tulips of Spring!  The other half is just as cute.

Kitchen

Wartime kitchen in the Museum of Uttoxeter Life, Uttoxeter Staffordshire.  We finally manged to get into the building on our return visit.

Landmark
The famous and much photographed clock on the city wall in Chester.

Morning

A misty morning in early March, taken from our bedroom window.

Square

A square made up of four cubes of marble bought as souvenirs of our visit, along with two others and a small vase, to a Carrara Marble Quarry and workshop in Tuscany, Italy in 1990.  I was going to photograph one of the cubes until it was pointed out to me that a cube isn't a square as it has a back and front! 

Street name
Dig Street in Ashbourne, Derbyshire
Apparently Dig Street was called Loveditch as it was used by young courting couples until under Puritan influence the word 'love' was done away with and Ditch eventually became corrupted into Dig. (Source BBC Radio Derby)

Theatre
I didn't photograph the actual theatre building in Chester as there was plenty of theatrical entertainment on the streets.  The very tall (presumably standing on a box) animator beckoned me over, shook my hand and gave me a heart shaped lollipop!

Words
'I see you standing there as if on a distant horizon'
Around the island on the lake in Hanley Park, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire

Photo Scavenger Hunt - February 2012

The last few weeks have gone by so quickly and it's time for a Photo Scavenger Hunt post again.  As always a big  thank you to Kathy at Postcards from the P.P. for continuing to inspire us and get us thinking and snapping each month!  Here are my efforts for February!

   5

Tunnocks Chocolate Teacakes - spotted in Aldi and bought to re-live some childhood memories

Black and White
The Swing Bridge over the River Weaver at Northwich, Cheshire.  The bridge was black and white as were the railings around it and the house at one corner of it.

Cupid

I wasn't sure how I was going to interpret this one but luckily I started reading a book that had come in a double pack of light reads I'd bought before Christmas, the seasonal one I'd read but this one I'd left until now and as I turned the page onto a new chapter there was my cupid!

Crowded

Fenton Cemetery, Stoke-on-Trent when we walk through on our way to Fenton Park it always seems very full of headstones and flowers

Empty

An old cottage in the RSPB Coombe Valley nature reserve near Bradnop, Leek

Food

Taken during cooking of Sunday tea or dinner depending on where you come from!

Heritage
The Weaver Hall Museum, Northwich

In the Sky
Flying low over Northwich - taken with my Fugi finepix camera with 30x zoom - I didn't expect it to turn out let alone being able to read what airline it was!

Leap Year
I was really struggling with how to interpret this topic as there was no way I was going to see any hares leaping in fields which would have been my idea of leap year so when I found this entry in one of Mum's diaries I thought it might fit the bill.  I've been sorting out and reading bits from her diaries which she kept each day over a number of years just jotting down little things like weather, visits, appointments and etc.  As you can see on Saturday 29th February 1992 she enjoyed a shopping trip, found nothing on TV (what's new?) played her records - she loved piano music - but it was the final words that said it all 'Leap year, signs of spring.'

Love
In a pretty shop window full of hearts and doves and all things romantic, taken in Uttoxeter on Valentine's Day.

Music
I had to smile at the 'e' on the end of old!  Sheet music in the Antiques Barn at Blakemere Craft and Antiques Centre, near Winsford, Cheshire.

Train

At Cheddleton Station on the Churnet Valley Steam Railway

Here is a -  link  - to more of this month's entries! 

I'm going to schedule this to publish on Wednesday 29th as I'm quite busy over the next few days.  I hope it works

Photo Scavenger Hunt - January 2012

Well, it's time for a Photo Scavenger Hunt post again.  As always a big  thank you to Kathy at Postcards from the P.P. for continuing to inspire us and get us thinking and snapping each month!  Here are my efforts for January!

2

Two shadows across the defensive ditch at Castle Ring Iron Age Hill Fort, Canock Chase, Staffordshire

Blur

A hang glider over Thorpe Cloud, Ilam, Staffordshire

Company

A group of cyclists keeping each other company along the Monsal Trail.  Photo taken just at the exit of the Headstone Tunnel.  Yes, we finally got to walk through the tunnels last Sunday - it was a good way of getting out of the very strong wind!

Entrance.....

......to the Manifold tea-room, Ilam Country Park, Staffordshire.  Inside lots of people in warm hats and boots chatting and eating scones!

In your bathroom

Just one little corner!

In Season

Seville Oranges for making marmalade

In the Distance

Rugeley Power Station  beyond Cannock Forest taken from Castle Ring Iron Age Hill Fort on Cannock Chase

Information

Information Board in the exhibition area at Ilam Country Park, Staffordshire.

Mess

After baking a cake!

Odd
Not odd weird but odd unusual!  A white fallow deer at Dunham Massey, Cheshire where we went yesterday to see the winter garden - I'll do a post about that later next week.

Soft
The squirrel's fluffy tail looks soft as does the distinctive white fur behind his ears!

Warning
Of the danger of soft mud at Tittesworth Reservoir, near Leek, Staffordshire.  I don't think the duck is too worried about it!

Here is a -  link  - to more of this month's entries!