Welcome to family, friends and visitors. Here you will find interesting (hopefully) pictures of my part of the world, news of our household and probably, long ramblings about anything that catches my interest.

Sunday 7 September 2008

A Quiet Weekend.

Yesterday was sunshine and showers again. I had to drive into town to collect Romas and water was pouring down the sides of the country roads and right across in several places. It seems strange to have flooded roads along the tops of hills but here the roads are always much lower than the adjacent fields probably due to 100s of years of erosion before the roads were surfaced. Even the verges are higher than the roads so any water goes straight onto the road. I feel a bit obsessed with the weather lately but it is even heading up the news on the radio. This last bout of rain has flooded 100s of homes in Northumberland and sadly 2 people have lost their lives. That is not to mention all the problems people are having in other countries.
This morning we went to church in Ifracombe and afterwards we went for a short walk by the sea. It was very windy but reasonably warm.




Ifracombe is a town that is in decline with a lot of social problems. It had its heyday in Victorian times when people came to walk along the cliffs and enjoy the sea air. There are some interesting buildings but many are in a state of disrepair.



It was surprisingly crowded this morning but maybe people are taking advantage of the reduced rates at the local holiday parks now that the school holidays are over and it certainly wasn't a day for sitting on the beach. Note the Hockings ice cream van, they make real ice-cream and only sell it from these vans in the local resorts. It is delicious creamy ice-cream but today I managed to resist as I have been a little indulgent over the summer.



On our way home we called in at the local re-cycling centre,(dump), to drop off some rubbish and yet another old monitor. It doesn't cost anything to leave stuff, (food/kitchen waste is not allowed and can only be put in the fortnightly roadside collection). You are expected to have sorted your rubbish into stuff for the compactor, wood, garden waste, old metal, tvs/monitors, old electrical goods and resaleable stuff. The money they make reselling goods goes towards the cost of the place. I am fascinated by the things they have and occasionally buy something- eg. plastic garden chairs £1. I hate to see things chucked away so if I have stuff that is not suitable for the charity shops and unwanted on freecycle then I would rather give it to be resold. It was quite busy this morning and one older lady had to overcome her British reserve and ask me why I was taking pictures of the dump. I explained that I was taking pictures of anywhere that was interesting. "Oh" she said.






4 comments:

Marrisa said...

You should have said 'its for my blog - get with the times woman!' :-)

Very nice weekend by the looks of it. I also like a good rumage at the tip - not actually in the bins of course but at the little shop where they have some of the bst bargains. Last year we bought Bethany a bookshelf for her room for $1 (roughly 45p) and re-painted it, bargain or what! x

Julie said...

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me in Hungary!

Those are beautiful pictures and I am envious of that rubbish place. Here in Hungary it is hysterical. They have "trash days" once a year where everyone just dumps everything out in the street and you can pick through stuff you might like... it is crazy and dirty and hard to find the good things. Amazing! How fun, I love those doors and have thought about using an old one as a headboard after I would fix it up a bit and distress it. Envious!
Thanks again!

Catching the Magic said...

Great post and comments too! I'm all for the three 'R's' - 'recycle, reduce, reuse' and it's becoming quite a mantra in our home these days. Anyway photographs of this kind of work in progress are definitely worth sharing and an inspiration in their own right!

Loved the woman's 'Oh' about the 'anything interest' - and giggled at Marrisa's response too!

mimi said...

Nice photos of Ilfracombe. I was there ages ago as a student working
during the summer in 'Candar Hotel'.I loved the place for its 'Englishness'.The hotel was an old-fashioned but charming building and so were the atmosphere and clients.Yet,there was a nice night club on a ship ,the right place to meet young people.Very nostalgic!
A few years ago I went back there with my husband, we visited Cornwall & Devon - Tintagel, Bude, Clovelly, Dartmoor etc.. you are very lucky to live in an attractive region and where you feel welcome and at home anywhere you go. We fell in love with your part of England.