Author: Heyjude

I have lived in the UK for most of my life, but when young I definitely had wanderlust and even ended up living in South Africa for several years which was a wonderful experience. I now look forward to a long and leisurely retirement doing what I like most - gardening, photography, walking and travelling.

Bench series #14

For the month of April I’m looking for benches with a view

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Lake Burley Griffin – Canberra, ACT, Australia

If you would like to join in with the Bench photo challenge then please take a look at my Bench Series page. No complicated rules, just a bench and a camera required 🙂

  • Create your own post and title it Bench Series: April
  • Include a link to this page in your post so others can find it too
  • Add the tag ‘bench series’ so everyone can find the benches easily in the WP Reader
  • Get your post in by the end of the month, as the new bench theme comes out on the first Sunday in May.

My Picks of the Week:

Not only a wooden bench, but one with a view from Meg in Australia. I’m heading there now with my picnic basket. And she couldn’t resist another one.
Daily Musings captures her husband on a bench. Several times.
A beautiful spring view in Edinburgh from Debbie
Gilly takes us to a tranquil spot in Exeter.
Those of you who like owls, pop over to Elaine’s post
and if you have never seen a Kiwi then Julia has a treat for you, and a bench of course.

And for anyone who is interested this is my 400th post on this blog!

Happy Easter…

Walking around Ludlow before Easter you can’t help noticing all the sheep and fluffy chicks and eggs adorning the window displays in the town.

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The bookshop, sweetshop and even the coffee shop have a spring feeling

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Milk churn
Hen
Rabbit
Coffe shop
Chicks and flowers

The florist is a bit steamed up…

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Rabbits on the rampage
Hares in hiding
Ranunculas
Birds and eggs
Spring colours

Emporos always puts on a good display, no matter what the theme. It’s actually a GOOD thing that my grandchildren live so far away or I’d spend a fortune in this shop. I mean, can you resist that velvet rabbit?

Lambs a leaping…
A velvet rabbit
Chicks a cheaping…
Hares a hopping…

And spring flowers in tubs add colour to the charm of the town

…even artificial ones!

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This monthly challenge is hosted by Dawn from ‘The Day After’ who invites participants to post pictures of any windows that they find curious, inviting, photogenic, or in some way tell a story. Visit her blog to see more windows and/or to join in with the challenge.

The Wrekin

The best-known landmark in Shropshire is the Wrekin, at only 1,335 feet it has attracted a lot of attention given its modest size. Those of you who have passed Shrewsbury on the M54 heading to mid-Wales will have noticed this volcanic-looking lump by the side of the road and from the Cressage side (south of Shrewsbury) which is my usual approach these days, it looks like a sleeping dragon with the tree-line resembling scales along its backbone. From the top you can supposedly see 15 counties.

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The pink cooling towers at Buildwas in the Severn Gorge

Whenever I drove around Shrewsbury when I first came to the county in 2002  I used to say to the OH that I could never get lost if I could see the Wrekin – I just headed straight for it – so I was amused to find this saying “a Shropshire mon is nivver lost if he con see the Wrekin” Apparently I wasn’t the first to think of it though naturally being from Yorkshire I’d never pronounce it like THAT!

I remember my mother referring to a circuitous route as “going all around the houses”, here in Shropshire it is “going all around the Wrekin”.

There, somewhere, nor-nor-east from me
Was Shropshire, where I longed to be
Ercall and Mynd, Severn and Wrekin, you and me

~ John Masefield on the heaving deck of a ship in Cardigan Bay Continue reading The Wrekin