Ruby B lifestyle

Steam driven car

Hello there peeps,

Hope that every one is enjoying the fabulous weather we have been having, lovely warm sunny days makes one think that summer is here!

Well last week was a holiday week, apart from the bank holiday I actually did not have to think of going to work for a week. It was a stunning week to have on leave, the proceedings began with my siblings birthday, followed the next day by Mr J,s birthday, needless to say that required an evening out and much consumption of the chilled Chilean Sauvignon Blanc with delicious food at a local hostelry. This was then followed by a lovely outing to a place called Chipping, despite the fact we had to go into Lancashire, the drive there was extremely pretty, the roads were full of burgeoning blossom in the Hawthorne trees and delightful glimpses of vibrant yellow meadows, yes even in Lancashire it can be pretty!!!

Beautiful blue sky and hawthorn blossom.

Yellow meadow

I don,t think that I have yet mentioned that yellow is my favourite colour, so you will not be surprised by the theme of this post of our day out to a Vintage Rally!!!! The day was absolutely vibrant in colour not only of the vintage cars but of the Tractors too, imagine tractors!!!, also I must also just point out here that there were a few colourful looking characters attending this rally too………..amazing array of different people not least the members of the Chopper Club and their machines!!!, well back to the tractors…………..have a look at some of the following pics and tell me you are not impressed with what can only be described as designer tractors.

Pink lady tractor!!

Yellow dream machine!

Pink and Yellow tractors!!!!!………….surely only in Lancashire!!!!!, I have never seen this colour on my walks out and about in my Dales area, but I looooove the yellow one.

Yellow mean motorbike!!

Not sure who owns the lovely yellow motorbike but if I had one it would have to be in this colour with all that shiny chrome!!!!!,

So we spent the day wandering around these lovely specimens of machinery, even had a ‘burger!!!! me the health nut who eats salads and fish and chicken, yep I fit right into the atmosphere and had a ‘burger!!!, luckily I did not go the whole hog ( ha ha) and have chips and a beer as well!!!

The next thing that we found was a vintage bicycle, looking very resplendent in the sunshine, conjuring up images of bygone days when ladies wore bloomers to ride bicycles……

My next bicycle!

So onto the Vintage cars……

Yellow Triumph Spitfire

You can see the theme developing here!!!!! ( I looooove yellow)

Blue(!!) Jaguar

Well there were other colours available in vintage cars including this stunning pale blue Jaguar, very nice!

Of course there were the traditional steam engines there which made the whole area very smoky and sooty so we felt rather grubby by the time we had explored this amazing array of machinery.

Steam Roller,

All in all a very pleasant afternoon spent in the sunshine (in Lancashire) and followed by the pretty drive home, where we were surprised by a marvelous large stone bridge over the river which we think was the Ribble,

An eclectic view of the Ribble

The view was superb, I have to say I was impressed by our sojourn into Lancashire but I think it may be some time before I think of doing any of my walks in the wilds of that county!!

Home to  shower and rinse off the grime and of course the Lancashire feeling.

So the week goes on……I will bring you up to date with my next post if I can drag myself indoors out of the my glorious garden and that yellow orb in the sky!!!

See you next time

Ruby xxx

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Little Newton in the sunshine, Forgetmenots

Good day good people,

Well it’s been a glorious  two days, looks like the nice weather is back, so that means walks in the countryside for this fair-weather hiker!, yep boots on, rucksack filled, water bottle at the ready and off we go. This time of year is absolutely gorgeous with all the burgeoning life, flowers bursting forth, babies of all kinds being born, birds singing, streams babbling (becks I mean, this is Yorkshire after all!!!), yep lovely all round.

My sibling  and me set off today to try and walk at least six miles, yesterday was four miles, easy you may say but we are building up slowly but surely, the sun was shining, not a cloud in sight, very unusual for the Yorkshire Dales, we will put up with it!!

Today’s picture are a combination of the two days walking as some of the two routes overlapped, but the flora we saw along the way was stunning, lovely spring colours everywhere, the lush green following weekend rain almost was too vivid for the eye…….I do have two eyes that I can see with, poetic license…………so  had to take some pics, I apologise now, I am not the photographer in the family, that would be Mr J, I do my best to bring you some of the beauty we encounter along the way including a stunning barn conversion in Little Newton where the owners are very imaginative and creative with their space.

Out door table arrangement

The little Hamlet is home to some lovely buildings, and delightful gardens, gone are the crisp nodding daffodils, in their place are apple blossom, forget-me-knots, wisteria and tulips all vibrant in their own way.

Floral garage wall.

In my own garden we have divine tulips which have pride of place in front of the summer house, which was last summer’s project for Mr J and I, more of that (and pictures) later

Beautiful tulips in a pot outside my summer house.

Blossom against the blue, blue sky.

Well back to our walk which really did turn into a hike, when does a walk become a hike???, when my legs begin to hurt…….which they did as the lovely walk following the beck began to climb up and up and up………and can you believe it we were on top of the world!!!! well on top the moor with fantastic views all round and we could even see into Lancashire, yep that alien land Lancashire! The air was so clear and crisp we could almost touch Pendle hill, if that is what anyone would want to do, but I suppose the Lancastrians would!!!

Pendle Hill in Lancashire

As you can imagine………at least I hope you can………the quiet was wonderful, only the sound of the birds chirping and the the bleating of sheep every now and then, very restful, so on and up we go…………

So to the wildlife, what kind of wildlife can you see on the Yorkshire moors apart from sheep???, well we do do a bit of bird spotting, of the feathered kind, we saw Lapwings, Skylarks, Curlew and even a Heron. I am quick but not that quick, unfortunately could not get any pics of any of them, same with the butterflies we saw, Red Admiral, Peacock, Cabbage white, Orange tip, definitely not quick enough to catch them but will share with you an image taken by Mr J and cushions sewn by moi.

Butterfly cushions with vintage suitcase

So the other wild life we saw were rabbits and some Highland cattle, a hare…..wish I had more hair. The Highland cattle are very mild mannered but they had baby cattle with them so giving those huge horns some respect we gave them a wide birth.

Baby rabbits enjoying the sun.

The Yorkshire Highland Cattle

Foal trying to catch attention

Another amazing wild animal!!!!!

A lovely foal found on the lower levels of the Dales, so cute, trying to catch our attention or more probably wanted to see if we had food…….

So we did just over seven miles, our goal, remember those three peaks, the attempt at one of them seems in sight, I know I can see any of them at any time but you know what I mean…..we are going to hike up one of them soon.

The weather report says the next two days are going to be cool, as in cold not fab!!, so it is a good that I have to work for the next two days, may be able to bring you some more on the story of last summers project and some of my crafting that I sometimes find time to do as well as walking and working and eating and drinking……..which I am off to do now.

Cheers,  see you later

Ruby

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Wild flower Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta North Lancashire UK

Hi there good people,

Well a disaster struck us here in the Dales………..NO INTERNET!!! that’s right, no internet, what a calamity!!!!!, over a week without the means to communicate with the outside world, well not with social media anyway!!!

However life had to carry on, and as it did, spring really sprung, the dancing daffodils gave way to soaring tulips and woodland full of swathes of bluebells.

Beautiful tulips in a pot outside my summer house. Golden Apeldoorn.

What a glorious spring we are having, such divine vibrant colours, they are everywhere you look, it seems as though nature is making up for the very wet winter we had, as if to say “sorry about the no snow show guys”.

Tulip triumph ‘Grand Perfection’

Well just to catch you up with the proceedings thus far following the grand “Tour D’Yorkshire”. The weather turned a little warmer for the Bank holiday, and myself and Mr J went out for a drive along the route we discovered on the Treasure hunt, (did I tell you we won!, even though we were the only ones doing the driving one!), anyway, we went the same route and found some lovely scenery and as the weather was brighter we ventured out for a walk along the very picturesque canal bank at Bank Newton. A lovely spot to live as it is so serene, calm and inviting, the day was so lovely families were out in their hordes, cycling (sorry you are late for the Tour!) and barging, is that the right term for maneuvering a narrow boat through the many locks and waterways?? As we approached one lock in particular it looked as though the winter floods were back. I nearly had a major panic attack there and then, I can swim but did not fancy the cold brown water of the canal, luckily it was only a recent downpour that had filled a turning area, it soon flowed away, panic over!!!

Turning area at Bank Newton locks on the Leeds Liverpool canal.

It was a lovely stroll out along the old Tow path, imagining horse’s having made this journey so long ago, quite romantic in it’s own way, or so I told Mr J, it was nothing like the vigorous hikes my sibling and I have been doing.

Canal lock at Bank Newton.

All the same a very pleasant afternoon followed by a stop off in the local hostelry for a glass of chilled sauvignon blanc before returning home. All good things must come to an end (don,t see why but hey ho), and we returned to  commence the working week only to find the loss of our internet, ggrrrr, frustrating, I could not update you on my exploits and as I am doing this in retrospect it may not be quite as I remember……..the old memory you know!!!!!

Well as I said earlier, life goes on and so do my walks in the surrounding Dales that are my home. We have been doing our usual 3 to 4 mile walks, noting the change in the season, watching for more swallows…….one swallow…….remember, does not a summer make, but yay, we have seen lots of swallows!!!!!, are we going to have a summer????, we have also seen rabbits, hares, and elusive stoats!! Last Friday we braved a much longer walk, did I mention that we may attempt one of the three peaks…………you know Whernside, Ingleborough and Pen-y-ghent…………well we did a 7.6 mile hike, not far you might say (I might not) but the terrain was the big challenge, up dale and up and up, some down then up again before leveling out, definitely needed the cold water to drink, yes only cold water!! However I did not take any pics, sorry about that. I certainly felt quite stiff and sore after that, need to keep going, so went shopping!!!!, not my best……don’t care for shopping except on the internet!!!!.

So Saturday Mr J and I decided to go for a walk to look for bluebells, a nice little stroll compared to the previous days hike, wow……I have never seen sooooooo many bluebells, the wood was absolutely carpeted with bluebells.

Lovely bluebells

Bluebell wood

Wild flower Bluebells Hyacinthoides non-scripta North Lancashire UK

What a truly magical place…….so mystical and beautiful,the river flowed through the wood giving it a fairy like quality, we went down to the river taking pics of all the stunning bluebells……..

At this special place we found a run down barn with old, old farm machinery, even older than me, abandoned in the sunlight, giving rise to my imagination and boy oh boy do I have a vivid imagination……….not to be gone into here, right now, sometime, maybe…….but my thoughts ran along the lines of a family living in the barn, making a living and being one with nature……some strange happening caused the home to be abandoned……….were they abducted by other beings? faeries?, witches??,OK so its just a barn!!!!, but I can dream can’t I.

Well it is a mystical place, back to the walking/hiking, only managed 3 miles on Tuesday, then of course the weather decided to turn against us, fair weather walkers that we are!! So we are thinking we had better get out our waterproofs or we may not keep up the good work, then our plan to do one of the three peaks may fall by the wayside (see where I went then)

Abandoned barn

Old Farm machinery

So peeps, think I have caught you up with doings of the Ewing’s, well me anyway, the loss of the internet was due, not to our provider but some fault at the main box where the fibre optic connection comes from………don’t really know…..I’m blond!!!!,  it just didn’t work. Glad I am back on line.

So good night my friends………got to think of the next walk and make notes of the book I am reading for book club, yep I am also quite intellectual…..will bring you some insights in to that sometime soon and what book we are reading.

See ya soon

Ruby.

PS….sorry the post is so long……just rambling…….ha ha.

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Typical Yorkshire stone walls and sheep and of course the lovely spectacle of the Pelaton.

Good day peeps, apart from the divine supper I shared with you I have been quiet for a few days ( which of course is unusual for me!!), have been busy trying to earn a living but also have been walking these “dark satanic hills”. Impressively, did an eight mile walk recently, saw some lovely primroses and a heron, also a swallow!!!!, one swallow does not a summer make, I hear you say, you are right of course. Especially as the weather here in the Dales turned very cold!! brrrrr!!

Found in our garden

Well never mind the cold, how lucky were we that the Tour de Yorkshire actually came through our small village.

The village crowd in support of the Tour de Yorkshire

It was freezing cold……..hail, snow, wind and the occasional ray of sunlight, all this did not stop the stalwart people of the Yorkshire village getting out there and supporting the Tour!!! Now I have ridden in some cycle races (yes, it’s true!) so I know how the crowd can really make your legs go that much faster…….well me for one, not wanting to let down the fans!!!!, so it was inspiring to hear the good people of the village cheering like mad as the those bicycles came flying past, the blink of an eye and they were through but was it worth it??? Of course it was! The camaraderie of the church, which had their doors open and refreshments on sale as well as an Art show, the flags flying, the cycles in yellow, the local pub supplying even more refreshments!!, all the good folk talking and chatting, coming together to support our “Tour”, even if no one was sure of which team was winning (team Sky!). it was amazing to see, colourful, exciting, our very own cycle race. the Tour de Yorkshire.

Once they were through the village, after the build up and all the expectation of seeing these heroes, it was a quick sprint…..well more a rapid walk,…. home,  to see the finish on television in the renowned market town of Settle.

The Tour de Yorkshire in Settle

It was absolutely lovely to see our stunning country side on television, our stark stone walls, lambs and sheep in green, green fields, the moors in the back ground, the dark and brooding trees not quite in leaf yet, what an amazing backdrop to this spectacle of mankind pushing themselves in pursuit of glory.

The leaders of the first stage.

Stunning scenery and cyclists.

The leaders of the race!

A brilliant start to a bank holiday weekend!!!, forget the cold, (if I could I would, I,m a fair weather person really), what more could we want…….some warm sunshine maybe……..well more of that later. The weather has been too bad for much walking except for today, will bring that story to you later and some more photos of the lovely countryside, the pics of the cyclists  are from “Tour de Yorkshire”album, except the one in our village and the primrose!!, my own pics were just not good enough, not a good photographer of moving objects!!

Hope you enjoyed the pics as much as I enjoyed the “Tour”

So long for now,

Ruby

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