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Obviously I'm not a concert pianist, but this is such a fun tune to play! 😎 It's the first of the Gnossiennes by Erik Satie, composed around 1890.
His sheet music notations range from whimsical to surreal! 🤣 I'm still figuring out how to play "inquisitively" vs "introspectively", and "from the tip of the thought" vs "on the tongue"...
A dandelion on the way back from a swim at Crammel Linn Waterfall in Gilsland, last Sunday. Fabulous spot, and nice trails from the old spa hotel. Does it count as a 'bloom'... 😂
Close up of The Sill roof from earlier in the week. It's with my 40mm f2.5 wide open... tried a few angles, but I think this is probably my favourite.
"Boundary Corner" is a 3*** classic at Great Wanney. I think you can safely say it's a high-value V-Diff, so I just hope the photo captures some of the burly awkwardness of the thing!! 🤣 I backed off it a couple of years ago, but with a decent sized cam (a no. 5 DMM Dragon) to protect the crux, it's actually not too bad. Amazing line and a nice belay tucked in behind that wedged boulder. #Climbing #TradClimbing #Northumberland
First climb of 2025... perfect conditions at Great Wanney. And it's not often you get to say that!! 😂 My previous nemesis, "Boundary Corner", has finally been conquered! 💪😎 #Climbing #TradClimbing #Northumberland
Take one Frescobol set, one picnic table, a spare tree stake, and you have... Ta-bol Tennis! Not affected by the UK wind either, so it's actually much better for the garden. (Patent Pending!) 🤣
From the rock known as "Main Panel" at Lordenshaws, a close-up to catch the shadow around some of the art. Estimated between 3500 to 6000 years old! 😲 #Northumberland #Photography #CupAndRing #RockArt
I've encountered this style of painted rock "calling card" before. Do they have a purpose, or does the style of decor identify the hiker who placed it? 🤔 #Hiking #Cairn #PaintedRock
Above Lordenshaw, near Rothbury, enjoying the views, and the rock-art. I'd say "not a cloud in the sky" but there is one, if you look carefully! 😂 #Northumberland #Hiking
https://www.northumberlandnationalpark.org.uk/places-to-visit/coquetdale/lordenshaws/
A final shot (for now!) from yesterday's walk, near Gallow Hill, between Aydon and Corbridge. I've photographed these trees before, but the last time was on a frosty, misty day; in black and white! 😀 #Photography #Northumberland
Aydon Castle usually opens from April onwards, and is only viewable from outside the walls at present. Half-manor, half-castle, it's in a great location... although if you dislike the smell of wild garlic, you might want to avoid the dene behind the castle! 😂 #Northumberland #Castle #Photography
https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/aydon-castle/
It's been a long time living in the North East to have never visited Corbridge! Just a brief wander today - I walked down from Aydon Castle to the river. #Northumberland #RiverTyne #Photography
Almost vegan... pasta with a mushroom, garlic and red onion sauce, topped off with some half-price vegan popcorn chicken that I found in Sainsbury's! 😋 Almost... but how can you not add some Parmigiano Reggiano?! 🤣
Same #Northumberland location as yesterday, Cawfields Quarry, but this one taken with a real camera! 😂 #Photography #Lake #SonyA7C2
Cawfields Quarry #Northumberland along Hadrian's Wall. First time visiting, and there's some nice sections of wall along here. 😎👌 #Hiking #HadriansWall
And that's the third time... although occasionally getting down to the final couple of guesses too! 😂
https://betweenle.com/
741 - 5/5:
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆
⬆️⬆️⬇️⬆️🟩 - ⬜⬜⬜ - ⬜⬜⬜ - ⬜⬜ - ⬜
The saga of my long distance duvet covers is finally over... only took 6 weeks! 🤣 With that disclaimer (partly shipping times, partly they missed two items from the original delivery) the quality looks great, and it was cheap. To be fair, they were very quick to update me and sort it all out. Their "sale" seems to be permanent, so don't worry about that!! 😉 Link -> https://dusk.com/
A local walk that I haven't explored for a while. This is one of several small copses that seemingly mark the sites of disused colliery shafts. #Photography #Northumberland #Sunset
Nope 🙄 it's deceased! You can see the liquid trapped inside the plastic pcb style membrane. Can't see that ever drying out properly.
So much for the "right to repair"... this Logitech keyboard had 6 microscopic, but admittedly just visible screws, 2 more that were cunningly hidden under adhesive rubber feet, and (and this is the one that caught me out!) 1 more inside the battery compartment hidden underneath a QR code sticker. Seriously?!! 🙄 All this assumes you have a decent toolkit, and something to safely pry it apart... I hope it actually dries out ok after all this!! 😂
My first visit to The Nick along #Kielder Forest Drive. Perfect day to dust off the MTB and see how my legs hold up! 🤣 At 457m (that's 1500 feet to weirdos) it's the highest point along the Forest Drive. Its open-ended design is oriented from Kielder to Byrness. #Northumberland #MTB #Gravel
I wouldn't use Chrome at all if I could avoid it, but are they for real?! I knew about uBlock of course, but Selenium... or does nobody bother testing their apps any more? Maybe I'm just being very old fashioned!! 🤣
My destination today was St Giles "Hearse House" in Chollerton, one of #Northumberland ’s few surviving examples. Restored by local fundraising, it now houses a small exhibition on its history and the local area. Typically found beside a church, these buildings were once home to the hearse carriage and horses. A fascinating visit, even more so when an old lady invited me to look around her garden… which contained a disused railway platform! 😲 #Photography #Church
"Don't Knock on the Door!" 😬
Spotted this derelict barn door along the River Tyne Trail, south of Chollerton. The colour was pretty striking against a building slowly being reclaimed by nature.
This stone-step stile was looking a bit overgrown... I really wasn't sure how I'd manage to get past! 🤣 #Northumberland #TyneTrail #Footpath
Invested in a pair of double-walled hand-blown latte glasses to continue my "coffee in a glass" experimentation. ☕😋 The mouth of the glass is wider than my others, plus there's the insulating effect of the air gap. #FlatWhite #Coffee
Some of my old school uniform labels, I dread to think exactly how old!! 🤣 I'm also wondering how many items of clothing must some of my peers have possessed to require so many labels? The school was mixed day/boarding, so maybe boarders had to label far more stuff... 🤔
I'd planned to process this in colour. There was a light mist and the sky had an almost tobacco colour where the sun was breaking through. But a test in monochrome changed my mind! This is from a bridleway above #Corbridge in the Tyne Valley. I'd walked down from Aydon Castle. An afternoon wander with no particular plan. 😀 #Photography #BlackandWhitePhotography #BlackandWhite #Northumberland
I don't think I've ever tried making coffee in a glass before. Not exactly my best pour either 😂 and not helped by the narrow glass, but I think seeing this cross-section view could be useful for practice... it tasted fine! ☕ #FlatWhite #Latte #Coffee
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