@mootParadox

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About to watch "28 Years Later"... so maybe it's lucky that I've just been updating my Holy Island crossing calculator. You never know when these things might come in handy! 🧟🀣
mootparadox.com/webapp/pilgrim/

Movie poster for 28 Years Later, caption set on a logo made out of red skulls.

It does specifically say "social media's walled gardens" I suppose. πŸ™„

( archive.is/vp7sl )

Headline reads:

From a swim at Darden Lough yesterday. The water was feeling pretty nice, although starting to feel a little chilly after 10 minutes. πŸ₯Ά

Photo of a remote moorland lough (lake) under a mostly blue sky.
wildswimmingswimmingNorthumberland

Finally returning to some (slow!) trail running. I wanted something short and easy, it's been 12 months, but also fun enough to perhaps rekindle my interest. So I set out along some fire roads in Fourlaws Forest, beside Great Wanney crags. A very pleasant afternoon. 😎

A gravel forestry road, Slightly grassy, leading towards a distant moorland escarpment.
NorthumberlandTrailRunning

Signs of a successful afternoon jet-washing the driveway! 🀣

Mud encrusted leg, clean where my sock had been.
jetwash

Lindisfarne Castle on Holy Island. Although, having just listened to the LJ Ross "Holy Island" audiobook, I now realise how dangerous this place really is! πŸ˜‚

Castle on a rocky outcrop, with blue skies.
PhotographyNorthumberlandCastleholyislandlindisfarne

St Cuthbert's Cave. This was from a walk back in May. We began at Belford and walked to Holy Island, using my walk/tide calculator ( mootparadox.com/webapp/pilgrim/ ) perfect timing and a lovely day out. (Pre-booked taxi back to Belford to complete the route.)

Sandstone cave at the end of a grassy path, amongst woodland scenery and blue skies.
PhotographystcuthbertNorthumberland

Invisible bench? πŸ˜‰ Spotted in woodland, not far from Gilsland. The county boundary follows the River Irthing, so this is probably in - and I forgot to bring my passport! πŸ˜‚

Moss covered concrete bench support in overgrown woodland setting. Legs and arm rest are intact, but all the wooden components have gone!
CumbriaPhotographyWoodland

St Oswald's, Heavensfield. Nice tranquil spot for a cuppa on the way home from an evening swim at Chollerford. The water's very warm at the moment. πŸ˜ŽπŸ‘Œ

Small rural church in silhouette with the sun behind the bell.
Northumberlandwildswimming

Pancakes alfresco... it just feels like that sort of a day!! πŸ˜‹πŸ₯ž

Plate of pancakes (some might call them drop-scones) on a sunny picnic table.
pancakesdropsconesalfresco

Finally managed to have another go in my hammock! πŸ˜‚

POV from my hammock, under a slightly shady arbour, blue skies beyond.
Summerhammock

"Knotty, but nice!" 🀣 New wall-art delivered this afternoon, although one of the canvases was damaged... they're sending a replacement, but that could take another ten days. There's a carrick bend forming a loop on a bamboo pole, a sheet bend - tied here on a doubled line, a cross-processed image of a patterned facecloth, and a slightly more abstract angle on a collection of crown and thistle knots.

Living room with photo canvases hung about the sofa.
Photographywallartropeknots

For context, I've been wanting to do something about my living room wall for a while, but my dining room and hallway (and even the cloakroom!!) are already full of climbing photos, so this time I want another "gallery" style wall, but leaning a little more abstract. πŸ€”

A blank living room wall above a sofa. The piano has one of my older canvases - an abstract I call

Experimenting with some new canvas designs... this uses a Japanese facecloth as a backdrop. I do hope it depicts fish in a rippling pond, otherwise this wall-art could become a talking point for all the wrong reasons! 🀣

An aqua green-blue Japanese facecloth depicting swirls (probably where raindrops are landing on the water?) and slightly abstract fish swimming in pairs.
Photographywallartrope

Nice weather for... indoor climbing! πŸ™„ Impressive venue though, and comes with pizzas. The barrel was busy, and there was really only one 6B that seemed within my pay-grade, so I ended up in the order: stepped, constant, barrel, and needed to rest on that final route. πŸ˜‚

Slightly tall and colourful indoor climbing wall.
Climbingsunderland

Final climb from Bowden Doors yesterday - around 7pm and still hot in a t-shirt! This is "Black and Tan", a 2-star Severe on Main Wall... nice. πŸ‘Œ

A sandstone crag beneath blue skies. A rope with a few runners is trailing upwards following a crack. (Why is there a sling dangling from the first nut? My friend was worried she might not be able to reach the first hold, but actually she was fine! πŸ‘)
ClimbingTradClimbingNorthumberland

East of Corbridge, on the path to Riding Mill. I had to turn back soon after this photo, as the trail was all broken up and it had become a pain to navigate between brambles. The signage I eventually found (behind a wall and facing the wrong direction!) says the path is closed due to river bank erosion - so there!! 🀣

View of the Tyne downstream from Corbridge.
CorbridgeNorthumberlandhikingTyne

Finally got around to finishing up the ends of this anti-fly door screen for my home office. With hindsight, I left the gaps slightly too wide, although the movement seems to help. πŸ€” The end braid is a "crown and thistle" knot, and I left the coloured whipping twine in place for the visual aesthetic. Satisfyingly fiddly! 🀣

Anti-fly interior door hanging, made from natural 6mm jute rope.
ropeknots

Obviously not today!! 🀣 This was Wednesday at Simonside and before the heatwave.

Rock climber sitting on the top of a moorland crag.
NorthumberlandClimbingTradClimbingrockclimbing

Came across this parked car, near Corbridge. Might need a little air in it's tyres, but otherwise looking ok! πŸ˜‚ Possibly an Austin 10... but I'm certainly no expert on cars.

Old (slightly derelict) black vintage car beside an overgrown wall.
PhotographyNorthumberlandvintageCars

Blimey!! 🀣 Hopefully I haven't bitten off more than I can chew here! Chopin's "Waltz in A Minor", reputed to be very accessible, and I can read it ok if I skip the ornamentations... but can't be doing that, obviously! Looks like an amazing beginner-intermediate piece, but this may take some time. πŸ€”

Sheet music on a piano.

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"...

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gnossien

Low resolution video (for size limit) with audio of Gnossienne No. 1.
PianoeriksatieGnossiennes

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'... πŸ˜‚

Dandelion seed head against a softly out of focus forest backdrop.
NorthumberlandPhotographybloomscrolling

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.

Close up of a roof walkway 'grid' pattern, with gravel and grass.
NorthumberlandPhotography

"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.

Rock climber nearing the top of a sandstone crag.
ClimbingTradClimbingNorthumberland

First climb of 2025... perfect conditions at Great Wanney. And it's not often you get to say that!! πŸ˜‚ My previous nemesis, "Boundary Corner", has finally been conquered! πŸ’ͺ😎

Shadow of a rock climbing on the top of a moorland crag. Blue skies.
ClimbingTradClimbingNorthumberland

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!) 🀣

A wooden picnic table in a suburban garden. Using a Frescobol set, the table is set up as an improvised table tennis table.

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! 😲

Ancient cup and ring markings on a sandstone outcrop.
NorthumberlandPhotographycupandringrockart

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? πŸ€”

A river or sea pebble, painted with green dots and a stitching effect.
hikingcairnpaintedrock

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! πŸ˜‚

northumberlandnationalpark.org

Remote moorland hillsides under a blue sky.
Northumberlandhiking

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