Week 22 One Daily Positive and Project 365 A week in Yorkshire

We headed off to Yorkshire for a few nights with Bob. Having packed for the weather we'd been having at home, we shivered all week as it was much colder and wetter. We joined in with the Jubilee with a street party with the neighbours. I'm old enough to remember the 1977 Silver Jubilee, here's a bonus photo from way back then in Leicester. 

I'm in the pink top with red hat.

147 Saturday Day spent in the garden and tidying up the house ready for going away. I had to go to the opticians for a PEARS test to try and find the cause of my double vision, have new glasses and no answers.

DIL pointed out that it looked like I was having a plant sale, so I put the new shrubs inside the locked gate.

148 Sunday Set off mid morning for a few nights in Yorkshire, we stopped off in York for a few hours before arriving at our cottage a few miles outside.

My childhood home from 1978-1982. The front and the side are extensions.

149 Monday Off to Pickering for a ride on the steam train to Goathland (home of Heartbeat) we had cake, coffee and sandwiches and stopped at the pub for fish and chips on the way home. Bob's first train journey.

150 Tuesday We visited Castle Howard (home of Brideshead Revisited) for the morning and returned a sculptured piece of stone that allegedly came from there in the late 70's. We went into York in the afternoon using the park and ride. Bob was not a fan of the bus.

151 Wednesday Off to Scarborough for the day, we had ice cream, played on the 2p slots, ate our body weight in fudge. The local pub turned us away for food as they had more than enough orders for the night. WTAF?

152 Thursday Up and out by 9am and drove home via the Cotswolds to meet a friend for a walk and a coffee. Home around 6pm, saw the Red Arrows fly over whilst waiting for a takeaway, unpacked and just chilled out. We'd had another flood while we were away.

153 Friday Decorated the garden for the Jubilee, went out for a coffee and bit of shopping. Peter spent most of the day on and off in the roof space fixing the overflow pipe. We joined our neighbours for a street party, BBQ and few drinks. 2 sets of neighbours were living here before we left the UK, so nice to catch up and meet the new neighbours also.

On the blog this week:

Another Garden Update

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Gardens around the UK, Dubai, South Africa and Canada with #HDYGG

September took hubby and I to the UK for just over 2 weeks. The main purpose of our trip was child 4 of 5 passing out parade in Catterick.

I travelled for the first few days on my own, arriving in Birmingham and travelling up to Manchester, then over to Bradford where I stayed on a farm, a day out in York with child 3 of 5 and then collecting hubby from the train station in Thirsk.

We then drove down to South Wales where we were based for the rest of our stay with an overnight stay in Lyme Regis with friends.

I haven't seen any other weather other than summer for over 12 months, since moving from South Africa to Dubai in December last year, although winter in Dubai when we arrived it is very similar to a UK summer but without the rain. I visited the UK late April for my niece's wedding and the weather was wonderful and then spent 3 weeks in Canada. I'm off to South Africa next week where it's the end of spring and start of summer.

The gardens I've visited the past 12 months have been wonderful from the Dubai Miracle Gardens in Dubai, Catherine's Garden in Canada, Spring in the Western Cape and of course my Mum's garden twice this year in South Wales.

The towns and cities I've visited were still all in full bloom and looked wonderful.

Birmingham

Allotments in the car park in Saltaire, Bradford

Tewkesbury

Gloucester Cathedral

Bridport, Dorset

Beer, Devon

Thirsk, Yorkshire

York

The Gardens at the B&B in Bradford on the farm

The garden at the B&B in Thirsk

With our daughter on a stroll through Keynsham, Bristol

The Country Lanes of the Forest of Dean, Gloucestershire

Woodland walks and berry picking

These fir trees were planted by my Mum and Dad at our old house in York in 1976

The Crematorium in Newport where my Gran's ashes are

Log piles

Farmers Markets

My mum's garden

What happened to my accent?

I've never been to Canada or Australia, but I've been asked on many occasions when travelling if I'm from either of those 2 countries.

I live in South Africa and in my 4th year here. Despite coming from the UK where you can travel 20 miles and hear different accents, I've never really picked one up. I have a fairly neutral accent with hints of my roots, South Wales, The Midlands, Yorkshire and the South West.

I do have a tendency to slip into a Welsh accent when I've had a few too many drinks and I use many Welsh words such as 'like' 'tidy' and 'O'

Living in South Africa there aren't many British voices around here, in fact I only know a handful of British people here.

At least once a week and sometimes more often, I'm asked where I'm from. I reply England. It's met with 'I love your accent, say something to me' On one occasion when Hubby said he was from England a woman in the shop asked him to talk like Jamie Oliver and say 'pukka, pukka' We gave up explaining that hubby was from Manchester and not the London.

On a recent trip to the UK, travelling on buses, coaches, trains and on foot, with a suit case and handbag, fellow travellers asked me if I was off somewhere nice, when I said I was visiting the UK they responded with 'are you Canadian/Australian?'

I guess the lack of regional British accents has neutralised me even more.