Sunbeams

While at university I used to go on walks around the hills at the back of campus and took my camera with me. This is one of my favourite photos that I took and is completely un-edited. I love the way its not just the main cloud that has a silver lining, but the little ones behind it!

Watch Out, Sat Nav's About

I'm a big fan of my of TomTom sat nav, but I am the first to admit that it doesn't always get it right. Like the time when it tried to take me up the "Police Access Only" junction onto the M11, 5 miles from junction I was supposed to use! Now it turns out there are people in this world who are trusting their sat nav more than their two little eyes...

"In the most recent case, drivers passing through the village of Luckington have found themselves landing in the River Avon, by following a GPS-recommended route that pointed to a bridge that has been closed for a week. Despite warning signs on both sides of the road, and nothing but water straight ahead, local villagers have found themselves pulling an average of two cars a day out of the river for the past week. "When you ask what happened, they say, ‘My sat-nav told me it was this way,'" one resident told The Times. Meanwhile, the village of Crackpot (yes, that's really its name) has had to deal with drivers whose navigation systems have directed them to the edge of a cliff with a hundred-foot drop. So far, there have been no serious injuries, but drivers have found themselves stranded on a rocky path. "It's only a matter of time before something happens," said one resident." Link to Story

Arty? Moi?

This is another picture that I found the other day while looking back through my archive. Its of a sunset over Lancaster taken in 1997 and edited using a very old version of Photoshop. Although it looks pretty basic now, I was very pleased with it at the time... almost thought of myself as arty!! not me.

Old Photos

I was going through some of my old photos the other day and came across this picture of Faye. I haven't seen Faye for a long time but still really like this photo! The first time I met Faye was at Soul Survivor after being a pen pal for nearly a whole year! I knew who she was because she was wearing a feather in her hat!

A Parting Gift

Unfortunately, one of the things we brought back from Brazil was Salmonella poisoning! About 24hrs after landing in the UK (during our first morning back at work) both Ang and I experienced a very dodgy tummy. Over our moving out weekend we both continued with stomach cramps and multiple trips to the loo and after about a week Ang was still experiencing a bit of pain. After a visit to the doctor it turns out we both had Salmonella! Although we didn't have it too bad it was still an unfortunate memory to have of our time in Brazil.

Freezing for Fun!

Back in the middle of March I helped to supervise a sleepover with the church youth group at a park near Cambridge. Each group of youth were given a blue tarpaulin and some rope and were asked to go and make a shelter. During the evening the youth collected firewood and started a fire, roasted marshmallows, cooked their own stew and flirted with each other! Although it was the middle of March it actually lightly snowed during the evening and the temperatures hovered just above freezing. Although I was wearing two pairs of trousers, and numerous jumpers I was still freezing when I finally tried to get to sleep.

The Last to Go

This weekend it was great to see Pete H get married. At uni, he was one of 4 that hung around together (me, Pete, Ginger Rob, and Big Jon) and he was the last one to tie the knot! Louisa was the lucky girl and the wedding day was brilliant. Pete is a music teacher and had arranged musical entertainment for the whole day including a funky 16 piece big band for the evening reception!! Great fun.

Memories at the Ashton Memorial

While in Lancaster for Pete's wedding we went up to the Ashton Memorial, the building that Ang and I had our own wedding reception in. It is a grand building on top of the hill that over looks Lancaster, Morecambe Bay and the Lake District. It is always a special time to visit the Ashton and it brings back some great memories.

Beauty on the Doorstep

This weekend we popped up to Lancaster to see one of my best mates from Uni (Pete Hamborg) get married. By the time we got past the Manchester ship canal on the M6 the road was jam packed and warning of major delays ahead. Having a trusty old Sat Nav with us (Jane) we headed cross country to make the most of the scenery in the north west. We went to Dunsop Bridge, one of Angela's childhood memories. The scenery in the area was absolutely stunning! Driving back through the trough of Bowland it was like we were in the highlands of Scotland!! Its crazy thinking that I lived only 30 minutes away from this area but never managed to explore it because I didn't have a car!!

Been there done that.

Well, it seems like such a long time ago now, but the memories we have of Brazil will last forever! We had such a fantastic time and were blessed so much with the breathtaking location. Although the flights were a bit long, we think it was more than worth it to make the trip out a beautiful place called Natal. Would we go there again? Probably not, we're "been there done that" kind of people, but we'd certainly recommend it to anyone who is tempted by the wonderful undeveloped beaches.

FOOD!

One of my favorite parts of Brazil was the food. The specialties on the menu were seafood and steak! It cost about £10 each for a full MASSIVE meal like the one above which included a starter, chips, rice, salad and a plate full of steak.

Brazilian Beach Buggies

One of my favorite days out was a trip on the beach buggies where we were taken cross country inland to swim in a freshwater lagoon before being treated to a race along the massive sand dunes that line the coast of Natal. It was so much fun! The drivers were absolutely crazy which helped with the enjoyment!!

Brazilian Wildlife

The wildlife we bumped into in Brazil was quite stunning too. Monkeys, lizards (above), birds and even dolphins.

Fruit, Everywhere!

On another day trip we stopped off at a fruit market. Again, it was great to see such a variety and a lot of the fruit reminded me of the fruit I grew up with in the Philippines.

Brazilian Flowers

One the way back from one of our day trips we stopped off at a botantical garden - it was fantastic to see the variety of flowers. A lot of the fruit reminded me of the fruit I grew up with in the Philippines.

Catching Crabs

While in Brazil we went on a few day trips that we really enjoyed. One day we went on a Mangrove Mysteries trip where among other things we saw some locals catching crabs by putting their arms all the way in the mud. It took them about 3/4 minutes to pull up a crab - but it was very impressive!

Bye Bye Little Thetford

This weekend we said our sad goodbye's to our house in Little Thetford which we left in preparation for our move towards my job in Essex. It was an emotional weekend as we reluctantly left what had been a wonderful first home. We will miss the beautiful garden, large living room and semi-successful DIY projects! We look forward to the future where we will hopefully be in Saffron Walden, but until then we have moved temporarily to a room in Cambridge with our belongings in storage! Watch this space for more news.

Brazilian Beaches

As it was the first year that British tourists had been to this area of Brazil, and even the Brazilian's had only just began to discover the delights of Natal the beaches were often deserted - including this one above. Not a person in sight - just blue sea and white sands!

Brazilian Mornings

Our holiday in Brazil was absolutely fantastic. The weather, food and scenery were great and we had a really fun and relaxing time. The hotel was basic, but it was right on the beach front and was very quiet. This was the view that we woke up to each morning!