What a difference a day makes! Yesterday we had gorgeous sunshine and temperatures that (whilst hardly Mediterranean) made being out in the sun a delight. The pair of us decided to make the most of the day, so got up early and walked into Halifax as Dawn needed to do some shopping. Whilst we were there we popped in to the Piece Hall to discover they courtyard was hosting a market. Food stalls competed with craft shops, and the quality of both was really rather good. We’re not normally ones for impulse buys but one stall selling craft ironmongery caught our eyes. We ended up buying a couple of cute little metal robins to fix on the cottage. Then Dawn’s attention was grabbed by a lovely birdbath mounted atop a metal pole, something she’d been hankering after for a while. It looks really good and if nothing else, watching the local Squirrel population trying to scale it should provide some amusement! So, our visit to the Piece Hall turned out to be an expensive one!

After walking home as we drove to our local Asian supermarket to stock up on half a dozen slabs of tinned tomatoes, chick peas and kidney beans along with other tasty treats. Well, if Trump is about to pitch the world into another economic disaster at least we’ll have food supplies in, and the side-effects of all those pulses will allow us to keep the cottage warm for free!

Sunday was meant to be a day for pottering around at home. Dawn wanted to sort out various bits around the house whilst I’d plans to work on the garden. Yet again we were let down by the weather which delivered unexpected heavy rain showers which put a damper on many of our plans for the morning. By mid-afternoon we decided ‘bugger it’ and ventured out in the car to dispose of recycling and fill the car with fuel before prices get even more stupid (thanks, Donald).

By the time we returned home the weather was threatening to improve, so the pair of us threw caution to the wind, donned out waterproofs and walked down into Sowerby Bridge along the canal before climbing back uphill to home, so at least we got our steps again this weekend, leaving us to feel virtuous.

Now the evening’s here. I’m catching up on blogging whilst Dawn’s taken over the kitchen again. Having made another batch of the Koftas and a lemon meringue yesterday, tonight Dee’s cooking fish before we enjoy a quiet night in, which will be the lull before the storm.

Next week we have the annual Community Rail Awards in Derby. It’s an event that keeps us both busy and this year it that’s going to be truer than ever as there’s a record attendance, with over 600 people booked. Despite all the hard work it’s a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues from across the rail industry and see what people have achieved over the year – which makes it a very positive event.

I very much doubt I’ll have any time to blog from the event but expect a few more blogs in the run-up. Right now, it’s time to sign off and eat. See you next week…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Cheers,

Paul