A Bit of Pain

Hunting Video

"Foxhunting: cruel sport or natural chase?"

12 minutes of rational and unbiased observations of the stupidity of the Hunting Act, well worth a viewing whichever side of the fence you're on.

(I make no pretence that I had anything to do with the production of the video.)

York for the Weekend!!

Time out from gardening, beagles, and the valley.....

 

I've been very privileged at times to be a guest at two or three different Point-to-Points, and have thoroughly enjoyed them all, but right up until this weekend the closest I have ever been to the races was camping on Hexham racecourse on the way up to the Orkneys when I was about seven....so a few decades ago now.....

That has all changed, and I am no longer a racing-virgin.

My far from singular lack of success at the bookies on my p2p trips, well there might have been an odd one or two but very rare ones, has not been altered by the weekend. I have no faith in reading form, or any other scientific methodology in betting, which is a shame maybe as "just liking a name for some mystical reason" is clearly not good enough......

 

The disappointing gambling was ameliorated a lot by the facilities, if not the food particularly, at the (four star!!) hotel........

Then on Sunday, the culture........

The moment before this would have been a much better picture, the two whippets were looking over my way but my camera was off and by the time it was on they were moving away, still, it's not so bad I guess....

 Years ago, somewhere in the mid-90s I was valuing agricultural properties in the North Yorkshire area, Craven & Harrogate Districts in particular, and met some truly fabulous and interesting people, as well as some with other attributes, but that would make another story in itself.

One such was David Yorke, listed as "landed gentry" in places where such things are listed, and a pleasure it was to meet and spend time with him going around the family estate looking at this and that. I met his now late-father, Major Yorke, a former Master of the Pendle Forest Harriers, and had a guided tour of Halton Place, the family seat in the midst of the estate. Happy times.

One thing that was mentioned in our many and varied conversations was the random fact that the family had their own window in York Minster......I mean, how can you follow that? Not being a regular visitor to York, and never having actually been in the Minster I just absorbed the fact as impressive to put it mildly, but then all these years later it came to mind like such things sometimes do.

I think I found it!

 






 I would need to have some help in deciphering all the hidden messages and not-so hidden ones too to be honest, but there you have it.

There were an awful lot of occult and masonic symbols dotted around the statues, paintings, and in fact embedded into the architecture too, but this isn't a blog on esoteric matters, so I'll not even attempt to make an comment on things that go on behind the scenes of the "establishment", it's probably best that we don't know to be fair...

 I got the impression that a lot of ancient historical churchmen were extremely fat and liked to be surrounded by young cherubic figures, so not a lot has actually changed then.......

One fresco made me put the camera to one side and go for a walk instead, I mean, really.

Oh, and that they ruled their realms with steel....

Ha. What else could the irony generator have come up with?

 You don't say much these days?

A long exploratory walk around the main central parts of the old town, then it was time for eats and home. What a lovely weekend though.

York, go, look for yourself, but don't back any three legged horses, no, really.

Long Walks Good Food Fab Company

Since moving in to the "Hobbit House" I have only eaten two pre-prepared meals. No, really, both of which were rubbish pizzas bought because I hadn't got a cat in hell's chance of cooking anything.

I admit to an equally rubbish take-away kebab from Meltham, (and won't be going back to the same place again in a hurry, seriously chaps, where was the "salad"?? All meat & chilli sauce, nice, but not really what I thought I was getting.) but that's it.

Fresh food. Veg, meat, chicken,bacon, & beef mostly, but occasional sausages...ha, there's a story there, but it might have to keep for now.  Casseroles, home-made chips, mash, stir-fries, farm-shop proper steak-pies occasionally, a salad or three, no honestly, steak, a few old-fashioned "English Breakfasts" just for pure indulgence sake...and woah..don't I feel better for it?

 I should coco.

The most gorgeous country, the loveliest views, people, pubs, friends.......So it makes no sense whatsoever to randomly pick an old poem and post it here:

 

 My little buddy, "2e". The walk last week was a bit much for him to be honest. It took him a couple of days to get over it, but he's happy enough now thankfully.

 Gwyn looking for something to chase.....

Quite right I say..........

The point being?

An hour of listening to the cuckoo in Yateholme, while sitting on it's (her?) banks, the reservoir not the bird.

The cormorant.

The heron, a recurring theme.

Para-gliders on Holme Moss.

Sun (Lots) and a cheeky fresh breeze...

Laughter and silliness.

An hour paddling in  the stream, silly but fun, and a saunter, rather than a walk, back to the car to go and feast on a "home-made" beef and pork dinner, with "all the trimmings" as they say..

Happy?

HAPPY.

Why Blog?

I have no real answer to that. Is it some strange way of "wanting to be heard"? Or to brag about just how awesome your life is? Or to tell "everyone" (& I really do use that term loosely) how you've discovered the rarest tin-soldier that the fluff-knitting apfelstrudel baking kitten loving dungeons & dragons obscurely tattooed BDSM stamp collecting tin-soldier collecting fraternity how well your life is going in comparison to theirs??

Fair question I think.



I remember a post on the "original" blog, before I felt "pressured" into sacking it off to appease someone who really couldn't have given a flying fluff about it in reality, on similar lines. I mentioned that a friend of mine had said something along the lines of:

"A Blog? Isn't that just something for people to write about how good their lives are?"

I paraphrase as I can't quite remember exactly what she said.

Well, maybe she had a point, but while I still haven't exactly come up with a coherent focus for this experiment, I do have ideas, and maybe, just one day some of them might come to something.

I have almost undying admiration for the dry humour and dogged loyalty to a path that Kevin has in his mission to dispassionately record some of his odd moments in the world. His original Blog can still be read HERE

I think his observations are dry to put it mildly, and comic-tragic at the same time. Non-judgemental and sometimes almost palpably rich in pathos.

We were at Junior School together, but to be honest I doubt if either of us would ken the other if we passed in the street, it would (frighteningly) be some 36 years ago now, so that ameliorates the situation a tad I think....

The point of bigging-up Kevin like that was more to illustrate that he has a focus, and at least as far as this project goes, I have little-to-none. This is not a brag. it's not a diary, as such, and it's not any kind of vehicle for a personal vendetta full of cheap shots against the hand that fate has dealt me, with my own help it has to be said... Or any other subtle or otherwise vitriol.

It's just a place to empty my head occasionally. Sure FaceBook has it's moments, but sometimes you get to thinking that it's a very empty gourd, and makes the loudest noises that nobody really hears.

 I really do want to turn this into a BRAG though, but am keeping it impersonal as far as possible.

Maybe if you follow the words I wrote about "where the lines cross" you might see how happy I am.

Dear reader I hope you are too?

These two are clearly NOT mine and I am not pretending that they are, I just wanted to "share" in case you hadn't seen them.

Cue an opportunity for vitriol, but no, restraint instead.....

Ha. Life's good.