Middleton-in-Teesdale

Geoff and I spent a few days in the North East recently. We had weather of all sorts, but being March we went prepared and our enjoyment was not spoiled. We revisited Durham, and were pleased that they now have an excellent Park and Ride. We also went to see High Force waterfall, billed as the longest drop in England. I must say I was a little disappointed as it did not appear much more of a drop than our own waterfall, but it was lovely all the same.The Bowes Museum at Barnard Castle is wonderful inside and out. It was built by a Mr Bowles as a museum for his great collections, so that the public could get pleasure from them too. Unfortunately, he died before the building was finished, which was rather sad after all the work he had put into the project.

Something nice for a change

Hi everyone, we are now coming in to autumn downunder and it is still pretty hot and humid. Temperatures on some days are in the low 30's. We have had a fair bit of rain which has brought the Sydney dam levels to over 60%. To the north of the state and up in Queensland they have copped severe floods.

We have put in some native plants and shrubs in the garden in order to conserve water. Now the things are in danger of being drowned. This is a photo of a Bottle Brush it's an albino variety as they are normally red in colour. The native birds love them for their nectar. Have been trying to get a photo of the Rainbow Lorrikeets that have started to visit a tree next door. The things are a bit skitzo so its hard to get a shot of them. You just would not believe their colours, just like they were painted.

Here is a photo taken ealy one morning looking south from our back verandah, I was hoping the balloon would come our way but the wind had a different idea. We get quite a few hot air balloons passing overhead some are higher than others. A couple of years back one came over so low I thought it would land on our roof. Luckily, it was some other poor sods roof over the back of us.

Bye for now, and enjoyed your photos of Crosby Dorothy. I just hope that guy in the water has steel capped safety shoes on what with ships propellers and windmills milling around the place. I reckon he should have a little more protection than a hard hat.