Showing posts with label Great Britain. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Britain. Show all posts
Posted by
Sille Bliss
I hate when winter starts to slowly creep in for the season... you start to instantly feel the cold in the air. Just when I'm getting use to wearing my sleeveless tops and flip flops, even running outside barefoot, suddenly all that is gone. I start to dread it, thinking about how long it will be when I'll be able to wear and do these things again. Now once I've gotten over that sadness and I'm dealing with it, it's a whole other story. I begin to embrace the coldness, the shorter days and extremely longer nights, I start getting excited to wear my cozy jumpers and my many jackets & coats I've now accumulated since living here, as well as my many cute scarves and hats. So then I start to enjoy the winter... but then after about 4 months of the blistering cold, constantly having to layer my clothes just to run to the shop, wearing double the socks and leggings under my jeans, I'm just soooo ready for spring and I'm back to hating winter all over again. That's my love and hate relationship with winter since I've been here, and so here we are once again with another long cold winter.
Another photo I do not remember where we were coming from. But the sun was setting and we were just passing Salisbury cathedral. This was a lucky shot and how amazing it was. The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the UK.
Spending time at home right where I belong...
But not on this day, we had to go out to Reading. My first time here and did a little shopping and walking around but I was too cold and a bit sleepy so I headed back to the car ASAP.
Back home, relaxing... :P
Soon we were back out on the streets, the busy streets of Poole a couple days before Christmas in the town center... sounded like a bad idea but we had to go and it actually wasn't that bad at all and quite festive! :)
The day before Christmas eve we were in Weymouth to drop off some things for a client and OMG was it packed!! People everywhere, cars everywhere, it was nuts! I didn't want to get out of the car but our favourite little baker is there and we had to get something for breakfast.
Doctor appointment and a chance to wear my newest jacket :)
Christmas came and went. It was great as always and the same with new years! And another year bites the dust!
2016 was a great year thanks to God! Our family was healthy and our lives full of positivity and love.
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| December 1st - yes, really. |
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| I think this is a start to a very cold and long winter.... I hope not though. |
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| That's probably as much sun as we will be getting for the next 3 months :P |
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| Stocking up with books at the library... we plan to hibernate for the winter. ;-) |
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| Heading to Exmouth, Devon - 12 Dec 2016 |
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| Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth - 12 Dec 2016 |
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| This was one day in somewhere in Dorset heading to Devon |
Another photo I do not remember where we were coming from. But the sun was setting and we were just passing Salisbury cathedral. This was a lucky shot and how amazing it was. The cathedral has the tallest church spire in the UK.
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| Salisbury Cathedral - 14 Dec 2016 |
Spending time at home right where I belong...
But not on this day, we had to go out to Reading. My first time here and did a little shopping and walking around but I was too cold and a bit sleepy so I headed back to the car ASAP.
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| Reading, Berkshire - 21 Dec 2016 |
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| Saw this van in Reading, loved it! :) |
Back home, relaxing... :P
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| My first taste of mulled wine for the winter! |
Soon we were back out on the streets, the busy streets of Poole a couple days before Christmas in the town center... sounded like a bad idea but we had to go and it actually wasn't that bad at all and quite festive! :)
The day before Christmas eve we were in Weymouth to drop off some things for a client and OMG was it packed!! People everywhere, cars everywhere, it was nuts! I didn't want to get out of the car but our favourite little baker is there and we had to get something for breakfast.
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| Bacon and cheese |
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| Weymouth, Dorset - 23 Dec 2016 |
Doctor appointment and a chance to wear my newest jacket :)
Christmas came and went. It was great as always and the same with new years! And another year bites the dust!
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| New Year's Eve - 31 Dec 2016 |
2016 was a great year thanks to God! Our family was healthy and our lives full of positivity and love.
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| Beautiful sun rays over Poole |
Posted by
Sille Bliss
Today we had another one of our many trips to the Isle of Wight on the ferry. The last few times it was too cold to be out on deck so being able to sit outside this time was great. We didn't stay out too long in the morning because it was still a bit chilly.
So today I decided to visit Carisbrooke Castle. We were so close by it would be silly not to.
Early History from Wiki says:
The site of Carisbrooke Castle may have been occupied in pre-Roman times. A ruined wall suggests that there was a building there in late Roman times. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle mentions that Wihtgar, cousin of King Cynric of Wessex, died in AD 544, and was buried there. The Jutes may have taken over the fort by the late 7th century. An Anglo-Saxon stronghold occupied the site during the 8th century. Around 1000, a wall was built around the hill as a defence against Viking raids.
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| The Great Hall (view from atop the keep) |
This place is huge and you could easily spend a few hours here just looking around the grounds. There's also a museum and a cafe area to have some tea and cakes. I got here as soon as it opened and there were already a couple people waiting to get in. There was also a couple of classes of kids from a school on a field trip. I was hoping they wouldn't be in the way of my photos but as you will see, the place is so big they were nowhere to be seen. Yay! :)
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| The Gate House |
Carisbrooke Castle is a historic motte-and-bailey castle located in the village of Carisbrooke, near Newport on the Isle of Wight. A motte-and-bailey castle is a castle with a defense wall or other reinforcement built to strengthen a place against attack, with a keep built on a raised earthwork called a motte. It has an enclosed courtyard or bailey surrounded by a protective ditch.
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| The Keep - Carisbrooke Castle |
This is MY photo. I was standing here! Seeing it back feels so surreal and like I wasn't there at all. Anyway, before I did anything my goal was to go up to the keep and get those awesome views I knew were awaiting me. I knew this would be a challenge and the 71 steps leading up to it would kick my ass, but in the end I was sure it would be worth it.
For some silly reason I felt that the stairs looked easy peasy going up and even down, but they were not. They were very uneven and cracked some shorter and others a little higher. Thank goodness I'm not afraid of heights and I was happy there were railings to hold onto.
Even though going down was less tiring, it seemed more nerve-wrecking and harder to come down because you could then see how steep they were and it was a bit hard to determine which steps were the short ones and which were a little higher. As long as I took my time and held on for dear life, I was ok ;) At least I wasn't the only one who got tired on these stairs, as I was just getting to the half way point to walk along the top wall bit, the kiddies were coming up, huffing and puffing away about how tired they were. I felt a little better about that :)
For some silly reason I felt that the stairs looked easy peasy going up and even down, but they were not. They were very uneven and cracked some shorter and others a little higher. Thank goodness I'm not afraid of heights and I was happy there were railings to hold onto.
Even though going down was less tiring, it seemed more nerve-wrecking and harder to come down because you could then see how steep they were and it was a bit hard to determine which steps were the short ones and which were a little higher. As long as I took my time and held on for dear life, I was ok ;) At least I wasn't the only one who got tired on these stairs, as I was just getting to the half way point to walk along the top wall bit, the kiddies were coming up, huffing and puffing away about how tired they were. I felt a little better about that :)
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| Entrance to the keep from the stairs |
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| English Heritage flag in the keep |
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| Inside the keep |
The views were pretty awesome from up here and the wind was nice too. After that climb to the top I needed some fresh air to cool me off. I could of stayed up here forever. Here were the views from different angles...
After getting my breath back & taking lots of photos, I head back down the stairs of hell. :P
After getting my breath back & taking lots of photos, I head back down the stairs of hell. :P
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| Me just after defeating the stairs! :) |
I didn't have much more time to check out a lot of other parts of the castle I would of liked but this is the perfect type of place to come back again to so there is always another time. And I found out that there are holiday flats here to stay the night for a really affordable price. I love stuff like this. You get to have the whole castle to yourself once it closes and can walk it in the evening. This sounds like it would be really awesome to do and scary fun. This place is awesome, I can imagine how cool it would be here at night.
Before heading out I made a stop at the chapel. It was a small chapel but very beautiful as they are all in my eyes...
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| These buildings are part of the holiday apartments to stay the night |
Before heading out I made a stop at the chapel. It was a small chapel but very beautiful as they are all in my eyes...
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| Chapel - Carisbrooke Castle |
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| Inside the Chapel |
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| Inside the Chapel |
This time I felt like I had a very educational trip to the Isle of Wight. This castle was a pretty cool experience and I'm glad I got to check it out.
By the end of the day the sun was out more than ever and the timing couldn't have been more better as we were getting back on the ferry we could get some vitamin D out on the deck this time without it being a bit cold.
By the end of the day the sun was out more than ever and the timing couldn't have been more better as we were getting back on the ferry we could get some vitamin D out on the deck this time without it being a bit cold.
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| Yarmouth, Isle of Wight |
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| Yarmouth Castle - Isle of Wight |
Now that it's going on 3 years that I've been here I've learned to be prepared for the ever changing weather at all times! :) I already had my flip flops in the car and changed into them from my tennis soon after I got back from the castle. I already had capris on and a sleeveless top. So all that I had to do was get rid of the cardigan and I was set and ready for the semi-hot weather! :)
Posted by
Sille Bliss
We've had a lot of sunny days lately with clear skies and all but you can never really feel the heat. Today was the first day since summer time back in September (6 months ago) when you could actually feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. It was so nice and I had to get out and go somewhere. It was still windy, there was still a little chill in the air, and I still had to wear a sweater but beggars can't be choosers.
You can tell everyone had the same idea too, as we were driving to the park there were more people out than usual - having walks, riding bikes, etc. They weren't just trying to get somewhere they had to be, they were doing it for enjoyment.
We decided to go to a park in Poole that I had never been to called Hamworthy park. It was cool cause it had it's little beach side too. We bought some lunch and ate it on one of the benches.
Driving back home we drove over the twin sails bridge. :)
You can tell everyone had the same idea too, as we were driving to the park there were more people out than usual - having walks, riding bikes, etc. They weren't just trying to get somewhere they had to be, they were doing it for enjoyment.
We decided to go to a park in Poole that I had never been to called Hamworthy park. It was cool cause it had it's little beach side too. We bought some lunch and ate it on one of the benches.
Driving back home we drove over the twin sails bridge. :)
