and this is where we were taking the bread Saturday....

Anyone for a weekend break with stunning scenery and fantastic food? You might even meet some royalty as the Duchy of Lancaster owns most of the area

Check out the website....

http://innatwhitewell.com/welcome.php

I want this view from my window....

Enjoy the pictures of the Ribble Valley

Who would have thought delivering bread could be so much fum

4 photos (sorry they are not too exciting) but roll on the week in Cornwall in 4 weeks when i can take lots of pictures of new things haven't seen before. Hopefully with a backdrop of blue skies and glorious sunshine.

2 are of the flooded lake paths - so you can see how high the water level is this month. Normally it is reduced to a small river running along the bottom. It normally doesn't get this hight till late winter.

1 is of a fungus riddled Beech tree...I thought this was quite spooky when i saw it and nearly stood on a tawny owl's head walking towards it. The owl was sat on one of the large roots at the bottom of the tree. Not sure why but some one at work says it is so they can surprise small rodents and quicky pounce. Sounds plausible.

1 is of a Squirrel with bread in its mouth. Not very clear but I haven't seen them eat bread before.

Hope you have a good weekend and haven't the Olympics been great. The Chinese have certainly pulled out all the stops. I think it will do them nothing but immense good around the world. I never knew China was such a beautiful place and that its people are such a noble and clever race. One day I would love to walk along the great wall.

Monday 18th Aug 2008

Phew the long prose took some jiggling about to make each sentence fit on one line but I finally did it after a few days. I wonder if anyone will read it the whole way through. Probably not; but I enjoyed doing it all the same. It is Elric’s saga. Sorry i had to make the letters smaller but it was the only way to make it fit.

Epic or epitaph...you decide!

I want to say it has been a good few days over the weekend, (and it has,) but the weather is truly dreadful across most of England. Set to continue so for the next few days.

If that wasn’t gloomy enough the machines at the mill are silent due to lack of orders and we have a big audit tomorrow. The “credit crunch” is here and the big ‘r’ word (recession) looks to be nearing a reality.

What would cheer me up is a sunny evening with warmth and a large glass of wine to toast the birds into the dusk...yes i'll think of that till the weather improves...

For words unsaid shall grow about us rising taller than trees.
So I think then say it, whether the world should listen or turn away
Tonight drags me down to the safe pit of deepest sleep and yet
The heart claws and hungers for the last, sweet, gasp remaining
So that with my last thoughts I hurl the words I need you to hear
That you may just as your eyes close know how I love you tomorrow
So come day, release me from sleep that I may know my heart beats still
For oft a storm shall quiet words to stillness and for a time doubt grows
But surely as night follows the footsteps of day I shall walk in your heart
For we arise to a morning of hope filled with the sweetest of birdsong
For day is born anew and we are one in a mighty purpose that compels
The greatest emotion known to our race that is love enduring always
When burdens lie heavy an unmerciless world shrieks for enlightenment
At night souls bereft of purpose see only their one abiding love that waits
For comfort and kisses are the benison of aching limbs and slothful intellect
The mind moves torturously slow, yet the heart flies free beyond the stars
As eyes close memories of today begin to unfold, are allocated to perspective
For healing touch of sleep upon my life and the nights dreams will cleanse
Till the morning brings hope and vigour and the realisation that all is forgiven
For the day is blameless and a heart born in innocence will thrive and grow
So into day we ride on great horses that may bear the weight of hearts reborn
The spirit of adventure thrust toward us and grasped for all the new joys that…
Shall cross the path we gallop our steeds along blithely? For love is the steersman
Our blind guide feels all in a world that sings with possibilities and echoes eternity
For the man is come to an age almost as great as my own and always it shall be
In that touch and grace ills shall fall away like snowflakes under the midday sun
Arise in the last minutes of the night and see its cold remnants laid across the land
Silvered skeins of ice embracing every last leaf clinging with its weakening hold
The breath of winter blows and soon they must fall to earth in spiraling showers
Last testaments to a summer now gone lying like fallen soldiers on a battlefield
Richly golden they shall soften our footfalls and gladden our hearts with warmth
Summer memoriously within us yet and we do not forget it will come again soon
So all is reaped and sowed in furrows of industry that I might have the freedom
To search out my heart’s desire and spend time in its shadow so that I might
Find peace and love within the arms and breaths of an angel come only to me
Upon the gossamer wings of fortune when I needed it the most long ago
For I love my angel and nothing shall ever stop the race into those arms
That held so tight, shall never let go, making me feel like I shall live forever
Within the encircling winds of a love pure as the snow atop the mountains
What dream may be born on such days when the leaves lie in drifts of yellow?
For the autumn colour is potent and richly vibrant in the watery morning light
Mist arises from the ground like ethereal snakes writhing free of earthen gaols
To wind around the mossy trunken feet of tall sentinels warding the landscape
That standing hauntingly like colonnades to an altar of winter laid in the distance
For days are running toward their extinction with the lightning speed of wraiths
We begin the cycle of light and dark that bethrones darkness as queen of earth
For a little while she may wave malevolence before us making the skies blacken
We enthralled with the cold and relentless pantomime of snow and ice she plays
For it is her time and acquiesce to her power for the reign is vital and honoured
For without the cruel reign of winter there shall be no blessed realm of summer
So take what we may and hold each other tightly for the days will change again
Then I would be holding you still for whatever the season my world is set to fair
So strip away the day and revolve instead around emotions that lie buried therein
For a gentle souls vortex around doubt arises from necessity to make retribution
For the false felt sense of wrongs that shape hearts into mass of doubt and anger
That creates confusion where only peace should reign within hearth and home
So I will remember you tonight for need for peace is strong and you shall come
Into my dreams and brush the hand of love across a creased brow softly
Restoring me to wholeness, make me see all that passed is a day without you
The journey within your care begins as eyes close to the last of the day to pass
Dreams come fast, vivid amid sound of a tempest that hammers windowpanes
For tonight my dreams shall match elemental roaring of wind and tears of rain
So to the morning awake as though I had fought a battle with the world and won
For you are still by my side and a world dawns in myriad possibilities to share
It is winter and draws down evening in the middle of the day behind a rain curtain
Thoughts flounder, become submerged under the oppressive dampness that dulls
Senses and vitality to a wish to sit close by fires and think of sunnier times past
The days under powder blue skies, hazy sun, ensconced in love and contentment
Yet the door opens and I am safe within walls of stones from the relentless rain
Venture out I must for the world is not good to others and ever the march of time
Wears away men we know to reveal a fragility of the ages within others or ourselves
Let us not think of tomorrow for our world is youthful, vibrant and so in bloom
For we have created paradise within home and thoughts, we should tarry within it
For nothing may last within imperfect lifetimes we are born to, yet we strive…not for
Today but everlasting tomorrow we see in our hearts, shall share eternally in bliss
Look closely again at words and images we treasuredly amassed over the year
No small emotions shared could work so hard, devotedly and take heart and hope
What we see and feel is the right path of loving, willing souls fervently sitting
On greensward at rainbows end a chorus of birdsong on spring mornings
We know it, feel it, all thus needed now is patient hands of time to show the world
For when day proves long and filled with unforeseen delay, think on the positives
Think of joy that words bring when least expected to be heard in the midst of day
Words freely given without expectation of thanks or reply, given totally in love
To heart s eager to receive, knowing the love from others to uphold and strengthen
Through days as these when comfort is sparse and joys exist for tomorrows dreams
I give love to you for you always take it and in return I ask only that I take yours
I have need of you in all ways I know and you make me content with all that I am
Or shall one day become, you the creating hand that guides me to become better
Before sleep comes to take me away I shall look on the full of the moon and sigh
Is her radiance not a reflection of light taken, transmuted from the sun as a mirror
Yet what glories mirrors show to one’s that gaze into it with a humble reverence
For within its silvering I am bathed in a light that is pure and sacred and I will wish
Yet what I wish I shall keep safe within me for it is proved and deserves its privacy
The moon vast keeps my secret and shall share it with only one other for always
So gaze up at the moon rising yellow in the night sky above eastern horizons
Crossed by indigo lateral clouds that float laconically sideways over its bottom half
She silvers rising, her light grows, lengthening shadows as I walk into the night
Always works of man seem childlike to the majesty of such beauty sitting in the sky
Rising behind mountainous horizons to inspire and enchant resolute sophisticates
The greatest gifts given existed long before we rose from the sea to take the land
Remains after the last of us have taken all we could squander and sing to the ages
While I remain I awake to the day with longing to see its beauty and health shining
Just as sun washes the land today in clear blue skies, birdsong reverberating softly
In my ears and my heart I have love following all my footsteps and life is beautiful
The vengeful wind howls tearing the last leaves from trees and dashes them down
Scornful she seeps cool fingers deep into every crevice torn apart by the elements
When our world teeters on the brink of winter heralded by the northern sirocco
For cold advances southward and who would be out alone, unloved on a this night
Rejoice in warm hearths, comforting coverlets that hug bodies till loved ones come
Take the cold away with encircling warmth brought without thoughts of summer
How I wish you were here to hold me before sleep takes me away to dreams of you
Arise this morning to the first snow drawn from the north to dust the Pennines
Leave warm beds and await its fall upon a waiting world seeking respite from rain
To take heart in a familiar world and landscapes transformed to purest white
Chase a white dog on white hills, watch stark forms of trees soften as flakes grow
See wind raise snow flurries to high drift s that blow like chaff separated from corn
The snow is here and the only thing missing is you to explore its icy joys with me
Alas the snow falleth not into northern lands this day and the heart lies low
Yet the sun shineth sweetly in the bright blue sky in recompense
I strived to make that which is given worth giving and rest now after labours
Tis sweet to feel satisfaction effort come to fruition for the day is fast coming
To herald feasts and assemble brave hearts around fires while fowl roast in the ash
For we spend and we give and no matter the cost; all is counted a bargain in love
For love is worth more than snow or riches, without it we would diminish
So turn days to clear mornings that shudder under touch of night waiting dawn
Grass, sweeping branches encapsulated in rime laid by the distillation of moisture
No birds’ sing awaiting first light in studied silence, appointed watchers of morning
In frost traced inches of land there is life, though unseen can be seen, heard, felt
It waits for a crescent moon to pass into the west while a new day is born eastward
And so turn days again to grey, cloudy vistas that promise, yet never deliver snow
On hills wreathed in silver mist and rising gold’s over pastures devoid of cattle
I turn east and watch the sun slowly rise orange on a new day in the depth of winter
For days run fast,fluid to the longed for feast and it calls us from our heritage
To remember those who made our walk on this earth possible…we do not forget
For those that have gone walk still with us and every day for they watch our lives
Benevolence granted by those that can but love from beyond our understanding
I look at my world tonight and joy is greater because I share it with you and you
Understand all I do,yet love me still…twice blessed,doubly loved I sleep content
See what strength one may draw from a warm heart placed close and ever faithful
Riches bought with currency of trust and devotion, may not be bought another way
I would not change one thing in my world nor dream longingly of other pleasures
What I have is seen, touched and took within my arms, drawn close to my breast
Christmas comes, I have gifts I need to make the year worth the cost of loving you
Embrace all that has gone and hand in hand chase dreams next year that we see
Snow comes to eastern hills and I would have you by my side when first flakes fall
Together magic feathered drops melt on our skin and dissolve into winter tears
Of joys in each other, celebrating our love and honour those close to us who wait
In our joy we musn't forget those that make us strong , let us take joy unto them
Let us think now upon the year, reflect power that can connect two souls together
Links within a chain spanning the arch of time to the beginning of the universe
Bonds stronger than the ages past elemental and spiritual we move into the future
The blood of the heavens within us shaped from solar dust moving in tidal winds
Through a void long before chronicity mark ed mans passage through aeons
And though seems we have but met recently all are one and in the final revelation,
Shall be joined again as the cosmos smiles, takes back all bestowed in birthing
Though Christmas again in the world in the universe seconds pass unmarked
Whatever God guides us the earth may live in peace if we give more than we take
All I give is peace and joy,take it without hesitation for it is freely given and true
Though snow falls and the world is cold at my side is a place for you for all time
See the hordes throng every thoroughfare laden with delights and knowing smiles
The Christian feast comes, we are ready to celebrate joyous birth of hope and life
For the days turned longer again and light now enters shining within the evening
Raise faces, live briefly to excess and never should it be counted waste or greed?
Earth bears us, nurtures, gives such bounty that we may praise all her goodness
With groaning table, happy hearts among our loved one’s in the midst of her winter
I think of all I may do over the hours that stream across the holiday and it pleases
I may wander, see the misty mornings and late sunsets that hang still over water
Glimpse a solitary deer retreating through trees into the bracken-hued undergrowth
And I think that I get to do them all with you and it is our special time for eternity

I think they needed to add the city of Darwen with Blackburn to this list

Struggling northern cities will never be able to regenerate and should be given up. Residents of cities such as Liverpool, Bradford and Sunderland should be encouraged to move to the more prosperous South-east, it says. A future government should build three million homes in and around London, Cambridge and Oxford to prompt Britain's biggest mass internal migration since the 19th century.

The call from Policy Exchange will be a huge embarrassment to the Tory leader as he heads to north-west England today to campaign in marginal seats. Policy Exchange was founded by Michael Gove, the Tory education spokesman. Its policy director is Anthony Browne who is about to begin working for Boris Johnson and is tipped for a role at No 10 if the Tories win the next election.

Policy Exchange said many large coastal cities had lost their raison d’être with the decline of shipping and raised the alarm over the future of Liverpool, Sunderland, Hull, Scunthorpe and Blackpool. It said it was unrealistic to expect the prosperous cities of Manchester, Leeds and Newcastle to regenerate less well-off neighbours such as Liverpool, Rochdale, Bradford and Sunderland. It said such places were not "doomed" and could not be abandoned, but people had to face up to the fact that they had "little prospect of offering their residents the standard of living to which they aspire". The think-tank said all three million new homes earmarked for England by 2020 should be built in the South-east, making it easier for people in less well-off areas to move. It also called for massive building in Oxford and Cambridge, taking advantage of their high skills base and favourable location.

Tim Leunig, a co-author of the report, said: "No doubt some people will claim these proposals are unworkable, unreasonable and perhaps plain barmy. But the issue is clear: current regeneration policies are failing the very people they are supposed to be helping and there is no evidence that the trend will be reversed without radical changes. Internal migration has always been an important part of a dynamic economy."

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/cities-in-north-doomed-says-favourite-tory-thinktank-892856.html?startindex=10

Tuesday 12th Aug 2008

I was driving home from work which is only about 3 miles but I was struck by how polarised even a small town like Darwen is becoming. 5pm sees the rush from work to home and most of the cars crawling along are quite new, quite flash (well apart from the odd old wreck like mine.) Along the pavements walk those, who I guess have to walk and I wonder how far this can go. Seems like every week we are slipping back to a past that everyone thought had gone forever. A world for most people lived with low wages, scarce jobs and higher outgoings. How many will have cars 10 years from now and more importantly, how will the have-not’s be reacting to a future of subtle control through welfare payments, technology and cheap addictive avenues out of desperation. How did we come to make a society with such a greedy disposition? Where inequality is alright as long as you're the one standing on someone to lift you up (and after all the poor they deserve all they get don’t they?) Or so think the very people running around saving the environment but forgetting to save the people living in it with them.

So pause just for a little and think how unreasonable optimism probably is when set against the behaviour of the haves through long millennia.

It’s still raining too...torrential at times today. So you didn’t expect anything cheerful did you.

Tuesday 12th Aug

Oh dear the glorious 12th...maybe not so glorious for the winged inhabitants of the UK. It's the start of the grouse season here....not my cup of tea.

Got a close up of the metal heron at the lake and some pictures of sunshine and shade which are always my favourite? It was a reasonable Sunday although the other days were nothing to get excited about. Dull, dull days and rain seems to sum up the summer of 2008

I shouldn’t wonder about things too much. Mull thing over till clarity recedes as a man that gravitates toward worry with a penchant for realism is not in my opinion the best person to wander among the clouds. Or perhaps he is the only person that can! I think I should come to earth a little more but it is hard to dream among the stars then return to the normality of everything terrestrial. There are so few of us here among the clouds that I think once we have found this place we can never go back completely.

Monday 4th Aug 2008

It’s a serene sunshine filled evening after a gloomy day. The sun hits ever more angled from the horizon and the once sunny seats where the muse deliberated sink into evening shadow. All that glistens now in August indeed is not gold, it is rather sun-tinged emerald leaves that take light and refract it into a visual treasure.

I am listening to Donna Summer “State of Independence” extended 12” vinyl remix record through my monitor gold’s. Was it really 1982 when I heard it for the first time? How time has taken my life so far, so fast in its wings? Without great hurts or loss and always with mostly wonderful people close by so that I never felt alone.

Ok moving onto Thelma Houston “Saturday Night and Sunday Morning from 1977 when I had just began my working life as a rather naive 16 year old teenager at the mill. Here I am 31 years later still there and still in the same town. Time has shown me a world without me ever having to go look for it. It seems like a good thing for the most part but not always.

I think I’ll liven things up a bit now with “I feel Love” a 1982 remix by Patrick Cowley. He worked a lot with Sylvester who was a bit of a diva also. They are all vinyl records by the way. Shame old Donna S went a bit loopy and said all those silly things. I never bought another record of hers after that. I always remember the duet she did with Streisand and how Barbra Streisand’s voice soared and held rock solid while old Donna sounded a bit karaoke.

Hope your evening is drenched in sunshine and warm thoughts also. Sorry Donna but you did start it and we are like elephants...we never forget!