Stroll 76 iii

 

Ribblehead viaduct always stuns me when it comes into view. 

It's a Family Affair

We drove down to Bicester, collected Rowan from the station, then went up to cousin Gill's for lunch with auntie Alison (96 and going very strong). It was great to see her again, and to have a good chat. In the photo Gill, AA, cousin Richard, Rowan, Danielle and Robert (Gill's husband). 

 

Stroll 76 ii

 

Hard to resist a lonely dead tree, especially if the sun allows for a good black and white image.

Honey. The Product

And here it is, 21 kilos of lovely honey to keep us going for a while.

 

Honey. It's Back

After a three year honey break, we are back in business. The new queen who arrived in June has delivered the goods. Danielle is holding one of the frames full of honey.

 

Book Group

 In book group we had read The Tie That Binds by Kent Harif. His other book Plain Song had been enjoyed by all. This one, less so. An American gothic special that I could have done without. Some in the group liked it, which is the great thing about a book group; there is never any group think.

A snicket in Settle.

Stroll 76 Horton in Ribblesdale to Ribblehead

 

A beautiful days walk in the Yorkshire dales. I took this shot as I started off from Horton station. There is something about the shot that looks unreal to me; which I like.

50 years ago

50 years ago today, cousin Gill, her friend Jude and I set off to Europe in my VW Beetle. Gill and I were 18, Jude much older at 20. Our Granny took this photo at West Farm as we set off. I took no camera "I shall keep the memories in my soul" I said with age-related pretentiousness. 

 

Stroll 75 Horton in Ribblesdale to Settle

Back on the Stroll. Walked alongside the river Ribble to Settle. Great to have the water close at hand to keep the dog cool. A gentle walk to get back in the swing.

 

Friends

Friend Helen invited us over for a meal with friends Paul & Kelly who were visiting from Spain. It was a great evening, with lots to catch up on.

 

Back to the Moors

Layla Wallows

August 1st is the day that I can take Layla the dog on Hatfield Moors again (having avoided land nesting birds for the summer). It was hot, but worth the visit. Such a beautiful lake, that was equally enjoyed by Milo the dog when he accompanied me back in the day.

 

Macedonia 9

 

We met a Macedonian photographer, Biljana, in Ohrid. She had taken a lot of photos of people in Ethiopian tribes near the border with Sudan. It was great showing her my work of Albanian people in Macedonia. I hope somewhere there is an Ethiopian photographer taking shots of tribes in Hackney. Probably is.

We flew back from Ohrid, all went well. Saw Emilie and Alfie who had been kindly looking after the dog and the house for us. Good to be back after a great trip.

Macedonia 8

 

Our last day, and Danielle had booked us in for a wine tasting in an old monastry north of Ohrid. Great wines, great guide, great cheese. Long snooze when we got back.

Macedonia 7

We went to the old Vlach village of Malovishte in the Pelister National Park. This is the the old abbey. Another beautiful place, with quite a lot of renovation work going on, which was good to see. 

Macedonia 6

Next day was Danielle's choice of activity. We kayaked on Ohrid lake down the east side to a bbq on the beach. It was very loosely organized which suited us. No pictures of us in the kayak, but trust me we managed co-ordinated paddling most of the time. It was the clearest water you can imagine. 

 

Macedonia 5

 We slowly drove back down to the valley. A man on a motorbike, came alongside the car. "Si-mon, Si-mon" he shouted. I realised it was Shpendi, the 6 year old boy with the braces in the front of my original picture.

He is now a  48 year old coach driver in Switzerland. We shared a coffee with Shpendi and it was marvellous to meet for the first time in over 40 years.

Quite a day.

Macedonia 4

 Wednesday was the big day. I was returning to Lomnice, the village in the Sar Plannina mountains that I first visited in 1984 when I was on the Walk. I revisited two years ago, and was overwhelmed by people remembering my visit, and being typically kind and wonderful. Since then I had kept in touch with many new Albanian friends online.

Danielle had no idea what to expect, neither did I. I had been in contact with Enis, a young man from one of the families who were in my original photograph. We met up in the village and were soon in one of the few remaining inhabited houses. The house belonged to Enis's grandmother, whose late husband I met in 1984. Strands of her family (several of who now live and work in Switzerland) were all there. It was very emotional for all of us. Lovely children, Turkish coffee, water melon, just a great day.

Macedonia 3

 We hired a car for a few days, and drove up to the mountains between Ohrid lake (shared with Albania) and Prespa lake (shared with Albania and Greece). Lovely to walk up high with butterfly rich meadows for company.

 

Macedonia 2

 

Monday we walked high up above the lake, had a coffee and a cake in a restaurant then took this mountain path contouring along the mountain. Beautiful.

Macedonia 1

 Just back from our holiday in Ohrid Macedonia. I wanted to share the joys of the country with Danielle so we went together. As the flight left Manchester and 6.15 we went the day before and stayed at the Radisson hotel in the airport, which is a bit of a treat and cheap at the weekend. 

The flight was great, with views of the Alps and the Adriatic before the sweep over Albania to Ohrid. The weather was perfect, around 30° a warm dry heat at 770 metres above sea level. Sitting by the lake as the evening closed in was a good start to the holiday.