Where did I go to ?

Uh oh failed miserably in the blogging again, but I have had a lot of things on my mind in particular the threat of redundancy from my job.  So I've been attending meetings in work and trying to ignore speculation and rumour so unfortunately overlooked the blog.  My job is still at risk but the restructure of my particular job is suspended until further notice, so a bit of a reprieve for me, unfortunately others were not so lucky.
Any way what have I been up to since my last post well let me think and consult my camera.

Last Saturday I took over my kitchen and never stopped baking and cooking.  Sometimes I have these urges to be a domestic goddess and I can't stop.  The reason for this surge in energy was after a week of watching my favourite programme on TV "The Great British Bake off" I was so inspired and I've rekindled my friendship with another old friend my bread-maker again .  I had acquired the bread-maker after my Dad was clearing out his kitchen for a refurbishment but I never had the actual measuring cup and all previous attempts to make the bread had been a bit hit and miss, so I contacted Morphy Richards and purchased the measuring cup and now there is no holding me back.

So last weekends cookathon consisted of two loaves of bread, another batch of chocolate cup cakes, chocolate chip cookies, ginger biscuits, and blueberry muffins plus the normal family meals in between and what fun it was.  The problem with all this lovely home baking is the calorific scoffing afterwards but with two  growing teenage boys and a husband, the calories are distributed reasonably well between us all and over the week with packed lunches for school, college and work.

So how do we counteract these calories?  We head for the Wirral coastline and march it off, last Sunday we parked the car at Leasowe lighthouse then walked from Moreton to Meols and back again (just over 3 miles in total).









Sounds fun doesn't it?  It was fun but we were walking against a cold gusty wind going then thankfully with the wind behind us we walked back again.   You know that force of wind that pushes the breath back into your throat, 
the cold blast that makes your eyes water


that rushing noise that blasts past your ears - exhilarating isn't it !!


Well when we got to the coast the tide was in and it is not the prettiest walk when you can't see the beach.

Concrete and murky seas - the sunny Med this is not !

We could see and hear the surf.  We saw the little boats bobbing about rather erratically I felt seasick watching them.

After that bracing walk we then called in to Birkenhead Priory, one of my favourite places to visit.  It is the oldest standing building on Merseyside, founded in 1150 it was a Benedictine monastery.  The monks here looked after travellers and ferried them across the River Mersey , way before Gerry and the Pacemakers starting singing about Ferry cross the Mersey (sorry couldn't resist dropping that in)

Priory ruins

St Mary's tower currently undergoing restoration.  This was the first  parish church of Birkenhead which was built on the same site as the Priory, only the tower remains today.  There are fantastic views from the top, I'll show you when it opens again.

Lectern

A ceramic art installation

This place is special to me as I had the boys christened here 

It is a lovely place to visit so quiet and peaceful.

Now back to my to do list well I finished this order for a friend

And this for my niece

The balustrade makes a good hat model don't you think?

I'm three quarters through my first Noro sock and I opted for the magic loop method again.  I'm loving this new method and will be looking for other projects to knit in the round as it is sooo addictive.