September Catch-Up
I love steam engines. Not like ‘crazy-trainspotting-obsessed’ kind of love. Just that it fills me with peace and nostalgia when I see a plume of steam chugging it’s way across the English countryside.
On Saturday we heard quite by chance that the steam engine ‘Princess Elizabeth’ was on a journey from Victoria Station in London down to Penzance in Cornwall. It would be passing by our small town at 17h47. So we made sure we were there with plenty of time to spare, only to find out that it had passed through 30 minutes before! Seriously?? This old fashioned steam engine keeps better time than our modern trains? LOL
Fortunately it was making it’s return trip today so we got to the stone bridge that runs over the tracks extra early. Of course today it ran right on schedule so we had plenty of time to enjoy the quiet scenery while we waited.
Awwww! Isn’t that a sight to behold? Tell me that you don’t instantly think of the ‘The Railway Children’!
After enjoying this spectacle for a full 15 seconds before the engine roared passed and disappeared around the bend in a plume of smoke we headed up the lane to pick some blackberries.
Pickings were slim. Either it’s just not a great blackberry year or other hedgerow forages have gone on before me and had the lions share.
However, I think I have enough to make some of my Apple Bramble jam. We finished our last jar about 5 months ago and I have to say that I have missed having it on my morning toast. I’m not generally a jam fan but apples and blackberries make the most delicious combination. I’ve used up all my own meagre harvest of apples so I think I’m going to have to go on another foraging walk tomorrow, and if that fails then sadly it’ll be a trip to Tesco 🙂
Some other happenings in my little life…
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I am the new editor for our Church’s Parish Magazine! I’m excited but also a little nervous. Our lovely out-going editorial couple are moving to New Zealand and there was a call for someone to take over this task. It’s a job that is completely up my street of course so it seemed like a natural thing to take on. My first issue will be out in November – I really hope it goes smoothly!
After church on Sunday I almost stepped on a Woolly-Bear caterpillar. Later that same day at home I came across this little fellow and again, I almost stepped on it as it was happily sunning itself on the step outside my kitchen door!
It’s definitely beginning to feel like autumn around here! Now that the temperatures have finally normalised to what they usually are around this time of year and the mornings and evenings are holding that chill in the air, as well as the appearance of these fuzzy caterpillars, I feel I can quite happily pull out my autumn decorations on Thursday LOL.
Well that’s it from me today, see you back here tomorrow with a few Wordless Wednesday pics.
6 Comments
Kelly
I found your blog through By Sun and Candlelight blog a while back and just rediscovered you. I love to glimpse England through your blog! 🙂
Shirley-Ann
Well welcome back Kelly! Lovely to have you here 😀
Helena
I've never read The Railway Children, but your photos made me think instantly of the Hogwarts Express! 🙂 Your church looks so lovely! Thanks for sharing, as always.
Shirley-Ann
You are quite right Helena, it does remind me of Hogwarts Express too 😉 There is a steam train in Scotland that you can go on that takes the same route that the Hogwarts Express took in the film. It's on my bucket list! Our church is lovely isn't it – there are many many lovely churches like it in England. At the moment we have scaffolding around our tower which is set to stay well into next year as they carry out crucial maintenance. It'll be good for another few hundred years after that 😉
mamasmercantile
Congratulations on becoming the new Editor of the Church magazine. We have taken a couple of trips on steam engines with the Grandchildren, they are fun to go on.
Shirley-Ann
Thanks 🙂 – As a child we used to travel from Rhodesia to South Africa on a steam train for our holidays. It would be a two day train journey and we would arrive in South Africa with sooty faces apparently. I remember those train journey's vividly even though I was only about 4 years old. I think we have lost a bit of the 'adventure' in train journey's since the modern engines came in but I am glad that there are people in England who feel passionately enough about steam engines to keep them maintained and operational.