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In 1977 we hired our first narrowboat from Anglo Welsh at Market Harborough.From that moment our destiny was set. In 2006 we finally purchased our own brand new 57' narrowboat which we named 'Free Spirit'. Our aim is to travel the length and breadth of all the navigable rivers and canals of the UK. This will be our story as it unfolds.

Sunday 17 July 2022

It's the gambling life for us.

Friday 15th

Now, what was I saying about the improving weather? Today we wanted a walk along the front at Scarborough, but when we woke to drizzle we did wonder if it was a good idea. 

Scarborough was one place neither of us had visited, so rain or no, we still went. Not sure what the parking would be like, we headed for the South shore. Plenty of off road parking but the bays were too narrow for the likes of us. Instead, we followed signs to long term parking, found a space just about big enough for MB and far enough back so the bonnet didn't impede any other road uses. The fee of £5.40 for three hours was paid, and we set off along the prom.

Donkeys on the beach, now that's something you don't see every day. Today it was cool, but it must be purgatory for them in exceptionally hot weather, next week is set to be just that.

 

The wide expanse of beach was not dissimilar to Filey, wide but not as long and not as busy either. The weather probably kept the numbers away today. At the Lifeboat station there was an open day and of course the way in was through the shop. The usual lifeboat stuff for sale and surprisingly a super absorbent dog towel caught my eye. We are due to have Toffee again in August, and the one thing our son forgot to bring last time was a towel. We spent £10 on that, plus a fiver on a calendar for next year. They do a great job and need all the support and money they can get.  


The weather improved slightly. In fact, we had sunshine and showers. Typically, the drizzle arrived as we sat outside having a pulled pork and salad sandwich. On the bin a Gull swooped down, kept its eye on our sandwich, ha, it was not going to get any lunch from us today! 


Right next door to the cafรฉ was an amusement arcade, and guess where we ended up? Brought back memories of pulling handles at slot machines in Southend back in the late 60s early 70s except these days buttons are pushed instead. We bought a £1 worth of two pence coins, (last of the big spenders, that's us!) settled down at one of the penny pusher games and took turns in feeding the money in. A pound went very quickly, in return we may have got about 12 pence back. A huge pile of coins teetered on the edge, if only we could get those, so we bought another pounds worth. This time we may have got half our stake back, didn't last long as that was fed into the machine as well. Oh well, we lost everything but a very enjoyable 30 minutes spent.


Fully aware that the parking ticket was due to expire in about an hour's time, we headed for the harbour. Tide was right out exposing boats bottoms but one section must have been dredged to keep boats going in and out.



 


We made it back just in time, 5 minutes left on the ticket, but more importantly the rain came down heavy. Had we still been walking back we would have been drenched and my camera is not waterproof!

Stopped at a wonderful forest car park. What a great place because it was a bird and wildlife haven. People leave seed out, wonderful for attracting the birds, but also the rats and squirrels as well! Really looking forward to spending the night, but we had no internet or TV. Ian had emails to send and I wanted to watch a program on Judi Dench, so we moved. The next place was another car park but this time right next to the B1249. Could be noisy!!!

And seen on route



And the wildlife





4 comments:

Marilyn, nb Waka Huia said...

Aaarrrggghhh!!! rats!
You need to get a rat trap, Irene, so you can reduce the population, one rat at a time!

Love the Penny Arcade experience...

Mxx

Ian and Irene Jameison said...

I suppose one could say they deserve to live like any other critter but I'm with you on this one
Marilyn. Killing one wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference in numbers, I took this from the web.

A female rat typically births six litters a year consisting of 12 rat pups, although 5-10 pups is more common. Rats reach sexual maturity after 4-5 weeks, meaning that a population can swell from two rats to around 1,250 in one year, with the potential to grow exponentially.

You know what they say, one is never more than six feet from a rat in an urban environment. In fact, research has shown it's more likely to be 164 feet.

Xxx





























m

Jo said...

Hello Irene, I've been puzzling over your unknown moth posted 13th July. I'm fairly confident it belongs to the group known as Carpets, nothing to do with the little blighters that eat house carpets! Have a look at Pine Carpet. It's variable in colour, is on the wing at the moment and habitat is coniferous woodland - think you were in Kielder at the time. Anyhow, it's the best I can do.
Jo ex n/b Sarah Kate. PS always worth googling moths of Northumberland, there may be a county FB group.

Ian and Irene Jameison said...

Hi Jo, thanks for checking and I think you may well be right. I never gave googling moths of Northumberland a thought. I'll try and remember next time.
Xxx

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