Monthly Archives: July 2012

Just add sunshine: gardens, cacti, thistles, Brecon Beacons, trig points.

Posted on July 30, 2012 by BarryH

Summers in Grey Britain aren’t as hot and sunny as they used to be.  Or are they? Is it that the pattern of summer has changed or it just that our memory of the past is coloured by a good … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Pontypool, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Getting the grey out of my brain: Kinder Plateau, trespass and a lot of history

Posted on July 18, 2012 by BarryH

After climbing Cadair Idris in Snowdonia on Friday, I stayed with my daughter and her husband in the Manchester area and, with a better-than-expected weather forecast, on Saturday I headed for the Peak District. I was brought up in Salford … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Getting the grey out of my brain: Cadair Idris on a grey day

Posted on July 15, 2012 by BarryH

Concerned that having just arrived back from 2 months of completely new and very interesting experiences and activity in Greece I am determined that I do not want to slip back into old habits.  I need to inject new challenge … Continue reading →

Posted in Grey Britain | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New habits dying hard: greyness in the brain

Posted on July 10, 2012 by BarryH

Whether we like to think so or not, habits are an integral part of life for most of us.  Apart from anything else they are the lubricant which we use to cope with the boring, everyday stuff.  It is also … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grey Britain, Grumpy Old Men | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Down to earth with a squelch, naked garlic, blue sky thinking

Posted on July 5, 2012 by BarryH

Arrival back in the UK from Athens was not as unpleasant as the avuncular pilot predicted at takeoff.  Rather than raining and 14oC, the weather in Manchester was about 18oC, dry with sunny intervals and there was a modest amount … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Grumpy Old Men, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Leaving Athens: the end of the trip

Posted on July 1, 2012 by BarryH

I woke up ahead of my alarm going off on Friday with one  of those crystal-clear wakenings which renders the ‘snooze’ button pointless. Written large in the early-morning grogginess was the inescapable message “Going home today”.  That stark message meant … Continue reading →

Posted in Greece, Reflections | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment