Better than a Garage Sale !!

Last weekend saw a one off local sale of a life time collection of  cars - blacksmith and industrial tools - farm implements and paraphernalia - all of which had belonged to Alf Strange a local author who died in the seventies http://property.supadu.com/images/ckfinder/64/pdfs/Auction-PDFs/Alf%20Strange%20Catalogue.pdf

Alf Strange wrote three books that I am familiar with my favourite and sitting on my bookcase is Me Dads' the Village Blacksmith - a good read about times gone by in Shropshire

It was an enthusiasts dream as you can see - the auctioneer was about 5' ft nothing with a voice like a fog horn and a young lad ran in front of him ringing a bell as they moved from lot to lot- exciting the crowd. Beer was a flowing -  adrenalin surging and caution was thrown to the wind by many of the anxious buyers.

Old buildings disclosed their hidden secrets - dusty corners - bits and pieces - oddities

Look at this heap of old treasure sold for £120 it was said - this chap was well into the scheme of things and willingly posed for his picture - was he the buyer? maybe ! Click on the picture to search for the treasure - was it cash well spent?

Certainly a blast from the past - bringing back memories of bygone years

Hello Diary

Ok diary so it has been a while - but the past months have been full of family stuff - happy and sad - and of course the blogging catastrope when all was lost!
Dog walking has continued - the garden has been tended - places have been visited - plans have been made and pictures have been taken.

 A family wedding was a highlight for June - a fabulous day - and because it was our anniversary we took a break to the Isle of Man - and spent 4 days travelling around the island on the old trains and trams.

We bought a ticket to take us anywhere at any time - and away we went - it was amazing and we met lots of people doing likewise - sort of in a make believe world away from the problems that life throws up -

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The picture below is a shot taken from the hotel window in Port Erin -

 

we could sit in the window and watch the sun go down

 

 

The Isle of Man TT races had finished the previous week and remnants of that momentous event still lingered on the island - see the wall art on the buildings below - this was on Snafell - the track winds round and round towards the summit

 

An  enthusiast still living the day !!

 

What is it they say - why do you never see a baby pidgeon ? - well if you look carefully at the pic below  you can see a scap of  yellow down on the left  snuggled up to mum  - this pic was taken through a turret window at  Castle Rushen - a medieval castle dating back to around 1200 -

 

 

We spent a fair amount of time in the castle and in the town - a good day out

 

Lot of different view points to gaze down to the town below - lots to see  

 

 

 

 

I thought this one was a bit like throught the keyhole !!

 

 

 

 

The harbour  at Castletown

 

We watched the horse drawn trams in Douglas - the trams looked heavy to me but the horses were trotting along briskly - we saw their stables after and could see that they were well cared for - apparently we were told that they work a shift of 50mins a time

 

Camera club meetings have been postponed for the summer months- instead the group has been out on several excursions - and in June we visited Acton Scott Working Museum  and Venus Pool Nature Reserve.

 

 

 

 

So that my dear diary is my catch up for June come July

 and yes I know we are now in September - but hey ho catching up !!