Showing posts with label Xtra Special Days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Xtra Special Days. Show all posts

Saturday

A Pop Up Bridge - Xtra Special Day


One of the best things about having moved to live in the eastern half of Northern Ireland is the proximity to the Mourne Mountains. 

As we drive south along the A1 towards Banbridge  I laugh when my husband Fred says "Look at that view".  I don't even have to look because I know he is referring to the beautiful outline of the Mountains of Mourne.





Occasionally he doesn't make this remark but replaces it with "The clouds are spoiling the view of the Mournes today" in a very disappointed tone.

We often say it would be lovely to take a picture of that view but in a car on the dual carriageway that is not possible.

When our son Jonathan comes to visit we quite often find ourselves heading off for an afternoon to somewhere around or within this mountain range and that was exactly what we did when he was here a few weeks ago.

We had our granddaughter's birthday party on the Tuesday afternoon at 3pm but we still had the morning free so off we drove ready to get some good pictures (we hoped) of the latest point of interest in our Wee Country.


Yes we were off to see a Pop Up Bridge.


I'm calling it that because I keep hearing about Pop up shops, cafes and whatever and this bridge could be said to just have popped up because it literally just appeared suddenly.

The bridge is in the middle of a reservoir at Spelga Dam in the heart of the Mourne Mountains.




Normally no-one can see the bridge because the reservoir water level is high so the bridge is always under the water.

This summer has been so dry (even though Northern Ireland is known for it's rain) and without the usual rainfall the level of the water in the reservoir fell noticeably.   This picture below shows the different water level marks on the side of the dam and it is very obvious that the water level this month was much much lower than normal.





So for the first time in our lifetime this stone bridge (normally hidden by the height of water) was clearly seen




and it was possible to walk across it into the centre of the water in the reservoir.

From the car park where my husband Fred took the panoramic picture above the bridge can hardly be seen in the distance and the people walking along it were hard to distinguish but many people had been coming day after to see this spectacle and walk where there was normally water and no path.

We took quite a few pictures from the car park and then drove on round to find somewhere closer to the bridge.

We found a road down to a pathway to the reservoir and left the car there with many others to start the walk to the bridge.




This pathway was not part of the bridge.

This was the start of the bridge, the rough ground after the smoother pathway.




As you can see from the cyclist the bridge was at a lower level than the pathway and he was having a hard job to get his bike back up again.


Once on the bridge we could see the poor condition of the ground we were walking on but then it had been under water for many many years.




There were lots of people there that day to walk the bridge and they kept passing us
because we stopped to take so many pictures trying to get a good angle on the arch of the bridge.


After many stops we arrived at the arch of the bridge and of course stopped again to take more photos.

As quite often happens we took some of each other taking photos of each other - if you get what I mean.



Some little videos were grabbed as well, like the one showing exactly what happened after this last picture had been taken.


Then there was a very strange sight, Fred had gone on ahead more quickly than Jonathan & I so that he could do something different, something you normally don't do on a bridge




he greeted us from his seat on part of the broken pathway under a tree!

We took more pics here at this spot and then continued along the pathway for quite a distance until we got to the end of it.


Not only did we walk across it as far as was possible but I did what many people know I like to do - I had a little paddle (just don't tell anyone I had my bare foot in the reservoir water).













The Simplest Easter Egg Hunt! - Xtra Special Day

Last year we had our first Easter Egg Hunt.


Yes we are not young, in fact we are grandparents yet up to now I have never had an Easter Egg Hunt.

But now we are grandparents and I decided that we were going to have one.

So I planned that I would hide them all around the back garden for Matthew last year when he was 17 months old.  He was well on his feet and always full of energy and loved running around playing with nanny, grandpa, aunt or uncle or whoever would be around when he would visit our home on a dry day.





Hence my idea was to get some eggs that were a decent size for him to find easily and some Cadbury Creme eggs (really these ones would be for the grownups) and I would hide them all around the back garden.

BUT!  It wasn't a dry day.


Plans had to be changed easily and quickly so it became an indoor hunt with eggs hidden (well sometimes almost in plain view - he was very young) in the hall, lounge, sun room, and guest bedroom.  5/6 hidden in each room some easier to find than others so that he could get some by himself and so that uncle Jonathan could help him while his mum and dad had a little sit down and catch up with social media on their phones.


In the Sun Room Matthew immediately decided he would have to get into the TV unit





then he jumped around to look behind the furniture so fast that I could hardly get a picture that wasn't blurred.




With the eggs found from that room he headed off down the hallway and immediately spied one on the little flower stand there.




We had not hidden any in Fred's Office because Matthew loves to play the drums there and might have got a bit distracted but we were surprised when he didn't even ask to go into it at all.


Next was the guest room where he sometimes stays overnight or takes a little afternoon nap.




After finding one beside the teddy bear doorstop and a few others on one side of the bed he quickly ran over to the wardrobes and found one behind a briefcase.

Now there were several more still to be found in the guest room and he needed a little help for some of them as you can see in the short video.




Then back up the hallway because he thought maybe some would be upstairs and he went so quick he missed a very obvious one




so we had to call him back.




He was now so good at this hunt that he easily found the ones in the lounge and then



it was time to make sure they were all in the crystal basket (yes I hadn't thought to buy an Easter Basket so we had to improvise).

We counted the eggs to make sure he had now got all of them and he was rewarded with a few to eat straight away and the rest were put into a bag to go home with him.



Sometimes the simplest things are the best.





It was such a simple easy hunt to prepare but such fun to watch him enjoy running round and searching excitedly for each one of those tiny eggs.  

The quick, simple, inexpensive things we do together can be as much fun as big outings or more expensive adventures - we just judge things by how many laughs and smiles we hear and see because a joyful time together is an Xtra Special Time.





Monday

Northern Ireland Barista Championship 2015 - Xtra Special Day


This weekend saw the Northern Ireland Barista Championship take place in Belfast.

Yes I know I love Coffee but not so much that I would be interested in this event

EXCEPT

that my son was taking part on behalf of Common Grounds Coffee Shop of which he is the manager.

Now Daniel has worked in other coffee shops and has trained but now that he is a manager he is not doing the actual manual work every day of the week because of the many other tasks that fall to him.

So off he went on Saturday for the first round of the challenge.

He even missed his favourite football team Tottenham Hotspurs win against ......  well some other team - I'm not a football fan.

He had some tickets and I would have loved to have been there for this event but I was ill.

Yes - An Xtra Special Day for our family and I'm stuck at home with a throat infection.


You can imagine our excitement when he messaged later in the day to say that he was through to the final on Sunday.

We were delighted that he had got through to the final and more people will hear about the good work of Common Grounds.



On Sunday

He was the first one up of the 6 for the final.




His wife Suzie was there with him and the credit for these photos go to her.

As you can see from the pic above he was on at 11am.





No idea what they had asked him but no doubt he was having a bit of fun with them as he did not think he stood a chance of winning.





Apparently cameras and notes were important and everything focussed on how Daniel made the various coffees.


So Suzie messaged us with some pictures and then of course the other 5 baristas had to make their coffees.



We were making a late Sunday Lunch when the message came just after 4.15pm




HE WONNNNNNN!!







So proud of our son 
and of 
Common Grounds Coffee Shop


If you have not read my other post about Common Grounds and their charity work 
and their Suspended Coffees 
then click HERE



Why not use this twitter link to let others know about the good work of Common Grounds


Great coffee, great charity at Common Grounds Belfast


Saturday

Family Photo Shoot - Xtra Special Day



Sometimes our Xtra Special Days are a long time in coming!

What I mean is they are thought of

          and partly planned

                    but then may take weeks,

                              months or sometimes years

                                        to actually take place.



Take our FAMILY PHOTO SHOOT for example.

This one was thought of by me many years before this, definitely prior to 2004 when we moved from Northern Ireland to Belgium.

It was then decreed by our kids in 2007 as the gift they were going to give us for our 30th wedding anniversary that August while we were still living in Belgium.

It actually took place in February 2013 after we had returned to live in Northern Ireland.

I guess this shows that we are not a family ruled by the mother anyway!

We were always (well practically always) flexible in when we did things before we went to live in Belgium but then while we were in Belgium Daniel was living in Northern Ireland, later Linda was mostly at university in Norwich and then Jonathan was pastoring in Leeds so it became harder to arrange times for specific things that were to be all-family events and there were certain things that we really wanted to still share together as a family.

The problem is I always say we should do something and then think "Oh when will we ever get it organised" instead of just going ahead and putting them all on the spot and saying "Right we need a date".


Let me go back in time and explain that this was not our first Family Photo Shoot.

Approximately a year after each of our children were born we had a family photo taken, so we have the early years where the family grew in number from 3 of us to 5 of us.


Then another one took place in 1992 just a few weeks before we left Northern Ireland to go live in Delaware in the US for 3 years.

This was also done by a professional photographer although it took place in our home.
There was one of the extended family involving my parents, my sister's family and then this one of our family which meant we had one with the kids in their pre-teen years.




My father died a few months after we returned home to Northern Ireland in 1995 so it definitely was a good time to have taken those pictures and the fact that all the grandchildren had already been born was just another blessing.


Several times in the following years I would say we should have another family picture taken because the kids were older but all through their teen years they were not so keen on the idea.

Finally the spurt of energy was on for this Photo Shoot to be done in Feb 2013 as our daughter Linda was heading off to South Korea at the end of the month and for that moment at least there were 4 out of the 5 of us living in the same country and within 40 min drive of each other.

Okay, so a plane journey was still involved for Jonathan but when we were trying to do this a couple of years ago in Belgium it could have meant 3 plane journeys from 3 different places to get us all together.  And of course Jonathan wanted to come visit and see Linda before she set off anyway.


Then the question was "What to wear?"

  • Do we take an change of outfit so that we have a formal and casual one?
  • Will we clash if we don't talk this over first?
  • Is there anything we should avoid wearing?


         Well we really did talk it over but .....

1.  Linda and I still ended up in colours which looked very similar in the pics yet no-one thought they were that close in reality, and we were living in the same house at the time.

2.  The boys ended up in almost matching casual shirts (my dressing them to match when they were very young could not possibly have had any influence on this as they have always told me how they didn't like it).

3.  The more formal outfits presented us very much as a black, white, grey type of family!!




The photographer was very nice and easy to talk to.
Some of us have no problem in front of a camera but the rest of us just do not relax too well in that kind of situation  -  eyes close at the wrong times, we speak or giggle at the wrong times, etc.

Well when it actually happened I really enjoyed the Photo Shoot - as much as a person who hates getting her picture taken can possible enjoy it.  But of course what I really enjoyed was the family being together, laughing and joking and knowing that we were actually doing what we had always planned for.

Anyway one hour later and we are all done and hoping that we can manage to have a few decent pics to choose from out of the dozens he took.

We did some more formal wear pics like the one above and then some casual wear and you can see our almost matching shirts and colours.





Unfortunately Linda was off to Korea before we had a chance to go back and view the pictures but that was ok as we were all able to view them online and make our lists of our favourites.

Now that was the next problem such a long drawn out procedure as it turned out that we had very different opinions as to what we each liked or didn't like.


In the end (months later) I just had to make the final decision on what to get and Fred & I were pleased with that even if the kids had a few comments.  I never claimed we were the perfect family just a loving family.


Of course when I think of that day I know that it wasn't just the photo taking time that I enjoyed but also the coffee time afterwards when we found a little coffee shop in Hillsborough, County Down, Northern Ireland.    It was nice to sit and chat about the different poses and how we thought it all went and relax together before heading back to our house in Banbridge.
Not only did we get good coffee but we also discovered they make great cheesecake as well.

I'm thankful that we were able to have this opportunity to have another family photo together because with Linda in South Korea & Jonathan in Leeds
we have only been together again twice. 


If you are trying to think of a nice way to celebrate a specific time in the life of your family why not go for a Photo Shoot.

And don't forget the coffee time together afterwards.






Tuesday

Segway Titanic Tour - Xtra Special Day


Okay so I never learned to ride a bike when I was young.

I know you are all thinking

                    "Who can't ride a bike?"

Well I can't.

But I can definitely ride a Segway!





Over the last several years I have occasionally seen people on segways and I always thought I would love to have a go but even though I am attracted to trying more unusual things I do not like making a fool of myself in front of others.

Then I read that they were very easy to ride/drive so I probably would not fall over and make a fool of myself and I also found out that a company in Northern Ireland were running "Titanic" Segway Tours which were obviously tours around the "Titanic Quarter" of Belfast on Segways.

I kept thinking how I would love to do it and hinted to my husband several times but Fred is not one to really take a hint - well not quickly anyway..

Then last year I decided we were going to go on the Titanic Segway Tour when all of the family would be together in Northern Ireland - not something that often happens now that our oldest son is living in Leeds and our daughter is living in South Korea.

To make a full day out of it we were going to go to the Titanic Exhibition first and then do the Segway tour and then go for dinner.

So we went online and booked 6 places on the tour one day in August, yes 6 because of course our middle son got married so we have a daughter-in-law as well.































Unfortunately Jonathan (the one from Leeds) took ill that morning and had to stay in bed all day so there were only the five of us in the end.

You can see the Titanic Building in the background - a rather impressive sight as you drive across the M3 over Belfast - designed to make you think of a ship.


I was so looking forward to this and as soon as the guy said we could get on the segways I didn't wait for the others.




It was so easy to do and very enjoyable.






We were told to go in single file and follow the tour guide so Linda led us off after him.


We were like ducks in a row and Linda enjoyed taking these selfies trying to get us all in as we rode along.





I laughed and laughed as we segwayed all around the Titanic quarter even though everyone we passed stared at us.  In fact I think that made me laugh even more.

The guide took us to different parts of the Titanic Quarter and we did listen as he explained what had happened at each part.

You can see me concentrating in the picture below when we were beside the dock.




Well shortly before that shot I had been giggling and not long after it I was giggling again but I did stop to listen in between.


When we had been all round the Titanic quarter and heard all about it we stopped for a ...






It seemed very strange parking the segways alongside the water and sitting in the coffee shop looking out at them.


Then after coffee we segwayed back toward the Odyssey Arena where the guide then let us have about 15 mins of free time on the large flat area riding round just as we pleased.






It was hilarious!



Daniel took this video.




No-one fell off, no-one collided with anyone else (although Daniel and Suzie almost did) or with the posts or the benches in the area.


Linda took this one.





Can't remember who took this one.  All I know is I was too busy enjoying the play time that I didn't take any videos or pictures at all.






But all good things have to come to an end and when Jonathan - the guide, said it was time to go back to the tour Office we were all disappointed but we had to go.




Well the chat was great after this event as we had all thoroughly enjoyed it and felt the time had gone too quick and I was already wondering when I could do it again.

However it is not a cheap day out, but it was a Special Day for us.

They do claim to be the only Segway Tours in the UK you see.

And I have been scheming & planning and hopefully there will be another Xtra Special Day !!!





Saturday

A Real Noah's Ark? It's How Big? - Xtra Special Day




Yes I really do love arks and collect pictures, ornaments and some jewellery

                                        all to do with Noah's Ark.


But this time

          this Ark was going to be completely different.







I looked forward to this day all the time I lived in Belgium.

Having found out about this from the internet I wanted to get a time when all five of us would be together and could go see the Ark Replica.

This was a scale model of Noah's Ark and not just one that you could put on display inside a museum or exhibition this was one you could actually go inside of yourself because it was so large.


The Best time to go see it was while we were living in Belgium because this Ark was in The Netherlands.  The replica was moved from port area to port area all around the coast of The Netherlands so I really wanted to find a time to go see it when it was in the South West because that would mean a shorter distance for us to drive from Tervuren through the north of Belgium and into the southern area of our northern neighbour, in the part actually named Holland.





In 2010 we really had to make this happen because before the end of that year we knew we would be returning to Northern Ireland and in August all three kids came back to visit at the same time as the Ark was going to be in a place called Vlissingen which would be very accessible for a day trip.


You can imagine how excited I was to be going there and even more so because we would all be together.




Fred is so good and has always accepted the fact that I would have different "Ark Decor" around the house and the kids have often laughed and guessed that perhaps a new thing I may have got would have something to do with an Ark and occasionally they were wrong!

But I must admit I do like it when my family humour me.


It was a beautiful day for the drive and for wandering around the Ark.


Naturally because Noah's Ark had been a Safe Haven during the flood for animals as well as Noah's family we were bound to meet a selection of animals in this Ark.





But there were other things to be found inside as well which would not have been in the original Ark such as a representation of the Ark of the Covenant.






And a large mural on one of the walls depicting the creatures that would not have been within the Ark.





This was in the process of being created while we were there and we had the opportunity to watch the artist at work.





After we went home I realised from the pictures we had taken that rather appropriately we had a picture of Fred with the baby giraffe - tall and thin






and me with the baby elephants (no comments here please!)





There was no set tour around the Ark but everyone was left to walk around as they pleased with some guidance from information on the different items and some videos. 

We were able to take our time and stay as long as we liked.

There was a small cafe area with a view out of the Ark 





and we were also able to go up on the deck of the Ark and look around from there.





On the way out there was a shop with Ark toys, books, bookmarks, etc. and jewellery.

So you may have guessed that I could not resist leaving with out another momento, yes I got a nice Ark necklace.

We were still in no hurry to leave and stood around taking pictures of us and the ark and even Daniel (not a photo lover) had his phone out to take some pics which he then used some filters on and put up on instagram.






It was a fun relaxed day out together at a very unusual exhibition and we all enjoyed it.





  The Ark was very large but was not the exact measurements of the original.


Since then the same people who created this one have worked on a full size replica and have plans to take it around the world.


If you would like to have more information about this you can watch the video below





and you will also find details at their website

Arc of Noah