Scavenger Hunt - Four

 Yesterday - Saturday we went out for the day with the Bluefunnels. It was our turn to drive so They had a bit of a magical mystery tour.
Because it was so exciting to be going out with them I couldn't sleep so at 4,30am I gave up trying and came downstairs. I peered out of the window at the brightening sky and realised that I could "get" my sunrise. I stood in my backyard and took this - still in my pyjamas!.

Mr M got up soon after this but he went back to bed for another try at about 5am. I hung out some washing and then had a shower and began to cook breakfast. We called in at the supermarket to get fuel and There was a sign in another language - the welsh first on the sign because we are in Wales and as the car was stationary I could get a clear picture.
I thought to myself "perhaps today will be a good day for scavenger hunt pictures."
It was.
We had decided to take the Bluefunnels to Laycock Abbey. A National Trust property in Wiltshire. It was one of the Abbeys that HenryVIII got his hands on when he ordered the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was, apparently, the richest Convent in the country.
He grabbed all the assets then sold it to someone when he needed more money. We had only got as far as the reception desk and there was the rack of postcards
Excellent.

So much to see in the Fox-Talbot Photography Museum - oh yes we owe what we have today as photographers to William Henry Fox Talbot. For all the details you should google him. He took the first ever negative photograph of one of the bay windows in Laycock Abbey. We spent ages examining portraits and chatting to the room stewards and eventually came out into the heat of the day. This meant a stop at the tearooms for a refreshing icecream and a cool drink.
Here is a picture of a group of exhausted tourists at the tearooms. OK so it's Mr M and the Bluefunnels but we were tourists!

 Next we took a quick drive around the village of Laycock. If it seems familiar it's because film and TV companies love it. There are no TV ariels or sattelite dishes visible in the village because the whole thing belongs to the National Trust. They filmed "Cranford" with Judi Dench here and they also filmed two different Harry potter films in the Abbey
What they had for me was this sweet little bakery

Yhen it was time for lunch so we went to Trowbridge where there is a Hungry Horse - A pub that is part of the Hungry Horse franchise thingy... anyway, one of the waiters had a tattooed arm. "Ask him if you can take a picture of his arm" said Lady BF and when I hesitated she waved at him and asked if he would let me take a picture. I explained why and he said yes.

Then he said "The one on my chest is much nicer" so I asked him to unbutton!!!
He did.
This caused a great deal of hilarity in the kitchen when he told them - we were sitting opposite as you can see in the first tattoo picture - they even stopped singing for a moment.

The ladnlady did ask us if the singing was annoying us. We said no it was fine because if the chef was happy in his work the food would be good.
It was.
Lady BF then read the list of pictures needed so that she could cross off what I had managed to get and she said "A juggler? where can we find one of those?" Admiral Lord BF showed us how he could juggle with invisible balls.
The rest is history. Enough to say that I laughed 'til I cried

The next place we went to was Kevin's in Westbury. They are a men's clothiers and do clothes for Big men, tall men that sort of thing. It means that when Mr M asks for trousers in his size they don't pull a face but ask him what colour and style he would like.
They were having a street market and something so the main street was closed to traffic and the carpark was heaving. We found a corner and Mr M was soon in the changing room trying on some long shorts, He now has three pairs.
There was an icecream seller and Admiral Lord BF handed me his icecream and took my camera so that he could picture me with something that represents summer. I was very hot, very red, very sticky and actually very tired by that point, but I still remembered to do the Pat Duckham pose for the photograph - Lift the chins so they don't all show, one foot forward and lean slightly into the camera. Smoothes out the wrinkles.
As we turned off the main road to drive through the lanes and up the hill to the Bluefunnels Erie, Mr M and the Admiral both said "Camera!" and pointed. There were two pigeons sitting on the wire. What a marvellous haul of pictures for one day out. My ribs ached gently from so much laughing while my feet and legs ached from walking over four miles. I did another few hundred yards when we got home and I had to go up and down the steps to see my girls and get the washing in.

I am linking to the scavenger hunt linky thing over at Rinda's page She started this marvellous challenge several years ago and we link up to people all over the world. Take a look

Scavenger Hunt - 3

"Let's go for a little ride," said Mr M, "just us, no interruptions, then we can go straight to the Bluefunnels in time for dinner." we had been invited, I hasten to add, so we weren't just going to rock up and expect food.
We had breakfast in Morrisons and then headed across the county and up to Abergavenny then onto the Hereford Road, still not really knowing where we were going.
"Rural Landscape", said Mr M, breaking the spell I was under just breathing outdoor air. It took a moment until I realised that he was thinking Scavenger Hunt so I switched on the camera and clicked a few times.

7. A rural landscape: This is a picture of several things that have a story. A field with those large round bales requires the occupants of the vehicle to say, in a loud voice, "Big Bales" (the origin of this ritual is forgotten). The tractor is driven by an expert - "A man out standing in his field". "Expert" also has to be said loudly (origin of this ritual also forgotten). The cows are not foreign, they are Holsteins so are technically foreign but they have been a part of the British rural scene for so long they have become native if not indigenous. I am looking for foreign cows so that I can make a page that says "All these foreign cows, coming over here, eating our grass .;.."  daft I know but when Mr M suggested it I laughed out loud and he earned a point.

6. An Urban Street Scene. I thought this was a pretty street, sorry Road. We were going through Ledbury on our way to... oh who knows where we were heading, we didn't at that point, we were looking for the lovely sign that welcomes you to Ledbury but it was on "The Other Road".

 2. A Garden Gnome. I have to say that he is more like a Pixie than a gnome and has the same expression on his face as I imagine would be on the faces of the Pixies that hide behind my fridge and sit on the wires, swinging their legs, waiting to make things in the fridge grow hairs and shrivel up. This is how I imagine a Karma Pixie would look ... oh what a handsome Pixie.

We stopped in a garden centre in a village called Staunton & Corse. It seems that everywhere we went to get a cuppa the apprentice was the one that served us. This has a different effect on Mr M than on me. I make sure I am clear about what I want and I am prepared to let them take their time and learn. This way the next time I go they will be efficient and up to speed. Mr M huffs, he leans on his walking stick and sighs, deep and meaningful sighs. The sort of sigh you don't want to hear when everything your boss said about the till has gone out of your head. I give him a look, no, I give him The Look and he raises his eyebrows and says "What?" as though he doesn't know why I am doing it. He knows. That was why I made him walk around the place to look for gnomes, as a penance for being a grump. He then took me to a place where they have a Gruffalo trail and I photographed him with a Gruffalo