A (mostly) quiet day

Today I went to Brighton with my little mother

 and my good friend, Bon.

We went to a quiet day/retreat. 

Well it was supposed to be a quiet day

and for the most part it was.

Little mother and I walked down to the beach in the morning,

and we took Bon back down in the afternoon for a stroll.

I have to confess that while the three of us were together,

shock horror, we Talked!! Oh dear!!

It was a beautiful, warm day and my little mother

 and I sat out in the sun for lunch.

Yes, in this little glade behind the church, 

on these two very uncomfortable chairs. 

I noticed another lady had a beach roll that she just lounged on

 and looked a lot more comfy than we were.

Mind you, my little mother did manage to doze off 

for a few minutes in the sun.

These funny looking things were growing on a vine out there

 and I asked one of the locals what they were

(after it was all over, you realize, I did behave most of the time). 

I'd never seen them before.

Apparently they are banana passion-fruit. 

I was tempted to pick some but thought I'd better not.

And just for fun I wanted to show you the welcome mat

 outside the back door of the hall, 

I had a good chuckle over this. 

 Somehow I don't think this door is used very often.

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I forgot to take my camera with me

so took these pics on my cell phone. 

The sun was so bright I couldn't see the screen,

so just pointed and hoped.

Now I'm hoping they don't disappear

on me at some point in the future.

Hoping this finds you all well, 

have a good week,

Diana

Through the track (part two)

As promised I have finally taken another walk 
through the track and taken photo's on the other side. 

Apart from this one. 

I couldn't resist. Cows have such beautiful eyes.

 I'm not sure that they were 'girl' cows though, 

I think they may have been juvenile boys, so I didn't tarry long.

Juvenile boys of any kind can be a bit unpredictable.

They were in the paddock where previously

the horse had been looking over the electric fence.

This side of the track is more cultivated than the other side.

I was going to say more civilised 

but thought that would be rather rude of me, haha.

But you'll see what I mean.

Horses relaxing in the spring sunshine.

The pine trees at the back are 

actually quite a distance away, 

across a road well behind the front houses.

Sheep in a paddock at back 

with deer fencing in the front. 

The deer fences are two metres high, 

to stop the deer escaping. 

No deer there today though.

A sheep, alpaca and horse 

at the racecourse end of the track. 

I thought they were all sharing the same 

paddock but no, the horse is further back.

A fairly traditional farm house,

when it was built it would have been regarded

 as rather a flash place - right up to date.

These days it may have the farm labourer 

and his family living in it,

or the original farmer with his wife,

 while the son will have built himself a new 'flash' place

just down the road a bit where Dad could keep an eye on him.

The entrance and driveway to a 'new flash' house.

If you look really hard you can just see the corner of 

the house behind the trees near the left side of the picture.

And back to the start,

from whence we came.

I hope you've enjoyed taking another stroll 

through the track with me in the spring sunshine.

It was lovely and warm with no breeze

and a hawk (aka: swamp harrier) circling overhead.

Until next time,

take care,

Diana

A controversial cathedral

Last weekend my GKB and I made a flying visit

 to Christchurch to visit an old friend who is ill.

While we were there we caught up with our eldest grandson

 who took us into the city centre to have a look at 

how things were progressing since the earthquakes in 2011.

The three of us at the Container Mall

part of the Container Mall

 A container mall has opened up where there used to be high rise buildings and it is rather a nice place to be. I thought it was a good example of thinking outside the square when it came to getting some of the businesses up and running again.

 It had been rather eerie walking among the damaged buildings and seeing cordoned off shops with their goods still all on display!

What I really want to show you today though,

 is ChristChurch Cathedral. 

My GKB and I were there just 12 months earlier 

and took photo's inside the cathedral as well as out.

Here are a few of the before photo's.

from Cathedral Square

As you can see from the scaffolding, 

repair and restorative work was going on.

looking from just inside main doors

beautiful stained glass

inside the Pacific Island Chapel, looking over to the visitor centre

The Rose window above the main doors with murals underneath

 My grandson and I went for a short walk, left my GKB and grandsons friend to chat as my bloke's sore leg was playing up.

He took me for a walk around the cathedral,

starting on the south side and then around the back.

South eastern end

I didn't think it looked too bad, all things considered.

I could understand why there is a large group 

of people wanting to restore it to it's former glory.

Then we came around to the western side proper.

That was a different story!

This is the side the tower and spire was on

It is quite devastated, 

(grandson related it to being like a medieval ruin),

and now I know why another group of people

 want to push it  over and build anew.

There is quite a controversy about it and it's a real dilemma.

 from the front, the tower and spire was to the left

ChristChurch Cathedral was the heart 

of Christchurch City, which is why there

 is such an emotional reaction to it being pulled down.

I hope they find a solution that will 

make most of the people happy.

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Have a wonderful week,

till next time,

Diana