Gorgeous Gothic Doors

I  love doors, especially old, intricately carved, mysterious doors. Don't you just want to open them and see what magical world waits on the other side?

This blue door is at the front entrance of St. Paul's Church in Astley Bridge, Bolton. It is a lovely Anglican church. I've actually been through this door.  Inside it is one big room. Cold. Dark. Stone. Vaulted ceiling. Stained glass. Beautiful.

This door is in Rochester. We found it on our way from the castle to the High Street where we were going to meet some friends for lunch. No idea what is on the other side. Can't even tell you the name of the building. We were cutting through side streets and--there it was! Only had time to snap a photo and then be on our way.


What do you think? Do you like doors?

Cheers!
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Toe dipping in the North Sea

Back in October, Naomi and I went to the beach.  Being an 'inland' type of person, I was surprised at just how far the tide retreats. We went because I had this crazy idea that I wanted to dip my toe into the North Sea.  A romantic notion, I guess, since there was no common sense involved, i.e. it was October, overcast, cold and wiiiiiiindy.  Brrrr...no wonder those invading Vikings were so cranky.

Look at all that mud... and those are clean, new, white-inside shoes... hmmm... you gotta know, this didn't end well. LOL!

I'm generally afraid of natural water: ocean, lakes, big rivers.  You can't see the bottom.  There are 'things' living under the surface.  Oh, and you can't breathe under there either.
 


Luckily, toe dipping isn't scary.  It is going close enough to feel the water lapping, without the shiver of things swimming around your legs. 

When we got to the beach, the tide was out.  This meant walking quite a ways to get to the edge of the water.  As you can see, the sand closest to the pier is dry, followed by a rocky bed, and then wet, squishy, mud that never gets completely dry. 

The watermark on the poles showed that we were walking in an area where the water is usually 15-20 feet above our heads.  *eeek*

In all, it was fun, and we found lots of seashells and scrambling crabs.

I brought some of the more interesting shells home to paint. On the advice of a friend from Japan, they made great tea light holders for Christmas candles and presents.


Cheers!
x

Twitter and Facebook and YouTube, Oh My!

I've been busy exploring the wonders of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube the last two months. 

It's been exciting.  First, I connected with friends and family on Facebook.  It's great to be able to exchange photos and bits of news with everyone back home.

Then I uploaded videos of my amazing husband, LAWRENCE DEAN, onto YouTube.  Law is a singer/songwriter.  The videos are from a filk concert at Confluence in Pittsburgh, Pa.  Confluence is a Science Fiction / Fantasy Writers' Convention.  It's also the venue where we originally met!  Law sings regularly at the Faversham Folk Club, which meets weekly at the Chimney Boy pub.  The songs from the concert are a mix of Filk, Folk, Country and Pop. 

Having survived my foray into social media - - today I decided to tackle Twitter.  Talk about a sensory overload!  That is going to take some getting used to.  But I'm determined to watch and learn.

If you want to follow me I'm  @ideabasket

Not that I'm saying all that much at the moment.  But I'm sure to settle into the swing of things in my own sweet time.

Oh, and our Channel on YouTube is: MrLawDean

HUGS!
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