Between. Last Header Challenge of 2011

In this time between Christmas and New year a very apt choice of theme chosen for our header challenge this week by Kathy is "Between". 

I hope you have all had a Happy Christmas and are enjoying this time between Christmas and New Year. When I was trying to decide what to take as my header picture I came across this frog...

You might ask what that has to do with between? Well the little stick in the picture that you run up and down his back to create a croaking sound is stored "between" his jaws, so that's what I've used as this weeks header photo. 

Have a look to see what the other headbangers have gone between to come up with for this weeks challenge.

Christmas Header Challenge

As I post this its only 3 days until Christmas (shorter for some places in the world) and so as it is my choice for this weeks header theme what better than "Christmas" itself?

 For some Christmas means lots of lights in the shopping centres such as seen here in the Queensgate centre in Peterborough...

People can enjoy the festive twinkling lights as they flit from shop to shop hunting for Christmas presents.

All the bright lights and and glitter may be pretty but for me the real Christmas present was given to us over 2000 years ago in a simple manger in Bethlehem when Jesus was born.

This Christmas remember to keep Christ in Christmas.

Fun of the Fair!

All the fun of the fair!

Lincoln held their Christmas market at the beginning of December and I took two of my daughters on the Saturday, the busiest night!

I think they had fun looking around all the stalls, buying Christmas presents and of course rounding it all off at the fair.

Look What I Saw! Header Challenge.

Well I'm back from the cyber wilderness just about, so I'm able to take part again in this weeks header challenge that has been set this week by Tom-fishing guy. He's chosen "Look what I saw". Now that can be interpreted pretty much any way you want it and I'm sure when you visit the other headbangers' blogs, you will see that for yourself. For me the thing that I, "Saw" and thought worthy of taking a photo of, was some Christmas cards.

 The Christmas card on the right I have used as my header this week as I think its such a simple yet vibrant design that it really makes the banner stand out. What do you think?

Postcard from Lincolnshire–Header Challenge

This week imac chose our little header challenge and he decided that we should all show a postcard from where we live. Well as those of you who are regular readers know I live in Lincolnshire in England. Lincolnshire is renowned for its wide open flat farm land, hence the image in the header.

Another thing you will see lots of around Lincolnshire (well in Spring anyway) are Daffodils and Tulips as they are one of the biggest producers of the flowers and bulbs in Europe.

The free range poultry business is growing rapidly too both commercially and with individual families hence the chicken.

So there you have my postcard from rural Lincolnshire. I could have gone in to on of the towns and told you all about that but I live 10 miles from the closest one so rural Lincolnshire seemed more appropriate.

Have a look to see what postcards the other headbangers have posted. Follow their links on my right hand menu bar.

Weird and Wonderful Header Challenge

A few readers have been pestering me to finish off my cruise pictures so I thought as I have only one more port of call I would combine it with todays header challenge as its my choice this week and I have chosen “Weird and Wonderful”.

Now the final port of call on our P&O cruise on-board the Azura was to the port of Vigo in Spain.

Our ship towered over the port as normal…

Unfortunately it was the first day of our holiday that we awoke to rain, no soaking up the sun today!

We decided we would still go ashore for a look around the town, there was even a convenient indoor shopping centre very close to were the ship had docked which my daughters had spotted.

As we left the ship to enter the town we were met by the locals leaving…

Yes alright its a statue, but its very good and there’s another right next to him…

Vigo seems to love their statues and as we moved around the waterfront they got bigger and weirder…

This lady towers over me but it looks as if she has dived straight into the pavement, I’m not quite sure what that is all about maybe an enlightened reader could explain it to me please.

The local musicians were out and about keeping everyone entertained though, there music was lively and fun and they soon had a crowd listening despite the rain.

I was told there was another statue similar to the lady diving in to the pavement further along the seafront so I set out to find it. Unfortunately I missed it on this occasion but I did find what looked liked the old man of the sea. It looked as if he had climbed up out of the water to see what the fuss was about…

So there you have Vigo, certainly a little bit of weird but a lot of wonderful.

Remember to check out the other weird and wonderful goings on over at the other headbangers blogs, just follow their links in my right hand menu bar.

Thanks for visiting.

Views of Autumn (Fall) Header Challenge

This weeks challenge has been set by Tom-fishing guy and is all to do with the season and is, “Views of  Fall” as he described it being from across the pond, but I think we will stick to talking about “Views of Autumn” it makes me feel less like I want to fall over.

I had to take my car in to the garage today in Peterborough for a couple of minor electrical niggles to be fixed (which the Citroen garage took all day to do, thank you Citroen!) So while I was stuck in Peterborough centre, I took my camera, which I’d had the foresight to take with me, to the cathedral grounds to get some photographs for todays header.  The day was lovely, really blue skies and the trees were really shining golden in the sunshine, so it made for a good photo opportunity. I enjoyed leisurely wandering around taking pictures.

Even the ground was colourful with the fallen leaves.

My header is taken looking up through the golden branches to one of the many turrets that adorn Peterborough Cathedral.

Have a look at the wonderful autumnal colours on offer by the other headbangers, just follow their links in my right hand menu bar.

Thanks for visiting.

Headbanger Challenge- Technology

This weeks challenge has been set by gailsman and is something I love, “Technology”.

As you’ve seen in previous posts, I’ve blogged about my phone the Samsung Galaxy S, its certainly for me my best piece of tech, I take it everywhere. Its got a good camera, diary,workbook, all my apps oh and of course a good phone.  I’ve also blogged about technology in the form of photo editing software in The Camera Never Lies? I’ve even blogged about the technology found in the lenses I use to shoot the photos I put up on the blog in New Canon Lens. So you see I love technology, so finding somewhere new to start from for this weeks header challenge, that was a little different was a bit tricky.

I decided in the end to show you that technology is constantly evolving although we still often cling to the old for sentimental reasons or in this case tourism.

As you can see the brand new technological Tram is right behind the old one in the photo here in Lisbon, but it seemed the old ones that were the most popular.

New technology is often advertised in very bizarre and off the wall (literally in the case of my header) settings, and it is one of these that I have chosen for my header for “Technology”. I spotted it on our way back to our cruise ship the Azura whilst we were in the port of Lisbon.

Don’t forget to use your technology and follow the links to the other headbangers blogs to see what they have come up with for this weeks theme. You can find their links in my right hand menu bar.

Why not use the comments section to tell me your best piece of technology and why you couldn’t be without it.

Thanks for dropping by.

Header Challenge 2nd Anniversary.

Well today is the 2nd anniversary of our little group  that post a fun header competition each week on our blogs. I haven't been a member from the start I only joined later, but I’ve been a member for well over a year now. It’s great fun choosing a picture or set of pictures to put up as a header to match the weeks chosen theme. Surprisingly this weeks theme is our anniversary.

This weeks header is brought to you courtesy of Gailsman, thank you for the duo of fluffy spiders.

So lets celebrate 2 years of headbanging and I don’t mean against a wall or the type that goes along with heavy metal music Mr spider. I mean the type that goes with our header team: imac, Tom-fishing guy, Gailsman, Lanny, and myself.

Lets celebrate with an ice sculpture from Azura and a few fireworks!!

Happy Anniversary the headbanger team.

Moving Pictures On-board Azura

This weeks header challenge has been chosen by Sandy and she has chosen Moving Pictures as our theme. So I’ve decided to to tie in my header with a quick introduction to our holidays next port of call on-board P&O’s Azura. After La Palma we had a day at sea, in which they laid on a Galley walk through…

so we could see just how huge the kitchens are (and there are different kitchens serving the different restaurants.

Afternoon tea to follow was entitled “Chocolate Delight” and yes it was, from chocolate fountains to chocolate cakes of every description, it certainly was a delight.

The evening was a formal dress one, as it was the Black and White Ball.

When it’s black and white themed night, because it is also a formal night with all the men in tuxedo’s, P&O add a James Bond element to the evening as well and all the film showings were of Bond films. We finished the evening by going to watch the 10:30pm showing of Casino Royal on the Seascreen a truly moving picture. The picture and the screen were moving with the gentle movement of the ship as we steamed to our next port of call Lisbon.

It is this port of call that I have given you the preview of as a moving picture header. I’ve stitched together 23 photos to form a moving picture for you to enjoy of the sun rising over the suspension bridge as we came into Lisbon. I’ll tell you more of our journey into Lisbon and our day around Lisbon in a later post.

Remember to look to see what moving pictures the other headbangers have come up with for their headers this week. Just follow their links in my right hand menu bar.

Azura Sailaways

Its my turn this week to choose the header theme for our little weekly header competition. I decided to keep the theme in tune with my on going blogging about our trip on-board P&O’s Azura. So this week I’ve gone for “Flags”.

What might you ask does that have to do with our trip, well as we sailed away from each port for those that wished there was a sailaway party put on by the ships entertainment team by the Coral pool.

This involved lots of flag waving and singing and dancing and generally having a good time.

All ages joined in.

Lots of people were waving their flags whilst soaking up the sun on the sun loungers.

They were even joining in right at the top of the ship, looking down over the coral pool.

The Azura is a British ship so the Union flag was the flag of choice as you can see. P&O even supply them for all the passengers.

Have a look to see what flags are flying high in the headers of the other headbangers just follow their links in my right hand menu bar.

Go on wave your flag!

 

Day 7 P&O’s Azura makes her 4th stop, in La Palma

Well Azura’s next port of call was to be the furthest west of the Canary Islands that we were to visit. The island of La Palma.

It had been decided by the family, that I’d go off on a tour by myself on this island, camera in hand, and let Mel and the girls have time to look around the port town together.

I chose an excursion called the Heart of La Palma which was scheduled, according to the brochure to take about 4 and half hours.

So knowing I was going to be out until early afternoon I had a good breakfast before heading down to my coach for the day, for my tour into the Heart of La Palma.

The tour started with a short drive to Santuario Virgen de Las Nieves. It is the religious centre of La Palma and one of the oldest places of worship in the Canary Islands, dating back to 1423.

The Church holds a terracotta statue of the Virgin Mary of the Snows, the patron saint of the island.

She sits on a marble throne covered in silver as you can see in the above picture.

It is not a big church, in fact it is a very modest one in size, but it makes up for it in it’s ornamentation.

I’ve stitched a few photos together in this post to try and help you see either the panoramic view, or more of the interior or exterior of buildings.

We moved on from here in the coach, climbing higher and heading towards the centre of the island, stopping for a quick photo stop on route.

As we did our guide explained more about the island, it’s inhabitants it’s history, climate and eco-system.

What I did find on this tour was that unlike the other Canary islands La Palma is a lot greener…

We arrived at La Caldera de Taburiente, designated a National Park,

and headed up through the pine tree boarded roads deep in to the middle of it.

The National Park has been created inside a 5 mile wide volcanic crater. It’s rims reach right up to the mountain ridge that runs from the north to the south of the island.

There was time for a walk through the National Park, soaking in the grandeur of the setting, it was fantastic.

With the Canary Pine trees growing all around us.

Unfortunately it had to end and with one last look…

It was back on the coaches. We had a short comfort break at the visitor centre just outside the National Park. I was disappointed to find though that the visitors centre had no shop or cafe. There was nowhere to buy a souvenir or even a quick coffee. The only option you had was a drinks machine. So remember to take some change.

Part of the tour was a final stop at a little cottage for wine tasting with an assortment of chutneys. The coach stops in a very scruffy looking parking area, and the guide escorted us across the road in to a garden completely hidden from the road.

For those who didn’t wish to sample the various wines there was fruit juice and the option to wander around the gardens.

Before it was back to the coach and back to Azura…

It had been a fabulous excursion. The guide had been excellent, very funny and very informative. The scenery had been breathtaking well worth the money paid for the excursion. Well done P&O.

I got back on board just in time for the end of the BBQ on the open deck by the Coral pool and very nice it was too. I certainly needed something after my busy morning out as well.

Mel and I spent the afternoon just relaxing in the gorgeous sunshine on our balcony. The girls were busy with their various activities and friends around the ship so we didn’t see much of them during the day, but we all met up for our evening meal.

The dress code this evening was Semi- Formal.

Two of the ships Headliners theatre company put on their own stage set in one of the lounges at 8:30pm so we went to watch them following dinner. They were very good although Nyna was obviously very new as she was very nervous when not singing. As soon as she started to sing though all signs of her nerves vanished.

We rounded the evening off with Asa Murphy’s tribute to swing in the Playhouse Theatre. He certainly has a fantastic voice.

Another great end to a great day I hope you’ll agree. See you soon for more from Azura.

P&O Interlude

Todays post takes the form of a delicious interlude from the diary of our cruise aboard P&O’s Azura. Instead concentrating on the delicious food that we had served on board.

As part of the Header Challenge I take part in each week, Lanny has chosen for this weeks theme “Delicious”, which I think sums up all the food on-board Azura perfectly.

The dining room was immaculately laid out. The waiters assisted you to your seats presenting you with your napkin and menu.

It was the food though that was the pièce de résistance.

Such as this Avocado Pear Salad with Crumbled Goat’s cheese Crottin and Raspberry Vinaigrette

Or this Bury Black Pudding with a Fried Free Range Duck Egg and Bacon Crumble.

When Harriet our youngest daughter ordered this main meal she wasn’t expecting the chips to be quite the size they were…

She said they were delicious though.

As did my one of my other daughters Esther who ordered the next dish…

the Chicken Tikka Masala with Pulao Rice, Poppadom, Naan Bread and Condiments.

 

(sorry about the poor picture)

And my choice the Gressingham Goose Roasted Two Ways with Potato and Parsnip Croquettes, Savoy Cabbage and Redcurrant Jus.

(Yes our family does have very eclectic tastes, but then the menu was so wide we felt we had to try out lots of different dishes).

As for the desserts well they were certainly “Delicious” with a Capitol “D”.

You had Summer pudding with Devonshire clotted cream…

and chocolate puddings that oozed out chocolate as you cut into them.

Warm Dark Chocolate and Praline Fondant with Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and Cappuccino Anglaise.

Or the Delicious Greek Yoghurt Cheesecake with Honey and Spiced Blueberry.

So as you can see; but unfortunately you don’t get to taste, technology has advanced but it’s not quite that advanced yet, the food we had on-board P&O’s Azura, was certainly “Delicious”.

I hope that was what you had in mind when you conjured up your theme for this week Lanny. I’ve created a header with just a few of the delicious delicacies highlighted here. I hope I’ve wetted your appetite a little bit, if so call back soon for more from on-board P&O’s Azura.

In the mean time have a look and see what the other headbangers have come up with for their delicious headers this week. Just follow their links in my right hand menu bar.

See you soon.