Prudhoe Castle

Today we took the train out to Prudhoe to see the ruins of a medieval castle.

This was the view as we approached the castle. It has a pond and moat which surround the castle.


Before going into the castle, we had a walk around it first. The backc is surrounded by forests and a very steep hill, which would have helped in the fortification of the site.


The inside of the castle isn't very accessible because so much of it has crumbled but we had a quick wander around.


There is also an old mill on the site of the castle which dates from the 16th century and used to power the village of Prudhoe.

The Angel of the North

On our way home from Beamish, we stopped off at The Angel of the North. It is a sculpture designed by Antony Gormley and is one of the most famous pieces of public art in Britain. It is made of steel and stands 66 feet tall with a wingspan of 177 feet which curve slightly inward so as to make it seem as if it is embracing the surrounding area.

Beamish

Today we spent the day at Beamish Museum. It is an open-air museum in County Durham. It's aim is to show what every day life was like in the North East of England during Edwardian and Georgian times.

The first thing we did was catch the tram. It was originally built in 1900 and was restored to full working order.

We made our way to the old farm house where a rather large pig jumped up to say hello.


Outside the farm house sat an old Newcastle Brown Ale delivery truck.

We went inside the farmhouse and Ricki had a look round the kitchen but decided that she couldn't cook in there.

Then we made our way over to the rail station and we found an old steam roller.

The steam locomotive made an appearance. It was originally built here in Newcastle in 1889 and now takes passengers for a short ride. We were invited inside the locomotive and rode in front of the coal burner and it was very very hot!

Along from the rail station is the main town which is modeled after an early 1900s town. It includes many businesses you'd have found during the period including a sweet shop, a dentist, a solicitor, a bank, a cooperative, a print shop and a masonic hall.

It also has a lot of traditional advertisements

Ricki tried making a withdrawal at the bank but didn't have any luck.

Outside town in the park there was a fair going on which included a steam powered carousel.

Ricki took a few minutes pretending she was Dr. Who

And we had a fun time watching the goats run around the field.

And a horse came up to say hello. I think he though Ricki smelled like food.


By the end of the day we were feeling very tired. We did a lot of walking all over the 300 acre museum.

Harvesting Berries

It is another rainy, dreary day so we decided to stay in an bake this afternoon. We chose a classic British dessert - Blackberry and apple crumble.

We picked the blackberries ourselve from the backgarden.

And came back with a nice big haul.

We peeled 3 dessert apples and cut them into small pieces. These were then sauteed in butter, a little water, brown sugar and cinnamon.

When the apples started to go a little soft, we took them off the heat and gently mixed them together with the blackberries and placed them into a baking dish.
Then we covered the fruit with the crumble mixture: flour, butter and caster sugar


We popped it in the oven for about 30 minutes on gas mark 7 and it came out nice and crisp.


Then we enjoyed!!


It is another rainy, dreary day so we decided to stay in an bake this afternoon. We chose a classic British dessert - Blackberry and apple crumble.

We picked the blackberries ourselve from the backgarden.

Saltwell Park

It has been raining for days on end, but we finally got an afternoon of sunshine and we took advantage of that to spend some time at Saltwell Park in Gateshead.

Crafty Goodness

After our camping adventures we flew back to the UK. Ricki helped me create an apron as a thank you gift for a friend who watched our guinea pigs while we were on holiday.


During her time here, Ricki has also helped with a number of other crafty tid bits. She helped model a headband for my newborn neice...

Helped make a new purse...

And helped knit a new microbe friend to hang out with...