Weston-super-Mare Again

I have some more photographs to share from our day in Weston-Super-Mare in England.

We had arrived in Weston-Super-Mare quiet early so had a bit of a wander in the park....

Can you see the squirrel?!  It was quite tame, and came up pretty close a few times. 

Then we walked on over to the beach admiring some humorous graffiti art along the way.

As I said at the start, we had arrived there early and the only other people on the beach at the time were dog walkers.  

Weston-Super-Mare Sand Sculpture Festival

We went to Weston-Super-Mare last week for a change of scenery and to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. 

I have blogged about Weston-Super-Mare before, its a seaside town. And as much as I like eating chips by the sea and licking ice-cream, I am not a beach person in the slightest.  

So I was glad to see something else happening there.  

We had never been to the Sand Sculpture Festival before, so  decided to check it out this year and it was actually quite good.

The theme this year were interpretations of the hypothetical question ...What If ?!  I admit I did not get them all let's see how well you can do?!
We don't stop using plastic,    

Cinnamon Chickpea Tagine and Bedminster Street Graffiti Art 2016 Part 3

Here is final part 3/3 of Bedminster Street Graffiti Art from 2016 that I did not get round to sharing a few years back.  

I know its not to everyones taste - but they do make for interesting viewing.

I haven't been cooking much of late, but I did make this Moroccan Chickpea Tagine from Cornucopia.  You can find the recipe here.  It was quite heady from the cinnamon stick, but nice to eat none the less.

I am sharing my Cinnamon Tagine with Eat Your Greens which is hosted by The VegHog this month as it has some courgettes in it; and My Legume Love Affair, a monthly event celebrating legumes.  Adminsitered by Lisa's Kitchen and co-hosted every month by a different blogger, this month it is Seduce Your Tastebuds. 

Other Tagine style recipes

Chickpea Tagine with Quince

Ms Marmite Lovers Carrot, Pepper and Red Lentil Tagine.  

Moroccan Tagine with Spiced Seed Confetti

North African Tagine

Pumpkin and Apricot Tagine

Winter Vegetable Tagine

John Lennon Mural and Bedminster Street Graffiti Art 2016 Part 2

Here is part 2/3 of Bedminster Street Graffiti Art that I failed to share with my readers a few years back.  

Unlike most graffiti art that disappears when someone paints over it, this one - Best Thing Since Sliced Bread is actually still there. 

This is not graffiti art, but it is street art - embroidery bird and flowers. 

I like this - Press to Reset the World !

This one is pretty cool too, in fact they all are. 

Bedminster Street Graffiti Art 2016 Part1

Many of you were delighted to see the Greta Thunberg Mural, that I thought I would share with you some more graffiti street art from Bedminster in Bristol that I took in 2016, but did not get round to share them.  

As there are so many of them, this is Bedminster Street Graffiti Art Part 1/3

Please note many of the street graffiti art featured on this blog post were not there on our most recently visit. 

Greta Thunberg Mural and Graffiti Street Art in Bedminster Bristol

We went to Bristol on Sunday for a mooch about.

We had also heard that there was a new tribute mural featuring the young Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, so that was another good reason to go to Bristol as we do like checking out the graffiti street art too.   

So we took a slow walk from the city centre to area of Bedminster to see it in person.

This is what else we saw along the way...

Shrewsbury and Itadaki Zen Japanese Vegan Restaurant

After visiting the cathedral city of Herefordshire last month, we drove on to Shrewsbury where we had planned an overnight stay so that we could go to the Shrewsbury flea market the following morning that hosted between 100 - 150 traders selling, a mixture of antiques, collectables, vintage, architectural salvage, reclamation and quirky things. 

Unfortunately when we got into Shrewsbury it was raining heavy with rain and a number of places were closing or already closed.  We wandered in and out of those places, that were still open and of course wandered the streets looking for somewhere to eat that evening, as well as playing tourist in the little time we had. 

A statue of Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury most famous son born in 1809. This statue is situated outside of the library. 

Shropshire writer Mary Webb.

On the banks of the river Severn you will find the Quantum Leap.  An abstract sculpture known by locals as 'The Skinky'.  It celebrates the bicentenary of the birth of Charles Darwin. The slinky measure 40 foot high and 57 feet long. 

We eventually found a place to eat.   Itadaki Zen Japanese Vegan Restaurant, but it was not open until 6pm.  We waited around until it was open, we were fortunate to get a seat without having booked a table. 

St Paul's Bristol Graffiti Art

Regular blog readers will know that D and myself will nip over the Welsh border into England and visit some places we like.  So its no surprise that we ended up in Bristol again.  

We rarely ever go into the city centre as we like visiting and supporting independent places, so this time we decided to take a wander in a part of the city that we have wanted to see for a long while  - St Paul's.  

St Paul's in Bristol has history.  Here's a link to UK Port Cities: District of St Paul's and an article in The Guardian (2016)  about St Paul's  from 2016 to give you some insight.  St Paul's was one of Bristol's first ever suburbs.

Many people know of St Paul's Carnival - a rival to Notting Hill Carnival, but sadly in 2014 it had been halted due to funding. 

Last year I read my fist serious non fiction book in years The Good Immigrant.  I re-read it again early this year and it was a link shared by the writer Nikesh Shukla, to an on-line documentary called Neighbourhoods For Sale that finally reminded me that St Paul's was a part of Bristol I had yet to see.  

Birmingham Bears: Bearmingham - Big Sleuths

We were in the city of Birmingham a couple of weeks ago for a short break.

On the day we were leaving Painted Bear sculptures dubbed as The Big Sleuths were going on display all over the city.  There are over 100, but we managed to see a whole load purely by accident whilst wandering the city centre. 

You can also find the Big Sleuths at the Arcadian, Brindleyplace, Custard Factory, Gas Street Basin, Jewellery Quarter, Sea Life Centre and other locations in the city.  They will be on display until the 17th September 2017.

Let me first introduce you to Bearmingham.

Birmingham Digbeth and Custard Factory Graffiti Art: Part 2

On a recent trip to the city of Birmingham for a short break, not only did we go sight seeing - we also went looking for graffiti art.  

This is part 2 of a selection of what we saw in the city of Birmingham, mostly in Digbeth and in and around the Custard Factory.    To view part one, go to the end of the blog post. 

Birmingham Digbeth and Custard Factory Graffiti Art: Part 1

If your a regular reader of my blog, you will know that I do like graffiti art.

Well on our recent trip to the city of Birmingham for a short break, not only did we go sight seeing - we also went looking for graffiti art.  

Here are a selection of what we saw Birmingham, mostly in Digbeth and in and around the Custard Factory.    

Yes Indeedy I wrote graffiti