My 3rd Birthday!

Today was my 3rd birthday! I'm 3!
With a friend, I went to Potteric Carr and spent a good proportion of the day there.
It was a really pleasant, warm sunny day, with alot of wildlife begging to be seen and admired.
When we arrived, we found a hide and I had an instant cappuccino.

Not bad for an instant but I do like my Costa Coffee!
It was nice to sit in peace and quiet after the hustle and bustle of Northumberland.

We spotted all the usual residents like the Marsh harrier, Bittern, various waders and of course, the garden/woodland birds. Whilst having an ice cream, we spotted a Hobby, resting in a tree near the Kingfisher Cafe. It was difficult to take a picture of the spectacular new sighting as it was quite a distance away and also a very small bird!

The ice cream was good though!
All too soon it was time to leave the reserve again. See you soon Potteric Carr!
Back home we went where we were welcomed with a spread of miniature party food!

Everything was so small and the room even became a miniature disco!

Once incredibly full on tiny food, we went and watched Mean Girls in our balloon antler hats.

My hat was a little too big... well what do you expect? I'm the same size as one of those balloons!

I even made a new friend who looks a bit like me, Sea Lemon Simba!

Northumberland - Day 4

Today was the last day our our holiday in Northumberland.
We were grateful for the massive room the Black Bull Inn gave us for or time here.

It certainly made it a more comfortable stay having space to walk around in!
Once leaving Wooler, we thought we would go in search for a pleasant walk as the sun was out and the wind had completely died down.
We weren't sure where to go, but we came across some free parking and investigated the beach on the other side of the sand dune.

It was indeed a very pleasant day for a beach walk.
We spotted some nesting Sand martins.

There were some very pleasant views including this small island with a light house perched in the centre.

Further down the beach was evidence of a long lost forest. or at least a wood.

The original tree stumps still stood firmly rooted to the ground whilst the fallen leaf debris had turned to peat and coated each tree stump in a sort of blanket.
It was incredible to see!

A little later on, we looked up and by chance, saw a complete rainbow!
It's not very clear but it was there!

Soon, it was time to wave goodbye to Northumberland; Holy Island, the Inner Farne islands, Kielder forest and Wooler. I Hope I will go back one day, soon, in the near future.

Northumberland - Day 3

Now onto day three!
What a day we had planned!
We worked our way to Seahouses and bought tickets for the Inner Farne boat tour.

The boat ride across was a little bit choppy but all in all wasn't too bad. I didn't even mind the rain!
We had a tour and heard a small bit of history about the cluster of islands we were cruising around.
The seals seemed happy to sea us!

We finally landed at the Inner Farne bird sanctuary, managed by the  National Trust.

Fortunately it was a small island as we only had an hour to investigate and explore this iconic landscape.
In the tiny visitor centre, where the gift shop... shelves... was also, was this cram packed table of natural curiosities.

After having a good look, we went for a walk around the island.
There was one main viewing post from which you could see a decent number of nesting birds. Well, you would've done during spring!

There was even a friendly bird who I said hello to!

And just like yesterday, it was time to leave. All too soon in my opinion.
Back on mainland, I waved goodbye to the boat...

...then went off and found a small tea room.
We noticed they had cherry and almond scones on the menu and as yesterday's were so spectacular, we thought it a wise idea to buy one each again. And what a shock we had when they came...

Never mind!
As we still had the rest of the afternoon, we went over to Bamburgh. Bamburgh has a beautiful beach. Though the wind was a bit annoying, it made it chilly but it didn't put us off!

We went rock pooling and spotted all sorts!

Walking across all the seaweed was interesting too!

As the evening drew longer, it was best to head back to Wooler and grab some food.
We tried the pub and as soon as I saw there was a prawn cocktail on offer, I went for it!

Along side a Chicken curry with home cut chips. Delicious!

After such an exhausting day and a rather large meal, I had a very early night!

Northumberland - Day 2

Today had a very good start indeed! Breakfast was massive!

But besides that, the weather was great. Perfect for a trip to Holy Island of Lindisfarne!
It was only about half an hour away from where we were staying in Wooler so it didn't take long for us to get there!

Once across the causeway, parked and paid, we walked into the village.
The old Priory was quite interesting to look at...

As St Mary's, the parish church, was right next to the Priory, we went in and had a look.
It was a wonderful little church. full of character and peace.

As we entered, we were welcomed by Fenwick Lawson's 'The Journey'. The wooden statue depicts St Cuthbert's sarcophagus being carried by the monks, from Lindisfarne to Durham.

We left the church and went down onto the beach. Everything in the village is only a short walk away from one another.
There were some fantastic sights of the castle.

Walking along the shoreline made it a much more interesting walk!

As we neared the castle, I noticed the pathway full of people. It almost seemed as though they were on a pilgrimage of their own.

At the base of the castle was a man playing the bagpipes. They sound was immaculate!

Round the back of the castle were the old lime furnaces, That was one interesting building...

It wasn't long until we toddled back to the village for a bit of food.
We found a tea room called 'Pilgrims Coffee House'. This place, makes the best cherry and almond scones with homemade jam and cream. I highly recommend this place if you ever go to Holy Island!

The brilliant thing about this place was how eco friendly it was! Biodegradable plates and cutlery and recyclable cups! Brilliant!

After our massive scone and feeding of the sparrows, we went to the home of Lindisfarne Mead. It was an incredible shop, I never knew there were so many variations of Mead!

Unfortunately for us, it was almost time to leave. We didn't want to be trapped on the island from the incoming tide. So off we went, very reluctantly.

Once across safely, we walked back onto the causeway a little to watch the tide come in. It was most odd, you could out walk it but it creeped on like some creature...
Got some fantastic shots of it though!

Holy Island was cut off from the rest of the mainland and for another day, we waved goodbye.

Northumberland - Day 1

Today was the start of my holiday to Northumberland! It was an incredible first day which involved alot of driving...

The day started off with a trip to Kielder Forest in search for Red squirrels!

But first, a coffee and a view!

We went for a bit more of a drive and found a rather nice walk which took you over a rather peculiar bridge.

We spotted all sorts of things along this walk...

Including evidence of red squirrels!

Unfortunately we didn't see any, so off to the Black Bull Inn in Wooler we went!

Everywhere was fully booked but the Co-op was opening!

Bring on day 2!