watching my dad "drum"!!!!!

On Saturday, Tony and l went to watch my Dad playing on his Tenor Drum. Some of the group from the "Golden Oldies", RAF Halton Apprentices' Pipe Band, were playing at a "D Day" Memorial Rugby Rugby Afternoon for "Help the Ages" at Aylesbury RFC. For various reasons, such as living overseas for years, l have been unable to watch my Dad play before. This seemed a good time to go and see him, so off we went. We did't tell Dad we were coming, just in case something happened and we couldn't go! He was very surprised to see us but did say he had a slight idea we might turn up...no surprising my dad!

On our way there, we saw this bridge with words on it...l did laugh when l actually realised what was written there........I thought the second word was PEACE.....what the phase actually said was......"Give Peas a chance"..Ha!

This was the charity that the Rugby match was raising money for....it is near RAF Halton after all!

As we were directed into the field for parking, l spied this sign....luckily these were not the offical toliets! Phew!

Tents, rides and food plus the club house were there for our entertainment, as well as my dad and his group and the rugby match! Can you see the old fashioned pram...l love pushing them and also they are so good for babies, as they lie down flat as a new baby!

The "Golden Oldies" praticing before their appearence..way to go Dad!

Ok..now the reason l came today..to see my father playing the drum for the first ever....l was impressed and very proud of him! Also to see the others playing bagpipes and drums!

The next 2 shots show my dad doing "his" thing with his sticks! Wow..what a performance!

The band performing ..great music. Hope to put video on here soon..if l can manage to actually download it on to here..fingers crossed!

Another group helping to raise money for this wonderful cause...Dad's Army putting on a demonstration. My goodness, they were characters!!Take a look at the next few shots!!!!!

Below is a classic "smokes" image!!!

 

British and American troops together!!! Not sure the yellow gloves were army issue!!

Below is some of the things that were on show. A first aid 2nd World War kit and wireless stuff and bullets and "stuff" to blow things up with!

Oh an politicians please note...an Identity Card!!!!

The package below is a german bandage unit, which is much smaller than an english bandage package.

Below is another useful idea for recycle your old baked bean tins!Hax Do not do this at home kids!

Another attraction of the day was the under 7 and 8 year olds Tag Rugby Team....great fun to watch. Future stars in the making!..please note, girls playing too!

Saw this father following his son, with the smallest rugby boots l have ever seen...so cute!

Here are some of the players warming up before the big match..all under 25.

An amazing day was had by all and l got to see my dad play...!

Mr.Owl and a visit to the garden centre.

As it was such a nice day, decided to go for a trip to a garden centre, coffee shop and the National Trust grounds. On the way, l pass this owl and have never been able to stop safely and take an image. Today, l stopped right opposite in the traffic lights queue! Isn't he something old Mr. Owl? He sits there through rain, snow, sunshine and gales and he never moans!

The next image is the little bridge that you cross, to get to the Garden Centre. It is like a Japaness bridge, in the sense it is arched, wooden and then painted in a beautiful blue. Love the shadows.

After we had parked the car, l got out and there in front of the car was this tree. What caught my attention first, was a bird in the tree that l couldn't identify. As l drew nearer, the bird flew away but l noticed something else interesting. There in the bark was a hole, looked inside the hole and wow...an owl? What does it make you think of? 

The below image is another bridge you can cross from another part of the complex. Can you see a duck in the distence? There is a beautiful green on theduck's head? It is so beautiful.

This is the cowshed, a part of the old house that has been kept and revampted! At one time, while l was at Art School, our tutor was trying to arrange for us to do an exhibition here, but it never came to anything. I am going to see if now, as a professional artist, l can get a group of us together and try again. I reckon it could be an amazing place to put a show on in!

At the other end, there is an extra room and these milk churns are on show. I can remember seeing these being delivered to the farm we used to live near, when l was a child. Oh dear..my past is now history!Ha!

There are some old out houses too, that are rented out to different artists to use. One is a potter, who has some of her pottery leaves hanging on show in her window.

The next image is part of a signpost, that shows some more of the attrations available in the grounds.

Here Tony, is looking at the fish in the stream, they were not very big but still visible to the naked eye! Very peaceful spot, that is until some teenage boys turned up with very loud voices! Oh boy, l sound like my mother!!!!

The image below is the river just a few feet away from where Tony was standing!

Just on the other side of the path, is another part of the stream and here adults and children were feeding the fish. I tried for ages to catch a fish coming out of the water to get the bread. They were just TOO quick! But l did get this image of the splash, as the fish went back down again!

In the grounds, is this amazing Water Wheel...so beautiful and the river runs really fast at this point. It seems so unfair that the bridge you see in this image, is unaccessable to the public. Spoil sports!

The power of the water and the under current is shown in the image below. The orange gas cylinder you can see in this image, spent 45 mins being draged under the water and back up again, before the water let it go! Imagine a person trying to get away from that!

The family below were coming into the Park to see the rose gardens, which were just in front of them The colours and the smell of the roses was gorgeous! Must admit this Indian family did add colour to the place. Beautiful colours.

This young man was with his father, riding his machine round the roundabout. Look again...this machine is electric and costs quite a few pennies! To me, he seems too young to be in charge of an electric motor car! What is he.....3? Frightening! 

The last image is of Tony going through the spinning gate into the area that sells tropical fish, tanks and water loving plants. THAT TREAT IS FOR TOMORROW!Ha! I can remember l was very frightened by these sort of gates when l was a child. That was because they were very stiff, could only move forward and not backwards and was also a tight fit , which scared me!