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Just a quick note to link my recent pictures from my trip to Seville. I will check in later to write a proper blog...

It was the first day of mums holiday today, and we were off to a busy start with the gas man servicing the boiler. We then had a few more jobs to complete including a trips to the tip, library and bank before we were on our way to Bolsover. It's not very far away but neither of us had ever been before and given the blue skies and sunshine I was keen to get out and about. You can see the castle from quite a distance before you get there as Bolsover it located at the top of a steep hill, so finding it was no problem, parking on the other hand was a little more difficult. The main car park seems to be fairly tiny and located just off the high street right next to a weatherspoons, consequently it was full, as were the other three car parks that we found as we did loops of Bolsover. Just as we were about to give up and call it a day, we finally managed to secure a place in some additional castle parking that mum spotted based just a little further down from the castle entrance - hooray!

The castle is managed by English Heritage so members get in free - unfortunately me and Dani let our membership lapse this year as we found that we weren't using it enough, but it was a pretty fair £10.80 adult entry so not too bad. The castle looked pretty picturesque in the sunshine and commands a splendid view of the surrounding areas; it was a very clear day and you could see for miles.

We sat and ate some lunch enjoying the view and then spent the afternoon having a good walk around. There were lots of kids about dressed up for haloween as they were due to be running a "Haloween Specatular" event later in the evening. Feeling pretty knackered we headed back. I'm glad we went and it's most certainly worth a revisit! 

The weather today was pretty mild with even a bit of blue sky and sunshine. I decided to head over to National Trust, Clumber Park for a bit of walk about and to make the most of the weather. The park is just outside Worksop so pretty close to my mums, but I think it's been a pretty long time since I've been. I certainly hadn't appreciated just how massive the place is.

There are trails off in every direction, but in the end I settled for a fairly conventional walk around the lake which as it turns out is miles further than I thought (about 4 miles infact). The autumnal colours were wonderful and I managed to get a few more photos for the half term album. All in all a great day out and definitely worth a revisit next time we're up this way!

Half term has arrived and it brought strom Brian with it so we've had a bit of wind and rain. The half term celebrations kicked off with staff bowling on Friday night, and despite a few delays on the Picadilly line, we got there kind of in time. I was playing for team Admin after a poor turn out from the department and Dani was playing for team English. Sadly team English finished last (hehe). Anyway staff do done, it's on with the break, Dani's off in Seville for the week with her parents and I'm having a few days out and about in the north.

So far I've been playing with Lego (pictures to follow) and generally geeking about with some website stuff. The weather was looking a bit friendlier today so I had a little trip up to Leeds to catch up with Tom. I had a cheeky drive past our old house to check it was still there - nothings changed seemingly. Tom and I ended up at the Toby carvery after finding the Whitehouse full of people (on Tuesday afternoon? Does nobody have to work!?). I also found some time for a quick trip around Roundhay Park which was looking just as spectacular as usual. Leeds city council were being super organised getting the bonfire wood stacked up for bonfire night in a few weeks time! Anyway was a little late back to pick up mum after a bit more traffic on the M1 than expected, but on the plus side might have got a bit more Lego - don't tell Dani! Cheerio for now!  

So we re-filled the bird feeder this morning and about 2 hours later after a constant stream of birds it's almost empty again. To be fair most of the birds were very patient waiting on the fence or in the tree until it was there turn, that is except for the pair of nuthaches that basically just hustled and bolstered their way straight to the fron of the queue. Made for some nice pictures though so I guess I don't mind too much!