Holiday Week End.

                                                                 Holiday Lake District.

The music is on, loud, John Digweed to assist in the before journey dance to get in the mood, not that i do any other mood than Happy.

We set off on our visit to the Lake District, not sure of our exact final destination as we will be meeting up with one of our friends who has defected.

                                               (made up from 2,450 photos of Keswick)

On the trip is 4 of my friends and of course myself, on the way we listen to music and chat. The scenery on the journey is nice and we have the added bonus of blue skies and psychedelic minds. We do stop enroute to eat, drink and stretch our bodies, we also pick up literature travel brochures on various places to visit.
After some hours travelling the scenery changes from lowlands to hilly views till eventually at the lakes area the scenery turns mountainous and nature rules, reaching the Lake District we contact our other friend, she informs us that we could meet at Keswick so without map or sat nav we make our way there. Old Skool .
On arrival were surprised how busy the lake district area of Keswick is and it seems tourism is a major player, we are also surprised to have mobile phone reception and call our friend to arrange a meeting place, finally we see our friend who introduces us to another of her friends we have never met before, although they must be cool as she is so special, can be feisty and i think the inspiration behind the film Brave movie character Meradith. Hugs are nice .
Keswick in the Lake District is beautiful with its hills rolling to begin with then turning into an all encompassing shadowing picture of beauty with its abundance of towering hills as natures beauty cascades in every direction. The people play a vital role here as tourism has over taken the farming industry, the people now hidden amongst the valleys and the districts lakes which are popular with the adventure sports tourists and sight seeing hill walkers as well as water sports enthusiasts.
It was really good to see a friend that you care about but do not see enough of, after introductions we then chat about what has been happening and after not too long we are all relaxed and enjoying the fact that we are all in a nice place with pleasant company, it makes the day even warmer. " And the Sun is shining said Henry the hedgehog" : remembered this phrase from a book when i was very young.
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

                           

We all head off on a wander around the Lake Districts Keswick to discover and perhaps be dicovered. The place is quaint and picturesque with a market on the street and a few tourist attractions and places of interest to visit, while some others explore a museum i explore some shops mostly hill walking shops which lead the way in the style stakes in this district which i think is fit for purpose and have nice garments, the best i seen were to protect from the harsher elements of the weather such as rainproof waterproof clothing by some very good manufactures Keela (munro jacket), DeerHunter (camoflague jacket). Footwear by equally good makers such as Hunter, La Sportiva, Scarpa and Meindl are also available, good footwear is essential.
Some thing that caught my eye apart from the occasional catwalker runway rare flowers, were some well cool inflatables, no not dolls although i did witness one on the back of a lady obviously on her hen night with lots of her friends in tow all dressed up in red and black with adourning horns attached to their heads, the inflatables i was interested in were colourful boats, there were canoes,dingys and kayaks of various colours, red, orange, yellow,black and blue, very handy for accessing the water and being spotted on the lakes, also easy to deflate and pack away to take home with you until the next time you were going boating.  Inflating  .

                         

The designer fashion style here is very much outdoors sports activities style, men and women wearing mountaineering and hill walking clothing matching them with hiking boots, walking shoes or waterproof footwear. The clothing garments being worn suggest outdoor sports so the sporty look is a popular one with many women wearing the skin hugging hill walking attire, also shorts seemed to be much on display but the weather was hot. The men were mostly wearing comfortable walking shoes and an array of outdoor clothes from waterproof trousers made of such a light breathable material they may be worn in heat as well. I did witness some individuals who had not taken to the hill sports style, there was one elderly lady who was exquisitely dressed like a queen, hat and all, although she may of been a local, walking in the housing area of Keswick, another designer fashion style look that i seen was a younger lady with a colour blocking vest top similar to Pucci style bright and colourful and wearing blue denim hot pant shorts on the fuller figure she was rocking them well, another women had bright yellow trousers with a top which was printed on but also had flower embellishments made of a rigid material which motioned with her movement she looked well styled floating on her leaf green high heel shoes. There was not any evidence of women wearing the L.B.D. (little black dress) but the figure hugging white dress was being worn on the main street shopping area and was worked well. Activity led designer fashion style, rock the runway and the air waves.  Wipe-out   .
After sight seeing we had built up an appetite and decided to look for some where to eat and drink with a nice atmosphere. Keswick is not short of pubs which look nice, it was such a nice evening that eating outdoors was looking promising as it is less often done and as so may be more of an occasion appreciated. We take our time and view options before settling on an establishment called "Oddfellows" which suits us well. "Oddfellows" indeed.

Oddfellows is decorated inside with many horse racing pictures and for our party of people the benefit of this place was the beer garden which is a large outdoor area with wooden tables and seats. It has a busy yet friendly relaxed atmosphere and since the weather was so beautiful it makes a change to eat outside.
It feels so pleasant to be here with the company of good friends. Love .
Whilst ordering our food and drink at the bar i ask what meal the bar person could recommend, they respond by saying "everything is good", but after prompting them again they reply with "the lamb henry is the best", "fall off the bone", and so it is ordered, and i must say i was not dissappointed, the lamb was very nice indeed, and as for my friends meals, clean plates all round.  Yummy  .The menu had a good mixed selection of food on offer for a variety of tastes. Oddfellows .
Oh i could just not resist good company, good place, good food. Memories .
During the meal we chat amongst ourselves and also get to know our old friends new found friend, we have discussions from work to designers to fashion to style to cars to music and around again. At one point we were talking about personal grooming and not just the women but men grooming, various views were heard and it goes on to prove that various opinions are neccesary to make the world go around, it would be boring if we were all the same. A difference in opinion does not mean that we cannot be friends.   Interesting  .

It was great to see an old friend and meet a new friend, i am grateful that you took the time to meet up and i do hope we see you soon, take care.

So after goodbye`s we are heading homeward bound in the dark of a summers night, the sky is alight with colours of purple, red and orange as if on fire by catching the last reflection of the summers sun, and we are heading to it`s warmth in the distance, beautiful.