# Photos  from around my Village today



## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Today it was cold but quite  sunny just 4 degrees C (39 deg f) here...

Took the camera out with me and snapped a few photos of my tiny village thought you might like to see some..








This is a small farm on the edge of the village, on the other side of the hedge wall is the lane which leads to my house..


This is the tiny Village green in the centre of the village with the Bus stop ( the little hut), and the phone box next to it..


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

We have a river which runs through the village, and this is the rear of my neighbours' house with the river and the little waterfall


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## Vivjen (Jan 19, 2015)

Lovely, Holly...


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Wider shot of the Village Green







Close up shot of the Bus stop and phone box..


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Thanks VJ...


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## SeaBreeze (Jan 19, 2015)

Beautiful photos Hollydolly, thanks for sharing them with us! :love_heart:


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## Lady (Jan 19, 2015)

it reminds me of the village i use to live in , we are so lucky to  still have small villages ,Everyone probably knows each other .,and there's a community feel
Is that a railway Carriage in the garden of one .?


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## NancyNGA (Jan 19, 2015)

Beautiful pictures, Hollydolly.  Love the architecture and the bridge.  

Do you know what kind of (green) grass is growing there?  Fescue?  Do you mow it in the winter?


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Thank you all..  Yes Lady..it's a railway carriage in my neighbours' garden 

Nancy I do not have any idea what type of grass is growing on the green I suspect it's the creeping red fescue . The council mows it on a regular basis


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## Falcon (Jan 19, 2015)

Beautiful pics Hollydolly.  Thanks for sharing.


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## AZ Jim (Jan 19, 2015)

Wow!  What a great little village and good photos too.  In your last photo I saw something we just don't seem to have anymore, a public telephone booth.


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Thanks Falcon and Jim.

yes Jim , although the majority of red phone boxes have gone from the towns and cities (except London) there's still thousands dotted around the country mainly in the villages and in remote outlying areas for example in the highlands of Scotland .. many have had the actual phone taken out and are used as decoration..one village not far away has converted theirs into a tiny library..LOL..some are full of flowers...but ours and the surrounding close villages all still have working telephone boxes.


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## AZ Jim (Jan 19, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Thanks Falcon and Jim.
> 
> yes Jim , although the majority of red phone boxes have gone from the towns and cities (except London) there's still thousands dotted around the country mainly in the villages and in remote outlying areas for example in the highlands of Scotland .. many have had the actual phone taken out and are used as decoration..one village not far away has converted theirs into a tiny library..LOL..some are full of flowers...but ours and the surrounding close villages all still have working telephone boxes.



The one containing the library must only hold one copy of this:

                                              The thickest published book measures 322 mm (12.67 in) in width and was  unveiled by HarperCollins in London, UK, on 20 May 2009. All Agatha  Christie's Miss Marple stories - 12 novels and 20 short stories - are  collected and published in this volume.  The book contains 4,032 pages and weighs 8.04 kg. There are 68 crimes  committed; 11 philandering lovers; 68 secrets and lies; 22 false  accusations; 59 red-herrings and 21 romances. In all, 43 murders are  solved: 12 poisonings; 6 strangulations; 2 drownings; 2 stabbings; a  burning; one blow to the head; one death by an arrow and 2 people  pushed. 143 cups of tea are drunk in the massive volume, there are 66  maids and 47 garments are knitted. 500 copies of this limited edition  record-breaking book will be produced and they will retail at £1,000  each. 

                                      Records change on a daily basis and are not  immediately published online. For the most up to date record  information, we welcome your questions via Facebook or Twitter.
 					Comments below may relate to previous holders of this record.


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

LOL... you would be surprised at how much they hold..

This is not the one near us...but one of the many that have been converted..


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## AZ Jim (Jan 19, 2015)

I AM surprised!!!


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

They're quite roomy inside you see..


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

This is the next village  about a mile away...as you can see the phone is still in use..


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## AZ Jim (Jan 19, 2015)

The proliferation of cell phones pretty much wiped out our phone booths.  They used to provide a break from a sudden downpour.


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Well we also have millions of cell phones here too.... funnily enough the home  landline seems to have suffered even more than the public phone box..


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## AZ Jim (Jan 19, 2015)

I have both Landline and Cell.  Both are subject to interruption by many means.


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## Josiah (Jan 19, 2015)

So very charming. Thanks


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## Jackie22 (Jan 19, 2015)

Holly, your photos are lovely and the area you live in is beautiful with the emerald green and lush landscape....thanks for taking the time to post.


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Thank you Josiah and Jackie for your lovely comments..


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## oakapple (Jan 19, 2015)

Nice pics Holly. Wish we had a bus shelter in our village. Thankfully the phone box provides a shelter for us, in fact Mr Oakapple and myself waited for the bus into Oxford in the [discontinued] phone box yesterday.


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## AprilT (Jan 19, 2015)

Very nice pictures Holly, the one pic made me think of an old spot I used to wait for the bus, on my way to school, in my old hometown in New Rochelle NY, they had a little wait area similar to that, but that was some 40 years ago, not sure if that one particular spot still exist sort of a fond memory.  Very lovely photos all around.


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## Meanderer (Jan 19, 2015)

Very nice pictures Holly!  Hope you never replace the red phone booths!  I gotta go... my bus is here!

View attachment 13228


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## Cookie (Jan 19, 2015)

Holly, what marvelous shots of your village.  How lucky you are to live in such a beautiful place.  It reminds me of some of the setttings on the Midsomer Murders tv show that I recently watched. And it looks like it was a beautiful day for a walk, too.  Thanks for showing us your little town.


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## hollydolly (Jan 19, 2015)

Thankyou all for your lovely comments.


Meanderer, no double decker buses come through_ this _village...we're lucky to see one little country bus a day


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## SifuPhil (Jan 19, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> ... There are 68 crimes  committed; 11 philandering lovers; 68 secrets and lies; 22 false  accusations; 59 red-herrings and 21 romances. In all, 43 murders are  solved: 12 poisonings; 6 strangulations; 2 drownings; 2 stabbings; a  burning; one blow to the head; one death by an arrow and 2 people  pushed. 143 cups of tea are drunk ... there are 66  maids and 47 garments are knitted ...



Sounds like my 18th birthday party. 


That's a beautiful little village you have there, Holly.


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## RadishRose (Jan 19, 2015)

Love the photos, love the village, thanks!!


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## Ameriscot (Jan 19, 2015)

Lovely village, Holly!


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## Pam (Jan 20, 2015)

Lovely photos, enjoyed the mini tour.


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## hollydolly (Jan 20, 2015)

Thank you everyone glad you enjoyed them ... We're very lucky because we live in the countryside surrounded by many little villages and hamlets yet  with rivers and boating here as well, and close to a small market town.. and yet only 20 miles from central London.

I'll get around to making an album in the gallery soon, and you can see the diversity of it even tho' it's just a small area.


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## Ken N Tx (Jan 20, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> Beautiful photos Hollydolly, thanks for sharing them with us! :love_heart:





NancyNGA said:


> Beautiful pictures, Hollydolly.  Love the architecture and the bridge.
> 
> Do you know what kind of (green) grass is growing there?  Fescue?  Do you mow it in the winter?





Falcon said:


> Beautiful pics Hollydolly.  Thanks for sharing.





Ameriscot said:


> Lovely village, Holly!


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## Bee (Jan 20, 2015)

Beautiful Holly..............I just love the English country villages.


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## Ken N Tx (Feb 28, 2015)

Great pics..Here is a town not far from me, did not change much over the years!!
.


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## hollydolly (Feb 28, 2015)

Looks almost exactly the same Ken apart from the cars..and the telephone lines..how many years between the 2 pictures?


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## Ken N Tx (Feb 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Looks almost exactly the same Ken apart from the cars..and the telephone lines..how many years between the 2 pictures?



I found the old photo on the web, guessing in the 1930's..The people are gathered around the grand opening of an auto dealership. (antique store now).


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## oldman (Feb 28, 2015)

How much do one of those beautiful homes sell for in your village? BTW, your village looks similar to some of the smaller villages in Connecticut and Massachusetts, minus the phone booth.


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## rkunsaw (Feb 28, 2015)

Picturesque village Holly. Small villages or country living is the best.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

rkunsaw said:


> Picturesque village Holly. Small villages or country living is the best.



Very true!  Couldn't agree more.


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## hollydolly (Feb 28, 2015)

Blimey ken that's about 90 years old and hardly any changes.

RK thank you our villages around here are small and very close to each other and just as picturesque as each other 

Oldman as for the cost of the houses it very much depends on the square footage...some are pretty huge and others very small...but an average price for a 3 bedroom one bathroom house in this village  with a 1/4 acre garden would be around £350,000 ....the bigger ones around £ 1.5 to 2 million . We pay huge premiums on property  for being so close to London for commute.

I could buy a similar house to mine just 100 miles North and get it for around 1/2 what mine costs


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Blimey ken that's about 90 years old and hardly any changes.
> 
> RK thank you our villages around here are small and very close to each other and just as picturesque as each other
> 
> ...



And my area even cheaper.  We aren't convenient for anyone who is still commuting to work.


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

I've looked around but only seem to have a couple of photos from when I lived in your area, Holly.  I did love being a short train ride away from London.  But Scotland suited me much better.  

From the window of our flat:


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## hollydolly (Feb 28, 2015)

Well that village is one I know well Annie...it's about 10 or 15 minutes drive away and I know exactly that sleeve of the river where the yachts are moored.. I have lots of photos of it...

That village as you know has a train station making it easy to just hop on and straight into London...yet our village has no train station at all  (more rural) yet our properties are much more expensive than SA the village you lived in ( you would think with close proximity of the train station it would be the opposite way around)...In this village and the next we have quite a few well known TV and music celebrities as neighbours..


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Well that village is one I know well Annie...it's about 10 or 15 minutes drive away and I know exactly that sleeve of the river where the yachts are moored.. I have lots of photos of it...
> 
> That village as you know has a train station making it easy to just hop on and straight into London...yet our village has no train station at all  (more rural) yet our properties are much more expensive than SA the village you lived in ( you would think with close proximity of the train station it would be the opposite way around)...In this village and the next we have quite a few well known TV and music celebrities as neighbours..



We didn't need an alarm clock.  The rumble of the first train in the morning woke us up!  This was flat he found when he split up with his wife.  She stayed in their house, and he kept their house in Scotland.  Good choice!

SA is a charming village but had no real shopping except a wee Co-op.  Fortunately, the Tesco in Hertford had one right next to the train station.  I had my first temp job in The City.  Hated it!  So I started temping in Hertford which was very convenient.

The rich end of Enfield, where hubby was headie, has a lot of celebs.  Our claim to fame here is we have Emma Thompson as a neighbour.  Her mum is in the village next to ours. And we've had Julia Roberts and Kate Winslett visit.  We suspect they stayed at Emma's house.


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## hollydolly (Feb 28, 2015)

Hertford is my closest town...but I rarely shop there..BTW Waitrose is closing down and moving to Van Hages'  garden centre at Ware..  Waitrose was my very first part-time job when my daughter was old enough to go to nursery , they were brand new and had just opened 

Tesco is now a 24 hour store...

I do most of my grocery shopping in Welwyn Garden city which has a huge Sainsbo now..John lewis, Debenhams  M&S, Morrisons etc..


Incidentally I was in SA only a few days ago...the Red Lion pub at the end of the high street is now an Italian restaurant as well as still remaining a pub...it's really nice now..and great food too..


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Hertford is my closest town...but I rarely shop there..BTW Waitrose is closing down and moving to Van Hages'  garden centre at Ware..  Waitrose was my very first part-time job when my daughter was old enough to go to nursery , they were brand new and had just opened
> 
> Tesco is now a 24 hour store...
> 
> ...



We didn't have a car when we lived there so took the train everywhere.  Hub gave it to stepdaughter to use in Scotland to get to university.  I haven't been to SA since I came up here in 2001.  We visit Enfield sometimes to see people at hub's old school.  

My stepdaughter lived for a few years in Hitchin and in Welwyn Garden City. 

You know how huge Dunoon is, right?!  We have a Morrisons.  And a Co-op.  That's it.  But fortunately Morrisons expanded a few years ago and is 100% better with a lot more options.


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## hollydolly (Feb 28, 2015)

Morrisons much make things a whole lot easier for you...I hate the co-op... 

Hitchin I know very well..I was over there a at letchworth and hitchin a couple of weeks ago..
Enfield is a dump...one of the most deprived suburbs of London among many others ..and very crime ridden. I wouldn't live there if I was homeless...but thank goodness for decent school teachers/Head masters  like your o/h who at least tried to give them a  decent education .


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## Ameriscot (Feb 28, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Morrisons much make things a whole lot easier for you...I hate the co-op...
> 
> Hitchin I know very well..I was over there a at letchworth and hitchin a couple of weeks ago..
> Enfield is a dump...one of the most deprived suburbs of London among many others ..and very crime ridden. I wouldn't live there if I was homeless...but thank goodness for decent school teachers/Head masters  like your o/h who at least tried to give them a  decent education .



I haven't seen it but apparently one area of Enfield is rich.  My hub was headteacher at an EBD school.  So it was challenging. Classes had 8 students each.  Very high staff to student ratio. He loved the job and did not want to retire early.


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## Capt Lightning (Mar 3, 2015)

Above: My village in approx 1920 when the war memorial had just been erected.  The large house to the right is now mine.
Below: This is what it looks like today.  All the amenities have gone and it is really just a collection of houses.   However, that makes it cheaper!  If you want to live nearer Aberdeen city,then the prices rocket.  Not as dear as London, but £400k - £500k for a modern detached house within the commuter belt.






This is the view from the south of the village towards Bennachie (the hill of the breast).


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

Nice to have old photos, Capt. I wish we could find some of my house, but I've only seen them of the old Victorian ones.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

Nice looking village.  I don't think I'd like living that close to the street though.  Not much setback.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

I can't find any old photos of my village.  But I can find a lot from our nearest town and also a rural pub/restaurant/inn down the road from us about 8 miles. 

http://www.whistlefieldinn.co.uk/pages/our-history.html





Our nearest town: 1890


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## Capt Lightning (Mar 3, 2015)

True Jim, but the village was founded in 1764 and the older traditional houses are between 100 and 200 years old.  In those days you didn't worry much about traffic - just the occasional horse and cart!  The houses were generally built on plots of 1/4 acre which was mainly behind the house and used for growing vegetables.  It may not be the prettiest village, but the surrounding countryside and coast is very  picturesque.

This pic was taken from just outside the village.


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## Bee (Mar 3, 2015)

Lovely photos Capt.Lightning and Ameriscot.

This is the seafront where I live.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

Fab photos everyone..

Jim this is a small island with a huge population...very few people here probably less than 5% have any acreage to their land... 

To give you an idea of size...the whole of the UK..that is Northern  Ireland, Wales , England and scotland is slightly smaller than Oregon

Oregons' population is approximately 3.8 million...the population of the UK is approx 64 million...so you can see there's not a lot of spare room for large houses with lots of land.. 

Those of us who live in rural and semi rural areas..are very fortunate as space is at a major premium here..

In cities and towns, the population stands at around 300 people per square mile

The rural population stands currently at less than 10% of the 64 million


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

Nice photos, Bee.


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## SeaBreeze (Mar 3, 2015)

Very nice photos guys!  :coolpics:


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Fab photos everyone..
> 
> Jim this is a small island with a huge population...very few people here probably less than 5% have any acreage to their land...
> 
> ...



I believe my county is one of the least dense in Scotland.  The largest town in the county is the one near me and the population for the town itself is only about 10,000.  

The UK may be small but it doesn't feel like it when you are traveling, Scotland especially as every road winds around all the lochs.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

SeaBreeze said:


> Very nice photos guys!  :coolpics:



Thanks, although I can't take credit for the ones taken in 1890.  I'm not quite that old.


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## Bee (Mar 3, 2015)

Thanks SeaBreeze and Ameriscot.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> I believe my county is one of the least dense in Scotland.  The largest town in the county is the one near me and the population for the town itself is only about 10,000.
> 
> The UK may be small but it doesn't feel like it when you are traveling, Scotland especially as every road winds around all the lochs.




I know AS...but as you know when you get into the towns and cities it's whole different ball game isn't it?


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## Ken N Tx (Mar 3, 2015)

Great photos everyone!!!!


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

Capt Lightning said:


> True Jim, but the village was founded in 1764 and the older traditional houses are between 100 and 200 years old.  In those days you didn't worry much about traffic - just the occasional horse and cart!  The houses were generally built on plots of 1/4 acre which was mainly behind the house and used for growing vegetables.  It may not be the prettiest village, but the surrounding countryside and coast is very  picturesque.
> 
> This pic was taken from just outside the village.
> 
> View attachment 15254



Well, Capt it's lovely country and I'd take my chances with the traffic to live in that history and beauty.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> I know AS...but as you know when you get into the towns and cities it's whole different ball game isn't it?



Totally different! The ones who are lucky enough to have a garden have one the size of a postage stamp.  In some places you never see a detached house. I'm not a city girl and it would be a nightmare for me to live in a city again.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Fab photos everyone..
> 
> Jim this is a small island with a huge population...very few people here probably less than 5% have any acreage to their land...
> 
> ...



That makes sense Holly, I love your country.


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

Not one mention of "Nessie".....I'm disappointed.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> That makes sense Holly, I love your country.




Well you'd be very welcome to come here any time..


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> Well you'd be very welcome to come here any time..



It's just not in the cards for me anymore Holly.  I always enjoy your photos though.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

AZ Jim said:


> It's just not in the cards for me anymore Holly.  I always enjoy your photos though.




I know that Jim...it's a big  shame, but I'm glad we can bring a little bit of it to you...and believe me I have thousands from all around the UK and the continent... so you might get fed up before i did if I started posting them LOL..


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> I know that Jim...it's a big  shame, but I'm glad we can bring a little bit of it to you...and believe me I have thousands from all around the UK and the continent... so you might get fed up before i did if I started posting them LOL..



Never happen.  Post away.  I'm still thinking about that "little" library you posted some time ago.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

LOL in the phone box?...yes it's fun... well it's late now but I'll find more to post tomorrow...this is turning into a lovely thread with everyone's pretty photos..


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> I know that Jim...it's a big  shame, but I'm glad we can bring a little bit of it to you...and believe me I have thousands from all around the UK and the continent... so you might get fed up before i did if I started posting them LOL..



I sense a UK photos thread on the horizon. I've got zillions.


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## hollydolly (Mar 3, 2015)

I've Just had a look annie...I have 24 thousand...plus...


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## AZ Jim (Mar 3, 2015)

WOW!!!!!!  Looking forward to my imaginary trip to the UK!!!!


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## Ameriscot (Mar 3, 2015)

Great, Jim! Tomorrow as its nearly 10pm here.


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## Cookie (Mar 3, 2015)

Very pretty village pictures AS and Capt. Lightning.  Must be wonderful to be close to the sea..... the countryside is beautiful.  

Is it all built on higher ground or do you get occasional flooding?


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## Ameriscot (Mar 4, 2015)

Cookie said:


> Very pretty village pictures AS and Capt. Lightning.  Must be wonderful to be close to the sea..... the countryside is beautiful.
> 
> Is it all built on higher ground or do you get occasional flooding?



I'm on a sea loch - flows to the Atlantic. Some water may splash up on the road but no flooding. Our house is also up a small hill.


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## hollydolly (Mar 4, 2015)

A couple of photos from the medieval festival at our village a couple of years ago..


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## Cookie (Mar 4, 2015)

You may well laugh, but these people look like they mean it.


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## hollydolly (Mar 4, 2015)

Well they were having great fun...some of them had a jousting contest as well on horseback...nice family day out ..


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## Cookie (Mar 4, 2015)

Looks like fun.  We have a Renaissance festivals all over Ontario, a good show, people dress up in medieval costumes, have jousts and a great time too.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 4, 2015)

Nice photos, Holly.  I've been to Renaissance festivals in the US and loved them.  In fact have a tiny pic of me being hugged by a joker type.  From the 90's and had to be scanned of course.


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## hollydolly (Mar 4, 2015)

LOL good photo AS..


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## Ameriscot (Mar 4, 2015)

hollydolly said:


> LOL good photo AS..



Had a great time.  The joker was saying something like 'ohhh I want to keep this one'!  I've still got the pewter wizard I bought there somewhere.


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## Cookie (Mar 4, 2015)

Here's a few from our fairs...


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## vmathena (Mar 4, 2015)

I want one of these!  Love it!


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## hollydolly (Mar 4, 2015)

Did you take those photos Cookie..they are very good..


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## Ameriscot (Mar 4, 2015)

They are good action shots, Cookie!


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## Cookie (Mar 4, 2015)

http://oxfordrenfest.ca/

Not mine, holly, winners of photo context at Oxford Renaissance Festival in Woodstock, Ontario.  Fun.


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