November in the blink of an eye

My November blog was rather delayed as I was able to get compassionate grounds to travel to the Isle of Man. (I hadn't been there for a year and a half) With time feeling like it was of the essence Louie and I packed and we were and travelling people in a pandemic. Which is an experience in itself. The visual to go with that is skeleton staff in Toronto Airport and few passengers, staff moving in slow motion and in London UK mass panic and packed airport, as people frantically try to get to where they need to go before lockdown another imminent shut down.

Since then it seems again that we are back into each week something else happening with some restrictions and flights being cancelled and flight routes being cut. Going to the Isle of Man today would not be possible as they have suspended travel there indefinitely. 

I feel very lucky that I was able to go and it reaffirmed for me how important that little Island in the Irish sea is. 

So here to brighten your day are some of the pictures I managed to take on my visit.

As the plane came through the clouds and the land below revealed itself, a real riot of colours

A socially distanced plane ride

And quarantine awaits. But blue sky to look at

One of our first trips out and we found water

and floats

This is the swing bridge in Ramsey and I just managed to catch a seagull flying low over it

It was a day of amazing views. This is from Ramsey on the East coast of the Island looking at the hills of Cumbria in the Boarders Region of the UK. Louie and I couldn't believe how clear and how the soft  light highlighted the hillsides. Mesmerizing. 

On our freezing walk to the lighthouse we wanted to see how the view behind us looked too.

Just spectacular as the sun starts to descend

This again is just to the right of the lighthouse and the late afternoon is highlighting the green of the fields.

This was a jaunt to Peel on the West Coast and a massive amount of seagulls on a stormy day

So many small streets

and blue skies, all on the same day!

Now we are at the most Southerly point of the Island and grey days seem far away

You might be able to spot Louie hunched down taking photos, with his hood well up! We love this place and we would visit it many many times this trip

Constantly changing and forever special

Yes it is cold and very invigorating! Well that's what I told a Louie!

Rock formations, Louie and behind him a precarious set of stairs!!!

Peel on the West Coast and today it is calm and the water like a mirror. I simply love that indigo of the water

This is wonderful, the harbor masters building, with it's black and white window and the fishing boat. So beautifully reflected and a million miles from the stormy day when we visited before!

The Viking Long Boat race boats stored till next time.

So many seagulls! and they love just standing around

See what I mean

Louie up a hill and enjoying this view below

St Patrick's Isle

Into the Cathedral on St Patrick's Isle. I loved the way the shadows of the arches formed a pattern inside the ruins.

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In Ramsey there are several of these alleys from the main street to the quayside. They are super narrow!!! Louie is being used to show you scale

Some do broaden out

and some have this piece over the top!

There was one day we braved the one way streets and road closing to make it down to Laxey beach. I thought the tree near the beach was very sweet and I especially appreciated the guide ropes, indicating there are windy days down there. Then I spied the camper vans art work, all rather interesting and well worth the drive 

The beach was calm and there were oyster catches

Working at low tide!

and views of the hills on the other side of the sea, so close they felt part of where you were

I think that this is a hooded crow. There were lots on the beach and far to crafty to stay still for long

It felt like a spectacular day and a treat to be there when the tide was out. The old bracken on the hillside just glowed in the afternoon light

Fabulous sky and mirroring water. 

We stopped at the shops on the way home and the sky was just glorious

We also saw lots of mushrooms everywhere!

Louie wanted to visit King Orrys grave, which is amazing that it is so well kept considering that it is some 5000 years old.... pretty cool

And there we found mushrooms too

I saw this down at the quay in Ramsey. Don't you love a good sign

This is the marram grass at Smeale on a super cold day

A very long walk to the beach

Think it's cold? The breeze off the sea felt very arctic

But we stayed long enough for photos

This is looking to the Point of Ayre, the most north point on the Island

This farm house is behind the beach

And yes more mushrooms

On this very cold day they were even playing rugby, Damian's old team Vaggers... hardy peeps. This pitch is right next to the barmy waters of the Irish sea! And yes the light is fading

Here we are for a morning walk along the coast. I loved the colour of the water where there were no rocks, pure turquoise 

I love the scraggily trees 

and yes flowering gorse in November 

and Fushia!

In Port Erin, the South West of the Island I saw this shelter near the beach. Having seen this many times over the years, this was the first time I really looked at it and it's fantastic roof line! So 60's

This is the beach near the shelter and boats all strung up and I thought of the many times I had played on this beach making quick sand! It was fun seeing old haunts and having my travelling buddy along with me. Hard to imagine that Winter is fast approaching. The Island is quite amazing in that it has such a similar climate for months on end, neither very cold or very hot. We did see lots of storms and it did get dark mid afternoon. But we were just happy to be out of quarantine and being able to drive and enjoy the views.