Who wants to see what I've been doing today?

Andy and I decided that today would be a good day for a drive/walk in our local-ish area, so we hopped into the car and drove across the hills outside of Huddersfield to get to....some even bigger hills just outside of Huddersfield. Here's some photos from the trip...I apologise for the quality of them....the rainy/dull weather was bad enough, but ad ontop of that one hungry and impatient woman and......well tis is the result LOL.

On the motorway - the quickest way into the hills. We were only on here for about 4 or 5 miles. See the bridge? Well I have no idea where that goes but I've always wanted to find it and go up there...I bet the views would be fab. To the left of this picture is a reservoir and more hills, to the right is a steep valley.

The first stop was a place called Hollingworth Lake - this was the furthest place on our route, but we were sizing it up for the potential of a summer picnic and walk. This place looked great and we'll definitely be back in the summer.

The birds (at the lake) were funny, but some of them were a bit vicious to each other...pecking and squaking at each other. Second thoughts, maybe this could be the wrong destination for a quiet summer picnic after all LOL.

This picture shows just how cold it is round here....see the lake is still frozen? This lake is about 8 miles from our house.

And here is a photo to make Tonya jealous....see Tonya? It's a border crossing sign LOL.

What amazes me about this area is that you find a really great view and its spoiled by a bloomig great big string of pylons....grrrrrrrrr.

And onwards....another reservoir...

And then a stop at Booth Wood Reservoir, this reservoir is near where we live but we've never stopped here before. This place has some amazing statistics...

But you really wouldn't want to swim here....risk of cardiac arrest the sign says...

Had a nice lunch here. So there you have it....a couple of hours in the life of  Lou & Andy x

This.Is.Bliss

Can I just say I'm almost in heaven right now? Normally I sit at my desk for lunch, but since work got really, really busy (instead of just really busy) after Christmas, I swear I have not had a single lunch time where I have not been interrupted by the phone, an instant message (of the work variety, not MSN) or somebody asking me something and taking up half of my lunchtime. So why do I stay at my desk you might ask. Well really there isn't anywhere else to go, except the staff canteen, and I like peace and quiet at lunch time. That and the fact that I like to answer personal emails and things at lunchtime. Anyway, I digress.....I'm currently sat in the staff car park tinkering with my new toy. Internet access AND peace & quiet...what more could I ask for?

Hey, this netbook even has a camera LOL. See? I really AM sat in the staff car park :)

Boo!

PS: I may even get time to update my blogs now!

Its very nearly Christmas....

...and I'm sooo excited already. I can't wait to be spending Christmas with my family...I don't see enough of them with them living so far away. My closest relatives (my parents) live about 120 miles away and my sister lives about 400 miles away so its really difficult to get everyone together, especially since dad still works full time and doesn't get Christmas off. Mum managed to get Christmas off this year, that must be twice now in the last 10 years...but she is semi-retired so I think its fair she started getting some Christmases off.

Anyway.....onto Christmas, we are going to this event tonight and it sounds really good. I'm so excited because I just LOVE our church choir. We went carol singing with them the other day and I just loved getting to know them better. Unfortunately I am a terrible singer so I have zero chance of EVER making it into the choir *sigh*. I'm looking forward to this Christmas party though :)

We have no tree or decs up yet....anyone else still not got theirs up? I love Christmas but just can't be bothered to unpack that tree.

Its snowing outside again, for the third day running. And they talk about global warming, are they serious? I hadn't seen snow for 13 years before last year. Here's some nice pics of the snow at our house.

A peek into my world

As many of you know I am a mechanical engineer working in a metallurgy lab by day....and a blog designer by night. I am lucky in that I love my job and enjoy working with the most fabulous team.....ever. Anyway - this is a peek into my world - obviously I won't be disclosing the company details and any identifying marks have been removed :)

I took these photos a while ago but just re-discovered them.

I've also included some other random photos....I'll add some more later.

Inspecting a failed component - something that was returned under warranty

Putting a sample into the electron microscope

I love spending the day in a quiet dark room :)

My cat - Meg

My hubby

Me

I love ships and cruising. This was taken last November in the Caribbean

I love sunsets - this one was taken from my study window

One of my favourite places is Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Its a few miles from where I live and its a huge park stuffed full of sculptures.