I was on TV (and a lovely cat picture)

Well, what a surprise!  I was watching a regional news programme last night, called 'Look North', as I usually do and they were showing a film about the Christmas Market and saying how it was one of the best years ever.  There were shots of the Cathedral, the Castle, some stalls and then the Carousel/Roundabout/Gallopers.  Who was there, on the horse, smiling away merrily...me!  Now I think about it, I did spot a large camera but hadn't really taken much notice of it really.  What are the chances of it being focused on me at the very time I was there, on the roundabout? It was a 'blink and you miss it' appearance, but it was great fun!
On the way back from the market, we stopped at a gallery on Steep Hill  called Harding House, http://www.hardinghousegallery.co.uk/ which is an artists' co-operative and always has a wide selection of art and craft work for sale.  We were looking at various prints when one in particular made us both say, "Scruffy!"

It is a print by Alison Read, who creates very quirky printed animals.  Scruffy really isn't that thin, but there is just something about the image that reminded us of him.  She doesn't appear to have her own website, but here are a couple of links to other galleries if you'd like to see more of her work.

http://www.julianjardine.co.uk/alisonread.html
http://www.starkgallery.co.uk/c113-4825-4825/Alison+Read/0

Lincoln Christmas Market

 Chris and I have just got back having been to the Christmas Market here.  It is the last day today and we usually go on the last day as the crowds have eased and things are a little quieter.  However, not so today!  We were jostled, joggled and squashed.  I think this was because we went a little earlier than we normally do, so the crowds were still there.  Last year, the Market was cancelled due to being up to the knees in snow, so people have definitely made the most of this year's event.

 I was happy as I had a ride on the Gallopers which took me back to my childhood.  This was my very favourite fairground ride - and still is!  I sat on the middle one of these three horses.  It really made the visit for me.

The Cathedral looked lovely in the floodlights, despite the building and conservation work currently going on.

 The Bishop's Palace had a Medieval Market in the grounds, but there was a massive queue to get in, so we gave that a miss.  We enjoyed the changing lights projected on the building though.

Looking back towards the Cathedral...

 ...and over to the Castle.  Busy, busy, busy!  I bought a present for my friend in Canada and a little Scandinavian fretwork snowflake for our Christmas tree.

The best thing about getting home - a lovely milky hot chocolate (in a very appropriate mug!) with some chocolate finger biscuits.  Mmm!

Lincoln Christmas Market 2009

Above are some photos I took at the Christmas market last weekend. We went on the last day, assuming that if we timed it right, it wouldn't be so busy. Lots of other people had the same idea, so it was much busier than we thought! I particularly liked the lighting effects on the Bishop's Palace wall. We didn't buy a lot, just a few new decorations.