MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS DARLING DARLINGS CAT LOUNGE...

 During our recent trip to Great Yarmouth we popped into Darling Darlings Cat Lounge, on Marine Parade, for a cappuccino.

😻

The place is super-kitsch and opened in 2017; its mission to provide trained therapy cats, as it's known that spending time with our domestic feline friends is a great way to reduce stress and anxiety.  As cats of any kind are my favourite animal I just could not resist coming in here, and it didn't disappoint. 

Here is the till area...

The vintage/ retro decor has thingumajigs which span from the 1950s to the 1990s, and there are plenty of pussycat-themed items splashed around.

This photo was taken whilst me 'n' the SuperDean were seated at our table...

To the right of this photo is the main door, which is a locked grille, very wisely situated so that the pussies cannot run out onto the road and end up as flat cats.

That's what happened to our little ginger and white cat when I was a kid.  After that my mother refused to have another cat, as we lived on a main road and she didn't want the heartbreak again.

The back end, down by the kitchen is a 1980s time capsule lounge, playing fantastic songs from that area.  We only had our coffees and a sausage roll to eat, although the cakes on display did look tasty...

Dance Yourself Dizzy, a 1980 hit for Liquid Gold was thundering through the speakers as I passed through, en route to the human litter trays at the back.

It was one of my favourite records from that era and took me right back...😁

Leopard print abounded, and thankfully I wasn't wearing any on this day, otherwise the pussies might not have interacted with me!😉

I love, love, LOVE this chair!

*WANT*

I did keep referring to this place as The Pussy Lounge, which is something entirely different...😉

The oldest is Coconut, who is a British Blue of seven with lovely yellow amber eyes.  He is a tripod, having only three legs- one of his hind legs had to be amputated after it was caught in an illegal trap in someone's garden.

I have to say, I only saw him seated- he was Dean's favourite puss and, in true cat character, he was busy resting...

Funnily enough, Kim, the British Blue who lived next to us when I was a kid survived the main road (maybe because she was a large cat who didn't care to roam too far away from the fridge- at Christmas time she would meow at its door constantly, as she knew there was a turkey inside...😁)

The day we moved in my mum said, 'Oh look- they've got a lovely grey cat next door.'  Then she placed our open fish tank, with Cleo the goldfish on the ground, and we went away to collect more stuff from the old house.  When we came back the fish was nowhere to be seen, and Kim was sat atop her wall, licking her paws.  She was a hungry puss, who once caught a seagull!

Teddy, the beautiful green-eyed tabby is five and he was my favourite.  He has hydrocephalus and epilepsy, so is on medication for life.  He is also visually impaired.  Photography is allowed but not with a flash, as that can trigger seizures in both humans and animals alike.

Here he is, in his egg chair.  He did bother to wake up and give me some attention, but he snores when he's asleep (a bit like me...)

He- along with his siblings- was destined to be used as dog bait until he was rescued (I just don't get the mentality of some people...😒)

He was the first cat to be trained as a therapy cat, and has made visits to schools, care homes and private houses.

Stanley is the grey and white fur bundle between the white railings and is two-years-old, and his mum was feral.  He is quite a tiny cat and has a wheat and gluten allergy. 

He is in what, in cat terms, is his adolescent period.  He spent most of the time we were there just staring out at the food being prepared in the kitchen.  Another typical moggy!

Maverick and Ernie, the hairless pussies, are both Sphynx cats.  Their baldness is a naturally occurring genetic mutation and here (or should that be hair?!) they are, huddled on their favourite chair.

Ernie is the youngest, at ten months old, and here he is enjoying the cat run.  His breed is also known as the Canadian Hairless, and he's the more commonly known type of Sphynx...

Maverick is the Donskoy variation of a Sphynx (also knows as a Russian Hairless), and he's the white fella at the top.  On this day he wasn't as playful as his hairless mate.

Both cats were beautifully soft when you stroked them...💓

Cartoon cat plushies also live here, and Garfield is sitting behind the keyboard.  I think my favourite cartoon cat is probably Top Cat, although I reserve a special ball of love for Tom...

A duck and a pigeon at the Venetian Waterways, taken another day.  I love the way the azure dye in the water gives the place an authentic, elegant ambience...

 I have blogged about the regeneration of the waterways before.  This post shows them during 2018, as a work in progress:-

http://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2018/05/miss-elaineous-visits-venetian.html

The duck decided to pose for me...

A swan and a pen with the water in the background.  You can hire pedalos on this boating lake if you want.  We didn't- imagine paying to hire a boat and then having to pedal it yourself- on yer bike!  Give me something with an engine!

Swans mate for life.  This was the last day of our holiday and possibly the most relaxing.  We also took a carriage ride down the seafront 💓 (a first for me) and the weather was really nice.

Looking back whilst standing on the final (and I think highest) bridge on the way out.

I have included some details and photos of the redeveloped waterways here, in my largest Great Yarmouth blog:-

http://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2019/09/miss-elaineous-visits-great-yarmouth.html

I took this as photo of Vauxhall Bridge as we walked into town one day.  It's right near the railway station and dates back to 1850, being rebuilt in 1887.

Looking the other way, down the River Yare...

We stayed at Vauxhall Holiday Park for the first time.  It is beautifully tended, and here is the cute fountain which sits by the entrance gates.

We popped into the town centre (our holiday park was walking distance from the town centre, so therefore easily accessible for those like us who don't drive) one evening.  We had hoped to catch the illuminations, but were a tad too early.

You can make out some of the different colours going down the seafront, though...

On the way to Great Yarmouth we were lucky enough to end up on a train that took the Berney Arms route.  It is a request stop, and the train stopped long enough for me to take photos...

Berney Arms consists of a windmill and a pub.  The pub closed in 2015, and reopened in 2020 as a bistro...

Here's a cropped view.

The area is part of The Broads, and is close to Breydon Water...

The area is only accessible by foot, bike, rail or boat, and here's a different angle as we passed around it.

We have seen it before, when we visited Burgh Castle a few years back.  Here is my blog link:-

http://elainerockett.blogspot.com/2018/10/miss-elaineous-visits-burgh-castle.html

Great Yarmouth (and Darling Darlings Cat Lounge) I will return.

Until then...

Meow!

The Miss Elaineous

xxxxx

xxx

x

😻

MISS ELAINEOUS VISITS MIDDLESBROUGH...

I recently visited Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, for my much-delayed graduation ceremony, having gained an MA in Creative Writing with Teesside University as a distance learning student.  I hadn't been to Yorkshire since 1979 when I visited Butlin's Filey as a kid, so I was a tad excited.

 

On the way, high on the hill near Thirsk, is the Kilburn White Horse (I only realised this when I heard the guy sitting in the seat behind me mention it to his friend).  It is the white blob in the centre of the photo.

It is said to be the largest and most northerly hill figure in England, and is 318 feet (97m) long by 220 feet (67m) wide.  It was created in 1857, by exposing the underlying sandstone base and covering that with white limestone chips.

Here's a PDF of what it looks like when it's properly photographed...

The pleasant view from our hotel window.

This area was once well-known for its steel production, until that industry (and British manufacturing in general) began its sad decline in the 1980s.  Way in the distance you can see a chimney gushing out smoke.  There are still some factories, producing various goods, operating in the area.

The Riverside Stadium, the home of Middlesbrough FC, is visible in the centre of the photo.

The low afternoon light was really interesting in this part of the world- moody skies with shafts of brilliant late afternoon sun...

Look at the way the sun gives this reflective road sign a ghostly glow!

This resulted in this ethereal reflection on our hotel room ceiling.🌈

I love the iridescent rainbow colours.🌈

The view from outside the railway station, and at the end of the road veering off to the right of the building is Port Clarence, which is on the banks of the River Tees.

Looking north from the station, and this was a rather elegant part of the town.  From 1974-1996 the town was considered part of Cleveland, until that county was abolished.  You still see references to Cleveland across the town. 

The Albert Bridge was designed by William Peachey, North Eastern Railway's chief architect.  Apparently it has "N.E.R. 1874" inscribed somewhere on it, although I didn't see this.

It's not to be confused with the Royal Albert Bridge, which was designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, and which spans the River Tamar from Plymouth, Devon to Saltash, Cornwall.

On our initial walk to find out where my university is we came across this brilliant bottle sculpture.  It's by married couple Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen and is called Bottle of Notes, and was unveiled in 1993.  The bottle is designed to slant; as if it had become stuck in the sand after a wave had struck it and receded.

It is crafted in steel, reflecting the area's rich steel production and fabrication heritage, and stands outside the Middlesbrough Institution of Modern Art (MIMA).

These crystal clear fountains are behind Middlesbrough Town Hall.

It's funny the way the mind can resurge memories- when standing by these and breathing in their chlorine smell, I couldn't help but be reminded of the lovely fountains which stood sentinel at both ends of the outdoor pool at Butlin's Filey.  It was 1979 when I visited there, and the holiday camp's long gone.  But its location was further down the coast in Yorkshire, so maybe it's that association which triggered my nostalgia...

The Middlesbrough Empire sits near the town hall, and is a theatre which opened in 1897.  It's also the official venue of Teesside University, which is very close by.

Middlesbrough Town Hall, and this version was opened in 1889.  Part of the building is given over to municipal functions and the other part is used as an entertainment venue.

Approaching the town hall from the town, and the building is lit up at night.  But the evening photo I took came out blurry (I may have been a tad tipsy, following celebrations...😉)

Street view, and this town has bid- and failed- twice to gain city status, but has applied again, to win this accolade as part of a competition to honour the Queen's Platinum Jubilee.  The results are to be announced in the Spring of 2022 (so, very soon.)  In the media it often refers to itself as a city anyway.  Good for Middlesbrough!

Appealing lit-up trees, and Middlesbrough was pretty good for illuminations.

This was only ever going to be a small blog, as we only stayed two nights, and it was essentially a business trip.

I thought the gloaming sun was causing the glow on this church, then I realised that it was an electric light.  This is what I mean by this town being quite considered when it comes to illuminations.

The frontage of this distinctive building is grade 2 listed.  Once the Masham Hotel, it is no longer a pub but is now used as exhibition space.

The Shakespeare pub has similar frontage, and looked very much closed down.

Teesside University was very near our hotel (Premier Inn, which I picked partly due to its great, central location). 

The campus is quite large and it looks like everything you need (library, student services, halls of residence, etc.) is on this site.

This honestly and truly had to be one of the best days of my life!💓

Striking a pose...💓

And another...💓

My last graduation ceremony was 25 years ago, but I no longer have any photographs of that day.

I have to say, the academic robes make me look the size of a house!💓

But so what?  I was ecstatically happy and so proud of myself on this very special day.💓

The lovely spiral staircase in The Resolution, the pub where we ate most of our meals.  It takes it name from the flagship of Captain James Cook (1728-1779) when he embarked on his voyage to the South Pacific; between July 1772 and July 1775.  Born in the area, he is Middlesbrough's most famous son and was an explorer, navigator and cartographer.   

The Pig Iron, where we had a couple of glasses of celebratory vino on the evening of my ceremony.  Reasonable prices, too.

Pig iron is also known as crude iron, and is an intermediate product of the smelting process.  The name comes from the shape of the moulds used for the ingots, which are cast in sand (I remember doing something like this using aluminium in metalwork at school.)  The way the channels of molten metal run into the branching moulds resembles a sow with her suckling piglets.

The Tees Transporter Bridge (which is also known as the Middlesbrough Transporter Bridge), taken from the train.  It is a suspended ferry which carries a carries a travelling car- or "gondola" across the River Tees.

Could I live in Middlesbrough?  Yes, I think so, although the climate (generally about 6°C colder than London) is a tad off-putting. 

Will I ever return to this area?  Oh yes!  I'm hoping to visit the holiday park which now stands on the site of the once-great-but-now-demolished Butlin's Filey.  It's further down on the coast.

Until then...

TTFN

The Miss Elaineous

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

XXXXX