Six word Saturday

Firework Display or Strictly Come Dancing?

Fireworks over Hartlepool Headland- courtesy of Tony Dowson

Beautiful aren’t they?

I can almost hear the “ooh”s and “aah”s

I was born on Guy Fawkes Day, so fireworks on Bonfire Night always seem like a personal celebration for me.  I’m like a big kid when I hear the “whoosh” and “zip, zip, zzzip”.  But I hate the cold.  Our town firework display takes place on the seafront, and as parking is always an issue, involves an invigorating walk beside the sea to get there.  The lights of the boats twinkle far out on the water and on a sharp frosty night the stars are needle bright.  Romantic, but cold!

So usually I wrap up warm, and we make the bracing walk, then come home smelling of smoke.  This year I’m not sure if I want to.  The Winter seems to have come around too fast, and I’m just a little sad.

Inimitable compere, Brucie, with dazzling Tess Daly

Flavia’s flying!

Temptation beckons in the form of “Strictly Come Dancing”.  I love the show with a passion and have done since its beginnings.  I even watch the fanzine every night!  For a whole half hour the laptop is switched off (well, sometimes) as I watch the dance sequences over again.

The past few years we’ve recorded the show while we’ve gone to the fireworks, then there’s something to look forward to when the “ooh-ing” and “aah-ing” stops.  Shall we do that again this year?  I’ll have to wait and see.

None of the images are my own this week.  My very talented stepbrother, Tony Dowson, is a professional photographer and took the fireworks shots when the Tall Ships came to Hartlepool in 2010. (what an occasion that was!)  The others are borrowed from Strictly.

Are you joining in with Cate’s challenge?  The details are all in Show My Face, or you can simply click on the header.  Have a happy and safe Bonfire Night, and wrap up warm.

65 comments

  1. In 1966, I was in England on Guy Fawkes Day and felt so sorry for all the fun the British had missed by not dressing up and amassing a wealth of sugar. Now, like you, I like the idea of the fireworks at the harbour and children enjoying a really freaky haunted house created by teens for the young ‘uns. Yes, finding a good vantage point is a challenge. One year a group of us reserved a table at a local restaurant right on the harbour. That was fabulous…even tho the food was remarkably mediocre!

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  3. 🙂 Nice, Jo. We are celebrating Guy Fawkes tonight down here with some of our daughter’s friends. We will do fireworks at seven and hang around the fire (outside) for supper. Our tour guide at Parliment (tour) this morning said that “the American holiday of Halloween is overtaking Guy Fawke day celebrating in Britain.” We did trick or treat on Halloween night to help the statistics.

    Happy Birthday, I don’t think I will be visiting your blog that day (I might). And the furthest north of London we got to was Northampton to visit with couple friends who live near there. Next time we might figure out how to see your seashore scenery.

    Jim’s Six Word Saturday
    ..

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    1. Thanks for helping redress the balance, Jim, and for the good wishes. Halloween is certainly a lot more popular here these days. Our marina hosts a huge party for the kids, with warty witches and suchlike. It was wet and miserable this year so we didn’t have as many “trick or treaters” at our door. Got lots of spare sweets ….

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  8. My mom-in-law was English…she told me about that celebration…
    Fireworks are pretty…and those pictures are amazing…go if you want to…and if you don’t feel like it, then stay home and enjoy your show. (Or maybe you could park close enough to see them from the car???) But I do hope you will have a lovely birthday on Monday! Enjoy!

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  9. The pictures of the fireworks look fantastic however I don’t like fireworks, they actually give me a migraine. I love the dancing shows. I Canada we are watching “Dancing with the stars”. We record it any way just to avoid the commercials and repeat the best parts.

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  11. Great that you can have the best of both worlds. They don’t know about Guy Fawkes here – French fireworks are reserved for 14th July and New Year’s Day.
    Happy birthday on Monday.

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  20. I can imagine watching a firework display over the sea is a spectacular sight, and those photos are excellent. 🙂
    I haven’t been to a display for many years, like yourself, I just don’t do cold nights, not only that, my two dogs are priority at this scary (for them) time of year.
    Enjoy the night, whether it’s sparkling at strictly or fireworks. 😉

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