Tired & Weary I Give up...

The sun shone again, I noticed it when I went for the sausages and veg.
I ate a bacon sandwich.
This wore me out so I returned to bed.
I then ate sausages and mashed sweet potatoes.
I then fell asleep.
I then ate chicken nuggets.
I am now falling asleep.
Nothing else has been done.
My weekend is so glamorous.
Tomorrow it will rain.

Woopee...

Let's catch a train... 

Busy Sunday

I didn't see much of this today.  Apparently there was a lot of it about but I could not see much of it.  As I slouched down the road to St Paul's I noticed it in between dodging the Sunday drivers.  It was there above me but as the cold wind was on my back and I was hurrying slowly along I did not take time to look.  If I look up I note someone always removes the pavement from beneath me or sticks a kerbstone in front of me and then enjoys the sight of my prone body flattened on the pavement.  On the way back after a jolly good morning I met the gale force wind and again avoided looking up and catching frostbite.  So that was the closest to seeing blue sky all day.
The reason was simple, football!
As I microwaved a healthy dinner of something or other I set up to watch the English Conference play-off.  However some Italian stuff showing a feeble A.C. Milan came first, how the mighty have fallen, and then the English game.  However at three thirty I had to leave these big galloots kicking lumpsout of one another and move to Ibrox where Rangers and Queen of the South played football almost as it ought to be played.  The almost arises because Rangers won which has depressed Scottish football fans everywhere.  Gallant Queens lost in spite of their talents.
So the next game arrived within minutes just leaving me time to cook my tea and settle down for Alloa v Forfar Athletic.  For years the term 'Athletic' has been a bit of a joke around Forfar but no longer, leading three one from the first leg all they had to do was stop Alloa scoring.  They failed and lost four three on aggregate.  However I enjoyed watching it as they slugged it out in the rain over Clackmannanshire, indeed so enjoyable was this that even Wullie Collum as referee could not do anything wrong, his decisions were correct in my view and that is a shock!  He is not known as 'Gollum' for nothing!

So now all has finished I look out the window and high above the clouds were gathering for the rain that promises to cover us all week.  So I saw the blue sky at last.  Naturally as I write this it has gone and darkness creeps towards us as the sun dips below the horizon and the clouds join together to form one large gray cloud.  
As I look to the filthy gray sheets that once were white when I put them on the bed all those days ago, or is that weeks, I note that Australia will be heralding the dawn in the next hour or so.  How typical of them to wish to be first at the bar!  
A couple I knew went to China in 1935 as missionaries right in the middle of the country.  To contact home somewhere in south London a letter would have to be sent.  This would travel by boat for around a month arriving at the destination somewhat crumpled.  The contents would be digested (by this I mean read, not eaten), understood and answered.  The answer would board ship, probably at London or Southampton docks, and cruise its way slowly back to Chinaland.  Within two months, or maybe three communication would have been achieved!  Marco Polo would have been happy!
Today a phone call from the middle of China, if not interrupted by the secret police, would bring two people together in minutes.  An email would inform over vast distances, and some use 'Skype' for face to face contact over the same distances, how the world for us has changed and improved!  I never cease to marvel that contact is so easy today.  Rich folks travel these distances within twenty four hours, not months, however I still take an hour and a half to get fifteen miles into the big towns by bus!

Australia are you there?  USA are you there?  Operator, operator, I've been cut off!


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Sea Sick, Too bad!

Since I was last here a couple of years ago I wanted to return to this car park and sit here watching the ships go by.  The sun glinting off the water, the sounds of the ferry's chains rattling, the water sloshing against the walls, the variety of craft that run back and forward on occasion ignoring the 'Give way to the Ferry' sign on the ferry.  The sun shone but there was a chill in the wind still, note the two at the back of the wee boat!  They have been out on a fishing trip and I wonder if they have caught anything out there apart from pneumonia?
There were over twenty cars on the ferry but I lost count as they came off.  A tourist bus, a 7:5 ton van and other large vans also travelled alongside a cyclist or two and foot passengers.  During the summer this place must be teeming!  The sands opposite filled with revelers and others indulging in things you keep kids away from, unless you are Ofsted of course!

Away in the far distance stands 'Old Harry Rocks.'  Once in the days of long ago these were attached to the Isle of Wight that is now far across the Solent.  I have clambered out along the top, in the 1980's, and it seems to me bits have been worn away since then by the storms.  There is no chance of my clambering over the brutes now!

Somewhat closer than in reality the distant Isle of Wight is clearly seen, even the southern end often shrouded by haze can be seen in the far distance.  So what happened to all that chalk land that has eroded?  I suspect someone somewhere has a mountain or two on their beach that they are not too happy about.

We climbed up to a high spot on the cliffs to gain a better view.  Down below the handful of people walked along the bright sand, sand that looks as if it has been relayed in time for the summer season.  The tourist income is vast and this long beach stretching from Christchurch to Poole more or less is a fabulous place to be.  Thousands consider it so and it gets a wee bit crowded.  There is very good support from lifeguards and council controls.  Mostly for lost kids during the day I suspect.

More fishermen!  They are also the only folks at sea it appears.  Usually this place is teeming with life.  Ferries to France, lifeboats rehearsing, small craft passing by, occasional other bigger ships in the distance heading for Poole.  Today little moved except a  dog or two and some people enjoying the sun. 

The different shades of blue in the sky intrigued me.  The sea was the same, various shades, changing as clouds passed over.  The blue above lightens as it heads towards the horizon, gradually the blue dissipates until it touches the sea.  The clouds remained small cotton wool like and insufficient to fill the picture, which is good.

Sick off the sea?  OK, no more now.

oops, sorry!

Coo,Coo.

This here brute is sitting on the lamppost once again giving out his call sign to the girls.  he was there this morning as my bleary mind attempted to join the world.  Coo, Coo, again and again and again, ignoring the comments made by decent folks attempting to sleep or awaken.  He went on and on and on and on with no reply from the girl who was probably looking into something shiny somewhere worried that her feathers were not quite right.

He is back tonight as he is every night.  

This has gone on for years, ever since I moved here the brute, or his father or forefathers, have sat opposite me calling out at all hours, all inappropriate hours at any rate, seeking their beloved, or anyone's beloved if need be. 

Now I love bird life, especially chicken that I had with chips tonight, and I rejoice in the birdies pairing off and enjoying Spring but I wish they would do it either quieter or elsewhere, especially before six in the morning!

Look, a blue sky!  They say we will be hotter than Madrid tomorrow, even if they do not say it is snowing there.  Twenty degrees of heat they promise, once the clouds lift.  We will wait and see as at the moment the dying embers of the sun lightens the blue sky but does nothing to stop the cold wind freezing my sporran as it howls through the window.  Bah!

A Sunny Lark

It was as I was raking through the dust at the back of the sofa for enough lost coins for some breakfast bread  I realised something was different.  It took me a while to comprehend that the colour (note correct spelling) on the floor was yellow.  Yellow indeed because the sun was shining through the grimy window! I was so shocked after days of gray cloud that I rushed outside at once! I rushed straight back in and put some clothes on and then walked up to the shops in the sunshine. Of course the wind chill made it cold but the sky was blue, daffodils were showing yellow heads and discarded beer cans in the park reflected the sunshine.  
Nothing else happened mind you so here's a Lark ascending.

The Sky Above

Have you noticed how the days are getting, ever so slowly, longer?  The sun is slightly higher this afternoon than it was last week, and the darkness takes minutes less to arrive.  Spring is fast approaching and once this mid winter festival is out of the way and the drunks locked up we can look forward to better days.  It never ceases to amaze me the way the world works.  If the sun was closer we would burn, if further away freeze, life would not be possible.  How lucky it manages to stay in the right place.  Orion constellation is one I have know all my life, hanging high above us in the cold, clear nights Edinburgh folks are so used to.   Out side Edinburgh it could be seen clearly from the bus stop as we made our way home at nights.  I wonder if it is still there?  Once upon a time I was foolish enough to believe that there was life out there, possibly too many episode so 'Star Trek; or a reading of 'Dan Dare' in the 'Eagle.'  I no longer believe this now.  Vast area of South American desert show no life whatsoever and I suspect out there things are the same.  Not counting the many stars, especially in the far distance that no longer exist, they dying long ago and the light only now reaching us.
I used to enjoy science fiction type books but in the end all comes down to human nature and they way we behave towards one another.  Whether at sea, on land or in deep space science fiction folk always proved to human.  There must be a reason for this.  Still it would be enjoyable to sit in a warm comfortable spacecraft and make speed through the night sky visiting far distant planets, without dying of course, and having lunch at the restaurant at the end of the universe.

Back on earth there is the Blues.....

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A Car, a Band, and an Aircraft

The ability of the readers of this humble page never fail to amaze me.  Soub's request to satisfy his petrol driven mind is answered before I awake from my unsuccessful beauty sleep.  So we know this car mystery is a Lloyd Alexander, a wee German car made for the cheap (my) end of the market. How clever you all are, but I suspect some of you at least, know this.  I now find myself wishing I had such a cheap to run car, even if the Germans thought "He who is not afraid of death, drives a Lloyd."

As the football was rotten, the usual boring English stuff, and there was adventure to be had out in the free world I sauntered about the town hoping the market would be full of good things.  Sadly it was merely full of people!  Walking through the shopping centre I encountered around about seven million people there, every third one intent on walking into me!  With the brass band playing something about 'Merry Christmas,' I took note that not one happy face was to be seen.  Occasional excited children would pass, too young to realise happiness had nothing to do with Christmas shopping, and a few smug looks appeared amongst those who clearly had finished theirs. Otherwise it was not as cheery as I had hoped.  Rather sad as I had quite a good day really, boring but quite good.

     

I really cannot stop looking at the skies, especially on bright cold days like today.  The dying sun offers great skies, especially when vast numbers of polluting aircraft make their way to various local landing spots.  Some high above are passing on to North America at 35,000 feet, others sadly aiming for Luton Airport, a place not to be confused with Washington of Toronto!  Once again there are arguments about putting another runway at Heathrow Airport, already grossly overcrowded, because business leaders say it must be done! Spread them out around the country I say, not all planes need to land in the south east! As I write a China Eastern Airbus from Heathrow heading towards Shanghai has passed overhead, Another from Luton is on its way to Prague while one from Sharm el-Sheikh (where?) comes in the reverse direction, and this is a quiet time!  It is rare to hear aircraft so high above but just how many pass by daily can be imagined.  Flight Radar is one way of following such adventures.  

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Pondering

I awoke this morning to the blethering voices on the radio mixing with the remains of my dreams.  This was not a good combination.  It was just after six, my bleary eyes looked at the brightness outside and wished to climb on the bike in the early stillness.  My muscles were however making clear their protests. I rose, went back, pondered, rose again and sat staring out through the open window.  The dream remained in parts, just how was a friend, not seen for 20 years on that bus/van/train thing last night? What was he saying, why were we wherever we were?  Radio 3 soothed my mind as I pondered.  In spite of the sun my thoughts became dismal.  After all I was still me!  As the crows nodded while patrolling what they consider their park I mused on the wasted years, the ineptness and failure that is my life.  It was then a memory of how God had chosen to love me in spite of all this came to mind.  Long ago he made clear his love to me, useless, inept, cretinous sinner that I am, and had proved it so many times.  

It was a good thought.  

Foolishly cheered I then sauntered around on the bike for some minutes as my body screamed "NO!"  To stop my muscles (I use that word loosely) seizing up I then strolled across the park and around the almost empty town.  How the sun brightens everything, especially when the town is empty.  I made it home and fell asleep soon enough in a vain effort to please the body.  The hulk was not pleased and required yet more sleep after what laughingly I called 'lunch.'  

My head continued to carry the thought that Jesus loved me.  How incredible! Only I can tell how bad I am, yet he knows there is much worse inside, I canny do anything that will surprise him, yet Jesus gave his life for me.  

It is only when I allow myself to forget this, by fussing about less important things, that I find myself swamped by the world.  What a clown.  

The amazing truth is that it is not that we loved God but that he loved us, and gave himself for us!  The death of Jesus washes away sins, all our wrongs.  No wonder Christians should be happy.

Just imagine what I would be like if he had not intervened in my life?  Put your trust in Jesus, nothing and no-one else brings abundant life!

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My Weather Eye is Open.

Morning

My weather eye has to be open, that is something folks living on these islands get used to.  The weather is a major topic of conversation because it keeps happening to us.  Rarely does it fail to occur, always it waits outside for us, occasionally making its way indoors.  Recent days have seen high temperatures and bright hot sunlight.  People in Edinburgh were calling the police to report a huge UFO seen high in the sky.  After much deliberation the investigating detectives discovered this was the sun! I am informed the Haar (that's mist to you) has managed on occasion to come from its normal position just about the Firth of Forth and cover the entire city in a more normal outlook.  However the sun has kept leaking out, even in Edinburgh.  We, here in this southern wilderness, are more used to the yellow thing in the sky but we are also prey to many more thunderstorms.  We had a short one this morning not long after I had taken that early picture.  I sat in the somewhat chilly sun for a while around seven enjoying the peace, the blue sky and the sunshine.  I need to get out of here every so often and see what light is like.  

By late afternoon, late for me anyway, the sky had changed.  The clouds gather in large clumps, rain clouds threaten in the distance and the weatherman helpfully informs us the hot weather will leave us for a 'while.'  The 'while' may well be ten years but we wait and see.  

Some places have weather that rarely varies, it is either always hot or cold, or just yukky.  The British Isles however have the thousands of miles of Atlantic Ocean at one side bringing in left over storms from the Americas and the land mass that is the continent on the other.  Both affect the weather that lands on us!  Tonight we face rain in west Scotland and thunderstorms here. The weather will cool and normality will return.  A few days of "I'm glad that's gone, it was too hot," becomes "Why is it always cold here, I'm off to Spain!"  Some folks are never happy, always complaining, and I see no reason for this....... 

Afternoon

Now here's a funny thing.  The Commonwealth Games are being held in Glasgow, Scotland's second city. However when the opening night arrived this brought the first ever occasion on which the home nations national anthem was sung!  There was no 'Flower of Scotland' to be heard merely the English anti Scots dirge, God save the Queen.  Further much speculation has been put about regarding the Red Arrows display team.  They normally end the show with a pume of smoke being left behind in the sky, always offering the red, white and blue.  However a request that Blue and white, signifying the Scots flag was turned down by the English defence secretary on the basis that they 'only use red, white and blue.'  This has surprised many as we have all seen them displayed red and white in the shape of the English flag before, but maybe he was being duplicitous?  Interestingly cyclists with Union Flags on their helmets were allowed but those with Scots flags were not!  The Westminster tyrants never end their persecution of Scotland and Scots yet remain determined to keep the  Scots cash flowing into London! 

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Hot Heat!

Hot heat today, reaching 84 degrees, that's 29 to you in the colonies! i have still got the bug which has wearied me badly this week and have not been out in this much.  20 minutes this afternoon after I was forced to shop for ink for the printer (£28:50 for a set of B&W & Colour. Tesco wanted £32 for the same!!!). I sat for a wee while on the way back and rested my ailments and gazed at the blue above us.  

    
He came out full of vim and vigour, dropping the ball and ordering the boss to chuck it for him. As you can see on the way back after a short tour of the park he is less keen or haste.  Age is catching up on us all.... 

I'm off to bed....

Sunshine!!!!

For reasons I fail to fathom the sun keeps shining.  Australia is colder than us today!  It is 43% in Perth and 53% in Brisbane, we reach 77% here today and it is past the zenith!  Jings, Crivvens and Help ma Boab Jimmy!   I spent twenty minutes in the sun and found it too hot.  Oh if this can last a few months I will be happy.  I was meant to live in hot places, with a Tesco close by.  
The swifts are racing across the sky chomping on beasties and screeching after one another, doing their best to avoid the police helicopter that has suddenly appeared.  Scattered around the part are half dressed young women, this is fine unless they are fat and insist on wearing shorts!  Worse still are men in shorts, it's not clever and not fashionable, especially at your age mate!  Fat men in T-shirts with ageing messages across the front is one thing, add shorts and it's a no go area.  Fine for the garden, not the street!  
A strong breeze is waving through the trees blasting warm air on everybody, this I assure you is unusual here.  Around the pubs in the town centre the 'continental layout' introduced by the council some years ago features folks sitting chatting at the tables while soaking in the sun and beer.  Whether the continentals fail to hold their drink like the English is a question others can answer.  The English flags that began to spring up a week or two ago have all but disappeared again.  I must check the recycled bins to see if there is one set apart for them alone.  

The gap in the world cup games has been useful, I have caught up on sleep!  I was so tired and feeling worn out that I fell asleep as the extra time began in the USA game the other night.  This half hour turned out to be the best of the tournament!  Typical innit?  The big four teams, all getting through by luck rather than talent, now face each other.  The 'smaller' nations who attempted to play with a bit of swagger are out but the usual crew are through.  Hopefully Belgium, the least of the four, will turn them over and take the cup home.  Any team that manages to beat Scotland deserves to win the World Cup I say!

I am touched by the birthday greetings I have received.  My great niece made a point about being an uncle, then changed it to 'Great Uncle' because I am old. Her Christmas has been spent on Amazon Books but she does not yet know this. Funnily enough I look at the cards and still expect to see one from my mum, yet she died almost five years ago.  How things stick in the mind.  I am grateful for those kind greetings, even though the poison bottle was empty......bah! 

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Friday

Thrice this day I left the dark, dank Black House in which I dwell to see light. Once to wander all the way up to Sainsburys, once to sit in the sun, which immediately and spitefully sat behind a cloud for ages while the north wind froze me so I went to Tesco for yet another ill fitting T-shirt instead, and once in the afternoon to sit in the sun which actually shone!  Actually after burning for a short time (burning, heat in the UK?) I wandered back to Tesco for another oversized T-shirt as they appear to be half price!  The reason I went to get another size XXXL T-shirt is that all the other T-shirts I buy shrink. This one will shrink to a proper size I hope and at £2 a time it is worth a try.  XL shirts are medium, XXL and not quite XL after a wash and hopefully I have found the right sizes now, after they have been in the machine!  You might be suggesting I buy better quality items, I agree, but they too are often lie about the size. Anyway cheap is good, I'm not female!

Day two of World Cup. Yesterdays game was not great, Brasil were lucky. Today we are playing in torrential rain, it is like being in Kilmarnock again! 

However behind the numpties in the studio a long sweep of beach leads away to the north while the tide comes in with a slight breeze to ease the sunshine. Watching this on TV so far has been without incident.  Last night the ITV channel stream I watched on the laptop froze because this company is shocking! Why they cover football I fail to understand.  Their commentators are poor, the streams fail regularly and on occasion goals are missed because someone screens an advert before the time!  I had to move to STV, the Scottish Television Channel which as you would expect worked properly!  Bah!

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Blue Skies & Sunshine.

The Bee's are busy, the sky is blue, white clouds float past, and a hot sun burns the skin if you sit in it for too long.  Tonight such weather will bring rain, probably with thunder and lightning, but by the time I head for work the sun will have his hat on and have come out for the day!  

Most of the day I was trapped indoors doing women's work.  There were NO shirts ironed!  Not one and I need one for tomorrow.  It's a disgrace.  I had to rush out to the shops before the crowds gathered as the fridge was empty also, it's a disgrace the way I am treated here.  

This is what I need, a woman who does!  here we see Mrs Blackbird getting in the shopping, and rightly so.  He of course can be heard in the distance singing happily while chasing away other interlopers from his patch.  Then he will sit down to watch the football while awaiting lunch.  It's a jolly good life for him!

Bank Holiday Monday Again

This is a scene in Edinburgh's Granton area a couple of weeks ago, it may still be there.  The UKIP poster, (United Kingdom Independence Party with the UK to leave the EU, and many consider them racist for not wanting high immigration) is found planted alongside an advert for tents claiming 'No Poles Required!'  There has in recent years been an influx of young folks from Poland into the UK leaving some to demand whether these posters placed side by side was a deliberate act on someones part.  I doubt it, but even so, it is quite funny.
There can be no doubt immigration is a big issue today.  However who knows what the actual numbers of immigrants actually happens to be?  Government figures cannot be trusted, even by governments, UKIP or any other lobby group certainly will not tell the truth, and the only fact is that the entire UK is overcrowded.  However, once Scotland becomes independent you will note only England, and Wales, become crowded, Scotland having masses of highlands bereft of life bar English incomers looking for a better world.  UKIP remains an England First Party, probably some members are racist, some certainly a bit loopy, however many similar remain within the Conservative Party but the papers do not mention that, certainly not during the lead up to an election.  
The European Election is with us in 20 or so days.  We ave the opportunity to send people into obscurity on vast wages, huge expenses, long hours of wasting everybody's time, and changing not one iota of life for you and me as far as I am aware up to this point.  The EU is such a farce. The accounts have never been signed off for 20 years, nobody knows where the money goes, few if any care or understand the financial side, yet nothing is done!  Talk is loud now, action unseen tomorrow.  Laws are passed, ignored by France, yet important here!  It is time for a rethink.  Let us work with Europe, but not in a Federal state.  Let us trade, help, aid, develop the poorer parts, but first let us remove the millions earning vast sums in Strasbourg, Brussels and wherever else they dwell.  I'm thinking of voting either 'Green' or 'UKIP,' as both would serve them right and keep them away from us!
   

Being a bank holiday, in which everyone bar supermarkets and greedy shops take the long weekend off, there was nothing happening today.  This made no difference whatsoever to this small town!  Actually it does, most shops shut, businesses closed and many took advantage of a reasonably warm day to clean the car, go visit in-laws, or even have a happy time.  I did nothing, so no change there.  The bright blue sky caused me to cycle up the old railway however, puffing up that slope far more than any F5 engine ever did I can tell you.

     Pah! You call that steam!

Clearly this is doing me good health wise, or so they say, but it did not feel this way at the time. There were few about, which always make it worth while.

The morning sun makes me want to take pictures but there was nothing but this aged gate, once entrance to a busy coal depot, the only interesting object on view.  I can tell it bores you, it did little for me.  However this depot must have been important in the coal fired days.  Every house required coal, all stations along the line had similar layouts busy with bags of coal being transferred to lorries and taken to almost every house in the area.  I say almost as with all the woods around in the past I suspect many chopped their own for the fire, saving money and keeping fit.  Today we just turn the switch and grumble at the power companies ripping us off. Where are all the old coalmen now?  Dead I suppose. Any living will be well into their eighties, probably older, but I suspect still fit! Jobs come and go with the change of lifestyle yet as far as I know few tears were shed for coalmen who lost out to the Clean Air Act.  Yet for well over a hundred years such men kept the nation warm, industry working and when stocks were low suffered the abuse for something they could do little about. Now they are forgotten.  So many old jobs once commonplace have gone in fifty years.  Factories, railway sidings, once the employer of thousands now turned into small shops, scout huts or out of town supermarkets.  How quickly we forget.    

Do you know muscles used rarely hurt when used?  As I write this rubbish my muscles are informing me of this very fact.  When I rise in the morrow I wonder if they will remind me then also.....?
  
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Hello Blossom

What a difference Spring makes!  Sun shining, blue sky, a wee bit chilly but lovely all the same. Not that I saw much of this as I was forced to remain indoors watching cup semi finals.  Quite why they don't fix up a telly in the park so I can watch in comfort there I am not informed.  When I think of it I am not informed about much these days.  Living as I do in my own little world it can be surprising to discover things occur outside my remit.  In any decent society I would be informed daily about such events, rather in the manner thon queen woman gets information in a big red box everyday for her to ignore.  

Long days are back again, how I enjoy them!  Rising around six (back to bed around 12) and now wandering around in the cool of the day while down under the cyclone rage through and rain lashes down.  It makes a change I can tell you!  I note however Perth is still suffering high temperatures and the have the audacity to grumble about heat!  Bah!  
Another Sunday passes, another evening when the kiddies go home rather than shout and scream their lungs out in the park.  Maybe they have forgotten tomorrow is a day off?  At times like this, with the sun just beyond the horizon, the sky a light blue still, and a hush descending over the land I wish I was bedside a lake, or the seaside.  That would improve things, as would a large steak and a few friends (whatever they are).  A cat purring at my side, worries put away, ah that would be nice.  

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Bread, Bacon, Cheese and tea.

That was what I had for breakfast after I toiled up the old railway for another heart attack exercise time.  The problem with strenuous effort is that the hulking body that causes women to stop and stare requires fuel.  Now I had actually gulped down a fried egg sandwich before I left at six this morning, well 7:30 after I ate breakfast, but once I returned and walked to the shop for fresh bread I got tempted by the grub on offer.  

  
I have lived here 18 years now and still cannot get over the delight of passing green fields, country views, blue skies and the wide open spaces found outside the town.  Sometimes I wonder how and why we live in cities?  When the air is warmish and the beasties abound the mind is refreshed from all the gunk poured into it during the day.  

I returned to the gunk myself and continued searching for dead soldiers.  While interesting it drives my mind round the bend.  Happily I am on to something different tomorrow.  Life changes at Easter.  The kids swarm around the streets in packs, the girls with their noses in the air and their hair in a bun Victorian style, the boys trendy as always and as intelligent as a packet of peanuts!  

Is that house looking at me?

The politicians have taken the two weeks off to fiddle their expenses and travel the world on jollies! This means we will have less serious news, apart from the obsession with that South African murder trial, and the plane lost at sea.  The media forced to stay at home will be desperately searching for anything that will fill space no matter how insipid.  Hmmm maybe I ought to make a splash somewhere!  

Look, bunnies!  As I passed I noticed lots of bunnies making the most of the dew on the grass to have their version of bacon sandwiches.  This is not always a good thing as many farmers creep around at this time with shotgun in hand.  I heard several bangs this morning as I meandered along, young crops do not require rabbits says Farmer Jones!  Sad in some ways but if they are not culled they will destroy the farmers livelihood.  There were masses of them out today. As I wandered past the eggs, small eggs, packets of eggs, fluffy chickens a chocolate bunnies I wondered what has this to do with Easter? Even the 'Easter cards' had little about Jesus, indeed nothing but a flowery cross was on show, yet this is Easter, without him rising from the dead we would not be wasting money on all this chocolate!  Why are shops scared to say so?

I kept hearing the 'Beach Boys' song 'Country Air' as I pulled muscles all over my body.  It suits this place better than sandy Californian beaches I guess.  Not that I have seen the sandy Californian beaches, I did once see the shore at Southend however.  I breathed fresh air, listened to little birds chirp, almost fell over a dog or two and decided bacon for breakfast tomorrow and let the bike rest, it needs it.   

  
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Spring Crops

T'was bliss that dawn to be alive, or in the early morn at least. How long since I passed this way I canny mind but the crops are bouncing now. The sun shone and the peoples they were afar away, and may they stay there I say. I was forced out early as I woke up and saw the bright sun shining and could not resist the temptation to visit the countryside again. Also it will rain tomorrow as usual so I will remain covered by the ceiling.
Nothing else happened.

Nothing has happened elsewhere either.  The missing planes black box, which is orange, might have been found, maybe.  The Heart of Midlothian have gone down fighting, looking to renew next season amongst the lower orders.  This was not unexpected and causes no upsets. Avoiding liquidation is far more important.  In Afghanistan (remember that place?) they are happily electing a new president who will lead them to new fighting while pocketing vast amounts of donors cash. Isn't democracy wonderful?   The Afghans now get to select whoever will rob them blind and do nothing about their miserable lives.  

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Watching Paint Dry.

Yesterday the chill in the air was softened by the blue in the sky.  Daffodils lowered their bright yellow heads in the wind, bright 'cotton wool' clouds scudded by, dogs chased imaginary objects yapping in the park.  I awoke this morning to rain lashing the grubby windows, the huddled masses cowering under hoods, caps and umbrellas as they headed to work and the decision to stay indoors and finish the painting was made for me.  

That was not long after seven of the clock and moving at a fast pace I was up and painting by ten thirty five.  A second coat of cheap white emulsion in the small bathroom, a first coat on the small hall.  The balancing on the three step ladder is improving and I only fell off once.  That wall was getting painted anyway!  The ceiling looks good now even though my sense of direction failed me several times.   Even better it looks good enough not to require a second coat, which is good as there is little paint left.  In the morning all the pictures will be put back on those nails you see sticking out, once the grime is removed from them, and life can return to some sort of normality.  

The normality means returning to building that PC.  Now that most bits are in and connected I have come across yet another problem, the not connected bits, the connected bits that may be connected to wrong bits, and why is there no connector for one or two bits?  All very confusing to my befuddled mind. Now the paint is no longer bespotting my glasses I can spend more time watching how the experts do it.  If they have the same bits I have, naturally.  

      

The clouds returned at several times today.  I ventured out for bread as another dark looming cloud brought spots of rain but it did allow me this shot.  The type of shot we get a lot of at this time of year.  It might yet be a shot of snow tomorrow if my aches allow me out!  

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The 24th December

'Twas Christmas eve in the workhouse

And all was quiet and still...'

So I took myself off out for a break.  I need to see the daylight every so often and I trotted out to smirk at those late Christmas shoppers as they despaired of buying the right thing.  Naturally as the day was bright and the sun had been around all day the minute I went through the door it rained!  It indeed poured down for just as long as it took me to wander about.  As I squelched my way home the cloud, a thick black brute covering the entire planet, decided to end and began to make its way eastwards to give Colchester a good clean.  You get some impression of the thing as it departed over the Fish & Chip shop.  A dark brooding cloud heading east leaving behind a warm sun beginning to reflect off the houses.  Bah Humbug!!  My shoes might be dry by Hogmany!

Not long after the rain the sky was like this!  Tsk! 

Christmas Eve and throughout the land kids are alert for a big fat man in a red outfit clambering down their chimney, leaving his reindeer on the rootop, or maybe they are rummaging about the house attempting to find the things the folks have hidden away.  (Did you know Santa was originally dressed in Green?) Young children's faces are a wonder to behold at this time, but not so wonderful as mum and dad when the kids wake at three in the morning to search for parcels!  Evening descends and the frantic scramble ebbs away, panic rises in hearts that some major item has been forgotten, even if its importance is widely exaggerated.  A great many items considered important for tomorrow will actually be not that important after all.  Relax and enjoy, worse things happen at sea. 

What's the point of it all?  Family gatherings maybe?  Good indeed, if you have a happy family.  Giving and receiving gifts?  Also a good thing, but possible all year of course.  A celebration that winter will end as we now head into the new year, well next week we do, and look forward to Spring returning (hooray!). Yes indeed, and for thousands of years that has been the real reason for the feasting and revelry.  At some time in the past the church, most likely the ecclesiastical organisation based in Rome, took the great Bacchanalian debauchery and clothed it as a 'Christian' festival.  Quite right too I say! They however made a mistake here in referring to this as Jesus' entry into the world, that probably happened about May or June or thereabouts in 5 BC, and we should be celebrating his birth around those months I say.  For one thing it will be warmer and for another the shops will be less busy. 

As always the Scots almost have it right.  New Year is the time for the jollity and not Christmas, the Christ Mass as it were.  Calvinism ensured Scotland regarded their religion properly, except when they didn't of course.  Christmas was a normal day until the late 50's in Scotland.  My dad went to work at Christmas until at least 1960, although how much actual work was done by then I would not like to say. I suspect an early finish and a trip to the 'Anchor Inn' was on the horizon for many.  Ah well, in the bleak midwinter we require the hope of sunshine to come, unless you live in the southern hemisphere obviously!  At this time of year those peoples look forward to er, more sunshine, bah!  I hope we all enjoy the day, and of course start jogging soon afterwards.

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