Animals in Town.

The Alpacas were back in town today staring at the people desperate to fondle them and reacting in similar fashion to starlets surprised at the interview process in Hollywood studios, however the alpacas were less worldly in their approach.  The animals were happy with the folks who brought them, they have been brought up by them sometimes fed as kids.

  
The lass with the pygmy goats told me how she expected soon to be hand rearing kids as some of the goats were producing at an inconsiderate period of the year.  Some like the idea of working among animals and indeed it is enjoyable as we all know however she was well used to a 24 hour work timetable.  These pygmy goats were happy to meet folks but happily they were not the type to jump out of the barricade which they hid behind, the one goat that could was not brought with them, though the children around would I suspect have been happy if a goat had wandered amongst them.
At the end of the month reindeer appear once again in the town centre, no sleighs following.

     
Grumblings on facebook forced me to rise early to find pictures of the sunrise.  With red eyes almost
closed I struggled into the chilly air to seek pink skies outside the kitchen window.  One appeared but the resulting snap, not to say anything about goosebumps caused by cold air, was not good enough though it was good enough in my view for the grumbler who chose to ignore it!  
Later, once coffee had whitened much of the eyes I snapped the rising sun behind the catholic church, quite what it was doing there I know not.  The looks from the few around me as I apparently attempted to picture Sainsburys car park I ignored and cut out said car park from the shot for decencies sake.  Mornings and evenings, if up to see them, produce interesting skies.

Wandering home via the green slab of the park I noticed how the sky had changed and once again cutting cut the rough stuff found an interesting shot of the sky above us.  The sight of the sky takes from  my mind the thought of yet another Win 10 update that arrived last night at the wrong time.  Once that had been dealt with the anti virus, 'AVAST,' followed suit and  went through three restarts before I could continue.  No problems have gone, the speedy machine is slower and I find it amazing that God can give us such skies after six days of work while Microsoft after twenty years of fiddling still cannot give us a safe, quick update!  
Someone high up in government security mentioned helpfully today that he considered all our computers had been hacked by the Russians.  This may well be true as they have been hacking for years and so many spam emails mean we all fall for some of them at one time or another, and one day they may well switch them all off or start being 'Big Brother' and talking to us from Moscow like it or not.
Interesting that nobody mentions that we too are hacking into Russian webspace and I suspect everybody else's webspace, possibly not President Trumps as we all know what he has on his laptop, but world leaders everywhere must giggle at any pictures Putin has on his!  Rumour has it that the British Army has a 77 Brigade, though this could be nonsense, who's main job is to investigate the web and offer propaganda to the masses and oppose other nations hacking of the UKs webspace.
There must be such people for defence and if there isn't we have to ask why not?  I wonder if one day Mrs May will knock on the door asking about my lack of support for her dictatorship, I expect her soon.
 

Birds and Blue Skies

At last a wee bird appeared outside the window.  I have not seen any of these (Goldfinch?) around this year and there used to be lots of them.  There is a lack of wee birds all round though I have heard but not seen Finches singing in the trees on occasion.  At the museum we have installed 'Swift Boxes' in the hope that Swifts will make use of them to nest, I think some Sparrows did instead!   All these birds appear to be in decline.  Farming methods, concrete for cars instead of front gardens, and changes elsewhere in Europe have cut their feeding and we are losing them.  I notice the Starlings are eating else at the moment, the young have almost reached maturity and are no doubt using me as back up instead of main meal as before.  Once it was two bags of pellets a day and now it has been several days since I filled the feeders.

I wondered out this afternoon in search of something to photograph.  I have been almost everything there is in this wee town and pictured all the things that are interesting so when I heard there was something on in the park I hurried over to see.  I was wrong, it must have been last week!  
Anyway in the hot sun I staggered round to the town centre like a man crossing the Sahara to see the other event, free Indian food for the hungry, and got there just in time to find it ending. Bah!
All that was left was sitting in the park taking pictures of the interesting cloud formations above and twiddling my thumbs.  Nothing else to take pictures of, I have done all this bit so often and there were no animals/people/things of note to be seen.
Bah!

  
The G20 is meeting somewhere surrounded by demonstrators showing their contempt for capitalism by stealing as much as they can from the shops in Hamburg.  Each of these events is followed by the same crowd of pretend and real protesters who either object to the political stance or are just a bunch of thugs on an outing, any excuse will do.  
It seems to me that while many would find reasons to protest it is clear the leaders of the mob are easy for the security services to find.  It must be that many are known to the police and their use of 'social media' must be read daily so why is it that they can always produce a riot at each event?  Could it be the security services of some nations are not as good as ours?  Could it be the attention on Islamic headbangers has reduced the number of officers watching these guys?  
Some nations are quite happy to have riots in their streets, Greece has them after every football match, so is it possible that some nations are happy to see the likes of Germany suffer from the mob?  
What has happened at this meeting?  Putin twisted Trump round his little finger, Angela was seen to roll her eyes when talking to Putin, Mrs Trump took his place and upset the US media (but actually understood what was going on) and Theresa May was there but nobody noticed.  I'm all for leaders meeting one another, this is a sure fire way to change things.  If they get on no matter what the many differences are something can be done.  If they don't get on they can always slap one another it will make no difference in the end.  Quite what anyone gets from meeting Trump is hard to understand.  Usually these guys meet once all the main talking has been done by lackeys, one of his 'tweets' and it is all undone again.
Just remember Trump has his finger on the nuclear button....if he can find it...

Blue Skies From Now On...

How nice to be out and about in the sunshine.  Most of last week I suffered a bug that took what little strength I have and remained hiding behind the laptop doing only those things that do not require thought.  This is a position I am best at.
Yesterday I was forced out and spent the rest of the day asleep.  Today I was also forced out and dragged myself all the way to St P's and back although the return was healthier that the going for some reason.  Above the skies displayed clouds that appeared to have been squashed flat and spread across the skies, as I returned I noted these were being replaced by puffy 'cotton wool' ones and the hot sun giving the lie to the threat of heavy rain tomorrow.  This ought to arrive late on once I am back home safe under a blanket.

  
As I have done nothing for over a week I have one of those long 'to do' lists which I shall glance at soon.  The problem is so much may as well wait until next year as it has waited that long already.  The 'Spring Clean' began well but has stuttered to a halt.  Things already clean need another go already, dust appears from nowhere in this place, the fridge needs attention and I am positive I attended to it only last May, or was it the year before?  Anyway all these things need doing and I am unable to until later this week.  Hopefully a tragedy, good news, event appears to make me forget all about it until next year again.

  
Also the laptops have been playing up again and now I am in the middle of the muddle clearing this from that and replacing that with this and so on and on and on...  
In between I have been ignoring the media as nothing important is happening, well except Theresa May keeping her job by giving the Northern Ireland DUP party one billion pounds to spend so they will keep her government in power.  However this money may mean the Scots lose out and I wonder in the dozen Scots Tory MPs will stand up and be counted or will they vote against May unless they also get one billion pound for Scotland?  I do hope so.
The fire last week has left many homeless and still struggling to cope, the media have however moved away...

A glance at the media shows how awful the world is.  People say it is getting worse every day but I have began to search the Newspaper Library and a quick glance at the local rag for August and September 1914 revealed similar tales to today.  There are mentions of the war and some of the effects breaking through, adverts aplenty offering things you really don't need, local news, important people crime, murder and assault.  The layout may be unusual but the hack knows what sells his paper, he knows what he can get away with, he knows who to attack and who to support, he knows what the people wish to read! 
It is however hard going online as the words are small, working the buttons not that easy and the thing takes forever to turn a page.  However it is worth having even though it costs money I canny afford.  I will get my moneys worth however...

The Morning Shines Brightly

Amazingly the morning has shone brightly several days running now.  Today I trundled the rusty bike with my rusty knees along the way to see if I could catch it somewhere.  Indeed this old path with aged oak trees to one side (an aged map shows them there over a hundred years ago, how long can an oak tree last I wonder) offered a pleasant view at the top.  Beside me birds sang in the trees, young squirrels frantically looked for the way home and a proper forest, six foot wide, ran alongside the path.  This contrasts to the huge school field the other side of the fence justly hidden behind a stout fence and much vegetation. 

Only one early morning dog walker met my greeting and he was more concerned with his mobile phone and the many secrets therein to notice me.  The fact that he knows me and was too occupied to recognise me I let slide and passed on.  I suspect if we were able to read the messages contained on his phone we would not in the least find them interesting yet he stood head down ignoring the bored dog that wanted something to sniff while he perused his phone, he might still be there.

  
When they laid out the housing estate the clever people allowed much of the copse that existed to remain.  If you choose to ignore the old crisp packets and plastic bottles lying around from the scruffy unkempt types who wander through it does give a brief indication of a wood.  The more we build houses the more we require such small glimpses of green to enable us to breathe freely.  The mind can only comprehend so much stone and brick, it requires trees and green grass with areas of sky to let the mind relax.  The Victorians knew this only too well.  The rise in suburbs expanding out from town and city centres, slums all too often left behind, caused a longing for a romantic and unrealistic country life.  The song lines 'You could see to 'ackney Marshes, if it wasn't for the 'ouses in between' comes to mind.  The romantic vision ignored the damp country shacks, the poor life of the villagers, hard toil in fields and the disease that was just as prevalent as in town.  However from a crowded slum tenement after a 96 hour week it could be made to look attractive. 
Life is always better over there.   

This strange colour has been hanging all over the country today.  
I think the sky is broken!

Morning Has Broke

Stupidly rising long before I ought I thought to myself that riding the bike in the quiet of the dawn might be good for my knees.  So at 6:30 I trundled somewhat shakily down the road heading straight into a fabulous sunrise.  One thing that cannot be missed is the number of aircraft coming, going or passing over up above at this early time.  I fail to comprehend what time people have to leave to board a flight in far off places if it brings them into one of London's overcrowded airports at six or seven in the morning.  Fine if you have come from China but not so good if the departure point is say Vienna.  

 
There again the standard of public transport in this land is such that to leave from Stansted Airport at six in the morning and having to be there long before boarding means arriving the night before to await your flight, possibly delayed, or get some family/friend who owes you one to drive you there in the middle of the night. This of course is not helped by the dozen or so protesters who made it through the fence (again) to block a flight to attempt to stop a deportation.  Several flights delayed, this would affect other airports and a wee bit annoying for those catching connecting flights elsewhere.  I suspect these passengers will hope the courts decapitate the protesters rather than merely fine them.

It was difficult to tell, when slowly heading up the wee slopes, who was creaking most, the bike or me.  I suppose I must put some oil on it, maybe rub some on myself, and judging by the mushrooms growing on there this morning I think I may need to clean it also.  Still much to my surprise it worked and there was sufficient air in the tyres, just.

Half an hour on the bike and still stiff but now stiff all over.  Riding a bike in the quiet of the morn is a delight, unless you are wrapped in a Hi-Vis jacket and heading for work.  I always cheerfully greet such men. (Note no women passed dressed this way - again!)  Back to bacon rolls and seeking what I have failed to do on this laptop for the museum.

Our Oscars

The early evening was spent surrounded by dolled up lads and lassies for the Volunteer Oscars at the Museum.  This is one of those 'get together' ideas to help us meet those we rarely see, even though one or two could not make it so we didn't see them!
Oscars were awarded for shop work, handyman work, children's work and the like.  Naturally I expected the 'Miserable Git of the Year' award of course but that was not on offer this time, "Not enough competition," I heard someone whisper.  I did get the 'Social Media' Oscar simply for passing on the posts we offer to all on facebook.  I also do things on the laptop at home, sometimes for the museum...

This was a short but enjoyable time and I took lots of pictures of people feigning humility while grasping their award, all well deserved I say.   A few slurps of imitation Champagne and some round things with dead things upon it to go were on offer to please the peoples.  Then, dressed up to the nines. we headed for our next appointment or home to play about with the pictures and fall asleep.
The deep blue sky as I came home was irresistible, this is one shot that I had to try (on AUTO) as the sky was deep blue and the RC church had lights on.  

Boxing Day Two

Nothing happened again today, it was an extra days holiday for the masses and while shops opened and some worked most sat at home on the laptop searching for bargains.  I sat at home searching for dead soldiers, I found lots.
The streets were very quiet this morning, the normal throb of traffic was but a murmur until the shops opened about ten in the morning.  It took folks until that time to realise they were starving and had to rush out to buy more of the food they had overeaten for the last few days.
I went out cat like to peruse my land about three in the afternoon.  It was like a Sunday out there but even quieter.  I passed a woman taking a shot of a tree, the light behind it was good, and thought to myself "What sort of person does that?"  This after taking several shots of the sun going down behind trees.  The colour is somewhat like the actual scene, bright sun and blue sky, lovely at this time.  Tomorrow fog once again the say, hooray!

No news to speak off just more space filling regarding George Michael, his boyfriend, his drugs, his money.  I ignore it all, he was not my kind of music and poor lad probably killed himself through drug abuse, very sad.  
Many are crying the year has been bad because such as he has died during the year, indeed many famous faces have departed but in truth no more than ever leave, it may be some were favourites of the social media crowd and they notice it more.  Us older folks notice famous faces but from the distant past and as such beyond the notice of the social media whores.  Life changes little in this regard, a hundred celebs of one sort or another die each year and the normal total of non celebs also, it may not vary much from year to year.  I do not see it as unusual however a younger crowd may find it something new to cope with.  Maybe it will show them they are not mortal after all.

Oh look, football time....

Jack Frost Morning

Just before eight this morning I dashed out in an effort to picture the frost lying across the grass over the road.  This turned out harder than I thought as the park was freezing!  As I wandered down the fingers became ice and i was suddenly struck with a desire to eat hot food and lie in my bed once again.
The sky however was wonderful!
I am unable to reproduce the colours I saw, the camera and my ham-fisted operation saw to that, but I think such mornings are fabulous.  Few were about bar those hustling to work and kids yearning for the bus to take them to imprisonment in school for a day, even the dog walkers were missing, just one or two hardy folks, the rest being kept in by grumpy owners.  Maybe it was too cold for even the dogs.

On mornings such as this it is easy to see how many aircraft operate over this area.  Many headed for nearby Stansted, others crossing over to Luton or on to the north or even those 35,000 feet up where I suspect it is far colder yet they head over the Atlantic to the Americas.
The trails fill the sky mixing with the variety of cloud that soars high above, very interesting patterns they make today.  I love such morning, I just wish I had better things to picture alongside of the sky.

  
This sums up my day, a few pictures, back to bed, and little else to show for it.
Tomorrow there is the museum and even better lots of Fog!  Now this is supposed to be with us all day so that might provide a picture, if I can get out...

December Begins

You could tell it was December by the chill under the blankets, the struggles of the heating to work properly and the thick, dull mist lying over the town.  Eight O' Clock saw me wander past the many heading into town, few walking but countless others in cars clearing the mist one hand by their movement and adding diesel and petrol fumes to it on the other.  I had to giggle as I saw them moving quickly into work while knowing that later today a long line of similar people will be slowly trundling back out again, grumbling against the hardship of busy roads.  "Catch a bus?" say I to nasty glares and the question "What bus?"  "The bus that would run if you had not all bought cars you canny afford!  Vote Tory, lose buses, increase car ownership, increase pollution and the need for car ownership as there are no buses.

Watching the Heart of Midlothian take the grubby Rangers apart last night I was not in the least surprised to notice the Glasgow press ignoring the famous victory and instead playing this down, emphasising a disallowed (rightly) goal and wallowing in tears that their team had been beat.  A more objective journalist would say the Rangers club ought to have died when it had the chance, the directors are failures and the chairman bogus, the manager out of his depth, his expensive players flops and injured at that, the rest inexperienced and out of their depth and the whole club urgently requires a make over. 
They will not say this directly of course.
However the Heart of Midlothian will carry on as that sort of reporting has gone on since 1890 and before, nothing changes under the Scottish football scene.  This team looked quite good last night however I felt a four goal win was what we required, just winning by two goals to nil was not enough in the circumstances.  Hopefully we can do the same again in a weeks time.

You can tell nothing else happened today.  
I wandered up to the shops for pillowcases, pillowcases of all things, red ones and black ones, that will brighten the odourous  west wing.  Then I sauntered the other way to upset the smiling girl at the Post Office as I posted my last parcel (have you done yours yet...?)  and wandered back home testing my knees with a new exercise, walking too much!

 
The walk back reveals the weather in these parts.  Cloudy yesterday, misty this morning, now as I hobbled round the pretty way far from traffic the sun shone brightly in a blue sky!  Tomorrow we appear to be back to gray clouds!

The sun shining through the trees is a wonder.  It is just a pity there is nothing new or exciting for it to shine upon!  Most of this little town has been photographed from all angles and there is little new to find sadly.

The sun shining on the disused and now some form of accommodation water towers I thought would be a good shot but it was not quite as I saw it.

High above the housing a plane from Stansted airport heads into the sky above us.  At that time of night it may be too early for those heading for the sun therefore I wonder if it is the commuter plane for Edinburgh, Glasgow or Belfast.  It may be heading to Frankfurt or Warsaw, or some distant unheard of airport where it is cheaper for the airline to land.  Once only the rich could fly and now almost everyone has done so at least once.
I would fly to Edinburgh if I could avoid the delays at the airport.  On occasion I have been there early and there has been a delay as a window has cracked on the flight we should take.  The replacement was held up by fog this morning in Glasgow and was on its way to us but held up by air traffic control.  Over three hours extra we waited - patiently - and eventually made it there.  
On another occasion we were also very late in taking off and on arrival at Edinburgh the plane dropped t 700 feet and rose again as the landing indicators on the ground were off and we were again in fog!  We landed from the other end as the passengers decided if we had to continue on to Aberdeen!
The flight is off no more than an hours duration so the waiting on the ground makes the journey seem long.  The view is good mind, usually I find I fly in bright sunshine watching the land below for anything interesting.  I love the view as everything is very different from the air.  There again I am easily pleased.

Mug!

It was when I saw this dingy mug sitting among the bric-a-brac of the house that all the women in my past came to mind.  I don't know why?
It's funny how little things set of the memories is it not?  For instance the fragrance of various flowers brings memories, one takes me back to primary schooldays, another to walking in certain streets.  Such strong fragrance is not easily forgotten, that is why women pay so much for that perfume bottle.  The women I meet appear to prefer motor oil or coal gas but that's another story. Wet grass reminds me of the joy of football when face down in the mud I revealed to the world my fantastic goalkeeping abilities.  Pipe tobacco reminds me of my dad sitting smoking his 'Condor' pipe tobacco with it's distinctive aroma on the box he made into a toolbox come seat in his little garden, my that seems o long ago, a different world.
A photograph is of course always an easy reminder of past events and awful haircuts.  Such things can be used to embarrass people today as well as remind them of people long gone or good times once had.  Memory of my leg break reminds me of God's goodness to me at the time, all those incidents that followed on from that.  Nine, or was it eight, pins in my leg, that is a reminder that is always with me!  
Not all memories are good of course, I avoid the multitude of 'cancer' adverts and reports that appear to fill TV and radio time, since my sister died that time I have never been keen to see these.  Those who endured war often keep memento's of one sort or another, the diary written at the time yet never opened today, the bullet removed from the leg, the dreams that never leave.  
Memory is strange in some ways and we control it by deliberately forgetting certain things which we wish not to heed, occasionally however it slips into the mind.  The good thing is this happens also with good memories, days of sunshine and happiness, days of blue skies, green grass and much enjoyment.  I hope we have lots of those memories.

Talking of blue skies we had one of these above us for much of the day.  Not that I saw it as I spent most of the day slumped over this or lying asleep in my pit.  The real summer is drawing rapidly to a close and the usual suspects are at this moment gathering strength in mid-Atlantic and preparing to drop lots of rain upon us over the weekend. 
I may be asleep for another day or two at this rate...

Trapped Happily by DPD

Trapped all day I have been although I was not too despondent about this.  For one, I was waiting on a parcel being delivered and for another the weather was too hot for my weary bulk.  
I got an e-mail informing me my latest expensive buy (£2 each) was on it's way and that by just downloading the 'app' I could follow the van drivers progress.  This interested me as I recall the days sitting in the van driving around London (before today's van driver was born) using the high tech available at the time, namely one sheet of grubby paper with deliveries written thereon and a pen, unless that had been nicked by a comrade.  Today, they said, the 'app' allows you to trace the van as it reaches each delivery (I was 29 in the list and he would arrive between 12:06 and 13:06) and I considered this a marvellous idea remembering just how many times we arrived at closed doors.  Our best advice was the driver working out his route and scribbling whether we would be 'a.m.' or 'p.m.'  If traffic occurred, as it did do in London, then we could be late.  
There is a problem here however, I attempted to download said 'app' and discovered that 'DPD' doing their best omitted to generate an 'app' that worked on laptops.  Being a mere grumbling pensioner I canny afford a mobile phone costing £300, especially as I have no friends to call, and lose out on such things.  However I e-mailed back to DPD and within a short time the display arrived on my screen.  I strongly suspect that this was clear enough on their website but daftie here could not see it.  So I relaxed as I made my lentil soup, with far too much cayenne pepper, did some (for some read 'little') work on one of my projects and generally lazed around in the heat.
In the cool of the day the temperature is still in the 80's, that is around 27 to those of you out of kilter with the real world.  It was much higher when I opened the door to the van driver at precisely 12:06 would you believe.   I am much impressed with this system I must say, well done DPD.  
Global warming is no myth, in spite of what the naysayers naysay it is real, the temperature and the weather in general is shifting whatever the reason.   I sat here exposing my beer belly to the windows, er no I mean sat here working near the windows to get what air there was as it circled around.  It was too hot for me, much as I like this, but once the parcel had been opened and satisfied my desire for shiny things I remained happy to sleep rather than walk the streets.

   
i did spend some time on a thing called 'USwitch' trying to find cheaper energy.  I also looked at the cheaper smaller energy companies and was not impressed much.  To save a few pounds here you lose a few there.  Unless you catch a special offer I could not see much advantage in changing from one company to another, not for me at any rate.  How they rip us off!  
However the council has a place in a nationwide scheme where they say energy companies will make us an offer, possibly cheaper than that we now have.  The only thing is to register and await their offer which arrives sometime in October!  Ah well, my name is down I now await.
I also had a look at the ISP broadband and fibre packages and am interested in one or two of those.  Just what the catch is I am unsure but I am now paying £45 for this and even with BT Sport this is too much.  All BTS wish to do is watch Rangers and Celtic, I want Scottish football on my laptop not the bigot brothers.  I can watch the games on those chancer streams instead.  I don't want to do this but BT force me to.

Flowers, Football and Fullish Moon

The wee 'I sell anything' shop next door ought to have been doing a roaring trade with his flowers today.  Blazing sun, record temperatures, and near naked sweltering peoples passing by all day.  he may have been better selling cold drinks mind you.
Nothing I like better than blue sky and hot sun.  However as a few weeks ago the thing appeared and I spent a mere 30 minutes burning myself I find my skin has not yet recovered properly.  The sun is far hotter than I thought!  These few days it has been even hotter and most of the time I have avoided it.  Those lying about the park will have problems in days to come.
The main problem is we are not used to it.  Therefore when the sun comes we jump into it and we burn.  In hot societies they avoid the heat of the day and work in the cool times.  This nation is not bright enough for that.  
It is however becoming nearer the norm tomorrow and rain and hail have fallen not far north of here and of course Scotland lies under a cloud again.

What is it about clouds that fascinates me?  Later this afternoon these chaps arrived bubbling up high overhead.  I think it is the sheer size of them, nothing but accumulated moisture I suppose but stretching for thousands of feet up into the air and on occasion reaching for hundreds or thousands of miles into the distance.  I am not one who sees a cloud shaped like the Bank of England then rushes to send a picture to the 'Daily Mail,' in fact I would rather just enjoy watching them pass by.  On my last flight from Edinburgh many years ago the cloud covered quite a large chunk of the voyage and at times there were strange shapes cutting through the cloud for no obvious reason.  This in my little head was fascinating to watch.
I think I may need help....

 

I did sit for ten minutes when some cloud was above us earlier and wondered about those who choose to kick a ball while the majority slumber.  I understood them of course but what went through my mind was the thought in their heads 'I could have made it!'  All the while they of course know they could not but the dream does not die, not even at my age (27).

 

The best effort of this camera cannot improve on this picture of the moon.  The moon needs to come closer but refuses.  I took this the other night when it was somewhat cooler and I was desperate to take a picture of anything different.  This being a small town not much changes and photo opportunities are rare.  The bright weather offers sum but when you have seen everything before the desire is to be further afield.  In fact it would have been good to be in London where Mo manages to get shots like this!  Not possible for me at the moment as I have been clearing out rubbish.  It is incredible what lies in drawers untouched for decades.  Some things date back to the days when I moved here and others are so old they are almost worth sending to the museum.
The recycled folks will be pleased with me on Friday when they collect the stuff however!