Nothing happened today.  The sun rose and caused a mist.  The day almost got warm.  I got ordered to 'get on with it' by the boss at the museum and returned home so to do.  I fell asleep when I got home.  No news anywhere in the world worth considering.  There was an occasion today when a rant or two crossed my mind, unfortunately it failed to stop and passed on.  Now I am left wondering what agitated me. Surely I ask, surely there must be something in the 'Daily Wail' that would get me going?  Indeed there is, but it is just not worth going over that again.  The fact must be said that no matter how I rant Harriet Harman will never be charged with treason and hung. 
 A book from the museum shelf concerning the town records lies glaring at me.  I have to acquire information from this tome but I don't know what I am looking for!  No change there.  Also scattered around are copies of 'Twenty Years After,' a magazine from the late 30's written by and for the ex-servicemen of the Great War.  I began searching through this for info and got caught up reading bits.  That wasted another hour.  That is one problem with research, so much catches the eye and must be read which means the main subject gets pushed back for a little while, about three hours today!  
I was impressed also today by the impression 'Meccano' left on people.  However I know you all preferred the 'Dinky cars' but would not admit it.  Worldwide folks were all over their floors, up to their knees in metal!  Naturally ONLY BOYS would play with this, however one of my great nieces would probably be very happy in those days.  Her dad being a builder she has always made things.  In fact she used to help him fix the car and now does a car engineering course on Fridays.  When I am rich I will get a car and have her fix it for me, I can't!  
I am also impressed by how much I learn from you lot, there is so much I don't know and I know you will know.  One thing I have learned in the past few years is that I know nothing!  That has been hammered home quite well if nothing else in these days.  
Radio 3 has been renown for the higher arts, many ignore it because of this.  However I find lots of good programmes there and one is 'The Essay.'  A variety of themes are offered in 15 minute bites to satisfy the intellect, well bits of it.  This week a famous author I have never heard off gives a memoir of his life.  You might like it if you can hear it where you reside.
Eight p.m. and nothing done.  I must think quickly, I have decided, it can all wait until tomorrow.


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6:30am Bike Ride

What a wonderful sight to see, blue sky and sunshine early in the morning!  The fact that my fingers froze so I could hardly hold the camera is of secondary concern.  The freezing mist dwelt in the folds of the hills as the sun sprung up.  The colour was a deep red but sadly my pictures cannot show just how red it was.  A bright scarlet ball rising above the trees and slowly evaporating the mists.  Being early few were about, and that is an advantage.  One or two walking dogs, who care nothing about the weather it appears, one or two grudgingly heading for work.  This early often allows folks to mutter "Morning" as they pass, although there is always a woman, with a big dog, who looks away, nose in the air, as you pass.  Does she know me....?

It is so good to be out on the bike again.  My bones are creaking like an aged barn in a gale but  being out in a part of the country does you good.  The birds flit through the trees, pairing up and preparing the nests for the soon to be new arrivals, rabbits dodge the bike, but not the farmer in the distance with his gun I noticed, and another sign Spring is close, fields are blocked of to stop gypsies arriving.  Breathe deeply the fresh morning air, change your mind when it freezes the throat, cough all the way back down the track.  Back by half past seven for fried egg sandwich  breakfast and slowly stiffening muscles.  I use the term 'muscles' in the widest possible term here.

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Jack Frost

At just before 12 noon on the 12th day of the 12th month of the 2012th year of our Lord I took this picture of our frozen landmass.  The sun was at its zenith and having had my hair cut shortly before I can tell you the suns batteries had run out!  The novelty of 12 noon on 12/12/12 did not occur to me at the time.  I was merely attempting to record the front covered country around us.

This sight as I woke explained why the air had been so cold during the night.  This sort of thing is fine up north, Inverness played Ross County where the temperature was -5 at 7:45 kick off last night, these folks expect such horrors, I don't.  However there is something fabulous about a frost bitten land when the sun shines upon it.  Another 24 hours and all this will turn to our more usual rain.  Oh joy!

Oh Spring, wherefore art thou pal? 

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The Grim Reaper came for me last night, and I beat him off with a Vacuum cleaner.
Talk about Dyson with death.

Paddy says "Mick, I'm thinking of buying a Labrador ."
"Really, ..." says Mick "Have you seen how many of their owners go blind?"

The wife has been missing a week now. Police said to prepare for the worst.
So I have been to the charity shop to get all her clothes back.

A mate of mine recently admitted to being addicted to brake fluid.
When I quizzed him on it he reckoned he could stop any time.

I went to the cemetery yesterday to lay some flowers on a grave. As I was standing there I noticed 4 grave diggers walking about with a coffin,
3 hours later and they're still walking about with it.
I thought to myself, they've lost the plot .....

My daughter asked me for a pet spider for her birthday, so I went to our local pet shop and they were £70! "Blow this," I thought,
"I can get one cheaper off the web."

Statistically, 6 out of 7 dwarves are not Happy.

I was at a cash point yesterday when a little old lady asked if I could check her balance, so I pushed her over.


I was driving this morning when I saw an AA van parked up.
The driver was sobbing uncontrollably and looked very miserable.
I thought to myself, "That guy's heading for a breakdown."

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The Day Dawned Brightly...

How soon before it all goes wrong?


Not long!
Rotten day, foul mood, tired, aching, and the oven does not work.
Luckily I am using the microwave and electric rings mostly at the moment.
Worse, the Broadband keeps cutting out!  Horror of horrors!  How can I live with no Broadband?
However after fiddling with the plugs the Broadband works, slowly.  Too slowly at times, and it was not fast to begin with.
But the phone is dead!
I never call unless I must, and I must log in the replacement credit card by phone, and it is dead.


How do you call when you have no phone to call with?
I e-mailed the only address I know and immediately received a reply stating I must go elsewhere!
I did, and filled in the form, hopefully the right one, and by the time I finished both engineers will have gone home. (I say both because there can only be two, and one is off sick, as they are slow!)
'Pipex' have sold out to 'Talk Talk,'  who have a bad reputation, so I am wondering if anyone will be there to read this ( and I am typing slowly so the Broadband does not get flustered.).


Now I am tired, flustered, anxious, and staring into the abyss - again!


It's being so cheerful wot keeps me going!



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The Day Began Brightly....

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then went rapidly downhill.
Gazing bleary eyed at the dawn leaving its colourful imprint on the clouds racing overhead I spent a moment full of wonder and delight, then I checked the paperwork piled up on the desk. The Water People have decided to raise my direct debit, as also have the Gas people a second letter informed me with a smug grin.  Further down the pile I retrieved a note from 'TalkTalk' who have taken over the ISP duties from 'Pipex.' The pricing for the new deal was complex, and I cannot make out if there is a time limit on this and what the exact price happens to be!  Several others I find later are in the same boat.  I add these to the Electric bill which has not raised its prices, yet!  I suspect this will follow in the next quarter.  Things look bad, I must find a stupidly well paid job soon, but as I have not done so this far I am somewhat perplexed!  


The gas price is a killer as I use so little.  It merely heats the water and central heating, which is only used when it must be.  Putin showing his muscles to his browbeaten population must be rejoicing whenever the bill flops through my door, as will the French money men who probably own the gas company as well as the electric one. Thatchers love of greed while blethering about 'Britain' shows just how stupid she was,  All the energy companies cost a packet and almost all are owned by Johnny Foreigner!  The worship of money gets you nowhere, well it got many of her friends to where they wanted to be I suppose!  Today the 'Daily Mail' the only paper she could understand, proclaims London and the south keeps the country going, allowing that Edinburgh and one or two other places do OK also.  It would be the south of course, Maggie killed of all the manufacturing and jobs in the rest of the nation and only money men in London and Edinburgh can compete!  The electricity that drives their computers while they enrich themselves comes from France but I suppose they care not about that.  The French were no fools, the Germans have banned nuclear fuel as it might b dangerous, their 'Green Party' being very vociferous.  So Germany gets its electricity from France, who create this by nuclear energy.  The same energy that powers the UK half the time.  I believe we also get gas from Norway, which is fine by me, but once again we have none, ours has ran out, or is about to run out.  



Dirty big windmills all around are now producing just enough electricity to power themselves, and we have a bill for this added to our electric bills, well done the ageing Hippies!  Solar power which some add to their homes is not the success that had been hoped for, it may work well in Crete I guess.  The whole things is a mess from start to finish, and we pay and nothing is done about it, except words of wisdom from our PR PM.  Maybe he pays for the needless bottled water that floods Downing Street?  I bet he doesn't pay the water rates for the flat above.  Why is water so expensive?  There is a lot of it about the UK, especially in Scotland and along the west coast, so why does it cost so much.  My bill appears to charge an awful lot fro what goes down the drain rather than what is supplied, could this be a con I wonder?  They appear to make a lot of profit, as do all these companies, maybe I ought to start an energy company? It appears to be a money spinner.

After I had worked my way through the paperwork the day then went further downhill.....hello!  hello!  oh there is no-one here, I wonder why....?



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Misty Dawn

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The best part of this Saturday was the sight of mist rolling, cloud like, across the park. Dragging my bulk from the bundle of rags that for a bed I strolled out to take pictures.  A few moments later I returned and put some clothes on and tried again.  As luck would have it the mist was rolling away southwards which meant the park was being bathed in bright sunshine and high above the sky was increasingly turning blue.  The only thing to do was saunter around and hope the exercise would wake me out of my slumber.  As I sauntered I noticed how the mist was gathering over the town centre.  I headed that way and grabbed a couple of shots where the mist hid the run down appearance of one of the grubbier streets.  The houses are not actually bad, and the people whom I have met are indeed fine examples of decent humanity but the actual road is somewhat depressing itself.

  

I wandered around and ended up back in the park where the local drunk stood talking to the park in the manner he usual  keeps for the town centre.  Poor man, his head was blown away by drink and drugs long ago and now spends his days drinking himself into Hades.  What state his liver is in I hate to think.  We all talk to ourselves but not usually loudly amongst crowds in the busy Market Place. I pictured him from afar but fell some guilt.  I am not keen on 'candid' shots as this appears to me to be an intrusion.  However it did look a good opportunity, although I am not sure if he realised what I was doing or not.  

The bright weather that followed the removal of the mist by the suns heat was followed later by some of those big dark clouds that fill too many Autumn days.  Still, pics are possible here also, if the battery in the camera does not give out!  

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Early Bank Holiday Morning

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Even dullish gray skies can produce great colours.  Unfortunately my ability with my wee camera does not enable em to capture the colours as I would wish.  I can however enable a perfectly flat field to look as if it is the foothills of the Alps. I have many shots of the west coast of Scotland showing the Isles of Rhum and Eigg slowly sliding down the Atlantic towards Skye!  Maybe my posture is incorrect.  The cycling on such a morning is easy as even the dogwalkers may be away for the long weekend, and those that remain hesitate to leave the comfort of their duvets. 'White Van man' is also noticeable by his absence, as are the rushing women going from school to shop and back to coffee morning and gossiping as they do (something men never do). Anyway, with their absence it was possible to move along the highway without fear of an F1 driver rushing past and I huffed and puffed (believe me!) up the hill (like the Matterhorn it is) to the fields where creation can be admired (while I breathe deeply).       

I broke off, OK I fell off the bike while using the crumbling path alongside Farmer Jones fields and as I lay there I pondered the aircraft seven thousand feet or so high above me.  Whether this one was climbing I doubted, he could have been passing through on his way to Scandinavia, or beginning the long, slow, figure  movement that lowers him down to earth once again. Either way I decided that as several crows were beginning to eye me up as carrion I decided to carry on (did you see what I did there?). I took my fill of the countryside, the stubble in the fields, the trees moving in the wind, the birds gathering their breakfast, the beer cans by the pathway, broken bottles when young males had impersonated their fathers, and wise young girls kept their distance.  Waving cheerily to Farmer Jones, well frantically actually, he was pointing his shotgun towards me, I decided to move on towards my own breakfast.    

  

On the way I shot this pic of the sun attempting to burn through the haze high above the pylons.  I swear these pylons are moving. Every time I pass there are more of them and I am sure they are gathering together like in some Hollywood Sci-Fi movie. 'The Day the Pylons Broke Free!' coming to a cinema near you.  If it did I bet they would find a way of putting a sexy blonde in the middle of them. Anyway I was pleased just to point the camera directly at the sun through the cloud cover.  I missed out the by-pass just below, I thought it spoiled the pic somewhat.

What do you man 'Bored?'

Anyway I passed the river and with one or two changes f position I managed to take a shot that looked country like.  I missed the houses being built next to the river, on the area where it has flooded regularly for the past hundred years or so, and I avoided all those orange plastic workmen's signs that the kids thought needed a bath. The darkness of the picture hides the routine litter that the ducks have to wade through daily.

I suspect they will enjoy the new neighbours, as when it floods they can pay them a visit and float straight in the windows.   

Oh and yes I have mentioned this car before.  It has been there for at least 15 years that I know off, but the doors appear to have opened!  Do you think the owner has attempted to start it perhaps? I should point out the house looks just as bad and I think he owns the two boarded up dingy shops that have lain like for many years also. I wonder why?  And you thought I was a scruff!


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Murky Dawn

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Well not quite dawn actually.  I just liked the sun attempting to force its way through the cloud cover this morning. The old fountain with the old bird on it came out quite well there.  I am not getting many pics these days, a walk around town soon uses up all the options, and in recent times I have suffered an almighty lethargy, in the head and in the poor wizened body that I hulk around.  Any attempt to get moving soon falls flat.  Woe is me.

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Dawn

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Well, almost Dawn....

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