A Wander in the Sunshine

In a vain effort to find life again I took off quite early for Tesco.  Saturday morning among the masses is often invigorating.  It was however, like the misty glinting sunshine, quite peaceful and the healthy ingredients sought were soon found.  Healthy, that is those rumoured to stimulate the brain, Bluberries and very dark chocolate for instance, were joined by Flax, Chia seeds and Hemp, the latter for one of my nieces husband's Christmas's, he will probably think it will get him high.  He is one of those convinced cannabis is the answer to all problems, from cancer to covid.  This, he attempts to prove but he so far has not been successful.

The rest is for my latest health trend, and having paid through the nose for these goods, along with my other calorie controlled foodstuffs, I should look like Charles Atlas by Christmas.

This may not however, be the case.

 

I had to look twice at these balls hanging on the trees.  These trees were only planted a few years ago, 10 maybe, and I do not remember any fruit on them last year, though I could be mistaken.  'Conkers,' all around, at least the outer shells, as it appears some kids have been having a go at them already.  The more mature trees all around have certainly passed their fruit onto the public as the mess around their feet reveals.  Many a child, and not a few adults, will now be enjoying themselves with such on pieces of string.  Entertainment is easy, computers or no.

 

 

Having walked home from Tesco carrying a heavy but healthy bag it is almost a delight to walk without any weight attached.  Having lost a stone and a half I rather hoped walking would ease, it looks like another stone must go.  At least once that stone has gone my old shirts may fit once again.  

A sun drenched public garden, with a bit of early haze, is a delightful thing.  All were happy apart from at least once screaming child, the fruit of the children's play area at the top end.   
 

The last of the roses blossomed happily in the sun.  A large bush, almost a tree, once full now with only this lot left in any decent condition.  The volunteers who help the gardners do a great job of keeping these plants going.  

 

The idea was to walk round and energise the bulk, instead I felt my knees objecting.  Naturally, this park is on a slope, and to go homewards meant going uphill.  I await my lottery win so I can employ a servant to drive me uphill when my knees tire.  This however, may be an unfulfilled dream.

I wandered about, as always getting strange looks from women with kids, clearly women who read 'those stories' and listen to 'old women's tales,' and most of them appear neurotic as a result.  Even young dad's look sheepish, though that might be because they are not used to doing such work as watching kids.  

 

As I headed towards the gate I saw this man stiing low down and apparently unaware I was approaching.  Moving slowly along the path I got two decent shots of him before he felt he had posed enough and disappeared under the bush.   Usually Robins are very wary, quickly flitting out of distance and hiding in the tree.  This one may have been asking himself what life was all about, or where has the wife gone, or wondering what football was on today.  He appeared preoccupied but once he moved he did not show up again to ponder.

I don't think much of this fountain myself, it's all a bit weird I say.  There is a rumour it represents a kid who drowned in the river.  I don't blame him if he thought they would do this to him!

I kept going when common snense told me to return home, eat and sleep.  Common sense is as you know in short supply these days and it failed to appear with me also.  Instead I continued up the slope, across the town, passed all the workers still attempting to finish refurbishing the High Street, and noticed the old church had a door open.  I peeked in, something was going on, so I entered and enquired off the two young ladies on guard what was amiss?  "It's a Ladies Day," they said grinning.

I made my excuses and left!

I wandered into 'Clintons' Card shop and glanced at the horrendous Christmas stock on display, almost none of which was suitable for my needs.  However, I purchased three £25 Amazon cards towards the Christmas present stock and was picked up off the floor by the helpful young woman working the till after I fainted when I realised just how much I was paying for this.  She grinned as I explained the vast number of women I had to serve in the family and how I was failing to remember the pin number I have used for almost 30 years.  A very helpful young woman, not unsual around here I must say.

Heading home I met a young man from the Kirk and we put the church world to rights, OK I mean we grumbled a lot, and then were joined in our grumbling by one of his old workmates, so our grumbling widened to include much of the local world.  In all, this was a very enjoyable imitation of a group of gossipping old women.  I then headed home much to my knees relief and now await the Scotland football team playing Israel for the (I think) ninth time in 3 years!  The draw for competitions must be changed I say.  

Dusk

The sky appears full of dark clouds as the sun lowers itself into the Americas.  However today was remarkably mild and this has been the warmest Autumn/Winter that I can recall.  Global warming is having its effect.  Of course if we tend to the tropical I will not complain I prefer warmth to cold. The resultant effects elsewhere may however be unfortunate.
I spent much of today attempting to find TV & Radio worth watching/listening to.  I have the tapes/DVD's ready for recording but so far have found two programmes worth noting, and one of them might be rubbish.  Around 33 channels, not counting kids ones, can be received by my cheap TV setup and tonight I see one programme worth watching and one possible.  Dreadful choice as all channels appear happy to delight the dumb and ignore those who wish something a bit more satisfying.  Some programmes are those American detectives made in the 70's, I do not wish to see 'Kojak' these days.  There is hope in the wireless, hopefully...

The Glasgow tragedy, where a dustbin lorry driver appears to have had a heart attack, crashed into the shoppers in the main street killing six and wounding others, gets much publicity.  However around this area we have had several serious road accidents, I suspect caused by impatient or foolish drivers, in which several people have died and others face long days of hospital treatment. To read of granddad and 18 year old granddaughter dying together is more than I can bare, and just before Christmas too.  Other tragedies have occurred most of which we never hear about and the cheeriness of the adverts stuffed with shiny things and smiling faces must hurt dreadfully.  However when I worked at Maida Vale Hospital most patients were sent home and only the needy remained. This led to a more pleasant atmosphere and surprising amounts of alcohol, cake and such like would appear in the open wards.  Patients able to enjoy, in between being drugged by nurses to kill pain, usually have a decent time in the circumstances.  Some prefer it!  Still, it is a tragedy at this time, especially when I am informed my niece was in that street five minutes before!

Is this boring?  It bores me.  While my knee is aching less and I get about a wee bit more there is nowhere to go and nothing to do this week.  Shops crowded, folks disappearing to warm places, and the news drying up as nothing important is put through at this time.  At least not up front!

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A Good Dying Day!

For days they have been on TV and Radio informing us of the impending storm. The papers of course were hoping for another 'Hurricane' such as blew through in 1987, it did not arrive.  What did arrive was a storm indeed, houses were damaged, tall vehicles turned on their sides, trees fallen over, trains halted because of, "leaves in the line, attached to the tree," shop fronts damaged and lots of rain hammering into the already sodden earth.  Sadly at least four people were killed, two of them quite young.  

The media reports were desperate to build this up into a howling gale equal to 87, the fact that it failed did not stop the large pictures and hyped up reports. Certainly the wind reached 79 miles an hour around here this morning, it did make a mess of my hair, however little real damage occurred overall.  In the afternoon however I noted the remarkable clear sky.  The sun shining at an angle gave a very clear light.  The gale had stopped the Sainsbury's heavy lorries running around, the road traffic was lessened and aircraft were not landing at nearby Stansted. All this contributed to a clear sky along with the wind clearing the air and leaving an interesting sparkling light.  I attempted to capture this with my wee camera but it was not easy as no decent subject showed itself.  However the owl on top of the aged drinking fountain in the town did reflect the light brightly and the sky behind was a lovely blue.  It was the best I could do in the circumstances.  The drenched bench did not quite work.

It strikes me as unusual that this is almost November and the temperature is still mild.  Does this indicate the winter will be harsh from next month on I wonder?  Lasting until April probably? It may be the jet stream moving south may give us a mild winter, I hope so, just to annoy the energy people!

The title?  In Edinburgh such 'storms' are referred to as "A good drying day," by the housewifes.

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Vandal in Fountain

As I sat resting my beer belly I noticed the kid squeezing the fish to get all the water out of it.  No doubt this is an Essex pastime but it is not one I grew up with.  The sun was hot, very hot, it was just above 80% indoors today, and reached higher outside (32 degrees to you foreign types in Aussieland).  However while the blue sky was good to see it was blotted out by the sun so I thought I'd try a 'sepia' colour to see what happened.  I had hoped to catch the water splashing but that failed miserably.  At least the yobs have not put washing up liquid in the water again, the suds take ages to remove!  

Shanty housing used to stand here, slum dwellings for the poorer of the land.  In the 30's these were torn down as they were unacceptable even then an the fountain erected to leave a clear view of the church, and therefore a better image of the town.  It worked I suppose but I am not keen on the design chosen.  There were a lot of poor housing around this area removed about that time.  The town was on the up between the wars and image was important.  Opposite alms houses were built, now empty after years of other use and probably not acceptable as housing today.  Also a nurses home, now used for 'homeless' youths.  All paid for by the Courtauld family as they continued their 'social policy' of helping improve the town in every way, their way that is. Such were common in the nineteenth century and early twentieth but less so today.  The religious motive that lay behind this has died in many (Courtaulds were Unitarians) and civic pride also.  Millionaires abound in the UK today yet while some benefit the world around them it appears the majority merely pile it up and let the rest go by.  Certainly hospitals and schools, doctors and such like are available in a way unimaginable a hundred years ago but housing is still in a mess and the richest one hundred could indeed do something about that!  Maybe it will change as the economy collapses around us and what really is important replaces the Mercedes and power boats of the wealthy, perhaps not.              

Morning Sunshine

Just after half past six this morning, when the world was mostly asleep, I pedaled out against the rising sun to continue my building photo project.  Trying this yesterday was a bit silly as far too many people thought they had a right to get in my way.  These thoughtless people dog me everywhere!  Too be honest many were considerate in avoiding me, something those living in London would not understand.  Taking pictures in London is not helped by others, they just get in the way.  Few rise as early as I, even the kids stay indoors to watch the early morning repeat of 'Match of the Day' from the previous evening.  Occasional others walked or cycled past, wrapped up against the still chilly east wind.  A van draws up near the supermarket, the passenger jumps out, rushes to the store door and drops a bundle, newspapers, at the door and returns to the van and they speed off to the nest.  The council driver goes back and forth over the rubbish left from yesterdays market, the brushes under his vehicle sweeping its catch into the machine.  A wet line two feet thick is left after he passes, glinting in the sun.  The sun reflects of his grubby windscreen and the beeping each time he reverses, which he does constantly, echoes around the empty market square.  An unsmiling man saunters past unwillingly, his dog however is evidently enjoying himself as the tail wags and his eyes glint.  The 133 bus noisily passes by, heading near empty for Stansted airport, high above a departing plane leaves Stansted for distant places, another, much higher, cuts the bright blue with a shining white vapour trail. I trundle about the square meanwhile, attempting to picture buildings that refuse to fit themselves into the picture frame.  What a daft place to put buildings!

This tramping around, I took some 85 shots this morning, is good for my fitness I suppose, it must be according to my aches, and it took my mind of the strange events that have afflicted the laptop.  I say laptop but I mean this browser, the others appear untouched by the blip.  The other day I noticed the adverts were appearing on Facebook.  I use Adblock so there ought to be none.  Adblock had gone!  Vanished for no reason.  This was replaced, normality returned.  The next day all was as usual.  However when I logged in during the afternoon I was not presented with 'Google' on the browser, but 'Yahoo!'  Not only but also the bookmarks bar had gone.  The Google warning re email had also disappeared, as had other extensions.  What is going on?  After some fiddling all has returned, bar the email warning, that means I keep forgetting to look for mail the hard way.  I have run all the anti bad guy things but nothing shows.  All seems well now, bar my nerves.

What a strange fountain this is, quite why it was made this way I know not.

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Where's the Sunshine?

Early morn I ventured out looking for pictures while the streets were quiet.  Sadly the gray clouds overhead spoiled things somewhat.  I did attempt a shot of the golden owl grasping a black mouse with its beak but the light was too poor for a success.  From behind I did get a good shot of him looking towards the 1926 town hall, given by the Courtauld's, and recently refurbished. Why an owl on the drinking fountain I know not.  Old 'Frith' pictures show a light there but a skinny bird on top, possibly a thrush not someone out of the celebs pages.  By the seventies the light appears to have vanished but the owl has been there since I brought my presence to the town.  This too was expensively cleaned and renovated a year or so ago.  Now the town wasters hang out here, no not me!    

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Monday

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So the other day they announce that an official 'drought' has begun in much of Eastern England. (Droughts are unknown in Scotland you can rest assured!)  The day this was made public it began to rain and has not ceased since. If it is not full time rain it is what they weather girls like to call 'showers.'  I remember one such shower when I was a postman, it began at six in the morning and finished just after I got back to the sorting office - at half past twelve!  Apart from the farmers beginning to count the cash that will soon drop into their wide laps the rest of us just carry on as normal, why? because this is normal for a British summer innit?  One question arises, if there is a 'drought,' why do the council allow this fountain to operate? Is this one where the water is recycled? Possibly, although it is certainly clean water, especially after some wag put a lot of washing up liquid in the thing. The soap suds were there for days and the council had to clean the whole lot out! I bet he doesn't do the dishes at home.


Doing the dishes reminds me of an Alan Wicker story. he was doing one of his series from the USA and he came across a big house, a 'Dallas' style house, occupied by a married couple and the 'nanny.' They were not young, nor were they old, but they had got money! There arose a dispute, concerning dishes. The three of them argued about who's job it was to put the dishes into the dishwasher (they never thought about just washing up like normal folks) and the dispute grew some. In the end they visited a psychiatrist to find a solution for their problem. Why?  Because they were American and at that date that is what the chattering classes were doing. The result of the visits, they used paper plates! Doesn't it make you weep?

We do not undergo such problems as we know that women have smaller feet than men, this allows them to stand closer to the kitchen sink.

 

"Come to the edge," I said.

"No, we're afraid."

"Come to the edge."

"No... We're afraid. We'll fall."

"Come to the edge," I said again.

And they came.

And I pushed them.

And they flew.

— Christopher Logue

                                                           'Acquired' from the excellent Max

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What the....?

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I've passed this spot hundreds of times in the past few years yet never noticed this....er, object, sitting on the wall.I had to take a hurried picture and cogitate on the meaning thereof. It stands in a space now holding a disgusting poofy looking fountain, erected at great cost by one of the towns benefactors sometime in the 20's or 30's. He could have erected something a bit more stylish if you ask me, that is why I have not pictured the thing here! Anyway, the fountain was erected on a spot that once held a couple of houses, and possibly shops also. I know that as studying the names on the town war memorial I found one who lived on this exact spot, and I suggest he had some sort of dwelling here rather than kipping on the benches provided. The fountain features the nancy boy holding fish, and Griffins are in short supply there, although dolphins abound. Actually so did soap bubbles for a while. Some rough type emptied dishwashing liquid into the water and it bubbled for weeks until the council cleaned it out! I suppose they are meant to be Griffins, or maybe part of the town crest, but I don't see how. Still, it is nice to note my photographers eye is improving and I will soon be 'A' like in my ability.  Oh I get it now! These are meant to be Sea Horses..... aren't they....? 

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