Sabbath Snow

With freezing hands, I forgot the gloves, I hobbled down the road this morning.  Last night it fell to minus 4 they say, and the place was white with frozen glory.

Normally, we would not notice just how many spiders webs are hanging about us, but today all was revealed as the dew thereon froze overnight highlighting where the beasties had trod.  The mechanical knowledge of wee creatures that are born, find a corner, and design a web so intricate that engineers today would find baffling is something to admire.

 

 

The warm hearts at the kirk were welcome but a great many remained at home, thus avoiding the walk or drive across icy highways.  Enough of us gathered however to murder six songs, some of them mercilessly, and enjoy the piano playing, I think by Les Dawson!  

 

Tonight however, to the delight of children everywhere, and to the annoyance on grown ups, snow has descended upon us.  Snow, which they say will fall until six in the morning, now blankets the area.  Traffic, such as it is, slowly passes, leaving long trails on the road and exasperating many drivers, though the one who passed just now has no worries it appears, either that or no brakes.  

The heating is on, I am fed and cosy, now to spend time praying for the many friends who have serious troubles.  Why so many at one time I wonder?  Who knows, but age has a play here.  My friend Jesus however, knows all.

 

Spider

 

Yet another Bank Holiday, yet another boring day.  

Yet another day to watch lots of mediocre low level English teams, Salford, Newport, Port Vale, Manchester United, struggle vainly in a bid to reach a higher level.

Nothing much else to do bar watch the spider up in the corner.  Esmarelda, lets call her, has been there for  some time now.  I am not sure how long they live for but she has been there years.  Occasionally I sweep away the excess web and it's dead occupants, but mostly I leave her alone.  In the warmer weather she earns her keep by removing lots of flies and creepy crawlies that otherwise would be a pest.  I am grateful for her hard work in this regard.

There are lots of such used webs around this house, as I discovered doing the Spring Clean, well, at least the bits of the Spring Clean I finished.  Some down the back of things which rarely move, others just hanging about here there and everywhere.  There is even one in my wallet.  One or two had occupants of various types, no duplicates to be found.  This is surprising as when they give birth, and eat their mate, the lass spews forth around a hundred young.  

Where do they go?  

I am now checking under the bed.

After that, I am off to check for a ''Dominator Tractor.'  Apparently they are all the rage these days...

 

Life is so Busy...

Unsurprisingly Saturday has been a busy day.  All that football to watch and things to do!
Early I was in Sainsburys being chatted up by the staff, as always.  Then I inspected the bins in a vain attempt to clear up the mess left when a neighbour moved out.  I have decided to add my aged mattress to it, after I by a new one, and call the council to remove the rubbish.  It might cost but is the easiest way.  The landlord might even pay me back.
After breakfast of leftovers again it was off to Tesco for the things Sainsburys do not have the chance to overcharge for.  On the way I sauntered into the museum to gloat to the staff regarding the busy afternoon ahead of them while I lazed at home.
They through me out.
Then I had to watch football for hours.
Life can be hard on a Saturday...

I did take time to venture out to one shop in the afternoon and passed the town centre with the 'Food Stall Day' underway.  This brings many people into the town they say but it does not bring them into the shops (nor the museum) to spend money.  The food providers are happy, many come regularly, and at he prices they charge I am sure they sleep well tonight.  However it is not for me as I would hesitate to spend such cash when I can burn similar cheaper at home.
Now after a hard day I am filling my head with old rock at too high a volume and working through YouTube to my pleasure and with wee earphones my neighbour's also.
This saves thinking and takes away my nervous energy easily....

It's Autumn, therefore these 'Boris the Spiders' are appearing everywhere often with huge webs taking ages to create.  It never fails to amaze me that such creations can be made by a wee beastie that has never attended a technical college or worked an apprenticeship.  Slender, huge and able to withstand quite some wind.  I wonder how long he will be there?  There was one in the corner of my window for several years.

Wander in the Mist

After a hard days work yesterday, I began at 9:30 and didn't finish till 1:30, I then spent the rest of the day getting over it!  Life would have been easier had people not kept coming in to the museum, I considered locking the door at one point as I could not finish the page of the book I was trying to read for people asking questions.  

One delightful couple arrived from Idaho to seek out the town's history and wander about for a while enjoying the type of sights they do not see in the wide open spaces of home.  Such make life worthwhile in the museum.  The ratty ones grumbling because the afternoon talk had to be postponed as the speaker was sick did annoy, especially as they demanded to know why no-one phoned them as they could have taken the speakers place.  Not having booked we did not know their number but that apparently was not a good enough reason!  She was female...

    
This morning I woke just before seven.  A glance through the stained glass window, stained with dirt that is, showed the morning mist was hanging around.  This I thought was a gift from Jesus this morning so throwing on some rags, grabbed the camera and began wandering the streets.  
The mist took a while to dissipate and I took a while to wander so we got on well.  Passing people speak easily at that time of the day, at least in this small town, and snatches of conversation broke out as people wondered why a madman was taking pictures before the shops opened.  One man was eager to get his daughter out for pictures as she was studying photo journalism, a good job I say, but as all 17 year old's do she was glued to her bed, probably until midday!   

The windscreens reflected the changing temperatures.  One man grumbled that this was the first time he had been out scraping his windows before moving off.  Just wait a month and it will be frozen in the mornings, time then for old newspapers across the screen.  The good days have passed us by and Autumn is at it's normal temperatures now, little cause for those expensive sunglasses until winter has passed.

     
'Twas on a Monday morning that the gas man came to call.'
Since that morning several months have passed and the gas mains in this street have not yet all been reconnected.  Changing the gas pipes from the old lead ones to long yellow plastic ones has not been an easy task for the workers.  Each house requires amendments and not all householders are around at the right time.  The changes to the traffic caused by closing the road has been great for those of us who walk a short distance down here, people have however been going round in circles attempting to find their way in to the street.  It will all be over by Christmas.

Where are people going this early in the morning I wonder?  Some are rushing to get to work, others taking the dog out, or in one case the dogs with cat attempting to follow.  Still others pass by engrossed in their thoughts strolling who knows where from nowhere it appears.  It is surprising how many people in this small town are unknown to me.  Many pass by daily and can be recognised, others pass as if in the night and are never seen again.  I could see a short story writer sitting on the bench finding material for a story here.  The young, the old, the lonely, the troubled, all pass this way their stories untold and disappear into the mist.

    
It never ceases to amaze me how spiders create such wonderful feats of engineering without spending seven years at Mechanical University.  These tiny beasts, this one clearly hiding from the chill, has managed to build his web without referring to the instructions.  It appears near perfect with the dew hanging from it yet if it breaks he (or is it she) will soon be out repairing and mending ensuring that sooner or later lunch will be served.  
And they say there is no God...

Foggy Cat

This was the third picture I took of this cat this morning.  He was sitting on the tin roof involved in a stand off with a black cat that lay curled up on a hut roof beneath him just out of picture.  It may be they had been positioned like this for some time.  This as I say was the third shot and his expression indicates he was getting miffed by my interest in his doings.  I say 'his' but it could easily be a female cat, that looks is the look many a mother has given her offspring.  I have no idea where this cat or indeed the other cat came from.  This may belong further down the road, I often see a cat cross the busy road there in spite of the heavy traffic.  The black one was hidden to well to get a proper look.  All around us the world continues and we know nothing of it.  The pets that keep us company and always are so doting towards us can also enter the wild world whenever they wish.  The varied relationships between them remain unknown to us.  Some cats may travel several miles claiming the land around as their property, this clearly means trouble as so many live in close proximity.  Yet I suppose once they have avoided the roads the park is a great place for them to spend their day.  Birds, passing dogs, other cats, squirrels, rats and I notice a few rabbits now have found a dwelling in the park.  Occasionally a Roebuck will pass through late at night.  

The fog forced me out in an attempt to obtain a decent picture but sadly few were available.  However I did find many bushes covered in these soaking wet spiders webs.  These were hanging over many bushes and I wondered about the fate of the poor spider hidden somewhere in the bush awaiting his breakfast.  Just how do wee beasties survive in such conditions.  The fog/mist by the way lessened as the day wore on but did not evaporate completely and remains again tonight.  The creatures the spiders aim for must be lacking in numbers just now or has the very mild November weather fooled them into thinking it is a differing month?  

By the way as this is November that means Christmas is just around the corner!

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A Better Bus....

A better bus took me to Chelmsford, one of the dullest towns known to man.  The main street has been pedestrianised and today contained several stall offering the usual fruit and veg, bread, cakes and stuff.  None offered coffee funnily enough but 'Costa' cafes appeared every few minutes.  Another wasted search for that jacket, although I did find a chap with a similar search to me.  Neither of us have been satisfied by the major stores.   

Coffee was provided, for £1, at the excellent stall in the Market however.  Not as good as the Colchester chap but better than overpriced 'Costa!'  I prefer such places as this.  

The old entrance to the Essex County Buildings reflects the Edwardian elegance and pretentiousness considered so important at that time.  Around the corner the new portion of the building reflects the modern pretentious style.  I much prefer this door!  Clearly this building did not satisfy the needs of the populace, or their councillors at least as an addition was added in 1929

It is of course the panel on the right indicates Chelmsford Council however I canny find any information on the building and at the moment have too little time to search.  Quite why a rams head, if indeed it is that, sits above the letters I know not, there again there is no reason for another ram or what might be a vulture above the date 1929.  That was of course the year of the Wall Street crash so I hope the builders were paid before people started to throw themselves from 67th floor windows.  I checked the pavements round about but they were no worse than normal.

Along the old canal I wandered, strengthened by the coffee and discovered 'Boris the Spider' hard at work under the road bridge.  My knowledge of such beasties is somewhat limited, usually limited to crying "AAAARGGGH!" and running away, so I am not clear as to the real name of this one.  I have seen lots of these around here and usually have a couple on the windows living of other beasties.  You can keep this one if you like....  

I am much happier disappointing the ducks by not feeding them.  This lot were ganging up to threaten a toddler for his lunch just before I arrived.  Once he had been deprived they looked for other mugs.  I never expected to find a large pond in this area.  An excellent feature and much more interesting, when the sun shines, than the High Street and its crowded shops.  In Primark, a place I never entered before, I discovered an imitation Harris Tweed like jacket for £28.  Not far away a similar jacket, made with slightly better 'Tweed,' cost more than twice as much at a 'reduced ' price.  It crossed my mind that the same sweatshop slave earned fourpence for making both.

Running across the top of the park lies the Liverpool Street Railway.  High above on this excellent viuduct the trains run several minutes late regularly, especially at rush hour when people jump in front of them or lorry drives crash into the weaker bridges!  It was not possible to get the whole thing into a photo, it continues behind and into the distance, but the number of bricks is very impressive and a credit to the men who erected in during Victoria's reign.

As I said goodbye to the ducks that followed in a forlorn manner I headed back towards the bus station grasping my Free Bus Pass tightly in my hand.  However I was distracted by a statue in the distance that at first I thought referred to the Theatre that stands nearby.

With the light right behind the poor souls head it merely leaves him a dark silhouette but this man holding the 'lightning flash' in one hand and what looks like an old fashioned phone in the other is Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of 'wireless.'  He in fact was not the actual inventor but he did play a serious development role and created a successful factory in the town that survived until recently.  It may still be found as part of GEC, if that has not died also.  You may recall him as the chap who sent a wireless signal across the Atlantic to Newfoundland, in spite of opposition from the men running the Telegraph system!  

Naturally I missed the bus!  As I approached I noticed the bus maneuvering about in a tight space.  Quick thinking, and a fast walk against my will, took me around the corner to the next stop which I reached, puggled, by the time the driver had made it past the traffic lights.  I was quite proud of my quick thinking.  I could tell by his snigger the driver had watched my attempt at speed and did not mistake me for that Bolt fellow.

I snatched this picture of the 'St Annes Castle' as we sped along because I noticed the sign on the other wall claiming that this was 'The Oldest Inn in England,' with a date that I think may have been possibly 1171.  I began to wonder how many other 'Oldest' Inns there may be, there is always a pub claiming to be the 'Smallest,' and how many can claim 'Elizabeth Ist Stayed Here!' Claims such as these have limited evidence but one of the must be right.  Inns such as this, on a road probably going back long before Roman times, must have carried many travellers requiring sustenance, so it is possible it was around a thousand years ago.  Here is the pubs own information regarding its age.   The place is mentioned in the Domesday Book, which you will recall, though not from personal experience, was written in 1086.  I may go down there to check it out one day myself....          

                                       

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Lazy Friday

To brain dead these days to write much, as you may have seen! However the bug is slowly leaving and occasionally I find my eyes open, only occasionally mind. So to entertain you here is a picture of one of the spiders webs that appear all over the windows these days. There is no sign of Boris himself, he likes to hide in a crevice nearby, but he and his brothers are big brutes for this part of the world. Obviously they are well fed! I watched on deal with a leaf from one of the trees nearby that stuck to his web the other day. He spent a good long while fighting with it and eventually removed the thing and repaired his well constructed web. Amazing that spiders get no instruction, spend no time in college, have no degrees in engineering and yet built such complicated, slender, yet strong constructions as these! And they say there is no God? These webs, the design of a flower, the way a birds wing is constructed, hollow and with struts across to give strength, the ability of a fragile butterfly to migrate over thousands of miles never fails to amaze me.