Morning, Noon and Night.

For the first time this week I rose without the heavy sleep hanging over me, a touch off that bug that has been going around here.  So just after seven a.m. I  trudged in the freezing weather up to Sainsburys.  It was colder than I anticipated, some frost lay in places in the park, and I was unable to open my eyes properly but that means nothing at that time in the morning.
High above the warning red sky offered a day of terrible weather even if the BBC site claims it will be chilly but none too bad around here.  Rarely does the red sky warning fail, somewhere today someone will feel the weather hurt them badly and I therefore must lay plans to stay in all day, once I have popped into the museum to pass on some info for one of the volunteers there.  I expect grumbling re the cold to be heard all around, but not from me as I never complain....

Wandering round to the museum just after ten with the weather colder than it was at seven I went to drop off the material for Keith.  He was busily involved in researching Braintree history back into the distant past.  What will come from this I know not but it looks good.  Judging by the size of he work he has done I am glad he is doing this and not me.
I am much happier than he, he is meeting with others to discuss that work, while I am watching the Scottish Cup on the BBC.  Much better than making my head spin with staring at long lines of aged information written in small and often undiscernible letters. 

My busy day is over, two football matches and reading my book has worn me out.  I had little time to spend arguing with Brexit lovers today, they must miss me?  Mind you Brexit has been pushed back by Prince Philip proving his manhood by crashing cars and then returning to the wheel without using a seat belt.  Vast acres after the accident spoke of his 'bravery' but almost none mentioned the people he crashed into.  They were of no importance I suppose.  I wonder who pays for the cars he crashes...?

Nothing Has Changed

Two votes in the House and nothing has changed.  May is still there fighting hard to keep the Tory Party together in site of the knifing in the back that continues daily.  Once again she stands outside No 10 spouting the same meaningless speeches, once agan nothing changes and the time runs out.
Where will it all end?  
I have avoided most of the talk that has been flung about, none of it makes any difference and little among it makes sense.  The PM is intent on avoiding a party split, the nation has voted emotionally from a 'little englander' viewpoint and now regret this as all the factories, at least those that are left, make plans for moving to Slovakia.  The lies have taken root and the ones fooled into voting for Brexit now are the ones who will pay the price.
I note also how the 'Baby Boomer' generation are again being told they have lots of money and their pension may have to be taxed.  This has been hanging around for a while and the media like the lapdogs they are were quick to promote the 'rich pensioner' idea as a 'theft from the young.'   Once again Tory lies will make others pay while they dodge tax and do very well thanks.  

 I struggled awake this morning, heavy with sleep for some reason, while the girl mumbled on about the weather on the wireless.  "It is going to be chilly," she said apparently unaware that it is the middle of January and therefore 'winter.'  As she did so I noticed large flakes of snow landing on the window.  This was chillier than I had hoped.  
Within an hour this had evaporated and the sun shone brightly all day fooling some into thinking it warmer than it was.  I was not fooled and remained indoors bar taking the rubbish out and risking frostbite.  Minus 1 tonight, a few weeks of this and the Gas and electric men can plan their bonus.' 

Film Night #Laurel & #Hardy #Busy #Bodies

Laziness Forces me to introduce FILM NIGHT!

It's cheap, it's old and it reminds you off me, er hold on...

GRRRRrrrrr....

I called someone a 'snowflake' today!  
This worries me.  
I am becoming a 'Daily Mail' reader!
I was irked, annoyed and put out by his comment and reacted without due care and attention.
This is of course not unlike me.
However I sit here fuming at my stupidity.  That ought to be one thing I am used to but no, I am surprised at how grumpy I am these days, grumpy at 'Daily Mail' levels and that is a worry.  
This anger arises easily as I look around me and see importance poured on things that are not important, celebs, adverts, stupid comments from a TV/pop/film star for instance.  Little things magnified out of proportion and now I am doing it also!
This generation is not easy to understand, their priorities are not major, minor things appear important and I suspect this is as a result of both they and their parents, and probably grandparents being brought up in a life of comparative wealth.  The middle classes, those who power the movers and shakers, have never worked in the real world and the following generations have nothing positive to aim for except the 'self.'  Me first has always been the way of the world but now many have the ability and expect the right to do anything even if it is absurd.  (At this point I would deviate (get it) into a rank about 'trans' but I will spare you this but it shows the point well)  Previous generations lived for the day as they were paid so poorly they had nothing spare, today this is less common.  The 'chattering classes' appear to be heading nowhere and this, like almost everything else, annoys me.
I am of course aware there are over a thousand foodbanks and many suffer under the austerity that leaves poor George Osborne struggling along on £2 million a year.  A friend of mine helps run the local one and meets some very hard cases but they are not the people who anger me.  It is the ones who do not notice and do not care.  The false dawn of the Hippy years saw many wish t make the world a better place, today people only seek self enjoyment, not a wrong in itself but they appear oblivious to the real world.  The PC world has raised a generation with a false moral outlook, 'if it feels good, do it' has become the value, the result is a mess.  An inability to know right from wrong and replace this with a false morality kills.
There again of course I could be, as my friend Wendy has often informed me over the past forty or so years, just a 'Miserable git.'  Maybe she has a point.
However I do see myself getting angrier, is it age?  Is it the generation around me, or is it I am just a git?  

          
Talking of drunken Twitter users I note that Trump has decided to shout at Turkey.  He has threatened them, a NATO ally, with repercussions if they don't do what he slurred.  Now the cynic in me says he has lots of money from Putin's friends, which means from Putin, and Turkey is a front seat for NATO on Russia's border.  Now could this be one of the ideas the Kremlin has put into his head to lessen the threat from next door I wonder?  I am convinced this could not be the case, he is after all a President and the US would not elect a stupid man as president surely?

Books, The Invisible Cross, and Others

Having finished my first Christmas book the other day I have been awaiting delivery of something to read.  This is not because I have no books lying around awaiting use but because most of them are the slower type of read, I wanted something that I could not put down and would be an easy read.  Too many of the others I can only take one chapter at a time, then my brain requires rest.
Three of these I have never heard off before,  the Ernst Junger one I have wished to read for some time,and I am happy to consider these will be easier to read and more interesting than anything available on the nearest TV set or grubby daily paper.  We will find out son enough.
The books all came via Amazon, for reasons of their own the Junger book was sent separately to the others and came via Royal Mail, dropping happily through the letter box along with a final demand for someone else.  The others however came by Amazons own delivery men, 'White Van Man' and normally a 'Black or Tanned Van Man' who had never been in North Essex before, had 500 drops, no map bar a 'Tom Tom' that was out of date and could not speak English.  Whether he had a licence or insurance I would not like to ask.  So today, Saturday, I am informed books are on the way, again it is natural to expect arrival about seven in the evening but happily he arrived as I looked out the window checking on strange noises outside.  This before noon and with an English driver at that!
Now I suppose I must go and sit in my bed for a few days reading all this stuff, I do not wish it to go to waste.

     Amazon

This is an excellent book, though I would not refer to it 'as eloquent as  any war poem'  but it does reveal one man's heart while engaged in fighting a war, a war about which he new little as it happens.  An Englishman with experience of fighting in India at the end of the Raj finds his 1st Battalion the Cameronians now engaged in fighting a very different and superior enemy.  This he does well, as situations change the battalion suffers losses and he takes over command while his superior becomes Brigade General, a position he also will soon be in line for.  Alas he does not follow the commands of the Divisional Generals behind the lines while fighting at Loos, along with his Brigadier he demands that if they wish him to proceed as planned they must come and look at the situation and give him the order in writing, as he has a right to demand.  They do not come.
This made him possibly a marked man and it was until 1918 he actually became a Brigadier, three years late!
We know all this from the letters he sent to his beloved wife.  These he attempted to write daily, not always possible, and reveal his care for his family, his desire to get out of the line as he was ageing and the burden of command as the years past and the war developed wore him down.  His wife's replies he destroys, to precious for others to see.
This is an excellent insight into the battalion commander under duress, the stress of war, care for his family whom he rarely sees, and the care for his men often dying because of blunders and mistakes.
One interesting observation was his lack of understanding of how the war was going.  His friendship and relationship to senior generals did not help him develop a picture of the overall situation, the newspapers offered nothing but propaganda, and he asked his wife for info he was not receiving.  He lived on after the war, another came and went and he continued his happy life until his death in the 1960's.  The war of course he never spoke about.
Overall a very good book, worth a read.

Several times I have come along the street round the corner I have heard a bird sing happily somewhere above me.  At lunch time as I passed by there he was again, a wonderful cheery song in a gray day.  This time I could see him even though the light was poor and I am glad to know it was this Robin chirping away while Sparrows buzzed about him in the tree.  If the weather deteriorates as some claim it will then  hope he survives.  A month of real winter is due and I hope it s not like the one being experienced in Europe.  I hope the bird survives as the song brightens each day.

Thursday Cogitation

The tenth of January twenty nineteen, yet another year has almost finished before I have got over Christmas, and that itself appears far in the past!   Staring out into the gloom does not cheer me early in my morning, neither does Radio 3 cheer as it ought this morning, the wrong choice of music for me.  I wish for something more cheery, ah, Brandenburg Concerto's, that's better, I need something cheery as in a minute the news will appear bringing tales of Brexit, squabbles in parliament and little encouraging me to go out and meet the world.  The world itself is gray and chilly, the people wrapped up, gloved and woolly hatted as if the Antarctic was on their minds rather than Tesco, only young girls heading to college dress skimpily to attract the strange creatures attending them, tardily attired males who consider themselves 'trendy' while looking, as all youths do in every generation, a mess.

My mood might be affected by the pile of paper lying beside me.  This contains information regarding the graves in the Bocking End Congregational Church graveyard.  This has been in use so long many of the tombs are now unreadable and others soon to be similar sadly.  However I checked up some of the names and was struck by how much many achieved, at least in child rearing, and how quickly their life had passed, life is much shorter than we realise, and only after fifty do we realise we are next!  The age span of the names is also great, one church minister was serving the church there for nigh on fifty years, greeting many when they entered the world and burying them around him when they left, while others failed to reach five years in their Victorian life.  Many women lie there dying in their twenties and thirties, childbirth often the cause.
Others appear to have been successful in business, a builder married the girl next door, began as a carpenter, became a builder, then a master builder and eventually died in what I presume to be a house he himself built in one of the more prestigious streets.  Today that house will cost well over half a million, possibly much more, it is an outstanding building!  His other buildings will stand all around probably for many years yet.
I sometimes wonder how people survived the physically tough eras in the past.  Walking was the most common form of travel until railways appeared, and then we would not venture far unless we sought a new life or had a public day off.  Medicine was rare, mostly old wives tales and experiments, until the mid Victorian days when ether arrived operations were rather drastic, germs were not discovered until much later and sickness was dangerous.  Hard labour, poor wages, poor prospects, even though life improved as the century came to an end, in comparison to today the opportunities had to be fought for and life was strewn with difficulties.  We have it so much easier and I am aware of many faults and difficulties we all face today. 

Our next exhibition reflects greatly on one of the large businesses that once employed thousands of townsfolks, Crittall Windows.  By the end of the 19th century Courtaulds Mills, Lake and Elliott and Crittall's employed thousands here, all were decent employers and workers happily remained employed at these companies for most of heir working days.  All paid decent wages, good working conditions and social clubs and events.  Crittalls had a large social club almost opposite their extensive factory, now all gone and replaced by housing, and paid good wages with excellent conditions for the time.  During the Great War they replaced men who had gone off to serve with women paying the same wages and prepared 18lb shells for the war.  One of the Crittalls built the small town of 'Silver End' around one of his factories for the workers, social clubs, parks, shops etc all available in a modernistic setting.  While few of the early settlers remain, most must have passed away by now, the village is still clearly well laid out although the benefactor 'feel' may now have long gone.  If only our millionaires today acted like this towards their people?  I suppose they have no contact with workers and therefore have no idea what the workers lives are like, politicians today mostly failing to have ever 'worked' having always been politically minded.  They are indeed far from us all.  The Crittalls however knew their people and this exhibition will show oil paintings made by the company of workers at all levels from shop floor to boardroom.  These were made in the 20's and at least one person I have met has a granddad who is among those portrayed by the artist (whoever he was).  This ought to being in the public, half the town worked there or knew some family member who did, and it will run on until the new year to allow schools a chance to bring the kids in and learn about the towns past.  
No-one paints portraits of their workers today.

 

Work

The sun was up, the sky was blue, and so was I as he sun shone but failed to heat.
Chilled and weary I entered the world of work once again and once again it smiled upon me, then left me to it all day.  How marvellous to have had nothing to do for two hours this morning!  They who must be obeyed were all in a meeting, that went on all day, I think one of them is still there talking away and has not noticed the rest have hopped it.  This left me with nothing to do but attend to visitors who did not show.  At least for most of the day that is then they all came at once, parcels being delivered, visitors, people asking for bus timetables, more visitors and then it as time to go home.
Naturally at this point I made a mess of the till and our one big customer of the day, until then our only one, suffered my incompetence.  Once sorted he smiled and left, feeding them chocolates while we sort the till helps ease people I find, especially women, and then reporting to boss who had sneaked out of meeting and being clouted with ledger book, I sailed home.
Marvellous this ability of mine to make mistakes no-one else ever makes.  I see this as a "cough" gift though the boss says otherwise.

Geordie taking over at the 'Mail' recently  offered a chance for the tabloid to improve the quality aspect, turn from Brexit and produce journalism once again.  Sadly this has not materialised.  Indeed it appears to have gone further in quality.  Instead of haranguing the EU or screaming about immigrants Geordie fills the paper with royal stories, mostly untrue, and mediocre celebs.  So we have tales of what she wears, what she said to him, and what ex-employee claims she said he said that week when she did or he didn't.  Hundreds comment each taking sides in this needless soap opera.  Geordie knows his audience and 'News' is not what they seek.  To this end David Beckham the mediocre footballer with pouting wife has reappeared constantly.  Oh joy, we need to know about him, her, the sales, the fashion, the money don't we?   Well no actually but the DM reader apparently does.  Brexit has been pushed carefully aside and Geordie is, like everyone else, unsure what will happen, so he hedges bets in case he needs someone in the future.  Dacre, the strange previous editor has departed who knows or cares where but Geordie must improve the quality or folks might be wanting the old man back again.  

Trouble at Mi...er, Town...

When I came here in 1996 I read all the local papers to discover what the town was like I found it was full of crime!  Garages robbed, cars stolen and various other local problems like flashers and so on.  However a month alter the annual results were published and the stats were very revealing.  Back in London my area came under Paddington, car crime here, stolen radios etc, amounted to about 650 a year, Maida Vale was top with well over 700 such crimes.  This town had 24.  The screaming headlines in the press were a bit over the top I mused.  Today, with some 10,000 extra people arriving the somewhat laid back town is a wee bit different.  Add to this the shortage of police caused by government policies, police misuse of funds (funding 'gay rights' and 'trans' events for PC reasons rather than policing), and the increase of drugs availability often via outreach from London gangs, and the atmosphere is a wee bit less wholesome.  That said it remains a good place to live, especially for the folks with young kids and those er, past their best.  Excitement has however reached fever pitch with two incidents in recent days.

 
Not long after 5 pm on Saturday, as the market was closing and many were leaving Tesco with their shopping, a fight between what appears to be two large groups developed outside in the space between the store and the 'Bull' pub.   In the mellee which followed one man received a knife wound in the hand and a general 'fear' element affected the local facebook page, especially among those who were not there and unlikely to be there any time after five.  It appears among those arrested were people aged over 50!  This is understandable and many posted about their fear, the way the town has decayed in recent years and only a few, mostly men, indicated that such situations are rare and we are unlikely to meet one.  I have had only one real confrontation, with a few neds, in 22 years for instance.  However the fear is understandable.  Burglaries have increased as street lights are extinguished late on, criminals from outside pass through stealing what they can from town and village and move on, impossible to catch unless the police get lucky.  Situations like this lead to fear, women especially, and more so if on there own.   
The fact is this may be two groups known to one another, local lads maybe or folks from outside seeking trouble.  It could be drug related but we will not know for some time I suspect.  Several people have been arrested, know doubt soon to appear charged and remained in custody, and hopefully the police who reacted reasonably quickly can put folks minds to rest.     

Today, with the town rested and at ease, children returned to school, all others returned to work while I remain at home enjoying my leisure, suddenly an ambulance helicopter lands in the park opposite.  This curtailed my screening of the 'EPL on Quest' while I attempted a photograph through dirty windows.  It was worrying at first as the four men unhurriedly walked down the street round the corner as I know people there and wondered what had occurred.  
Later, much later, an ambulance arrived and a man with serious injuries was transferred to the helicopter and taken away.  All this took time of course and soon the social media and press were filled with speculation and little information.  
The individual involved did not come from round the corner but further away in some flats where a confrontation had occurred.  Another gentleman (note the use of this word) was removed from the flats and arrested for 'affray.'  He also assaulted an 'emergency worker' and is now helping police with their enquiries.  This does not set hearts at peace though I suspect if drugs were not involved in the first incident bad words have been exchanged between groups of young and old 'gentlemen' and the second one may well be neighbours or 'friendly gentlemen' who have fallen out.  I suspect the populace are no way involved nor need to fear.  

Everyone wishes to see what is happening!  The press have of course listed all the stabbings, fights, crimes in one long list forgetting to state that almost all are yobs of suitable behaviour, domestic incidents and robbery, still it's the 'shock' element that sells innit?
The police policy has changed recently and they claim officers were nearby patrolling when the first incident occurred, this may be true.  Better organisation sees more police on the ground, even if just PCSO's, and the public prefer this.  History tells us the town has seen worse, crimes have always occurred and common sense and good policing, with public support, helps alleviate the damage caused.  

        

Bored Saturday

Bored! 
Cold and gray, and so is the weather, so I sat in waiting for the postman bringing a book.  This book is for another but would be too big for the letterbox, so I waited.  Checking later I found a card telling me he had left it at another flat!  I was in!  Why not knock loud?  Bah!!!  This is a good postman, I wonder what the bad would do?  Tsk!
Having stored the book I checked the football.  Manchester United squad players against failing Reading, this will be good eh?  No it was not, as expected Man Utd won easily.  Now I watch Blackpool, with a detested chairman who's fans refuse to enter the ground.  Therefore their poor team is against Arsenals squad players who ought to win easily with their fans outnumbering the home crowd.  The rich maniac who owns the club sits above watching while the club falls apart.  Why do the authorities allow such situations to develop?  As expected the game is a s dull as my day.

However while printing a leaflet I discovered I had no black ink left.  The ink world is a con!  Having bought on the cheap several twinned packs off Black ink and coloured ink I now find I have three coloured inks lying awaiting a place and no black!  This led to venturing out into the chill wind.  
As I passed the Congregational Church I noticed the door slightly ajar.  This was interesting!  Rare to see the door ajar at any time so I took a look around the outside to check if someone was working there, none to be seen, just as I was debating entering the ministers wife, who I know, came out.  This saved me from entering seeking burglars and instead finding and chatting to for a while the leaders of this now small congregation.
Having worked there for over 20 years the man has built up a decent congregation, sadly of aged people, most of these have now dropped off and only a handful remain.  This is sad as the church grew out of the 1600's puritan revival and started in a barn a hundred yards up the road despite opposition from Charles the first who demanded people attend the parish church.  Many were threatened with jail, many fled to the new world, others remained until Charles II allowed them some degree of freedom.  A building has stood here for around three hundred years even allowing for half the congregation to leave and begin anew Baptist church over the road.  This large building, dim with n lights on when I was in there, is an ideal church building.  Pews sit at a circular angle facing the front and having always been well kept it appears old but (apart from heating) is ideal for proper church services.  It would be a great shame if such a church were to die after so long a witness.  However almost all churches in the town are decent ones, the younger element do not like the style of service, and the minister and his wife at 77 years of age will not be changing that any time soon.  All this means appropriate persons have other churches to join and this one suffers now. This rubbish football is more interesting but the result is clear...

My Fat & me...

Early this morning before the sun decided to break through the dullness I stood on the weighing machine and found four pounds had gone from me.  My fat belly rejoiced, even though it made it difficult for me to actually see the reading on the far off machine at my feet.  Moving off the machine amidst much creaking, my bones not the weighing machine, I rejoiced and swiftly breakfasted on two hunks of bread.  Something did not appear right here.  Once again I must pretend I am eating better, once again I must choose more fruit and veg and less of the Christmas leftovers (see above) and once again I suspect this will last for a few days only until bad habits once more reappear.  
er, actually having looked in the fridge it appears bad habits will be feeding me again tonight!  The only things to eat are about to go off, reduced price specials, and I must stuff them down now before they go that awful green colour again...
My downstairs neighbour has been hiding away since new year with his girlfriend, clearly the reason he no longer lives with his children's mother, and has I suspect enjoyed himself a great deal.  This does mean however that I cannot exercise as I would like, the shaking floor unfair on those below, and so what exercise I did today was slow and not sufficient to encourage more fat to go away.  Nevertheless I will persist, I will be out for a short while on the bike, cold weather permitting, also next week he will have to work once more and I will fill the morning with grunting and grumbling.
I may well reward myself with a piece of cake!
Cake reminds me of the book I am reading, one of the Christmas gifts, this concerns an officer in the Cameronian's, a regiment who like all Scots regiments were famous for their cakes.  In his letters home (the book is based on his letters) he constantly refers to the cakes, fish, fruit socks and various other items his wife sends out.  Visiting officers rejoiced in visiting such men at the front.  
Having just finished rather rapidly the 'Black Bun' that arrived it might become a requirement of my sister to send me cakes more often, as a treat after exercise I mean.  I doubt she would comply outside of Christmas!  

Thursday Baloney

A nothing day again, too chilly to wander about, once Tesco had been attended to ("Here it comes again," I heard the checkout girl say to her mate.  She not being my favourite) and buying yet more seed for the greedy Starlings!  I need to feed myself also as I just failed to remember the name 'Starlings.' I could name many birds but this one would not come, the mind blocked it.  This happens all too often nowadays.  It is part of my mind and it runs through the family this inability to remember names but when tired or sick it shows up and nothing comes that is relevant when looking for something.  I hope its just age.

A nice email from one of the museum girls today, that worried me also as it meant she wanted something.  Indeed she did and my nothing day was at the end filled with searching for a man I canny find.  He is there, I found him 5 years before I want him, but otherwise he has run away. He did reappear and die rich and happy in 1950, but it is his earlier experience I seek!  Bah!

Now I retire exhausted, strained and forgetting what I was going to do....

The World Returns to Normal

With cars flashing past full of folks seeking Sainsburys and Tesco, the sun occasionally peeping out from the light gray clouds that cover the earth, the washing now drying over the heaters and mums everywhere desperate for tomorrow and the last of the kids are forced back to school, life returns to a normal state of chaos.  Worrying about Brexit is the national obsession while worrying about schools, shops, football, other peoples private lives, TV soaps, and losing weight are the obsessions of the man in the street, well the women mostly.  Christmas has gone, many presents broken or now on e-bay and while Scotland watches the whisky sales continue in pubs and clubs England has the usual after-break hangover, depressed people in work making mistakes and wishing they were back home.  I have just sat here writing or thinking about writing emails while the laundry rumbled in the background and my stomach rumbled in front of me.  Too much 'Black Bun' I think.  Over the road I note Spring is getting impatient and already the Daffodils are beginning to sprout, earlier than last year I think.  Just in time for the frost and bleak cold chill from the east these flowers begin to show.  Could this be global warming or is this normal for Daffs?  We might soon see yellow blossoms in spite of the weather.   

Jan 1st 2019

Careful consideration was given to getting on the bike and riding up the old railway this morning.  However my body, lacking a full sleep period, decided otherwise therefore just after 9:30 I wandered out seeking fresh air and sunshine hoping not to be greeted by too many cheerful types wishing "Happy New Year" to one and all.  These English are funny folks, on Sunday many wished me a 'Happy new year' whereupon I informed them it was not 'New Year' until midnight on hogmany, this they failed to comprehend.  Today, the 1st of January 2019, as I crossed the park I passed many a person not one of whom looked capable of wishing anything but the Black Death upon those who crossed their path.  One man almost but not quite nodded in my direction and I gave no greeting to any, one cannot be too careful I might have woken some of them up! 

As ten of the clock approached some shops were opening, 'Argos,' 'The Works,' and one or two others were on the point of opening while 'Iceland' and W. H. Smiths were already serving customers desperate for urgent supplies, there has been no shops open since er, last year.
Miserable people sauntered around in the chill, little sign of revels anywhere though I suspect the pubs will be full again by lunchtime.  Surprisingly few windows broken, indeed none that I saw from last night, the extra police patrols on duty must have had an effect.  Not that these patrols mattered to me as I sat in my bed from early on seeking interesting things to do on the laptop.  This it turned out was as interesting as what was on TV, nothing could be found and all other things were boring me, so I read one of my Christmas books, re WW1 would you believe?, as outside fireworks exploded to add background to my reading.  I think they shot their bolt as by midnight few fireworks lasted long, they appeared to have used them all up earlier. 

 
Now I sit here and cogitate after my lunch, followed by 'Black Bun,' while I attempt to get life back into this bulk.  I fear I have failed and now will have to go against my dearest wish and return to my bed and sleep off the weariness caused by eating.  I may be some time... 

Indeed I was but the cloud covered sky of earlier has been replaced by a dark night instead.  This forced me to eat once again (Why does meat have no flavour? What does 'slaughtered in UK mean? Is the beef foreign?) and now full of whatever that was I search for football to finish the night.  All I can get is a National League game (England's 5th division) to entertain me while I doze away the beginning of a new year.  
How has it gone for you so far?
No disasters yet as far as I know, I have failed to upset anyone, though I could have tried that this morning, and silence all around can be heard.  I say that and vehicles appear from nowhere!  A quiet day but surely tomorrow will be back to normal?  Many schools return on the 3rd so teachers can return tomorrow and discover how many are missing, shops will be back to their usual hours, traffic will be lighter but the world returns to face the new year with a miserable expression and fear of Brexit everywhere.  The announcement that the Dept of Transport has given millions to a firm to provide ferries, a firm that has no and has never operated ferries, comes as no surprise as the firm is owned by a man who is a major Tory donor, corruption is rife in this government.

OK folks the break is over, get down to the gym!

Happy New Year to all my Friends

Hogmany

Sixk of the endless small chicken that since Christmas day has never ceased to appear on my plate I sought sanctuary in Sainsburys overpriced 'reduced' section this morning.  Here I found ludicrous prices on meat that has only a short shelf life yet lack of nourishment forced a sale.  
The word 'Sale' remained in my mind wandering about the empty town early this morning where almost every shop had windows dressed in lying 'Sale' posters.  I say 'lying' because that is what they do.  This one filled the windows in an attempt to bring in customers but once inside I was disappointed with what was on offer on the 'sale' rack, even Sainsburys offered more.  Large signs and few offers appeared to be the thing.  Maybe the lassies found more but I doubt it.

Last year this shop, selling short lived footwear made in Romania or Bangladesh or somewhere cheap, had a similar full window advert claiming massive reductions.  There was one display among the men's stuff for reduced prices, all rubbish, they might still be there today.  I doubt the women got much more.  The thing about this shop is the way you never see the same girl working there.  Each Monday they appear to open with different staff, a sure sign that high wages are not on offer at this place.  I wonder if the staff will ever get a pension from here? 

Unusual to see such signs outside this shop as it always has 'sale' signs there.  Like those furniture and carpet shops that we see everywhere this shops has had a sale on since 1969 as far as I can tell.  This does not mean the stuff is poor, I wear some myself, but the prices are high, far too high, and sale time among the sales is required before I wish to purchase.  It never appears to shut either, the staff change round, less often than the shoe shop but reasonably frequently and the place is open every day, I suspect it would open on Christmas Day also if it could.

Being Hogmany many folks reconsider their lives.  Many go back over the year crying woe regarding their failures or smiling sweetly at the successes they have seen.  I don't do this as I forget what happened yesterday let alone over the year.  My brother died quite suddenly in March, which surprised us and no doubt him, the heat was on during the summer, and winter has not really settled in yet now, that strikes me as about all that comes to mind, I suppose there is more.  The Heart of Midlothian have discovered how to play football, until half the team go missing for months through injury.  St Paul's sees the vicar develop very well which is just as well as the curate leaves soon, though I still wonder what I am doing in an Anglican church, a denomination full of strange ideas, people and godless creature.  New neighbours abound in the house, most I have still to fall out with, so that is something to look forward to from tomorrow and next week back at the museum I will find my place there even less important to the mighty ones now the nation has forgotten their war 'heroes.'  Then there is Brexit to come, or not as the case many be.  I must return to stocking up on bully beef and soldiers biscuits as I have put that aside for Xmas.  By the end of the month the opposition might have awoken and dumped Corbyn and found a leader but I doubt that really.  Many could be worried about the future but most are ignoring that and instead concentrating on the 'Bread & Circuses' on offer which avoid the need to think or take responsible action.  This is understandable but foolish.  Trump in the US, China on the rise, Putin and his gangsters running the Leave Campaign among other rich nameless right wing types, many EU states looking to their granddads for guidance rather foolishly, migrants equally foolish in believing they will be allowed in.  
For me the peace comes in knowing Jesus is still in control though it looks a mess.  Whether I am truly following him is the only worry there.

Until Midnight, if I am awake...

Rushed Saturday

Foolishly I went on the free bus to the outlet centre joining the pig ignorant throng.  Pushing, walking into people, talking loudly on phones and shops not stocking anything worth buying.  Coming back I ventured into Tesco where ten thousand Buffalo were wandering around desperate for more of the stuff they have over abused already this week.  I got my milk and bread, chatted to the young checkout assistant, and ran home for the football.
Today being a derby day I threw £7:99 on a SKY Day Pass so I could watch the Glasgow and Edinburgh ones.  How sad that Rangers looked like a football team in the first one, I rather hoped they would lose heavily, sell their better players in the January Transfer window, and go bust!  They might survive now.
I rush this as I await the Edinburgh derby, a game featuring two sides missing good players and therefore impossible to predict.  I suspect however that the Heart of Midlothian will win again, we usually do... 

Bleak

Bleak, gray, dull, yucky day.  Disappointing after yesterdays sun.  Town filled with children rushing about, no parents controlling them, no police, no shotguns sadly.  Rotten day, dreich everywhere, no news, nothing happening, time to go back to bed I think...

Up on the Roof.

The need for fresh air and sunshine forced me out today.  This was good as the light was bright and the townsfolks were meandering about, some showing off their new bikes, scooters and clothes, others seeking shiny things in the shops now open.  

I soon found myself on the top floor of the large car park from where I thought I may get a picture or two of the town.  Here I noticed windows dirtier than mine existed though to be fair it is difficult cleaning windows through those bars.  

    
Old cottages in the distance once used by weavers they say.  Narrow houses now but large windows for the time.  The attic, now divided, once ran all along the roof space allowing for long bales of cloth to be laid out.  A good example of the craft that once flourished in this area for hundreds of years.

I was much taken with the sign saying "Pedestrians: Way Out" and pointing to either direction.  There are no stairs and this means the only way out is through the 'window' on either side.  I went on further myself...

 
The low lying sun leaving a kind of blue haze in the distance caught my attention.  Such a sun is wonderful, bright, cheery and blinding at times.  So bright that my sister a few days ago left a shop, was blinded by such sun and walked into the closed door!   This left her flat on her back being attended to by the staff who it must be said treated her well, this was in Livingstone.  They fussed while she just wanted to go home.  At home everyone laughed, I laughed, and at the doctors he laughed, she just suffered a bruise or two and hurt pride, but she is used to that.  

In among the Victorian and mock Victorian chimney pieces on show we can see the benefits of being a country town, the masses of trees in the distance.  These lie among the farmland that developers are desperate to turn into concrete and mass money in offshore accounts.  Most of the populace are not so keen.  The town has grown from 30,000 to 40,000 in the 20 years I have been here and lost some of its innocence with the introduction of 'London overspill' and the like.  A type of less friendly person is appearing and this affects us all.  People are less likely to speak in passing as they used to do though many still do and 'old folks' constantly complain about the changes, as they do.

 
The mist does create colour changes which I love.  Darker nearby and lightening with each item in view as it heads off into the distance.  Some were complaining tonight that driving was difficult with the mist, I suspect it will be worse first thing in the morning.  Not too much traffic just now mind.  Next Wednesday I suspect before life as normal returns.

While standing there on this near deserted open top floor of the car park I noticed the pigeons suddenly take flight as if aware of a predator of some sort.  Two flocks took off in different directions, joined immediately by all other hangers on, yet remarkably quickly settled down once again.  I could see no obvious enemy so it may have been a false alarm.  It does show however that being a bird is not an easy life.  The weather, lack of food and predators mean you are forever looking around for danger.  We are much safer that we realise, a bird is constantly afraid.  

 
Pointing a camera at a bright sun offers a dark picture.  I could have fiddled with it but could not be bothered decided this was a decent enough image.  I found it strange having come from Edinburgh and having lived 20 or so years in London finding the town so flat.  This was one of the few high places from which to see the town, the Town Hall roof is another and one day I will get up there, but being able to look south and see a few roofs fading off gently into the distance was strange to me.  It still is to some extent.