21 April 2018

Another sunny day. Transition meeting in the morning at the Hub which went well, followed by a good afternoon in the garden.

Peony

Hellibore

20 April 2018

An excellent day out in Manchester meeting up with my friends Adrian and Peter. Sunny and warm. Peter shared with us his holiday photos from a recent trip to China and presented me with a splendid Chinese mug and commie cap. On our itinerary was a pie and pints in the City Arms and the beer garden at the Sir Ralph Abercromby.

The Chinese mug

Canal Street

New Union Hotel

Picked Eggs and Pie

Albert Square

 

Peterloo mural in the Sir Ralph Abercromby. At least one victim of the massacre died here

19 April 2108

Warmest day so far this year. About 20oC. Could easily be June. A trip to the doctor and another blood test. Gardening in the afternoon in T-shirt and shorts!

Blood test at the infirmary. 

Reflection in the glass wall of the flood defences

18 April 2018

Bit of a lazy day
Spent recovering after
The excesses of my visit to Crewe
So skived off both jobs

Reading a very good book though
The Existentialist Cafe
About Sartre and de Beauvoir
By Sarah Bakewell

Barons Quay

17 April 2018

Good day shame about the weather! Grey and cloudy most of the day with drizzle and light rain on and off. Went to Crewe to meet my old friend Nat and we had a good catch-up in the Beer Dock which has a really good selection of cask and bottled ales.

Upstairs at the Beer Dock

Nat

Crewe station. I have spent many miserable hours here. Not a place I relish being!

16 April 2018

Bit down. Blood sugars are up so its back to strict diet and exercise. Took a picture of this curious sculpture. It's hard to get a decent photo without a stepladder because its surrounded by a wall. Whichever angle you take it from the background lacks interest.

15 April 2018

After a beautiful sunny day yesterday we are back to rain. Still reasonably warm though. Here's a picture of my favourite barn.

14 April 2018

Warm, sunny day!  The warmest day so far this year - 17oC! Went into town to do some shopping and have a look at the artisan market, then to the garden centre for some peat. Mowed the lawns for the first time this year and planted sunflowers, courgettes, tomatoes and chillies.

Love these old tobacconists ads which have just about survived. 

13 April 2018

It's Friday the 13th. Nothing worse than miserable rain thankfully. Met up with Paul at Waitrose in the morning to discuss our talk on 'Introduction to Transition' that we are giving on 21 April. We are holding it at our Transition Hub in the old Coop, in space given to us by Care UK. It's the old Coop kitchen. Useful but a bit on the small side. We spent an hour or so sorting the room out.

Paul in Waitrose

12 April 2018

I walked down to the shop today
To buy a bottle of wine
The shop is crap
But the wine is good
Yes the bottle of wine is fine.

Rain, rain and more rain. Mind you I got stuck into my new book which I can highly recommend. Can't put it down!

11 April 2018

It's International Pets Day!

Rio

10 April 2018

Rain has set in and it's colder. Due to rain most of the week. The upside is that its good for the garden, which really needs it. Especially after all the planting I have done.

Off to the Infirmary for my blood test. They have tried to close the Infirmary once already. No doubt they'll be trying to do it again soon. Its an important resource for local people and needs to be retained. The nearest hospital is 16 miles away.

The Infirmary

The Odeon at Baron's Quay

9 April 2018

Not a bad day up until late afternoon. Warm(ish) and sunny turning to rain. Frustrating day as I went to get a blood test and forgot to take my form so back to the Infirmary tomorrow. Another photo of one of my favourite subjects.

8 April 2018

Today its relatively mild and sunny. Top temperature around 14oC. So, its time to get on with some planting in the veg patch. I really enjoy this work. This is what work ought to be - something that is creative and rewarding. The bonus is that I am usually assisted by my faithful Robin who is always close by.

Close by

Order is emerging from the chaos

The cheeky fella on my garden fork

Mixing the compost

7 April 2018

Mood.

6 April 2018

Another trip to the Mother-in-Law. Collected some wood for the log burner. There was a beautiful cock pheasant in the back garden. In time-honoured fashion, it began to scarper as soon as I took my camera out of my pocket. Usual problems on the M6 meant we had a three hour journey home 😡

Primroses in the garden

The elusive pheasant

The next door neighbours have Ostriches

5 April 2018

Annoyed! It was a beautiful sunny day and I went out intending to take some photos on the way only to find I had neither my camera nor my mobile phone!

Here's a picture I took of a rainbow coming out of a chimney fairly recently.

4 April 2018

Weather very mixed again. Some sunny spells but also heavy rain. Went to the food bank in the morning. In the afternoon I was catching up with some Transition reading for a talk I am doing on the 21st.

3 April 018

Today the weather was a mixed bag. Temperatures are creeping up and we had a mixture of rainy gloom in the morning, bright sunshine around midday and poring down in the evening. Broad beans now beginning to take off.

2 April 2018

Miserable day. Cold and raining. Went to see Anthea & Pete on their smallholding near Sandbach.

1 April 2018

Cold and dull. We need some warmth! Had a walk down to the river to see the rowers lining up for competition.

Vale Royal Locks

Rowers getting set up to go just below the locks

Heading for the start

31 March 2018

Bit of a miserable day weatherwise and it looks like its set to continue. Spring is here though!