17 February 2020

Tonight I went to our Transition Town meeting. I founded the Transition group with my friend Paul four years ago. We had a presentation from a CWaC councillor about their climate plan. I found it pretty depressing. I know councils have no money but the plan wasn't anywhere near as ambitious as I'd hoped and won't meet the Paris Accords. Also heard some nonsense about technofixes.

What we need is community energy - solar, wind and hydro - retrofitting of homes with energy efficiency, better waste reduction, and recycling and a big shift to walking, cycling, and public transport - for a start! Good to see the TN crew though.

16 February 2020

Sunny and dry (i.e it's not raining) after last night's storm. Still some strong gusts of wind. I went for a walk to survey the aftermath. I didn't see any trees down but I didn't go down to the river.

The UK has a record number of flood warnings. South Wales is particularly badly hit, also Worcestershire and Herefordshire. Record flooding in some places.

Our idiot Prime Minister - Johnson - made no comment and failed to visit any of the affected areas. Some people are going to live to regret their vote on December 12th. The photos are of flooded fields off Eaton Lane.

15 February 2020

Storm Dennis is here. We batten down the hatches. Luckily we're well outside of any flood zone. We live near the top of a hill. Best place to be in climate crisis UK. We did get a lovely rainbow though.

14 February 2020

Friday. Storm Dennis is approaching! Wet and strong winds beginning to blow! Went to Barons Quay. Cost £80 million four years ago and still over half the units are empty.

13 February 2020

Wet and miserable. Getting a bit stir crazy. Comforting myself with a hot cup of green tea from my favourite commie mug that Peter brought me from China.

12 February 2012

Cold but clear. There's another weekend storm on the way. Couldn't resist a pic of the grand old Bedford campervan. Great to see it in such good nick! 😊

11 February 2020

Finally got started on the garden though there were strong gusts of wind and hail at times. My hands were the coldest I ever remember them being. The soil is very heavy from the winter rain but its beginning to warm up. I could do with about a ton of compost. Planted broad beans that should have been put in in November. That was when I planted the garlic. You can see the green shoots at the front of the bed.

Today Bojo the clown announced the government is going ahead with HS2. A waste of £100 billion on a white elephant which should have been spent on rail and busses across the UK!

10 February 2020

Still gusts of wind and it's much colder now. working on my book and beginning to see some light at the end of the tunnel. The photo is of the house opposite ours which many years ago was a schoolhouse.

9 February 2020

Today storm Ciara arrived in the UK causing widespread flooding in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire with wind damage to trees and properties. There were gusts of up to 90 mph. We got off pretty lightly. The Buddha is looking calm.

8 February 2020

Saturday. Still working on my book. A dull, cloudy day with wind and rain but not so cold. I dropped in at Waitrose on my shopping trip.

7 February 2020

My annual CPAP appointment at Wythenshawe Hospital. I've never been amitted but I like the feel of the place. It always seems welcoming. On the way home I dropped off in Knutsford and tried to get some pictures of King Street. Always tricky because you have to try and avoid being run over. I like Knutsford. What a pity the traffic blights the two central streets. Its high time these were pedestrianised.

6 February 2020

I went for a walk down Eaton Lane. I must have done this over 100 times but I always enjoy it. One of the benefits of retirement is that you get much more in tune with the seasons and weather. There is always something of interest to see. The absolutely clear blue sky was a treat.

5 February 2020

I went to work at the food bank this morning then on to do some shopping. Cooked a stonking prawn curry for tea. Next time I'll get a picture.

4 February 2020

Bright day. Cold but clear. I went to Alderley Park to help with an office move. I was quite impressed with the canteen which is better than most of the ones you come across in office complexes. The view includes the Jodrell Bank radio telescope. Can you sport it?

3 February 2020

Monday. It's been a bit warmer over the past few days but this is set to change. Here's a pic of my pal Rio.

2 January 2020

Had a bit of a lie-in the sleep off the beer. Just shopping and updating my blog. I hope you like the exciting picture of Aldi. Bit of a contrast to yesterday!

1 February 2020

Went to Liverpool to meet up with Peter. The train was rammed with Liverpool and Southhampton fans. After the coronavirus scare, I couldn't believe that I ended up in a carriage standing next to a Chinese guy wearing a face mask! Peter bought me a book about Liverpool pubs. We've visited some but intend to do them all.

Very bracing by the Mersey as we walked down to the Baltic Fleet and I enjoyed my first visit to The Hole in the Wall.

St George's Hall

Peter with Doddy and Bessie, Lime Street Station.

A bit of culture in the Walker Gallery

In the Vernon Arms

Old Telephone booth in The Hole in the Wall which now houses two skeletons.

Yes, it's blurry but me holding the dog which has apparently been kidnapped and photographed by the Eiffel Tower.

The Hole in the Wall

Mural in the Hole in the Wall

The Liver Buiding

The Baltic Fleet.

31 January 2020

Brexit day. I'm not celebrating. I voted to remain despite the fact I'm not much of a fan of the EU. After a disastrous election result, this is the icing on a bitter cake. We left the EU at 11.00pm. I went Kingsmead which is a very large housing estate to get some Leffe which they don't do in either of the village shops. The photo is of the local pub the Kingfisher.

30 January 2020

I went for a walk to Hartford to get some alcohol free beer. This week has been alcohol-free. It's much warmer today and the forecast is for this to last into the weekend. I took a photo of Mid Cheshire college - against the light - it's closing down which is really bad news for the town. Students will have to go to Warrington (14 miles) or Winsford (7 miles) :(.

Mid Cheshire College

This plaque is on the old schoolhouse in Hartford.

29 January 2020

Wednesday. Back to work at the food bank. I'm back into breadmaking and enjoying s crusty loaf.

28 January 2020

Tuesday. A cloudy day and cold. The weather is unseasonably warm. We've had less rain recently but everwhere is still saturated. Down to the local shop for some supplies though one thing you can count on - if you desperately need something they won't have it! At least it has a post office. When the old one shut I thought we were going to lose it.

27 January 2020

Rio the cat snoozing in his favourite place. Book progressing slowly. The editing lark is a pain in the ass. I probably should have used flash but I prefer to take photos without it.

26 January 2020

Plumbing problems! Both the downstairs sinks have leaky pipework.

25 January 2020

A good day out with my friend Adrian in Manchester. Another tour of the Northern quarter. Quite bright but cold. Planning and plotting for the book we are writing. This is another book, not the one I've written. We went to the Marble Arch which is my favourite Manchester pub.

Add caption

24 January 2020

Cold and cloudy. Returned home but not before taking a few more photos including the almshouses and church next door.

Snowdrops

Ravenstone church

The old almshouses near the church

Almshouses plaque 

23 January 2020

My Birthday. Celebrated with a Chinese take-away and some bottled of beer. Brother in Law David and his daughter Georgia joined us.

Mother-in-laws house is an old vicarage and has six bedrooms.

The front garden.

Joy

22 January 2020

Cold and bright again. Worked in the food bank in the morning. It's a good job I was able to turn up because we were short-staffed and it was busy. In the afternoon I traveled to Ravenstone to look after the aged M-in-L. The photo is of my friend Adele, who works at the food bank,  and her baby Alfie.