Itisi

It’s the end of January already, this month really seems to have flown by. Today, it feels really spring-like, and I found a few signs that the warmer weather may be on the way, so I took some pics. Please bear in mind, I’m not a very good photographer, in fact, it is surprising that none of the following feature my thumb. Plus, I don’t have a clue how to do any more than point and click, zoom and focus are wasted on me.

I noticed that there seemed to be buds on our red currant bush, so I took this – the tree in the background is a eucalyptus, that stays green all year round.

Then, I spotted daffodil leaves sprouting up underneath. Looking at the tips, I think the frost the other day has burnt them slightly:

And in the lawn, grape hyancinths:

I have revamped and reworked the film/movie themed meme blog I set up ages ago and promptly forgot about. It is now new and improved and I have posted a wonderfully fascinating Question of the Week. OK, it’s probably not that wonderful, or fascinating, but it is marginally more interesting than day-time television. Now, if that isn’t a selling point I don’t know what is.

Last night I had the oddest dream. It wasn’t unpleasant, just strange, and in many respects quite profound. I had moved to Cornwall (I don’t know why, that bit didn’t come up) and I had a job working for a man who called himself Edward Woodward, but who looked just like the man who used to mow the grass at my secondary school. My only duty was to take a photo of the sunset every evening because he said they were so beautiful yet transitory they should be captured and preserved for all time. He was right, the sunsets in this dream were absolutely stunning, (and in colour), far more vivid and breath-taking than any I have ever seen in real life. Streaks of purple, yellow, pink and gold blazed in the sky, the reflection turning the sea below into an astonishing riot of colour. Every evening I would go outside to photograph this natural wonder while sitting on a cliff top surrounded by flowers and butterflies. That’s all there was to it, but without wishing to sound all New Age-y I feel sure my subconscious is trying to tell me something. Maybe, that I need to buy a new lawn mower?

Technorati Tags: film+meme, movie+meme, meme+about+directors, dreams

This has been a strange week for news. Last Monday, our local evening news programme covered the story of a 2 year old boy who was banned from a shop for the heinous crime of wearing a coat with a hood. (Go and have look at his photo, looks like a hardened criminal doesn’t he? Don’t be fooled by those big, blue eyes, it’s a well known fact that criminals are getting younger.) This was followed on Wednesday by the news that an 87 year old man was asked for proof of his age when attempting to purchase a bottle of sherry. WTF? I can understand the supermarket in question wishing to deter under-age drinkers, but I believe they have gone a little too far in the other direction when someone who was old enough to drink before WW2 is asked to prove their age.

Today, I heard the strangest news item of all, something even more peculiar than the idea that anyone could be suspicious of a toddler wearing a coat on a cold day, or the concept that someone might think an octogenarian was really a school boy in disguise. So strange was this news I couldn’t quite believe what I had heard and rushed to check Google news for the real story. Bizarrely, my first impression was correct and the government really are considering introducing waiting lists for prisons.

By the way, this is my 300th post here. Hoorah! I didn’t notice this landmark was coming up, but I now I have, I’ll have to think of some interesting way to mark the occasion.

Technorati Tags: two+year+old+banned+for+hood, 87+year+old+asked+for+proof+of+age, uk+government, uk+politics, home+office, prison+waiting+lists

In the absence of anything more interesting to say here’s a cartoon featuring an over-zealous ‘Mommy Blogger’.

You may be interested to know that Winter is about to arrive in the UK. Snow has been forecast for this weekend. And if you are wondering why we have had such extreme, but mild weather, this article in the Times explains all.

There has been a huge amount of damage around here, the roof blew off the school sports hall (no one was hurt) a number of trees are down, and practically every other garden fence. In town it is even worse – it’s higher up – Number Three Son arrived home last night and casually informed me that he had nearly been hit by a flying roof tile. It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they did I came over all pathetic and had to sit down. You can see a photo of the street this happened on here – the building in the first photo is a bank, he was walking past when the tiles first started to come loose.

Good news on the window front. It turned out it wasn’t about to fall in on my head. One of the opening bits (notice my use of technical terms) needed new hinges, and it is now secure – I hope.