Fern

Back again again. The internet has returned and this time I hope it will stay.

In the meantime life has been pretty exciting. For example, I saw a fern the other day.

Ooh, let me look it up on Wikipedia, just to pad things out a bit...

Or better still, just look it up yerself at ferns
It's a bit boring.

That's one thing I did miss during my time in the wilderness - being able to look at Wikipedia.

Back Again!

The Sky

Lockleaze Tower, Stapleton Church and Foxgloves on my Allotment

Yes, after years in the non-internet wilderness, I have returned to update my blog.
It's been an exciting time. I've been to my allotment on several occasions and it is covered in foxgloves.
It's also been great re-acquanting myself with other people's blogs.
I'm glad to say they haven't changed a bit.

Springs of Greenbank

After some weeks of unusually hot and dry weather, it has been raining heavily.
The birds love it.





Manhole cover

Montpelier Wildlife Site

The link below is to a wildlife diary for Montpelier (an inner-city area of Bristol)



Montpelier Wildlife

Basingstoke bus station

Samuel Johnston said: "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life".
Perhaps the same could also be said of Basingstoke bus station?

I think I'm being watched

For tips on how to make images like this, read
"How to Use Photoshop Really Badly" by
Hiram Z. Beenmeister III, Duffer Press.

Stolen Joke

This joke is in the current issue of Private Eye. I thought it was very funny.







Private Eye website

Standing Stones nr. Wick

From "Unbeaten Tracks of the West" P.E.Barnes 1931

Between Upton Cheney and Wick, a mile distant from the latter village, in the middle of a pasture field off a by-road, stand two huge stones.

The ordnance map, accepting tradition, names them Druidical stones, and Druidical stones probably they are.

Their tops are lichen covered and the weather of centuries has smoothed their surface here and there, and stunted them and chiselled out notches and segments, and left them scarred monolithic veterans, isolated and deserted , sole survivors of a pagan temple.

And there is a tradition that somewhere near them lies buried a golden calf.

You hear and read a lot about the stones of Stanton Drew, in Somerset. You rarely hear mention of these of Wick, though, forsooth, they may be as old as Stanton Drew's , and relics of the same paganism.


and further on...

They are fairly close together. They are five feet or so in height. Beneath them is a fallen third, almost completely buried.

What height stood they out of the ground originally? Who can tell? Where were the others that ran in avenues or in circles? Who can tell?

All we see are these two lichen-crowned and scarred survivors. They look pigmies compared with the great stones of Stonehenge. They are undersized even compared with the stones of Stanton Drew. Is that because they are of stone that has been far less defiant of age? Or was this monument here, this pagan temple, this sacrificial site, or whatever it may have been, of so much less account, so much smaller than the others?

Gargoyles

Gargoyles from the church in Whiteladies Road that is now an auction house.

This one's based on Noddy Holder

St Werburgh's Church

St Werburgh's church from the train.










To read about St Werburgh's crazy goose-banishing antics, go to 10 July 2006 on this blog.

The Scrapyard by the Motorway

Today I went to the scrapyard by the motorway.
It's at the end of this road.


I think it's been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO,
but I may have got my facts wrong.




I like these cranes lifting things up.







The railway runs past it.






On the waste ground behind there is an abandoned
building that has been covered in graffiti by volunteers
from the local community.

Trooper's Hill

Trooper's Hill is an old industrial site, now a nature reserve.

Apparently one of the few acidic bits of land in Bristol and home to heather, etc.
and other plants that don't usually grow in this area.

A short walk away is Beeses Tea Gardens. I'd heard about it but never been. You have to be ferried across the river by boat. Surprised they were open today but they were. They have music on the last Sunday of the month 2 till 5 pm.

Purdown Tower

East Bristol is overlooked by this giant hill figure.



It's guarded by robots on poles.


You can sometimes sneak past by tying a sheep's
fleece to your back.





The sign on the gate says it's owned by BT.

I fooled the anti-spam robots

I've been given the all clear by the anti-spam robots, but this is what I really look like...



Fooled you!!!

A walk

A nice old wall and door, in the shadow of the motorway at Stapleton.



A bit of Bristol from afar.






Does anybody know who this bird is? It was attacking crows twice its size. Perhaps it had just cause, but what species is it?

PS I can't publish this yet because I've been identified as a "spam blog"! I have to wait until they look at it in person and decide that I'm not a spam blog. They will also delete blogs two weeks after they put this prohibition on if they don't hear from anyone. So, if you've got any dormant blogs you should check them.

It's not very good for people who go away for a few weeks or can't blog for another reason - say a computer problem which may take more than two weeks to fix. They come back to look at their blog and there it is - gone.

It's also not very good for anyone whose name is Spam Bloggs.

Writing a Blog

This picture is by Henry Holiday and is taken from The Hunting of the Snark by Lewis Carroll. It reminded me of what I imagine writing a blog must be like.

Snowdrops

Doctor's Orders

My doctor thinks that blogging is the cause of my brain whistling and has told me to lay off for a while.
If you're stuck for idle amusement in the meantime, could I recommend these comedy shows from BBC Radio Four?

Click on each link and then click on Listen to The Latest Edition.

Each episode is only available for a week after its first airing and I think all these shows are coming to the end of their runs, so be quick.



Laura Solon New comedian with a range of voices and wacky characters.
I like the irascible old German lady in a care home.


Down The Line Spoof phone-in programme.
Sometimes very funny, but what is point?
Laughing at different accents,what is point?


Recorded for Training Purposes Comedy featuring the automatic voices that we hear all the time these days.

Warning: Comedy programmes can be unfunny as well as funny.

Hang on to your Pen Tops

Hang on to your pen tops - that's my motto. That's what I always say. You never know when you might need them.

I find that shouting at my pen tops helps relieve all my pen top anger.

Two Cans Short of a Pyramid

Great News! I've got a new hobby and it's called Collecting Tin Cans.
I've got thirteen so far and only need two more to complete a human pyramid.

When finished it will be the world's first human pyramid made entirely of tin cans.
If it's sucessful, then the potential labour-saving costs to the circus and acrobatic industry could be enormous.

You'll notice that the labels have all been removed. I've very particular about avoiding product placement.

I think it's important that people can trust this site to give frank and honest opinions, unsullied by commercial sponsorship deals.

I've accepted no payments from Heinz,for example, who do a nice can of vegetable soup for 65p (on offer at the moment at two for £1:18p)