Saturday is Market day

Walked up to the market:

Tip: to run the slideshow don't click the centre arrow thing, just click on the black edge

It was fairly early so not many folk about.

Just one or two picked out:

This Teddy caught my eye Not really this size: I've shopped it to 150% but it was BIG. You can see the original in the slideshow above.

Paula was showing something thread related to a lady

Meanwhile, on the pond, grebes were being grebes:

Tip: to run the slideshow don't click the centre arrow thing, just click on the black edge

What the orange thing they've incorporated into their nest I have no idea.

The Blue-green alga was blooming:

Shopped to pick out the colours.

Original	Shopped

Friday explanation

Why haven't I been posting?

Every now and then I get into a strange life. My day switches almost without reason: I go to bed at 8 or 10 AM and get up at 3 or 5 in the afternoon. No idea what sparks it off but it happens.
I'm fairly antisocial anyway, so it doesn't make a lot of difference to my life. The main effect is shopping: the local convenience store (open 6:30AM to 10PM) gets a lot more use, although I manage to sneak into M&S first thing for stuff.

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Anyhow: photos of the pond:

Grebewatch
The "bottom" grebes are trying for another brood of chicks:
First a slideshow

Tip: to run the slideshow don't click the centre arrow thing, just click on the black edge

A few individual pics:

Mum's sitting on the nest with the smaller of the two chicks staying close:

The smaller chick was constantly cheeping. Probably missing his/her mother's attention.

Meanwhile the larger of the chicks ...

Stripey!

... was tootling around with papa:

who was looking pretty pleased:

In other grebe related news:

The "middle" grebes are still wandering around after their two^{(at least)} attempts at nest building.

There only appears to be one "top" grebe left:

Five (+2) grebes on such a small patch of water!

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Blackberries are fruiting, as are damsons

Meanwhile humans are decorating the canal in their usual way.

Outside my front door are sloe bushes: must try some sloe gin.

Thursday the last of June

Nb Abigail Jenna was jammed in Morse lock: fenders! A bit of brute force by Ifor dragged the offending fender (!) free and they were on their way.

Tip: to run the slideshow don't click the centre arrow thing, just click on the black edge.
Flickr

How do people cope with work & blog & twitter & facebook & whatever else they do on t'internet? I find it hard to keep up and I've precious little else to do all day.

Better?

Been crap for a few days. I still don't feel 100%.

Walked to town every day, via pond & canal when up to it. Gotta do it for cat food.

Mallard landing on the pond.

My microwave's gone west!

Grebe family

Bottom pair (the ones with chicks) appear to be courting again:

Bottom grebes courting

Narrowboat "Barbara" came up through Town lock

Mittwoch

Mittwoch: German for Wednesday (literally: "mid-week"), replaced the former name Wodanstag ("Wodan's day") in the tenth century.
Worksop Chesterfield canal
Didn't stir yesterday, tummy still rumbling, but now am OK.

Went to town (pond & canal). Before going I looked at the weather and deliberately left my waterproof top (it rolls up into a little ball and sits in a side pocket of my backpack) at home.

Nothing doing on the pond, swans being bloody photogenic, mallards displaying new broods of young and grebes dithering about all over.
Flickr pics

Swans being photogenic

Mallard showing off new family

Grebe ditherin' about

On the canal towpath was a tiny egg

Nb Dunrushin moored behind the cricket club. (Worksop can look quite attractive from some angles.)

I probably should have said something: they'd left the side door
^{(there's probably a proper name for it but I've no idea what it might be)}
open, with a handbag just inside: not a good idea in Worksop, or many places in this benighted country.

They had the flag of Kernow flying at the stern.

Obviously, having discarded my waterproof, it was going to rain.

and boy, did it rain!    (that's tarmac)

Home,
... never wears a mac
In the pouring rain ...
Very strange.

^{Private Eye came this a.m. so I've the crossword to do, should keep me quiet for an hour.}
Apologies for the colour scheme: Playing about with CSS

I didn't like today at all

Well, or rather not well, I awoke this morning about 4:30.
"Why?" you ask,
"To put it bluntly, the trots." I reply.
Spent most of the day in the bathroom.

Snuck out long enough to buy cat food & check out the roses in the Canch rosegarden.

At Morse Nb Little Lucy was going through:

bloke on his own with a little dog.

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bought cat food & went on to the Canch. Roses really are beautiful flowers, Flickr pics here:

Walked back via Canal Road. A narrowboat I'd noticed twice before, once in the Marina and again at Worksop car park, was moored up & two guys were working on it. They'd bought it in the Broads, sailed it here and were doing it up.

That's it: all I've done today.

Sunday: posting Saturday's pics

As Mr Micawber said to David Copperfield:

Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen nineteen six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds ought and six, result misery.

I've recently had to: buy a new laptop; sub up for Flickr; pay TV licence, taking me to the "ought and six" level. Gloom! Might have to cut back on the M&S food & go to Netto!

I seem to have aquired a new moggy, he's on the left with Gingernuts maintaining the advantage of height

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Flickr Pics here
Off to Shiny Sheff:
Started by getting up late: pure idleness, I woke at about half past seven and snuggled down to be reawoken at about ten to nine by the alarm on my phone. The bus goes at 9:35 and there's one every 2 hours thereafter so RUSH!. Just time to buy a corned beef salad sarnie.

The 271 to Crystal peaks is magic. It goes Shireoaks, Thorpe Salvin, Harthill, Kiveton, Wales and Killamarsh. Normally I don't like long bus journeys but this one's always been attractive.

Loads of oriental youths (mostly girls) at Cathedral snapping pics

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Loads of buskers on fargate. This girl was playing a transparent fiddle beautifully. I always feel that I have to give buskers something if I take their picture, in this case it was no hardship.

In Waterstones: Sue Hepworth was signing. Not, I'm afraid, my sort of book, so didn't approach her.

Being Saturday there was a wedding glut at the Town Hall ...

... and loads of photographers in the Peace Gardens.

Me reflected in one of the watercovered steel balls behind the Peace Gardens.

Got the bus to Graves park.

A slideshow of the park:

130+ pics so it'll take a while to watch it all.

Got the bus back to town. Got off to walk down to, and through, the station to photograph the water feature in front which I'd been reminded of on This blog.

Station forecourt: there had been a short shower and the trees' shadows were still damp where the sun hadn't reached.
The water "feature" (eat your heart out Gardeners' World) really is terrific,
although I'm not sure it goes with the Victorian station building.

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Behind the station there's something new: South Street Park.

They've made some rather nice steel steps ...

... and are creating what appears to be an ampitheatre.

Onward and upward to Park Hill flats in search of the subject of Diane's blog.

Found it ...

... someone had fun tracing those letters with glass tubing, bet it looks great lit up.

Tram to Crystal Peaks & bus home.