Friday 4 March 2011

Birdng from a train

Yes folks it can be done.  On Wednesday I went off to Brum on the train and it struck me that even though I didn’t have my bins with me I could still do a bit of birding while I was sat there.  But does that make me a bird spotter as opposed to a bird watcher I wonder.  Whatever, I got 14 species over the day and I was happy with that.

On 1 March I said to Jan, “Hey gel, we didn’t say ‘White Rabbit White Rabbit White Rabbit’ this morning.”  Looking at me a bit puzzled she said, “Yer what?  What yer on abart.”  After 31 years she’s starting to get the Nuneaton accent ;-)))  “Well,” say I, “it’s one of Mam’s silly superstitions, you know like not cutting your finger nails on a Friday or a Sunday and throwing salt over your left shoulder if you spill some on the floor or the table.  Waste of salt if you ask me.”  “Oh right, said Jan as she walked off shaking her head.  But you know, they were not the only Mother has, or had before dementia set in, now she can’t remember who she saw two minutes earlier, very distressing.  Anyway, another one of Mother’s worries was passing someone on the stairs at any time.  She would stand perfectly still so that whoever was going in the opposite way moved past her, not Mother moving past them.  And don’t forget new clothes  if you went out on Easter Day and Whit Monday, “... or the birds will shit on you!” she used to say.  I once bought Jan and new purse and Mother got very upset because I didn’t put a couple of coppers in it before I gave it to her.  And the one that always got me was to do with the blades of knives crossing.  If she accidentally managed to push two knives so that their blades crossed she would pick one up and throw it on the floor and stand there screaming until pone of went to pick it up again.  Yet she had no time for the broken mirror one, maybe cos she was always doing that ;-)))   It’s strange what some people will believe and spend all their lives being in fear of.

Not mentioned it before but I do enjoy art, you know, painting and sculptures and so on.  Probably got my OU degree to thank for that, happily.  So while I was in Brum the other day a took a ride on the tram to West Brom to have a look at the new arts centre called The Public.  Here it is ...




By the time it opened it was over budget and delayed by months and months, probably  a couple of years.  It has had a lot of criticism and to be honest, I’m not in the least bit surprised; I thought it was Crap, with a capital C as you can see.  By the time I got there it was my lunch time so I had had an egg and mayo sandwich and a coffee.  The coffee was OK but the mayo was tasteless and hadn’t been seasoned at all.  Here’s one shot I got as I made my way down from the 3rd floor ...
... and believe me, it didn’t get any better.  Where the over spend was I just don’t know and seeing as it’s so empty I can’t see any reason for it being delayed either.  They have visited the art gallery up the road in Walsall to see how it have been done.




Last Saturday we had our grandson Kile for the weekend and we took him out to Newport for the day.  Here is tucking into a piza.



Me and Rusty-pup taken by Jan.


Bella, taken by me.



Jan and the kidzzz taken by me.




Public art in Newport.  I didn't read the placue so I don't know what this is suppsoed to be other than a steam engine made in bricks ... nicely done though.




Do you know these two?  They're the biker papr-medics on telly, saw them on Wednesday.



  5 foot 3 - or me having a play with my camera, I know ... little minds ;-)))


Nothing from the sage again today, he’s gone down the Smoke for a weekend visiting family so you’ll have to mek do with sumat from the dad-in-law’s little red book.

"Opportunity used to knock, now it calls up and asks questions."       

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