Friday 7th March 2014, 12.45pm (day 925)
As growing on our window sill at home, getting itself established before we introduce it into the big, wide, adolescent world that lies outside.
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Conference venue wall
Thursday 6th March 2014, 2.45pm (day 924)
At a conference today, though in Manchester. Held at one of these ‘workspaces’ festooned with motivational messages. I don’t mind this one, except the subliminal attempt to highlight the value of work (for whom….?); it all looks kind of Photoshopped, but isn’t.
The Slightly Foxed brewers
Wednesday 5th March 2014, 9.00am (day 923)
This morning I was invited to visit the workplace of my friend Simon, on the right here; he is the boss of the Slightly Foxed Brewing Company. I just had an interest in seeing the process of making the very nice beer his company come out with on a regular basis. We started early — the brewer, also called Simon, had started on the day’s batch at about 6.30am. Here, the two Simons inspect a brew that has been in these fermentation vats for a few days and should have been ready to go out, but it is still too cloudy.
Lancashire & Yorkshire railway mural, Victoria station
Tuesday 4th March 2014, 5.05pm (day 922)
I continue to be in a long run of time spent at home and around familiar places. This mural, next to one of the entrances of Manchester Victoria station, has been here a very long time, since the services round here were run by the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway, rather than Northern Rail. The red lines on this map were theirs. Some have now gone but quite a number remain actively operational.
This is how Galileo felt
Monday 3rd March 2014, 7.30pm (day 921)
I had a really nice, artistic shot of some alley in Manchester city centre lined up as today’s choice. It was a beautiful day, with great light throughout.
But…. this is JUPITER. And Io, and Europa, and (I am taking a stab at this) Ganymede. And there are colours (look how Ganymede to the right is whiter than the rest.) With an ordinary digital camera. Pictured from Yorkshire. It’s awesome.
The electric guitar
Sunday 2nd March 2014, 4.45pm (day 920)
Joe has graduated up recently from his acoustic to this axe. Note the book of music as well — his choice (he is often observed putting the very brilliant Won’t Get Fooled Again on jukeboxes). A boy of taste.
Heading for the Picture House
Saturday 1st March 2014, 1.35pm (day 919)
Sometimes there just isn’t the chance to take many photos. Today was Joe’s birthday party, though not his birthday precisely, that comes next week. We had a gaggle of 10- and 11-year-old boys round at ours for lunch then took them to the cinema (to see Mr Peabody and Sherman), here is the moment at which they launched themselves for the entrance, and one of the few at could deal with photography rather than general mayhem-avoidance and catering.
Washing line
Friday 28th February 2014, 4.50pm (day 918)
OK, so I know it’s a bit weird to take pictures of other people’s laundry. But it’s not like I climbed over anyone’s garden fence to do it.
The Wrong Trousers
Thursday 27th February, 1.30pm (day 917)
I know this could be sharper but shooting conditions were not ideal here, and this is all behind glass. Rightly so too, because this is the last surviving remnant of the Aardman animation, Wallace & Gromit movie The Wrong Trousers. All but one of the movie’s sets were destroyed in a fire at the studio in 2005. This was safely displayed at the National Media Museum, Bradford, at the time, and thus survived. I love this movie, and I love this miniature set. This is a good museum, we visited today as Joe is on half-term, and this is the best thing in it.
Roofers, Wednesday morning
Wednesday 26th February 2014, 8.50am (day 916)
This house sits to the left of the bridge over the Rochdale Canal on the way to Hebden Bridge station and is becoming the most-photographed exterior of any building on this blog, including my own house (which frequently gets in as an interior, but not exterior). There are reasons for this — on any given sunny morning it looks great. Having these guys climbing up onto it today was just a bonus.
Being 42 