Clare thinks that this picture should be called ‘Death and Rebirth’. Perhaps it’s also an attempt to produce a combination of terms that has never and will not again appear on a single Google search. My last day at home for some time. See you later.
Another depressing day of rain. I’m glad I’m off out of here on Thursday, yet it looks like I am going to miss out on spring entirely, as it certainly hasn’t started here yet. At least my penultimate evening at home was clear: good enough to see Jupiter, anyway, which pops into the shot to the right of the mill tower. But it seems it won’t last.
Goose couples like these are pairing up around the valley’s watercourses. Doubtless within a couple of months these two will be shepherding around little balls of golden fluff that, within a reasonably short space of time, will turn into hissing, crapping brutes just like their parents. But I guess that’s what human parents do too, right?
Both these facilities are to be found in Darwen, Lancashire, where concluded my last weekend in the UK until late May. By the time I get back it might have stopped raining — this shot was grabbed in one of the afternoon’s few dry spells. At least, if it does rain on my travels to come, it’ll be warmer rain.
My limited experience of vehicles like the ‘Sweet Basil’ (its name is just visible on one side of the prow) is that they are nice, peaceful ways to get around the place — but they take their time. And living on one for a week might be just about doable: any longer and I’d be, like, where’s the bath? Nevertheless downsizing has an obvious appeal, at some gut level.
The sun still seems uninterested in putting in an appearance, and this picture seems to epitomise the general colouring of the UK at this time. Manchester did get a bit more interesting for me later, but that still doesn’t mean it became sunny.
My job title is Reader, and I agree with a senior Professor of my acquaintance who, a while back in my ‘annual review’, said — “You’re a Reader, do some fucking reading”. Yes, I do write in my books: call it ‘annotation’ and you can get away with it. Yes, this book does start with a discussion of Star Trek. But it’s all work, I promise.
Trixie makes her debut appearance on the blog but as she has been formally inducted into the ‘pub pack’ I am sure she will return. There are two types of people: ones who feed begging dogs snacks and ones who don’t. I am in the latter group, but I seem to definitely be in the minority.
I forget exactly how much our plum tree produced last year but it was at least 20kg (or more than 44 pounds): its all-time record for a single harvest. It won’t do this again in 2024, simply because it never does have two glut years in a row. But the blossom’s out, at least.
This family (I suspect, a boy and his grandparents) were not the only ones wondering what they were doing outside this afternoon — particularly watching Brighouse Town, who slumped to a 1-5 home defeat. For the last 60% of April 2024 I will be somewhere with better (and certainly drier) weather than here — but I’m not there yet.
Being 42 