Friday 16th December 2022, 2.10pm (day 4,131)
I got out of the house, though as you can see, it isn’t getting any warmer. Winter 21-22 was nothing to speak of in the UK, but the 22-23 version has some bite.
Rochdale Canal, at Callis Wood
Being 42
Life, one day at a time
Tag Archives: photos
Banisters (indoors again)
Thursday 15th December 2022, 2.20pm (day 4,130)
Previous outbreaks have been mere preparation for the present implosion of uneventfulness, but once work is finished tomorrow (and, ideally, early tomrrow) for the semester, I will get out and about more. See this one as an abstract, and a homage to the fact that there’s still some good light outside — still damn cold, though.
Order now for Christmas
Wednesday 14th December 2022, 5.00pm (day 4,129)
At least I live in a town that still sustains not just one, but two proper butchers’ shops. These guys must make their entire annual profit at this time of year; I know in advance what it will be like when I go to collect my bird two days before Christmas. (Never a turkey, which is a meat I have never found all that appealing, to be honest.) There is no advertising intention to this blog, so can I also point out that despite depicting one of the establishments here, I actually ordered my meat from the other shop.
The Last Class: photography ceremony
Tuesday 13th December 2022, 10.45am (day 4,128)
It’s the last class of the semester, and the done thing among students now is “get a photo of themselves with the lecturer” at this point. I acknowledge this but it did require leaving at least 20 minutes at the end of the session so the ceremony could take place: what you see here is the queue after at least half of them had already had their time. I was feeling like a cardboard cut-out of myself by this point, although not an unhappy one. Here I said, ‘right, I’m taking a photo of all you lot while you wait to take a photo of me’… and this is the result.
Too cold outside
Monday 12th December 2022, 9.00am (day 4,127)
What small part of the world can be seen from our house, all looked like this today. With no reason to leave the house, I did not; picture opportunities were limited to using the long zoom to see what might be going on over the other side of the valley. They had their fires burning, anyway. This is also one of those shots that looks like I’ve taken it monochrome, but really have not; if anything I have beefed up the saturation a little.
Christmas card session (still in bed)
Sunday 11th December 2022, 9.40am (day 4,126)
There won’t be much excitement or variety in my life in the run-up to Christmas — but nor do I really care about this. In the undertaking of her annual task (for which I internally thank her) of sorting out our Christmas cards, Clare makes another step towards catching up Joe in the ‘all-time appearance record’ on this blog; this is her 140th pic, with Joe presently on 146. Another shot with daringly off-vertical verticals, but then again I was still in bed too.
Action at Ilkley
Saturday 10th December 2022, 4.15pm (day 4,125)
This time of the year the sun is mostly gone by about 3.45pm and in low light — which includes floodlighting — my camera isn’t going to get any sharp action shots, certainly of football but to be honest even people jogging past the lens will be somewhat blurred. But I think I get away with this one – the impression is of action, the blurring does not really matter. The game was at Ilkley Town FC, the blue-and-yellow blurs scored two late goals to triumph over visitors AFC Blackpool 2-1.
The lights on Spring Gardens
Friday 9th December 2022, 3.30pm (day 4,124)
In case you hadn’t noticed, it’s coming up to Christmas. Manchester city centre gets frantic at this time of year and in recent times I have done my best to avoid it: in fact I only have one more day there scheduled for 2022. The proprietors of this posh store on Spring Gardens (where all the stores are posh: next door is Vivienne Westwood) go for it every year to this extent; this year there’s the added layer of statement, that energy bills are just something other people have to worry about. But it does look pretty: even with the back of a ‘No Entry’ sign in the way.
Rochdale station sunset
Thursday 8th December 2022, 3.25pm (day 4,123)
Had things turned out differently I might have been in the Balkans today, but even though they did not, I am not bothered by this — which would not have been the case ten years ago. I guess I am more attuned to the enjoyment that can be had from the local area these days. Yes, even Rochdale railway station — like the rest of the region, bathed in cold but magnificent weather.
Frosty morning
Wednesday 7th December 2022, 9.00am (day 4,122)
A cold day today. Of course, ‘cold’ by British standards is not cold by, say, Canadian or central European standards, but we notice it in our own way. Look, someone in Royd Terrace has even lit a fire.
