zerotohero Photochallenge aboutourworld taumataman
Whilst cutting the lawn in the front my eye caught our lovely fuchsias. The detail on the flower heads always amazes me, especially in the sunshine and always makes me think of the late Mother-in-law.
She loved her garden and a lot of the fuchsias come from cuttings of her plants from North Devon. Whenever she visited us, she would spend hours in our garden pottering about.
The bees also adore buzzing around these beautiful plants, but they aren’t quite so keen on the lawn mower.
It’s finished…. Well nearly. We are waiting on our friends at Amazon to deliver a waterproof varnish, but the wife has done a great job transforming our rusty old garden table with a repaint and mosaic makeover.
Like so many others, we are missing live music due to Covid-19. Today’s picture is one dug out from the archives which I hope captures the atmosphere at Glastonbury, where we should have been today.
Although we have been watching the BBC’s archives of Glastonbury on the TV, it isn’t quite the same. The vast crowds of people (99%) very chilled, very friendly, having fun, and putting all other differences aside has to be experienced.
Why can’t we all live our daily lives in that way, and look for similarities instead of highlighting differences. We are all human beings, irrespective of skin colour, language, or religion.
Roll on next year when hopefully we can enjoy fabulous live music in the special atmosphere. Have some Glasto love from me today x
Our cherry tree is absolutely loaded this year. The cherries are a tad tart, but still tasty. I grabbed a kilo this year and left the rest for our feathered friends.
Now to decide what to do with them….. Cherry Gin Liquor, Cherry brandy or maybe a tart….Although, I could do the booze route and then make a tart afterwards …. Suggestions are welcome
Whilst cutting the grass I came across today’s picture. Well, I try to be a ‘Fun Guy’ ….. but I’m not sure I’ll be munching these.
When I came across them, I weirdly thought about work. People sometimes ask me if I miss working. The answer is yes and no. I kind of miss the buzz of jumping into a crisis, and getting it back under control;I certainly miss some of the amazing people I worked with around the globe; but I certainly don’t miss the ‘Mushroom treatment’ of working in the corporate world (Being kept in the dark and fed on …….)
My policy was, and has always been openness and honesty. Lie once, and trust can never be recovered. This is as valid in all relationships, personal and business, and clients will respect you more.
Firstly an apology. I have missed a few days posting but will endeavour to fill in the missed days over the next week or 2 by posting twice a day. It has been difficult, finding material to write about and also finding time to sit and post.
I ventured out today with a few buddies for a little hike over Salisbury plain. The weather here in the UK was warm (for the UK), with temperatures in the low 20’s by 9am, rising into the 30’s as the day progressed.
The walk was delightful as normal, with stunning scenery, quiet paths, and nature all around. I will use some of these images for other posts, but today’s image is of a sheep being sheared. The poor guy removing the fleece was dripping with sweat. The is physically hard work, but on a hot day like today must have been unbearable, but the sheep were mighty glad of a haircut. Ironically one of the people on the walk was a hairdresser who hasn’t worked for 3 months due to the lock-down.
Over the last few weeks we have redecorated the lounge, mainly due to the leak of water trashing the ceiling, but it was due to be done soon anyway.
We also sorted out the jungle of cables from the TV and other associated boxes, and went for a new carpet. This meant getting everything out of the lounge, which resulted in all of the cupboards being unpacked into boxes so the the furniture could be shifted.
With the new carpet down, and the dogs having a good talking to, to ensure they understood they needed to wipe their feet prior to entering the room, and would not be allowed in under any circumstance if they had rolled in the brown smelly stuff they seem attracted to.
We also took the opportunity to de-clutter and move some stuff around. Today’s picture is of the new home for my Gin collection, which grew significantly over the weekend, thanks to gifts from dear friends and family for my birthday.
A short post today as I rack up another digit on the age abacus.
My wife and I agreed not to buy presents because if we want anything, it is ordered and usually arrives the following day.
My favourite present is presence. Seeing friends and family, and making memories are priceless gifts for me.
My wife did spoil me by getting me a chilly bottle which is incredible, especially when it is as hot as it is at the moment, and no plastic!
I am interested in people. They fascinate me. My wife thinks I’m just nosey, but I dispute that.
Today’s photo is of a person taking photo’s of gravestones in a churchyard. I hear the question going through your mind ‘Why?’.
Well, after sticking up a conversation with this charming lady, in turns out that she is helping her daughter’s business, which is in genealogy. She has taken over 50,000 photos of gravestones that are legible, and these are being catalogued to help people interested in their ancestry, to look at gravestones when tracing their family trees.
Apparently, lock down has forced an annual convention online, which has been a massive success, as people from all parts of the globe attended, not just those living in the UK.
Today’s picture is of the setting sun beneath very dark storm clouds.
The image reminded me of the old saying ‘every cloud has a silver lining’. It’s a saying that I have found useful throughout my life, reminding me that when things are tough, if you look hard enough, you’ll find a positive. This positive may not be apparent straight away, as in the case of my career choice when I left school
I grew up in a home devoid of books. My father had dyslexia, my parents were poor and they worked hard and long hours to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. This meant I was left to complete homework pretty much on my own.
Well, it didn’t take long to decide between the choice of doing my homework or go to the park with my friends, and it wasn’t until I was almost 14 when I decided what I wanted to do with my life through an amazing teacher, and I actually started to study.
I took my ‘O’ levels as they were back then, and applied for some jobs after leaving school. I surprisingly got 4 offers of jobs / apprenticeships, BUT, 3 offers were subject to me getting 4 O’Levels, and 1 was unconditional.
Being low in confidence, and needing to make a decision prior to knowing my grade announcements, I rejected the job I really wanted (a trainee computer programmer for British Gas in Bath), and plumbed for the safe option of the unconditional offer with GEC Telecoms. (Ironically I scraped through my exams so could have had any)
The GEC role was a 5 year commitment to them. The first year being at college (KCFE) in Kingston Upon Thames full time, followed by 3 more years of 6 weeks at college (in KCFE) and 6 weeks in the field (Commissioning new electronic telephone exchanges).
So, at the age of 16, I left for college, and lived in a shared room with 2 other students from my course. It took less than 30 minutes for the chaps I shared with to give me the nickname ‘Farm’ as they struggled to understand my west country accent. Today, it might be labelled as bullying, and I did struggle for the first few weeks to settle into the new regime, but I stuck it out.
I often reflect back on how different my life and personality would have been had I not left home at 16, instead of living at home. Although it was tough, living out of a suitcase for 5 years, being with a whole range of different people (some of which I really disliked), working around different parts of the country, I experienced much more than I ever would have had I stayed at home, and I’m now sure it was the best option.
Surviving those experiences, some unpleasant, gave me confidence to move through my subsequent careers and life, exposed me to and taught me how to build relationships with a huge range of people, which has been so important in my life.
When I ponder ‘what if’ as I approach my sunset, I do so with a smile, because I am content and happy. There will always be storm clouds in our lives, but ride it out, be strong and look for the positives.
New day - New Photo challenge