It’s a week since I
last posted but you’ll be pleased to hear I’ll not bore you with stories of my
health today.
Last week
Partner-who-loves-tea and I had a morning in West Kirby, looking around the
charity shops and boot-eeks. That is how
you spell it, isn’t it? I know when I
look at the price of boots in there I go “Eek!”
The clock repair shop
has been there for many years.
The station is still in
use and is popular with commuters going through the railway tunnel under the
Mersey to their Liverpool jobs.
Oh look, a shop that
sells postcards – back in a minute!
We are having a bit of
a heatwave at the moment which has brought out the mini-skirts. It takes me back to the 1960’s.
Our bus – but I don’t
need it today because I have my own chauffeuse.
I have been looking at
how the design and model of Royal Mail vans have changed over the years so I
thought I’d take a photo of a current one ready for the next change. After all,
with the prospect of privatisation it could be the last style of Royal Mail
van!
We stopped for a
coffee at the Amici Bistro which I have featured before on this blog but I didn’t
notice the last sentence on the menu last time…
That is such an
important part of the joy of eating out…
I poked the camera
through the fire station fence to try to get a decent photo of these two police
officers on their horses.
“We’ll be coming out round
the front in a moment,” shouted the policewoman, “you’ll get a better picture there!”
Wasn’t’ that kind?
And I did –
Later on I saw this
Police officer going rather faster – blue lights flashing and siren going.
Our recycling bins are
grey, our rubbish bins are green and our garden rubbish bins are brown.
From the beginning of
June the Council have stopped emptying our garden rubbish bins unless we pay
£35 a year. Since the tip is miles away
and it dirties the car carrying garden rubbish we have paid up.
I got an “I am The Stig”
T-shirt at a charity shop. I think I would
have bought it for the label whatever the front said!
For those who don’t
watch ‘Top Gear’, The Stig is an anonymous racing driver who tests cars in the
programme.
I know I would get
told off if I did a post without mentioning Ivy so here she is in the back
garden enjoying the heatwave.
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Have you only just started paying to have your garden waste collected? We've paid annually ever since we moved in in 2007.
ReplyDeleteI assumed you did since there were so few garden rubbish bins put out the day yours went out.
DeleteGreat round-up of the local scene! We often go about our business without looking up. In so doing we miss all the fun of seeing so much goodness around the place. Thanks for sharing, John! Great!
ReplyDeleteHank
Top Gear is shown so much on BBC America, they should just rename it "The Top Gear Channel".
ReplyDeleteThat is a guy's show, all the way! Funny label on t-shirt, I agree.
Hmmm...you sure did take some photos of young women in mini-skirts, all just to show us the fashions of the day, I am sure!
I regret to say, Kay, that I have always been a 'legs' man so any excuse to snap a mini-skirt is welcomed!
DeleteHello, John! Pour me a spot of tea, please. I've come all the way across the pond for a visit and I'd like nothing more than to have a chat whilst petting Ivy (if she'll let me).
ReplyDeleteYou have a wonderful blog, John, and I've decided to follow. You will always receive a warm welcome on mine and it was great to see you over there this morning.
You could have named this post "weather to watch girls by," don't you think? :) It must be uncanny to see mini-skirts on the streets during this heatwave. I'm sure you're aware that much of the U.S. is also in the grip of a hot spell.
You snapped some marvelous images of the mounted police, the bus, shops and other sights in your area. It's all very interesting to me as are the tidbits of information you provide. I am an animal lover and look forward to more shots of the beautiful Ivy.
Have a fine Wednesday, John!
The idea for such a wide-ranging post came from a friend of mine in Bulgaria who sends me a selection of pictures she's taken in Sofia every so often. I wish she had a blog to show them off.
DeleteOur police here have "issues" with taking photos either of them or the command posts and stations.
ReplyDeleteLove the Top Gear label...very cute.
Since we're still British over here, I wonder if we'll be following suit and paying for garbage removal as well in the future.
I must confess I was a bot surprised at how co-operative and kond they were. But I have photograohed police before - as at the Exeter half marathon and they seem quite happy to be photographed.
DeleteIt's obvious the garbage collection practice varies from one local authority to another so hopefully you won't follow suit. I know how weird and wonderful your garbage collecrion already is from your blog so it would be a bit much asking you to pay for it.
What an interesting post that was. My first thought as I was reading it related to the size of the glass front of the bus. I would hate to have to pay for that to be renewed if I cracked the windscreen. Then I had a ridiculous vision of a policewoman on a horse with a blue flashing light galloping along the road. The Top Gear label cracked me up though. Right now, that's enough fun for one day, back to clearing out the garage workshop.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you back. I wish you felt better.
ReplyDeleteAh, the good old mounted patrol. Nice looking horses and tack, but now I see that you not only drive on the wrong side of the road, you also hold your reins in the wrong hand. I'll bet that's where the driving business comes from.
Have a good day.
Well, Jack, I never knew that about the different hands for holding reins. I wonder why you use the wrong one?
DeleteHeh! The American cowboy holds his reins in his left hand because he works with his right - most people being right handed, you see. All the cowboy's gear is tied to the right side of his saddle; mainly the lariat, but if he's got a rifle the scabbard will be on the right side. When you had to rope some critter you'd hold the loop in your right hand. The reins and the end of the rope would be held between the thumb and forefinger of your left, and the balance of the lariat would be held in the last three fingers of your left hand. You'd twirl the loop next to you and your horse, or maybe over your head and you'd throw the loop at the critter and drop the rope from your left hand at the same time. Then if you caught the critter you'd have a small loop at the end of your rope that you'd loop around the horn of your saddle, but you'd only do this if you'd caught the critter just right so's you wouldn't break a leg or something. If you made a mistake and left a finger between that lariat and the saddle horn, you wouldn't do that more than once. You'd whoa up your horse and get off him to deal with the critter, and you'd use your left hand for the reins. After you did this a while, many horses would get the idea and would stop on their own.
DeleteYou needed a catch rope to do all this. Not just a throw rope, but a catch rope - a throw rope being one that you just threw at the critter, and a catch rope being where you actually caught hold of the critter. Another thing to worry about was length, as the rope had to be long enough to stretch from you to the critter.
Native American Indians used to make lariats out of prairie grass, and these were highly prized by the cowboys.
Some cowboys would carry a six gun with them, although his was not nearly as common as Hollywood would have you believe. Mainly you carried your six gun in your saddlebag or your pocket. Anyway, trying to shoot with your left hand is tough, you see. Back in the civil war the Southern boys were pretty much the best from horseback, and some could use a gun in each hand and hold the reins in their teeth. If you get a chance you might ask your mounted patrol if they can do that - I'll bet there's a few who can.
I always liked the mounted patrol the best. I generally find the police on horseback are friendlier - not that the others aren't, you see - and the mounted patrol always seemed to be have just a little better turn out than the regular police.
Well, anyway, thanks for the post. If you ever get the chance, please pass along my best regards to your mounted patrol for me.
Yes, I too wonder what will happen about Royal Mail. I signed the petition and put it on my blog. I once went round a police horse barracks and how they loved their horses - it was quite touching. They all seemed to feel they had the best job in the world!
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you're getting out and about, although this hot weather is a bit of a pain - so speak I, having moaned constantly about it being grey and dull. Some people are never satisfied, eh? I bet you are thinking that!
I love it when people complain about both types of weather - I'm in that category too. There are just a few days in Spring and Autumn that are perfect - the rest have one thing or another wrong with them. At the moment I'd love a little breeze but I moan like mad about the wind.
DeleteThank you for sharing everyday England with us. I am currently brewing some "Twining's English Breakfast Tea" (having decided by about a 50/50 sentiment not to use the contents of the "Twining's Irish Breakfast Tea")and I wonder how such a decision would seem in England or Ireland, and (assuming that Twining's even bothers to sell such teas there)can you tell the difference?
ReplyDeleteHello Dennis, I can't tell one tea from another but Partner-who-loves-tea can.
DeleteYes! And I can usually tell the difference between Yorkshire Red and Yorkshire Gold teas! (Red is stronger -- my sister-in-law calls it "builder's tea!")
Deletexoxox
I love the half-timbered buildings in the first pictures - and I would of course have wanted to pop over to that shop with the postcards, too...
ReplyDeleteWell, that was a lot of fun - you must have had a great day. It's been years since I last saw a policeman on a horse, other than for ceremonial purposes.
ReplyDeleteThe Great Dane has a cousin named Stig. I wonder if he has any of that gear!?
Love your Top Gear tee shirt. We watch reruns of it all the time. They are always good for a laugh -- and some incidental information. Though I doubt if I'll ever own a Ferrari Testarosa....my nine-year-old Honda still works just fine! xoxox
ReplyDeleteSuch a variety of photos and topics! I like the look of West Kirby and feel I need to get back to GB next year as it has been too long since my last visit. Your equestrian police force looks friendly and I hope their neon yellow/green jackets are fluorescent at night. Great post.
ReplyDeleteSuch a fun tour! It brought back some memories from the 60's...mini skirts! I wore my fair share back then. I also remember a song about the Mersey..Ferry cross the Mersey I think it was called. It was nice of the officers to pose for you! Like Ivy, our cat likes it outdoors even during our heat wave..stay cool and I do hope you're feeling better today.
ReplyDeleteThe song was by Gerry and the Pacemakers and is played over the loudspeakers on the Mersey Ferry all the time.
DeleteMy husband knows West Kirby quite well, better than I do. Ivy is enjoying the cool green grass. At the moment Scruffy is looking out of the back patio door, watching for skunks. Yes, we have two of them -- so it's out with the moth balls which we hope will work.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! I'm off to watch "Top Gear" right now, on my "free on demand" channel... Benedict Cumberbatch was just guesting!!! 8-)
ReplyDeleteOh gosh, that town (city?) looks lovely!
ReplyDeleteI can totally relate to the postcard-thing, each time I see a shop that sells stationery/mail items I have to look, and usually I stay in longer than I'd intended. And I come out with more than I'd intended, haha!
The first picture is one of those occasions where you wish you could just magically make cars disappear - at least for me it is. Such handsome buildings!
ReplyDeleteNo telling off from my side this time, since there are not just one, but TWO Ivy-pictures :-)
Long time since I have been to West Kirby. 1955 to be precise! The youngsters wear mini skirts in the winter down here! Gosh I found Stig first time. Lastly, they will not take garden waste away here unless the lid is right down.
ReplyDeleteI learned a new word today: chauffeuse! I never knew what a female chauffeur was called. :-) That's a pretty word - sounds like a dessert, or a little yappy dog breed. LOL
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed my virtual jaunt through West Kirby, and had to snicker at the vision I got of you covertly photographing those mini-skirted lasses. ;-)
The horses are beautiful, but I feel badly for them having to work in the heat. Hopefully they didn't have to gallop to the same crime scene the police car was headed for! Though I don't like the sound of sirens, I much prefer the sound of European sirens over the wail of ours.
Now had I been in charge of the decision, recycling bins would have been dark green, garden waste bins would have been lime green, and rubbish bins would have been grey! Our garbage collection is part of our water bill, but I don't know if they charge for removing garden waste, since there's a huge, free recycling dumpster for it with all the other recycling bins near our house. Would be nice if they offered that sort of thing where you are.
Ivy looks beautiful, languidly relaxing in the garden! She's got the right idea about how to handle a heat wave! Hopefully your weather is more comfortable now, and I hope your health has improved as well!
What a pity you did not take in the evening car boot sale at West Kirby Football Club
ReplyDelete