Blue Head

Nothing quite like seeing a patch of bluebells. These are in Highfields.

Torn From History

Came across this display board the other day that looks like it has been used for years, and posters have been torn off to make room for others.

Most are for gigs, with some adverts for nightclubs with drink offers. I think it makes for an interesting collage and clearly shows how vibrant Nottingham's night life is.

Here's Looking At You Kid

Here's Marmalade looking out on the world from the safety of our garage.

The window is quite grimy, but I think it makes the photo more interesting, as it gives it a soft, cinematic look, rather than the bright and shiny Tecnicolor shots that we are more used to today.

Marmalade quite likes to have a snoop around in the garage. He's not really a mouser cat, but can often pick up their scent of where they have been.

Horse Power

As many of you may know, this horse is the emblem of Ferrari.

No, it's not mine. I just took it at the car show in the Old Market Square last week.

Rush Hour

Shoppers going and passing through the Broad Marsh shopping centre.

Brian

A bit of a fun photo today, as my Brian the Robot finally arrived.

I ordered him in March, when I bought some house insurance through Confused Dot Com, the online price checker.

It's a good toy as it has it can be posed, talks and moves through friction power.

We also have a couple of meerkats as well, that we got for other insurances through Compare The Market Dot Com.

Stigmata

Besides some expensive cars parked in the Old Market Square The Stig from Top Gear made an appearance.

Of course he didn't say anything, as The Stig never does. He just stood around posing for photos.

Where's George?

St George's Day and there was a big parade in the Old Market Square. As usual, the procession started at the Forest Recreation Ground and made it's way down to the city centre, led of course by St George and our very own Robin Hood.

I noticed that there seemed to be an awful lot of men in the parade, and while they were marching and singing, I thought I was at a football match.

It was lovely and warm today, and I think that everyone had a good time.

Here In My Car

A Maserati. I wish.

This and several other luxury cars were in the Old Market Square today, and were they attracting quite a crowd.

Besides the Maserati, there was a couple of Ferraris, a Bentley an Aston Martin and a McClaren.

As there were so many people wandering around looking and photographing the cars, I found it neigh impossible to take a decent shot of them, so instead I concentrated on the details, and dashboards, like this one.

New Moon On Tuesday

Whilst going out for a bit of late evening air, I noticed that there a new moon had appeared in the sky, as it was a clear sky.

So I decided to take a photo of it when I got back home, using the Olympus 70-300mm lens. And you can make out the craters etc on the surface.

Spring Greens

 Some late afternoon sunshine making Highfields glow as I cycled home from work.

I passed various joggers, kids on bikes, students walking home from the university close by and a lady exercising her dog. Plus of course squirrels rung around and ducks sitting enjoying the warm weather.

Shadow Lines

Some strong late afternoon sunshine has generated a number of shadow lines of trees in Highfields.

You may be able to spot a jogger running along the pathway in the top left hand corner.

Wedding Wheels

I shot a wedding today, and this is the car that the happy couple arrived in.

It was a lovely sunny day, and I think everyone had an enjoyable time.

Yellow Peril

A workman with a an artistic flair has made an interesting design to highlight some cracked an uneven concrete in a local multi-storey car park.

Sitting Pretty

I took this shot of  the posing model at the Photography Show last month in Birmingham. So I thought I would see if I could give it a vintage look. The sort of photo that reminds you of Hollywood during the 1940s.

Let Me Eat Cake

I went food shopping tonight, as I usually do after work, as I am not one of these people that do a big weekly shop on a Friday night or Saturday morning, filling a trolley and queuing up for twenty minutes to pay.

Besides, doing a little bit every night, I enjoying seeing what I can find in the markdown aisles. Take tonight for example, I picked up this Avengers cake for the knockdown price of £2; originally it was on sale for £9. It's a big one too, so will last a few days.

It can be a real adventure, seeing what's on offer in the chiller, vegetables and bakery departments. It can also help me decide what we are going to have for dinner, as sometimes I am stuck for an idea. Tonight though we ordered pizza from Papa Johns.

Shining

A shot of Highfields basking in the spring sunshine.

Vote For Me

I went to the first of perhaps many Hustings events in Beeston, during the run up to the general election next month.

We have six candidates standing to be out next MP, but only five turned up to answer questions from the very large audience that had packed into our parish church. For some reason the UKIP person stayed away, which is probably just as well with their brand of politics.

For some reason Broxtowe is a marginal seat, and often features on the TV news. Our recent MP Anna Soubry only won by less than 400 votes, over our previous MP, Nick Palmer, with many think he'll be making a welcome return next month.

It was a lively debate, with topics ranging from Trident, the economy and HS2. Strangely there were no questions about the continuing privatisation of the NHS. Only David, the Green Party candidate mentioned it as part of another question.

There was a bit of a commotion when an old soldier got up a couple of times to complain about how the armed forces, especially the Army that were being poorly treated over their pensions, Government spend on kit and equipment and health concerns of soldiers.

He started off well, then it defended into farce, as his dad joined in the argument, and the vicar and verger had to break up the duo. Things then calmed down and the discussion continued.

Paper Doves

Here is my friend, musician Emma Bladon-Jones appearing at this year's launch of Oxjam, with fellow musician Christine.

Besides being a singer in her own right, Emma is also part of a duo called Midnight Special and now she has joined multi-instamentalist Christine as Paper Doves.

Quiet Contemplation

A simple shot of Beeston church with a small burst of spring daffodils.

Purrfect

You may remember a few days ago I told you about a new cafe that had opened in the city centre that special attraction was in having a number of cats freely wandering around to entertain the customers.

Well I paid a visit today with some friends that I used to work with. It was quite busy, with plenty of people coming and going. At the entrance there is a sort of "air lock", so any of the cats can't escape into the busy city centre. The kitties seem quite happy wandering around and playing on the various items that were lying around. There is also a bridge that winds its way around the cafe that the cats can use to move around without being disturbed by any customers.

Besides paying for any drinks etc, the cafe charge a fee which goes towards food and vets fees for the cats, which is fair, considering there are about a dozen furbies, and they all need looking after. The cats are available for adoption, should you take a liking to any of them.

Waiting

I forget who said that bus stations are full of lost people and lost suitcases, but walking through the one in Broad Marsh, the people there certainly look lost, whilst they wait for their bus to take them to their destination.

Spring Is A Colourful Time

As it was so warm and sunny this morning, I stopped off at Highfields and took some photos of the cherry blossom that had exploded into life during the recent spell of brilliant weather.

As Clouds Go By

Cycling home from work via the supermarket tonight, I saw that there was a really good cloud formation in the sky. Not particularly white, or a blue sky, but worth photographing just the same.

Obviously I could have tweaked it in my digital darkroom, but didn't, as I wanted to keep it natural. Hopefully it will mean another lovely day tomorrow, even if I am at work.

Camouflage

The pond has been busy today with frogs enjoying themselves in the sunshine, as there were plenty popping up every so often from the water below. I keep trying to get rid of the duckweed, but with little success so far.

Yoda

Gail and I have been sorting out some clothes and of course Oscar wanted to get involved too. So much so, that he climbed inside a pair of my trousers and had to scramble down the leg and appear at the end of the leg.

The way the material has bunched around him, he looks a bit like Yoda from Star Wars.

Wet

There's nothing quite like a shot of the city centre at night and when it's raining and you get some good reflections of lights in dark and shiny Tarmac.

Cat Food

A new cafe has just opened in town that is a bit unusual. Yes it serves food and drink just like any other  cafe, but its USP, or unique selling point, is that there a number of cats and kittens running free inside the building, that customers can stroke or play with whilst they are having their tea and cake.

I'm planning to go and see it sometime soon with some friends, so I'll be able to tell you what's it like.

Tweetie Pie

Here's a shot of Josh Kemp, who entertained us with his own brand of folk music at the Tweet Up the other day.

I've seen Josh a few times, especially at Beeston's Oxjam music festival.

Camera Shy

The beginning of the month and its theme day. This month's is a camera shy self image.

Not difficult for me, as I hate seeing myself in photos. Yes I do have a negative body image, always have done. So here's my photo for the day. Fortunately it was sunny when I took it, so I got a decent shadow. Just a shame that you can't see my camera.