Nature Art

I visited my local library this morning for the last time in 2016. Not because I'm leaving Beeston, but because the library is closing for nearly a year, so it can go through a £1,000,000 upgrade.

It's having a new roof and windows, and they are going to re-introduce the front entrance, which was blocked up many years ago. There's also going to be new shelving and hopefully a performance area for visiting musicians etc.

Leaving, I noticed a trail of stones on the wall surrounding the library. On closer inspection, I could see that someone had made, what I take to be a fish out of a leaf from a laurel bush and some stones.

I guess that it had been created by one, or some of the children that go the the adjacent Round Hill School. It's quite artistic, so I thought I would record it for posterity.

Wishful Thinking

Gail and I went on a bit of a ten day road trip around Devon and Cornwall a few weeks ago, but I haven't got around to editing many of my photos yet, due to other commitments. So I have two weeks missing from the blog. But hope to start filling in the missing days from tomorrow.

So I thought I would make a bit of a start tonight, with a street scene from St Ives in Cornwall. With it's quaint little streets, and of course the harbour and beaches, meant that I took an awful lot of photos. Gail did too.

One of the highlights was to see our dear friends Stewart & Julie renew their wedding vows after ten years of marriage. Stewart is a photographer and blogger like me, while Julie's main passion is textiles.

A few months we received our invitation to join them in St Ives for their celebration, and as both gail and I have never visited the west country, we jumped at the chance.
It was a lovely sunny day, and everything seemed to go perfectly, right down to the pub meal afterwards.

Wish we were back there, as it's a fabulous place.

Lucky That I'm A Pisces

Will this rain ever stop, and we get some sunshine and a proper summer, like it's meant to be? I feel that I'm turning into a fish, every time that I get wet. Which has been quite often this week.

It's rained practically every day for a over a week or so now, and there seems to be no let up to it. We are going away next week, so I hope the weather improves for our road trip down south.

There was a particularly heavy downpour at about half seven tonight. A real monsoon. Thunder and lightning too. Here's a bit of a grab shot that I took from the porch, which shows the heavy raindrops and a grate that just can't cope with the sudden influx of water.

Apparently there have been several reports on Facebook of localised flooding across many parts of Beeston. Which is expected, considering the amount of rain that fell in the space of about thirty minutes. It's a good job that we live on a slight hill, otherwise we may have experienced it too.

A Fishy Business

There is presently a window display in the Tourist Information Office promoting an arts event at Patchings Farm with a metal animal sculptures.

There is a large dog and these fish. I took some photos of the dog, but they didn't come out very well, as there was too many reflections in the glass, but the fish came out quite well.

Fruit, Flowers And Fish

We have a wonderful greengrocers in Beeston that has been there over 100 years. It is one of the most popular shops  in the town, despite having three large supermarkets in the area.

I'm usually in there on a Saturday morning, buying out fruit and veg for the week, and sometimes I'll pick up some flowers, as a present for Gail.

You Ought To See The Size Of The Chips!

On my way home from work, I cycle along part of the canal near Castle Boulevard and pass this mural every time. I've tried to take a photo of it before, but as it is so big, it didn't come out the way that I wanted.

So I decided to cycle along the other side of the water and see if it would work any better. And yes, I do believe it does.

I don't know who originally painted it, but it has been there for quite a while now. I can't remember when it first appeared though, or when I first noticed it.The paint is starting to fade a little now, so it could do with a touch-up or two.

Quite a few people, including youngsters like sitting along there with their fishing rods, in the hope that they'll catch something. Especially now with the light nights. They are a little annoying sometimes, when they spread all their stuff out on the pathway, and I have to try and dodge it, like I was some kind of stunt rider.

Something Fishy Going On

Upstairs in the Victoria Centre shopping arcade, stands this large fish tank, full of fish of all sizes. There has been some complaints over the years that the tank isn't in the best designed and kids tend to frighten them by tapping on the glass.

whatever your views, they look contented enough, swimming around and watching all the shoppers go by.

Personally I think they should have a few plants, a sunken ship and a bridge to swim through.