It's A Great Life On The Buses

A couple of weeks ago, the Old Market Square resembled a seaside, complete with sand, slot machines and donkey rides.

Now it has taken on the role of global market, especially with food, as there is all sorts available, French crepes, Thai street food and various curries. Local superstar butcher Johnny Pusztai was there too, offering his famous sausages and burgers to hungry passers by.

Drink wasn't neglected, with a Pimms tent, and this novel use for an old London bus. Quite a good idea, and nice to see this example of the world famous Routemaster get a new lease of life after spending years running up and down the streets of the capital.

I see this musician is wondering whether he could get a gig on board, as maybe the upstairs is a cosy seating area, where you can sit, chat, drink and watch the world go by.

Considering today is the first day of autumn, it was lovely and sunny at lunchtime when I visited the market. Plenty of people were milling around and looking at the things to buy. There was even a stall where you could obtain a mortgage, and another that was selling a special peeler for making vegetables look decorative.

Music didn't go amiss, as when I was there a singer was entertaining everyone with some reggae tunes.

What's On His Mind Then?

I decided to have a session of random snapping today.  This is where I just walk down a street and just click away, and having no idea what I've got until I download them onto my computer.

This is one from today, taken along a street called Cheapside, from only a couple that were useable. Even though the sky is totally burnt out.

But it's what the guy is looking at that intrigues me. Is he looking at his gorgeous girlfriend. Or is he thinking, "Mmm, pizza. I wouldn't mind some of that"?

I'm In His Sights

Most times that I cycle home through Highfields, I see this swan all on their lonesome. There are other swans on the lake, but he never seems to want to play with them in the water. Preferring to be alone, or just sitting with the odd duck or moorhen.

I don't know why he prefers his own company, and recently I have started to feel sorry for him, as I know what it is like to be alone.  So I have been buying some bags of wild bird seed for his tea.

He seems to enjoy it, and soon gobbles up the pile that I pour out of the bag. I know not to feed him bread, as it isn't very good for them, so I have been popping to the pound shop, and buying the largest bag that I could find, which usually lasts for two or three visits.

I think he has got used to my visits now, as tonight he started to waddle up to me as I was getting off my bike. He also gets quite eager to sample the goodies that I bring, as sometimes he tries to peck at the open bag as I'm pouring the contents out.

I took this photo with a vintage lens. A Hanimex 35mm f2.8, which I bought from a charity shop at the weekend. As it was sunny today, I thought I would give it a go. I wanted to get a different angle, so tried one pointing upwards. I had to guess whether I had the shot fully in focus, as I couldn't use the viewfinder. Instead I had to make do with the EM-1's back screen.

Not a bad effort, if I say so myself. There's also some interesting shaped bokeh, which makes for something different.

My, What Big Eyes You've Got

"All the better to watch you get my food ready".

So thinks Oscar, as he watches me from the comfort of his cuddly bed.

And yes, Oscar certainly loves his food. and is forever pestering us to get him some. he is very partial to ham, and always knows when there's some in the fridge. As he will sit patiently waiting for a slice or two, just like Oliver Twist.

Foor For Thought

As there are so many eating places in the city centre, it's often difficult to know what to choose, as there is so much on offer. Italian, Spanish, French, pizzas, pies, burgers, fish & chips. Nottingham has it all.

This woman is studying the menu of the Cock & Hoop pub in the Lace Market, situated opposite the Galleries of Justice.

The pub is linked to the hotel next door, and both have been closed for a while, as the hotel closed for some reason.

But a new owner has been found, and so both businesses have reopened.  But they might have finished painting the door before they did.

The Italian Job

A great little Italian cafe called L'Oliva, opened in Beeston around a year ago. It has gone fro strength to strength, as owner Marco (left) has been given his licence to sell alcohol by the local council.

So to publicise this, he had a wine and beer tasting evening. Italian of course.

There were around six beers on off and were very nice too. Italy isn't really renowned for beer, so it was a surprise to find some on offer that I actually liked.

The evening turned out to be very popular with locals, and there were a few people there that I knew.

Tea Time Treat

You may have recently seen the tv ad for Warburton's giant crumpets which stars the Muppets.Which incidentally is a mini masterpiece, straight down to the adapted Muppet Show song.

I was food shopping yesterday morning in Beeston and came across them in one store that I visited.

As I enjoy eating crumpets anyway, especially with lots of butter in them, so I just had to buy a packet or two.

And yes, they are giant, although as you can see in my photo, they are not as thick as the regular sized ones, but still just as tasty. And so of course I popped two in the toaster, and spread lots of butter on whilst they were piping hot.

Nothing Left

As it's the first of the month, I thought I would participate in the theme day, which this month is 'ephemeral'.

According to the dictionary, ephemeral means something that doesn't last for a very long time.

Well this meal that I devoured at Restaurant Anna in Piancastagnaio, a small hilltop village in Tuscany didn't last very long. It was delicious. It was actually part of a five course lunch that we sat down to.

The restaurant was packed. There was hardly a seat to be had. Mainly families; mums, dad, children and associated relations. One old lady there was celebrating her birthday, and one of the waitresses bought out a cake, to a chorus of 'happy birthday'.

Meals On Wheels

On my travels down in Hockley and the Lace Market yesterday with my fellow photographer, we came across this handcart that was being used to grow food. It was there to prove that no matter how small your garden, you could still grown your own, and hopefully organic food.

It had be created by the shop you can see in the background called Ice Nine. They sell all sorts of weird and wonderful things, like clothing, jewellery and gifts.

I don't know if the shop sells this bee wind chime, but he was a cute bit of decoration for the barrow. Just a shame that he was hanging upsidedown.

Saucy

A trip to Ikea tonight. Fortunately we didn't stay too long, as it's such a big store and it can get a bit overwhelming at times.

Gail suggested that we go for something to eat. It was a difficult choice, as there was plenty on offer at the restaurant menus that we looked at.

In the end we plumped for a pizza at Frankie & Benny's. Of course I could have taken a photo of the said food, but instead here's a saucy shot with some bokeh.

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.

Irish Charm

Today as you all probably know is St Patrick's Day, and a day when everyone want's to be Irish.

I'm usually working in town when they have the parade to the Old Market Square. But today I had another day off, so I missed it. Although from what photos I have seen, it was more or less identical to last years.

So I scanned my archive and pulled out this photo that I took last year of this rather colourful character enjoying a slice of meet pie.

Party In The Park

Today I popped over to Wollaton Park, as it was hosing a food & drink festival.

It was quite interesting to see all the different food and drink that was on offer. All grown or made locally.Yes, I know Pimms isn't a local drink, but I like the red of the marquee against the colour of the hall and stormy sky.

Besides food related tastings, there was also some cookery demonstrations hosted by well known chefs. I missed the one by Levi Roots, but sat in the ones by the Fabulous Baker Brothers and my friend Raz, who owns the Curry Lounge restaurant in the city centre, which was famously criticised by Gordon Ramsey a couple of years ago.

The show also featured varied arts and crafts, including glassblowing, a blacksmith an painter and some woodworkers who were using chainsaws to create sculptures from tree trunks.

Lunch On The Beeston Express

A lovely eatery in Chilwell called The Flying Goose Cafe held a charity event yesterday to raise funds for the Teenage Cancer Trust.

The were serving very tasty vegetarian breakfasts all day, supplemented by some live background music.

One of the musicians is my pal Dave Mitchell. He was also helping out on the day. Here he is serving some customers on the street, which is still closed for the tramworks, as they are around a year behind schedule.

Apparently the event raised £500 for the charity. Which is good news all round.

Chef's Special

The big food & gift market has returned to the Old Market Square this week for a few days.

Lots of goodies on offer as usual.  Wandering round the stalls and looking for something to photograph, I spotted this laughing chef and couldn't resist taking a shot of him. And with that moustache, he just has to be French.

Table 8 For 8

A new restaurant was officially opened tonight in Beeston whilst being visited by the lady mayor.

It's called Table 8 and is owned by two brothers Kevin & Chris. Kevin looks after the cooking, whilst Chris deals with everything else.

The place was packed tonight, although they weren't serving any meals yet. That happens on Saturday. Tonight was about publicising the place, telling people that the restaurant is open, as the building itself has been closed for over a year, when the previous restaurant called The Library folded.

I hope it is a success, especially as that section of Wollaton Road seems to be the place to go for food, as there are a couple of other restaurants there, including Cafe Roya where Gail & I go to the film club we belong to. There are also a couple of Indian & Chinese take-aways, which we're ordered from in the past and a fish & chip shop.

Festival Bites

The Riverside Festival is an annual treat down by the Embankment. We've been going for a few years now and mostly in the afternoon, so this time we though we might try the early evening.

It was quite overcast when we arrived, so it looked a bit darker than it actually should be. The canopy of trees adds to the feeling of night time.

The main road through the park is always full of fairground rides and food stalls. We were feeling a little peckish, so stopped to have some potatoes that had been roasted in duck fat. The potatoes had been diced, but hadn't been cooked long enough, so they weren't very crusty on the outside, the way that roast potatoes should be.

Music also plays a big part of the festival. This year there was three stages. We were drawn to the one that had the biggest audience. We could here the music, a real Latin beat, and the musicians seemed crazy with jumping and leaping all over the stage to their tunes.

I found out that they are called Txarango, and here's a WEBLINK to their site, so you can learn a bit more about them. They will certainly get your feet tapping, just like the audience's at the Riverside Festival.

The Cat With Eight Lives Left

I heard a rather sad story today while I was up at Beauvale Priory, giving guided tours whilst dressed up as a monk.

It concerns this little kitten, and a black one that were happily sitting in cage together. Anne the farmers wife said that the owner was going to drown them, as he didn't want them. But she managed to rescue them before they met their fate. Anne said that she had found the black one a new home, but this little mite was still homeless.

Anne continued to say that they she couldn't keep him, as obviously on a farm he would keep chasing the chickens that roam freely around the place.

He's so adorable, just like a tiny version of Oscar. If we didn't have two cats already, I would be tempted to adopt him.

It's upsetting to know that someone decided that this little cat had no value and was not therefore entitled to lead a life. How cruel and heartless is that.

What should have happened of course is that the kitten's father should have been taken to the vet for a little op so that there's no opportunity for unwanted kittens.

But now that he is here, I hope that he finds a loving home soon, and is looked after as part of someone's family.

Bringing Home The Bacon

Do you like cooking?  I do, and Gail thinks that I'm reasonable at it. No Gordon Ramsey, but ~I've never given her food poisoning yet!

My cookbook might be a bit thin, but I always try to do the best I can, with what I know how to make.

I wonder if this shopper has got their ingredients ready to for the evenings' meal? I wonder what they have in the bag. Some fish perhaps, with a small bag of new potatoes, beans, fresh sprig of parsley and a Key lime pie for pudding.

Whatever it is, I hope they cooked it well and everyone enjoyed it.

Grub's Up

Walking through the Old Market Square today, I noticed several large yellow gazebos all neatly placed in one area.

Of course I had to go and investigate and found that it was promoting exercise and healthy eating.

The Government's 'Change 4 Life' scheme is to attempt to make people fitter and healthier, as we appear to be going down the same route as Americans in being obese and unhealthy.

It could be argued that they are at the root cause of the problem with the introduction of fast food restaurants like McDonalds in the 1970s, and other companies following suit. Don't get me wrong, as the UK had fast food before then; think of fish and chip shops and Wimpy Bars. But there seems to be such a glut these days, that it's no wonder people are getting fatter. Pizza anyone?

I had a look round the various stalls, and of course stopped by the food tent. Here, a chef was cooking some pasta and chunks of lamb. He gave me some in a small bowl, sans lamb, as I don't eat red meat.  It was very nice. He said that he didn't put any salt in, but used dry seaweed instead.

I asked where I could get one of the recipe books which you can see in the middle there. The chef pointed me in the direction of one of the other tents. I ambled over and filled a form in exchange for one. So I will be studying it in the near future, to see if there are any dishes that cry out to be made.