Jimmy T

Beeston was certainly buzzing today with people, no doubt helped by the very fine and sunny weather.

There was also an event in the Square which was a mix of shopping, an auction and some music, which got people out and about.

Amongst the unusual and handmade items on sale, was this Jimmy Hendrix Tshirt. It certainly is very colourful and shows off his legendary left handed guitar style.

The stall had other colourful clothing on offer, but this certainly caught my eye.

Watching Me Like A Hawk

There was an Easter fair in Beeston Square today, where you could buy home made items for presents like jewellery, hats and fudge.

Also present was the local bird sanctuary, with a number of their birds of prey on show for people to look at and ask about, and of course like me, take photos of.

This hawk seemed to want to be photographed, and kept posing for my camera. I certainly didn't ruffle his feathers as I clicked away.

Zaaped!

I met up with some former work colleagues at lunch today. We do this occasionally, and tend to visit different pubs, cafes or restaurants each time.

Today's visit was to a new Thai restaurant called Zaap, situated in the new development what used to be the old Odeon cinema.

I quite enjoy Thai food, and sometimes have a really delicious take away from a local Thai place in Beeston.

Zaap have designed their restaurant to look like a street market in say Bangkok, and they have done a very good job. I was a little late for the meet up, due to work, so I didn't get to spend as much time there as I would have liked.

There's also so much to see, with so many things on display; hats, T shirts, number plates. All sorts of things. Just like a real market. In fact I probably missed quite a lot. Seating is interesting too, as you can sit in Tuk Tuks; the little street taxis that are so popular in Asian countries.

I will definitely be going again, as the Pad Thai I had was delicious. I have no idea what Zaap means though. For all I know, it might just be the surname of the owner.

Up In The World

Now I know that the Christmas market and fairground rides are very colourful, but I wanted to see what they would be like in sepia.

This shot for example looks quite Victorian with the snow covered roof of the gift stall, to the dominance of the helter skelter.

On The Up

This is local folk duo called Up who did a set in the Old Market Square, as part of the Great Notts Show, which is on for a few days.

Besides being in Up, which incidentally is Nottingham's only ukulele band, the two guys Rob and Eddie are also in another folk band called Shiftin Sands, which includes a female fiddle player.

The Great Notts Show is a large food, drink and gift market that is taking place in the Old Market Square until Sunday. A lot of people were milling about whilst the guys were playing, but many stopped to listen and were appreciative of their music.

Some more bands are on tomorrow, so I might pop down and take a look, or listen.

Purrfect

Spotted this little sign at the market that took place today in the Old Market Square.

Gail and I have double love, as many of you know we have two cats called Oscar & Marmalade. I think they love us as much as we love them. Well they certainly love us when it's feeding time, as Oscar tends to sidle up to us and wrap himself round our legs, while Marmalade just sits down and stares up at me until I follow him into the kitchen.

Potty Time

There was a large food and drink market in the Old Market Square today, so I had a look round to see if there was anything worth taking a photo of.

I had to chuckle to myself when I saw all these flowerpot men waiting in line to be sold. I wonder how many are called Bill, and how many Ben?

There were quite a few different styles of ornament. And I'm sure there is one for almost every garden. Even those that only have a postage size open space.

Not An iPod In Sight

If you are a record collector, then to get that authentic vinyl sound you'll need one of these, an original record player.

Nothing digital here. Analogue audio all the way.

Bookworm

A collection of old books that I came across on a stall recently at a vintage market.

Certainly a wide range of colours, designs and titles. And I must admit that I have never read any of the stories. Although The Master of Ballantrae is the only one that I have ever heard of.

Market Day

The old garage belonging to Barton's has been used for all sorts of things since it stopped being used for buses.

Today it was turned into an indoor market, which was amusingly entitled 'Not the Camden Market'. There were quite a number of stalls that were selling things ranging from artwork and vintage clothes, to books, plants and jewellery.

The best one was the one that had home made bread and cakes on it. We bought a loaf of yeast free bread, one of the mountain cakes you can see in the photo, a fruit tart and a massive flat cake with chocolate in it, which I polished off, while Gail ate a freshly cooked bacon sandwich.

I couldn't go to Barton's and not take a photo of one of their wonderful old buses. This one which was built in 1947 is soon going up for sale. I don't know how much they will be asking for it, but I'd certainly buy it if I happen to find a few thousand pounds lost down the back of the sofa!

Travelling Back In Time

For some reason or other, I've not taken any photos this week, and I'm having withdrawal symptoms. There are several things going on this weekend, so hopefully my OMD will see some action again.

So here's a shot from last weeks visit to Bingham. We spotted this guy dressed up in period costume walking down one of the main roads. Gail politely asked him if he would mind having his photo taken.

While he was posing, he explained that Bingham was having a week long festival to celebrate their market which is several hundred years old.

No Sale

There's been a series of photographs doing the rounds on Facebook that show abandoned places around the world that are slowly crumbling away and disappearing under vegetation. Old fairgrounds, hotels, even the stadium that the winter Olympic Games took place on.

Beeston has its own. Obviously not on the scale of deserted American shopping centres etc, but the area where up to about 18 months ago was still quite popular with shoppers and those looking for a second hand bargain.

But suddenly it closed. No one really knows why.

Market Day

It's been a cracking sunny day today. The best one of the year so far. So I thought I would take a walk to the market in the Old Market Square.

And boy was it packed with people walking up and down and looking at the things on offer. While I was wandering around, I got to thinking about how would the market look from above, with all the coloured tarpaulin roofs and people milling about.

So I called in at the Council House and asked if I could go up to the balcony to take a shot or two. They said yes, so I popped up and took a few photographs.

A Coat Of Many Colours

You know when winter is on its way when the dreaded 'onesie' starts appearing on the high street again.

These multi coloured all in ones are meant to keep you warm, even though you end up looking a bit like an idiot.

I took today's photo in the Old Market Square, where there was yet another market in place seeing various things including food and drink. One of the stalls was selling clothes, including these garish animal onesies.  I guess the pink panther one looks the more sensible, even though you you would look like you're off to a fancy dress party.

I for one will not be buying one. If I do get cold, then I'll pop on a thicker jumper. Of crank up the central heating by a few degrees.

All Shook Up

Elvis, as you've never seen him before. Not the real one of course, but this is what he might look like whilst resting up at Forest Hills Cemetery.

I spotted him at a market in the Old Market Square the other day. A World Fair they call it, as the sell food and goods from around the world. Not surprisingly, the German beer tent and Paella stalls do particularly well.

Heart To Heart

Now that christmas is over, the council have started to remove the stalls that made up our Christmas market.

The food and drink stalls in the Old Market Square still remain, but I think these will be finished very soon; maybe by the end of next week.

One of the stalls sell all sorts of sweets. I quite like this heart shaped confectionery, which are supported by the hearts on the bags.

Love sweets, or sweet love?

Snow Globe

Besides the ride, stalls and bar, the new attraction at the Christmas event in the Old Market Square is this giant snow globe, with animatronic snowman and penguins.

It is quite cute and obvioulsy a great attraction for children and adults alike. In fact it took me a while to take the photo, as so many people were attracted to it, despite the cold weather.

Festive Fun

Here's a shot of a very busy Old Market Square and the people enjoying the food and drink on offer from the stalls that make up the Victorian market.

Friday Fun

Well, it's the end of the week, and as we have been off, the time has gone very quickly.  the last couple of days of freedom before going back to work next week.

No new photos taken, so this one was taken a couple of weeks ago at a market in the city centre. Although it looks like a illustration, it is actually a photograph. Taken with my OM-D, and using one of the special 18 art filters it has on offer.

Have a great weekend.