Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Trip to Arnold - another lovely day

Obviously the misty mornings appeal to spiders too! And they quite like the old artichoke heads but what on earth do they expect to catch during the night and the early morning? But I'm not a spider and they doubtless know spider-business best. Also I wish I could remember the title of the Elvis track which contains the words 'a trace of misty morning' and 'like a dove.........' I bet if Ray happens to read this he will know. I've never known him stumped for song titles much more obscure than this.

This is Iron Bridge again and the swans on the Severn were most attractive. There won't be any details left in the plumage because, if I had exposed for the swans the surrounding foliage would have been black. The view is from the side of the only museum we had time to visit and, as I said yesterday, there is so much to see we have definitely promised ourselves a re-visit. Maybe a night or two B&B even though the rates, as I suppose you would expect, are extortionate.

The last picture is from almost the same spot looking in the opposite direction up The Severn towards the coal-fired power-station. Be reassured that the stuff emitting from the cooling towers is water vapour and not coal smoke. Their reflection in the water seems quite attractive. And again my trusty Casio has managed to retain detail in the sky without completely obscuring the foliage.

That is about it for our National Trust Day and we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Today we nipped over to Arnold to see Joan for lunch and to have a browse through bookshops, charity shops, W. H. Smiths etc., and of course Wilko. Every town should have a Wilko - it should be legislated for in Town Planning regulations. We needed Astonish (recommended by Sandra for cleaning aluminium cookware) and of course, we found it - together with clear plastic A4 wallets, brown envelopes and other things which I can't remember.

We took Joan to The Tree Tops for lunch because I think we all prefer it the The Travellers' Rest. Won't bore you with the details except that I had liver & onions which I love and Y hates so we never have it at home.....................

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

More info on Nottingham Pudding (for Jill) on Sat blog

Spiders, yes; and we have loads of Daddy-Longlegs .

Re your remarks on possible future B&B:
acting in his capacity as Chairman of Mansfield LVA, a landlord friend of mine, the late Maurice Robshaw Liversidge, once published an open letter complaining about Mansfield Brewery’s ‘extortionate’ rent rises and received a solicitors letter warning of legal action for libel unless he withdrew and apologised. What he should have said was ‘exorbitant’.
Exorbitant, adj Greatly exceeding in amount . . . what is . . . reasonable.
Extortionate, adj Relating to demands characterised by the use of force or threats.

I have always considered cooling towers to have a beautiful shape; a welcome addition to the landscape. In a set of rhyming clues for a car ‘Treasure Hunt’ I referred to them as ‘a giant’s diaboloes‘.

I trust you have now said all there is to say about this particular river. I would hate you to become a Severn bore. Boom-boom.

In Ollerton we have two ‘Fat Boys’; a sort of bargain version of Wilkos. The main street building was once a Liptons and then became a LowCost before remaining empty for some years with frequent rumours that it was to become a Wilkos. But it didn’t.
They must have lots of other things which you can't remember but which will no doubt come in useful.

When eating out, I almost always opt for liver (with onions or bacon, fried or stewed) on the grounds that I never get it at home and if properly prepared it produces, without doubt, the best gravy in the world. So good that I would have Yorkshire Pudding with it (but not Nottingham Pudding). I can only think of one, quite recent, occasion when I found the gravy so offensive (to me) that I had to scrape it off the offal.

Anonymous said...

Graham, I can put you out of your misery regarding the Elvis track.The title is "The next Step Is Love". 'a trace of misty morning with the promise of tomorrow in her eyes' etc etc. Or words to that effect. When I was couting my first wife it was one of her favourite records.

Cheers

Pete (Mannanan)