the sad skellington of brighton's west pier 

chaos at the metropole

i left the house at five and cycled to work

by 0745 i was unloading in worthing next door to a burning mosque

i went to the metropole at brighton at 0845 and there was a queue of people waiting to deliver

the hotel is extra busy because the conservative conference is on but they don't seem to have any extra staff in the back of the house

we have other customers, not so big but equally valued, so i dashed off to a couple of villages in the far east of sussex and came back seventy miles later at 1115

this time there was nobody on the back door so i drove off to another remote village between horsham & guildford

then i stopped for lunch

eventually the delivery was made at 1430, one hundred and thirty miles later and only five and a half hours late

stressed, moi ?

and another thing ... brighton council should be ashamed of the mess they got into with the west pier, just look at it ... still, mustn't grumble !

a tree within a tree ? 

trees are family

trees have an insidious way of establishing themselves as objects of affection

after half a lifetime of only wanting to look at girlz & wimmin, you suddenly discover an affection for trees an all

i'll try to take a few tree portraits as spring progresses, and whenever the progress of the cheese juggernaut can be halted in the narrow lanes of kent & sussex

here he is again ! 

out of strength comes forth sweetness

my friend laura was right about the lion and the bees

see the blogger anenglishmanscastle for the full story

i still like my false interpretation & will have to redesign the picture accordingly when i have a moment

a little gem from an unquotable, sorry unattributable, source ...

Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to give me another orgasm ?

not much scenery today 

shaun displays effortless skill 

shaun needs a holiday

so he's flying off to barbados for a week

he's taking his own sardine sandwiches because he doesn't think much of airline food

he's also rather worried about the escalating price of drink in the caribbean so any charitable contributions will be gratefully received

shaun's tow truck 

some drivers have all the fun

just as i was heading for home at edenbridge there came a call to say that shaun's van was in the ditch near "cheeseworks" which is in a "high" part of kent near goudhurst & so I was sent over to see how things were

the snow was melting & shaun & the van were ok, having only slipped on a soft verge and sunk into the mud, but the monstrous american tow truck was well worth waiting for

sunday morning table arrangement 

sunday, bleary sunday !

it is my turn to do the dusting but in my mood i prefer re-arranging the titanic's deckchairs & playing with the new camera, hence the pointless bit of domestic scenery above ...

quacking dolphins on shoreham lighthouse 

posh masonry at shoreham lighthouse 

a luvverly day

left the flat at five and cycled on frozen snow that crunched and cracled all the way through the side-streets of putney & wandsworth to nine elms

near croydon around seven there was more snow and it flopped down in big wet looking flakes on a robust looking lady who was crossing the street in four-inch black stilletos

on the south coast the sun shone & i stopped between worthing & brighton to photograph the shoreham lighthouse

i love the curved "pedestal" and the tiny carved apertures that light the stair-well, the cast dolphins-heads, & the weather vane that's big enough to see a mile away, as a seafarer under sail might wish to ... if only someone would gild it !

the things we do for money ! 

tina schol

today is tina schols birthday

everyone should stand to attention for a minute's silence

... then the drinks are on me !

happy birthday, teen !

innocent looking lisbon tram about to embark on white knuckle terror ride 

lisbon is lovely

those little trams are cute & the 28 tram ride was the most exciting thing since the roller coaster at new york, new york on the strip in las vegas

the people are lovely & the food was great, especially that "killer" bread soup with garlic & coriander that etches your tastebuds & makes the wine taste so much sweeter

but our poor feet ached from walking miles on rough cobbles in unusually cold weather

portugese food from the web 

whoa, were going to lisboa

flying out on thursday, back in time for a sunday crumpet,

where shall we eat ? any ideas ?

the burghers of belmarsh 

the burghers of belmarsh

spotted this rodin sculpture on my round-the-long-way home this afternoon

if your loved one needs extra work ... 

post valentine appraisal time

we were drunk, but not terribly

she was reading aloud from the travel section ...

she wanted to tell me how cheap it is to get married in las vegas

maybe next valentine's day ...

mystery pillar at chichester

sorry about this picture, it was hand-held at some distance

i was delivering cheese in chichester, as you do, when i spotted it around the back of the signal box to the west of the station

does any one know if it has a history ?

iron pillar at the west end of chichester station

the putney debates 

the putney debates

i cycle past this church every morning about ten past five

is this the same one where the first real public debate in England about the rights & obligations of people in a modern society took place ?

if you won't tell me, i'll be forced to do some more research ! ... and take a better photograph !

some gorgeous redheads breakfasting near sevenoaks 

redheads in sevenoaks

they told me there were some gorgeous redheads around sevenoaks

so it seems ... see above !

still, some of my friends prefer dumb cuddly animals

addicted to laughter, mister trouble & mz strife 

valentine's day

having remembered the day for once, i cycled off from putney towards nine elms, pointing my smug grin into the freezing wind & popping in to my favourite paper shop, not far from the battersea dogs home

an odd-couple of long-since overgrown school kids, hopelessly addicted to laughter, hang out there in the early hours, & he'd forgotten the formalities occasioned by the calendar

from what she was telling him, as i was leaving carrying my guardian & peppermints, this may the last chance anyone might get to see him in public for some considerable time ...

the mystery prism 

prism

i bought this prism twenty years ago in a junk shop in malmesbury

the shop was run by a great character called john kadwell

no-one has explained what the prism was designed for

can you ?

im afraid the background is a little disturbing

the one and only ellen ROSE forward 

the nicest kind of journey

i took a train to wiltshire where my daughter ellen rose cooked a real good lunch & presented me with a fine porcelain bluebird

here they are

colin berry performs sweet music for an audience of one

the trumpeter colin berry

... i got on a train & he was practising in the corridor ... honestly !

you'll never hear sweeter notes !

just look at that magnificent bicycle 

the loved one & i arriving in the big smoke 

hoarders bring country back into nine elms 

let sleeping dogs lie