My fortune told at Southport

Today we heard that Mum has to go into hospital again (her worst nightmare since she’s scared of going in and not coming out), they want to do a scan to see what is happening and if they can relieve the jaundice again.

I had just come out of a meeting in Wigan and since there was no way I could go down south, decided to go to the seaside – i’ve been hankering after the sea for a few weeks, so why not! It was late, there was no way I’d get back before 6pm so why not go in the opposite direction from home and visit the seaside. So Southport it was!

I have to say it’s a bit of an odd place, the remains of the Victorian resort in the town centre but the whole of the front has been wiped clean and now there are modern cinemas and retail parks along the front, oh and a crappy ‘fun’fair place (£13 for a ticket!!)

The pier was a nice walk (windy) with a modern cafe at the end. But also in the cafe were a number of fantastic old amusement games which still needed old one penny coins.

I happened to find a penny in a machine so decided to have my fortune told with Madame Zasha here, so this is the wisdom she imparted (on a little card) to me once I’d told her which month I was born in and given her 1p -

‘The money which comes your way you spend wisely, although some may not think so. We cannot all have immense wealth and this does not always bring happiness. A kind person like yourself has true friends. The smiles on the faces of loved ones is ample reward for a few pennies well spent’

Sheffield Flickrites in The Star

The Sheffield Star did an article about the Sheffield Flickr group last week. I can’t say I’m that impressed with the photos they chose, I’d like them to have had a couple more, maybe smaller – but it’s a start and perhaps we can get them (or The Telegraph) to do a regular spot?

The article is reproduced below, with the photos

Gormenghast by Jim Barter

Click what a picture
By Martin Dawes
THEY call themselves the Flickrites – around 200 snap happy photographers on the prowl around Sheffield looking for decent shots.
And my, how they have succeeded. They’ve recorded the city in all its glory for an online photography archive.
“We want people around the world to see what Sheffield life is like and how beautiful it is,” says John Wardell, Flickrite and amateur photographer who joined the local group on Flickr.com a year ago.
He specialises in abstract and macro (close-up) photography, such as this one of a paddle taken in the Rother Valley Country Park.

Oar by John Wardell

Others may be into landscapes, sport, black and white photography , using a particular camera, or just like to wander the city making a journalistic record.
The Sheffield group is part of a worldwide online site – one of the biggest is in San Francisco – but John reckons that while they might not be able to compete in quantity they do on quality.
“The quality of some of the photos in the Sheffield group is fantastic,” he says.
With the advent of digital photography, taking and sending a photo is as easy as pushing a button and clicking a mouse.
With over 3,300 photos in the archive it’s already proving an invaluable resource and no doubt one day it will be of historical importance.
Gareth Davies, one of the administrators who set up the group in March last year, says: “We think it is a unique record as it is now and how it has changed and is changing.
“Different members of the group have different interests and so bring massive variety.”
Photographers can join up as themselves or adopt ‘handles’ or web personas. Harry Halibut, for example, has a penchant for pictures of city doorways while Drunken Monkey seems to shoot everything from pop concerts to his own birthday party.
Gareth (Trois Têtes) adds that meetings are held every two months and competitions set on different subjects. There is also a Pick of the Week every Friday.
It has not taken long for academia to get involved. Dr Julia Davies, who is also a Sheffield Flicker (DrJoolz), has written a paper saying digital photography and sites like Flickr have “changed the way people look at the world
“They now carry cameras everywhere they go . . . and even attend international meetings just to see their Flickr friends face to face.
“With basic membership free of charge, Flickr is easy to join yet seems difficult to leave.”
http://www.flickr.com/groups/sheffield
25 July 2006

Sheffield Flickrites

Sheffield Flickr meet
Originally uploaded by Merrony’s Moll.

We had an impromptu Flickr meeting last night – I can’t believe how many turned up! JamesDodds, Roobarb, DorothyAnne, LizJones, Lin Charnley, Polly.Jayne, StubbsUK, ClydeHouse, Evissa, Mathew Savage, Drunken Monkey, oplesro(bot) and Harry Halibut.

It was a lovely evening and we wandered down to Paradise Square and ended the evening in the Red Deer.

I’ve gone from knowing very few people in Sheffield to knowing (sort of) loads! Everyone seems reasonably normal (what’s normal afterall!).

Freudian slip….

…in the last post. I posted the blog entry about Pam from Flickr and the way the text turned out it reads as if I’m not happy! Well I am, most of the time. Having said that, there is a giant moth in the living room so I had to come back into the kitchen!

If only my only worry was a moth in the living room!

Pam – now a Mrs (and a Dr)

Pam – now a Mrs (and a Dr)
Originally uploaded by Merrony’s Moll.

Pam and Richard got married on Saturday in Stroud. I’m so pleased for them, they make a wonderful couple and I know they will be very happy. Unlike me, but I took very few photos, and actually have none of the couple!

That’s it, just stand around watching…..

…how very British!

Today in Cirencester I walked around the corner from Cricklade Street into the Market Place to see a load of people just standing around watching as a poor woman in the central reservation of the road had obviously just fallen over.

As blood streamed down her face (I didn’t see what happened), most people just stood about – what is wrong with everyone!? Mum thinks it’s that they are scared to get involved – what a sad state of affairs this country is in.

I nipped into the bank on the corner and got a chair for her, and the woman from East clothing shop came out to say she was phoning for an ambulance. I went to get the woman some water, at the same time as the woman from East did the same.

Why does no one want to get involved, why does no one help these days? I hate the country we are becoming, a while back there was a story on the news about a child who was the victim of a hit and run accident but lots of drivers just drove by without stopping even though she was still in the road!

B*******DS!

Monkey Play
Originally uploaded by Bloodmoose.

I’d been wondering why the radio in Gzu hadn’t been working very well – some bastard has stolen the aerial, unscrewed it (it’s in the centre just above the back windscreen – as seen in the picture).

I know mine wasn’t nicked by a monkey as they certainly aren’t native to Meersbrook.

Seems I’m not the only one, a number of other cars on our road have lost theirs too – why? What the hell would be be point? I guess they are probably all dumped in a hedge somewhere. And I bet it’s not going to be cheap to replace either.

It’s HOT!

Hard to believe the temperature here is warmer than on the Med! Yesterday my car was telling me that it was 40 degrees outside.

There have been a number of fires across the city, and everyone is certainly moving more slowly. We just aren’t set up for this heat in Britain, siestas are something that we could all benefit from – problem is, how many people work near enough to home to allow them to go home in the afternoon for a nap? And how many people don’t realise that for air conditioning to work they have to close the doors and windows!

At least my house is cool, the joy of living in a brick built terrace with thick walls – warm in the winter and cold in the summer.

Tomorrow is set to be hotter – I’ll be in the car for a few hours – thank heavens Gzu has air con.

Taking us down a very dark tunnel

So, the government announced today that the UK will be getting more nuclear power stations as those we have are due to be decommissioned and nuclear is seen as one of the best ways to meet our carbon emissions targets as the need to for energy rises (although unlike many of the so called ‘alternative’ power generation methods nuclear is not carbon neutral at all).

Our power in the future will come from privately built, run and finally decommissioned nuclear power stations and renewable energy (wind, wave and solar)

But one of the problems for me lies with our rising energy needs. The government should be encouraging (if not making compulsory) energy efficiency measures – for all – businesses and individuals, with fines for those who don’t do their bit.

I guess though that this should start with the government themselves, setting targets for government bodies and buildings and sticking to them.

But it seems that targets and goals (achievable or otherwise!) are something that the government don’t seem to keen on. The review suggests the following:-

• There will be more nuclear power stations plus more renewable energy from wind and tide farms. NO DETAILS OF WHEN OR WHERE THEY WILL BE BUILT.
• The EU carbon emissions trading scheme will be extended to another 5000 large Britain business and public services. DETAILS TO FOLLOW LATER AND WHY NOT ALL OF THEM?
• Britain and Norway will look at ways to capture carbon emissions and store them in old North Sea oil fields. DETAILS IN THE BUDGET STATEMENT LATER THIS YEAR.
• All government buildings will be carbon neutral by 2012. IT’S NOT STATED HOW THIS WILL HAPPEN.
• Energy companies will be given incentives to help customers use less energy by, for example, insulating their homes. BUT THIS WILL MAKE THE INCOME OF THE COMPANIES LESS AND IT IS NOT COMPULSORY.
• People will be asked to stop using standby buttons on TVs and domestic appliances (7% of all electricity is used by machines on standby) BUT THEY COULD FORCE MANUFACTURERS TO MAKE MODELS WITHOUT STANDBY MODE.

So basically it’s all talk and no action – except one suspects in the planning departments of the country who are gearing up to deal with local opposition to planning applications for nuclear power plants – the government have said that they will make planning permission easier to get for the stations – of course without saying how!!

Anyway, since most of these measures are not due to report or come into affect until after the next general election, and it’s unlikely that Labour will win again, I don’t expect anything to happen.

On the plus side David Cameron (Leader of the Conservatives) has just got planning permission for a wind turbine on his house!!

A lovely weekend of pampering….

After a few days in hospital what better way to get over it and relax….a few days with my best friend at Ragdale Hall Health Hydro.

We arrived on Friday afternoon and after booking in and looking at our wonderful room we both had a full body exfoliation and nourish, followed by the most fantastic food.

Over the weekend we laughed lots, relaxed even more and had some wonderful treatments (back massage, scalp massage, facial and pedicure), as well as the amazing pool, sauna and jacuzzi.

The blurry picture above shows what arrived at our dinner table on Friday evening, sent by Mum. What a lovely thought, especially since ten minutes before I’d been telling Tamsin about how it was my Grandfather’s favourite wine and that Mum and I had had a bottle when we stayed at Ragdale last year.

I’m really glad I gave in and went (despite the cost….don’t ask!), I think Tam and I would like to make it an annual event.