31 July 2011

Vegetable man how are you? - Our allotment is looking good at the moment, lots of crops ready to pick and share. The raised beds make life much easier, with beds you don't stand on your soil and compact it, which means less digging. And less digging means less backache!

30 July 2011

I got the throttle wide open, both wheels left the ground - We spent the day at Lydden Hill watching vintage motorcycle racing. Men and women on machines dating from the 1930s up to the modern 1970s. Not just riding but racing and racing hard! This is Mark Hansford from Newmarket on his 1966 Seeley G50.

29 July 2011

Train train, comin' right 'round the bend - We rode the Kent & East Sussex Railway today from Tenterden to Bodiam. The outward journey was great, we rode in a carriage that was built in 1911, but came back in a 1950s carriage that was very much like the ones I used to travel in daily to London only a few years ago, before the sliding door trains were introduced on our line.

28 July 2011

But all of a sudden the lights went low - Ramsgate's Kings Street is slowly improving, many of the empty shops have been converted into accommodation. Sadly one of the first shops that I remember closing down, this fishmongers still sits empty and boarded up.

27 July 2011

And all the lights that light the way are blinding - This stone pillar marks the once grand entrance to part of the Sir Moses Montefiore estate in Ramsgate. Now all that is behind it is a small woodland used by dog walkers in the day and early evening and bored teenagers at night.

26 July 2011

But it's all right now, in fact, it's a gas! - This little box of tricks ruined my afternoon today. Lin came home in her van with the left hand indicator stuck on. After a quick Google search and a telephone call to a friend I decided that the flasher relay had stopped working. I went to a local motor factors only to be told that the part could only be ordered from the main dealer, which would probably cost me an arm and a leg plus it would take several days to come in. So after a quick trip to the breakers I got a replacement for £2 and spent the next hour or so getting grazed knuckles and black fingers.

25 July 2011

Put your man in the can, honey - I think there is a secret law that says all English people must have at least one collection of their own. Over the years I have seen and photographed many strange collections, but this one has to be one of the most bizarre.

24 July 2011

They wouldn't chase, they'd run and hide - Today was the German Grand Prix and it was won by Lewis Hamilton. In this house when a British driver wins we celebrate with them!

23 July 2011

It's a mixed up muddled up, shook up world - This is Lola, she loves the beach and the sea. As you can see she's not so keen on having a bath.

22 July 2011

Fire, to destroy all you've done - There was a big fire at the allotment over the weekend. Two sheds were totally destroyed and crops on three plots were burnt. The fire brigade were called. The probable cause - kids plus matches plus wood plus school holidays!

21 July 2011

The policemen they're acting so tough - Water droplets in a bath.

20 July 2011

Nothing more than sea shells on the sea shore - some people have a knack, they can put a few things down and they just look right.

19 July 2011

But with you by my side I can do anything - It's been a while since we had an evening walk along the beach. This evening the sun was still shinning and the tide was right out, so we made the most of it.

18 July 2011

Who ya gonna call? - It's amazing who you stumble across in your day to day life. When was the last time you saw the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man?

17 July 2011

And if she tempts you with her charms - I like graffiti that has something to say, it doesn't need to be a brightly coloured, cleaver piece of artwork, just something brief and to the point like this.

16 July 2011

Falling on my head like a new emotion - Midday, Saturday in the middle of July on Viking Bay, Broadstairs. Where are all the people? Could be something to do with the rain. Two hours after this and we were walking home, soaked to the skin.

15 July 2011

It don't get me high - Close up detail of three poppy seed pods.

14 July 2011

Think I'd rather tame a tiger - Lin still seems not to want to leave the kitchen for any length of time. This is a small slice of the lemon tart she made this evening.

13 July 2011

Let me slide big daddy - I wonder how many people still have boxes of old 35mm slides lying around on top of a wardrobe or in the attic? It's strange, when you are a photographer people ask you things like "can you have a look at my camera, it's not working properly?", or "would you like this box of 35mm slides that's cluttering up the top of my wardrobe". This particular collection came from a friend of my parents and they originally belonged to her father. After looking through them I haven't the heart to throw them away as they contain some beautiful images shot in the late 1950s and early 1960s across Europe.

12 July 2011

You bounce my heart around - Bobbing up and down in the water like some bizarre cartoon character, this dog's ball even has it's own voice. Give it a slight squeeze and out comes a blood curdling squeak.

11 July 2011

Caveman no fool - For hundreds of years man has explored caves all around the world and discovered clues to the ancient people who lived in them. Maybe some primitive paintings on the wall depicting how they hunted, or perhaps the remains of some tools that they used. I explored a small cave, not far from the Main Sands at Ramsgate and found two, possibly ancient beverage containers. I'm no expert so I'm unable to say what this tells us about the ancient people of the area or even what it tells us about the current inhabitants.
 

10 July 2011

We took in every honky tonk in town - Despite it's appearance, this is not chocolate, biscuits, dog crap or even some dodgy resin substance. It's actually some small pieces of lino that came from the floor of the kitchen at Alcatraz prison in San Francisco Bay. Who knows, maybe even Scarface himself may of walked across them.

9 July 2011

Hey Good Lookin' - Recently Lin has had a renewed passion for cooking and she seems to spend more and more time in the kitchen, Christmas cake, Christmas puddings, a rumtopf and even the odd cheese scone.

8 July 2011

She could steal but she could not rob - I think that if people want to grow plants inside then they should take precautions to stop them breaking out! The weeds growing inside this building are not only growing through the window frame, but are also pushing the bottom three panes of glass.

7 July 2011

You may think the band are not quite right - Some bubblegum cards of The Beatles. These cards are from the first series issued in the United Kingdom during 1964. They were also available in the USA.

6 July 2011

I told you about the walrus and me-man - I had to make a quick trip to the allotment this morning to pick some vegetable including this bunch of salad onions.

5 July 2011

They went sailing down the river - On a walk along the beach from Ramsgate to Broadstairs I saw thousands and thousands of dead starfish. I don't know if they were dead before being washed up or if they were stranded by the tide and died on the beach. This group was photographed at Dumpton Gap.

4 July 2011

All it took was just one bite - Garlic, the easiest way to keep vampires at bay.

3 July 2011

They put you down and shut you out - This close up of a runner bean leaf looks like a map of a large river with it's tributaries flowing in all along it's length.

2 July 2011

I'm livin' like a dog - It's midday and baking hot outside already and we are about to leave to go to The Hop Farm Festival to see Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith and Morrissey. Lin's made the packed lunch and we've stocked up on bottles of water.

1 July 2011

We are the boys who will stop your little game - Many years ago I, like many other boys of my age had a brief spell of collecting stamps. My Dad arranged for a company to send me a regular book of stamps from around the world on approval. Normally he would buy the whole book for me each time, which would cost about £1. I recently found one of these books of approvals which included three German stamps from 1941 with a certain Mr Hitler on them, and no, it's not Eddie! The price to buy these three stamps was a grand 4p, or 9d in old money. Luckily, not long after this I discovered Glam Rock and music became my new hobby. Some hobbies stay with you for life!