30 September 2011

Had it been another day, I might have looked the other way - Face on a keystone in Herne Bay, Kent.

29 September 2011

Better than all the rest - The Indian summer that we are enjoying at the moment is extending the life of all the flowers in the garden, including this gazania.

28 September 2011

Eating pear drops and stringing up conkers - Conkers in the late afternoon sun at Preston.

27 September 2011

With happy days we've known - Sunset over Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate with the cooling towers of Richborough power station in the background.

26 September 2011

When cockleshells turn silver bells - I went to see my artist friend Ruth Geldard this afternoon. Ruth has a knack of placing objects together that can look both innocent and macabre at the same time. To see more of Ruth's work click here.

25 September 2011

I hitchhiked all the way down to Memphis, got a room at the YMCA - I don't know why my guitar has a switch on it that says Rhythm, it certainly doesn't improve my rhythm. No matter which way I set it I play just as bad!

24 September 2011

And the sky is dark and grey - Lin and I visited King's Wood near Challock today for the first time and spent about four hours walking amongst the tress and fungi. Bizarrely, there are a number of sculptures placed throughout the woods, some of them give you the impression that you have just walked onto the set of Lost.

23 September 2011

She's a summer love for spring, fall and winter - I picked this magnolia seed pod up several years ago whilst visiting a garden not far from here. I love the patterns and textures on it. Such beautiful flowers too, I wish we had room to grow the tree.

22 September 2011

When this old world starts getting me down - I feel like I have spent far too much time recently up the top of a ladder or sitting on my bathroom roof, but I have to say that I do have nice bright fascias and clean gutters!

21 September 2011

Get a little bit older and a little bit slower - I was about half way through my schooling when the metric system was introduced so I had to relearn everything I knew about money, measuring, distance and weights. Even now I am not fully converted, I have trouble with grams and millilitres and I have no idea at all how long a kilometre is. Inches and centimetres are pretty much interchangeable, sometimes when cutting wood I'll mark it out with a mixture of both. Measurements such as 350 mm and 1/8" are not unknown to me! Besides when I was growing up my lucky number was always 9, if I was to go fully metric it would have to be 22.8.

20 September 2011

Got to carry some stairs to get near enough - This lady and her male companion sit above the entrance to the Royal Pavilion in Ramsgate. I'm guessing that they have both been there since the building was first opened in 1904. When I first came to Thanet in the early 1970s the building was being used as an amusement arcade. This can be seen in the 1974 French movie Á Nous Les Petites Anglaises! which was filmed in Ramsgate. It later became the bar Peggy Sue's which both Lin and I spent many a night in supporting the local economy. It's last use was as a casino and it now stands empty.

19 September 2011

Now in a single moment your past grows dim - Some faces are so recognisable that you need very little information to be able to tell who they are. Elvis Presley must be one of the most recognisable people ever and with hundreds if not thousands of impersonators out there, there is not one who can look, sing or speak remotely like him. This image comes from the poster for the 1969 movie Charro!

18 September 2011

Livin' on the edge - This garden on the cliff at St Margaret's Bay near Dover, Kent has always amazed me. It sits on the edge of the cliff getting nearer and nearer to collapsing into the English Channel. You can see signs of a recent cliff fall at the bottom of the cliff face. How much longer will the owner be able to mow his lawn? At least he continues to fly his flag like a true Englishman.

17 September 2011

Goin' home - We had our first delivery today of jumbo free range eggs from a local company called S&J Eggs who deliver across Thanet right to your front door. Judging by the look of them we will be making this a regular order.

16 September 2011

I told you big fat bulldog - One morning a week I help out at the TAG Pet Rescue Centre at Lydden, Margate in Kent doing DIY projects and repairing things. There is always a list of animals that need re-homing, this pair are Teddy and Casey. If you feel you could re-home a cat, a rabbit or another animal why not contact them? They are always on the lookout for volunteers too, you could become part of the maintenance team like myself or help with the cleaning out and feeding of the animals. TAGs website can be found here.

15 September 2011

Think I'll get out of town - These cliffs at Botany Bay, Broadstairs have become iconic of Thanet. Very often when you see Thanet on a TV advert or pictured in a magazine you will see these cliffs.

14 September 2011

Then in flies a guy who's all dressed up like a union jack - Clouds over Pegwell Bay, Ramsgate.

13 September 2011

Man, looks like squash to me - Our first butternut squash of the year off of the allotment.

12 September 2011

Tighten up your bootlace and hit the sand hills by the sea - Young seagull bobbing for one of his five a day in the harbour at Ramsgate.

11 September 2011

Never found a bruised one - Today I dug the last of the potatoes on the allotment and put them into storage. These are second early Charlottes and the main crop were red Desiree. Normally we leave them in the ground and dig them as we need them and they usually last until Christmas. You loose a few to slugs, but you don't have to find a big space to store them. Last year we got caught out by the early snow and we lost a lot so this year we are playing safe.

10 September 2011

I can see for miles and miles - Once again for National Heritage Day, St George's Church in Ramsgate opened it's doors to the public. There was the opportunity to climb up the inside of the church tower and get some amazing views of the town and Royal Harbour.

9 September 2011

There you stood on the edge of your feather - Young seagull taking off on Deal beach.

8 September 2011

You do it every hour - I seem to be locked into this vicious never ending circle of scraping, filling and sanding. Why can't you just slap a new coat over the old flaky stuff?

7 September 2011

That'll be the day, when you say goodbye - Whilst preparing a window sill for painting I noticed this little cricket, the odd thing about it is that I can't remember seeing a cricket in our garden this year and today would of been Buddy Holly's birthday.

6 September 2011

Pepper hot baby, don't say goodbye to me - Close up of a halved red pepper.

5 September 2001

Creeping shadows cross the wall - Whilst rummaging through a stack of used paperbacks it would be hard not to pick up any book with the title "Deviant", but when you see the name Ed Gein too it can't be passed by. Don't know who Ed Gein was? Go and Google him, but don't say I didn't warn you!

4 September 2011

Screws get loose - DIY is a strange thing, it has a habit of expanding. You start by taking a door off of it's hinges so it can be repainted and before you know it you are on the roof replacing coping stones!

3 September 2011

We fell in love down at the pier - Lin and I had a nice ride out to Eastbourne today. It's a great ride all along the coast and Eastbourne is such a great place to spend a few hours, the pier is one of the best in the country.

2 September 2011

Paint your palette blue and grey - It was such a lovely evening I sat outside with my camera for about half an hour before going to bed. There's probably not going to be too many more evenings like this for several months, so I had to make the most of it.

1 September 2011

I hear they're looking for choke pickers out in Watsonville - Globe artichokes are one of the most amazing vegetables they contain the most beautiful shades of reds and greens, and when the purple flower comes out it transforms the plant totally.