pond life

this family of ducks got a wee bit stranded in a town centre car park in middlesbrough, so the car park attendant decided to escort them back home.
"i wanted to protect them from predators," said car park ken.
that reminds me of the time i rescued a baby frog. it was so tiny, about the size of my thumbnail. not that frogs and ducks have much in common, but if you can lend a helping hand, then why not?

the loser takes it all

actually, i don't know what happened at the bank. sorry.

but hey, look on the bright side. i'm off to see mamma mia, the abba movie today. i wanted to see the dark knight as it has heath ledger in his final performance as the joker, but it's only previewing at the moment. so maybe next week for that one.

on another note, ronnie the house bunny has taken to chewing my furniture with a vengeance of late. i thought he might mellow as he got older, but nope. i think it was his way of telling me off for getting up late. if he doesn't get his breakfast banana slices by 9am, that's it - i'm dead meat.

better than agatha christie, this

this morning i nipped down my bank to pay in some cheques.

as i walked in, two hoodies ran out, one shouting to the other: "there's another bank down the road".

strolled into the bank and found two staff members struggling with a huge shelving display unit, trying to keep it from crashing onto the floor.

they had failed with the hundreds of leaflets the unit was holding - these had already crashed onto the floor.

i then heard one of the staff members say: "i bet it's on crimewatch next week".

so just what went on in there?

i shall reveal all in my next post, dear readers.

in the meantime, have a guess.

folking around

been playing with my itunes today. quite engaged with this up-and-coming folk band faustus who do a dazzling rendition of 'the new deserter' which is a classic folk tune - it tells of the woeful tale of a soldier who deserted the army for his sweetheart, before being caught and shot by his own ranks. it's currently my song of the week.

south wales 3: brecon mountain railway

old steam trains are always fun, especially if you get to ride in them. we made our way to the brecon mountain railway to do just that - i thought we'd be chugging along on slightly steeper gradients, but they are still building the railway tracks uphill. so we got a short but sweet adventure, snorting all the way.

the steam train huffing and a puffing.

sign of bygone times: inside one of the carriages.

one of the benches on the platform.

south wales 2: hay-on-wye

whilst based in brecon, we went exploring on a few day trips. one was to the charming hay-on-wye, also known as the 'town of books' for it is a wee place yet is home to about 40 bookshops - antique ones, classic ones, second-hand dusty ones, crime ones, travel ones - you name it, hay has got it. it also hosts an annual literary festival which is no wonder. the other point of note is that hay has its own castle - but that has also been turned into a massive bookshop; the castle bookshop. just as well i like reading.

a lovely blue sign. i like these old enamel signs.

one of the many bookshops located in the town. but this one was closed for the day.

another bookshop called 'murder and mayhem' which specialises in crime and detective stories.

south wales 1: brecon town

we stayed in a very old cottage, dating back to the 16th century. we heard a few unexplained noises in the night, we got spooked. i was quite relieved to get out of there at the end.

this is the first of three holiday snapshot installments, taken in the town of brecon, south wales.

brecon was a market town, and has the scars to show it.

brecon cathedral from the outside, definitely haunted. according to a local taxi driver there, they found the skeletons of nuns who had been buried alive within its walls.

tigger, the adorable cat, whom we adopted whilst staying at the cottage. she was one cuddle monster!

it was worth the wait

i was really rooting for rafael, so much so that when play got really tense, i had to stop watching. it wasn't so much winning the match, it was beating federer on grass, for he is already king of clay. you could tell how hurt federer was, within a whisker of a record-breaking six consecutive wimbledon titles. but it wasn't to be - the good spaniard saw to that. what a machine.

welsh wanderings

returned from wales earlier today, went to the brecon beacons for a wee break. i found a lovely cat, adopted it for a week, and also visited the charming hay-on-wye known as the 'town of books' for it is home to around 40 bookshops and hosts a literary festival every year. i may well return, it impressed me rather fine.

anyhoo, i'm tired so off to potter and snooze. expect some holiday snaps soon. i shall get back to regular blogging, no fear.

apple, i adore you

excuse my disappearance for a while, dear readers. lots of things going on, keeping me at bay. today though i took delivery of my brand new apple silver imac, it is sheer perfection, super fast and mighty powerful. and my blog looks well brilliant on it!

more soon when i recover from my elated state.

you're hired!

welcome aboard, scolari. things are about to get interesting.

life's a drag

i was on the bus today and overheard two young boys talking behind me, they can't have been more than 10 years old. they were bragging to each other about smoking, when one turned to the other and asked: "why do you smoke?" to which his friend replied: "because i'm stressed".

that cracked me up.

in the absence of the special one

as jose mourinho is confirmed as inter milan’s new manager, with no chance of a shock return to us blues, i’m hoping that we get mark hughes as our next manager. first, he’s english and knows the game. second, he’s a former chelsea player and a fan. i think out of all the remaining contenders, he measures up best.

still would like roy keane to have a pop though.

i’m also thinking at least two of our players will leave and follow mourinho. my money’s on drogba and carvalho. i can’t see super frank going.

a bit of nietzsche for you

i have been eating nuts and dried cranberries and now they are stuck in my teeth. if i leave them there to rot, i will start to smell. if i start to smell, nobody will go near me. if i'm left alone, with nobody to talk to, i might go mad. if i go mad, then i am complete.

mad maxxo. it has a lovely ring to it.

roy keane for chelsea boss

according to the daily express. actually, i wouldn't mind him. no doubt ftm (one of my regular readers) takes a different view on this, but you know, i'm sure sven could fill his shoes ... hur.

this is why we love you, JT

an open letter from chelsea captain john terry today:

to all the chelsea fans, all my team-mates, the manager and staff at the club.

i am so sorry for missing the penalty and denying you the fans, my team-mates, family and friends the chance to become european champions.

many people have told me i don't need to say that but i feel i need to, that's just me. i have relived that moment every minute since it happened. i have only slept a few hours and wake up every time hoping it's all been a bad dream.

i have had some amazing support from fans, current and ex-players, family and friends and i need to thank everyone for that. but i am a big man and i take responsibility for us not winning.

i am and ALWAYS will be chelsea through and through. i will give my all on and off the pitch to win this trophy as a player and one day as a manager. and i am sure we will win it.

that night in moscow will haunt me forever and i feel i have let everybody down and this hurts me more than anything. i am not ashamed about crying. this is a trophy i have tried so hard year after year to win and it was just an uncontrollable reaction, i wear my heart on my sleeve, everybody knows that.

the road to rome starts here, we have to try and turn this experience to our advantage. i am very proud of how far we have come this season with everything that has gone on.

thank you for all your support for the team this season.

you can always hope

breaking news: chelsea manager avram grant has just been sacked ... just as i was warming to him as well. does this mean we get mourinho back? does it, does it?

any punks out there?

just been invited to an exclusive preview of a sid vicious exhibiton at proud galleries. i think the reformed sex pistols, minus sid of course, might be performing a couple of songs on the night. doubt i will go, but nice to be invited.

fortune doesn't always favour the brave

a picture that broke my heart. if anyone wanted more than anything in the world to lift that trophy, it was him. i think we outplayed them over the 120 minutes, we deserved to win. but better to be defeated as a lion, than conquer as a king.

today i gave my cat a purple rinse

russian hopes

today it has started to rain. after a wee spell of sunshine and heat rash. luckily i am working from home today so wills gets regularly let in when a downpour appears. he's now sitting on the window sill while fat magpies swoop past.

i'm now a proud owner of a 'road to moscow' scarf which i shall wave joyously come next wednesday when chelsea put boots to turf in russia for the champs league final. it has to be better than the boredom of watching rangers slump to defeat last night. why bother playing when you keep kicking the ball backwards towards your goal? there seemed to be no urgency from them, even in the final minutes, when the manager just started writing an essay on a piece of paper ... he should have been flying up from his seat, shouting at them and spitting on the grass.

still, as a celtic fan, i took great delight in their appalling loss.

home is where the heart is

travelling back from the coast last weekend, i found this love note on a train. i thought i'd give it a good home.

it's a nice day for a white wedding

my sister is getting married this weekend. i am doing a reading at the service, the shakespearean sonnet 116. i did suggest doing an alternative reading, one which involved bunny rabbits and cloth eyes that drop out, but it was not to be. oh well.

i hope there’s lots to eat and drink. i hope the DJ doesn’t suck. but most of all, i hope my sister has a brilliant day.

they might be giants

i’d been meaning to get a new mountain bike for ages, as arctic fox will testify to. so yesterday i did just that, i walked into a specialist bike shop and got myself a giant boulder for just over £200. despite a caution against giant, i took it for a test ride and it was a little gem. i haven’t ridden many bikes, but it was the best i’ve ridden. it’s probably a great entry-level bike for the roads and the woods. i liked the fact the shop doubled up as a repair centre, and the sales guys were busy getting their hands dirty replacing new brakes and the like. they knew what they were talking about, and were passionate about their bikes. and y’know, they were working on a bank holiday ... that’s sheer love.

if you're happy and you know it ...

my oh my. i didn’t see the game y’know, i listened to it on the radio. but now i’m desperate for a dvd copy to watch. i’m totally elated, we played our hearts out. the guts of super frank to score from the spot like that. the bare nerve of drogba to slide across the pitch and celebrate his first goal in front of benitez (that’ll teach you, rafa). and even grant at the end, falling to his knees and almost kissing the grass. i think i’ve got a soft spot for him now.

the only question now is: how to get to moscow?