Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

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There's a bloke talking to his uncle on a mobile phone. The uncle is trapped and injured but no one knows where he is.

Obviously just one small story amid tens of thousands of tragedies.

Just seeing pictures of hundreds of parents standing outside collapsed schools. Unimaginable.

[Dino]

Pity they don't have this service there,all you need is a mobile number and they will tell you where the phone is.

[The_duke]

Mother Nature throws a wobbly in our part of the world - we get wet - we lose tiles - occasionally we have a fatality, thankfully rare !

She rattles her sabre elsewhere and we get devastation, tens of thousands lose their lives or their homes.

Its a cruel world sometimes

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Apart from a brief appearance on Saturday night, I missed bb6. Bugger!! There were loads of you that I wanted to see again and some that I wanted to meet for the first time.

I did have an excuse, and here it is.

In my village there is a small group of people who call themselves “The Sharnford Environment Group” They are basically a few like-minded people who meet once a month to discuss and debate how best to preserve and enhance the local flora and fauna, and having decided, they volunteer their time and, in some cases, their expertise to whatever tasks are deemed useful.

I joined the group a few months after coming to the village. I joined because I’m interested in environmental matters and conservation. I joined because I believe we should all try to put something back, and I joined because I wanted the villagers to see that I was an ordinary person, just like them.

Slowly, we got to know each other. I helped out with such things as fixing hanging baskets to lampposts, (We plant up and maintain 44 pairs) Litter picks, clearing the brook of rubbish, sitting nest-boxes for birds, bats, and insects etc. I enjoyed it a great deal.

Than, about 4 years ago, one of the members said that we should try to do something with an unsightly and derelict piece of land. Once the site of a dwelling house, it then became the Blue Bell inn, and eventually the village post office before being demolished. It was now a real eyesore and it sat right on the main village thoroughfare


After much debate, it was decided that we would completely re-landscape the site, making one half into a tiered garden, and the other half into lawned area with benches and paving in the form of a sun clock.

I played no part in the actual design and planning stages, but people with the necessary skills spent countless hours surveying and making detailed drawings and others devised suitable planting schemes for the gardens. I did mostly donkey work (Like mixing cement and lifting heavy fings) I also drove the diggers and operated the chainsaws etc.

It took over 3 years to decide exactly what to do with the land, raise funds, negotiate its purchase, and obtain planning consent. The actual physical work took a little over a year. We estimated that if we employed no professionals at any stage and did everything ourselves, we could manage on a budget of £8000; we came in on time and £200 under. (We should have built the Olympic stadium)

It was decided that the grand opening would be on the15 of May. (blonde bash 6 day)

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I saw three elderly people sitting on one of the benches. The old lady was crying. I asked her what was the matter and she told me that the bedroom where she and her two brothers had been born was approximately where that flowerbed (Visible in the background) now sits. She was overcome with nostalgia, but happy that we had made it into "Somewhere special"

 

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After that, I had to go to an allotment and attend the official opening of a shed.

About 50 people came. We drank wine and ate little sarnies. (It could only happen in a village)

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I was in London yesterday for the grand opening of my mouth (Finally got my teeth fitted)

While I was there I noticed that someone had come up with a great idea.

First, you get a scrap bike. Next you paint it in the most eye-catching colour you can find. Then you put your business details on it and chain it to the railings. 

How clever is that? Free advertising in the heart of the capital, nothing that the authorities can do about it. Brilliant.

[kinboshi]

That is wheelie clever. 

I love guerilla marketing, especially useful for small businesses who can't compete head on with the big boys.

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Contrast with Selfrigdges window displays. All animated, must have cost a mint.

(Scuse poor quality pics taken through the glass)

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[Colchester Kev]

I'm off down the scrap yard to find some old bikes ... spray them black and yellow and chain them up all over the country with blondes website splashed all over them

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I'm off down the scrap yard to find some old bikes ... spray them black and yellow and chain them up all over the country with blondes website splashed all over them

blonde does have quite a few old bikes already.... 


 

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I wish I liked sushi, this looks like so much fun

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Can anyone remember when it became normal for girls to show so much flesh?

I saw a young lady yesteday who's jeans were so low cut that I could see her G-string back AND front.

In my day, if you saw that much, you would have to marry her.

(Sorry, no pics this time)