Go Mango!

It sounds like a cry from the Rock'n'Roll age but "Go Mango!" refers to the man dressed as a mango on Ilkeston Market Place today. He was there to help celebrate a birthday. It was just a year ago that Trent Barton unveiled the new buses for the Two service between Ilkeston and Nottingham and today saw the start of a long distance balloon race with a free bus pass for a year for the winner.

Looking For Bones

The Erewash Museum is running a series of weekly themed events throughout the summer school holidays and we went along today to sample the Archaeology Week. It was great fun with the grandsons hunting for bone shaped cut outs that had been hidden in the different rooms in the building. Next week the Romans will be the theme so there will probably be another visit then.

Rescued

Just had to rescue a bee from a water butt. We left it to dry out in the greenhouse for about twenty minutes and then it flew off into the sunset, no doubt to add swimming to its CV.

Inconsiderate

It's turning into one of those whinging weeks but the driver of this stretched car is not only breaking the law by parking on a corner on double yellow lines but his/her inconsiderate actions mean the the dropped pavement access for wheelchairs, pushchairs, prams etc is also blocked. Nice car, shame about the parking!

Never mind David Cameron's "Big Society" and Theresa May's "get the community involved in policing" where are the Traffic Wardens when you need them?

Curtailment

As part of the government's cost cutting exercise, free swimming for youngsters is to cease but the local council have decided to postpone the new policy until after the schools re-open in September which means schoolchildren will still be able to enjoy free sessions during the summer holidays. It is to be hoped they also spend some time improving their language skills instead of using the foul mouthed obscenities that passed between a group of youngsters who crossed from the direction of the Leisure Centre and entered Victoria Park as I was taking this photo this afternoon.

School's Out

The first day of the school holidays and there were lots of children around the town centre this morning. There were not quite so many later as the weather had turned it into a drizzly afternoon so what do you do with the children to keep them amused. Some people found the answer by queuing to see the latest movie at the Scala.

Some parents may already be thinking "Roll on September" but I thought it was a bit off last week when one major retail outlet was advertising "Back To School" goods before the schools had actually closed for the summer!

Preferred Sport

The wicket was ready, the stumps were in and the boundary flags were in place but the players were conspicuous by their absence and the sport of choice this afternoon by several groups of youngsters was obviously football. There's still a couple of weeks to go before the start of the new season but it seems it can't come soon enough. And despite what the sign says about Rutland Sports Park, it's still the Rec to Ilkestonians.

Fountain of Flowers

We went over to Eastwood this afternoon and earlier in the week we were in Beeston. Both are under the jurisdiction of Broxtowe Borough Council and we noticed that besides all the free parking at the supermarkets, the council owned car parks also offered the first hour for free. You still had to obtain a ticket but there was no charge and it's ideal if you just want a short stop. In Ilkeston it's 60p for the first hour - not a great deal I grant you but if you park just to pick up one or two items it all adds to the expense and is a contributory factor in the decline of the shops and markets in the town. I'm sure Erewash could learn a useful lesson from neighbouring Broxtowe.

But back to East wood and we were quite impressed by this fountain of flowers. They obviously appreciate sunshine and rain but it crossed my warped mind that these had probably benefited from an additional amount of the former as the display was directly outside the Sun Inn!

Holiday Choice

Holiday companies organise all sorts of transport options these days but I hope the motor bike is not part of a cut price coach trip.I suspect it belongs to a customer but why it was parked in the middle of a pedestrian area is just another of those questions that will probably never be answered.

Unthinkable

I did the unthinkable today and went out without the camera. You can put it down to my advancing years if you like but I felt lost without it! On returning home I had no option but to see what the garden had to offer again and I was soon joined by Splinky who took up his favourite spot on the arbour and even Pom gave up the comfort of the armchair that he was so attached to yesterday to join us. It didn't last long though. As I made my way back indoors they both followed as the prospect of feeding time loomed large on their agenda.

Home Comforts

I went out this afternoon to get a picture for today's blog and although I snapped a few shots it was this sight that greeted me when returning home that just cried out for a picture. Talk about the comforts of home - Pom opened his eyes just long enough to see who was disturbing his peace and promptly closed them again.

First Time For Everything

Another picture from the garden today but this time it's flowers. We've never grown freesias before but bought a job lot of summer flowering bulbs during the spring that were planted in pots and beds in the garden. They are now flowering and are a welcome sight as most of the other plants in the garden flower in the spring. I just wish you could savour the aroma of these.

Another Beanfeast

I was supposed to meeting up with some friends I used to play football with tonight but I woke up this morning with a headache and despite dosing myself all day long it has still not gone. I think it'll be a quiet night with my feet up once I've uploaded this. I hadn't even had the camera out of its case today until a few minutes ago when I wandered into the garden and took a few quick shots. Just checked back and it's only just over two weeks ago (July 2nd) when I captured a shot of the first runner bean to form so just look at them now. We had our first boiling yesterday but at this rate we shall have to be eating them for breakfast, dinner and tea and there'll still be enough for supper too until September at least.

Superstition

Superstition tells us that red and white flowers should not be placed together especially in hospitals as they represent blood on bandages. But if that had been put into practice we would not have been able to appreciate this wonderful floral display in church this morning that had been left in situ following a wedding yesterday. Let's hope that the newly wedded couple enjoy as much pleasure throughout their married life as they brought to everyone who enjoyed the sight of these flowers.

Midsummer Happening

The Rotary Club's Annual Midsummer Happening was held in Victoria Park this afternoon and alongside the usual charity stalls and entertainment around the bandstand, there was also a display of classic vehicles, a traditional ice-cream salesman doing a good trade in the fine but showery weather, bouncy castles and a tent with a number of rescued parrots that was attracting a lot of attention. And a jolly good time was had by all.

On Yer Bike!

Yesterday we had a dog on a mobility scooter. Today it's a boy on a bike. I'm not sure whether he's reached the age where his growth genes are working overtime or whether he left the bike out in the rain and it shrank but it wasn't easy for him to control as he rode across the Market Place. Maybe he's taking the government's advice to get on his bike and go looking for a job. There's always the circus ....

Licences

Some years ago you needed a licence to keep a dog. In a blog last week I mentioned James Bond who of course had a licence to kill and unless this dog has a driving licence he could end up killing someone or at least with a mascot should he discover how to drive the mobility scooter!

Enough

Time to call an end to the gold theme even though there's at least one more shop in Ilkeston that buys it. Enough is enough so time to move on to something else. I took a close up of the building on the left of this picture showing the clock on the top which would have easily filled the bill as a "time" image but this one through the car windscreen shows a deterioration in the weather as a shower passed over.

 

By the time we were back at home we had a full blown thunderstorm and even as I write this another storm is rumbling by over Swingate way. We've had some lovely weather recently but already people are beginning to say enough is enough about the rain. Still it'll do the gardens good as they say - unless it washes everything away!

Golden Memories

I went out in the drizzle this afternoon to get a photo for today. It seemed really quiet, more like half day closing than a Tuesday and I think the weather had put a lot of people off. There was nothing really that caught my eye so I returned home without a photo to play some music instead and ponder what to take. Looking through my collection of old vinyl records one particular collection just jumped out at me. I didn't play it choosing Sinatra's "A Man and His Music" instead but it did solve the photo problem - and took the gold theme into another day.

Spanish Gold

No "gold" picture today although as Spain won the 18 carat gold trophy that is the World Cup last night, I'm sure there were plenty of celebrations by the patrons of the Spanish Bar.

Today's picture though is more about the weather than the World Cup as these two girls were both sporting umbrellas as opposed to sun shades today. We seem to have gone from July to November in one day with a significant drop in the temperature and the hot sunny days of recent weeks being replaced by a cold and wet one. The gardens will be grateful for it but it came as a shock to the system. Mind you the weather is more in keeping with the football season!

It Just Goes On & On

I thought I had finished with the gold theme but my wife spotted two small birds feeding in the garden that we think are greenfinches. So I took my camera to the bottom of the garden and sat quietly to wait for them returning. They didn't! But just as I was about to give up another bird settled nearby and to my surprise this one was a goldfinch. Am I blessed or what?

One Bad Apple

I suppose it was inevitable really that come market day and the gold theme of the last few days, I would just have to capture an image of some Golden Delicious apples.

Unfortunately the label also said "France" which means they are out of season and have probably been in storage for some considerable time. They will also have plastic skins covering cotton wool flesh and be anything but delicious. Personally I prefer Braeburns and as there were some from the southern hemisphere which despite the distance travelled looked much fresher as they are in season there, we opted for some of those.

Looking For Gold

To continue the theme I went out today actually looking for gold and found it on Bath Street.

I must have walked past this A-board outside the Money Shop times without number and never really noticed before that it said "Cash for Gold". The challenge is now to find another example tomorrow.

More Gold

Continuing the theme of the last couple of days, I took this photo of the Gold Buying Centre on Nottingham Road this afternoon. The gold coloured car parked opposite was an unexpected bonus.

I had earlier seen a girl wearing a T-shirt with the word "Goldigga" across the back but I didn't have the camera with me at the time and even if I had, she would have been out of sight before I had switched it on.

Bond Girl

Yesterday's picture of the golden girl reminded me of the opening sequence to the James Bond film "Goldfinger" which featured a gold painted naked girl and although I hadn't planned it, I suddenly realised whilst on South Street this afternoon that there is a shop trading as "Goldfinger Jewellers Ltd". The shutters were down as it is half day closing.

At the time of the release of "Goldfinger" we were given to believe that a small area of the girl had to be left paint free to allow the skin to breathe but I now understand that this is just an urban myth.

The Power Of Advertising

There was some sort of event on the Market Place today which I came across purely by chance mid-afternoon. A mobile roller skating rink was the centrepiece with a number of market stalls around it although most of them were empty and the rest were packing up. It appears that local junior schools were involved but despite their best efforts to publicise the event, the advertising campaign had been largely ignored and posters that had been delivered to nearby shops had not been displayed. Which is a shame really as better publicity would have certainly resulted in a better turnout by the general public, myself included! As it was, there was not much to photograph by the time I was there except this gold plated (or should that be gold painted?) girl.

 I've no idea why she was like this but although she adopted a number of poses around the Market Place, it appears her statuesque stance had restricted the use of her tongue and she remained silent throughout.

A Sad Face

Today is a rest day in the World Cup as the four remaining teams prepare for the semi-finals. A month ago expectations were high that England would be one of them but after their early departure from the competition most of the flags and decorations that were prominent in the town have been taken down. At least one remains though but it has been doctored to show that even in defeat the fans can still keep their sense of humour.

Sunday In The Park

A Brass Band playing on the Bandstand, people listening or chatting to each other, flowers in bloom, children playing - just a Sunday afternoon in the park. What more could you ask?

Whipped!

Yet another lovely day and what better way to enjoy it than with a Mr Whippy ice cream. I think the Germans must have been enjoying some as well as their football team certainly whipped Argentina this afternoon and there was no "Hand of God" to help the South Americans this time either.

A Beanfeast

A beanfeast is slang for a celebration or festive occasion and although two of our grandsons have celebrated birthdays this week the bean feast we are looking forward to is when these beans that are just forming have grown large enough to pick and eat.

Hanging By A Thread

I'm not sure whose job is more secure at the moment - this guy working on a tall chimney or Fabio Cappello's. They both appear to be hanging by a thread. One thing is for sure though, the one on the chimney won't be earning £6m a year.