Anything for the weekend, Sir? - # 124

Feeling creative, I have dived into the archive and played with the processing to bring out my feelings about the scene.

This was a difficult, quick snap in between cars passing on a busy street. I immediately liked the "edginess" of it. I used B&W, sharpness, contrast and graininess to bring it out.

A very successful Garden Show - # 123

The Police Sergeant put on his full uniform

The boys had great fun cutting cake and serving the teas.

It rained!!!!

The gardens were wonderful

Les parapluies de Ham - # 122

May I remind you of the delightful film starring Catherine Deneuve "Les Parapluies de Cherbourg"....a classic of the French "nouvelle vague" cinema, made in 1964. See it! It's a fine film.

On Sunday my village held a very successful event in which several houses opened their gardens to visitors. The rain stopped for 3 hours and a large number of visitors came. All the wonderful cakes (you saw some of them yesterday) were sold, because the teas were also in high demand.

Anyway, here are some nice English people doing what they normally do when rain sweeps in from the Atlantic.

Something's not right here - # 121

.......there really is something wrong here! What do you think?

Oh, Mr Buchanan! Leave me alone! - # 120

This is the birch tree at the bottom of my garden, and this is the sky I'm looking at. The weather is AWFUL. (But the rain is welcome....I must say).

But, scientists say it's normal! A famous Scottish meteorologist named Buchanan proved by statistics that in May it is normal to have weather that is not normal. Now think about that, children.

My hero regularly drinks with me - # 119

Those of you who want to read more about the River Raft Squatter featured yesterday can try this URL link. If it does not work, tell me, and I will help you out.

http://www.richmondandtwickenhamtimes.co.uk/search/display.var.269433.0.river_recluses_home_is_an_eyesore_say_neighbours.php

Now let's move on to the Saturday "Mug Feature". This mug is MINE, exclusively and absolutely. Nobody is allowed to touch it - ever. It celebrates Horatio, Admiral Lord Nelson. He's a hero because he made his men feel good about themselves, and although he took them into great danger, because of his aggressive tactics, they felt safe with him because he was always a winner. He also had enormous physical and mental courage, and his men would see him exposed to danger as they were. He was also a fine dresser and if around today would probably have been found driving a flashy car. Those meeting him for the first time might have no idea that he was a heavy-weight hero, but on closer acquaintance his high mental ability became obvious. He was a lady's man - but in the right way.

Affordable housing for workmen - # 118

I may be wrong, but memory tells me that this highly respected gentleman has been here for 17 years - or almost, if not more! The raft has evolved over that period. The Port of London Authority tried to sling him off, but local residents campaigned to keep him, so here he stays. He tends the birds, building nesting areas, and is generally regarded as a very good neighbour - the kind of chap you like to have around.

The equipment is quite sophisticated. Originally he had a wind mill to generate electricity but last year I noticed that he has cut out the wind turbine and moved to nuclear power! Look closely and you will see the photovoltaic panel on the far side of the roof.

In the early days it was fun to watch the raft "morphing" into new shapes, and seeing experiments in protective cladding systems being tried and rejected. Today the form seems to be more or less fixed and final. This is human resourcefulness at it's peak. In my opinion it's a noteworthy sight for genuine tourists .