Today I Found...

[Gramaisc]

... a hammer - at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I only found it because I stood on it as it was submerged in the frozen grass verge, as I made way for a car to pass on an interestingly icy road.

This was doubly fortuitous as, a mile further on. I found a screwdriver frozen solid into a puddle at the side of the main road, so I was able to chip that out of the ice and avoid it ending up in somebody's tyre.

They have cleaned up nicely.

I also found a very specific warning sign at a farm entrance.

 

[staffordjas]

... a hammer - at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. I only found it because I stood on it as it was submerged in the frozen grass verge, as I made way for a car to pass on an interestingly icy road.

This was doubly fortuitous as, a mile further on. I found a screwdriver frozen solid into a puddle at the side of the main road, so I was able to chip that out of the ice and avoid it ending up in somebody's tyre.

View attachment 15072


They have cleaned up nicely.

View attachment 15073


I also found a very specific warning sign at a farm entrance.

View attachment 15074

That's how my dad got all his tools, finding them abandoned on the roadside as he cycled to his school in Cannock. I have inherited most of them now , don't think we ever bought any new tools.

 

[Mudgie]

That's how my dad got all his tools, finding them abandoned on the roadside as he cycled to his school in Cannock. I have inherited most of them now , don't think we ever bought any new tools.

I walked to three schools in Cannock.
Which one did your father cycle to ?

 

[staffordjas]

I walked to three schools in Cannock.
Which one did your father cycle to ?

He was head of maths in Great Wyrley High school (then known as secondary school) , then Cheslyn Hay High school.

 

[Gramaisc]

... (well, yesterday, in fact) the remains of a freshwater mussel.

It was on a path along the bank of a sizeable river.

I did have a quick search to see if the diner may have spat out something inedible, such as a pearl, but without success.

 

[proactive]

That riding back from a few days in London watching the snooker was about the coldest we've felt in years, particularly around Coventry on the M6. If London wasn't such a hellish place for cars, we'd never have contemplated taking a bike at this time of year.

 

[Mudgie]

That riding back from a few days in London watching the snooker was about the coldest we've felt in years, particularly around Coventry on the M6. If London wasn't such a hellish place for cars, we'd never have contemplated taking a bike at this time of year.

Not tempted by the train ?

 

[proactive]

Not tempted by the train ?

No.

 

[Theresa Green]

... (well, yesterday, in fact) the remains of a freshwater mussel.

View attachment 15090

It was on a path along the bank of a sizeable river.

I did have a quick search to see if the diner may have spat out something inedible, such as a pearl, but without success.

Loads on the marshes

Otter Snacking

 

[Theresa Green]

An interesting court case to attend

 

[Theresa Green]

Fast, Cheap, Good

Pick two

If it’s Fast and Cheap it won’t be Good

If it’s Cheap and Good it won’t be Fast

And if it’s Good and Fast it won’t be Cheap

 

[Gramaisc]

... something that I never expected to see again.

Not the €1 coin, but the rather diminutive screw to the left of it.

My spare solar watch turned out not to have the correct rechargeable cell in it, but a standard disposable item that, aided by the solar input, lasted six years and only revealed its existence when I investigated why it had stopped. The correct cell was obtained, but the screw flew off at a great rate, as I attempted to replace it, to secure the new cell. An adequate bodge kept the watch going OK, but it was annoying and left a sense of unreliability, which is against the whole point of the system.

This disappearance happened on Friday, but, today, I suddenly realised that I could see the screw in the middle of the table, right in front of me.

It's all back in place now, with the time set again and the date nudged one day forwards, in preparation for Wednesday.

 

[Entropy]

Ahhh the carpet monster will have to wait for its bounty of small screws to befall it

 

[staffordjas]

Ahhh the carpet monster will have to wait for its bounty of small screws to befall it

I've just found a disappearing sock peeping out from under the rug in the utlity room.

Lost it before our Weymouth holiday a few weeks ago . Carried 2 downstairs to put on , rushing to get hubby to hospital for his MRI scan before we set off on our hols and thought I was going mad when one did a vanishing act. Good job I kept the other matching one for rags , got a pair again now!

Moved that rug so many times when hoovering and mopping since. Must have clung underneath all this time and finally got caught out.

 

[Gramaisc]

... an immaculately kept putting green.

The grass was in absolutely tip-top fettle.

I felt that it was remarkable, not least because of its remote location and the scale of the adjacent bunker, plus the over-sized water hazard.

I did speak to an apprentice greenkeeper, but he was reluctant to divulge the secrets of how to create the perfect sward in such a challenging location.

 

[Gramaisc]

... a seventy foot high tower. As with many of these things, it can easily be seen from some distance away, but, in wooded surroundings, the actual location of it becomes a harder as you get closer. We were close to giving up when we decided to trust my "It should be straight up here, the other side of these trees".

And it was - nearly.

It is a monument, in the style of a round tower, but it was left, unfinished, at the seventy foot level, in 1790.

It's basically a stone tube with a spiral staircase up to the unfinished top.

There are 92 steps (I think) and about a third of them have to be negotiated in total darkness, but we both survived.

And you get a good signal at the top.

The view from the top, explaining how you can see it from miles away...

 

[Gramaisc]

... two mobile saunas.

Wood-fired things - much used by those of the sporting persuasion for aiding recovery from injuries, apparently.

In very busy use this afternoon, with many people going to and fro from the swimming area behind them. the water is not very warm, coming straight off the mountains behind into a no longer used water supply dam that is now maintained for recreational use, with ladders for access and life-saving apparatus.

These are pictures taken on a quieter day, to avoid causing over-excitement from all the nakedness on display today.

 

[Glam]

... two mobile saunas.

View attachment 15965

Wood-fired things - much used by those of the sporting persuasion for aiding recovery from injuries, apparently.

In very busy use this afternoon, with many people going to and fro from the swimming area behind them. the water is not very warm, coming straight off the mountains behind into a no longer used water supply dam that is now maintained for recreational use, with ladders for access and life-saving apparatus.

View attachment 15966

View attachment 15967

These are pictures taken on a quieter day, to avoid causing over-excitement from all the nakedness on display today.

Excuse my ignorance folks, it may have been mentioned elsewhere. But are there places round here that you go can Wild Swimming? Probably fould up with sewage sadly wherever it is.

 

[Gramaisc]

Excuse my ignorance folks, it may have been mentioned elsewhere. But are there places round here that you go can Wild Swimming? Probably fould up with sewage sadly wherever it is.

There was some talk in the distant past.

Dovedale swimming

With the forecast looking good this weekend, we are off to try to find a swimming spot at Dovedale. I have never been, and its been years since my OH has been and before his wild swimming days. The Environment Agency water quality reports for Dovedale are very good, and we think we are missing...

www.staffordforum.com

 

[Glam]

There was some talk in the distant past.

Dovedale swimming

With the forecast looking good this weekend, we are off to try to find a swimming spot at Dovedale. I have never been, and its been years since my OH has been and before his wild swimming days. The Environment Agency water quality reports for Dovedale are very good, and we think we are missing...

www.staffordforum.com

Bit cold now, but it's sumat I'd like to try.