6 November 2020

Friday


Within the boundaries of The City of Sheffield there is a surprising amount of woodland. This afternoon I was in Blacka Plantation on the city's southwestern fringe. I snapped the picture above believing that the presence of the red-coated rambler would give the autumnal image more interest.

I also took the following photograph of a sheep taking a break from her favourite pastime - munching grass. On average, sheep spend seven hours a day grazing though this will depend on the nutritional value of the grass they are eating. It is harder to derive nutrients  from rough moorland grasses than fertilised lowland pastures.
Back at Pudding Towers, I returned to the re-decoration of the dining room.  I was painting the skirting boards while lying on my belly. At the age of sixty seven I have to admit that I am not as lithe and nimble as I used to be. Just getting up off the floor has become something of  a physical challenge. Previously, I would have leapt up like a gazelle. Now I am like a sealion on some Scottish island flapping my flippers and even making seal-like noises as I struggle to get back up on my feet. So it goes.

Meantime, across The Atlantic Ocean, in the US marathon event for senior citizens, Young Joe has overtaken The Big Baby and the finishing tape is now in sight. Come on Young Joe! You can do it! Oh dear - The Big Baby has stopped in order to stomp his feet and cry, "It's not fair!" There there Big Baby! 

28 comments:

  1. Lovely photos. I kneel when I paint my skirtboads, laying down sounds much harder. I kneel on something soft so my knees don't hurt.

    I have a very sore right bicep from painting the ceiling. Aging sucks at times:)

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    1. It's modern day slavery! Please release me let me go!

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    2. I love painting on a canvas or watercolour painting but not the other.

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  2. I discovered that I can send my back into agonizing spasms by simply reaching for something on the top shelf. How on earth does that HAPPEN???

    I love that picture of the sheep. She looks so open and friendly, as if you'd just invited her back to Pudding Towers for tea.

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    1. I had to say to her "Baaaa!" at the top of my voice to get her to raise her head from grazing for a second or two. "Baaaa!" means "Say cheese!" in Sheepish.

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  3. Anonymous3:44 am

    We must paint, says Household Management. No, say I. We are too old and our backs and other bits aren't as good as they could be. We will pay someone to paint. The stalemate is been ongoing for two years.
    I didn't know sheep have such weird eyes.

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    1. I agree, Andrew. Sometimes in life (at any age) it pays to be pragmatic even if costly. Better to spend pounds than lying prostrate having saved pennies. In the meantime dim the lights. Or do as one of my (male) friends does: Wear shades (sunglasses) indoors. The tint appears to soften the outlook on life in general. My mother gets round life's scuffed skirting boards by sporting her usual rose tinted spectacles.

      U

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    2. ANDREW - Negotiating peace in The Middle East is nothing compared with household decorating stand-offs.
      URSULA Thanks for the sunglasses idea. Different coloured lenses could dismiss any redecoration ideas for years.

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  4. I love both of these pictures! I would love to follow the trail on the first one and see where it took me. And that sheep! His expression is amazing. I understand the problems of working when on the floor. It was not too long ago I could pop up and down on the floor quite easily but now, it's a challenge!

    The waiting on this election is really getting stressful even with Biden ahead. Trump is trying any way he can to cause trouble and stop the count. Meanwhile many of his supporters are protesting (and carrying guns) outside the centers where the counts are being done screaming to stop the counts. So stupid but also potentially dangerous. Biden is really going to have his work cut out for him.

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    1. In a year or two Mr Biden may wish that h had taken that path through the woods.

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  5. Never mind beautiful shots of woodland, with or without a red clad rambler. What you want is a shot of reality.

    On Wednesday (remember, as if you need reminding, the day before lockdown) there were double snake queues outside Primark. If I were Jesus I'd not have wept, I'd have done a double take. With my camera. Primark? Really? OK. Whatever. Stuff your closets with cheap clothes you have nowhere to go with since you are in LOCKDOWN. It pains me to say that virtually everyone in the never ending queue outside were women. Or cows. Sheep even. Let me not veer off the subject. Yes, so lockdown.

    The truly amazing, almost amusing, sight that outside Barber Shops. Primark had nothing on barber shops. Men and boys patiently waiting to have their pride cut to within an inch of their scalp. Not everyone can be the Angel with long blond locks flowing down his back (unless he puts them up in a stylish bun - an art I still have to learn for my own hair. I just put a pencil through to hold my hair in place).

    What's the obsession with men's hair having to be short? And before you answer that, do remember that, not that long ago, men would wear wigs in order to make up for their shortcomings in the follicle department. Judges still do.

    U

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    1. I like to wear my hair longer than most and when I was a pupil in the late sixties I was suspended from school on two occasions for having long hair - so thumbs up to The Blonde Angel of The Mythical South Coast City of Sin.

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  6. Great photos YP. Walking takes you to a different world.

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    1. Certainly to a better world than the one I see lying on my belly in the dining room.

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  7. I prescribe daily bending and stretching exercises to arrest any further deterioration in your litheness and nimbleness. Perhaps some with weights or stretchy bands. Only 5-10 minutes. It's not about getting stronger or fitter, it's about not getting any worse.

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    1. There's wisdom in your response Tasker.

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  8. Do female sheep have horns?

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    1. That's something new I have learned this morning 🙂 x

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    2. It depends on the breed.

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  9. Yup, I can certainly identify with the sealion method of getting up off the floor.

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    1. Arf! Arf! Someone toss me a beachball to balance on the end of my nose!

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  10. I like your description of getting up from the floor. Very true from one who has had much experience in getting up. Now just to be cheerful, think what it will be like in another 14 years! I'm there.

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    1. Good heavens! I suspect they'll need to send for the fire brigade!

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  11. All that sheep needs is a lovely wreath of spring blooms around its head.
    Yesterday I was watching my grandson squat on the ground, his knees at the level of his neck, and when he got up, he simply...got up! Oh, to be young in the legs again!
    We are waiting here for The News. I think the big baby may simply explode, taking as much of the Oval Office with him as possible.

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    1. The hesitation is over. It is now official. Uncle Joe is Number 46. I am sure he will get some talented people around him and unlike Trump he will put his trust in the men and women he appoints.

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  12. Just for the record, sea lions do not live in Scotland. You're still a youngster and should be skipping around like an otter (a species which does inhabit Scotland).

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