One Hundred Up

I see from the statistics that this is my 100th post - a modest but significant milestone for someone who once said that life was too short for blogging! So what on earth have I filled these posts with? And what did I leave out?

While looking around Wimpole Hall I was rather taken with this old "fire-waggon". They must have been an optimistic lot to think they might fight a fire with that! Somehow it didn't quite fit in with the grandeur of the rest of the hall so got left out of the post.

There were lots of fine flowers to be seen on my visit to Bressingham Gardens but I don't think I've shown you this one before.

I've done several posts about various things seen while out cycling, odd little bits of history on the roadside. Few people would take much notice of this house standing right next to a busy road on the outskirts of Cambridge, its bay window almost encroaching on the path. In the days before well-maintained modern roads the upkeep of the road was paid for by charging a toll to all those who used it. A barrier or turnpike was set up across the road and they became known as turnpike roads. The house in the picture was an old toll-house, the windows are set so that the gatekeeper would have a clear view of any approaching travellers.

I love all forms of music and have included one or two song-lyrics which I've been moved to compose from time to time, but also I like listening to, and photographing, the buskers on the streets of Cambridge. I don't know how I've missed out the guy above; he's always around and can drawl and mumble his way through a Dylan song as convincingly as His Bobness himself.

I expected to do more posts about birds which are a real passion of mine. Maybe I'll do a few more when winter comes for I'm one of those perverse people who likes setting off in freezing weather to watch geese, swans and ducks that have just arrived from Iceland or Spitsbergen. But I have managed to keep up with a family of swans throughout the summer. (Click on Swanwatch label on right to see the whole series).

And from time to time I like to manipulate (some would say "mutilate"!) photographs. It's actually a piece of sculpture on the adventure playground at the school where I work.

And I always end with "Take care" which is a reminder to us all that we must take care of ourselves, each other and this big world we live in. Psychiatrists, doctors and scientists are not as good at patching things up as everybody likes to imagine.

So take care.