Another day passes here at Bigland Towers as the year draws to a close. Whilst Dawn has been slaving away in my former office upstairs I’ve been pottering around acting as the ‘hostess with the mostess’, supplying meals and cups of coffee whilst sorting out my own work from the sanctuary of the living room – which is now graced with a Christmas tree. Not that I’m likely to see an office party. Far from it. Those days are long gone. I’ve been freelance for 25 years and we rarely fit into anyone’s equation or guest list.

Back in my home in London I used to have a newspaper cartoon above my desk. It depicted a chap in a paper hat with a glass of wine in hand standing in front of a mirror saying ‘the only problem with working from home is the office parties are crap’ – and this was 20 odd years before Covid!

I’m not complaining, it’s just the way of the world, and the world of work has changed dramatically since I joined it in 1976. Now I’m slowly leaving it.

So, today I’ve been indulging in getting the gardens (such as they are -this is no country house) ready for winter, in between dodging some very dodgy weather. I nipped out for a walk towards afternoon’s end, which co-incided with the arrival of the latest storm which co-incided with recycling day so the roads were full of bins of varioussizes skittering along as they were propelled by gust of wind. My walk was so battered by the elements that I ended up taking refuge in my local pub for a while (yeah, what a great excuse: Ed). A few of us ‘old farts’ who’d braved the weather ended up swapping stories and memories of all the black and white films we grew up with and the actors we remembered. Where memories faded Google assisted.

Now I’m back at home, listening to the rain beat upon the windows thankful I’m on their right side. In the meantime, here’s today’s picture, which was taken whilst I was out walking and stopped to admire the world. I do love a good storm…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Cheers!

In true bank holiday style the weather here in West Yorkshire has been a bit crap. You’d think it was the spring bank, not August holiday – although to be fair, it’s not been as wet as the forecast predicted.

Not that it mattered much this morning as we had a lazy day here at Bigland towers, enjoying copious cups of coffee whilst we relaxed and decided what to do. There was no point in venturing far so we opted for a local stroll around woods and parks before picking up some food shopping. Supermarkets on a Sunday are quite bizarre. Because they shut at 4PM there’s always a frantic rush of people, as if they’ve not already had 6 days of the week to plan their shopping and someone’s suddenly declared Monday’s going to be the start of the Zombie apocalypse, so they need to stock up.

We picked up the few bits we needed, which was more as an excuse to get out than anything else. A quick pitstop was made at the Big 6, where the 72 pint barrel of Thornbridge Jaipur that went on last night had already been supped, only to be replaced with another ale with a kick. Roosters “Blame It On The Tetons” IPA which comes in at a healthy 6.3%! As befits a Sunday, the pub was busy, but not overly so, with a mix of regulars and people on holiday who’d heard of its attractions and ambience. Another of the changed beers on offer was this, with a delightfully daft name and pump clip.

Strolling home we took the long way round through Savile Park and Manor Heath park, where we were surprised to see a number of trees that had really suffered in the gales. One especially, which had almost been split asunder. It was part of a small group which provided shelter for a number of park benches. Thankfully, no-one was around at the time, otherwise there would have been casualties.

Now we’re back at home, relaxing and watching the grey skies close in across the valley. Whilst I’ve been pottering around catching up an a few bits Dawn’s been busy in the kitchen where she’s come up with this soul food. Home-made meat and potato pie with mushy peas and gravy. Ideal for weather like this…

Will we venture further afield tomorrow? That depends on the weather Gods…

I’ve a small favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312