Tacchi Alti 39 Report post Posted January 25, 2018 I hope it's dry at midday. I need to walk home in my wedges - about a mile. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puffer 258 Report post Posted January 25, 2018 8 hours ago, Shyheels said: At least you chased them. Plenty of people wouldn’t have bothered... Empty sand/ballast bags - regularly re-used for taking rubble/rubbish to the tip. Far too valuable to blow away and enhance the environment - or worse. (I heard of an incident where such a bag blew into the road and wrapped itself around the head of a passing motor-cyclist, with obvious unpleasant results.) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted January 25, 2018 I have chased blown litter on beaches in Antarctica left by thoughtless tourists. A bag blown around the head of a motorcyclist would be no fun at all... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted January 25, 2018 (edited) Litter, one of the many things that cause my temper to rise.... Not many days pass between me picking up bits of rubbish from the street I live in. Not loads, but the odd bit here and there. "Visitors", most guilty, tossing drink containers into the street when they drive off. Unfortunately, attacks on them with violence - completely inappropriate and illegal. (Not that I see them do it.) We are fortunate really. I know some streets in my old town, that look like people empty their bins into the street. I have seen rats running around there. It's pretty bad. In the town centre, I was taking some pictures of the Christmas lights, and found myself watching rodents running around. (One seen below.) Lovely sunny day today! Woke to it, and the change in mood is enormous. As previously announced, did Lakeside and Bluewater yesterday. Absolutely filthy weather to drive in, but Mrs Freddy suggested it was better to have a rainy day inside, than a sunny day. Okay for her as I drove. Had some nail-biting moments around the M25 with thick mist thrown up from lorries, but no disasters.... First stop was IKEA, looking for some chairs to go with the new dining table. I was in heels, and quite noisy ones as it turned out. Not only did we find two "serious maybe's", but we also found some kitchen units that might be suitable too. Result! Three pairs of shoes worn on the day .... (L to R) PU based ankle boot for wet weather. Wear all day boot. 'Princess' court shoes. Then on to Bluewater, which has a better 'ambiance' than Lakeside shopping centre. (Essex vs Kent.) Given how late we left IKEA, it was touch and go, but Bluewater has a much wider range of eateries inside the mall, where Lakeside has them scattered all over the place which is less attractive when it's raining. At Bluewater I wore quieter heels, which I kept on right up until around 10.30, when I tried on some courts. The place was empty, and a nice place to wear a delicate heel. Sadly, one shoe decided to rub, so after 15 minutes I put my boots back on. I usually carry pads to apply to skin to prevent blisters (or sore skin) but it's been so long sine I've needed them I now don't take them out with me. Maybe next time. Drive home was significantly more pleasant than the outward journey. Much, much less traffic, and no rain. A productive day out with me in a heel for over 9 hours. Edited January 25, 2018 by FastFreddy2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 4, 2018 On 25/01/2018 at 11:20 AM, FastFreddy2 said: Three pairs of shoes worn on the day .... (L to R) PU based ankle boot for wet weather. Wear all day boot. 'Princess' court shoes. At Bluewater I wore quieter heels, which I kept on right up until around 10.30, when I tried on some courts. The place was empty, and a nice place to wear a delicate heel. Sadly, one shoe decided to rub, so after 15 minutes I put my boots back on. I usually carry pads to apply to skin to prevent blisters (or sore skin) but it's been so long sine I've needed them I now don't take them out with me. Maybe next time. The autopsy on the shoe that caused the broken skin on my toe, suggested it could be a manufacturing fault with the shoe, in that a seam inside the toe box isn't as flat as it should be. Next time I wear them, I'll use a foam and gel tube to protect my toe joint. I'd like to spend a bit more time in courts ideally. Was expecting/anticipating a trip to the West End today, but the weather suggested I stay home. We are in the middle of the UK Winter, and while there is no snow on the ground, we have all the other unpleasant bits. It's cool, with even lower temperatures due later this week. The wind is making the 5 or 6 degree C feel like 0 degrees, and intermittent rain rounded off the 'stay at home' argument, which I lost. Instead, I waited for a thin layer of filler covering large area of newly rendered wall to dry out, and had a 'play' with my new camera and old lenses. I will have to wait until mid-week for another chance of getting out in a heel. Probably an indoor visit, to somewhere like Westfield .... Roll on Spring, or a surprise job offer from a country with a higher ambient temperature. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) Not ground-breaking news, but it snowed in some parts of London this morning. Bit further North, cold but intermittent sunshine making it seem warmer than it is. Edited February 5, 2018 by FastFreddy2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) It certainly snowed here along my part of the coast this morning. Quite brisk temperatures too. Edited February 5, 2018 by Shyheels Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Just back from a (food) shopping trip. Absolutely 'bitter' outside. Proper cold (for the UK). Especially if leaving your home without a coat .... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Indeed nippy. Proper boot wearing weather - perfect for sturdy otk boots Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puffer 258 Report post Posted February 5, 2018 Snow in West Kent too this morning, and it got worse mid-morning. But it all then disappeared completely in a couple of hours and the rest of the day, although still cold, was bright and quite sunny. Weird. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 Weather man says that despite London being filled with heat producing buildings, Londoners will likely experience freezing conditions during the next two nights. Out here in the Home Counties, we might see -4 C. Dunno about 'boot' weather, that's stay in-doors if possible weather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puffer 258 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 9 hours ago, FastFreddy2 said: Weather man says that despite London being filled with heat producing buildings, Londoners will likely experience freezing conditions during the next two nights. Out here in the Home Counties, we might see -4 C. Dunno about 'boot' weather, that's stay in-doors if possible weather. Indeed. Cold again this morning but bright, clear and no snow. Perhaps the ideal is to stay indoors - in long boots, leggings etc. (And I suspect that Shyheels and Freddy are both conforming already. ) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 I most certainly am - boots and jeans, as per my usual.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 Although cold and dry here, a bright day is supposed to give way to cooler temperatures tonight and maybe snow. A warmer Wednesday will give way to a cooler Thursday. Hopefully, if it stays cold later in the week, it will stay dry too. Today I am not in heels, as I am rubbing down a repaired wall, and expect to be covered in fine white dust later. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puffer 258 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 3 hours ago, FastFreddy2 said: ... Today I am not in heels, as I am rubbing down a repaired wall, and expect to be covered in fine white dust later. But you have long-johns, leggings and hold-ups on underneath your (ancient) work trousers, surely? White stilettos would be ideal if that dust is settling. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 White stilettos? Is he from Essex? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 (edited) 1 hour ago, Puffer said: But you have long-johns, leggings and hold-ups on underneath your (ancient) work trousers, surely? White stilettos would be ideal if that dust is settling. I have had. I've not been out in the cold long enough to justify hold-ups and leggings this Winter, but that may change if I'm out later in the week. TBH I'm well over-due removing some of the fur on my legs, which I should do if I'm to give the hold-ups a chance of staying up. The white stiletto's might seem appropriate, but they would fill with dust. 1 hour ago, Shyheels said: White stilettos? Is he from Essex? No, but I'm almost chavvy enough to pass as one. Edited February 6, 2018 by FastFreddy2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 Just got back from the Post Office, zero degrees C out there .... Not that I'm prone to dramatisation, but ..... Hehehehe Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Puffer 258 Report post Posted February 6, 2018 4 hours ago, FastFreddy2 said: Just got back from the Post Office, zero degrees C out there .... Not that I'm prone to dramatisation, but ..... Hehehehe ... and the stock market continues to fall ... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 7, 2018 So does Bitcoin... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 9, 2018 The weather had promised to keep me inside if I had a night out in heels, and a late night was supposed to involve either the West End or Westfield. En route, I decided to visit one of the home furnishing companies scattered around (I.k.e.a.) and use their toilet facilities. While there I opted for a cup of coffee, and having done both, thought I might have a bit of a walk around. I left the place at 10pm. A little under 3 hours there in a 5 inch heel. Got spotted by a couple of people, but they got spotted, spotting me and were 'guilty' enough to avoid staring again while they themselves were being watched. Obviously I can't walk normally in such a heel, but I suspect only having a tiny part of my shoe poking out of my trouser hem is more of a giveaway. The only 'near miss' I had all evening came later, when I visited a supermarket some 20 miles from home. A gang/gaggle of 6 'yoofs' were walking towards the exit as I walked into the store, so I stopped walking until they'd passed me. Again. no dramas (thankfully). They were the wrong size and age to confront, and 'mob-handed'. Better I kept myself discreet, and got on with why I was there. The place was almost empty, but for very busy staff. I'm sure at least one realised I had heels on but again, he watched me watching him so he didn't try too hard to look again. Bit of a cat and mouse game really, though I'm not sure who the cat is, and who the mouse. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 10, 2018 Tomorrow's weather forecast (Sunday) ..... "Gales overnight with blustery showers over East and Southeastern areas later in the day, with a high of 7 degrees." Another day filling holes in walls then. Soon be March, hopefully with a change in the weather. Getting bored with the wind, rain and cold. Especially the rain, which we had again for over 7 hours today. Thankfully the cat has bladder control I could only dream of. (Don't know why, but liquids fall through me, and I get asked how I manage to go all day without a hot or cold drink? The stuff just doesn't stay in me, and I almost never feel thirsty.) The cat doesn't like the wind either, so is spending more time indoors too. He's becoming increasingly demanding, as he gets as bored as I am stuck inside, and thinks I should be entertaining him. In fact we were both so bored this evening, he fell asleep on my lap (first time ever) so I joined him in the land of nod .... While it was 'chucking it down' outside. So glad I live in the 21st Century. 100 years ago I may not have lived to this age, having fought through too many cold wet winters living in appalling conditions. If hard work and poor diet hadn't killed me, TB probably would have. Better bored than dead .... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shyheels 183 Report post Posted February 11, 2018 You're - we're - lucky to have lived to our various ages in this century too. Those born in less salubrious corners of the world today - Africa, much of Asia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other war zones - will be lucky to reach what we in the West charitably call 'middle age'. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 11, 2018 7 hours ago, Shyheels said: Those born in less salubrious corners of the world today - Africa, much of Asia, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and other war zones - will be lucky to reach what we in the West charitably call 'middle age'. Until a short while ago, the same would be true of us. Many Brits, many many many Brits have been killed abroad over the last 150 years, and before that it wasn't much different for the poor in the towns and the fields of the UK. Being exported to Australia for stealing a loaf of bread, sometimes hung for stealing food because hunger was too much. While inter-tribe wars kill many abroad, in this country it was the "aristocracy" that kept the poor poor, and kept the poor hungry. Workhouses where a symptom of that. I'm sure you will be tempted to portray Europeans (Westerners) as the 'lucky' ones. We are not, we were not. The difference is we brought order to our lands faster than the countries you mention. But go back to the first half of the 20th Century, and there are millions who suffered in the very same way as the countries you mention are suffering now. America had the same problems right up to 1865. "Peace" is a relatively new thing, a fragile thing. As recently as the early 1960's, we nearly all perished. My life isn't directly affected by the goings on abroad (apart from tax contributions to foreign aid). I'm concerned with events around me, the micro world I have experience of, and will only have experience of. The history of how it got to be like it is, and what it is likely going to be like in the future. In and of itself, that's more than most people consider, so I'm not trying to bury my head anywhere. I would be foolish to care about situations I can't control or influence. It's as much as I can do to help those around me, and that's no small challenge in itself. I am not "lucky", but I am fortunate, and I'm absolutely grateful to those who have made sacrifices so I can enjoy the life I have. That stretches from the those who suffered in the Peterloo Massacre through to the Tolpuddle Martyrs, and all the civil rights work done since. I'm also grateful to those who fought, many not returning, during two World Wars. I'm proud to say both my father and grandfather did their bit, and obviously survived the horror of these wars. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
FastFreddy2 282 Report post Posted February 11, 2018 Bright sunshine most of today, so got tempted to go out for an adventure. Then some sleet got blasted past the house windows, in an almost horizontal trajectory. Nah, staying in the warmth.... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
