In flight...

Not much of a pic, but it was licenced today: the pond at Elvetham Heath, near Fleet, in Hampshire…

England v New Zealand...

Licenced today: another shot of Headingley cricket ground, centred on the new Carnegie Pavilion. The ground should be filling up as I write, because day one of the third test match is a sell-out. The weather's set fair, and I'm hoping for another exciting game...

Goole docks...

Licenced today: grain silos in Goole docks. The brick building peeking out between the silos is a pub, called the Middle House (to differentiate it from two other pubs on the same street, the Top House and the Bottom House, both long gone). At the far end of the bridge on the right is another pub, the Vermuyden Hotel, named after Cornelius Vermuyden, a Dutch engineer, who directed major waterway projects around Goole, the Humber and the fens. Call into either the Middle House or the Vermuyden - both, against all odds, still trading - to find photos of Old Goole on the walls, which show that this area was once a bustling neighbourhood, full of shops, pubs, cobbled streets of terraced houses... and sailors on shore leave, looking for a good time…

Mindfulness...

An article in today’s Guardian recommends the Orkney island of Shapinsay as being “perfect for mindful exploration”. However, mindfulness isn’t just some component of the tourism industry, adding value to the experience of a holiday in a far-off, windswept place. The benefits of mindfulness - and there are many - are available to anyone, in any place, at any time. If we are fully engaged with even the most mundane of tasks - ironing clothes, washing the dishes or writing a book - it makes all the difference.

Licenced today: cottages at dusk in Blanchland, Northumberland… 

Ullapool...

I rather enjoyed this brief homily, which I found online today…

A man is being given a tour of heaven and hell. They begin in hell where he sees hundreds of hungry people in a room full of banquet tables. The banquet tables are filled with delicious food, with amazing aromas, and all the people have spoons. The spoons have long handles, just too long so the people in hell cannot feed themselves – they cannot get the food into their mouths. So they are eternally tortured by their hunger in a room full of delicious food. The man on the tour asks about heaven. The tour guide says that heaven is much more pleasant. The room looks a lot like this one but everyone there is very happy at their banquet. The man asks, “In heaven do they have shorter spoons?” The tour guide says, “No, the spoons are the same and the food is the same. But in heaven, they feed each other”.

Licenced today: the view from the CalMac ferry, heading for Stornoway on the isle of Lewis, looking back to the houses of Ullapool…

Headingley cricket...

Licenced yesterday: Headingley Cricket Ground...

North Cave Wetlands...

On the hottest day of the year - so far - I had a wander round North Cave Wetlands. A guy had driven quite a few miles in the hope of seeing his first avocet, though they had all disappeared (including the chicks). I watched a common tern - such a graceful bird - diving for fish in the lagoon. A pair of great crested grebes were doing a mating dance. A couple of green sandpipers picked their way around the water margins. A hobby hawked for dragonflies. It was such a peaceful scene; even the black headed gulls had nothing to argue about. The last bird I saw was a single avocet; I hope the guy saw it too. I finished off with a pint of blonde, while sitting outside this pub in - where else? - Hotham…