Sunday February 14th 2021 – The snowdrops are shaping up excellently this spring, I must say. I had thought the cold weather might stunt or harm them, but that’s not the case.
Coming up a very windswept and damp Barracks Lane, these delicate little flowers growing beside the vet’s paddock at Warrenhouse were just the beautiful thing I needed to see on a grey, late winter Sunday.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3tiDvIw
via IFTTT
Saturday February 13th 2021 – It’s a fact that in the Brownhills and the wider South Staffordshire area, on the fringes where urbanisation becomes rural, red deer are now present in large numbers, and often become victims of traffic collisions.
This is particularly true around Chasewater, which has several large, itinerant hears of these human-tolerant beasts, so it’s been necessary to put up warning signs for road users.
I do wonder if, in a cruel twist of fate, this one on Pool Lane was knocked sideways by a leaping stag…
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3qS95eP
via IFTTT
Friday February 12th 2021 – It’s been a hard week on the bike – cold, grim days, ice under the wheels and rain and snow.
Some weeks of commuting are like war: You push on, enduring them, trying not to become a casualty, stoically going forward as much as you can.
I was glad it was Friday and this week of bitter riding had passed. All I need right now are sunny days – even if cold – and a sight of some decent signs that this harsh season will end.
I was glad to be nearing home.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3bKXb1Q
via IFTTT
Thursday February 11th 2021 – We’re in an odd time of snow, with showers every day but little actually settling much. What there is, is powder and pack ice and I’m impressed with how well the Continental Top Contact II Winter tyres are handling it. For a non-studded tyre, grippy and trustworthy.
Which is just as well, it’s lethal out there.
Mind how you go, folks.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3bODg29
via IFTTT
Wednesday February 10th 2021 – Still very cold, I had to call in to Walsall on my return from work.
This is at a shade before 6pm on a regular weekday.
Normally this would be busy with commuters, people grabbing a drink or groceries on the way home.
This is pandemic Britain. Haunting, beautiful, but utterly incomprehensible.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3leD4fK
via IFTTT
Tuesday February 9th 2021 – It was very, very cold. There was periodic, not really settling snow but continual sub zero temperatures, and hedgerows near puddles around the area like this one in Green Lane had become ice grottos.
You don’t see this much: Last time I’d seen one this good was a decade ago at Stubbers Green: Every time a vehicle passes, it splashes water onto the vegetation, where it ices up.
Beauty, even in the harshest days.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3eEigwR
via IFTTT
Monday February 8th 2021 – About the only thing the pandemic has been good for has been the re-emergence of political graffiti.
It’s everywhere – the angry, the conspiracy theorists, even satirists are having a go. They’re all a bit rusty but it’s coming along nicely.
Here at Catshill Junction, just on the bridge, some disaffected soul has expressed themselves. Blunt and to the point.
Generous offer but I’d rather not, cheers.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/2PJVtFn
via IFTTT
Sunday February 7th 2021 – Out on a short ride up to Aldridge, it was bitingly cold and I could sense winter coming in again for another go.
I don’t mind the cold; it’s life affirming and just part of life’s pageant, after all, but I’m aching for this winter to end. The foreboding told me my relief would still some way off.
The canal was grey and the towpath hedgerow still very much of the season, and the ride was hard work.
Oh well, while you’re marching you’re not fighting…
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3vbpk9V
via IFTTT
Saturday February 6th 2021 – On an errand in Walsall, I found the deserted town annoying mid-day: It saddens me to see it so lifeless. I headed to Caldmore to get some more… Comforting shopping: Asian snacks and sundries.
It says something when what is effectively an inner town suburb is far more vibrant than the town centre by several factors.
Heading up over Church Hill, a decorative cross above fire exit on the monstrous aberration of architecture that is Asda. It’s a horrid, warehouse like building and the market never stretches this far up hill now, and hasn’t for many a year.
I have never spotted this in the 8 years it’s been up there.
You can almost hear the admin folk at the store saying ‘Oh, go on then, if that’s what they want: But nowhere prominent’ – so a piece of somewhat pointless vanity art gets stuck, barely to be noticed on the side of an ugly shed, above an anonymous unused doorway.
Two what actual purpose is anybody’s guess.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/30ssQyD
via IFTTT
Friday February 5th 2021 – I was coming home at the end of a long week, tired and hungry. The weather was again unpleasant and it felt like snow might be coming in again. I just wanted to be home with a mug of tea and the family.
At the bend of Borneo Street in The Butts, Walsall, just before it joins the Lichfield Road, one can pause at the allotment gates and look up the terraced street of Victorian houses towards Walsall.
On this night it was dark, and maybe a little bit spooky, with so few folk around. The blue-white LED lights contributed to the ghostliness, but the contrasting house lights here and there made me realise there was warmth to be found within.
Taking that as a cue, I took a quick snap, and rode home to the warmth and comfort of home.
from Tumblr https://ift.tt/3sO70C4
via IFTTT
BrownhillsBob's #365daysofbiking 