I posted an image of this broken down piano yesterday...

So today I want to explain where it is and why it is important.

There was a pub I used to frequent occasionally with a bar large enough to hold some great parties... especially where a little live music was concerned. Many's the night I've got slewed to the strains of folk... Irish, English, American... great fun!

Anyway, I hadn't been for a while and was completely gob-smacked when I decided to pay a visit...

What a pitiful sight... talk about pub with no beer!

Saddens me to think food to feed the masses was once produced in this kitchen

It's a pain not being able to comment/answer comments in Blogland...
Kind of removes a lot of the fun from our community.

Some people have a real talent for tickling the old ivories don't they... and some of those seem to enhance their reputation/income by taking on all kinds of sad money-making schemes...

Well I don't care how good Myleene Klass is (or how shiny her hair might be for using a certain brand of shampoo) I absolutely defy her to get a half decent tune out of this old joanna!

Sometimes even the mundane things in life remind me of military pomp...

Presenting Arms

I have nothing much to contribute again today... ...but I thought you might like to share this little bit of natural beauty

In these days of Toilet Ducks, Rim-blocks, Bio-cleaners, Ecover, Cistern Blocks, etc... the one thing that remains the same is the good old toilet brush, isn't it?

I think I'll use one of these
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...for Usky to disappear in a poof of smoke...

G'nite BCUK... don't forget to visit my Little Something for the Weekend tomorrow morning

See you all tomorrow...

Farewell and adieu to you, Spanish Ladies,
Farewell and adieu to you, ladies of Spain;
For we've received orders for to sail for ol' England,
But we hope in a short time to see you again.
We will rant and we'll roar like true British sailors,
We'll rant and we'll roar all on the salt sea.
Until we strike soundings in the channel of old England;
From Ushant to Scilly is thirty five leagues....

Well no I never met a Spanish lady named Dawn... ...but I have met a few and sung about a lot more

Took this yesterday morning just after 6:00am...

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I must admit, I wouldn't mind waking up to that every morning

I'm so tired this morning I really don't know what to do with myself...

As you may have noticed I've been absent the last couple of days... well the truth is I've been on a round trip to Espana... there and back in 24 hours... and of course the backing and foreing to the airport and all the hanging about...

Time was when I'd have taking it all in my stride, but I'm starting to think age really is catching up with me because despite being tired I don't seem able to sleep and am feeling completely worn out...

Time and tide, they say, waits for no man... well they may have to hang on a while if I drop off!

I wonder what she'd be like to drive?

A classic Rear End

Crossley Tourer

I'll post the rest (if anyone's interested that is).

Just a reminder that this week's Little Something for the Weekend quiz thingy is still running... and I can reveal that no-one has correctly identified what binds the two items together yet!

As many of you know I've got a bit of a thing for old buildings so in many respects it doesn't matter to me that this one is in Dunster, I'd have been happy to see it anywhere

Modern buildings may be more practical and easier to clean/maintain, but there's something special about a construction like this that never ceases to appeal to me.

Is this the one???

If I'm right, this is Joseph Izod's fingerpost and is sort of between Chipping Camden and Broadway.

I don't know a lot about the history of Dunster except to say the town had originally been an important trading port (Dunster Haven). Sadly for Dunster the sea retreated leaving the town high and dry, but far from being disheartened the local traders simply switched direction and began trading yarn inland... the result was the construction of Dunster Yarn Market.

The Yarn Market was built in 1609 to shelter traders selling the local cloth bales, known as Dunsters.

The original Yarn Market was damaged during the Civil War, but was restored in 1647 and has remained virtually untouched since.

Today the Yarn Market is an important tourist attraction in one of Somerset's most beautiful towns.

We all like to have a bit of fun at times don't we? Sometimes a bit of fun can go too far though... or we end up on a right bender... have one over the eight and get bladdered... well we are a nation of lager louts aren't we?

In days gone by every town and most larger villages had an over-night lock-up where miscreants could spend a few hours sleeping it off... I'm not talking about police cells because I'm thinking back to the days before police forces but that doesn't mean we were a completely lawless society.

A night on the tiles in Watchet may well have ended in a night spent in the court leet cell...

I love these...

...old fashioned signs

Well it's certainly sunny in Somerset today, though it wasn't exactly sunny when I was last there...

Yankee Jack revisited...

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It's a hard life for some...

Dear Blogland,

I am bereft... not a single thought of things to say... bloggers block seems to have struck Usky in a B I G way...

It's not unusual for me to have little or nothing to post about, but I can usually find the odd comments for other people... not right now though...

Ho hum...

I'll keep reading you all and who knows the blockage may eventually shift... and yes, I've tried Epson Salts before anyone suggests it!

So, Usky... gone but not forgotten... I hope...

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Hello all...

I'm having one of those days when I have absolutely nothing to say to anyone... and that doesn't mean I'm ignoring you... it's just a quiet day... a sort of silent day... not a silence of the lambs day though...

Couldn't resist this, though I'm not quite sure why...

Kind of reminds me of something going septic for some peculiar reason!

Hope everyone is well?

See you folks tomorrow...

Usky
-x-

Aside from doing the usual housework, giving the kitchen a really good spring clean, tidying up the garden a bit and cooking the most fabulous vindaloo you ever tasted (just ask 'er indoors) I've done bugger all today...

Hope you're all looking forward to a bright and busy Monday...

...I may be gone some time...

As a sometime cyclist I was very gratified by the inception of the National Cycle Network... it's great to have safe routes to cycle on when the open air can be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

Some of the cycle network uses public roads of course, but a good bit of it follows disused railway tracks, canal tow paths, river-bank paths, etc. and it is on these you find some of the more interesting way markers... like this one:

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Not pussy of the four legged variety this time though...

A very different kind of pussy...

Just as pleasing to the eye...

And very delicate to the touch too...
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Bugger...

I was going to post something special to celebrate my Blog's Birthday... the blog was three years old on 21^st March... and I completely damn well forgot!

Told you I was flaky...

Now, now you lot.... don't go getting the wrong idea

There have been a number of cats in my life over the years... my grandmother's, my mother's, my first wife's, a little stay kitty that adopted me and my house and thoughtfully presented me with several others in the middle of the night a few weeks later!

Cats are strange animals... they befriend you in a way no other animal does, then, if it suits them, they leave you cold by just walking out of your life when you least expect it. So why do we take to them?

The intrigue of cats for me is their independence. Oh yes they'll twine around your feet, sit on your favourite chair, or lay on your pillow and look pitiful until you feed them, but that doesn't alter the fact they don't actually need you one little bit...

Nope, cats are really quite special little beasts.

So anyway I was out walking the other day and this rather cute little moggy crossed my path and stopped to say 'hello'... and having been stoked and fussed over it decided to sniff my fingers

Well I suppose there's nothing new with an animal taking an interest in some human fingers is there? After all dogs sniff your fingers all the time don't they? So why not cats? One of mine always had a good sniff just to make sure I was really me... so I allowed the little pussy to sniff away to her heart's content...

But I wasn't exactly prepared for the reaction...

I'd expected a head-butt or maybe a lick...

I'd expected the cat to rub itself along my fingers as one of mine used to do...

But I hadn't expected this!

Eau d'Usky... one sniff and you're dead!


I miss my cats... I think maybe it's time I got myself a little pussy.

I posted a close-up of a little blue flower earlier this morning and am now extremely frustrated because I can't the name of the damn thing!

Each flower is about the same size as the lobelia and the two may be related...

This is what it really looks like in all its glory

Anyone know what it might be called?

It also comes in a purple/mauve variety...

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I know I've said this many a time before, but there's really something quite lovely about the old randy Dandelion

I know what this is... I do, I really, really do... I just for the life of me remember!

If one of you bright folks would like to remind me, I'll swap you a cup of coffee for the name.

Good morning all

The last few days has seen a dramatic change in both Usky's abode and his garden.

The builders are still in residence and will be banging and crashing away for another day or several... I'll be happy to see them gone, but must admit they appear to be doing a cracking job.

All kinds f things are going on in the garden, but most interesting as far as I'm concerned is the amount of blossom bursting forth on my greengage... I really do adore those sweet, green plums.

Greengage Blossom

This blossom is so delicate... I do hope we don't get another cold snap!

The pear will be blooming next... and I'm sure you know how much us chaps appreciate a nice pair pear.

Had a brief conversation here yesterday with WyrdSeeker about the glory of early morning and watching the dawn break

Morning is a very special time for me... always has been... I'm a morning person...

Some mornings are better than others of course... especially when they offer up something like this to look at:

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I do so love morning skies

People often look at me askance when I tell them I get up a ridiculous o'clock to go driving... I'm sure they think me quite mad!

There's method in my madness though

I ask you, how often do you see a motorway so traffic free?

Hardly anyone in sight...
150 horses under the bonnet...
ZZ Top pumping from the stereo system...
A leaden left foot...
WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!