Canal frozen

Well not all of it, where the water was running through the locks there was less or no ice, but some sections were solid with ice about an inch thick. This was in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, by the Etruria Industrial Museum. At least it was sunny and out of the easterly wind.

A thaw is due, but then wet weather too. Oh well at least I’ll be able to save on my heating bills!

Frozen fountain

When you go for a walk and the local fountain looks like this, you know it’s cold!

It’s taken me four hours since I got in to stop shivering. I’m sitting here with a tee shirt, jumper, thick trousers, a fleece and a dressing gown. My hands are still chilly.

I’ve got a few more photos to post, but only after something hot to eat and drink….

Today’s walk…

Took in wooden heads in Stoke that are part of an art project by bArts to bring art to the town centre. There were also banners but sadly the festival that was planned was cancelled because of covid. I wish I knew who the artist was but all I can say is they are interesting and very noticeable on a sparkling sunny day.

Cat

I’ve drawn a cat on a window ledge in front of a net curtain, its black and white and drawn with Autodesk Sketcher app and ArtRage app. But when I’ve tried to change the image size wordpress is saying media not found, so this image may not show up on the post… I’m publishing it these what happens…

Colours

So colours represent specific emotions? Maybe? But who sets them. Is it a historical thing? Some countries have black as their colour of mourning. But others use white, and who knows what else might be favoured elsewhere. Red is hot, fast, speed, fast cars are often red. But what about red for danger. Traffic lights, live wires and of course blood? But red can be sweet like fruit too.

Green has been found to be calming, and maybe blue too. Linked with the colours of growing plants. Green indoor plants can calm workers. Now green walls of plants are fashionable.

Pink for girls, blue for boys. But a couple of hundred years ago it was the other way round. Perhaps our use of colours to represent emotions is just fashion and fad!

Flat tyre…

That was not fun!

We had been out for our afternoon walk and I decided to go out again because I’d forgotten something from the shop up the hill. I asked my hubby if he wanted to come out again. Yes, so I got in the car and he walked round the passenger side only to find the rear tyre was completely flat.

That’s OK we have a tyre inflating pump? In the car? No….? Hubby thinks he’s ‘borrowed it’ to inflate his motorbike tyres. He also ‘borrowed’ my car keys to look in the boot of the car….

It wasn’t in the boot so he went off to look in the kitchen (as you do) and then the shed….Half an hour later, the only thing he could find was an old footpump and a bike pump with a shrader connector. I couldnt find my keys- until I spotted them stuck in the passenger side door- where he had left them when he went in search of things walked off!

I said I would walk to the local garage while he tried the foot pump. I decided to go and buy another inflator so there would be enough air in the tyre to drive down the garage and inflate it fully with their air machine. Off I walked while he, having given the foot pump a go and not getting any air in the tyre started with the bicycle pump! I came back with a new air compressor to find he had managed to half inflate the tyre! We then tried the new compressor ( I turned on the engine- he attached the valve to the tyre) No, it didnt seem to work! So I decided to drive us down to the garage…I asked where the foot pump was and he said he had left it on the pavement,

The flat wheel registered at 22 psi- thats not bad going for a bike pump! the other three were worryingly about 24. They should be a lot more than that, I pumped them all up to 33psi, although one did seem to lose a bit of air, perhaps its because the car has been standing still for most of the last year- I’ve only filled it up once every four to six weeks!

We went off to get some shopping and then came home. I thought I saw something like an old tin can next to the pavement in the road…CRUNCH! It was the footpump he had left.. Next to the kerb! I hope the drivers side tyres will be oK!