Category Archives: personal blog

I am not content with the way I write. Part of the problem is that I write literally, so I will say “It was cold”, whereas I need to learn to write more descriptively, along the lines of “the gentle breeze carried with it a chill deep enough to make your joints creak”. Ok, perhapsContinue reading “513 Writing”

For the first time this year, I left the house to go into a freezing night. My breath was misting up. Luckily, I had been given a pair of touch sensitive gloves, so at least I was able to use my phone without taking my gloves off. I didn’t go on to the Haslar MarinaContinue reading “512 Glacial Gosport / Discerning Cats”

I’m getting towards the end of a book; Portsmouth a literary and pictorial tour by Matt Wingett. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading it. One aspect that has featured quite a bit ( unsurprisingly) are the names of famous writers mentionned in the book, they include; Jane Austen Arthur Conan Doyle Charles Dickens H G WellsContinue reading “511 Portsmouth Writers”

When I went out for this mornings walk, it was dark, there was very Partly due to there being practically no wind, less than one knot from the south west-ish, and even at 8.8C, it felt mild. It certainly didn’t feel cold. Given that it was the first working walk of the year, it wasContinue reading “510 A morning of contrasts”

This is the Dry Stack at Gosport Marina. Roughly in the middle of the picture is the forklift truck that moves the boats around. It was in the process of putting a boat on the stack. I took this today as I was out on my walk. I was determined to just take some picturesContinue reading “509 Just take pictures”

This is a photo of Stanley Park, a walk I went on earlier in the week..the not doing very well bit is Walk1000. By the end of today, I should have completed 5.8 miles to be on target. I’ve managed only 1.6, and that’s only because I have been too lazy. Not good. I haveContinue reading “508 Not doing very well”

I’m having difficulty summoning enthusiasm for the 2022 Fantasy Holiday. It isn’t the principle of the holiday, or the location. It’s the rigour of the tour. I may make it more relaxed than FH21. Even now at this stage I am trying to make my mind up as to the theme of the holiday. IContinue reading “507 The New Year”

This was a pied wagtail that I had seen whilst out for a walk a few days ago. It was remarkably tame. I could almost have picked it up. Not out of the back garden though. This time last year, I wrote a post celebrating the arrival of three sparrows in the garden. In birdContinue reading “506 A brief look back”

This is the Alverbank Hotel. This appears as Serial 1 (blue dot) on my Gosport map. I’ve been wanting to walk here for a while now, and managed to get out today. The walk was only about 5 miles but it was very pleasant. So, why does The Alverbank Hotel warrant the No. 1 spotContinue reading “505 Out for a walk”

A couple of days ago I commented on the size of the chimney stacks on some of the houses here in Gosport. The header picture is one which shows the smoke stacks in question. It suddenly occurs to me that the smoke stacks of houses could become an obsession akin to pylons. But, that isContinue reading “504 – Dis-Organisation”