Bills Posts

Would you notice if I re-used a photo that I had used before? I did a few posts ago and I didn’t notice myself until the next night when I wanted to use it again (must be a good picture). I’m not really talking the most recent episode, something from longer back.

The thing is, with 850+ posts under my belt of which I am quite proud, as a side comment, I could no more tell you whether or not I have re-used a photo from before, than I could write 10 posts in a day.

I went to the shop to get some bits and pieces. That is the only time I have been out of the house today. I’m not adding many new pictures recently. I am reluctant to re-use pictures but there are times when I need to. I suppose it is helped by a lot of my pictures having a common theme – the waterfront.

It’s been quite a while now since I have done any regular walking. I need to correct that. After Christmas, I think.

Today we visited Keydales in Horndean. I guess it’s a fairly typical garden centre. I didn’t see anything there that I wasn’t expecting.

In general I find garden centres fairly boring. I acknowledge though that they usually have a nice restaurant that serves nice food. The other thing I like to look at is the book selection. Now, if a garden centre serves good food (which is usually the case wherever) and has a good selection of books to look at I am usually happy.

Now, if either of those two criteria aren’t met (with the understanding that if the food isn’t good then I don’t have to eat, and the book section can entertain me) then it doesn’t take me long to feel bored.

My fallback if feeling bored is to retire to the car, to either look at my phone or snooze, much to Elayne’s disgust. I on the other hand am quite happy.

There are books and films that I really like. To the extent that there are some that I have re-read and watched several times. You would think wouldn’t you that once read, once seen that was it.

But no. Even though I know what is going to happen, but I still very much enjoy revisiting. Andy weir’s The Martian is one of those where I have watched the film a few times; apart from a superb story, I love the music, but reading the book also gives you more information. I don’t know how scientifically accurate is the film, but it feels good.

Interstellar is another one, the music really good, along with an interesting story line. I went to the cinema to see it the first time, it is one of the few times that any film I’ve seen that bears any comparison with 2001 A Space Odyssey. Not really though, 2001 was an epic.

There are some films which I won’t watch again some because I just don’t like them and some I can’t watch because they gave me nightmares. Not often a film does that, and one in particular that caught me by surprise. Won’t watch that again.

Today’s quite memorable for me in a trivial, but interesting way. I’ve now started reading Gilbert White’s book with its full title The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne. Modern versions of the book tends to drop the antiquities part of the book because it appears people are less interested in that aspect.

I bought the book when we visited Gilberts house. This was quite deliberate on my part. I had seen the book in a number of places and could easily have bought it, let alone from Amazon. But, I resisted doing so: ever since I saw the sign for his house on the Ham Barn Roundabout on the A3, just north of Petersfield and wondered who was Gilbert White, and why did he warrant a brown tourist sign as a place of interest worth visiting.

It is worth visiting, for here lived a man who’s observations in the eighteenth century are still contributing to ecological research.

I am two letters in to the beautifully illustrated version of the book, a modern edition. Apparently, this book from the 1780’s has never been out of print. There must be many versions of the book. I must admit I would quite like an earlier version of the book, one that includes the antiquities, as well as the natural history of Selborne.

I am on my Christmas break. It’s quite nice, as I am now able to take a walk in to town at any time convenient to me. We bought Sausage Rolls and sat at the waterfront. No ships apart from the Gosport Ferry plying its usual route too and fro.

The gulls were waiting to see if we would give them any of our food. We probably shouldn’t have done, but we did. There was a real squabble as usual. There was a bit of a southerly breeze blowing. The gulls are so graceful in the air, hanging effortlessly on thier wings.

Because they are used to people they can get quite close. This pair were no more than six feet away. Lovely to see.

It was quite a change today. From yesterday’s frosts today it has gone to rain. In a way, that’s good because it means tomorrow morning I will be able to see how well my basic rain gauge performs.

The max/min thermometer I bought has worked very well. I was slightly disturbed though, to read on the box that it wasn’t weather proof especially as when I ordered it advertised as indoor and outdoor. I’ve positioned it under the eaves of the shed so hopefullyu it will be protected. The rain Today will be a good test.

What I am not measuring satisfactorilly is the wind; direction and speed. I really would like analogue devices that record speed and, in the case of direction at least give a read-out so that I can record the current position. I am sure that last is straight forward but finding the appropriate device will, I suspect, not be as easy as I would like.

Another device that I recall from the Swanage weather station is measuring the suns intensity, a glasss ball focused the sun’s rays on to a special piece of paper – now I am not sure that it was actually measuring intensity or something else. I’d need to do a litttle bit of research on that.

We walked in to town today. We popped in to the new cultural centre had a quick look around which was interesting, and did make me wonder if they change parts of the display every few days? The cafe is quite pleasant.

The British Heart Foundation has quite a good book section. I like to take a look occasionally. They had a book about Samual Pepys, not his diary, more a biography. If it is still there next time I go in, I may get it.

Even though there was a chilled breeze blowing (actually, it was very cold) but it was very pleasant to take a stroll to the end of the pier wall. The small cargo ship, the Musketeer was sailing out of the harbour. Nice to see.

We watched a cormorant it was diving for fish. I was surprised at how far it travelled under water and how long it stayed under. I don’t know if it was pleased with itself, or frustrated it didn’t come up with anything in its beak – hopefully it catches and eats underwater.

There was a seagull on top of a lamp post at the end of the pier. It seems we had somehow upset it. It seemed to be really quite angry.

As happens on quite a few occasions the header picture has nothing at all to do with what I intend to write about except to say that I haven’t been to the waterfront for a couple of days, and I thought that The Mary Mouse 2 was due back on her berth in November, but had not returned as of the last time was there.

A few posts ago I mentioned the Aurora Borealis when I was writing about Gilbert White’s journals. I asked the question sbout what people from times ago would have thought sbout them when they appeared in the sky.

I would have thought that there would be comment about what the impression was of this phenomenon. I’ve just done a very quick google search and unsuprisingly there stories of lost spirits, portents of momentous or disastrous events.

I wonder what records there are? I wouldn’t have thought that unlike known comets the re-appearance of which can be predicted with relative ease I wouldn’t have thought that Aurora can either be predicted (which we can only do, at best about two hours ahead of the event).

I shall keep looking.

It has been a very cold few days. Several times the cold haas been below zero. The frosts, and this mornings frost, have been very heavy. One thing I was concerned about was giving our outside tap some frost protection. Luckily I found the frost cover in the garden shed as we couldn’t find any new ones in town. I was also concerned about the hose, but that is under cover now.

I am on the last few pages of the History of Hampshire. The reading of it had been delayed because of the arrival of the monthly round of magazines. All finished now apart from a couple of pages which I can finish off slow time.

I have three days worth of weather stats, the graphs are building so Ian happy with that, they are also being recorded at the back of next years journal. The journal is actually an A5 week per page diary. I wonder how long I will use that before I decide I am not happy with it. We’ll have to wait and see.

I am on the last few pages of A History of Hampshire. This chapter is covering Local Government in Hampshire from 1066 to 1976. That the author can do that in about 10 pages speaks volumes about the amount of history there is here. I am of course down playing this. Much more went on than is written about in this book. For example there have been only two very brief mentions of Gosport and no mentions at all of Gosport’s role in the civil war or of Palmerstons Follies.

As I started reading the history I think I speculated that Hampshire’s history wouldn’t be very exciting. I think that has been born out. I have a book on order – the history of Dorset. If the focus is right, I expect it to be an order of magnitude more exciting.

I have two days worth of data from my garden weather station. I am missing two sets of data; wind speed and wind direction the wind speed I can partially fix that one by taking my handheld anemometer out with me and taking the reading. I’d want one that gives the highest gust since last reset. Wind direction would be a bit of a guess.

I’d like to buy a wind vane, but one that gives a reading that is more accurate on the other hand, it’s the lack of digitisation and associated accuracy that I’m after.

So I have two instruments that I want to look for, and I don’t want to spend a huge amount of money on them I don’t even know whether what I am after exists.

The same applies to Galilo’s instruments. I’d like a set of them. What is going on inside my head/