Saturday 23 November 2013

Harry

 Do you remember Harry from a few posts ago? 
A nice, benign gentleman who held posters and signs for groups,
 outside a community house.



He has been vandalized! 


I can't see the sense in it, 
just mindless destruction really.
I think maybe the idea had been
 to remove him, but he was well anchored. 

I hope your week has
been better than Harry's. 
Diana

Saturday 16 November 2013

Coffee anyone?

My GKB and I went out for lunch today. 
That's not unusual, we often do on a Saturday.
We went to our usual place,  
where we know we can get our coffee 
the way we like it.
Instant, black with a small jug of trim milk on the side.
Today when it arrived, my GKB looked at it and said
'this cup looks dirty'.
We decided it wasn't 
but that some of the instant coffee powder
 had spilt onto the rim and handle, making it look grubby.
The fact that the cups were a pale grey 
and his was chipped didn't help though.
We weren't impressed.

Anyway this reminded me 
of our last couple of trips to Christchurch.
About a third of the way up the road
is a small cafe giving free coffee to vehicle drivers, 
encouraging them to take a break on the trip.


It's quite a nice wee stop, and yes that's our messy table.
Of course I had to pay for my drink,
GKB was driving, 
cona (filter) coffee this time for both of us. 
A bit further up the track we stopped again
and seeing as I'm not really into milk
I had a pot of tea, while he had a fancy (milky) coffee.


I think that was it while we were travelling up, 
we try to limit it to 2 breaks on the journey,
 but we did have a coffee or two out 
while we were in Christchurch.


That's our trim milk on the side there at the right, 
but the coffee was in piddling little (tea) cups.
Oh well, you can't win them all, and it was wet.
But the time I really laughed, 
and my GKB spluttered and nearly blew a gasket,
was while we were waiting for friends in what 
he would think of as an up-market establishment.
We ordered our drinks, tea again for me and coffee for him.
This little demitasse cup of coffee arrived!



Oh dear. His face was a picture.
Splutter, splutter, what the **** is that? he said to me.
I paid ****** good money for that.
What did you ask for, says I.
A short black, says he.
Well, that's what he got.
A shot of very strong, thick, syrupy coffee
that he mixed with about half a bowl of sugar
 and ate with a teaspoon.
Oooh, he was mad!
What he really wanted was a flat white,
 or a long black, and got himself all mixed up.
Oh dear.
He gets himself all in a dither 
when he goes anywhere out of the usual.

What he really likes is this...


...a nice big mug, full of instant coffee, 
with a dash of milk, made by himself or moi.
And why not?

Hoping all is well with everyone.
have a great week,
Diana








Friday 1 November 2013

Around town

On my walks around town I see some unusual and creative stuff.
Some of it is man made and some not.


Like this telegraph pole.
The ivy must have been planted by someone 
and it always intrigues me as to why.
 Surely it could cause problems if it grew along the lines?


Then there is this gate set in a hedge along the Silverstream. 
I guess at sometime it lead into the property behind,
but not any more.


Further along the Silverstream is this world globe.
When I first saw it I thought someone had 
just made a ball on a pole out of some scrap metal.
But look closely, that's Australia on the bottom right and New Zealand is just a little further around from it. 
Indonesia and Asia are higher up and to the left.
Made from scrap metal from a car.
Very clever, I thought.

Harry
This fellow is named Harry, so I'm told,
 and he has been made to hold signs or notices.
He stands outside a community house.


Outside number 15 is this letterbox. 
He rather took my fancy.
Someone else has been very creative.


This is my favourite today, though.
A beautiful mural on the front of a private house.
It has been there for years but I still love it.

Have a great week,
Diana