This is a typical view over the Yorkshire & Derbyshire moorland in the middle of winter. The sky was quite blue and the sun was dropping to the west.
Its getting quite late in the afternoon and as you can clearly see, the Sun is settling down for the night in the distance.
These guys were super curios in the end and drowned out the silence with there constant Ba ba baaaa but it was quite funny as they looked liked they knew what each one was saying. The light was good for photography and I wish I had brought my camera, as it was, I just had my phone with me to at least capture a record of the moment.
Looking west and down the valley toward the distant rolling hillside of the Derbyshire border. In the bottom of the valley is Dam Flask of which is a great sight to see when the sun goes down as it creates a very dark looking stretch of calm water that is very mystical.
Above, the sheep had just been provided with there daily feed and it was clearly gratefully received as it's going to be dark in about 2 hours and very cold tonight
Looking down upon Dam Flask provides a view and impresion of just how low the lake itself is. The water always looks so black because of the shadows created my the hills as the sun drops in the distant background.
Looking back across the lake at the start of dusk provided the lake with so many features of colours to which I now regret not bringing my camera with me. However, my phone captured the moment admirably and I can't complain.
The sound of silence is only broken by the deafening sound of extreme silence. This time of day always creates such a spectacle of colour over the lake with the clouds appearing to be pink in the reflection of the lake..
"What the Hell is Going On"................is the world going crazy?. In one week I hear that a Rusian Ambasadore to Turkey as assasinated by a Turkish Security/Police officer, followed by a mass killing of the German shoppers in an open air market in Berlin. "What is all this insanity about". It's suppsed to be the season of goodwill to others which is not a specific religious festival or tradition, just a simple simble of hope to all to show a little kindness to others and for some reason this is a signal to certain types to take presidence to this and kill others..!!. All I can say for them at this stage is I hope they are forgiven one day and come to terms with what they have done.
I have a theory about bahaviour and responses to action etc and it is a none proven theory but I susspect that if put to a vote, the majority may well agree with me and that is that love is better that hate and peace is better than war but for some weird reason, Politicians have not worked out how to profiteer or gain power through peace, unly war and dictation for some reason. For those who are contemplating anger, frustration or response to power struggles, please tell me that the picture to the left would help to calm you down in some way and not make you more angry and to that end I will feel my theory is 100% proven and successful in your individual case. If you disagree, please leave your reasons below in the space provided.
If you did write in the space provided or silently disagree, perhaps you saw the truck in the background and not the lady.......
The UK is poised and awaiting a major storm to hit our shores, I say poised but in truth I could not give a toss as in reality there is nothing I can do about it, However, I suppose it is better to be prepared in the old fashioned way of fore armed is to be for-warned but in this case it is just strong wind, rain and snow and Im sure that Eskimo's would laugh is they say it and simply take it all in their stride. Here in my part of the world (Yorkshire) we generally take it in our stride as snow is expected for Santa to do his work and we love a good moan about something and the weather is always a great reason for conversation of some kind.
I heard a story break today that whilst it will turn stormy and cold for the next few days, it will be unusually warm on Christmas day.
I am still at a point in time where I have not decided exactly what I am going to be doing at Christmas but suffice to say it will be a bore and non exciting in so many ways. However, looking forward to the horrizon, the New Year has much more values atatched to it in my world and for me, it can't come around quick enough but whilst Im waiting, the Christmas festival does give me a good excuse to smile with a cold beer while watching the time go bye and prepare myself for a long time with no beer while focusing upon duties more pressing. It is common knowledge that I am in the process of a move and over the Northern border allows me some special changes in my life and as such I am focused upon whiskey and strange money with free prescriptions and sensible people for a few years. My final location yet to be confirmed but probably already decided for so many logical reasons.
This week brought me an amusing moment of crazy where I passed a local house of preaching in West Yorkshire (Bradford) and noticed a pile of sandles and shoes, which in itself was a little strange to me but when I saw what was atatched to the bike stand, I found myseld even more amused and as such felt compeled to take a picture for my own amusement in which I now share with you all in the hope that you see the humour and not to critisise the insigator. In order to balance up the tone of this joke or humour, I have placed another picture below of an even more rediculous situation to which made me smile as the logic of such an idea of assuming this would prevent the vehicle being removed, stolen or otherwise is beyond even my wildest imagination, However, it did make me smile.
Please remember it is the season to be merry and have a wonderul Christmas and stay safe so we can all meet up back here in the start of another week of humor and sarcasm.
19th December 2016
The Global Madness to which goes under the banner of Christmas continues and I still ask myself the obvious question of "Why". Maybe it is me who is getting grumpy but I remember when we visited our families at Christmas and often just baked a cake or mince pies and took them round as a present but today it is a total commercial market of who can spend the most on others and then behind their back, discuss behind closed doors just how little they spent on you..!!
When I see the news at night of people round the world fleeing for their lives, I ask myself what they will get for Christmas and how much our world does not value money and posessions that are fundamental to life, when there are people dying for simpe needs like fresh water or a portion of food. The commercial world has so much to answer for and humanity is no longer a reality in the daily lives of others.
I was in my city centre today and as one might expect, the
chaity collectors were out in force and with little enthusiasm
except to say that they were presumably offering there time for free "I hope". However, what I noticed in the crowds was just how many people stepped to one side to avoid the request for some money, or worse still was the embarassment of watching people lok deep into the darkest corner of their wallet or purse to find the smallest amount of currency they could find and even then it was on the basis that it would be more beneficial to them to get rid of, than actually feel generous about helping someone with a small token of kindness that may affect there Christmas in such a positive way and deep down I felt quite ashamed of what I saw.
The will of the world to help others is one that appears to have lost us all over the last 30-40 years and perhaps our values have changed to the point of insignificance and I for one would hope that it changes backwards in so many ways.
I do have a theory about much of this bad feeling and it is often self inflicted by charities and such like. I personally remember the Salvation Army using colelcted monies to trade on an investment program within the banking world that turned out to be a scam, the bad press that hit the headlines was that £25,000,000.00 was lost to a banking scam and this is just one of many countless charities that are at best "questionable" or dubious for so many reasons. I also anger at what is described as "Expences or Trustee Allowances" that are taken out of charities funds to see so called celebraties compensated for there modest contrabution toward the so called cause, they should be ashamed.
The way I view Santa is through a cunical eye and sarcastic offering. I truly belive in the world being kind to others and for me, why not use that time as Christmas but when you see that the self inflicted death rate goes up (Suicide), Divorce rate goes through the roof and family feudes goes mad then I will always ask myself "What Good Will". I saw on the news our wonderful Prince Harry helping kids in Africa which was such a delight to watch and then when I see how many kids just want someone to play a game with them, spend some quality time teaching them etc, I ask why no one follows Harry in a local way and puts a smile on someones face for free. Maybe if you are reading this, you should just do one kind gesture for someone and spend a morning or afternoon helping someone for free and just see how good it makes you as well as them feel inside. To put it in retail terms it's "Buy One Get One Free". What could it hurt to show a little kindness to others this of all weeks ?.
For those who are with families this year, I hope you all have a truly wonderful time and for those who's families are away, overseas, working or otherwise not with you, please spare them a kind thought of good times and if possible, give them a call or something. It will make you feel better and also brighten up their day so much. For me, Im not 100% clear what Im doing this year but what I do know is what Im not doing and despite 18 years of so called closeness of freindship, have decided that Bullshit is bullshit no matter what trimmings it has on it and as I have always been regected at Christmas, bank holiday or any other event, I have turned my back forever in view of a more optimistic future and positive focus on my own life. Im very posstive about the new events in my world and expect that 2017 is going to be a bright start and a reality check to my life in the direction to which I am heading. If you want to know what they are, it's quite simple and on a need to know basis and as you do not need to know, you can simply leave yourself wondering why I never told you about the good things in my world and how the bad things are left so far down the road that I no longer care enough to share that information. If you do see Santa, please thank him for my present as it truly was a gift from God and something that a price cannot be placed upon it but suffice to say it is all I ever dreamed of and it is something that will last forever and has no possibility of "Refund" in any way.
Merry Christmas All From The Wonderful World Of Peter Hulbert and please go safe, if you are having a drink, please don't drive and lets see you all back here in good spirit in 2017. I will leave you all on a positive note with a local rendition of some mates of mine who are hoping to raise lots of money over Christmas with a great and funny song for charity, Good Luck Guys and God Bless.
The wekk started out totally normal "although Im not sure what normal is these days" and whilst the weather was ok this week, people certainly are not. The madness of people who belive there own lies goes on and to those who know me, you will know what Im refereing to.
It was a good week is some respects as the Monday blues soon passed over, followed by the Tuesday cray catch up which meant a trip to the office in Holmfirth and a cup of tea in my favourit cafe "Sid's Cafe" most famous for the point used in the filming of the last of the summer wine series that frequented our TV's for so many years.
My Wednesday was a little mental at times too, I had a meeting to attend but as it was warmer here that it is in Greece, it was difficult to predict how to dress or more to the point how others may dress. The meeting went well and then it was a drive back over the hills as I promised to meet up with some friends at Meadowhall for drinks and lunch and what should have been 1-2 hours of chatting, ended up being 5 hours and a Taxi drive home due to the inability to see the car through the blurred vision produced by so much beer and whiskey.
Meadowhall has excelled this year with it's wonderful Christmas display to which they always create such a wonderful atmosphere in which to shop and it's such a family friendly place to be and I recommend it to you all.
My weekend is dedicated to my very best friend in the world who is not here with me right now but overseas and due back soon, and my daughter to whom is going out on Saturday to the o2 theatre to see a live act of the Everly pregnant brothers to whom are a huge act here and have to be seen live to appreciate the atmospher of such comedy.
My history and connection with business and based upon experience tells me that anything of commen sense with stop this week and right through the Christmas period and what will be will be and what won't be won't be. Real deals will happen and fantasy is always fantasy and as such we will start ober in 2017 with a fresh smile and a positive attitude of going forward.
If you are intending on pissing someone off this week, beware as they may have CCTV and that probably says more about them than it will about you. Anyone with CCTV is automatically a susspicious person as they need more protection from the rest of us. I have a B_tch of a neighbour and her husband is a Tw_t to whom no one ever speaks to, they have been involved in Dog fighting, arguments, threats of abuse and the list goes on and this week it was my turn to piss them off. Ha ha haaaa........they can't touch me with a barge pole but what I can say is it was super funny watching them try. The big problem with them is he is a dirty minded pervert whom is very dissliked by all because he is an alcholic and she is a nasty peice of work who just loves trouble, I hasten to say one wrong word in my face and they will rest easily with a lengthy sleep and a peaceful few days nursing the sore point of contention.
Im looking forward to some news from York and Turkey over the coming few days and if that news comes, I shall be dancing in the street in January if not before.
Can I just offer a health warning to anyone who may be looking to purchase some mince pies from Iceland this year, check out the package and you may need to smell the content to satisfy yourself that it does not smell of fish. If we are to belive the packageing, the content of these pies is "Minge" and it's very much an aquired taste in anyone world. What I would say is a fresh one is much better than an old or out of date one. These were found on a shelf in an Iceland in Sheffield and whilst it might be a special offer or taste, I would prefer the traditional ones as I know where they have been and what they are made of, the last thing I would want to find in these would be a curly hair or even worse. I like a bit of Christmas spirit but somethings are taking it too far and Im not 100% sure they are approved by Santa or any of his Elf's but it could explain via a process of eliminination just how Rudolf got his red nose or why Santa always says "Ho Ho Ho". It does beg the question why Santa gets a mince pie in every house he visits and probably explains why he empties his sack so often and rumiges in so may stockings in such a short period of time. I suppose I would be the same if I had not had any "Ho Ho Ho" in 12 months too.
What can I say that will not be said by everyone writing a diary in my part of the world, fog, fog, fog and more fog. It was so thick when I arrived back on planet earth and the sun barely broke through although toward the later part of the afternoon, it did show it's face briefly. However, I did say briefly as it showed it's face at 3.00pm but by 3.30pm it had gone for good and the temperature dropped so quickly that the inevitable happened and the fog simply came back with a vengeance and was very thick on the M1 motorway as I headed south for about 20 miles.
The weekend was something that was affected by the sad news about Andrew Sachs and the sad news of his end to his life. It was sad because we all grew up watching this wonderful performance as Manuel the Spanish waiter in Faulty Towers and brought so much happiness to so many fans.
I have to venture out tomorrow and I'm hopeful that the fog has lifted before I set off as it is very dangerous on the roads with so many ignoring the speed signs and driving like they have nine lives. I will up-date you all about my day out when I return tomorrow and share where I have been and what I got up to.
