Taunton Crown Court

What is he? A dog? Anyway, he is hanging off the wall next to a side door to Taunton Court.
I was having a wander around this morning when I saw him, I think this photo would improve with a conversion to black & white, a task for the weekend maybe.

Subway

Just off the river is this little subway - there are two decent pieces of art on the walls so I thought I'd shoot one of them for the blog.

Ok, its not Banksy... but then what is, except Banksy of course...

It's not right is it?... you are not meant to find graffiti sexy.... ;)

Taunton Cider

This used to be our most famous cider - before it was bought by Mathew Clark brands and moved out of Taunton. I believe it still mentions Taunton but Blackthorn is sadly no longer a Somerset cider...
This sign is rotting away at the old factory at Norton Fitwarren, soon to be houses!

Quantocks

Went walking in the Quantocks today, it was great - the trees up there have a hard life - mostly Hawthorn and like this one they grow really slowly and are seriously windswept.

The Fun Farm

Lately my little Ada baby has been getting so excited when she sees animals of any kind, and so incredibly good at learning the sign language for them, that we thought it would be good to take her to a farm.
So this morning at 11:00 we met some friends at The Fun Farm 5 minutes away from the house.
It was incredibly good, the farmer there has been working the farm for 20 years but has found it increasingly difficult to make ends meet so now he has shut up shop as a 'real' farm and caters exclusively for parties of children.
I might use more photos next week but for now I would say if you are anywhere close - go and visit! £2.50 for adults, £1 for children - a good half days worth of things to do at least.

The Car

Only one photo I could post today!
You would think that 1500 or so police officers might have seen what happened to my car in police HQ....
grrrrrr

A few days late - Mothering Sunday

It was Mothers Day on Sunday last, also known as Mothering Sunday.

I don't think Mothers Day means the same thing around the world - here it seems to mean that I have to go out on the Saturday and buy a diamond necklace?!

Anyway, back to the point - we celebrate the mothers, we should make breakfast in bed for them (ok, serve it in bed - not MAKE it in bed - that would be silly), we should take them to lunch so they don't need to cook (although cooking is now being shared more and more by us males so thats not really relevant anymore) OK, we SHOULD buy them diamonds!

Historically it is always the fourth Sunday of Lent and on this day we should all return to our 'mother' church so we all get to meet up with our families. If we are in 'service' we get this one Sunday off each year to make the trip back to that Mother church and catch up with who has been born/died/married/forever been erased from the family history due to that unfortunate incident with the goat and the blancmange...

Oh, I took my family to Hestercombe House and had afternoon tea, these are the sweets that followed the salmon and the cucumber sandwiches!

Shield Bug - Where's Wally?

While walking through town today, outside the swimming pool in fact, I saw this Shield Bug, I've always liked them. They have great colours if you get up close. It's just a shame this one was sat in the middle of a flower bed... I just know Ame will slate me for taking more flower photos! ;)

The Brick Tree!

Just behind the Scout centre on the river this isolated and gnarled old tree caught me eye.

Its nothing special to look at, but then....

You see hidden away IN the wood lots of bricks, there must have been a substantial wall there before the park swallowed up gardens.

Tone Angler

This is a pretty tranquil scene for a midweek afternoon.
Without exaggeration this chap was angling no more than 50 metres from the main road through Taunton, I suppose it's a great illustration of how far we have come in cleaning up our rivers.

French Weir

Had a quick walk around French Weir today - no Kingfishers around, far too many schoolkids on bikes but I'll catch one of the little blighters on film one day!

Hammered Dulcimer

As the title suggests - this chap is playing a Hammered Dulcimer, he is often seen in Taunton playing away.
The sound is great, a little like a piano or perhaps a harpsichord? Any musicians out there want to correct me? ;)
Anyway, read his note on the front of the instrument - he's available for hire at very decent rates - so get hiring!

The Wall

Just behind the Cider Mill in one of the previous posts is the Old Library, it was - well, an old library! Now it is one of a chain of bars named 'Pitcher & Piano'. For a chain it is not bad, decent enough food and good drinks - if a little pricey.
Anyway, leading off the Old Library as was, pitcher & Piano as is, is this wall.
It's the first time I have looked at it, that's the thing with this DP business, I find I am 'seeing' stuff for the first time. Loving some of the images you are showing me too!

I don't know if they have just removed some ivy or similar from the wall, it's the only reason I can think of for the extremely damp green areas.

Waak Waaak!!!

Ducks in the UK say Quack, apparently...

I reckon they say Waaak!

It's the sort of noise I'd make if my feet and bum were permanently immersed in cold water.

On the Rails

I felt a little exposed getting this shot.
Stood on the rails, all the time I was taking to focus I could imagine a train smashing into my back. I know it would be painless, still - best not to hang around...

Cider Mill

This is a 17th century cider mill, it was presented to the town in 1971 by Taunton Cider, they don't exist anymore - the company were bought out and shut down. Wiped out the major employer in one of the outlying villages overnight. The buildings are still there rotting away, they will be demolished soon to build housing.
Cider is very important down here, I will visit Sheppys soon and get some photos of their operation, their cider is amazing stuff, worth searching out.
Their is a saying that a vat of cider is not worth drinking unless they find at least one drowned rat in it... Hope it's just a rural legend though!!!

Out of Season

Just a quickie tonight, I need to be asleep!

This is Somerset County Cricket ground again, my house backs onto the ground virtually in the centre top of the image.

Not much going on here now, not until summer.

Crocii - is that even the correct plural?

Back to Vivary park for the Crocii I posted the other day, this shot has not been touched, boosted, cropped, adjusted, fettled, frotted or any other operation - legal or otherwise!

I was just snapping away, blown away by how many flowers had shot up, I really should have spent more time on some composition - still, am I the only DPBer that feels a bit strange walking around town with a camera permanently attached to my face??

Lunar Eclipse

Well Saturday night was the lunar eclipse, I wonder how many other eclipse photos make it onto the DPB??
Does this even qualify? I mean, I took the photos FROM Taunton... ;)

Crocus

I'm back!
Get things back to normal tomorrow, until then - I took this last week, love the contrast - nature does it so much better than we ever could!
M