Tuesday 8 November 2011

Mists and mellow fruitfulness - number 2,893

When I first started using an Apple Mac computer, the sombre chime which heralds the start-up when it is switched on was a thing of promise - excitement even. Now, after all these years, I am beginning to tire of it, but at least it isn't some chirpy, jaunty little riff designed by Sir Paul McCartney, which would really set what teeth I have left on edge first thing in the morning.

I have been trying to either not listen to it (impossible) or hear it in a different light, and this morning it came to me - I now hear it as the very opening chord of 'The Dambusters'. I expect it will only be a matter of days before this starts to irritate the shit out of me too.

Well, I made my trip to the currently ill-fated area of Taunton yesterday - in fact into the heart of Taunton itself - to see Mark 1 of the ideal winter tweed hat. It looks bloody good already, and I told her so. She will make minor adjustments to Mark 2, then actually deliver it to me in Bath, in person, when I dare say we will have a couple of celebratory drinks to Christen it.

The investigation into the catastrophic pile-up on the M5 by Taunton now seems to be laying the blame on the Rugby Club firework display, and this would explain conflicting reports of fog/no fog on the night itself. Ever since I was a child, I have noticed that there is always a thick mist on the days and evenings which follow November 5th, and this is - of course - because the weather conditions are usually such that if you fire a load of rockets and mortars into the sky after dark, this precipitates immediate mist or fog - not only in the immediate area, but drifting to connect with the aftermaths of other displays until the fog-banks almost connect right across southern Britain. It used to me a lot worse when huge bonfires were the norm. Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, indeed.

So today, I have just delivered the faithful old Volvo to the mechanic for an overdue MOT test, and now I sit at home, quivering like a whippet as I wait for the good/bad news. I fear the latter. My best guess at what it will cost to keep it running for another year is £450, but I have inside knowledge. I'll let you know. Anyone who comes up with a more accurate prediction without inside knowledge before 6.00 pm tonight will receive an - as yet undisclosed - prize through the post (my address list for fresh, potential stalkees is running low).

As I walked home - carless, if not careless - from the mechanic along the river Avon, I took this photo on my phone of Bath's tallest (Catholic) church, which is the permanent roosting and breeding place for the famous Peregrine Falcons.

It's a shame I didn't have my zoom with me, because I don't think you will be able to make out the two Peregrines which are perched 2/3rds of the way down the spire on the left, tucking into a pigeon breakfast. During nesting season, Peregrines will usually fly at least a quarter of a mile away to take prey, for fear of scaring the neighbors. When the chicks become fully grown, they revert to the lazy option of snatching the nearest bird to their perch, and so these ones give the congregation of the church a daily display of pigeon-snatching, and receive a round of applause from the blood-thirsty Christians every morning.

What you also may not see in the photo is the row of about 50 pigeons, quietly sitting in line on the ridge of the roof in the lower right, awaiting their turn to be of service to the falcons.


17 comments:

  1. you sound somewhat reflective today thomas?

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  2. I'm a bit ill. Nothing like a brush with mortality to get you reflective.

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  3. Hello Tom:
    Not all doom and gloom, we trust. After all, along with the delivery of the bill for the MOT of the motor car will come, or at least soon afterwards, the delivery of the hat(s) which is something to look forward to. In the days before we finally gave up once and for all on 'The Archers', there was some story line about Peregrine Falcons nesting(?) on the church tower to the approval of half of the village and the consternation of the other half.

    Always ones for a giveaway, we put the bill at £483-92 - a giveaway in itself!

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  4. ...all sounds exceedingly grim...except for the hat, of course...

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  5. Noted, Jane and Lance. My ailments (minor) were such that I left the pub early last night, and received text-messages from concerned fellow alcoholics and bar-maids asking if I was ok. Hopefully I will stay alive long enough to drive the car and wear the hat/s.

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  6. P.S. - On one route into the Taunton/Yeovil area, you pass a small road sign pointing to a village off the main road, and it is inscribed: 'Mark 3'. I wonder if this is the third attempt by the locals to design a village?

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  7. Tom, I woke this morning and lay around for an hour or so (non-fishing morn). For some reason you and HI came up in my thoughts and I hoped you were okay. I've got no idea how that timezone connects to yours.

    Anyway, I've always thought of the 'sombre chimes' of the Mac as a kind of applause box. You open it in the morning and it says "Hellooooo" or "Da daaah," like you've just done something really special by starting up your computer.

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  8. £469.75. Is the prize a candlestick or a hat?

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  9. £549.19.6d and £79.19.6d for the hat. Prize to Cro, Lumberjack, France, please.

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  10. The whole of your post has been coloured for me by the image of you 'quivering like a whippet' - hope that by now you know the damage to your purse (or wallet or trouser pocket, depending upon the type of man you are) and are now sitting smug as John's new bulldog (who has definitely fallen on her feet if you ask me) secure in the knowledge that you have enough left over to buy yet another candlestick.

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  11. Imagine having 5 of the forking chimes going off together every morning for fifteen years!

    I noticed from the news shots of the site. that the road doen't have any lighting along that stretch (maybe all of it - been a long time since I travelled that route).

    High price to pay for some bloody fireworks.

    Hope you're feeling better. BTW I predict your Volvo is scrap.

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  12. 513 pounds, 30 pence. Will you be giving that marvelous woman permission to replicate your hat for sale as the Tom Stephenson Classic?

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  13. So there's no volume control on a Mac?? The sounds my hp make are annoying as well but I just turn the sound all the way down. That's too bad. Hope you feel better soon.

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  14. Thanks all - the correct amount was £ 386 (even I was foxed by that - 2 new brake discs and pads on the front! ), so none of you are winners of the fabulous pair of solid silver candlesticks dating from 1730 which I had earmarked for this occasion. There is a prize for you all in the next post, and that is a fabulous pair of one door Handels,

    (Thanks for the dream, dear Sarah. I dreamt last night of a man who I had never met before in my life, and tonight I met him. This is true).

    I love you all, and that's true too! XXX

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  15. The BMW dealership took my money and future money yesterday so I understand about the Volvo repairs. Thanks for the information you left on my blog.

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  16. I took down the Handel - not very popular, I think it reminded you of candlesticks...

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