Dull end of month /week. 29.11.20.

 Well, its been a dull week to round off a dull month for us with the second lock down.

Think Andy Burnham must have upset Matt Hancock and Boris as we are going back into Tier 3 on the 2nd December whereas Liverpool are going into Tier 2, as they have had mass track and trace there, but on the news this morning only 11% of people have been traced!, so how come Tier 2 for them.

This week with our varied diet ( Alternate days of Mcdonalds and KFC)  we were at McDonalds for our drive thru.

Closed for sit in, not that I'd want too!, better service on drive thru!

You can also see the Gulls Fly thru.

The Hyde Road widening seems to be going very slowly at the moment, you can just see the new bridge in the distance.

Doesn't seem to be much of a difference at the moment, the footpath seems to be quite wide here where it marries up to the old part of the road near the lights.

Someone said it is costing 5..9 million, think that would have been better spent with the flyover at the Denton roundabout that was initially on the cards but ran out of money they said at the time. 

We shall see soon perhaps when all the barriers and cones are cleared away.

Today it was KFC day and have to turn my hearing aids off as Pepe gets very excited and barks his head off whilst there, but not enough to deter this little fellow, a cute Pied Wagtail.

Quite hard to snap usually as they are always flitting about and wagging their tails hence the name, but today they were sharing our lunch and came quite near.

Back at home, our Goldfinches are still doing well and tucking into their Sunflower hearts

Have some bad news this week, one of our dog walking friends texted me to say that her dog Button had had a nose bleed, which he had had in July, but this time it was a bit too much and with various other symptoms had to be put to sleep.

What a time for this to happen, not good at the best of times but with the Lockdown and being on her own it is specially bad, when a lot of people at the moment  are getting dogs for company, to lose one is really hard.

R.I.P Button.

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A man swallowed all the tiles from a Scrabble set. the doctors said the problem will eventually work itself out, but not in so many words.

He got very excited after finishing a jigsaw in only 2 months, as it said two to four years on the box!

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Second lock down Reflections, 18.11.20.

As we haven't been out much this week thought I would just update you with a few thoughts.

This is a picture of my road today, haven't seen it like this with no cars since we moved into this road 51 years ago, there was only one car in the road then and that was a taxi.

Today its empty because Mr Branston is having all my area dug up and Virgin Cable laid, so everyone moved their cars out last night, that's mine there as the workmen who dug the channel across the road yesterday said they wouldn't be back for three days

We had lunch at KFC yesterday and McDonalds today, weather not very good for walking about, I only do that for pleasure and there's not much pleasure in it at the moment.

I find the Snood I wear instead of a mask is better for me as the masks always hook my hearing aids out and at £2,000 a pair you don't want to lose them.

It's also got another benefit in that you can put in to your jumper and keeps your neck warm and out of the draught.

With hearing aids I think one tends to still lip read, which makes it awkward when everyone has their mouth covered.

I think most people can lip read to an extent, lets face it we've all seen footballers swearing on TV haven't we!.

Me and Pepe are missing our weekly trips to Pear Mill Café and their lovely Sausage butties also the friends we usually meet there.

Every time one goes you get a different set of crockery and condiment sets 

 The last time we went the condiments were these Frogs and Pepe wasn't best pleased!, I can almost hear him thinking, "Never mind the frogs, what about the boiled ham and sausages"

This is my Second Great Grandson, not managed to see him yet but after a few minor problems is now back home and causing a few sleepless nights I'm sure.

With staying in I've managed to finish this "B" model of an earlier kit I'd bought so the time goes by quite quickly and before I know it Pepe is calling upstairs for his dinner!.

When you buy a Lego Technics Kit there is usually a "B" model to make with it too, so it keeps the price down a bit.

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Third week of second lock down, 16.11.20.

 Well its week 3 of the 4 week lock down and Pepe and I have kept ourselves to ourselves as much as possible, at our tender age one can't be too careful can one!.

Today only been over to McDonalds for lunch then a walk to the Gorton Lower reservoir, but as you can see it was a bit too cold to stay long, but it did look nice with the autumn colours. 

We were nearly mobbed by the Canadian geese and pigeons, as I suppose there were not many people about to feed them.

Last week we were down to Reddish Vale for a change.

 The Jays didn't let us down.

As soon as I put some peanuts down they appeared from nowhere.

Old blue eyes, no not Sinatra, the Jay. 

That hole at the side of the Jay, is a mouse hole with at least 3 mice  there that I saw.

One of my friends had put down some monkey nuts which the mice kept coming out and taking to their home, storing for winter no doubt.

Cute little things, but you wouldn't want them in your house would  you, Remember my Father in law used to have one in the house that he fed every morning!.

It was a race with the Squirrels to see who could get the most peanuts.

I found a couple of new feeders that some kind person had put up, and filled them up with Sunflower seeds and Niger Seeds, these Goldfinches seemed to like the Sunflower seeds best, same as in my garden but some still used the Niger feeder!.

Lots of other birds there, ie this Nuthatch.

A Blue Tit and a Coal Tit.

A nice colourful Blue tit.

Sparrow found these apples, and as you have hear, an apple a day keeps the doctor away or so they say, wish I knew who "They " were!.

A nice plump Chaffinch.

A Dunnock or the common name Hedge Sparrow, as you might notice their beak is a lot narrower than the Tree or House sparrow, and they are ground feeders whereas the other sparrows use the feeders!.

That's the best part of belonging to a website, a friend of mine Leslie Peel at Daisy Nook website pointed out the different to me.

Since then noticed they are in my garden and sat on the settee hadn't noticed them on the ground, could have been there for ever hey!.

Last but not least a Robin.

So the second week wasn't too bad for us and managed to stay out of  trouble with the virus!.

Today wasn't too bad but a bit nippy 

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When your pet bird sees you reading the newspaper, does he wonder why you're sitting there staring at Carpeting?.

What do you call a woodpecker with no beak?, A head banger!

Which side of the chicken has the most feathers, the outside of course!.

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First Day of second lock down, 5.11.20.

 Last day of Tier 3, it was down to Reddish Vale to get some exercise and pix's.

Another lock down,will they still come with some seed and bread?.

Was cool but we were wrapped up well.

No Kingfishers today but this nice Jay posed for us for quite a while.

This is a chaffinch, quite a bit smaller than the jay.

Then it was off to KFC for lunch.

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The next day was the first day of the second lock down, so it was a leisurely breakfast,

An hour on the Lego 

Then off to McDonalds for lunch.

Then a walk round Debdale Park, which is my nearest park for our exercise!.

Magpie's everywhere.

Same with the Squirrels.

Luckily the Ring Necked parakeets put in an appearance. 

He's brought some peanuts!.

I'm sure this Jay is stalking me!.

This Squirrel seeing us off home.

Switched on the central heating via the phone so it was nice and warm when we arrived home, isn't technology wonderful, that's as long as its working alright.

So looking at both days, as you can see not a lot of difference for us, just the change of venue for leisure and lunch. 

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I think the surest sign  that intelligent life exists somewhere else in the universe is that none of it has bothered to contact us!.

Why are dolphins smarter than humans?,

within three hours they can train a man to stand at the side of a pool and feed them fish!.

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Gorton Remembers, 4.11.20.

 Whilst in Debdale Park, (East Manchester) spotted a what was (new to me in the summer) row of new trees at the end of the park.

I'd had a quick look then, but decided this week that being near Armistice  Sunday would include it here.

It starts here!.

Then goes down an avenue of  new trees.

See the Students from Wright Robinson had been involved.

Wonder how many Manchester City fans realised that horses of the Manchester Artillery had been temporary stabled at Maine Road ground.

Women of course played a major part in both world wars, supplying the troops and people at home.

Plenty of Poems and songs come out of the wars.

Plenty of industry switched to war efforts and Gorton  was there in the form of Beyer Peacock works and Sebastian Ferranti  factory in Oldham to name a few.

 Manchester hospitals looked after more sick and injured soldiers than any other hospital in the country, 8,204 soldiers brought by train from Southampton.

The usual accidents and emergencies on the home front had to carry on as well.

I remember being in Booth Hall Childrens hospital during the war, that was the second world war, if anyone was wondering!,   

At the end of the avenue there is this nice circle.

So this is the end for them. that we might live in today's world?.

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I used to be indecisive, but now I'm not so sure!.

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

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