Project 52: Week 34 - A Walk To Town

This morning we planned to bring The Lion King to my in-laws' house to watch after lunch because they've just got a Blu-ray player and my Mum-in-Law was really keen to see that particular film. Unfortunately we forgot to bring said Blu-ray with us so headed down town with Tara to see if we could pick something up (we found Life of Pi) and then toddled home.

We've not really been for any walks on the estate this week. The one walk I did yesterday I managed to completely forget both my camera and step counter so this was really my only chance to snap some photos.

I started in town with a quick snap of the newly renovated Wee Square where the Christmas tree goes each year). It used to be a little sort of rockery type place with some planters and a bench. The raised planters made it kind of sheltered from the cars and people going by. Now it looks like this:

There will be plants in that bare bit on the right but I can't say I'm particularly impressed with it. Especially considering this cost an absolute fortune (I forget the exact figure but it's something in the range of a quarter of a million pounds), plus it was delayed due to the stone having to be imported from somewhere. I can't help but think that there are dozens of things that the council might have spent the money on and there wasn't much wrong with the old square that a bit of tidying up and fixing flagstones wouldn't have dealt with.

We often walk Tara into town from my in-laws' house and do a circuit, going there on one side of the road and then coming back on the other. Today the weather is lovely and hot so we stuck to the shore side of the road so I could take lots of pictures.

I was really glad I'd left my coat at home, it was so lovely and warm. The warm weather always brings out the boats and while we were eating our lunch I looked out the window and spotted Drum, the yacht which used to be owned by Simon Le Bon.

Random fact: On the day I was born my dad went out and picked up all the newspapers he could find, as it was a Sunday that included some Sunday supplement magazines. Eighteen years later, on my birthday we got all the magazines and papers out to look at to see what had happened (besides my birth) eighteen years ago. On the front of one of them was a photo of Simon Le Bon on Drum. On my eighteenth birthday, Drum also showed up in our harbour. Spooky!

 

On the way into town I couldn't help but marvel at how glassy-smooth the water was. Unfortunately the ferry came in on the way back out so it didn't really stay nice and smooth long enough to take any decent photos. I love how blue the water is though.

 

 

All around town, and part of the way out, we have some funky lampposts which are decorated with the Rothesay crest. I remember during a poster competition in art class when I first moved here I asked my art teacher if he had a picture of it I could copy for my poster. He said no, asked me where I'd seen it last, I replied 'on a lamppost' so he handed me a school digital camera and told me to go take a photo of it!

 

I was shocked considering the fact that I'd just moved from a school where to leave the grounds during lunch hour you were supposed to have a pass! The whole way down the hill from school I was convinced I was going to be called back or picked up by the police. I wasn't. I got my photo of a lamppost, the teacher printed it off for me to copy and my poster won a prize in the competition.

 

 

 

We also saw a horse and cart on the way back (which Tara was very interested in). It's a walk I could probably do with my eyes closed, I've done it that number of times (though people have a habit of parking on the pavement so I doubt whether I could actually do it with my eyes closed really). At this time of year it can be kind of busy with all the holidaymakers and in the winter it can be freezing because of the wind off the sea. It might not be quite as interesting as the walks on the estate, but it's pleasant enough in its own way.

Next week I'm back to the weekly prompts from the BBC News site, starting with Holidays. I've actually quite enjoyed being able to share more than one photo each week. I'm thinking that I might have given myself an idea for a photo challenge for next year, rather than just sticking to one theme, I'll just take photos of whatever I've been up to or interests me and then post a selection each week.