Monday, July 22, 2024

Cheerful shoes.

The left over sunflowers in the supermarket lobby have a Monday morning look to them. After a hectic Sunday this is how many American political journalists must be feeling today. On the radio a woman from Berkeley says, somewhat prosaically, yesterdays events were ' expected but still a shock'. 

A display of highly polished golf shoes on a window ledge outside the  bar by the town fountain. The plastic heather is a 'cheerful' touch.


The Christmas store is having its window replaced. A sign tells us that it's open for business as usual. Quite what is usual about selling Christmas decorations in July is left unexplained.  Next door one of the redundant mobile phone stores remains unlet. There was a time when finding commercial premises in town was as rare as finding hens teeth.  Now, by my count,  there are seven vacant shops. The switch to online retailing is changing buying patterns and shop leases attract much less interest. 


The demand for injection moulded souvenirs remains robust. Made in Shenzen, shipped to Scotland and then sold and  carried onwards to a permanent home in Madrid or Monterey. Angus can't tell whether the regimental pipers in the window of this shop have different tartans . They're certainly unlike any tartan you'd see  in Scotland.


The young seagulls in their tell tale brown and white feathers can be seen parading around town. They fly down from their nests on the chimney stacks, don't have the strength to fly back up and then get lost. The first signs telling drivers to slowdown to avoid fledgling gulls have started to appear. 


It was Angus' birthday yesterday. This morning a rather grand present arrives. A box of chocolates from the House of Lords. Will they be suitably grand ? We shall soon find out.


Some calmness on the radio this morning :https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SeUrjsVHXY




17 comments:

  1. Grand wrappings and labelling are not always good indicators of chocolate quality. Do tell us if the House of Lords offering comes up to scratch.
    And belated Happy Birthday Angus!
    Cheers, Gail.

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  2. Alles Gute zum Geburtstag !

    Sonnige Grüße aus Bayern

    Barbara

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  3. Belated Happy Birthday, Angus. I hope that the chocolates are worthy of their packaging!

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  4. Hari Om
    I join the chorus of belated greetings for your birthday, Angus. Here's to many more. YAM xx

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  5. Happy Birthday, Angus! Each chocolate has its own gift. Enjoy every bite!

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  6. Bailey Bob Southern DogJuly 22, 2024 at 3:52 PM

    Belated Birthday wishes, Angus! What a yummy gift. I love the golf shoes on the window ledge.

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  7. Another, still sincere, belated birthday wish!
    Enjoy the chocolates!
    JoAnn

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  8. We add our birthday wishes, too. Hope the chocolate is as fine as the box.
    I do believe that all souvenirs found round the world are made in China.
    Glad to hear there are warnings about the fledgling gulls.
    In the US, "expected but still a shock." So true.

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  9. P.S.
    And, thanks so much for the Schubert.

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  10. Happy Birthday, Angus! Wishing you a wonderful year, and many, many more before someone takes your car keys away!

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  11. Belated happy birthday wishes!

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  12. Adding belated happy birthday wishes to you,Angus. As my friends and I are mostly older, we celebrate our birthdays for a week. The excuse is we can’t stand too much excitement in one day. The real reason is we all like the attention for a few days.

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  13. We call.it a birthday season nowadays. So happy birthday season Angus...for however long the chocolates last.

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  14. Happy belated birthday Angus. The chocolates look very special.
    Wendy (Wales)

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  15. Happy Belated Birthday, and many more to come.
    Hope the celebration was grand and the chocolate worthy of the occasion.

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