More Banksy

Some of you will know that I queued up to see Banksy in the Bristol Museum for 45 minutes at the beginning of the summer. At the time I thought I was completely mad standing in a queue for that length of time. My first post about Banksy is here. You can see the different art that I photographed on that visit.

However by mid summer my daughter and grandsons were staying with me and I was asked if I would like to go again with them. By now, word had got round that the exhibition was outstanding and people were flocking to see it from all over Britain.

This visit we waited three hours to get in. The grandson's were very good and occupied themselves playing *I Spy* and watching the queue snake gently up and down the surrounding roads. I was astounded that they waited all that time and that they really enjoyed the visit to the museum once we all got in.

For those of you who wonder who this guy is you can go here and look this mysterious grafitti artist up.

Banksy does make a statement about life. Political things in particular and makes us aware of the suffering in the world and the pollution and mess that mankind has made.

We were not allowed to use flash so these pictures are not the best quality.

I like the way that he gets things to come out of the picture like the photos above. He is always out to shock people.

My son had taken the granddaughters to Japan for a whole month over the summer holiday and he was really looking forward to going to the Banksy exhibition when he came back. He reckoned there would be still one week left to see his work before the museum went back to normal and he thought the girls would like to see it.

However by then, the queues had jumped to a six hour wait to get in and people were not only coming from different parts of Britain but from countries overseas as well. Sam decided that it was too long to wait and he will have to make do with my photos!

So who IS this man Banksy? No one seems to know. He is very elusive and only a handful of people know him and they are all sworn to secrecy. No one knows how old he is or what he looks like. However he has made a big statement over here and I guess people either love him or hate him. No one seems to be undecided.

The Doors

Photos are copyright of Maggie May

I was inspired to take these photos after seeing David Mcmahon's regular posts called The Doors on Authorblog (usually published on a Thursday). As far as I can tell, this is not linked to any meme or to anybody else.

I have found myself looking at unusual doors myself, now that my interest has been aroused and could not resist publishing these photos of the doors to the local Bristol indoor market.

However, I have been thinking lately of the symbolic opening and closing of doors in a person's life.

It seems that when one door closes another opens in life, so we are told. However, I have had lots of problems lately and it has not been a good year for our family concerning our house.

I think our Queen Elizabeth 2nd, announced in her Christmas speech once, that one of her years had been an Annus Horribilis when everything seemed to go wrong with her families' relationships and I can say that this year has been much the same for us. Our annus horribilis has been this year.

It started with the rats chewing through wiring that resulted in having to have so much work done and the kitchen still hasn't been finished to this day.

The wiring had to be renewed by an electrician and was working fine for a few weeks.

Then I have had problems with being blocked from my own blog on a couple of occasions and have no idea why. Maybe someone can come up with an idea or explanation of what might have happened. The problem seemed to right itself after a while, I am still having difficulties visiting some blogs and the system will crash at the drop of a hat because Broadband seems to be very slow. Several days after the blogging problems, all the electrics in the house started playing up and causing chaos.

The Electricity Company were called out urgently because of a terrible noise coming from behind sockets and meter and a new meter was fitted. Apparently, the new wiring in the kitchen caused the rest of the older system to play up and kept blowing fuses on appliances. My Broadband didn't take kindly to any of this upheaval and went on strike, leaving me to be without my precious hobby....... blogging.

We were due to go to our daughter's for a short break as we hadn't had any holiday this year, because of all the repairs to the kitchen, when the electrics started to go wrong. After the emergency electricity board told us we could go away, we left the house under the supervision of a neighbour who popped in here a few times and reported that all the lights had blown.

My daughter encouraged me to ring an electrician from her home, as she could see that I was upset. It was arranged for them to come out to our house the day after I was due back to return from holiday.

So the day after coming home, after much work and several things that were not quite right being rectified, we have paid a tidy sum and been told that we might have further problems. On the other hand we might not.

I am not very good at coping with this *alright one minute but not the next.* Broadband on today but not tomorrow, lights working one day but not the next. I need security and peace of mind and my peace of mind is lacking right now.

I have taken a knock and am reaching the end of my tether and feel on edge. I am still experiencing a very slow Broadband compared to how it was before and I still cannot access some blogs because of the slowness.

So I am waiting for my door to close on this episode and for a new one to open. It better be a good one though, else I don't want to go through it.

Reach For The Sky!

All photos are copyright of Maggie May

Normally I like to keep my feet firmly on the ground as I am prone to vertigo. However, I recently shocked Harry by asking if he would like to have a ride with me on the Weston Wheel. After he got over that shock, he naturally jumped at the idea as he had intended to go on his own anyway .

The wheel is not as big as the London Eye, but is about 100 feet above the ground. Strawberry Ann Jam used this wheel in her recent post Sky Watch Friday and I was quite amused as I had most of this post in draft form on Blogger. I was waiting though, to go up in the wheel and kept putting it off, so when I read Ann's post, I decided it was now or never.

The first two pictures were taken through glass so are not the best of quality. We were in a pod on our own and there was a great view of Weston Super Mare below us. I sat and took the photos right in front of me but there were magnificent views to my left, as far as the coast of Wales across the other side of the bay.

You will notice that one of the pods in the picture above is black and stands out more than the others. This is a VIP pod and costs between £35 and £50, depending on whether you have champagne. It is for parties of important people and it was empty on the morning that we took our ride, so we were obviously all riff- raff.

I am so glad that we went on the wheel as it was a real thrill even though I don't normally like heights. I am surprised that most of the photos came out almost monochrome. They weren't altered in anyway though.

Footnote: We will be away for a few days while we go and visit our daughter on the east coast. I am having a little break from blogging until we get back.

Spoilt For Choice

Photos are copyright of Maggie May.

I love to visit a garden centre and on this occasion I had only gone to buy something very small from the household section of the store.

However, I had my camera with me and took lots of snaps! I love to see lots of colourful pots lined up on a shelf but sometimes I am disappointed about how plants look in a brightly coloured pot! Maybe they are better off left on the shelf.

You can buy snap dragons by the potful!

Begonias by the tray load! Or if nothing grabs you, how about a hanging basket?

I managed to resist buying any extras this time!

The Tub Tree

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

All photos are copyright of Maggie May.

Well obviously it isn't a real tub tree but a giant stand with tubs of plants hanging from it.

I first noticed this strange sight when I was visiting Weston Super Mare and I had to stop and take a photo.

Two weeks later, I was there again and the flowers had really opened up during that extra time in the sun.

You will notice how much bulkier the tub flowers had become and how the tendrils had grown from the displays.

There were lots of people about and quite a few were snapping photos, so I really had to wait to get mine. It was a very crowded street.

The photo below was taken at the same time as the top one and when I took these two photos, I thought they looked really lovely, having no idea how much difference it would make to their appearance waiting a couple of weeks. I am really pleased that I did retake now.

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek. Why not look them up?

Strange Shapes

Photos are copyright of Maggie May.

Often on my travels I come across strangely shaped objects that seem to have an art form of their own. If I have my camera with me then I snap up the photos and I have already published one or two of these. I decided to make a post out of some of my favourite ones.

The top photo is of Weston Super Mare's Silica Tower. At night time it is brightly lit with lots of rings of bulbs, though I don't often get to see that, travelling mainly during day time.

This tangled wreck of metal was once the pavillion on Weston's Grand Pier that was completely burnt down along with a section of the pier, about a year ago. The metal has now been dismantled and the foundation looks completely flat with nothing on the Pier. The work on the New Pavillion is about to be started and will hopefully be finished next summer.

This is part of a new drainage system at Weston Super Mare. I just happened to like the design and shape of the grille.

Photos are in Bristol now and this is what greets you when you walk into Millenium Square. It is a fairly new sculpture known as The Spine and is the entrance to a car park. I like the shape so it is in the post!

Finally, Bristol Planetarium is this lovely silver globe. I have never been inside it but I think that the outside is quite spectacular.

I wonder which shape you like the best?

The Flower Shop On The Bridge

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

All photos copy right of Maggie May.

By now, people will know that I do love the city of Bath in Somerset. I go there a lot.

I was drawn to Pulteney Bridge, last time I visited. Go here if you want more information.

At the back of the shops is a drop into the weir. Last Wednesday I used a photo of the weir for the Watery Wednesday meme. Here.

However, at the front there is a busy shopping community, all built on a bridge!

It was a flower shop that caught my eye.

Crossing the street I ventured closer and using my new camera, which is a digital Pentax P70, I zoomed in on the flowers. There were so many people about that I had to wait a long time for the shop to clear of pedestrians passing by.

Maybe I should zoom in a bit more. It is a lovely shop, don't you think?

Photostory Friday is hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek.

The Weir

Photo copyright of Maggie May.

This is Pulteney Weir in Bath, Somerset. It is a place I often go to and I never get tired of this lovely Roman city with it's beautiful buildings, waterways and natural hot water springs.

In this picture I was standing on a bridge looking down. On the left is a very unusual bridge that I will be posting about very soon.

Watery Wednesday is hosted by 2sweetnsaxy. For magnificent photos from all over the world, why not look her up?

Zooming In!

Photos are copyright of Maggie May

No, I'm not collecting chains for the garden! They are so huge and these large pieces of ironmongery could not possibly be lifted without the use of a crane.

I was visiting the Black Country Living Museum recently, in Birmingham and these objects seemed to be crying out to be snapped.

This was a Skipper butterfly that I snapped sitting on the side of the house, (The butterfly, not me!) This photo could definitely not have been taken so closely with my old digital camera, so I am very pleased with this one.

At the moment my garden is full of skippers.

I am very fond of the tiles in this reproduction fireplace in our lounge! As the house is more than a hundred years old, it does fit the personality of the place very well.

Why would I want to zoom in on a blackboard, you might well ask? Well, while out walking a few weeks ago, this blackboard was propped against a house with this message on it. I thought, "If it is still there when I walk back again (from where I was going), then I would definitely pick it up for the grandchildren."

After about half an hour, it was still in exactly the same place as where it was first spotted and I picked it up and took it home. Things often get left outside a garden with a little note asking people to help themselves. Its a good way of recycling and means one less trip to the city tip.

No doubt about it, the girls really enjoyed playing with the blackboard and recently when the older grandsons came to stay, all four children used it for their art work! There were some quarrels mind you, along the way!

Maybe the strangest thing that I have zoomed in on is this pot containing another egg! I didn't take photos of the first two eggs that were left mysteriously in our garden but this one has been recently placed in this pot and I thought I would leave it and see if Mr Fox comes back for it.

If you are not sure what I am talking about click here and here.

Anyway, I hope you have enjoyed zooming in with my new camera.