Bartimaeus

We woke to a rainy day. It brightened after breakfast but was still forecast to rain again. We had nowhere to go so there was no pressure and there is a pile of wood awaiting active duty. Much of the day has been spent on shelf plans with multiple design propositions being floated to accommodate different jar sizes, aesthetics, supports and use of the space with a sloping wall. Also a space for a goldfinch ornament is planned.

We thought we could go a walk after lunch, but still wanted to wait for a dry spell. The moorhens were happily bathing and preening. The ducks were snoozing. The geese were chasing around.

We were going into town. We had gone this way before. There are large industrial buildings from the past and some modern versions too. The principal industry was, and still is, beer. I saw a celebration of the industry’s success that I had not noticed last time. How could I have missed it? I don’t know if it ever ran with beer flowing, or if they used coloured water. 

Reaching the park area, beside the River Trent, where we had been before, we saw a graveyard open. There was a large group of geese and ducks surrounding a man in the graveyard. He was feeding them bread and had some nuts for a squirrel too. 

We left the graveyard and went along the edge of the park. We saw something that looked at first like a small maze but it was another graveyard but with some of the stones arranged in a way I hadn’t seen before, leaning back towards each other on a grassy mound. 

We decided on a quick return, but just taking in a couple of different variations. So we got to see another beer sculpture, cleverly named Reel Ale. The wind was reely messing with my hair too.

The rain started and got very heavy. We sheltered in a couple of doorways to keep out of the worst and didn’t stop to get pictures of the town hall and dripped into Bartimaeus. An evening in knitting, shelf planning and reading while the rain batters the roof outside is just fine. Might just crack open a bottle of beer now.