Splashy

R and I went to Stratford for lunch today, in belated celebration of the fact that Saturday marked the 39th anniversary of our first official 'date'. In truth, having all the family over at various points in the weekend was celebration enough (though I regret having been so busy that I forgot to give R his annual reminder that about five minutes after we first met he felt he should tell me he didn't ever want children) - but, you know. Any excuse.

After lunch I went shoe shopping, in the hope that somewhere in town would be able to provide me with some casual loafers, or better yet a new pair of either walking shoes or walking boots to replace my current ones, both of which are uncomfortable. But I might as well have saved myself the time and irritation: nothing even vaguely acceptable was available in my size. It's at times like these that I most miss Blacks, where I bought a lot of outdoor gear over the years - and it's insult piled on injury that their old store on the High Street is still unoccupied, several years after they quit it. The nearest big store for outdoor wear is now at Coventry, which isn't exactly the other side of the country, but isn't especially convenient either.

Grump.

What with one thing and another I didn't take many photos, or like many of the ones I did take, but I am quite pleased with this Black-headed Gull, which was taking off splashily from the river when I wandered down there to see what was about. For me these shots tend to stand or fall on the quality of the reflections on the water surface, and the way these are exaggerated by the long lens. This water, I'd say, is interesting without being too extreme, and provides a nice setting for the gull.