sign of the times

As I had an unexpected day off work, I headed in to Cork for a bit of early C...... shopping. There was a craft fair in the town hall and I had free ticket, plus my friends were exhibiting. There was a good range of high quality stuff and I did well.The news today though is pretty grim and the people who are going to suffer the most are those that have the least. I think things may get nasty.
This house seems to me to reflect exactly what's goin g on. When we first moved here eight years ago, this house was for sale. As we renovated our house, the new owner of this one did the same and we would watch progress with interest every time we came to Cork. Obviously whoever had bought it had a lot of money as only the best and most appropriate materials were used befitting a house of this age. About four years ago it was nearly completed and looked fantastic when suddenly all changed. The new windows and doors were removed, other work was literally dismantled, the house was boarded up and work just stopped. The scaffolding remains as do piles of concrete blocks and other materials. The wall was half finished and remains just as though the builders had just gone. There is even a digger rusting in the garden. It seems to have been abandoned overnight and just left. Sadly this is very prevalent as the housing market collapsed.
The trees by the way are Monkey puzzles and very fine specimens.

On a lighter note. I did partake of the hot tub yesterday. Wonderfully decadent to be sitting in the open air in temperatures around freezing at 2.30pm, enjoying a soak in hot seaweedy water!! All was well until the postman arrived - I'm not sure who was most surprised!! The gossip will be rampant!




PS re hot tub