I’m growing a beard. I may look like Santa come Christmas Day. It’s turmoil in Epping, Essex as they come to completing the new leisure centre, with a multi-storey car park opposite which has been open for some time. It features it’s own launch pad, and at the rear is a horrible builders compound that Tubelines would have shut down way before it got this messy. There’s some lovely flowers in Epping, too. I’ve been doing a bit of travelling to and from the Capital and once visit was with Charlotte, showing her the Day sculptures at St Pancras. The change in seasons has been drastic, mostly due to the clock changes.This also affects one’s mental health as we are plunged into darkness, so bedtime arrangements need changing and dog walks get earlier. The season however has brought low light, dew, cobwebs and mist and delightful presentations of such are abound! A pile of tea chests, still smelling of tea was dumped locally but the smell was intoxicating. It’s on private land, off road. Abbey Park has been clearing some growth: suckers have been removed; the brush has been expanded leaving rats to find other places to go and squirrels remaining in the trees and there has sadly been some felling. A different RAT (The Rail Adhesion Train) was a rare treat for me, in the stock I used to go to school on, and another rare treat was a fish and chip shop with a choice! If any of my Leicester friends know of one with six fish options, let me know, but oop nahrth there is no Rock and I adore this fish. Known as Huss in Grimsby you may know it as dogfish. We interred our Uncle’s and Aunt’s ashes into a subterranean blend in North Weald, just as a Dakota flew over head landing at North Weald Airfield. The same happened for my Dad’s interment. Ashes are not in the perceived ‘pot’ on the mantelpiece, they are 10-15kgs in weight and take up a lot of space. The Death Industry has left me fascinated of the processes one takes for granted. The long standing eyesore of the toilet block in Watermead (Syston end) has been demolished, its replacement having been installed some years ago. Leicester Museum has an exhibition on celebrating the work of David McKee (1935-2022) whose portfolio includes the delightfully narrated Mr Benn by Ray Brooks (1939-2025). British Sign Language Level 2 has commenced and each lesson we must fingerspell our new words to class. I have a whole group of deaf friends who can assist me in passing this level! Roll on November!
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