Pies, Pies and Damn Pies (and cheesy mash)

About seven years ago, I bottled it. I was walking round the small Colorado town of Estes Park - going off at a slight tangent, we were in the town the following morning and there were Elk wandering about the town square - and I passed a small shop, I think it may have been a coffee shop. Anyway, it was closed and a member of staff was mopping the floor. Outside the shop was dark, the inside was lit, and had a black and white checkerboard tile floor. It shouted at me that it would look great as a black and white print. The person inside was not likely to notice me because she was engaged with tidying up before ending her day, and the difference in light between the inside and outside would have made my presence less obvious to her.

So why didn't I? Gah!

What it means is that I think about that missed opportunity, knowing that another chance like that is very unlikely to strike again. Last night, I needed to nip out and pick up a paper and a couple of other things, so, naturally, I took my camera with me. I did so knowing that it was dark, and that there would be some shops with lights on.

Now this image is relatively close to how I imagine the Estes Park one would have turned out but slightly less charming a shop and from a bit further away, and I still nearly bottled it. I wonder if I will ever feel as confident as I imagine real photographers do about taking such images?

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I don't know if you've noticed, but we have a couple of kittens in the house. Kittens and christmas trees, we have been warned, can be somewhat chaotic. Last year we chucked our John Lewis fake Xmas tree as it was a bit knackered. What we are going to do about replacing it has been discussed, and we have decided that this year we are going to forego a regular tree and create a wall mounted arty-farty tree made of wind blown branches. Less chance of the little tykes using it as a playground.

This morning we set off for Styal woods to collect some material. As I type this the wind and rain is making a show of it, but this morning was beautiful and we did collect some wood which we now need to dry before we create our masterpiece.

Here are a few pics from the walk.

"Window Pattern" - Styal Mill.

Gel thinks I should crop and clone the sign out of the bottom left. I think she's right.

"Trees"

"Back At The Old Chicken Shack" 

(an old Jazz album by Jimmy Smith for those modern jazz fans)

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After retreating to the car to avoid the first downpour of the day, we set off for the throbbing metropolis that is Stockport. Realising we needed a repast, we headed (at the behest of a co-worker, M) to a small dining establishment on St Petersgate called "Lord of the Pies", wherein we perchanced to purchase a brace of small pastry-based comestibles. My original choice of "Beef and Blue" being sold out, I opted for "Pork and Black Pudding" with cheesy mash. My dining companion chose "Lamb and something she can't remember" with braised red cabbage.

We thoroughly enjoyed it and would heartily recommend you give it a go if you find yourself in downtown Stockport at dinner time.

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We then bought a coffee table from the British Heart Foundation shop in the town centre, because that's how we roll.