Photo-a-Day  (Tuesday, 22nd March, 2022)

Well caught sir!

Mother nature at its best

Fantastic !
You were quick David. When we lived out in the sticks we had a resident Barn Owl & he patrolled the grass field next to the house at dusk.

David it looks like something is dripping from that vole.

Looks like he's having a takeaway for his supper. ( sorry!)

Mick I dont think thats a vole, its much to big...& the 'dripping' is probably the creature's tail.

Brilliant photo David, well done.

I love owls and this photo is absolutely amazing!

Irene, re-my comment on yesterdays photograph, I've been trying to locate the page numbers and issue numbers of your stories in Past Forward , I'm having difficulty locating them. Could you post the details, Everyone will be enthralled by your stories. As said yesterday my favourite is ' My Mothers eyes ' You have a great talent for storytelling.

David , sorry I wasn't ignoring your photograph which is excellent as per usual. Thank you, Tom.

David: That’s a well captured photograph, very good.
Mick: If something grabbed you out of the blue and took you up in the air ready for lunch, I’am pretty sure you would be dripping something from the nether regions.

Fantastic pic !

Thanks Tom. I will add them asap but may get tomorrow as I will have to look them up. I hope if people read them, they will bring back memories for them. Thankyou so much for your kind words. Isn't today's photo amazing?!

Excellent photo, David.

What a wonderful shot and such a beautiful bird

O Veronica, Veronica! How could you! That poor little creature is off for his last long ride and you’re comparing him to a Maccy D Special for owls. For shame Veronica, for shame. Three hail Mary’s before bed for you.
And that John G isn’t much better, making fun of the poor creatures dysfunctional bladder indeed! You should wear a hair shirt for at lease a month!

You did a great job to capture that David. Made for a cracking photo, sad though it is.

Tom, I have found them and made a list of the issues they are in but in the list there seems to be an issue missing, (issue 52) and I think that is the one that contains your favourite story, "My Mother's Eyes". It was the last story I wrote for Past Forward. The others are as follows;
Issue 26, page27, Coal Fires and Loved Faces
Issue 27,page 21, Yesterday in the Park
Issue 29, page 13 The Ghost of Christmas Past
Issue 30, page26-27, The Bug, (the cinema in Ince)
Issue 32, page28-29, Remember Remember the 5th of November
Issue 34, page24,The Dream
Issue 36, page 28, Brass Bands and Kind Hearts
Issue 38, page 27, An Apple for the Teacher
Issue 39, page 37, The Girl
Issue 40, p26, The Return, (follow-up to "The Girl")
I did do an article about the old shops in Wigan but I can't find it, and "My Mother's Eyes" doesn't seem to be available to read as issue 52 is missing from the list. Thankyou for asking me to number them and, if my p-a-d friends happen to read them I hope they bring back memories.

Veronica, and DTease, you do make me laugh! You're like a double-act, and it's so lovely to have a bit of fun!

Irene we where so poor when I was a child that we never had any memories.

At least he'll know what it's like to fly through the air with greatest of ease that daring young vole on the flying trapeze. Aw ... it's nature though it can't be helped! I'll light a candle for it...not that it'll do any good...

Well, Mick, of course WE lived in a mansion in Higher Ince ...Swimming pool, Mercedes, room for a pony AND Royal Doulton china with hand-painted periwinkles on which to partake of our jam butties. One was SO POSH back then! Was it the same in Scholes, Veronica dear? (We don't know where DTease lived but I bet he was posh too!).

I always thought Amnesia meant no memory! On the other hand ..... I've forgotten what I was going to say...!

PS, Tom, I have just put into "Google", "Past Forward Issue 52" and it has come up! "My Mother's Eyes" IS there, and I am so glad as I no longer have a copy of my own. Incidentally, the baby girl who appeared at the end of the story, (my granddaughter Edie) will be 15 next month. I'd better sign off now as I got told off recently for putting too many comments on in one day!

Thanks Irene , looking forward to reading your further works . I came upon An Apple for Teacher first but skipped it as I was searching , then got to The Dream . I was going to ask after reading The Dream had you written any more , then Tom mentioned My Mother’s Eyes .

Excellent shot David , I made a barn owl box for a friend on mine, who as a farm we had three young in a couple of years ago,
The Barn Owl trust ,came to check on the young and rung them, so they can keep track, how they are doing.
Beautiful birds of prey, the silent killer.

Sorry it was five chicks on the box David ,here is a link below David ,if you scroll to the end of the post on general there's a photo of one of the chicks.
https://www.wiganworld.co.uk/communicate/mb_message.php?opt=f1&opt2=&msd=1364383&offset=640&subject=Barn%2520Owl%2520Box

Veronica: I’ll take the three Hail Marys, I’ll even throw in two glory's B, can you take the Hair shirt, I have delicate skin, the things I do for you DTease.

Dave, I enjoyed writing them, especially The Dream and The Girl. They are my favourites. Thankyou so much for your lovely comments. My "babies' class" teacher, (as we used to call it before it became "reception"), read "An Apple for the Teacher", and was so pleased to find herself mentioned, (Miss Ashurst). that she wrote to me and we shared the loveliest correspondence until she passed away and I attended her funeral. If you read further articles, I hope so much that you enjoy them and that they bring back memories for you.

Irene, we were so posh in our house that we always wiped our saucers with the dishcloth before we supped our Tay from them!

Irene we were so poor they put me in a drawer when I was a babby, then they shut it when I skriked. John G I am so used to sackcloth and ashes it won't be a problem.

I wonder if I could just risk dipping my toes into these piranha infested waters and make a suggestion.

There is a subtle difference between the meaning of the word "as" , and the word "has" , and at the risk of being labelled
" pedantic " , could I encourage contributors to at least familiarise themselves with the difference between the two.

I've spent quite some time attempting to teach Mick Byrne the difference between there, their, and they're, but all to no avail unfortunately.

But Jesus H Christ, we're all English, and if we can't all converse in a common language, there wouldn't appear to be much hope for our species in the long term.

Looking back, I'm inclined to think that I've posted this on the wrong link, but nonetheless, the sentiment still stands,

Did I ever tell you about the time that we lived in an asbestos shed in the central reservation of the M6 motorway near junction 24.
I think I probably did , but just in case you missed it, my mam used to chuck our laundry into the middle lane on a rainy day to allow the big lurries to agitate the fibres and get my best overalls to an acceptable degree of near cleanliness.

You probably won't believe this.

Veronica, I DID sleep in a drawer as a baby, (thankfully they didn't shut it!), and never had a pram...I was carried in a shawl which was wrapped round my Mam, and I was held snugly in its folds, and I still have it! DTease, you sound like Compo on Ivy's Cafe, slurping your tea out of the saucer. I can remember going to my Auntie Harriet's and she gave my Mam and I a cup of tea in a teacup and said, "Ah cornt gi' thee a saucer cos we 'ave noan".

I know it's going beyond the pail but I recall me and my brother when little had to drink out of tin cups- white enamel with a dark blue line round! When I see that enamel cookware today it just reminds me of that time. I suppose we couldn't be trusted with mugs!

I am so pleased Ozy has 'upgraded' to a bomb shelter and his Aga must be a great comfort.

Flippin' eck . It's like listening to Monty Python's ' Four Yorkshire men ' sketch : -)

Ozymandias Ive told you before that Im dicklicksic so why dont you give up trying to teach me the right and rongs of writting
But I must say my condition hasnt held me back in life, have traveled the world working offshore, and reaching the position of barge captain.
Then when I retired, me and my wife set up a two shop furniture business, that we run for 19 years before packing it in so we could enjoy some long haul business class holidays.

Poet you are right there and we know who the ringleaders are! ;o))

Well if your accounting is as bad as your spelling Captain, I'm glad I didn't come to your shop for my Errol table and chairs.... and mi Old Charm ..

I wonder if that's what happened to Geedubya Veronica, Waylaid at Burscough Bridge by Captain Mick and Her Majesty's Barge "The Mucky Duck"

Mystery solved! Geedub transported on The Mucky Duck to Siberia by an amnesiac Captain.. who'd have thought it Dt

Ho my ribs are aching again...;o))

If P-A-D had a vote for photo of the year then this would win it for me! Cracking photo!