A Backblipped Sunday

Backblipped

We were awake quite early and headed to a local farmer's market that appears for the first weekend of every month.
A few less stalls than usual - I couldn't get all the same treats that I usually get, but I got a few trinkets for Christmas presents for my nieces and my mum, and some Wensleydale cheese with cranberries. The cheese is quite sweet and very tasty.
It's almost as good as the chilli marmalade I've recently found. The chilli marmalade is so good that I bought about four jars of it.

After that, we got some old towels, blankets and dog beds from Anne's mum's house and took them to a local dogs home.
Marion, Anne's mum, has now been resident in a care home for over a year, so we are all resigned to the fact that she will spend the rest of her days in there.
Marion is still mentally sharp as a tack, but has trouble walking even using a frame, so physically she needs constant care that we aren't in a position to provide.
Anne and her sister have recently started the house clearance work in earnest which is why the old dog beds suddenly appeared.

Along with the towels, blankets and dog beds, we bought a load of tinned dog food as well. As Anne said to the staff at the dogs home, "We already have two dogs at home and can't take any more, so this is our way of helping out as best we can."
(The two dogs in question are both poodles [like Lucy who featured on Saturday's blip] - poodles don't shed their fur, which is good seeing as how we're both allergic to most cat hair and dog hair.)
In the car we had a discussion about how close Christmas is, and what it actually means for us.
For two adults without any children - (just the two dogs!) - Christmas should be more about trying to do some good. Aside from the nephew and two nieces across both our families, everyone else is grown up. I have never seen Christmas as an excuse for eating and drinking to the point of silliness, and now that we're all adults, there is no point in spending ridiculous sums of money on each other.
It's just wasteful. A limit was set on how much we spend on each other a few years ago and that hasn't really changed.
In our own way, giving something to the dogs home (and to local food banks) is our way of making a difference.

And besides, Anne's birthday is between Christmas and New Year and I'm spending money on her for her birthday.

On the way back from the dog's home, I asked Anne to stop the car so I could take a few photos of the slowly setting sun.
The area that you....a few high buildings in Manchester city centre can be seen in the far distance; the building to the right of the foreground is part of the new police headquarters; the tall modern spire shape is actually part of the Central Park metrolink tram stop. The wall to the left hand side is part of the tram tracks, from Manchester to Oldham.
The expanse of water in the foreground isn't anything more than a water-filled hole in some wasteland; the winter sun has done a good job of creating long shadows that disguise what the area actually looks like.

And finally, for those of you still reading at this point, who I've not managed to bore to tears yet - I want to say thank you for how well my blips have been received this November.
Out of the November photos I've posted, forty eight of them have been "favourited", and one got the most hearts I've ever had - eleven! I'm astounded. Before November, I'd had a couple of hundred favourited entries. Each one appreciated.
But maybe it's something to do with November.
November last year, I had a blip that was chosen as one of the staff picks of the week, and that same week that I got a staff pick, I also had a photo published in a local newspaper - and I got paid for it too. Maybe I just do better at certain times of the year.

Anyway, enough for me.
I'm not usually the wordy type.
Thanks for reading.


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