Graffiti...

...on my way into Chester city.

I was parked for 8am. I needed a space where I could unload my mobility scooter in and out if the car, and that I shouldn't be blocked in in my return. I visualised two parking spaces which suited me and would get me where I wanted to be. The first space I needed has gone, so I went looking for my 2nd space. Great! That was still there. I did have a back up plan, but the back up plan would only give me 3 hours, and I wanted an all day space so I wasn't rushed.

There was 4 things on my shopping list. Postcards, a carbon monoxide alarm (my current one is only a few months old, given to me by an organisation, but it has stopped working), a battery toothbrush, and some pritt sticks. I had also promised myself I could have a meal/something to eat.

Went to the Tourist information office first, but the postcards were way out of my price range. They are aimed at the tourists. We have a lot of Japanese and Spanish tourists in large groups.

I do remember the Salmon and J. Arthur Dixon postcards from my childhood and a bit beyond. I didn't want (nor could I afford) a state of the art large postcard. Generally people on Postcrossing (I blipped about it yesterday) state they want normal sized postcards which appear to be a maximum size of 6x4 inches, down to a little smaller than that size. Both these sizes and a bit of variation in between are available in packs of 100 of different subjects from Amazon. But in the packs I ordered there are at least a dozen in each pack I wouldn't send to anyone, at least I wouldn't want to receive them. So I am not going to send what I wouldn't like to receive.

So today was a bit of an exploration to see what postcards would be available in a tourist city. But wherever I went, they were vastly oversized, vastly priced postcards, all state of the art ones (yes beautiful but if I bought one it would be as a special birthday card or for my postcard wall in my study).

I was disappointed I couldn't find what what was in my mind as a scenic postcard. Years ago on my travels with J, we bought postcards from wherever we went.

I do have a couple of massive plastic storage  boxes at home of postcards. One is of antique postcards going back to 1800's. Many of these have their original messages and stamps on them.  The other box is of Salmon (the make of the postcard), and J. Arthur Dixon postcards which I have collect since childhood. I don't regard myself as a collector of postcards, I have just bought them over the years as memories of places.

Maybe you don't get postcards now the way I remember because of digital photography, and the phone camera. I didn't consider that until this morning.

I had found my carbon monoxide detector, pritt sticks, and toothbrush.

I was about to come home by now. I was tired. The city was too busy of people. But I had one more idea. The Oxfam bookshop. I went in. They had boxes and boxes of old postcards, from abroad, to photos of ambulances, and also some of this country. And guess what, they had the old Salmon make of postcards AND J Arthur Dixon! All unwritten on!!! Just what I wanted!

For the next hour I was sieving through these postcards. I ended up with ones suitable for my grandchildren, and British ones of seaside towns and beaches and castles and country homes and lake district and trains and other subjects and much more which were suitable for Postcrossing, and some I liked just for me.

I was shattered when I came out of the shop.

When I got back to my car there was another car waiting for its space! And on the way home the traffic  coming into Chester was choc a block, at standstill for many miles. They wouldn't stand a chance of finding a parking space. There were none to be had for love or money. And this was only 1pm.

As soon as I got home I got on the couch with cat and electric blanket. I was cropping the graffiti photo on my phone camera when I fell into a sound sleep for the next 4 hours. I woke up still holding my phone!!!

I was lucky I was still holding it! It has a ring on the back of this elastic thingumyjig I bought for it, and on my middle finger it fits like a ring and so my phone was still safely  attached to my hand!!!