Keeping it simple

Last night I went to work as a photographer for the Council. We had our 20th anniversary party, with many original councillors and officers gathered rather strangely in a local nightclub. I ended up shooting a hundred or more pictures, many of them portraits, or of people chatting or making speeches. I was nabbed by the editor of one of the two local papers, and asked if they could use my pictures. So I will be published again next week, though whether the images will rise above the mediocre, I am not sure.

Today, we had another important Council editorial committee meeting, and on the way home, I climbed up the hill from the High Street, turned the corner and happened to look back. I have watched this building, now comprising four homes, whilst it was renovated over several years. All the original render was removed to be replaced with this hand-applied lime surface. I have been worried about its efficacy, and today the problems stood out. Why is so much of the wall now apparently acting as a sponge when it rains as hard as it has done for the last few days? The light shining on it accentuates the wet-and-dry effect and the colour is lovely, particularly the damp bits. I also like the huge stone lintels, with their individual carving of their render surrounds.

For me this is a pleasing image, adding to my archive of old Stroud, full of detail and character. The house at the bottom of the road, which the pedestrians have just passed by, had a beard when I blipped it a week or so ago. Next door you can see two of the original shops that are still open, one of which I blipped with a cat sleeping in its window, preparing for Remembrance Day.