shoe tree

Definition of shoe tree

noun

• a shaped block inserted into a shoe when it is not being worn to keep the shoe in shape.
  
  
  (Courtesy of: http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/shoe%2Btree?q=shoe+tree 

 
shoe tree

Google: Shoe Tree

Google: Shoe Tree photos...

...and you get a completely different picture.

This article explains how shoes have been appearing in this tree, in the south of England, for the past 40 years and a recent investigation funded by lottery money to the tune of £265,000 has failed to come up with the reason behind this odd tradition.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/4173582/Shoe-tree-mystery-defeats-265000-investigation.html

So when a colleague recently started talking of a Shoe Tree nearby, it was obviously a photo opportunity not to be missed.

One lunchtime we drove the couple of miles to a lay-by opposite our local shoe tree and this is how it looks. 

Seems to be left hand side - black shoes, right hand side - white shoes!

 It was actually quite scary standing by the roadside taking photos inbetween cars, vans and lorries that were passing us by at speed, as this is a major road.

How high can you go.....

 The shoes were all pairs, laces tied together and thrown at all heights and were predominantly white or black. But in the midst of this odd view there is a pair of pretty pink ladies shoes.

Who didn't want the pink pair?

And I just have one question...

WHY? 

Further research shows this is also a phenomenon in the US and I even found this article that states the rules for throwing shoes into trees.

http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/29063

Whatever the reason, and no-one seems to have the definite answers as to why this occurs, it seems most theories are simply local folk-lore and no-one can categorically say why...

And maybe... it's better that way. There may be a different story to each pair of shoes from the ones thrown there simply because others were already there, some that were thrown as a symbolic end or beginning to a new chapter in a person's life, the possible stories are endless.

The A57 tree now has so many pairs it is impossible to pass without noticing something odd, but I wonder how many people actually believe what their eyes are telling them as they pass at speeds of 50 mph, and how many miss this odd sight while focusing on the road ahead. After all, I have driven this road countless times and never previously noticed the shoes. 

Bluebell Time

In February I visited a local Country House for the Snowdrops which I was told this year, were not as abundant as normal, but still looked very pretty. The ground behind them was a little uninspiring with the bare trees and brown leaves.

Hodsock Priory Snowdrops

 This is the same woodland today

Hodsock Priory, Carpet of Bluebells

                  It's lovely to see the change from winter to summer 

                       (we seem to have missed Spring this year)

Snowdrops

Bluebells

And the Priory itself?

It's a beautiful property and a lovely setting for weddings.

Hodsock Priory, Nottinghamshire.

And while taking photos I discovered a flower I'd never heard of...

Summer Snowflake

             I thought it was a late snowdrop at first, but a quick Google 

                     and I find out it's actually a Summer Snowflake. 

                                              How pretty.

My hubby struggles to count to 3...

Several months ago hubby & I started beginner's ballroom classes as a way of getting some gentle exercise and having an interest for the dark winter evenings. 
See http://acoffeeandachat.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=cha+cha+cha

We have continued to go each Tuesday evening and have learned a few more dances, all with the same 4/4 beat music meaning each set of steps starts with the same foot. We have Foxtrotted, Quick-stepped, Salsa'd, Rock 'n' Rolled and even Rhumba'd to a variety of songs, I say even Rhumba's, it is probably the hardest of the dances we have learned to date because it starts on the 2nd beat rather than the 1st, but we both enjoy it - it is a lovely dance to do.

Now, Neil has no problem counting to 3 if it's followed by 4, but when it's followed by another 1, 2, 3... then we have problems, in other words, he cannot Waltz.

Now that's a shame because I really like the Waltz, but Neil seems to either want to put an extra step in or gets bored and loses all sense of which foot should go where. I'm very happy that he will come dancing with me, has a sense of rhythm and seems to remember most of the steps, but I do wish he could get the Waltz.

Clouds, Apps and Androids... and so much more.

Two years ago I had no understanding of Apps and Androids in the context I was seeing advertised on TV... connected to mobile phones. I took the decision to get an Android phone and learn. I downloaded a variety of free apps, most of which lasted at most 5 minutes before I deleted them. I really don't understand why I need a cat that purrs when I 'stroked it's tummy' or why I needed an app to play games on a screen too small to see with buttons too small to use. However, I did like my weather app and the ability to Google anything at any time. 

I have taken to checking the news online rather than the TV often as I sit in Starbucks with a coffee. It can be a bit of a task on such a small screen but it passes the time and gets me the information I'm looking for.

Two years on and it's time to upgrade the phone contract. Over the last year more and more people around me have got iPads and other tablets and I have often been told that I would find one useful. I couldn't see it as I have my laptop at home and my phone when I'm out and about. My husband has tried to convince me to have one for the last few months and each time I've said 'no thank you'. But, while looking at new phone contracts I started to see a number where a tablet was available as part of the package. 

So, with an amount of research I have finally succumbed... I have reduced the monthly cost, switched networks to Vodaphone and am now the proud owner of a Versus 9inch tablet. 

I now have bits of information on 3 different items, and I know that wherever I am going to be, the information I want is going to be on the one left at home, or at work or in the car... whether it be photos, memo's, diary dates... 

There's nothing for it, it's time to learn about 'the Cloud'. It's somehow a little scary for someone who is forever saving things to a USB stick to trust an upload to somewhere unseen, and expect it be there when I want it, but we'll give it a go. 

According to my tablet I have an Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Operating System, come on, seriously? Ice Cream Sandwich...? I remember back to my college days when, as part of my Accountancy Course, we had to learn about computers. This was back when accounting was still done in large ledgers and the large calculating jobs were done on comptometers.

Even calculators were a recent introduction in offices. I struggled with the IT module of the qualification, especially the idea of software... I just couldn't get to grips with what they were talking about... until someone explained it to me in very simple terms. If you can actually kick it, (although it wasn't recommended that I did) it was hardware, anything else was software. I understood it then.

So, anyone with an equally simple explanation on how my tablet runs on Ice Cream?

George takes a rest...

Nest building is a tiring task and so my new neighbour took a well earned rest yesterday...

Wasn't long before he was back on the search for dried grasses, and judging by how many he took in that got thrown out, his Mrs has very high standards.

And this picture only took 15 minutes of sitting and waiting, they must be getting used to me being out there and they're not even put off by the dogs being about.

I feel they need names, I feel I know them well enough to be on first name terms with them. From now on they will be George and Georgina, on the basis that I have no idea which is the male and which is the female.

New Neighbours... Hope they're not too noisy!

Last summer we hung a new bird house on a fence post in the back garden that was made for me by a good friend, and prepared to wait a couple of years while the birds got used to it and maybe started to take an interest...

Except we didn't have to wait too long as earlier this week I noticed a little face peeking out. As I sat and watched I realised that I have a nesting pair that are busy building a cosy home together. Maybe my friend has the magic touch to get residents so quickly.

Last weekend I sat out and waited, and waited and waited and finally...

one of them paused long enough for me to get a quick snap...

I'm not sure how long I'll need to wait for the sound of babies but count on me to be out there waiting, camera ready... and the patience to sit for 3 hours, which is how long it took to get this photo.

Lethargy Lifts...

It's been a long winter, but finally it feels like it may be coming to an end. 

By the time I was recovering from my operation last September and beginning to get out and about again, autumn was well progressed, most of the autumnal colours had gone and the greys and browns of winter were well on their way. This winter has seen a regular supply of snow and, while very pretty...

there comes a point when enough is enough. 

Last weekend was Easter, a weekend when we should have been able to get out and about to take photos of the pinks, yellows and purples of spring flowers. Instead this is representative of the photos I took...

And so it was a pleasant surprise to see the sun shining through the curtains this morning, the sky mostly clear of clouds and to be able to put a lighter weight coat on when walking the dogs. Winter has dragged on long enough and the plants are completely confused as to whether they should be growing or not. How many of them will actually reach their colourful potential waits to be seen. Many of those that had started growing have been flattened by the weight of the snow. 

Many of the trees are finally showing signs of buds and maybe it won't be too long before we are walking along the canal covered in greenery once more.

What I do know is that finally the lethargy of hibernation that comes over me every winter has finally lifted. I have been more active today than for many months and those little jobs I've been meaning to do are finally getting done.

Maybe, just maybe the long winter will mean we have a long summer.

Now, that would be nice.