R's rue

Above, a crippled tree bent double by the prevailing wind. It was in the Staffordshire Moorlands south west of the spa town  of  Buxton and I was there yesterday. It took me  exactly one hour to reach the village of Flash which is where I parked my South Korean jalopy - Clint. Flash is a small village but pretty noteworthy because it is the highest village in The British Isles. It also has the highest parish church and the highest pub - "The New Inn"'. Perhaps the altitude got to the signwriter - no apostrophe in "Britains" and an unnecessary capital "V" in  "village". Tut-tut! Below you can see Three Shires Head which is where the counties of Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire meet.  According to legend this is where crooks would meet in past times to complete business deals or traffic goods - in days when each county had its own discrete law enforcement arrangements. One county could easily be played off against the other. In ...

Just four weeks to Christmas and The Norwegian Postal service has filmed a gay themed advert that centres upon two older gay characters. It’s sweet and relevant and underlines just how older gay men are often made invisible, in social media, cinema and television.  Of course we will always have the waspish, screaming queen stereotypes in such shows as   Vicious but serious and positive depictions of older gay life have been few and far between. I spent a good hour this morning, walking the dogs and when ambling, I listed all those gay films I could think of. The Korean film Twilight’s Kiss (2019), the American Love Is Strange 2014 and Pitstop 2013 and the French/Israeli movie Kol Erev ( 2010)  Not a definitive list, but it is a short one Pitstop Love is strange Twilight’s Kiss Kol Erev Anyhow like I said , it’s almost December. And today it feels it, as there is a crispness to the air. Having said that, the sweet peas that have covered my garden ...