Notorious Puddle and all that

The 26th of May turned out to be a pretty fine day. The 25th was good too. The reason? Sunshine, uninterrupted by rain. Gardens dry enough to mow, for the first time in about two weeks. So it was a good day to be out and about with a camera. But that does not mean that any photograph was taken on account of the sunny spell. These photos were taken on account of an idea about documenting the mentally-note-worthy things I see while walking. Some would think of these as mundane, hardly-noticed, unremarkable things. But I notice them because they are changes in the familiar scene. It's the subtle distinctions that give a sense of change.

First Up: The Notorious Puddle


It's a sunny day, right? So who's gonna notice that the puddle which usually occupies this space had drained away, and that it will have a long wait before the formerly-clogged grate permits it to form again? I is, of course. I saw the work crew there the other day, so I knew a good thing was in the making, and today I was proved right. Provisionally, of course, because it hasn't rained yet.

Next: Houseworks



This was an empty lot last year. Grassed over, maybe a tree or six, a good place for neighbourhood cats. Now it's this Mock-Neo-Whatever that does a good job of fitting in with the neighbours while displaying contemporary technology like UPVC window frames, double glazing and skylights. The transformation is nearly complete.



I like these rendered semis with their green roof tiles. On a day like today the tiles set off the sky in a lovely way. So I'm hoping that the extension going up will keep the existing character intact. It looks to be in keeping, although the overall symmetry across the front will be lost.

The Most Interesting House In Moseley



This house is great fun to watch, because someone is a fine bricklayer and is doing lovely things with bricks, starting with the garden wall on the right, and including the steps up to the door, and those quirky, quirky helical columns. The columns are fantastico in their own right, and I play a game of imaging how they might be completed: lions on top, a gothic arch, ornamental ironwork, a trellis, potted palms. You know, the works. But they also look fantastico in today's angled sunlight, when the shadows lack a distinct edge, and the bricks themselves seem a bit radiant.

The stacks of block are probably meant for a garage, which brings me to the 2nd great thing about this house. Along the pavement, down the back, is a garage-sized excavation. It was formerly two small garages. For quite some time it was screened by big sheets of plywood, but these fell over and exposed the old construction. In the last year that's been dug out a bit, and a bit more, and various other kinds of excavation and terracing and skip-filling have gone on. There've been some really delightful scenes here over the last few months, which makes this the most interesting house in Moseley, including some based on photo-manipulation like the one below.