The little white rose of Waitrose

"The rose of all the world is not for me;
For my part, all I want is the little white rose of Scotland
Which smells sweet, and sharp, and breaks the heart"

So wrote Hugh MacDiarmid. I presume he meant the white rose adopted by the Jacobite cause in Scotland. The Jacobites tried, but ultimately failed, with great loss of life and land, to restore the monarchy to Scotland. (For those who'd like a rousing historical novel on the subject, I can recommend Janet Paisley's White Rose Rebel).

This, however, is the emergency blip of the little white rose of Waitrose (shot in super-macro with LED) where I went after work to pass some time, having dropped off some historical information at a butcher's shop in Stroud where a most interesting old shop sign has been uncovered beneath the fascia boards. An appeal had gone out for information, and when I turned up they asked me if I wanted paying for my bunch of photocopies! I refused, but later thought I should have asked to blip the exterior. But the light was DFO ( dull, flat and 'orrible, as TussockTales calls it), and in any case I would rather show it when they have uncovered the whole of the sign, if they can. At the moment it is still partially covered by a board belonging to adjoining shop.

Later I met CleanSteve at the cinema and we saw the film Quartet, starring Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins and Tom Courtenay, about a bunch of retired professional musicians living in a luxurious country mansion/retirement home. They have to re-form a legendary quartet to put on a concert, but tensions arise ... it's better than this description, honest! The aged cinema audience were also very entertaining, I found, making witty comments as the credits rolled, and sharing an obvious love of music.

First day back with the school children went well: we have two PGCE students observing for a week, and one of them is scaring the crap out of some part-time staff by wearing a suit and taking notes! They had him down as an Inspector. The new lunchtime arrangement that was organised yesterday worked well, is better for the students ( we think, so far) and is easier for me to handle.

Hope you had a good Tuesday, too.