Chestnut Cottage

I made it my business to be out all day on Wednesday as I did not wish to hear anything about the Ironing Lady, for whom I have always had an intense lack of affection.

My first appointment was a viewing of a property in Wedhampton that was up for auction the following day. It was at the top end of my budget so perhaps unsurprisingly it was my favourite of the ones I'd seen to date: a late 18th-early 19th century three-bedroomed detached thatched cottage with half an acre of land in an idyllic location on the edge of Salisbury Plain, and bordered on each side by fields and paddocks.

It was very cosy and just needed a bit of modernisation and TLC. There was a large chestnut tree and a well in the back garden, and a selection of spruces at the front. Unfortunately, I hadn't heard about the property in time to do the necessary surveys and searches and so I just had to view it as an indication that there are suitable properties out there for me, when the time is right.

The nearest village with shops and services was Urchfont, which I drove to and had a walk around afterwards.

In the afternoon, after calling on Christiescruff in Melksham, I went on to Bath to do some shopping, make some hi-fi enquiries at Richer Sounds and continue my interrogations about iMacs, iPads and the like at the Apple centre in Southgate. I had a walk around the city centre and made my way back to Holbourne Museum, where I'd left the car in a one-hour spot, via the River Avon tow-path to Pulteney Bridge and Great Pulteney Street.

With a couple of stops in out-of-town supermarkets near Chippenham for petrol and groceries and a drive on the back roads of Kellaways and East Tytherton I was home by the early evening, where I got a rosy picture of the day's events from the BBC and a widely different one on Twitter and the internet generally. I found the bias in both directions rather depressing.

L.
22.4.2013

Blip #962
Consecutive Blip #002
Day #1119

Alternatives:
Primroses at Chestnut Cottage
The Penny Lane, Bath
Gulls In Bath
Gulls At Pulteney Weir

Lenses: TG-1 Tough, Pentax 17-70mm, Sigma 70-300mm

Lozarhythm Of The Day: Ronnie Spector - You can't put your arms around a memory (1999)
The original version of this song was released in 1978 by Johnny Thunders, who died in 1991. It had been written years earlier for his close friend Fabienne Shine, before he even joined the New York Dolls. The title comes from the sitcom The Honeymooners, in a line from the Better Living Through TV episode. Ronnie Spector's version was a tribute that sticks very closely to Thunders' original vocal, and features Joey Ramone.

One year ago: Naish Hill, Sandy Lane (Bluebells)