Sunday 15 January 2012

Gone fishin

Instead of mooching around half the day and getting nothing done, I decided to get my finger out and go for a walk. A couple of sandwiches, a pot of cous cous left over from last night, a few peach slices, and a bottle of watered down juice was my packed lunch. Kill two birds with one stone, I thought, park at Tesco and time it so I get back to the car at 3pm, then lurk in the store waiting for the final reductions.

Tesco is opposite the football ground where they have a car boot sale, today was the first one after the Christmas break. I had a little nosey around first but there wasn't many stalls and some were packing up. I spotted this little cutie and got chatting to it's owner, as you do, ha ha. The elderly lady obviously loved her little dog to bits. It had a little coat on underneath it's pink blanket. She proudly showed me a certificate, it had won a photographic competition for the best pooch. I suggested she frame it as it was getting a little creased. I don't think she minded, she was probably glad to show it to anyone who might be interested.

I set off down this path, it's a dismantled railway track.

We get quite a lot of cable theft in this area, and here is the evidence. Sometimes whole villages lose their phone connections or have power failures. Luckily it hasn't happened here yet. With the price of metal rocketing the thieves are having a field day.

This is the bridge over the River Trent at Gunness. I have mentioned this before, I came past it when I did the long walk up the Trent. It used to be a lift bridge but has been fixed for quite some time now.

Surprise surprise, there is a boat in at the docks. It's a Dutch vessel called Ardea.

It's got it's own dinky little matching lifeboat at the rear, poised ready to be launched. Bet that's exciting if you are in it when it hits the water, like the log flume at the fairground :o)



A bit further along at Keadby Wharf is another boat, the Fehn Cartagena. I can't get a full length picture of this as it's on my side of the river. As you can see it's from Gibralter.



This pile of scrap metal has been unloaded, bound for the steelworks.

Here I am standing on the road bridge looking down towards Belton. This is where the canal joins the River Trent. I decided to have a walk down the left hand side.

Me being nosey I got chatting to the fishermen. This one has tackle box which has a table on the side, and you use the box as a seat.

The fish seemed to be biting well. I watched as he reeled it in, then he used a crochet hook like tool to get the fish hook out of it's gullet. I asked if he was going to eat it for tea. He said, no, it will be put back in.

A bit further along is Keadby Power Station. This is a gas fired power station, it was built on the site of a former coal fired station.

About half a mile on is where the railway line crosses the canal. There is the signal box.

Next to it is a swing bridge with a little cottage.

At this point I decided to turn round and go back. Didn't want to miss my bargains at Tesco. The store was quite busy, I was surprised, it has normally tailed off by this time. A lot of people have cottoned on to the late shopping lark, the store closes at 4pm and it was buzzing at 3.45. A lot of the stuff in the chiller cabinet had meat in it so no good for me. I got some yogurt and dips.

I hovered around the veg and picked up a few items there, but not as much as I'd have liked. The bread was a big disappointment, they didn't bother to do the final reductions so all I got was a packet of wholemeal bread rolls for 45p. I have a lot of space in my freezer so I was hoping for some more. They brought a load of ready meals out and reduced them all to 10p. Again no good for me, they had meat in them :o( Never mind, I spent £8.86 on food, hoping it will last me a week.

I'm getting a bit behind with my blog reading, forgive me if I haven't commented on yours, I must try and catch up.


Toodle pip.

17 comments:

  1. You're fortunate that the stores do markdowns at the end of the day. The stores here seldom do any markdowns. The only place I see ark downs on a regular basis is in the produce store where they sell mostly rotting fruit or veg for $1. a bag. Sometimes I buy a bag if it isn't too bad but you have to use them or prepare them for storage immediately.

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  2. That brought back a few memories of when we sailed from Newark to Hull. We stopped at Keadby for a few hours when the tide was coming in, it is almost hopeless trying to move against it as it flows at a terrific rate, so we moored up and had lunch. Couldn't do anything else as we were on a pontoon with no access off it other than by boat but we had been to suss out Keadby a week or so earlier, the lock-keeper was a really helpful and friendly chap :0)

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  3. We don't have markdowns here, except produce (which is usually half rotten!!).
    That dog is one cutie!!
    Jane x

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  4. Cute dog well wrapped up against the cold. They must have been very dedicated fishermen, its been freezing today. You missed a trick there Ilona, could have had a nice fish supper.

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  5. I love the reflections in the photos. That bridge is interesting.

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  6. you have to hit the right time to get the reduced items at our grocery stores. Haven't had many good deals recently.

    Loved the little doggie in the cart.

    Gill in Canada

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  7. Our local IGA marks down produce all the time and most of the time it is not that bad. I have two perfectly good bags of carrots in the frig right now that I got marked down. They also have a couple of carts where they put odds and ends that are marked down. I got dog treats out of the cart last week. Bi-Lo used to mark down their produce every Saturday about 10:00 a.m. but they don't do it anymore unless it is rotten now. I seldom go to Bi-Lo anymore.

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  8. Sounds like you had a lovely walk.

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  9. You always have such interesting photos. I suppose if I ever walked anywhere, I would have interesting photos, too. lol.

    We have vegetable markdowns all the time. I specifically look for those in one store. Bananas were $.39/lb. Those are for the dehydater. I don't know what price that would be in the UK or if you all would consider it a good price.

    In another, there is always a freezer that has marked-down meat.

    In the third store there are huge racks at the back where all manner of items, from food to toiletries, are marked down. With a coupon these are sometimes free.

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  10. I wonder if, with the cable thefts, that more will be put underground at last?

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  11. great photos as ever. I love that little dog. When I get to my dotage I'm going to get one of those mobility scooters with the basket on the front and a little dog to sit in it LOL

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  12. That looks an interesting walk. I love your canal photos with the still reflections.

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  13. I refuse to hang around waiting to see if the supermarkets condescend to reduce stuff to nothing which is just as well as food is rarely marked down like that in the States. Usually Easter candy and rotting fruit; meat is sometimes 50% off but not very appetizing. Most of the excess food goes to food banks and is picked up at the back doors by the banks.
    I like Aldi - fresh because of high turnover - Del Monte bananas are 33c a llb and strawberries were 99c lb all summer long. Now 5 lb bags of oranges are 99c -1.49 lbs.

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  14. Hi, I've been following your blog for a few days now, wanted to say how much I am enjoying reading about your travels and the the pictures of your walks! My comment: The stores here in the U.S. at least in Michigan, where I am from, don't seem to discount food like they do in the U.K. Most of it is thrown out, especialy produce. I think its a terrible waste, there are people going hungry that could use it!

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  15. keep up the good work Ilona. love reading your blog........ Mel

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  16. That lifeboat will definitely be fun. I was in the kayaking society at uni and we slid down a slide to get into the river. You go completely under the water and nearly subside when you come back up. Not pleasant on a bitter November day a year ago!

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  17. Great photo of the little dog in the basket, very cute! He looks small enough to put in your pocket. Always interesting photos of your walks, liked the photos of the boats. Came across this on YouTube of the Ardea, thought you like to view it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldeKMaKNbi0

    Lovely pics you have taken of the signal box and cottage by the river, like the reflections.

    These guys fishing must really enjoy their hobby, I couldn't sit for hours on end waiting for fish to bite on a hook, not got the patience.

    Good on you for finding some bargains! I've noticed that our local Tesco's reduced shelves are a bit sparse just now too, compared with before Christmas. Hope your groceries last you the week. Cheers for now, Christy.

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