Frosty The...hic...Snowman (& Friends)

The winter arrived with full force over night on Sunday. Cheltenham woke to a winter wonderland yesterday, and very pretty it was too. We don't get snow here very often, only a couple of days each winter, and the recent snowfall wasn't predicted so it was a pleasant surprise. As I walked about yesterday kids were off school (why do UK schools close after an inch of snow?!) and they were enjoying the wintry weather, having snowball fights and building snowmen. The snowman in the top photo looked like he had been on the booze overnight! He was in the small front garden of what I assume was a student house, surrounded by rubbish bins and empty beer cans. They had given him wine bottle top buttons, a beer bottle top smile, eyes made of two pence coins, a Guinness hat, and a traditional carrot nose. Notice the beer can on his stick arm! The mini-snowmen below were a bit more civilised and were doing some Cheltenham sight seeing in Imperial Gardens.

The cold snap is set to continue through the weekend, plenty more opportunities for building snowmen!

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Castle Coupling

The reason for my absence this weekend? We were at a wedding. No, not mine! We were invited to our friends wedding at Clearwell Castle, in the Forest of Dean, which is about 30 miles from Cheltenham. I had the pleasure of creating the wedding flowers for the day, something I haven't done before, though I have done flowery things in the past. Anyway, I was pleased with the end results and, more importantly, so were the bride and groom.

The impressive Clearwell Castle.

The tables ready for the wedding reception.

The brides bouquet (all my own work!)

The happy couple.

I'm not sure how I manged to get the effect in the last photo, as I had taken full advantage of the free bar! Well, it would have been rude not to!

Theme Day - Numbers

Its the first day of the month and its Theme Day again! The phrase 24/7 is one of the most used set of numbers. I think it originated from the name of an American Store, but in Cheltenham our Twenty 4 Seven is a bar and club. Its housed in a four storey Regency building that's part of a terrace, the sort that Cheltenham is famous for. The venue has a nice relaxed bar, an area with comfy sofas and a large dance floor in the basement. I've been there a few times, but don't remember much about it! That's what happens when you drink 24/7 !!

Take some time to visit some of the other 180 City Daily Photo Blogs taking part in this Theme Day Click here to view thumbnails for all participants

St Patricks Day

The 17th March is the day that the world celebrates St Patricks Day. I was hoping for a 'green' themed photo to mark the day but it didn't happen so today's picture is from an advert outside the Midland Hotel (Betfair Arms) by the train station. The Toucan was used in the advertising of Guinness in the 1940's, a jingle from the time went "Toucans in their nests agree/Guinness is good for you/Try some today and see/What one or toucan do." The Toucan was reinstated in 2000 to promote the fact that Guinness was brought to the British mainland direct from Ireland. Guinness is the drink most associated with St Patricks Day and the Irish, but Ireland is not the biggest consumer of the Stout in the world. That accolade goes to Africa, who drinking their way through 40% of the worldwide production of Guinness. Canada is the fastest growing market and on St Patricks Day in 2006 more Guinness was sold in Canada than in Ireland! I hope you enjoy St Patricks Day, have a couple of pints of Guinness and see what one or Toucan do for you!

Come back tomorrow for some photos of my trip to The North!

Theme Day - Best Photo Of The Year

First things first - Happy New Year!!! I hope 2008 is a good year for you and you achieve all you want!

As I haven't been posting for long I didn't have loads of photos to choose from, so I decided on this one. Its only from December, but I thought it was a good one with some fun and humour! Its taken from the window display of clothes shop White Stuff in the Prom. I love the drunk gingerbread man staggering home in his pants, complete with traffic cone on his head! Best of all is his gingerbread wife, waiting with a rolling pin to give him what for!

Due to a busted laptop I probably won't be posting for the rest of the week while I await the arrival of a new one, but I'll be back with brilliant photos from my new fantastic camera!

Check out the links below to see other photos from blogs all over the world taking part in theme day.

Paris, France - London, England - Hyde, UK - West Sacramento (CA), USA - Grenoble, France - Stockholm, Sweden - Riga, Latvia - Saint Paul (MN), USA - Manila, Philippines - Silver Spring (MD), USA - Weston (FL), USA - Prague, Czech Republic - New Orleans (LA), USA - Wichita (KS), USA - Cleveland (OH), USA - San Francisco (CA), USA - Hobart (Tasmania), Australia - Greenville (SC), USA - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Menton, France - Monte Carlo, Monaco - Mainz, Germany - Melbourne, Australia - Portland (OR), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - Wassenaar (ZH), Netherlands - Kyoto, Japan - Tokyo, Japan - Toulouse, France - Naples (FL), USA - Jakarta, Indonesia - Brussels, Belgium - Stayton (OR), USA - Selma (AL), USA - Mexico City, Mexico - Ocean Township (NJ), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Port Angeles (WA), USA - Toruń, Poland - Fort Lauderdale (FL), USA - Budapest, Hungary - Baziège, France - Nashville (TN), USA - Saint Louis (MO), USA - http://www.blogger.com/%3Ca%20href=" target="_new">Cottage Grove (MN), USA - Chicago (IL), USA - Prescott (AZ), USA - Bellefonte (PA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Miami (FL), USA - Philadelphia (PA), USA - Evry, France - Trujillo, Peru - Arlington (VA), USA - Denpasar, Indonesia - American Fork (UT), USA - Seattle (WA), USA - Chandler (AZ), USA - Coral Gables (FL), USA - Montpellier, France - Joplin (MO), USA - Pilisvörösvár, Hungary - Crystal Lake (IL), USA - Bucaramanga (Santander), Colombia - Boston (MA), USA - Torun, Poland - New York City (NY), USA - Dunedin (FL), USA - Quincy (MA), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Chateaubriant, France - Maple Ridge (BC), Canada - Jackson (MS), USA - Wailea (HI), USA - Port Elizabeth, South Africa - Budapest, Hungary - Austin (TX), USA - Montréal (QC), Canada - Cypress (TX), USA - Bicheno, Australia - Wrocław, Poland - Brookville (OH), USA - Minneapolis (MN), USA - Nelson, New Zealand - Cheltenham, UK - Wellington, New Zealand - Rabaul, Papua New Guinea - Mumbai (Maharashtra), India - London, UK - Haninge, Sweden - Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation - Arradon, France - Jefferson City (MO), USA - Orlando (FL), USA - Mumbai, India - Terrell (TX), USA - Bogor, Indonesia - Delta (CO), USA - Radonvilliers, France - Saigon, Vietnam - San Diego (CA), USA - Adelaide (SA), Australia - Belgrade, Serbia - Auckland, New Zealand - Seguin (TX), USA - Inverness (IL), USA - Oslo, Norway - Singapore, Singapore

Night On The Ginger Beer

In Cheltenham we don't have many large stores with extravagant Christmas window displays like other towns and cities. Ours just tend to be mannequins in party gear with hanging baubles and fairy lights in the background. But this window is great! A drunk gingerbread man in his Y fronts, complete with traffic cone, about to get a bashing from his gingerbread wife with a rolling pin! The store didn't want to lose sight of what its trying to sell, hence the mannequin in party gear to the side of the impending gingerbread earful!

Click on the photo for a larger version and check out all the detail.