Personal Stuff: If you don't know me - GO AWAY!!!!
To see a larger version, just click on any picture. Full name: Stephen Michael Hooker, nicknames: Acw, Zok. Born in Aberdare, used to live in 46 Peasant View, Godreaman, Aberdare, Mid Glamorgan where my parents still live. Also used to live in Selbourne (Selborne) Street, Chuckery, Walsall. Bachelor of Arts (BA) Degree in Visual Communications from West Midlands College of Higher Education. Ran a business from The Custard Factory Digbeth.
Always a friendly place, mostly. The young couple across the other side with grand parents are having a stressful day, but Esme makes friends with an older girl of 8 and her aging father come across and we natter about the reservoir at the top of a path we're near to. Brown trout he says, of a pound and a half, feeding of the surface. Hmmmm. Thinks I dreamily.
No pictures of Esme, she was playing with her new friend, or going off to the toilet with Amanda.
Bradley scares, or attempts to scare the thick skinned sheep who try to steel left overs, or anything really.
1792 Also posted to: Home page
Permalink Top Search Google Technorati
Other title(s) for this story: Another trip to Church Stretton on a Sunday
Only around the corner a mile away perhaps, Horse Hay's Telford Steam Railway. We've seen Thomas there before. Today there's a special events day, with Thomas the Tank, Percy, The Rocket, Diesel, and one other, who I can't remember. (Must ask Bradley, he's got a head for these train names.)
Bit expensive, I thought for the ride, £14 for the three of us. But, then, all these heplers are doing it for free. So, I don't complain, and fell like I helped in some small way.
The ride we took on Thomas was a bit of a cheat, a bit funny really. They said when I bought the tickets that there was two miles of track, and when we get to 'the other side' there was a tea shop, and a model railway display.
We steamed up the line at about 3 miles an hour. Stopped in what seemed like deep jungle, and started to go back! Eh? Back we came, and stopped at a station, everybody came off, to the tea house and so on. Took me a while to figure where we were, merely the other side of the rail yard! Though to the kids it was 'another town.'
Sitting on the little train. We had to keep out feet on the board, and not lean out 'for safety' because of the nettles. Esme related this story several times. Must have been the nettles that caught her imagination, as she'd been stung a few weeks ago.
Out of focus, but adding to the cartoon nature of the 'show.' The Fat Controller in the background, while the conductor on the platform yells out the instructions, to the driver, bottom left, who needs to get water into the black train, The Rocket. But the hose pipe's too short. And he looks down it, to get an eye full of water. The small crowd on the platform laugh their socks off.
And when he does get water in there, he find a fish and a duck. This was Bradley's part of the story that he told Manda a couple of times, while laughing to himself, of course.
Esme heard that if water wasn't put into The Rocket quickly, she may blow up. Esme then moves to the back of the crowd, and won't come closer.
1791 Also posted to: Home page
Permalink Top Search Google Technorati
Other title(s) for this story: Thomas and Percy with tiger
We leave pretty quickly when we hear from Auntie Alison that Thomas and Percy are at Telford Steam Railway.
1790 Also posted to: Home page
Permalink Top Search Google Technorati
Other title(s) for this story: A trip to Telford Shopping Centre
Esme is getting pretty good on the internet, well, the BBC sites. Using the back button, closing windows, very confident. So confident she adopts my pose.
While she's on this machine. Bradley's on the laptop in the kitchen, doing more BBC games. I have to run between the two machines when they call. I do a lot of running up and down the stairs. This is good for me also then.
1789 Also posted to: Home page
Permalink Top Search Google Technorati
Other title(s) for this story: Esme on my computer



