The Soft Machine, AC Cobras and Portable Stoves

Which sums up my day so far.
We went for a walk.

Halfway 'round SURPRISE SURPRISE - a classic car show.
Well it was no surprise for me and I had warned S that we might happen upon it.

So no surprise to anyone really.

The star of the show, in fact on first perusal the only star, A real AC Cobra.
If you don't know this car - you obviously have no interest in automobiles.
The greatest pure muscle car ever.
Body and chassis from some GB minor manufacturer.
Engine from Ford(USA) without any limit
Combined by Caroll Shelby - nutcase genius.
This one however had a 6.3L Chevy engine - so a little suspect.
I wanted to lick this one - all gloss black'n'chrome.
The rest of the cars sucked so we had lunch and watched car geeks.
After lunch a cup of tea is favourite.
Now for that you really need boiling water - a flask don't cut it.
So here's a sub list inside the bag list
Stoves





This is a little beauty I've had for years, it's gas powered and will fit into your average pocket.
The blistered patina is a result of my refurbishment with "wrong" paint but I really like the effect.

Stuart Maconie is featuring The Soft Machine and associates in the Freak Zone as Hugh Hopper has died.

However typical showboating by some rich weirdo druggie R&B singer dancer has obscured this sad event from public attention.

I'm In My Bag

As you were all asking.

Here's what's in the top section of my bag. This is the flap that closes the top of the bag, it has a small zipped pocket that I suppose is for valuable and must have in a moderate hurry things.
Starting top left and going down

Sunnies
The best ones I've found to replace my ray-bans that got stolen in Aberdeen. Genuine bargain; £1 from Primark.I bought 5 pairs and leave them all over the place.

Compass

Gift from some outdoor leader bod I met years ago. He had boxes of them - Thanks Dennis. A must have on everyone's outdoor essentials list. This one got us un-lost on Kinder Scout. It doesn't require any electicity and will work after months immersed in water.

Bag Pet
Every bag should have one; S has Brian the Dinosaur. I have a Little White Bull who I should call Tommy but I don't. It's a totem. I posess this bull and so control all others. They cannot attack me. Basic shamanistic magic. Niels Bohr had a horseshoe in his study; for good luck which he didn't believe in.

Keys
There's no story here. You use them to lock and unlock doors. These ones fit the camper. The attached piece of fancy knot work is a jib-shackle.

Top right downwards

A container for tea bags - cute eh?

The tea bag it contains. Earl Grey with caffeine. Some times when I'm feeling pious I drink decaf' but it's always Earl Grey. More about walking, tea making and drinking in a later instalment.

Container for Leatherman
Not very interesting. I do worry sometimes about the number of containers I own. Some compulsion to contain things so as to control them?

The Leatherman tool it contains.
T'reffic- I had one for years that S bought me. Some twat stole it. I was working on the camper, left it on the drivers seat while I dipped underneath. Blink. I popped back up and it had gone BASTARDS. I got myself another one eventually .

Today we also went for a walk (see comment below)

Feed the Birds,Tuppence a Bag!

It's one of those Oh to be in England evenings.

Only it's not swallows it's swifts.

The suns been shining most of the day which made me think...

If you don't have a decent hat in the sunny weather, steam comes out of your ears and the grey thinking stuff starts running out.

Where the snot usually comes from.

Here's my hat - I just got it out of the bag.

This Little Bag of Dreams

You've got to carry a fleece.

This one is windproof and showerproof.

Cosy.

Papa has a Brand New Rucsac

People often stop me and say "How come if you've just come out for the day, why such a huge bag?"

I usually reply "Why don't you keep your snout out; you get!"