I WANDERED LONELY AS A CLOUD AMONGST 10,OOO ....CONES!

They are back! Just when I thought it was safe to venture further afield than Ramsey. You know what I'm refering to don't you? Those damned cones! Yes ladies, gentleman and wallabies, the killer cones of the Isle of Man are back, and this time it's war.

It's not just Laxey now. There seems to be an infestation(not sure what the collective noun should be) of cones running the length of the coastal road from the Hairpin(part of the TT course) to Laxey. It doesn't end there is either. Leaving Laxey onto Onchan and into Douglas... Cones.

A new terror is upon us now, the "Town Cones." These are the specialist group. Highly adept at disguising themselves as harmless objects guarding manhole covers. Oh no, beware this particular cone. Today I saw one lurking in an empty shop window. Empty apart from this lone cone. How did a cone get into an empty locked shop, and why? So be on your guard against the evil that is as pointy as a witches hat, as orange as the sunniest sun and as plastic as well, a cone.

Today I have a T.T. photo. It's 2006, Sidecar race. I cropped it a little differently to how I normally would so you can see some elusive locals. Guess where they are watching the action from, the pub called the Swan, the one where I was a member of the Quiz team.

WALLABY WATCH!
Rounding up those cones before the tourists get here.

TRAINS, BLAMES AND SORT OF APPEALS.

I'm on the bus, minding my own business, got the ipod on, staring into a faceless void of coastal sea when it happens. Do my eyes deceive me or is that the Ramsey to Douglas tram train I see along side of us. I do believe it is. Oh Happy Day!Joy To The World! Hallelujah, Praise the .... Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! it's stopping at Laxey.

So, almost, not quite a monumental day, the Boo a happy bunny. I could have shown you pictures of it in Ramsey, with Mrs H. Brew and the grandkids. I could have have taken photographs from the train, as it cuts through the mountains. As it takes in those little one horse towns, fights it's way through the hammer horror rolling mist, passing the escaped wallaby(you never know), I could have been a contender..... Oh that's going off at a decidedly different tangent.

Manx Electric Railway, bunch of numpties.Are you trying to kill the town off altogether.We have tourist too. We still have the odd larger sized business.The excuse that this particular stretch of the track, (conveniently) is suddenly a sad state of affairs, and needs urgent repairs, year long repairs is just bull. It's not the Forth Bridge, it's a Thomas The Tank Engine, baby sized railtrack.It's a month tops, now sort it.

Rant done. The pic was last april, and the lovely pink buliding is the Police Station. It's a drab cream now. I do miss the baby pink toytown station, such a calming effect on criminals.

WALLABY WATCH!
Doing hard labour, back on the chain gang, along the laxey part of the railway.

MANX ELECTRIC RAILWAY SOCIETY, WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?

As you can see from the title of my post today Babooshka( why am I refering to myself in the third person is beyond me) is not a happy bunny. In fact polite blogging society tempers the language i'd like to use. Why so irate? Read on.

Manx Electric Railway, in their wisdom( blatant irony here) have decided not to run the train from Laxey to Ramsey in the summer for the tourists anymore. This effeftively cuts off the north of the island for alternative transport. It is also mindboggling stupid not to run this when the TT is on. Doh! This is how people get to work during those 2 weeks from Ramsey to Douglas. This is also a blow to the shopkeepers of Ramsey who are reliant on a steady stream of tourists to boost summer sales. Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

Us islanders have not been consulted over this decision. Be warned, you tried to close Ramsey's cottage hospital and failed. You are going to have a fight on your hands over this one aswell, and it starts on my blog. Anyone want to join in feel free.

Ooh that was good. Sorry folks had to get that out of my system.

To redress the angry balance my daily photo is of a very placid butterfly. It's a red admiral taken again with the telescopic lens. I like telelscopic lenses, because you can focus on the subject, whislt the background fades and blurs. This then emphasises the chosen subject in the case the butterfly.

WALLABY WATCH!

Wallaby last spotted stranded at Laxey trying to get back to Ramsey, but there are no bloody trains. Have i made my point yet?

LADY ISABELLA ,THE LAXEY WHEEL

Laxey Wheel, or The Lady Isabella(named after the Lieutenant's Governer's wife ot the time) was designed by John Casement in 1854 and used to pump water away from the mines. It still remains the largest working watermill in the world and is now one of the main tourist attractions on the island. If your'e brave enough for a small fee you can go to the top and survey the land around.

The Triskelion, the 3 legs of man symbol displayed is the national image of the island and is actually the wrong way round.They forgot to reverse the image when it was transfered and so remains the opposite to it should be. Incidently you may have seen the 3 legs symbol on another islands flag, that of sicily. As Micheal Caine would say, not a lot of people know that. The Wheel even has a piece of music dedicated to it by Stuart Slack.

So Andy Kershaw has left the island, one less celebrity. For all you Top Gear fans remeber, we still have Jeremy Clarkson fighting those ramblers. Top Gear Link added today For all those suffering withdrawal sypmtons whilst it's off air. Yes that would be me too.

WALLABY WATCH!

The elusive wild wallaby remains just that.Maybe he was asked to leave with Andy Kersahw.

LAXEY HEAD

Laxey Head taken from Laxey Beach late afternoon.

Laxey comes form the Norse Lac-saa meaning "salmon river."

Laxey is home to the yearly "Laxey Blues festival," which is celebrating it's 10th event this year.
For confirmation of dates and artists playing this year see the link, "Bushy's Wheel Blues Festival."

A good tip is to check out the smaller venues and pubs at the festival during the day as these tend to be free, and an ideal taster for the evening events.