Golden Crabs!

Golden Crab Apples - Tim Irving

Owning new brogues has made me competitive for the first time in my life. I'm beginning to despise the these shoes, but I wont let them beat me.

The brogues and I called a truce over the weekend. I had to soak them in water for a day, then I stuffed newspaper inside them and let them dry slowly. I've walked in them this morning, just a few hundred yards, to buy milk and a loaf, and they were OK. I can't relax while I'm wearing them because all my attention is focused on my feet, but they didn't hurt me. It's too early to celebrate, I'll walk a little further in them later.

I didn't have a car over the weekend and had to walk a long way (5 mile round trip), to photograph the fabulous red crab apples. The apple tree is in the middle of a field and after weeks of wet weather it's very muddy. I tackled the job by doing the long walk in trainers, taking a pair of Wellingtons (wellies are very comfortable, but I thought 5 miles might be too much),  together with my camera in a backpack.

The walk was uneventful, but I was disappointed to find the apples, that I'd seen on Friday had all but vanished, most of them were on the ground. I did what I could, which was 3 photographs, then walked around the edge of the field to see if there was anything else of interest to save the day. Within 5 minutes I saw another crab apple tree and I could see a dozen or so, little golden spheres against the dull watery sky. Ooooh, yes please, Mother Natures gift to little Timmy.

I showed this photograph (it's a slide actually), to my TV, minor celebrity neighbour this morning, and asked him to think of a title. Without a hint of irony, he said "Golden Crabs".