House prices

A walk into the local town centre this morning had me in an idle moment looking into the windows of our estate agents and perusing what homes were on offer.

Prices in theory may be stabilising in the UK but in this area of Lancashire they are plunging fast - terrace houses worth £95000 a year ago are being offered at £80000 and less - the same applies to other houses - semi detached once £150000 now selling - if that is the right word - for £120000.

One notices that in the town many houses have been on the market for years - no sign of much market activity.

Where is will all end is uncertain - it would appear that prices could drop even further.

In the UK in recent years our economic boom has been sustained by a constant rise in house prices - not the best way to run an economy . Growth should be sustained by manufacturing and agricultural output not by the manipulation of the housing market and the creation of paper wealth.

That's it - my thoughts of the day.

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Your paintings ..

I've found an interesting BBC website whose aim is to uncover the nation's art collection.

The aim is to scan 200,000 painting from around the art galleries of the UK and put them on display for the general public - and up to now 63,000 paintings have been scanned.

A very interesting site which you will find at http://www.bbc.co.uk/yourpaintings/ .

As with most BBC sites I think this will only be available if your Internet Service Provider originates in the UK.

Enjoy ...

Wet weekend

Another wet and miserable weekend with rain quite heavy at times - special treat of the day will be a visit to Aldi !!

This photo was taken in our garden during sunnier times.

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Allotment 24

Many of the roses this year have been damaged by the heavy rain - this one at the allotment has managed to survive and is looking quite good.

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Allotment 23

The crop of courgettes was very good last year - 2011 has seen a 100% increase in planting so hopefully we'll get a good yield.

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Allotment 22

Not all is well at the allotment - the onions have rather thick stems - caused by too much nitrogen in the ground I understand. Hopefully they will be OK but not store too well . In our house they will soon be eaten so that should not be a big problem.

The potatoes ( lower picture ) are now being harvested and the good news is - "no slugs this year"

They taste really good - very earthy ...

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Manchester - China Town

Manchester's very own China Town - looking busy and vibrant.

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Manchester - Albert Square

A familiar sight in Albert Square - Liverpool and London Assurance - now swallowed up by bigger fish I imagine.

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Manchester - Tib Lane / Booth Street area

Clouds reflected in the glass fronted building .

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Manchester - Tib Lane / Booth Street area

Another photo taken around the Tib Lane area.

There was a cafe near here in the 70's - rather dark and dismal - somewhat risqué - entered by a flight of stairs into a cellar. I can not remember the name.

I wonder what happened to it ..

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