What A Difference A Day Makes,

the sky now grey and cloudy,

as I made my way to the bus stop,

I needed some RO water, so off to Kingfisheries in Croydon Road,

whilst there I looked at some of the aquarium ornaments,

from sunken aircraft carriers to Roman temples, both round.

and square,

even a medieval castle,

the Second World War theme seems popular with submarines,

battleships,

and aircraft,

or for a change of pace a village house,

or two,

bonsai,

and bamboo always popular,

I also had a look at the new invertebrate aquarium,

with all manner of polyps,

as well as hard and soft corals,

on display,

the good news for the aquatic trade is that so many of items for sale are now being tank raised,

the bad news for tens of thousands of people that used to collect saltwater fish and corals,

is that they are now out of jobs, it is a fact that so many people depend on the aquatic trade, which in many cases provide more income than fish caught for food, although a tad out of date live fish caught for aquariums are worth much more than fish caught for food or bait, in 2007 the Maldives’ tuna exports (caught with bait fish) averaged USD$1,583 a tonne whilst their exported live ornamental fish were worth an estimated USD$590,000 a tonne, that is 327 times the value by weight of fish! 

in the evening a read and a sherry,

marinated gravadlax salmon with a mustard and honey sauce for my starter,

followed by beef in a black bean sauce with a Chinese chicken curry with egg fried rice,

eyes down and tuck in!

for dessert a millionaires cheesecake,

after which I read A Voyage in the Sunbeam until I finished it on page 488, I mentioned that each chapter starts with a poem, this last chapter ended with one, I Travelled among Unknown Men, by William Wordsworth, 

I travelled among unknown men,
In lands beyond the sea;
Nor, England! did I know till then
What love I bore to thee.

’Tis past, that melancholy dream!
Nor will I quit thy shore
A second time; for still I seem
To love thee more and more.

Among thy mountains did I feel
The joy of my desire;
And she I cherished turned her wheel
Beside an English fire.

Thy mornings showed, thy nights concealed,
The bowers where Lucy played;
And thine too is the last green field
That Lucy’s eyes surveyed.

I have to say I thoroughly enjoy the book, not only did I wish to be there I thought I was there, hugely recommended if you like travel and have a good imagination, 

it seems strange to say it but the evenings are drawing in, it is so much darker as I walked to the club tonight to meet up with Steve, we chatted the night away before meeting Diana from work, arriving home it was a coffee, one from New tricks before we were off to bed.