It Was Time To Take Mickey For His Upgrade,

next year the telephone system will change,

so in to the bag and off to see Neil,

winter is defiantly here, hardly a leaf on the trees and grey skies, on to a number 354 bus to Bromley then a 126,

arriving at Neil's work shop, after a through examination all was well, a few new parts are going to be needed, so in a few weeks Mickey will be better than new!

as it happens my black GPO model 232 with a Number 26 bell set had already been converted to the new system before I bought it, way back in 2018, as an aside if you are in the market for a vintage telephone, Neil is the man to go to, also of course for vintage telephone repairs, his website is a treasure trove of vintage telephones, just click this link, you can email him at neilcarpenter@btinternet.com or telephone him on 07980 354508, for more about Neil and his antique telephones have a look here,

a 126 back to Bromley, Diana had called to say we were short of rice and chestnuts so could I pick them up,

off of the bus at Bromley North and past the Railway Tavern,

and I bumped into this chap, The Snowman from the wonderful animated film of the same name,

a walk towards the market square,

past the poppies, 

and as I rounded the corner, another slightly different snowman,

in to the square,

Christmas decorations now being put in place,

in front of Primark stalls had been set up as it is Friday,

and here is the stall I was aiming for,

the roast chestnut man, and here he was hard at work, the aroma just so delicious,

I passed a few more stalls and picked up some rice and some bubbly, a quick walk back to the bus stop, and home,

just as the bus passed the end of Bromley High Street there he was, another snowman, there are of course 12 of them and you can walk the Snowman trail in Bromley town, just go to the Snowman site, click on the Bromley 21 snowman to download your map, great fun for the family,

on to the 354 bus, which stopped just by the club,

so I had to stop in for a couple and say 'Hi' to Rob and Robert who were there, and I still think who ever signed off on the new roof tiles that should have matched the ones above needs a colour-blindness test!

Diana was already home and making a beef stew as I settled down for a sherry and a read,

then beef stew, just so nice on a winters evening,

eyes down and tuck in!

for dessert a huge profiterole covered in chocolate, yummy!

meal over it was time to meet Steve in the club, so I was off,

lots of tennis players in the cool night,

into the clubhouse where I met up with Steve, we chatted the night away, after he kindly dropped me off at home, it was feet up for a nightcap, one from New Tricks before we were off to bed.