Marine FC

 Here is their ground.

They are in Tier 8, and have just got through to the 3rd round of the FA Cup. 

Where they have been drawn against the Premier League leaders.

Spurs.

We aren't sure which of the facts above surprises us the most.

Mackerel Sky, Nunhead

 Click on image for large photo

Slaw!

 

Closer, Tonight

 And Mars definitely looks pink.

Moon and Mars

 This follows on from this April's Moon and Venus, but Mars and the Moon are further apart in the sky, currently, so the shots are less impressive.

These last two were manually focused and handheld...

More on the Oxford Vaccine...

 ... and our first ever cut'n'paste from Twitterdom.

Scary

 

Comma

Pfizer vaccine: effective, protective and safe

Modena vaccine: effective, protective and safe

Oxford vaccine: effective, protective, and safe

- Ivo Graham

Hope

“It’s not the despair, Laura. I can take the despair. It’s the hope I can’t stand." ~ John Cleese (as Brian Stimpson in the film Clockwise)

So we now seem to have three promising vaccines for protecting individuals against Coronavirus.  Which ought to mean that in the new year, large-scale vaccination programmes can start up, to hopefully, finally, free us all from the threat and reality of Covid-19.

We ought at this stage to remember two things: 

(i) These vaccines haven't been tested to prove their efficacy at stopping the virus spreading.  That means that although they may protect an individual, that person may still spread the virus to anyone they come into close contact with.  At this stage, we don't know.  

(ii) Incidence of so-called 'Long Covid' - the longer-term, highly debilitating illness that can occur long after the first bout of Covid has gone away - does not correlate with severity of the original infection, and can affect people across the age range. 

Taken together these suggest that, if we have the NHS rolling out vaccines at scale, it would still seem sensible to maintain restrictions until large numbers of the populace have been vaccinated, not just front-line carers and those most at risk.  

All the same, it is very hopeful.

And then you realise exactly the nature of the Government charged with making this happen.  You realise that Johnson will give the job to Dido Harding and Serco.

Or Chris Grayling.

An Update on Government Progress

Not Bob

Priti's in the back room

Cursing at her secretary

I'm on the front bench

Trying to run the government

The man in the beanie

Kicked out, laid off

Took out his cardboard box

Gonna get paid off

Look out kid

Here comes covid

God knows when

But you can catch it again

You better pray that the vaccine

Doesn't fail with Brexit

Truckers in the Farage Garage down in Kent

Want some instructions, but you got none of them

(harmonica)

Corbyn don't scare you

Just say he hates Jews

Keep locked down tight

No sneaking out at night

Oh damn, papers say

Must end for Christmas Day

Science gets put away

Christian country anyway

Look out kid

Keep your plans hid

UK PLC

Open for business, see?

Safety, security

Movement's no longer free

Nail down the BBC

Walk on to destiny

Just tell yourself you're gonna go down in history 

Sandra Bond

Moon Tonight

 

Little Helps...

 

CoronaBookshop

 

The Sky Over Nunhead

Click on the Images for Full Picture

 

TreeMoon

 Last Night...

The Pubs Around Nunhead: 24 - Pubs Under Pressure

It is well known that the hospitality sector is suffering badly at the moment.  And we fear that, as we're treating the virus with some seriousness, and shielding, we personally are not helping.  Although, it is probably quite a good thing for our liver and mental health.

Anyway, when chef Tom Kerridge included a piece on a Nunhead pub in his recent series on "Saving Britain's Pubs," we at the Trees had to watch.  So which of the various local hostelries we have discussed over the last many years would he visit?  The Rye, The Nuns?  The Pyro or The Man of Kent?  

No, he went to chat to the owner of a pub we have barely mentioned in all this time - the Golden Anchor on Evelina Road.  We did mention it in passing, just the once, in 2012, during the first of this brief series.  But that is all.  And we have never crossed the threshold. 

To be fair, it was an interesting programme, about how such business might survive repeated lockdowns and restrictions.  Then Tom - in his role of avuncular expert sorting out her business - took the landlady to have a look at another nearby pub, that is doing quite well, given the circumstances.   Well, a lot to choose from, still, we thought, so surely now we will see something familiar?

Nope.  The Prince of Peckham.  Not even in Nunhead. 

Never been in there either.

Oh well.

Night, Crescent Moon

... and is that Mars there, too?

Golden Birch

 Lit by the sun this morning.

The Night Gardens

 

Dominic Goings

 So the goblinoid has left the seat of power.  

Good riddance.

Who's next?

Temporary

For a few hours at the weekend, Tottenham were top of the Premier League.  It is rumoured that, emulating Trump, Spurs' Jose Mourinho declared they had won the competition, and called on everyone else to stop playing.

Pale Nunset

 

Autumnal Birds, Mostly

 In Lockdown, a lot can still be seen just by peeking out from behind the curtains.  Like a magpie, autumnal leaves, a woodpigeon, parakeets and a squirrel.  

Not to mention slate-grey clouds.