Sunday 28th may

Fairly boring day which consisted mostly of a long phone call from my mum, housework and ironing. Whilst I was tidying I found this old postcard of Oulton Broad. I think that I must have bought it from a shop in Chepstow called Glance Back, as I don't think it came from our family. On the back in sprawling copperplate style written in what looks like an old fashioned dip pen and ink read the words:
"What are the wild waves saying? Wishing you many happy returns of your birthday, with love from Maud"
This, for me begs the question: where are the wild waves? Lake Loathing appears to be as smooth as glass in the moonlight. Unfortunately there is no postmark on the card with which to date it, as it has no stamp and was presumably sent inside an envelope, or perhaps never sent at all. The names Polly and Maud suggest to me that they were probably early part of the 20th century, although we'll never know for sure. Just another of life's little mysteries. It's a pretty photograph though, and I love the way the hand tinting really makes it look like moonlight.
I was trying to work out where the photo was taken from, although for me it is impossible to tell because there are no clear landmarks or buildings. The silhouette in the background could just as easily be the Maltings as the Wherry Hotel. I think that we are looking up to the Broads, rather than down out towards Lowestoft and the sea. Is Nicolas Everitt park to the left? and did it even exist when this photo was taken? The only things which perhaps tally with my late 1970's/early 80's view of the same place are perhaps the slap, slap, slap sound of the water gently hitting the quayside, and the smell of the banks of mud rising up into the warm night air. (Even this is a predjudiced view because I was only ever there in the summer.) Definitely no petrol and exhaust fumes lingering in the warm night air from Thursday evening power boat races, and judging from the collection of small rowing boats in the fore-ground, and I think that I am safe to guess that even Yellowtail was not even a twinkle in her boatyard's eye.
Anyway, I had a boring day, and now I've bored you!! Incidentally, the Mookster is fine and had her usual park outing, as well as a good dose of scrumbling.