Daily photos No. 11 - a ragbag

I bought my first SLR in 2009 - a dinky little Nikon D40 which took lovely pictures but wasn't very flexible in terms of user control. Only when I bought a D7000 in 2012 (which I've stuck with) did I get something I could really play around with. The joy of the D40 was its small size - I could take it everywhere and use it unobtrusively without making people freeze into poses. These are just some random shots I took that year

In my mother's garden

Another of my unending series of fences and boundaries with the added bonus of some rust - taken on the way to Shutlingsloe, 'The Cheshire Matterhorn'. 

Meet James and Neal - two of the little band of walkers and friends affectionately known as The Map Twats. Dan always had a map, it didn't always help, but we always found a pub in the end.

These shots are taken in Oslo, one of the few times I've done some proper tourism. I loved the city and Scandinavia in general, though the very friendly locals kept bemoaning how boring it was. We adored the style, the generous public spirit, the commitment to a relaxed, socialist collective way of life that manifested itself not in the shortages and queues beloved of rightwing provocateurs' definitions of socialism, but in a bright public realm, clean spaces, cycling and a palpable sense of the public good. The fact that it's all paid for by filthy oil revenues is not, however, to be forgotten. That said, Britain had oil money and used it to privatise everything in sight. That said, what I took from Norway and a brief trip to Denmark was a sense that post-imperial nations if imbued with a sense of modesty, can find a role. While Britain refuses to address its past, to accept its reduced role in the world, Denmark, Sweden and Norway have built if not ideal societies, highly enviable ones. 

The above photo is from Oslo's city museum, a mock-up of a 1970s house which just seemed to suit my friends' louche style. The two below are from Oslo's gleaming new opera house, a stunning piece of architecture which quite literally invites the public to climb all over it, and which slides into the fjord like an iceberg, encapsulating awareness of its surroundings and a democratic approach to culture almost entirely lacking in the UK. 

A wall

Light fittings in the Oslo architectural museum.