Wind in the Willows - Y returns - 5C

A busy busy day. Sky's little Practica camera arrived this morning which worked out well because I had been invited over to Long Eaton for coffee so I was able to deliver it. She's thrilled to bits!

First I popped into their Tesco and it is incredibly large ! I was looking for the French 'style' coffee beans they used to have, but no luck. Maybe they have discontinued them.

As Brooke's 'book-chair' hadn't arrived unfortunately, I took her the 1000 best children's poetry book and a leather bookmark both of which she was happy with. She reads so well for a 6yr old and had no trouble just reading me one of the poems. Sky is now in the Chess Megafinal, Trent Division. I told them that David beat me at chess when he was 8, and I didn't 'let' him win either. So it's maybe not surprising he finished up with a Maths degree. I'm better with humanities 'hot air'.

Picture 1 is some willows in Long Eaton and I wanted to capture the 'Wind in the Willows' effect of some slight movement in the lower foliage. I took some on my Nikon, with very careful attention to aperture, shutter-speed etc., and some on my trusty old Casio compact. Any yes, you've guessed - the pick of the bunch was this one, on the Casio.

David and family set off tomorrow morning for a caravan week at a site they know and is handy for Iron Bridge, BlistHills et al and I have been promised pictures from the Practica when they return.

Picture 2 is another from my RAF Cosford portfolio (how pretentious can you get RG?) and shows the ill-fated TSR2 which was another brilliant aircraft the Government pulled the plug on. To the left of the shot is a Meteor where they experimented with a pilot lying prone in the upper bulge at the front. Apparently it was so unpopular with the pilots they ditched the idea.

I take Pete's point about un-interfered-with photography and in the main I agree, hence my recent article in Amateur Potographer. Especially if you are presenting a picture as ' as it was'. But I think there is a place for judicious manipulation and improvement. Bungus is right to point to our cherished Picasa a link to which is duly presented. Have a look at it Pete, or anyone else for that matter. It is a straightforward programme, one of the best from Google's stable and of course, completely free.

The moon is 97% gibbous tonight, so tomorrow I guess will be a full moon. The March/April full moon must have a name surely. It obviously isn't a Harvest Moon, is it perhaps a Poachers Moon. Somebody must know. I collected Y from the Tram and it's nice to have her home. after our meal we watched the Culture Show which was interesting. But we are both tired tired tired. So kip calls !

n.b Just a reminder - to see a picture full screen size just left-click on it.

Catch you all tomorrow.