Sunday, February 03, 2008

Sunday Off - Messing about


It gives me pleasure to publish Paul Alexander's 'Reclining Nude' as Picture 1. A few days ago in the 'blog' we discussed Edward Weston's 'landscape/nude' as a possible source of inspiration for Paul's picture. Having been back for another look at the Weston I must say I prefer Paul's version.

OK, back to the mundane. Picture 2 is a further look at yesterday's kitchen using AnonymousRob's Sigma 12-24mm, facing the opposite direction. Obviously I couldn't get that far back with this one. As far as I am aware I was using the same 'zoom' setting, but in this snap there is some vignetting in the extreme corners. It is clonable-outable but I thought I would leave it untampered.

Although we have had a gentle day both of us have 'done' things. After a leisurely morning catching up on the papers, Y has been multi-tasking like mad - cooked lunch, did loads of washing and ironing whil I did serious messing-about.

Nice chat to David this morning and, pleased to report, they all seem bug-free and busy...

This afternoon I spoke to Colin Fletcher re his eye. Apparently his earlier Vitrectomy Operation has left a portion of retina flapping around and there is nothing immediately to be done. He is still OK to drive, even if better in the daylight. Last summer he finally yielded and stopped teaching post-doctoral students. Colin has a small holding of around 6 acres in Shropshire and his busy lambing season is almost here. He spoke again about publishing my Canning Circus stuff but I blanch from the work involved. I've said we will definitely go over to see them and probably stay sometime during the summer.


Picture 3 is Bungus's all purpose soup recipe from their Ceserani & Kinton pro cook book and it is most reliable. As you will see from my old hand-annotations I have used it often.

On this occasion though, when I looked at yesterday's left-over veg. I decided on the bin, straight away. They looked a muddy and uninteresting mess and would probably have tasted like that after an hour wasted cooking the recipe.

You probably won't be able to read the recipe underneath, for watercress soup, from the Daily Mail. That is for the best, because it is a complete waste of time and money. Unless you are fortunate enough to have a plentiful wild supply that is. We have noticed it growing wild in the stream running through Linby Village. But I guess the villagers wouldn't be too pleased if you harvested it. Not sure what the law is these days either?

Comments....Bungus...I fully understand your feeling too tired to man the 'Sports Desk' etc., on Saturday night. Y and I watched the Rugger (as we used to call it) and we thoroughly enjoyed the match. But I don't intend to start to start reporting these things, being quite happy to leave it to you aficionados. And I used to love the blue enamelled tea cans with their tapering shape and half-moon lids. Do you also remember the small red & white caddies which carried a brewing of tea-leaves in one end and sugar in the other?

I'm more than willing to try out this 'builders' tea' from Asda. Hopefully it would produce the traditional orange-colour.

Tomorrow is Y's 'nails' day so the normal routine will be followed. I promise not to become over-excited in the charity shops. In fact we are taking books rather than necessarily acquiring more. But.............. I have an idea for the EPS 'illustrate a pub name' competition which involves a French Stick !!.............. You will be the first to know ..... Don't know how everyone else is doing - Paul sent us a magnificent list of pub names which should be a help if people are stuck !

.....Be good when the bluebells arrive. Must go to Renishaw Hall again - it is always worth it. Sleep tight folks --- Catch you tomorrow.





6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I too prefer Paul Alexander’s photo to the earlier one. Without being in any way pornographic it has that erotic edge which I felt the other one lacked. Lovely navel.

I understand that if there are sheep about there is a very real risk of the very nasty liver fluke getting you if you eat wild watercress. You can, however, grow your own; we have done it very successfully in an old baby bath with a layer of compost topped up with water. I know Marshall’s used to supply seed but have no doubt that Suttons and others also do so.
But when I tried making a delicious sounding watercress soup it was a great disappointment.

I have noticed that it is only people who played ‘rugger’ who refer to association football (football) as ‘footie’, an affectation which which greatly irritates me.
So, when I next upset you, you now know how to get back at me!.

I have no recollection of small red & white caddies which carried a brewing of tea-leaves in one end and sugar in the other.
I certainy think you should try Asda’s 'builders' tea'. However incorrect in the view of persistent pedants, if it is not a good strong lead-in-your-pencil brew then it is badly misnamed. As, like Sandra, I no longer take milk, I prefer a weaker brew, esp Darjeeling or, rather stronger, Assam.

Sandra was given some books by the ‘old’ lady in Bilsthorpe what she ‘does’ for of a Monday morning. There is what looks like a readable thriller (Robert Harris?) and, more importantly, an eclectic collection of 365 or 366 poems (one to learn on each day of the year). It includes Ms Cope (Buses) as well as some eccentric examples of the art and work by much older poets and, I suspect fine folk like Roger McGough.

I can see your baguette alongside a trumpet for ‘The French Horn’ but you probably have a much cleverer idea.

Anonymous said...

That seems like a good all-purpos recipe soup. I used to make a lot of what was known as 'potage garbure' in our house, the children thought it was posh because it had a French name, it was of course all the old tired-looking vegetables in the bottom of the box (no fridge then). No cream, but we sometimes had grated cheese on toasted triangles of bread floating on top....

Talking of bread, ours seems to go green and mouldy very quickly nowadays whereas it used to just go very hard and was known as 'duck's bread'. Never green....It must be a lack of preservative or something different in it?

Anonymous said...

Re Jill's comment:
I find that most supermarket bread, with lots of additives, starts developing green spots after about two weeks without ever going really stale. Proper bread from a proper baker, however, will very likely go stale in 2 days!
I dare say RadioG, at one time an avid breadmaker, will have something to say about this.

Anonymous said...

I'm pleased the 12-24mm lens is performing well for you. The 10-20mm you mentioned is only for digital SLR's whereas the 12-24mm will also work with film cameras. I don't understand why the 10-20 won't work with a film camera as Nikon were sensible enough to make the bayonet lens fitting the same for digital as used for film. There is obviously some technical explanation that is beyond me.

Anyway, enjoy using it but I think I'll want it back eventually - no rush.

Yesterday I went to a meeting of Gamma Photoforum (www.gammaphoto.co.uk). Our speaker was Tim Smith; he had some excellent monochrome pictures which you can see on www.timsmithphotos.com. I particularly like the one in the editorial section taken in an empty weaving shed in Bradford's Manningham Mills.

I didn't watch the rugby but understand England managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

I quite like phrases like that (do they have a name?). I remember once hearing a Notts County fan talking about them battling against promotion. Obviously that was many years ago.

Bungus is quite right. Football is football not 'footie' or even 'soccer'.

Rob

Anonymous said...

i think 'soccer' was acceptable until the Yanks got hold of it and turned it into a girl's game (I have three American granddaughters (17,19,20) who all play when they are not recovering from car accidents)

Anonymous said...

If this appears twice, Sorry I had just finished and it dasappeared into the ether.
For Rob
If a lens Nikon or other brand is specifically designed for use with Digital SLR's it will cover at the CCU (what was the film plane) an area to suit the CCU. In the case of most Nikons 18mm x 12mm, half of the full frame film size 36mm x 24mm
If a 'digital' lens is used on a film camera only part of the film will be exposed in Nikons case approx 22mm dia. i.e. the diagonal of the CCU.
As you are aware or will realise this is why if a film designed lens is used on a DSLR with a less than full frame CCU the effective focal lenght is increased, in Nikon's case by a factor of 1.5 i.e. the 12-24 lens RG refers to becomes an 18-36.
There are Nikon Auto-focus lens that have different numbers of electronic connections. Some have 4 pins, some have 10. The ten pin ones are full compatable but the four pin ones do not autofocus on some of the cheaper DSLR's D40's for instance.
The new D3, out of my price range, has a full frame CCU but I understand it needs the latest designed lenses to fuction fully.
Nikon say all their lenses will fit all their cameras,they will, but you have to read the small print.
D70's rule o.k.

Its not Footie ,Soccer or even Football it A BUSINESS
Reg