Saturday, May 03, 2008

Summery Day - Warm but windy

As promised a foray into cyanotype country following my enthusiasm for some of AnonymousRob's.

The technique is a throwback to the early days of photography in the 1840s, when the blue was a by-product of the relationship between ultraviolet light and ferric salts. Nowadays they are a bit of a novelty I suppose. Sir John Herschel had something to do with it so Wikipedia tells me .........Ok. But I like them anyway!
Picture 2 is Bungus's Bramley and the blossom promises a bumper crop, so long as the bullfinches don't annihilate the florets.

And then there is the June drop to contend with. We should be alright for a bit of apple-sauce though, or even a crumble if I'm in good books.

Generally a quiet day, first thing, I helped take down our Exhibition in Kimberly Library, then finally I got round to cleaning the inside of the car. Our £10- vacuum cleaner from Lidl is an excellent tool but it still took me 1½ hours to clear a large plaggy bag full of junk and make it look something like respectable. And I don't intend to leave it so long next time, certainly no longer than 2 years. I know I am too fastidious !

Then I cooked Fish, Chips and peas because we missed out yesterday. For a change, and because it's healthier I oven-baked the fish in breadcrumbs rather than battered in deep oil. Slightly misjudged the cooking time though and although Y proclaimed it delicious I consideed it undercooked.

This afternoon we did a collated information note about the School Visits that Mansfield Centre of the Nat Trst are funding in 2009. As usual we enjoyed working together and Y is quickly learning Office 2003 and the laptop. Although I quite like being the Secretary's P.A . I know that Y will be happier when she can fly solo.

Comments...... Bungus .... Without doing a Humpf I must agree with you about Great Tits. The Photobook is available fro the Aldi online Photoservice. If you click on price-list (upper right corner) it tells you the price of the books. A4 prints are still astonishingly cheap at 35p.

And it will be good to have Jill back. I don't know if Bob Charlesworth is a Mayor, or a Lord Mayor - I don't really understand the difference. He is Mayor of Eastwood and the Leader of Broxtowe Borough Council. Seems like a nice chap too.

Thanks for giving my cursor a pat on the head and shouting 'HOME' because he turned up this morning unscathed keen to dash about the screen recovering links and the like.

I will e-mail you with (as lawyers say) - 'further and better particulars' - of the amended comment. Rest assured, you were not defamed in the slightest.

I note what R.Nottingham say, but I would have thought 6am a little late for the dawn chorus. Most places and the RSPB recommend around 4.30am to 5am. At 6am it is fully light and it will all be over.

Due to watch The Book Quiz at 7.10pm. For some reason the critics don't like it. But we do. It's light hearted and Kirsty is a cracker.



Sleep tight and I'll catch you tomorrow.


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2 comments:

Anonymous said...

We are indeed back - did you miss me? I have read through the blog and skipped through the comments - will just say that we have a lot of honesty too, no white, just purple but we have some that is purple and white striped.

Bungus, you are lucky to hve bullfinches in your garden, even if they do do some damage, we used to have them around here but tey moved out about five years ago, I think their colouring is beautiful, esp. the female in her subtle greys. We do seem to have song thrushes back though. Lots of tits about, but none in our nest box.

I don't think I like the blue photo - it looks as if it ought to be on a plate, like willow pattern.

The cruise, we did not enjoy it as much as we have others. Possibly because we are old and pernickety, and we remember cruising when it was different, the emphasis being on service, not how fast the internet connection is and how vast the ship. We found it a hassle getting dressed up every night (DJ for R most nights, if not a suit). We felt that they were cutting back all the time, far less staff and charging for what always used to be free (like bottled water in cabin). No longer serving proper breakfast/afternoon tea in cabin, we used to enjoy that, had it on balcony if weather was good. R felt the live entertainment was poor, one act a night instead of the usual 3, and I was disappointed not to have a cinema, they showed a film a night through tv in cabin, but that's not the same.....

On the credit side the food was excellent, esp. the huge buffet at breakfast and lunch, we had a good cabin with sitting area (sofa and coffee table) fridge, flat-screen tv, lovely 6 ft. bed,and good-sized balcony with chairs and table. The weather was v/good, warm/hot sunny every day. I'll add a bit tomorrow about where we went to......

Anonymous said...

Not too keen on the blus photo. I prefer sepia or b&w.

You will certainly be welcome to some Bramley (and other) fallings (we never get round to picking apples).

I think there has been a misunderstanding re Bullfinches. We haven’t had any for some 15 years (when we removed the blackcurrant bush). I am hoping the new planting of red and blackcurrants will attract them back. I agree Jill about their attractiveness (although I still like chaffinches).

I cleaned a car once; it was brand new (week old) Beetle. That was it.

You should have saved your 'under cooked' fish for me.

I don’t know what Office 2003 is! I just work in Word and, very occasionally, Excel.

The Aldi prints sound excellent value, and the books.

I think Lord Mayors only occur in cities. And Mayors, I believe, used to be only found in boroughs (a bit like rabbits). Certainly Mansfield lost their Mayor when they decided to give up Borough status. But then, somehow, they brought him back as a sort of figurehead! So as the only Lord Mayor in Notts is the Nottm one, I am sure as I can be that your Bob Charlesworth is a Mayor.

Glad the cursor returned home.

Anything before 6.00 am is off my radar.
I forgot to set alarm or open the bedroom window so I slept till after 10.00. But one blackbird was at it until midday, occasionally joined by others.

Jill:
Correction to the bullfinch story above.

Sorry the cruise was something of a disappointment. But at least you didn’t catch listeria or dysentery!

“All husbands are alike but they have different faces so you can tell them apart,” Anon.