We are extremely fortunate in the matter of neighbours...... While we were out yesterday Derek cut our side of the shared hedge... and then collected and took away the detritus.
The lighting this morning wasn't brilliant so I decided that the snap could do with a little photoshoppery.
Picture 2 is the result and as Reg will understand, I now feel more at ease using the panorama function.... and I think that now, I can tackle a flip and merge job to achieve this tunnel effect, with more confidence.
Our morning began with getting out of Karen's way and we went to Ikea to take advantage of 'breakfast'. I had the 'regular' while Y had the 'small' but both together plus coffee came to £2.75p !
Inevitably we bought things, which I suppose is the idea, but a new single duvet cover, and a laptop knee-tray, were both things we needed anyway.
Y continues to forge ahead with the lappy, and, most importantly, she is enjoying it.
Tomorrow is our last outing of the season with The Mansfield Centre of The National Trust and we are going to Canons Ashby which from the website sounds fun. Finding the Nat Trst stuff a little brief I did my usual 'blog-search' and found this blog which was more forthcoming..... another blogger thought the tea-room especially pleasant. The house is the ancestral home of the poet Dryden and as Y loves the Tudors, and the art including Jacobean wall-art will interest us both....... and then a cup-of-tea. What could be better ?
Comments
bungus ..... I didn't make myself clear. We kids weren't 'paid' potato-pickers but were allowed, as play, to follow the plough and pick up and keep, potatoes which had been missed. Weren't you more or less allowed the freedom to do what you liked when out playing?
Partly to you and partly to Jill. I suppose any longish lens might look 'spy-ish' but they always have done, way back pre-digital.
I was no more successful than you in finding out about Kali (pronounced Kay-lie) -- perhaps a job for 'nifty-googler' when he returns.
So hard to believe that The Plough at Ollerton is to close. .... I couldn't find a link to it anywhere, even when I tried a blog-search. Perhaps Bungus. a snap from you, for posterity ?
4 ticks ..... Thanks for the road info..... if we are returning from Ilkeston, we usually come the Heanor way anyway. But thanks for the tip because it is relevant to other potential trips.
No need to worry about the raffle prizes - as I have e-mailed you - they are destined for the meeting in the first week in October and I am sure we shall see you before then...... I shall make sure that the Chairman exsplains all about them. No point in hiding your light under a bushel ....etc....
roy ..... There is a slight curve to Angel Row but there's also a little known photographical procedure known as 'sticking your head out of the window'. Whether this method was available to someone with a plate camera on a tripod is doubtful..... But, in the pub, I thought Brian spoke of film-negatives re this particular picture.
Dont forget that roll-film has been around since 1888 please click here for more.
I couldn't agree with you more about the positioning of statues. Invariably created by the sculptor for a particular spot and they look all wrong when some council-employee with too much power decides to move them. The bronze 'degas' type lady in Theatre Square is another. All I can discover is that she has been removed for renovation. B**l**ks ! Made out of substantial bronze she would have withstood more than the person responsible for her removal.
And please stop me ranting about Elizabeth Frink's War Horse at Chatsworth. He used to stand proudly on an outside slope, staring out into the Derbyshire Hills, as Frink intended, but now has been moved into the stable courtyard with a silly chain link fence round him. 'Free the Warhorse' says Radiogandy.
I suspect you of being mischievous in your remarks to Bungus about depth-of-field and clarity.
As you well know, if we digital photographers decide on a shallow depth of field, and things fading in recession to fuzziness, we can achieve it. And. moreover, see instantly whether we have achieved it or not. The snap from the Castle Rock was at f8 to get a reasonable crispness fron to rear. I thought people would enjoy seeing what they could identify from the rooves and upper-storeys. If I had shot it at f4.5 it would have looked quite different.
You are quite right to identify how cheap cuts become expensive cuts as soon as they become fashionable. But I suppose it is supply/demand in action. If everyone is demanding pork-hocks the price will go up.
Quotation time ...... This chap has a point, even though he was writing 200 years ago -
"Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own"
Re the three ponds pub, and their food, prior to it's refurb, I did some jobs there plumbing and we counted 8 microwave ovens in the kitchen, sort of "cordon a la ping"
ReplyDeleteI think bugus is wrong to say film is not as sharp as digital, it is the other way round, and that is why there is sharpening filters in photoshop, but most people oversharpen anyway.
Went to James Maude camera club tonight and stunned them by some superb "alternative process" pictures.
Keep fingers crossed as hopefully I get "the snaps" back from the lab. I wait with trepidation as to how they will come out
DIARY:
ReplyDeleteYesterday (Tue) I decided to make a ‘tarte tatin’.
I used two modified recipes, one being Delia’s Lucy’s (7 or 8 fallen apples; a mix of Bramleys and our other variety - an eater/cooker which has mysteriously changed over the years - softened in a caramel of 3oz butter and 3oz caster sugar) and another for the pastry (made with plain flour, butter, lard, caster sugar and an egg yolk, frozen for an hour and then grated over the cooked caramelised fruit before baking).
Everything was fine until I turned it over.
No dreadful mishap but it all fell to pieces, half remaining stuck in the pan. The pastry more like a cross between a crumble and a shortbread.
But it tastes abso-bloody-lutely dee-lish-uss.
BLOG COMMENT:
Your neighbour acted in a very kind and considerate manner (does that sound wistful?)
Just out of interest and not as a correction or reprimand, I have learned just a bit about hedges over the past 7 years. And what I don’t know I’ll make up.
I doubt if there is such a thing as a shared hedge although I am not unhappy with your use of the term.
I have always understood that a hedge should be planted 1’0” inside the boundary of its owner (if that makes sense and even if it doesn’t).
I also understand that in law it is the responsibility of the owner to maintain it (ie, trim it on both sides) although this is often not done and could be difficult to enforce.
If, as he is entitled to do, the non-owner trims it on his side he is legally obliged to offer to return the trimmings to the owner (I understand).
The non-owner does not have a right to reduce the height (only to cut off any growth which crosses the boundary, if he knows where the boundary is).
I would say that all the above can safely be disregarded unless you have a neighbour like mine!
At the risk of bringing down the temple (because I suppose it is a technical exercise in 'what can be done' aimed at real photographers) I am not struck on the photoshopped hedge picture.
What a bargain those Ikea breakfasts are!
Small coincidence: only yesterday Sandra was looking at an illustration of a laptop knee tray and trying to puzzle out its purpose (which struck me as being fairly obvious but we all have those moments and I suppose it is all to do with 'laptop' now meaning a computer rather than than 'top of the lap' - does the lap have a bottom? - to a lot of people). We each have a padded tray for informal eating off. I suppose they could be considered dual-purpose for 'laptop' use?
You must have lived in or very close to the countryside. We used to have a week off school called ‘potato picking week’ and it was a paid occupation. Pinching stuff out of fields (swedes or turnips usually, although some kids would eat raw potoatoes) was not uncommon although it was something I was forbidden to do, as was scrumping (we had 6 apple trees of our own anyway). I never scrumped until ordered so to do when I went away to scout camp (although not a scout) when I was about 14 (the scoutmaster in charge was only 16 –can you imagine that today?).
In spite of what may seem to be implied by the above, I was not over-protected. And yes, my friends and I wandered freely (from a mile or so at about the age of 7, increasing) although my recollection is that we always said where we intended going.
I’d like to bet there were spies who worked in water colour even before the days of plate or film cameras. There is certainly evidence to suggest that 19C (and earlier) war artists recorded action scenes in Africa and America and India. Mind you, it would take along while to paint a copy of a secret document.
You beat me to it, in explaining how kali (if that is the right spelling) is pronounced. But Sandra (born ‘45) remembers it, so I think it must be a confection of the north (did you know that in Manchester ‘sweets’ are referred to as ‘spice’ and ‘licorice’ as ‘Spanish’?). Sandra corrected me about one thing though; what I described as ‘in a cardboard tube with a licorice straw’ was a ‘Sherbert Dip’ – either kali or sherbert was a coarser, more gravelly beast than the other, and kali was sold loose in a paper bag and eaten with a wet forefinger. Both exploded in the mouth and nose.
I understand that The Plough at Ollerton has already closed. I will certainly snap it.
Plate cameras having been mentioned, I’ll tell the tale again.
A next door neighbour of my parents had a collection of plates taken by her father. The well known Mansfield artist, Buxton (he has his own gallery in the splendid Museum) painted many of his pictures from those plates, as well as his own, eg, of the several windmills on the high ground around the town, the stone remains of which were still evident in my childhood (two at the top of The Rocks, and two more at the top of Skerry Hill within 100yds of our house. I was once hit on the back of the head by a half-brick-size lump thrown by a schoolmate).
I mentioned the photographic plates in a letter to the Mansfield Chad a few years ago and received a phone call from our late neighbours’ son (who will now be in his late 80s if still alive) to say that he was still possessor of the plates. I did suggest that he might donate them to the museum if his daughter had no interest.
I remember well Victoria’s likeness on Slab Square. And I go along with statues needing to be in a (rather than necessarily ‘the’) right place. It is usually a matter of scale as well as appropriate surroundings.
And, at your request: “Stop going on about that warhorse.”
Ooer!
I wasn’t expressing disrespect about the Castle rock photo, merely commenting upon its effect upon me, viz, It looks like a flat emulsion painting.
Cheap cuts?
I don’t care what price is charged for breast of lamb so long as I don’t have to eat (or smell) it.
But I wonder what happens to the rest of all those little sheep since ‘lamb shank’ (the ovine equivalent of ‘pork hock’) became an ‘in’ dish (I tried it once, admittedly one ‘frozen in gravy’ from Aldi, but a single ‘spit-it-out’ mouthful was too much).
And in terms of quantity of meat, I reckon oxtail must now be one of the most expensive cuts on offer (and I have never enjoyed that either – far too rich and fatty, and nothing like delicious Heinz Oxtail Soup).
Roy:
See comment on statuary above.
As I have already made clear, I claimed no ‘fault’ with Graham’s photo of the square.
Perhaps we should start a ‘save the pub’ movement but I fear it would be unsuccessful unless the iniquitous no-smoking law is repealed or significantly amended to allow a large minority of people to do what they like within reason.
I don’t know what Greene King are like as pub owners (I won’t call them brewers because breweries stopped being run by brewers at about the time I became a landlord in ‘72). I do, however, like their draught IPA whereas I could never comfortably drink more than half a pint of any Kimberley Ale (or Home, or Sam Smith’s).
I was brought up on Mansfield (despised by my latest father-in-law who had Shippos in his veins). I have found most bitters acceptable if well kept, but Kimberley, Home, Sam Smith’s, and some southern muck, NO!
I am not saying they are/were bad beers; I just don’t/didn’t enjoy drinking them.
‘Ad hock’ remarks on cheap cuts of meat? See above.
Rob:
You make an important point about Ferguson which I will widen by saying that in order to become what is generally perceived to be ‘successful’ it is almost essential to be nasty, selfish and (except sometimes on the surface) unpleasant. At least Ferguson is open about his awfulness.
Liverpool and Bill Shankly.
Forest and Clough.
Wolves and Buckley.
Arsenal and Allison, Mee, Wenger.
Spurs and Nicholson.
Celtic and Jock Stein.
But it wouldn’t do for everyone to agree about everything.
Nice dig about photography!
I was lucky enough to have learnt how to tap a barrel before becoming a landlord and being taken on a short course at John Smith’s to learn the basics of dealing with real ale beer in real barrels.
Regrettably, although it made life much easier, after a couple of months everything went keg (and I don’t mean left-handed).
Sorry, Rob, no wish to offend but I don’t like the Yankee word ‘gotten’ in your pessimistic dinosaur* haiku. I would prefer, say, ‘become’ (or ‘but turned for the worse’).
* Just think how much less rich our lives would be without computers and blogs.
Incy Wincy:
The following may not be correct but I was recently told by a ‘regular’ that, because of the dramatic downturn in trade (following the smoking ban), the new manager of a well-known brewery’s hotel, previously respected for its very acceptable carvery and other meals, had been instructed by the brewery to only do microwaved frozen food in order to eliminate the need for staff other than the licensee and partner. I have also been informed (different source) that they no longer have telivision sets in the bedrooms.
I wasn’t me who said that film is not as sharp as digital. Did anyone?
I make no claim to be an expert photographer by a long chalk (nice cliché – does anyone know its derivation?) and only ever dabbled very briefly with processing in the 1940s. But I wholeheartedly agree that ‘sharpen’ is a double-edged tool. I seldom use it at all, and used more than once on the same photo it gets quite unpleasant.
No wish to be drawn into the digital/film debate because there is a lot of rubbish talked on both sides. AnonRob declared some time ago "Its the final image that counts not how it was acceived"
ReplyDeleteMore Importaant-Pub News-
The Lord Raglan is closed and boarded up
I am told the Moon And Stars is the same and the Foresters will join them unless a new landlord is found soon. All Green King pubs and all within a mile of my house.
But who is suprised when in the con. club and R-R welfare you get change from £2 for a pint.(admitted not proper beer)
In the absence of RG, and Roy called a way on family business only Brian and myself went WOW this week. A strole around Elvaston Castle acompanied by a young Mallard for a long period.
The Mallard (female) had been raised from by hand and only released to the pond this morning We eventualy passed it on to two other walkers and it flew back to tht pond. A proper chip cob was consumed in the Red Lion at Ockbrook. A real village pub with 4 Micro Brewery real ales and Bass as well. It has just been painted inside and the toilets tiled. All in the best possible taste. Sorry no chip cob picture but we had left the cameras in the car and we were to idle to go and fetch one.
Correction--- its the Royal oak at Ockbrook. Well it starts with R.
ReplyDeleteSorry I missed commenting on yesterday's post.....we went out for lunch, taking son and daughter-in-law, for their 20th wedding anniversary. That really makes you feel ancient! Good local place, Sams, a protege of Rick Stein who put money in it. Lunch was good and prolonged.....just remembered, I think Y and I went there? Two of us had the £12 for two courses option, son managed the 3 courses for £16. This is a lunch-time 'special' on a restricted menu. R and I had aspargus soup with excellent and plentiful walnut bread (which is why we couldn't manage the pud.) and roast chicken with vichy carots and a butter sauce (we shared an order of straw chips, though son ate most of them). Son had duck pate/linguine with 3 peppers and parmesan and apple and pear crumble with his own good-sized jug of custard. Daughter-in-law opted for roasted monkfish and veg. off the menu.
ReplyDeleteBungus, you can make tarte tatin for me any time....if it doesn't stick to the pan, I think there is something wrong with it.....
Yesterday we also went with son to see financial adviser at Halifax - by arrangements made two weeks previously - not quite the day to go.......
Spent so much time reading the comments that I don't have time to comment today. Will try to comment again soon.
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