Still Frosty & Misty - Burton Joyce

Almost identical day to yesterday with the temperature as low as -3C. Loads of spider's webs again.

Picture 1 shows them on the little plastic greenhouse that I used to use for seedlings and cuttings. But, in the anticipation of moving, I didn't grow anything at all last year.

Visibility here is about 100/150 yards but in the south-east the weather is much worse. A third of flights from Heathrow are cancelled. Poor people. At a Bank Holiday again, but you can't blame striking baggage-handlers for the weather. You would think that, in 2006, technology would enable take-offs in fog. There was an explanation on the radio this morning as to why foggy-in-the-day is different from pitch-black-at-night, but I was still half asleep.

Picture 2 is some cobwebs on the front gate yesterday and when Sky and I went to look at them I said "Spiders must be a bit stupid building webs there, hoping that flies are going to fly through the gate in this weather" She said "Perhaps they build them because they are beautiful". She is quite right of course. Why didn't curmudgeonly Grandad think such a lovely thought?

Still on the subject of grandchildren, I wonder if one of the little ones, excellent writers that they are, would do me a job. Hannah for instance might be willing to earn £2, for copying all the addresses, telephone numbers, birthdays, holidays et al from my 2006 diary into my 2007. Those things where you just put in a new 'body' each year are basically a sound idea but far too bulky. I like pocket-sized diaries.

A normal Burton Joyce day today for Y and I shall collect her from the tram afer tea and then go to the camera club. Nothing special on tonight, just a get-together for a chin wag. I must leave her a note to remind her to put a tape in for Rick Stein on Japanese fish-cookery. They have raised cooking fish to an art-form and Rick isn't bad either! Sounded promising.

Bungus posited the notion some time ago that 'shadows don't fall on water'. I had to agree that, if they did, I had never seen any. We also wondered whether or not the same went for ice.

His picture, which I'm sure he won't mind me using, seems to lay the ice-issue to rest conclusively. We still don't know whether or not they fall on still water though. Obviously reflections do but Bungus's picture is quite clearly a shadow because it carries on over the ice and up the bank on the other side.

Anyone willing to undertake the necessary research will receive the grateful thanks of this station. We haven't actually got a science-correspondent yet.

It was smashing to have David's comment yesterday. I must ask him if the absence of the word-verification system made leaving a comment easier, or made no difference.

.... It's in the balance...............

Frosty & Misty - David's Visit

As you will see from Picture 1 it was so misty this morning that you couldn't see any trees at all across the football field. And the tree opposite the front gate stood in splendid isolation. There was also a heavy frost. There is just one leaf still attached to the tree. Extreme right just under halfway up.

I decided against waiting to see if it dropped off so I could catch it falling. It was far too cold.

Y was still over at Tracy's having stayed there after their annual visit to the Carol Concert in the Concert Hall which is part of Tracy's responsibilites. Their great wish, to be "five golden rings" was not realised yet again!. They were "four calling birds" so they weren't far away. They had a super time though and the quality of the singing and playing was quite remarkable.

David and Helen and Sky and Brooke came over to see us and were sorry to miss Y, but she can't be in two places at once. I gave them each a 'cut-out and baubles etc.' bag, so they had something to be playing with in the lead-up to Xmas. Everybody, parents and grandad included had a smashing morning. Each kit contained a pair of scissors. Quite safe, no sharp points or anything and you could cut crinkly shapes with them. Brooke loved them and Helen said she guessed they would be 'favourite present' this year.

I gave them one of my pictures, a sunrise, and they arranged some completed figures in front of it.

As you can see, Santa and The Angel managed to hold hands. The girls positioned Santa so that my bit of lens-flare in the sunrise came out of his ear. The Angel looks as if she had a good night last night. The dogs and people were good, and there was also a girl with a dog, but her head wouldn't stay on so she missed out on the photo-opportunity.

Both Helen and David are so brilliant with the kids, they are very lucky to have such lovely parents. I showed them how to do a Xmas tree shape by starting off with a little triangle and then superimposing larger triangles under the top one until you have a tree of the required size. All you need to do then is put a trunk underneath and presto. So Brooke did me an extra personalised Xmas card with a star on top and baubles on the branches. And she wrote it herself.

I went on the Amateur Photography forum and posted a query re my difficulties in moving stuff between Capture NX and Photoshop Elements. Within the hour an expert had solved it. It lies in the difference between 8 bits and 16 bits (please dont even think of asking) and when I clicked 'save as' I also clicked 8 bits instead of the 16 bit default. I subsequently did a picture and it worked like a dream. There is always someone who knows.

Y is back now, so I'm off............................. Y made a lovely ham sandwich and we watched Strictly Come. Good interview with Brucie - he really is a trouper and WE like him.

.. It's 8pm - glass of milk time.........

Misty Start - Sunny - John Came

Picture 1 is looking towards Moorgreen Reservoir from Felley access to the M1. You can only just see the reservoir but I was attracted by the misty morning and the subtle tonal recessions from foreground, through middle-distance to faraway skyline.

It seemed romantic and both DHL and Byron would have appreciated it. Not too sure about Sillitoe because he is abit of a townie isn't he?

I thought "You can't fake that in PhotoShop" but you probably can if you know how.

Picture 2 was when I finally arrived at Annesley Old Church and the full sun was creating those great shadows on one of the remaining walls. Why the walls are such an even height, except for the tower, has often mystified me. I 'googled' the problem and discovered that the local council had levelled and capped the walls to make them safer. Rather a vandalistic thing to do in my opinion.

Each time I visit I expect to be joined by the ghost of a cowled monk. If I was I would ask if it was OK to take a photograph. Bungus suggests that the only way I'm likely to succeed with my 'enjambed' grave stone, is to go in the middle of the night with a powerful torch to give a raking light to pick out the words.

I guess my monk would be more likely to turn up too.

Anyway - to return to more mundane matters. For Jill - 'Charlotte' is just the name of a variety of salad potato, not some exotic way of cooking them. They have much to commend them. Evenly shaped, and a wash will do for preparation prior to cooking. Waxy textured, they don't collapse, and have a good flavour. And, if you cook too many, they are excellent the following day, cold.

Y watched 'Born Equal' and enjoyed it even though it was rather dour. But that is what Robert Carlyle does best, and usually the same as he did last time. She thought she had taped the Julie Walters 'Driving Lessons' which Bob spoke so highly of. But we can't find it.

John came today which was nice and he is trying to organise people for a visit on Boxing Day afternoon when they are taking Laura back to Sheffield anyway. His Xmas cheque had gone astray so we gave him another and 'stopped' the existing one. We had wondered - because it hadn't been paid in. We decided it was worth 'stopping'. I know it is supposed to be impossible to do anything with a cheque if it isn't drawn in your favour. But these 'shops' offering 'instant cash for cheques' seem to be springing up everywhere.

Still struggling with Capture NX in conjunction with PhotoShop. It doesn't seem possible to move a picture from Capture to PS without reducing it to a JPEG, which rather defeats the whole object. Not to worry - eventually it will yield.

.....Catch you tomorrow.

Busy Day - Cold Night - Sunny Day

Picture 1 is when I finally reached the gate and I realised that Santa's ' Brinsley representative' hadn't left me anything "on this occasion" as lawyers say. But he will be back; I have every confidence.

Obviously normal traffic had resumed as Rudolph turned the Sleigh into Moor Road and I appreciated the red tail lights going one way and the headlights approaching from the other. What I am trying to master is 'slow sync - rear curtain' in which the flash fires as the shutter is closing. In theory, you should get a still picture of the vehicle with the lights trailing out behind it. It obviously needs further work! I'm OK with the trailing lights bit; all I'm short of is the car. Watch this space. I'm keen to capture a tram after dark.

Still on photography matters, I've been toying with the idea of acquiring Nikon Capture NX which is a RAW converter, but it is expensive. Bit of research on the Nikon website revealed a 30 day free trial. So I downloaded it. Looks good , and there is plenty in the Help menu to get me started.

Picture 2 has no artistic merit. I wanted to record Joan's 'thongs' for posterity. I use them all the time and it is so good not to keep dropping my stick and then struggling to retrieve it.

I can't remember if it was idea 6,322 or not. But simple and effective. Perhaps not quite a design-classic though.

Blood-test this morning and, as I was down there, I went to Lidl and Morrisons for bread. Their Pain de Campagne which they claim to bake fresh every morning. But when we used it to make a sandwich this evening, was stale. Ho Hum! If I could be bothered to get the car out I'd take it back.

For lunch I cooked a roast chicken, made a little stuffing, accompanied by charlotte potatoes, french shallots, celery and brussells. Plus of course, gravy. All turned out well and for pudding we had jelly and ice-cream (again!).

We've achieved a lot today. Sorted out a Hospital appointment which we knew I didn't need to go to because it had been cancelled. An NHS computer glitch I was told. My notes said I didn't need to attend but nobody had told the computer, which generated the letter. Sorted out the TV and digi-box. Y had been unable to receive several channels which we pay for and it looked as if we needed a visit from NTL (and they won't give you a time). I wondered if the 'close-down, wait ten minutes, then switch on and reboot' principle would work as well with a telly as it does with a computer. So that's what I did - plus unplugging all the scart leads and then plugging them back in again. Eventually switched it all on again and left it to settle down for a few minutes and presto ! It now works perfectly.

Stopping there because I want to print several pages from the Help menu of Nikon Capture NX and then an early night.

.....'cos I'm tired already

Cold but Pleasant - Another Rest Day

n.b. As the 'word verification' system for people's 'comments' continues to be a problem, I have abandoned it for a trial period.

A cold but pleasant rest-day but not without interest.

The NARPO secretary circulated an e-mail warning of a method used by people who hi-jack your car. I duly circulated it to family and friends only to learn from Caroline who is a Moderator on WebUser forums that it is a hoax e-mail that has been d0ing the rounds for a couple of years.

Red-face at Radiogandy Mansions and I have re-circulated everyone explaining the position.

For lunch I cooked the remaining half of our Saulmon au Provence with Jamie Oliver type crispy potatoes, baked-courgettes and peas. And Y had had the presence of mind to take out of the freezer some delicious fruit fancies for pudding which needed several hours at room temperature. Super meal. After my afternoon nap we watched Waldemar Januszczak's 2 hr programme about Toulouse-Lautrec which we had recorded. Good stuff, and it was nice being able to zoom through the adverts. Waldemar is an excellent reporter but he has the irritating habit of being filmed while walking with his back to the camera, and talking to the viewer over his shoulder. He must think it makes good television. It doesn't ! We learnt alot though, and that is what matters.

Picture 1 is Santa's 'Brinsley representative' on a sleigh he had borrowed from Santa's headquarters.

Unfortunately I couldn't dash to the gate quickly enough to get a good photograph. But I quite like the psychedelic lights and the overall effect, so I decided to publish it.

While I was out of the front door I thought a quickie of the Pyracantha taken with flash would save the photo-opportunity from being wasted. As you will previously have noticed, I love the way that, at night, the limited reach of the flash, blacks out the background for you. And now that I've discovered how to switch on the focus-assist light, my task is so much easier. At the moment it is necessary for me to carry the Nikon D80 instruction manual ar0und with me. But I shall master its intricacies eventually.

It's been good following the cookery-slot and David said this morning that he had been tempted to pop in his ten pennorth but then decided against it. Shame. They had had a great time at Carsington where the boat is moored. A kids' Christmas Party had been organised and another of Santa's local representatives had arrived, laden with bags and bags of presents, by boat!! You can't fault Santa for lack of ingenuity can you?

.... Going to read a magazine now. And I dont read that fast. That's 'thumbing through'. Catch you tomorrow............

Rest Day - Lovely Light - Getting Colder

This morning the light was so good I nipped out to take a few photographs of Annesley Church for an Amateur Photography forum. People suggest photo-genic locations for each other's benefit and I guess the ruined Church would be of interest. Particularly the gravestone with the words carrying on regardless of the line-endings. 'Enjambment' I am reliably informed is the descriptive word. Unfortunately, although good, the light was not coming from the right direction to emphasise the words. And fill-in flash wasn't much help. I'm afraid it calls for a really early-morning trip.

While going round the traffic-island a couple of hundred yards away, my eye was taken by the brilliant colour of this dogwood. I think it's proper name is cornus. If not, someone will put me right. The reds are 100% unenhanced. This morning I used the Nikon's facility to shoot RAW files and JPEGs at the same time. And sure enough when I downloaded them, there they were side by side. I do't know what to do with the RAW stuff yet but I've got some there to practice on when I do.

The ruined Church and it's little graveyard were as attractive as ever and Picture 2 is looking towards one of the halls. Such a shame and a waste that it is derelict. If they renovated and converted it into luxury apartments, I wouldn't mind living there at all. Beautiful spot, Byron connection et al. Pity they don't do the work and then transport it to Woodthorpe and sell 2 bedroom ground floor flats with a tiny garden for £150,ooo.

Before I leave the subject of 'Police Conference Points' I must tell you about Telephone Kiosks and extremely cold nights. Ordinarily one was supposed to stand in a prominent position, outside the box. The idea was that if it rang you would hear it but mainly so that people could approach you to chat or let you know their worries. (Those were the days 'eh?) However, at 2.30am and a temperature with wind-chill of -5C the tendency was to stand inside. But, with the soporific effects of the customary 3 pints of beer at friendly local hostelries, it was difficult not to go to sleep, even if standing up. The trick was to hold a handful of loose change in your hand. When it fell onto the concrete floor the noise woke you up. If you found an unlocked car (car alarms were unheard of in those days) you felt you were in paradise. Another job we used to do at that time was to check on the security of 'unoccupied-houses' when for some reason the owners were away. I remember once, having checked that the house was OK, finding an unlocked outside loo with a parafin storm-lantern to prevent the pipes freezing. Double-paradiso! But I couldn't stay there long because I had my next 'conference point' in ten minutes and it was quarter of a mile away.

.......Catch you tomorrow.....................

Rest Day - Police Conference Points

First things first. Neither of my pictures was successful in the EPS competition. But they should have been!

The general opinion was that the judge was pretty hopeless. He had never judged before and his views about photography were strange. And it wasn't just my pictures that he was wrong about. In my 'December Sunrise' for instance, he suggested that the photograph would be improved by cropping everything beneath the skyline; thereby losing the diagonal flare which was the whole point of the picture. He didn't like anything 'dark' and a subway picture of Mike's got nowhere because he suggested cropping a important 'passage' on the left. But without it, the picture would have lacked balance and the composition would have been haywire. In one he said he would have liked the tree in a different position in relation to the Church. Ho Hum ! But I won the raffle again - a respectable bottle of Mouton Cadet 2004. Pity neither of us drinks alcohol !

I enjoyed the evening as a whole though - seeing all the pictures, and lots of chats. Spoke to Jason about the courses he is going to run. He rates Nikon Capture NX as a RAW converter and pronounces 'excellent results but slow and difficult'. Sounds as if it will be yet another programme to drive me mad.

The picture is of a Bic pen with multi-colours. I was surprised to spot it in W. H. Smiths because I had no idea they were still available. We used to use them in the Police in the days when we had official 'Pocket Books' in which, at the start of each day, one had to enter day and date and 'tour of duty' in red and the rest of one's notes in black -

Friday:............Tour of duty
15.12.06:........2pm - 10pm
4pm.................Began writing 'Blog'

And the possession of a Bic pen obviated the need for carrying two pens around.

I said I would explain about 'Police Conference Points' so here goes. Basically they were a system by means of which the Police Station kept in touch with patrolling officers 'on the beat'. At the beginning of each shift you would be given a list of 'conference points' i.e. well established places where you had to be on your beat at a certain time. Usually one each hour and generally 'conference points' were at telephone kiosks, so they could ring you and give you jobs and things. One officer's 'points' would be on the hour, the next officer's at quarter-past the hour, and so on. And, as you had to wait at each 'point' for ten minutes, the result was that there was always someone who could be contacted. And a supervisory officer could walk round and visit everyone. Missing a 'point' was a serious misdemeanour. The 'conference points' each had distinctive names, like Tudor Square, Bolham Shuttle, The Skin Factory, Wigwam, Table-Top-Tree to name a few that spring to mind.

It was the Night Sergeant's job to prepare the 'points' for each beat for the following day. And it was a brilliant way of ensuring that idle officers got round their beats properly, as 'points' which were wide apart could be specified. And the system pre-dated the telephone. A retired rural officer told me that his Superintendent would send him a letter saying he would "meet him at Oldcotes Crossroads at 3pm on Thursday the..........." and would then arrive in a horse & carriage.

All that of course, was in the days before Community Support Workers who walk around in twos, deep in conversation to the exclusion of the world around them, or, as I recently observed, listening to an MP3 player through headphones !!!

Quite enough for today. I'm off....

Shopping - Xmas Boxes - Messing About

This apparent 'wide-angle' shot of the winter-flowering jasmine was achieved by the Bob brain-wave of collaging 2 pictures (which in Picasa produces a collage of 4 and then cropping the bottom 2 away. It seems like a most useful notion, the only problem being that the end result has a very low pixel count. I couldn't get the sparrows to pose and I guess they are all in there glaring out.

Picture 2 simply demanded admission. Sometimes Matt gets a little too close for comfort I think. This is a good example.

This morning I nipped out to do some shopping and got some pretty boxes of continental choccie-biccies from Lidl. Then delivered them to the ladies in the Pharmacy, and the chaps at the Garage. I will deliver to the Surgery on Monday. The postman was 'sorted' two days ago, but his wasn't choccies; it folded. And we know it's appreciated because he will bring our bin down from the gate (unasked) if it's still there, and one day came back in his own car to deliver my blood-book.

It does sound is if Bob has got his Blog going and I actually read a post and looked at a picture this morning. But he claims he doesn't have a 'dashboard'. The dashboard is more important than a steering wheel and only slightly less important than the brakes in my opinion. But I'm sure he will get there.

Forty winks calls because I want to be in top gear, if not overdrive, for this evenings competition at EPS. My pictures look good to me. And as I used to be an official photographic judge on the East Midlands circuit, my opinion is worthy. Or used to be 10+ years ago. Perhaps they won't be modern enough.


Catch you later................

NT Social - Sherwood Energy Village

The Xmas Social last night was a success. The projector worked and Gordon had done a first rate job with his programme. There were some school-pupil howlers which purported to be genuine. Some were poetic , most were imaginative, all were good fun. Then he had done a Belvoir Castle slide show which went down well.

Y mastermind the raffle in her inimitable way and Gary organised a 'beetle' drive. Great laughs all round. A bit difficult for those with mobility problems but everyone was sympathetic and it did get people talking to people they don't usually. A good idea.

This morning I dropped Y at the tram because she has two granny-duty days this week and tonight is having a sleep-over at Burton Joyce. She does do extremely well for someone who has just celebrated their 70th, bt she loves doing it and that is all that matters. I then nipped round to Brian's to collect two prints I am entering in an EPS competition tomorrow evening. It was necessary for him to print them because the maximum size my Epson printer will cope with is A4 and I wanted A3. He's done a super job. I shall know tomorrow night how they fare.

Then over to Boughton so that Bungus and I could go for lunch at the new 'Bistro' in the Sherwood Energy Village HQ. The architecture is very interesting. Picture 1 is the main entrance to the HQ - the Bistro is on the left of the picture. The Bungus figure is there to give some idea of scale. You can probably see at the edges some terracotta colour, which I didn't like. When viewed from the other side, the building has, in my opinion, the look of a 1950s Odeon. Not a good day light-wise but record-shots were all I sought anyway.

They wouldn't let us go in to look at the reception area. So we had a coffee in the Bistro and decided to try The Snooty Fox down in the village. Picture 2 therefore, is through a double-glazed glass panel at the HQ. The reflections were unavoidable I'm afraid. It was necessary to focus manually because the auto-focus system naturally thought I wanted a picture of the glass 4 inches away. At least with the Nikon, manual-focus is straightforward.

The Snooty Fox had a table for two and I had Xmas turkey from the carvery. It outstripped the Duchess of Rutland's offering at Belvoir by a factor of at least 10. Bob had the beef which he pronounced to be v.good.

After lunch we went to Bob's to have a go at the 'create a Blog' problem. It took us some time to get onto the internet via Bob's Wi-Fi but eventually we succeeded. Then we created a new blog entitled Bungus. Unfortunately, it appeared in my own google account and as a second blog on my dashboard. I had to leave before 'sorting' it because of my uneasiness about driving in the dark. Just before I left poor Sandra was brought home from the Workshop having fallen off a chair and hurting herself pretty badly. I hope she hasn't damaged the base of her spine or anything. Like me she is a long-term back sufferer anyway.

I reached home in the gathering-gloom and after a pot of tea and a sandwich I tackled the double-blog syndrome and successfully deleted it. Bob e-mailed to say that he has succeeded in creating a new blog but couldn't access it. Ho Hum - as Ray would say.

Byeeeee..................

Wet, Windy and Cold - Joan's - Nat Trust

Just 1 picture today. What with the weather being inclement and lack of opportunity, I had little of interest to head up the Blog. So I did a 'still-life'. Better some picture than no picture I thought.

Gordon came over as arranged with the digital projector and eventually we got it working properly from my laptop, his own being with family in Somerset. We tried it with USB connections, with scart lead, with Powerpoint, without Powerpoint and everything in between and got zilch. Then we started from scratch. Projector on first, then laptop and, at Gordon's suggestion we toggled a few keyboard 'function' buttons and eventually found that Fn plus F3 did the trick and voilá, picture projected and vanished from laptop. A good job we didn't rely on busking it at 6.30pm this evening at the Social though!

This morning we nipped over to Joan's because she has made me a couple of 'thongs' for walking sticks. I was finding that while using both hands to operate a camera, holding my stick between my knees, or leaning it against something, was not an efficient procedure. The stick would fall and be a major problem to pick up from the floor. Another bright idea! If there was a 'thong' attached to the top of the stick it could loop over my arm and leave me with both hands free. She knew instantly what was required and after measuring up and 5 minutes on her trusty machine the job was done. It works brilliantly. We discussed Victoria Wood's 'Housewife 49' at some length and agreed on it's excellence. When we saw Karen briefly this morning, she had enjoyed it too. Joan observed some stage-set errors in the house-plants, pointing out that some were not around then. The only ones I remember my parents and their friends having were Aspidistras, Mother-in-Law's tongue, and Wandering Jew (which you are probably not allowed to call that anymore). And it reminded me of my Dad taking 45 minutes to tell me what had happened on a 30 minute episode of Coronation Street. You think I'm verbose! Bless him, he was a lovely man. So gentle and sensitive.

We needed a few things in Arnold - not least the bridge-rolls from Birds Confectioners and some tins of tuna because that is our contribution to the party-fayre this evening. And Birds' little bridge-rolls are the best for the purpose. So as soon as I close the Blog we shall make them.

One day soon I intend to tell you about Police 'Conference Points' which were to allow patrolling officers to keep in touch before the days of 'personal radios'.

Bye for now................

Rest Day - Housewife 49 - Shepherd's Pie

These are 2 pictures(off the net, not mine) which accompanied Victoria Wood's dramatisation of the diary of Nella Last. Nella was a housewife in Barrow during the war and kept a diary. The play was beautifully written and Victoria Wood starred in it. Stephanie Cole seen in picture 2 was also excellent, as always. It was 2 hours (commercial TV time) but fortunately we had recorded it and could zoom through the adverts.

Basically a Rest Day and the weather has been pretty foul, cold and wet but not particularly windy. This morning, after the statutory blood-test, I went to Lidl in an effort to buy some more of the tinned duck liver paté, but it had been a one-off and was no more. Then to Aldi because I'd spotted in their e-mail some clocks which receive the Rugby time signal. I've missed my weather-station where I knew that the clock was bang on accurate.

The OAG has been up to mischief again. This morning, while in the kitchen making a shepherd's pie, I looked at the kitchen clock. 11.56am, it said. "Ah ha" I thought, "I will listen to the news on the radio at 12noon". The gremlin, almost immediately, moved the clock on to 12.11pm so that I missed the news. The sod.

Everyone's culinary efforts yesterday sounded impressive and Jill's M & S joint sounded great. And all those vegetables Jill!! Sorry Bungus forgot his rice-pudding nutmeg. I'm ashamed to admit our rice-puddings these days come out of tins. And you were right, the lamb-shoulder was fatty. So while making the pie today I scraped every teeniest vestige of fat off each bit of meat before 'mullicrushing' it in my food-processor, then some tomato purée, left over yesterdays gravy, finely diced mushroom, topped with mashed potato. And, as it was going in the oven I did a tray off sliced courgettes and some more of the french shallots. Served with carrots and sugar-snap peas (prolly travelled thousands of air-miles. Sorry!) But it was nicer then yesterday. Isn't it strange?

We have the Mansfield NT's Xmas Social tomorrow evening and Gordon usually does some excellent picture work through the projector but his laptop is playing up. So he is popping over around 7pm this evening to see if mine will act as a replacement. I'm sure it will. It will be nice if Sue comes too and then she and Y can chat while we do boring computer stuff.

It was nice to have a lovely newsy e-mail from Madeline and I was pleased that she and her's are all OK. I'm sure I've missed stuff out today. But I'll catch up tomorrow.

Tarrah................

Tracy Visit - Galley - Arternoon Kip

Busy but rewarding morning in the 'galley' see Picture 1. You can't see it all because I don't possess a wideangle lens. But Bungus sent me two pictures side-by-side as a 'collage', presumably Picasa-ed and I might try that soon. He knows I'm never above filching other people's ideas.

If you are worried about what seems to be part of a carrot on the edge of the sink, relax - it's the handle of the Wilko scissors. And I didn't aim to cook it anyway.

Picture 2 is some more festive cheer. Y erected the tree this morning while I was messing about cooking. There was a major worry - she couldn't find the fairy that goes on the top! And we seem to have had her for so long, bravely suffering the top of a Xmas tree stuck up her skirt each year. She was eventually found, and I was permitted a few strands of 'lammetta'. It gets less every year because Y doesn't like it, but it wouldn't look like her tree without it. Y would favour one of the elegant white jobs like David and Helen have in their conservatory.

The shoulder-of-lamb was a great success. Served with roast potatoes. mashed potatoes ('cos TJ loves 'em), carrots, spring greens, yorkshire puddings, and some beautiful french-shallots I spotted in Lidl, lashings of rich lamb gravy (started from scratch - no granules today) and mint sauce. Followed by raspberry cheesecake, then cheese board and biscuits. Some oatie-ones and just 2 other varieties that looked interesting - all smashing. The selections - Jacobs 'Biscuits for Cheese' sort of thing, are bland and boring - in my humble opinion.

After our leisurely lunch I decided on an afternoon kip, confident in the knowledge that Tracy and her mum would find something to talk about. I didn't stay long, under an hour, and got up raring to go. So I had a chat with Tracy till she left to go over to Burton Joyce, her next stop. Then I sorted my pictures and started my blog. Early this morning I had sent some Jackie Lawson e-cards, and had a look at some forums. I spoke to David and they are all OK. But he is having trouble with blogger.comments and word verification. I hope he will persevere though because it would be lovely to have some from him. John rang and all seems well with them. Alannah has a Saturday job in John Lewis fashion. John says that the firm seem to recoup most of her wages instantly. Bless her.

Must just mention one more foodie item. A discovery in Lidl - their Paté de foie gras de Canarde. In their SUCCéS Gourmand range (the accent should be 'grave' rather than 'acute' but I don't know how to do it). It comes in a small red-labelled tin with ring pulls at each end and is quite delicious. It is unashamedly ELABORE EN FRANCE. Well worth a try, if you are a paté fan and have a Lidl.

Catch you tomorrow........................

Quiet Day - Strictly Come............

Decided to open with a little festive cheer. The holly bush at the gate. Always difficult to decide if it's all Derek's next door, or partially ours. Not that we are going to fall out about it. But it always seems to have more berries than the one solely in our garden. Twas ever thus ...............

Quite a cold day, temperature been down to 4C and frost is forecast for tonight. Fortunately the wind seems to have dropped. There were tornados in London which caused widespread damage. Not at Palmers Green though.

Shopping this morning and a big order at the butchers. Tracy is coming for lunch on Sunday and has asked for her customary lamb. However, it is going to be 'shoulder' rather than 'leg', and it's some years since I cooked a 'shoulder' but looking-forward because I always consider the flavour superior.

It was 'Strictly Come Dancing Tonight' which we both thoroughly enjoyed. Y voted for Mark, and he was very good. However, I voted for Matt and Lilia seen here with Tess who is one of our favourites. She is so good at the live show. aspect of things and comes across as a lovely warm-hearted northern girl

Matt wasn't bottom of the poll but I think he needs my support. He is incredibly good and it is hard to believe he is a rugby player by trade.

My vote kept him in. And Y's vote kept Mark in.

Unfortunately, little Louisa who I understand is in Eastenders went out. It came down to a 'dance-off' tie-breaker between her and Emma and Emma won, deservedly so I think.

We put a tape in for The Culture show so we have it to look forward to. Simon Scharma on Mark Rothko was quite interesting but it was a very difficult subject to deal with on the small screen. The Scharma show includes drama-documentary and there was some rather silly episode of an actor playing Scharma as a young student visiting a allery. Ah well!

Rothko's are large and you really need a large room in a gallery to get the effect. Some years ago I visited the gallery reserved forRothko at The Tate and they were extremely mpressive. My feeling though that all those examples of his work, all together, was not a wise choice.

I've tried to subdue the reds in the holly and the TV pictures, for Bungus's benefit. He does moan-on-so.

Byeee.............................

Mansfield - Wetherspoons - Casino Royale

After a few little Eastwood jobs we decided to go to The Odeon in Mansfield to see the new James Bond film, Casino Royale, which we had been looking forward to seeing.

The timing of the showing suggested lunch beforehand would be a 'good idea' so we went to The Widow Frost. A light and airy Wetherspoons at the top of Leeming Street. Picture 1. It is more of a restaurant really and Bungus prefers the more 'pubby' version down in the Market Place. The food was very good again. Y had a gammon steak and egg and the usual accompaniments, while I branched out and had a rack of BBQ'd pork ribs with coleslaw and sweet-corn. I'm glad I decided to try it 'cos it was v.tasty and tender. Y's gammon was also excellent but left her thirsty.

We needed Santa-type presents and I needed a new watch strap and we succeeded with those things. Picture 2 is looking down the hill towards the Court House and the Market Place. I had a good mooch while Y mooched M&S etc.

After lunch we went to the Cinema. Our timing was first-rate and we got 2 nice seats and the adverts and trailers were just finishing. We thought at first we were going to be troubled by paper-rustlers but once the film started on full volume there wasn't a problem. The film disappointed us slightly. Daniel Craig was excellent as Bond, Judi Dench, the Bond-girl and the villains were great, but there seemed a lot of dashing about (which was good) but, I thought, at the expense of plot and narrative. Probably the truth is that we are getting a tad too old for Bond films, preferring something a little more demanding. It was enjoyable enough but we couldn't echo the peons of praise heaped on the film.

Then home, pot of tea, Xmas cake (for me) and mess about doing odds and ends. Then it will be Strictly Come Dancing and, at 9pm, Simon Scharma on Mark Rothko.

Last night at the camera-club was good and I had lots of interesting chats to people. My 'publication success' was read out in 'notices' and I got a round of applause! The lecturer was good and very expert at his job as geologist researching the thousands of old metal-mining workings in Derbyshire. The problem was that he could have used a firm editor. I learnt more about 200yr old lead-mines than I actually need to know.

Byee.........

Burton Joyce Day - EPS tonight

When I was photographing the sunrise yesterday I needed my birthday tripod because of the low light, and the slow shutter speeds. While it was still set up, I thought what about trying for movement across the frame? This is the result. As soon as the car appeared I clicked and the camera gave it maybe a half second exposure. Ergo - 'blur suggesting movement' but I'm not sure that you can identify it as a car!

Yesterday's 'sunrise' picture has earned 16 ticks so far, in my online photomagazine. My previous highest was 7. . Before leaving these issues, I rang the Royal Photographic Society this morning with a view to rejoining. Their journals used to be so enjoyable. They welcomed me back, 'open arms' were mentioned, and they have reinstated my Licentiateship. So it's LRPS again. I make no claim to consistency in these matters.

Picture 2 is four of the glorious beech-trees on Long Lane which runs from the A614 to Ravenshead. I couldn't include more, without unsightly cars and heaps of hardcore intruding. I had taken Y to Burton Joyce because there were 'bags of things which will remain nameless' to be brought back. And I wanted a picture of these trees as a 'record-shot'.

The light wasn't perfect but OK and I actually like this time of the year when you can see through trees without those nuisance leaves blocking your view. Loads of places in Derbyshire, during the winter, have marvellous vistas where you wouldn't suspect them.

My day has been quite busy. Loads of bits of jobs. One of which was to scrub my Ikea bag, which serves as my laptop carrier. I like it because being a pale biscuitty colour I hope it doesn't give away what it contains. But it gets grubby. After I had scrubbed it I discovered that the OAG had put some papers in the outside pocket. Soaked. Now dred in the airing-cupboard and they look presentable enough. Just!

I am due to collect Y from Moor Bridge trampark later, so as to miss the horrendous traffic on the A610. And, after that, to Eastwood for the camera-club. The chap tonight is talking and exhibiting on the subject of Underground in Derbyshire's abandoned Metal Mines. Sounds fascinating.

I'll make myself abit of tea I think...............................

End of our 'Holbein to Hockney' Class - Boohoo!

Picture 1 is the sunrise this morning and the rather pretty 'flare' effect is due, I think, to it being photographed through glass. It wasn't nice enough to be out and anyway, I was till in jim-jams and dressing gown and I didn't want to frighten the paper-lady.

To return to chronological order and last night's Mansfield National Trust lecture about Bess of Hardwick. Without going OTT it was simply brilliant. A lady called Margaret Harrison, a blue badge guide (they have to take exams and things) spoke for well over an hour on the subject of Bess without notes and in such an entertaining manner. I shall never forget that Bess was "tall, with long auburn hair nearly down to her waist, slim and beautiful, with beautiful black eyes and flirty and vivacious". And Margaret reminded of this just before Bess met yet another husband, each richer than the last and usually in poor health. She went from near-penniless daughter of a lowly squire, to owning most of Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire. Not to mention London houses and elsewhere. She started becoming rich because, being at Court and being widowed, she qualified for a grant of £50 (a lot of money in the early 16th Century).. Bess didn't spend it. Oh No! She lent it out for a year and when she got it back it had grown to £72. Bess's business acumen never went out of gear from that moment on. After the talk the lecturer showed us some slides. But we didn't really need them.

Picture 2 is an old one of my own when we were fortunate enough to catch the building with a minimum of the customary scaffolding. What bit there is, I have managed to hide more-or-less, behind the conifer on the right-edge of the picture. We'd had a tip-off from the property manageress that most of it had been taken down. Among other things Bess's initials right on the top of the 4 storey bits have needed attention. They still look great from the motorway though. Bless her - if you've got it, flaunt it, as they say.

We were pleased the lecture was so good, because Joan and Chris were there as our guests. Although it would not have been our fault if it had been awful, one does feel a sort of responsibility. Margaret Harrison is apparently on Radio Nottingham quite often and her next scheduled slot is 8.50am on Thursday, tomorrow. I stopped to thank her on our way out and in conversation she said she did "The GunPowder Plot" as one of her lectures. That would be a great one to have.

It was the last session in our 'Holbein to Hockney' today and we had to take it as a sprint from Graham Sutherland through Kitaj, Caulfield, Peter Blake (I got brownie points for knowing that Blake designed the Beatles 'Sgt Pepper' Album sleeve), to Lucien Freud, Paula Rego, Francis Bacon and others including David Hockney, Frank Auerbach and others. I heard and saw nothing to persuade me from the view that Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin et al are of little merit. I've never seen any evidence that they can draw! Picasso could finish up as weird as he wished because there are square miles of evidence that he could draw like a dream. The same goes for Freud, and Hockney and others. Even though I don't insist that Art must be painterly, I feel that the ability to draw and to design is a pre-requisite.

That's long enough on a soap-box. Tonorrow is a Burton Joyce day for Y and I've got loads of little jobs.

See ya.............

Stormy Weather - Lovely Light

These three pictures are all off the telly. All from Planet Earth which we've only just got round to watching. I know you it would be difficult to get good A3 prints from them but as illustrations they seem fine.

Picture 1 is some sort of duck - which variety escapes me but I know I haven't seen one on Moorgreen Res. Still, with global-warming one never knows.

The subject this week was Woodlands and the following 2 pictures are about the team's efforts to photograph the top of a Baobab tree. This involved a very brave camera-man going up in this semi-dirigable hot-air balloon pilotted by a maniac of a Frenchman who seemed to have little control over the contraption. The result was they crashed into the top of the Baobab and damaged the craft. It had to be repaired by local welding and sawing off part of one propeller, to balance the other. Ergo, less control even than before.

Picture 2 shows the crash into the tree-top which was obviously filmed from the ground.

Picture 3 though is the real mystery. Cynic that I am I immediately thought "Who is filming them now then?

Perhaps there was some sort of boom protruding outwards from the contraption, on which was fixed a camera.

If you look above the guy's head (the one in the blue shirt - the crazy one) the solid cylindrical bit could be such a boom.

BUT if it is, why can't we see it complete with camera in Picture 2.

Whatever the explanation, the camera-man was brave beyond the call of duty, to agree to another flight after the first disaster.

We find the 'Diaries' section at the end of each programme, explaining how the shots are obtained, quite fascinating. Some of the Arctic ones for instance, invoved sitting out on the ice in a tent for a fortnight, in temperatures which would tax a polar bear. My suspicious mind should not be taken as criticism.

The weather today has been mild but very stormy. The old barometer is showing 29. I think that is pounds per sq.inch and I've no idea what it converts to in a modern measurement. We went to Carlton Hill this afternoon so Y could have her birthday-nails serviced and I messed about in the car. The nail people are Chinese and have little English, and Y's Chinese is not quite up to it. The big decision was 'white tips' or 'naturelle' and it was finally decided that 'white tips' were what was required. Tracy does a passable Chinese accent for 'white tips', but I haven't got into including sound yet, so you must just take my word for it.

This evening it is Mansfield National Trust's monthly meeting and the subject is Bess of Hardwick. We hope it will be a good lecture plus loads of slides, because Joan and Chris are coming with us as our guests. Both have a strong interest in local history, and I think Hardwick in particular. The place always entrances us. There is always something new to learn. And we always think "I bet you would have a good evening in a pub with Bess". She was such a formidable lady.

Tell you more tomorrow........................

Y returns - The Geograph site

These 2 pictures are for my new association with Geograph, a site Lynne at the Camera Club intoduced me to. Great fun! Although I don't fully understand the system yet, one enters the 'grid ref.' for the location of the picture. Then 'moderators' decide whether to accept it as a 'Geograph' or a 'Supplemental' if at all. I will try not to bore on about this.

Up to the present they have 286,252 images covering 45.1% of Great Britain. Wherever interests you, if the 'post-code' or 'grid ref.' is available you can look at loads of pictures of there. There is an onsite map if you need to find a grid-reference for yourself .

They stress that what is wanted is 'record-shots' not works of art. This is in line with my new 'religion' (of which more later). A judicious 'crop' or maybe a tweak for 'brightness' is allowed but not the widespread use of PhotoShop. Picture 1 is from outside the Doctor's looking down on the roofs of Church Street, Eastwood. Radcliffe-on-Soar Power Station can just be seen on the skyline. And, as future historians will note, we still have telephone cables. On the way into the doctor's a beautiful Maseratti was parked outside. That will make an excellent 'record' shot for Eastood I thought, but when I came out, it had gone. Carpe diem or what?

The 'more later' of which I spake, is that I have had a 600word piece accepted by Amateur Photographer for their 'Backchat' column - about this very subject, i.e. the need for 'record shots' and that the heavily false results from image manipulation are becoming boring. Also, they pay £50. I could buy an upgrade to my PhotoShop Elements !! I speak in jest.

Picture 2 is a 'completely unretouched' photo of Eastwood Morrisons and you can't get more record-shotty that that can you? Mind - if you look on the skyine extreme left you can see the Derbyshire Hills. You have my promise that this won't become an excuse for producing boring pictures. Honest.

I collected Y from Phoenix Park Tram just after lunch and it is good to have her home. She's had a great time and her tales of Palmers Green are a joy. My 3 days involved endless messing about which, these days, I'm very good at. That and 'spending money' at which we both excel, to the extent that I think we should run courses. Bungus's Blog saga inches ever closer to a satisfactory outcome and will be a good read (his stuff usually is) when he is up-and-running.

The Test Match seems to be stuttering towards a draw. I knew I'd spoken too soon.

byeeeee..................

Messing-about Day - Wet and Windy

I think the rose is Iceberg, but not absolutely sure, and it has survived on a north-facing fence till 2nd December. In Gardeners World it came top of a popularity poll - due in my opinion to the very dry summer. The variety is old and hates wet weather, quickly becoming pock-marked and knackered. "Who isn't?....." I hear a chorus from the north of the county. I haven't done much 'photoshopping' on it just darkened a couple of obtrusive leaves and administered a firm 'crop'.

While I was in the garden I nipped round with the camera to see what we actually have still showing colour.

Picture 2 is a 'collage' of the results.

Y's 'poached egg' (bottom right and centre) seems to have borne the odd flower all the way through from last year). It is one of the plants she is very good with, getting large carpets wherever she wants, to the mild irritation of the neighbours who can't get it to go at all.

And good old Bowle's Mauve (bottom centre) certainly has never been out of flower. We've got some outside the kitchen door and it has just flowered and flowered. The winter-flowering jasmine, or 'sparrow-ville' as I think we should call it, is of course bang in season (top centre) and it is so welcome on a dull day to look out of the window and see some colour.

"..........to unawakened earth,
The trumpet of a prophecy! O, Wind.
If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?"



...............Shelley (1819)

The Culture Show was good. Ziro did a very good piece on 'designer handbags' a Mark Jacobs being the central variety. Worth over a 'grand' one can hire them for the day to cut a dash! Surely though, in Central London your mugworthiness must zoom upwards? Alastair was back and interviewed a Scottish artist, Peter Howson, whose pictures were most impressive.

The cricketers are doing very well - First Innings 551 for 6 declared. And Shane Warne 1 for 167 - Ha Ha Ha!. A bowling genius however. The aussies are fighting back though so I hope I haven't tempted providence.

I had a nice chat with David and aparently JD has read and enjoyed the Blog and wants to enter a comment. It would be lovely if he did ! We have known him since we lived at Rostellen. But everyone seems to be having difficulty with this 'word verification' function. Also, Bob seems on the point of getting a Blog of his own going. I'm looking forward to the BungusBlog so that I can leave impertinent comments thereon! And the dining room chairs at Belvoir were very red - it wasn't anything I did honest!!

Catch yer temorrer.......................

Belvoir Pt.3 - Lazy Rest Day

Blogger trouble earlier. A 'scheduled outage' - isn't american-english ugly? and I couldn't load my pictures. Anyway, it's OK now and these two I wanted to share.

Picture 1 is the dining room and the paintings either side of the arch are Reynolds-es. Whether they are good or not is a moot point because between us and the backs of the dining chairs was a barrier preventing any closer scrutiny. A very pleasant room nevertheless. Light and airy and good views over The Vale of Belvoir.

Picture 2 is of one of the pleasantest rooms we saw. A lovely atmosphere. The ladies' withdrawing-room and I bet it used to be vicious stuff seeing who could get a seat closest to the duchess.

Again, if the conversation bored one, there were lovely views over the surrounding countryside. The staff stressed that the whole castle is still used by the family (Duke and Duchess and three young children). This was borne out by four-poster beds where you could see electric-blanket leads plugged into wall-sockets and electric-kettles in unexpected places etc..

The castle has actually closed until the Spring except for this week of Xmas visits and I'm extremely glad we went because we enjoyed it so. The coach journey was just over an hour, so it didn't seem oppressive.

Simon Scharma's Power of Art last night was on the subject of Picasso's 'Guernica'. I recorded it because Y wanted to see it too, and I shall watch it again with her. This evening I watched Strictly Come Dancing and voted for Matt & Lilia because their performance was not excellent this evening. But they have been so good I decided that they needed my support. If I had followed my usual practice of voting for 'the best on the night' it would have been for Emma who, for an ex Spice Girl is quite excellent.

There is a tape in the machine recording The Culture Show which I shall watch in a few minutes. Robin Hood doesn't appeal because the decision to axe Friar Tuck seems so disloyal to the outlaws of Sherwood. Then it will be a big decision as to whether or not to stop up for the Dancing results - I guess I shall have to.

Byeeee..............................

Belvoir Pt. 2 - Y at Palmers Green

I delivered Y to Phoenix Park, for her onward journey to Palmers Green and she texted (isn't that an ugly word? alternatives please?) me a few minutes ago to say she arrived safely. The traffic this morning was no problem at all and we were travelling at exactly the same time as usual. Funny 'innit? Then, on the way back, I did a little shopping, got some cash and had my hair cut. So, when Y returns, she will not be able to say that I 'look seedy'. Mind you, apart from the odd occasion in uniform, smart is not a look I have ever been able to achieve. Nor aspired to come-to-that! Smart is for creeps in my book. However, having said that, John always looks very smart, but he has the height and shape for it.

Picture 1 is the Holbein portrait of Henry V111 and a very fine portrait it is too. If you look at the top of the frame you will see where the picture-light is - in a very unhelpful place because, if one stands in front of the painting, the head is invisible due to glare. This why I had to stand sideways-on, and I've spent much time this morning 'photoshopping' the burnt-out highlights away. You can make up your own minds as to its provenance when you enlarge it. For the benefit of new blog-readers, clicking on a picture will enlarge it, and then if a little magnifying-glass icon appears, click again and it will become even bigger.

When I first saw the tapestry - Picture 2 - my first thought, disrespectfully, was "Am I bovvered? Do I look as if I'm bovvered?"

The Catherine Tate shoolgirl character has much to answer for. Catherine Tate is so talented and her humour is carrying on from Billy Connolly and Victoria Wood in that it stems from astute observation of life. The Grandma character is one of our favourites. Her language is appalling and cannot be quoted in a 'family journal' but, strangely enough doesn't offend. Likewise with her Midlands couple who are way to the right of Alf Garnett and so accurately portrayed. And the suburban mum and her two children are priceless. We are very lucky that such talented people as the author emerge.

I treated Rachel's cyclamen to 10mins TLC this morning and the plant now looks good for another few weeks. No dead or overcrowded leaves, no past-it flowers or seed-heads and a thorough soaking. Plus a move to a shadier windowsill. I've never actually kitchen-tested the theory but they are after all a woodland variety and probably don't really enjoy a sunny spot.

The light is failing already (3.30pm) so I think I'll go for a nap. If I go and lie-down after dark I generally think I've gone to bed properly and sleep till the early hours.

Byeee...................................