Whitewater Rafting Day.

I make no apology for this picture because it has worked out really well. Complete serendipity! As yesterday's sunset looked promising I drove round the corner to Hall Lane which I guessed would be a good location. It was fast becoming a low-light job so I steadied the camera on the roof of the car, rather than set up my birthday-tripod. The reflections are on the car-roof and I just wasn't aware of them until I checked what I'd got in the LCD screen. There was no water anywhere closer than a mile or so away. I having given the photograph the working-title "Sunset over Lake Civic" which I hope folks will work out.

Anyway - much more important. The Whitewater Rafting. We went to Tracy's so we could follow her to Home Pierrepont. Everybody arrived on time at The National Water Sports Centre and the weather was fine, if a little cold due to a strong breeze. The water was cold but everyone had swimsuits under and wetsuits on top, and safety helmets. I took loads of shots some of which are A1 and I lent Sky my Casio compact and hers are quite exceptional for a 7yr old. It took her all of 45seconds to grasp how to operate it in 'take' mode and then how to change to 'playback' mode. It is hard to select a picture to sum things up but this one shows everybody happy except that David has a dangly barber's pole obscuring his face. Nevermind further photos will follow over the next few days, and we will show him with his normal handsome cheery face.

Yvonne (in the yellow helmet) was fantastic. She absolutely loved it and at the end she was as calm & collected as when she started. And that was after three runs. The practice was to carry the raft back to the start each time and on the last run down the course they capsized and Yvonne finished up under the overturned raft. They had had tuition and been told what to do so she kept her head and made her way to the side when the raft-guide pulled her onto the bottom, which was then the top. Joan's Chris wasn't so lucky and he had to pulled down the watercourse on his back by two of the professionals. There was no real risk because everyone had life-jackets but nevertheless it was real scary.

Y loved every minute of it and I was so proud of her. She has wanted to to it for so long and it finally happened. And the way it turned into a proper family occasion was a bonus. Sky's photographs were so good I've e-mailed them all (49 frames) to her via Web-Albmus, so she can edit them herself. They are her pictures after all.

Stopping now because it's nearly 8pm and I fancy abit of telly. Also, I'm whacked, even if no-one else is !!

Byee......................

Beauvale Lodge and Dahlia with Snail

In the process of uploading this, I discovered that one can blog pictures directly from Picasa. But it's not good because it only loads a sort of mini-version which wouldn't enlarge at all. Also, it begins a completely new 'post' when maybe you want to add something into an existing one.

The picture is Beauvale Lodge which, if it wasn't for the trees, would overlook Moorgreen Reservoir. The house has always appealed to me muchly. I think it is probably the steeply pitched roof which I like. It is empty at the moment - but all we want is a little bungalow with hardly any garden and nearer to Nottingham.!

Maybe when it was built the trees weren't big enough to obscure the view.

Picture 2 is nothing in particular, just a yellow dahlia before yesterday's frost killed them. And a tiny snail. This morning the dahlias really looked in a sorry state. We must cut back the foliage and lay it over the plants for the winter, to give them some protection. They don't all survive but most do. But why are we bothering I ask myself when we hope not to be here next year to see them?

Shopping this morning and then I cooked pork-chops in a Yorskhire Pudding. Sort of pig-in-the-hole and I made some stuffing. We also had potatoes, carrots and spring-greens. Spring Greens? in November. Ah well ! Yvonne had her favourite bramley-apple sauce. I like stewed apple well enough but I always think it goes with custard, not meat. A few years ago I would have added "It's a free country", but for some strange reason I've stopped saying that.

All sorts on the telly tonight. Strictly Come Dancing, The Culture Show, and Yvonne likes Robin Hood but I don't. How dare they leave out Friar Tuck? Probably he was considered 'politically incorrect'.

Don't be deceived by the time shown at the bottom of this Blog, because it is now 15.11 and my sole purpose when I woke up this morning was to upload the pictures before the rush starts. It does seem to make a difference. When I've more time, after Y's big day, I intend to have a serious look at Blogger Beta. It promises all sorts of goodies, like being able to add tags/labels to 'posts' to make things easier to find. Also, instant-publishing, which is difficult to believe. We shall see.................

A Frosty Morning - Busy Day

Sorry about yesterday's truncated Blog but when I got home from the camera club it seemed too late to sort it. It was a good evening. They had a competition (not including me) to see who had got the best results from a disposable camera. Some of the photographs were incredibly good considering the cameras have no controls except a shutter button and a sliver of plastic for a lens. In some cases the cameras has made better exposure decisions than I used to make with a pre-digital job. And nobody had cheated because Brian at the shop developed and printed them all.

Also Lynne, who I knew from my last sojourn with the club, pointed me in the direction of a photo-site called Geograph click here where local photographers enter their work. So all you need to do is enter a postcode in the Search Box and you are rewarded with good quality pictures of wherever you are interested in. It's quite addictive ! I've already had a quick look at Llandudno.

Picture 1 is some ducks which are a hangover from yesterday. Bungus says they might be gulls. As you all know I'm no ornitholigist so he might be right.

Picture 2 is self explanatory. Now, - if you were a coal-tit would you not find the restaurant irresistable? And would you not remain at your table, ignoring the paparazzi 25yards away quietly operating a camera through a discreet window? Of course you would. So why don't Brinsley coal-tits conform?

I know I get obsessed, but while in Nottingham today, I bought an electronic shutter-release cable for my Nikon so that I can be even more unobtrusive. Jill has been kind enough to already 'comment' favourably on the set-up and calmly reports Woodpeckers on the lawn and Goldcrests the other day. And this is in London. If she were to put out the remains of a roast, she would no doubt attract a Vulture!

Bungus raised the issue of his mother's burnt cooking. Until I was 14, I thought the way to make toast was to put it under the grill until it caught fire; then take it outside the back door and scrape it. Because that was the way she made it every morning.

Before everybody loses interest I have strong opinions about the Sterne Report on Global Warming. They had two decades of weather like this summer in Tudor times. No doubt they blamed all those plantagenet 4X4s. I would have more confidence in the report if it didn't say at the end 'Commisioned by HM Treasury'.

Last news item - the dahlias are done-for...............

Lovely morning - Grass a little white

After dropping Y at the tram I decided to pause at Moorgreen Res. and capture some duck-shots for grandchildren, Bungus, and other afficianados. As soon as I took the lens-cap off there was a mass exodus. However, they didn't go very far, so I switched to my telephoto at full stretch and managed the next picture. They had only gone to visit their swan friends on the other side of the water. And there was me taking it personally!


My long lens gives me a lot of fun, as does the camera altogether. My little Casio is excellent but there is only a limited amount of messing-about that one can do with it. And I enjoy the messing about.

More follows later in the day. I got my pictures up which was main purpose etc.....

Evening Sun over the Footie Field

I know this is very 'blocky' but I had to reduce the pixel-count right down, to persuade 'blogger' to upload it. If things seem more propitious at a less popular hour for blogging, I'll try again with a stronger version. It was a much colder night but nowhere near a frost and the dahlias survived. Dahlias in November must be fairly unusual, unless one lives on Tresco or similar. I took some pictures of them because tonight is supposed to be much colder and there might even be a frost. It is fast approaching flannelette parjies weather.

The picture is our lovely view over the football field, when the evening sun shines over the bungalow and bathes the trees in a deliciously warm and photogenic light.

Our 'Hockney to Holbein' class was super again and, although I said I wouldn't bore you with more art, I can't resist including Picture 2. Gainsborough's Mr and Mrs Andrews has been a favourite since I first saw it way back in the 60s. We have now reached the Reynolds and Gainsborough era and the founding of The Royal Academy. With both of us having had an interest in art for such a long time we feel quite knowledgeable, but the class demonstrates how much we don't know. At the end of the session our tutor projected a series of similar portraits and we had to guess the artist. Very tricky with some. One, of a female member of the Spencer clan, led to a chorus of shouts of "Gainsborough", except Y who got it right. Then she said she felt a cheat because she had seen the picture and remembered. Doesn't sound like a cheat to me !

There seems to be something seriously wrong with 'Blogger'. The relevant computer press and forums are full of it. There were serious 'picture uploading' problems again and when I went to edit I got some of my text in Spanish. Much of the problem seems to be capacity based, and when off-peak, like now at 4am, the difficulties evaporate. Blogger are making a big push with their updated version in beta and I might have a look at it. So, if this Blog suddenly looks different, or doesn't appear for a couple of days, that will probably be the explanation.

Burton Joyce day for Y tomorrow and I have my camera club in the evening but, apart from odd jobs, a quiet day looms. Ray has completed his house-move and is almost but not quite back on stream. He e-mailed me but I shall leave replying for some days because I would inevitably tell him of my problem downloading siteadvisor to Firefox 2. Then he would try to sort me out and I'm sure he has more pressing things to do for a while. Mouse and Mart on WUforums are doing their best but it seems to involve 'profiles' and stuff which I don't really understand. I'll have a go later in the day. FF2 has features I don't really want - like an automatic spell-checker which doesn't seem to be equipped with an off-switch. It puts its irritating line of red dots under 'favourite' for instance just because I'm using the UK spelling. I hate spell-checkers.

In response to comments "Yes, we did see The Royle Family" and thought it superb. I would have blogged something about it, and maybe a picture, but I can't cover everything. And we make no apology for being Strictly Come Dancing fans. We even ring up and vote for our favourites. So there !

Byeee.......

Overcast Tuesday - David's Birthday

As promised - the Liquidamber. Uploaded without any trouble. Probably before the USA takes to the net and clogs things up. But it isn't just me, there has been loads of blog and press coverage of google's 'blogger' problems and both planned and unplanned 'outages' as they call them.

David's birthday and when I rang at 7.50am he had already set off, so I left a 'happy birthday' on his mobile. The stew was even better today. They always seem to be and I've never understood why. Maybe it's been mentioned before but the Dickensian street-cry which ends "..........seven days in the pot" springs to mind. I suppose that, if brought to boiling point each day, it might be tummy-upset proof, but I doubt it.

After lunch, it was over to Mansfield for the National Trust committee meeting. Apparently it was a success because, as I am not the committee member, I sat in Conny's lounge with my laptop and tried to make sense of Roger's tutorial last night. Some of it was OK but I still have problems with a lot. It isn't a simple programme !

Busy telly night. Strictly Come Dancing for half an hour and then Tim Marlow on Velasquez. I'll try not to impose more art-reproductions on you though. Although I can't promise - because tomorrow is our Holbein to Hockney class.

The Picture is Mark Ramprekash and his partner Karen. He being the celebrity and she being the professional dancer. He is, of course, an excellent cricketer and seems to have translated his natural poise and timing etc. to the dance floor. As a cricketer he has lightning fast reactions and I remember seeing him take the most incredible catch I have ever seen. He must be favourite to win. There are so many strong contenders though that I wouldn't put money on it.

When we were in the super-market we collected a gem. As well as milk and potatoes we decided to buy some packs of assorted kids' sweets with which to fend off the trick-and-treaters. It seems cheaper than giving them money. The lady in front of us at the check-out obviously had the same idea and she and Y chatted about it. The lady said that her mum would never have anything to do with Halloween rating it "as bad as talking to Protestants".

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

Mild Day - Shopping - First Holiday

This is The Tynedale Hotel, on the promenade at Llandudno, overlooking the Victorian Pier, handy for the shops.......... etc., and we have booked our first holiday for 2007.

A sea-view room on the first floor, which should be interesting at the end of January. But it will be fun and there is a certain attraction and style to going to the coast in the middle of winter.

We can wrap up warmly and go to the top of The Great Orme (by lift or tram of course) and there are excursions, and door to door transport arranged by the coach company - with whom we have been very satisfied in the past. Our Tenby Holiday for instance was one of the best we've ever had.

This is the promised Victorian Pier and although we don't expect it to look summery, it should be interesting - if open. I would settle for large waves crashing over the rails but I can't speak for Y.

Looking at the photograph however, I note that the older lady has her coat firmly fastened. Not my photo of course, it is out of the Llandudno publicity material, so I guess they would be pleased rather than touchy, to have it reproduced.

I had done another Liquidamber picture, because the colour becomes more and more intense, seemingly by the hour. But it was reluctant to upload - maybe try again tomorrow. Tried but failed to photograph some coal-tits on the feeders. They are very nervy little creatures and although I wasn't really close (with my telephoto lens on a tripod) but even the focussing noise sent them to flight. It's my assumption that they are coal-tits - duller and smaller than the great-tits and with black and white striped heads. Why not look them up? I hear you ask. Simple. The books were packed for the move and I canna find 'em.

Routine sort of day. Bit of shopping, Y still cutting back, and I made a beef-stew with a delicious piece of shin plus onions and mushrooms. Cooked for hours on about 12oC. The we finished off some apple-flan which I made yesterday, with some cream left over from TJ's do. It was the cream what did the trick! Well you can't waste food can you?

Touch wood - computer seems OK. And my newly found friend Roger (camera club) is coming round for an hour this evening, to help me with Photoshop.

Ta Ta.................

Very Mild Day - Quiet Sunday

Picture 1 is of some UFOs which I spotted over Sherwood while looking out of TJ's window on Friday evening. Fortunately I had my camera ! And all on non-alcoholic Ame. An excellent do though and David, who looked very cool in a dark maroon suit, slipped me a tenner. He had sold an old Pentax SLR body for me, and some bits, to a chap on the market who, in my opinion, has more money than sense. Unless he feels there will be a resurgence in demand for non-digital SLRs. Alan, to whom I had chatted about the nonsense speed-limit on the A610, e-mailed me some copy corres. he had received from officialdom on the subject. Aren't young people nice?

Picture 2 is my trusty artichoke seed-heads which I snapped with flash on my return. They have served us well and before they go rotten I intend to cut some and see how they look indoors as dried flowers.

I haven't heard of, or seen them so used before - we might start a trend.

It has been so mild today, 14c in Nottingham, though it felt warmer in the sun, and Y did some cutting back and I sprayed the patio with weed-killer. The rest of the time I have been sorting out self-inflicted computer wounds. I decided to upgrade to Firefox 2 and lost my Yahoo and Google toolbars. I tried everything, even system-restore back to dates when I knew the old browser was functioning fine. No good. In the end I had to uninstall it all and start again. It is OK now so I have created a quick restore point for today, as a hedge against future problems. A classic example of "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Firefox 1.5 was fine and, to be honest, I can't see any glaring advantage to 2.5.

On Saturday morning the llamas were in the field and the donkeys weren't. I suppose that as, I believe, llamas live in Tibet, they are hardier than I expect.

If this seems a little terse it is because I have had to write it twice. Blogger.com is playing up again (loads of people have been complaining and it's made the international computer press). It simply said "Could not connect to Blogger.com. Saving and publishing may fail". And it did. I'm beginning to think that Bungus's method of writing in Word, and then copy/paste might have a role to play in my Blogging.

Tracy's - Start of Y's Birthday - My Birthday

Some of the food at TJ's before the onslaught. As anticipated, the 'vittals' were excellent. In the dark middle corner (if that is possible) lurks a Thai curry, courtesy Jamie Oliver and covered in foil. Pronounced delicious by all, plus loads of loverly nibbles. A chocolate cheesecake and cream, which one immediately knew was bad for one - it was so good. I couldn't manage the cheese-board. There were enough people and kids for there to be a hubbub and we all mingled and chatted. We met June's Bill and he seems very nice and coped extremely well with being thrust into such a bustling and strange environment. The children were very good - no serious tears and they all loved playing complicated games in Tracy's gym. Helen had brought loads of things for the kids to do, including a Popcorn maker which was extremely popular. I was full to overflowing but what can you do when offered some warm freshly made popcorn by a proud 5yr old. I 'yumyummed' and got away with eating just two bits. By the way, don't worry about the frightening weapons on the wall - she is a keen martial arts afficianado. Lisa had done me a birthday cake with not quite 71 candles which was brought in after the lights had been dimmed and everyone sang Happy Birthday. My lung-full of puff extinguished all but one. I am indeed a very lucky man!

I 'bailed out' fairly early and Y stayed over which worked out well for everyone. It stopped me from getting over-tired and allowed Y to relax without having to keep her eye on me.

The next picture is my birthday cards and everyone had gone to such trouble with their selection. The centre one is a framed picture by Ruby (6yrs) and she has captured the 'spirit. Hannah did me a computer, keyboard and a real mouse, Brooke and Sky had done me a castle with turrets with a halloween theme and Elli had done a family drawing.


Presents and things this morning- followed by a kip and then I collected Y who is doing a roast chicken for this evening. Then Strictly Come Dancing and then .......... I might get to have a look at the crossword.

See ya all ...............................

No Rafting but - Get-together at Tracy's

Just a quick Blog post, to establish the date, because in about half an hour we are off to TJ's for a get-together. It was supposed to follow the rafting but, even with that being postponed, Tracy has decided to continue with the evening as planned. The food will be tiptop as usual (I can't wait) and it will be nice to see the 'raft-crew' plus children, the infirm (of whom there is only me really) and other lovely folks. A good thing about your 70s is that one is always allocated a seat at such gatherings.

In a way the postponement is no bad thing because Steven has a bad cold and David's clavicle is still recovering. Also, as Ray says "It is hissing down at the moment". Nice message from him on the landline answerphone and I've sent him a Jackie Lawson e-card to help settle him into his new house.

Picture 1 is a 'cracker' isn't it? Taken by Steve on their recent London visit and, Y guesses, from the London Eye. I love those diagonals and the shot is so well constructed. It was good to see, from the rest of the piccies, that they didn't let the occasional downpour spoil their fun. It would be nice to share them but Y doesn't like the idea of pictures of the children being 'blogged' and I take her point because there are weirdos about. It would be possible to restrict access to the Blog to named people. But mainly I have no objection to anyone reading it and it is better just to be careful about photographs and too close an identification of names and places.

Bungus's point about my eating my entire Wetherspoon's lunch without complaining (even though it was tepid at best) is semi-valid but it stems from childhood when my mother used to claim that, if we didn't clear our plates, we were "helping Hitler to win the war" and what 5-11yr old could carry that sort of reposibility?

That might be it for today - we shall see.........

Burton Joyce - Mansfield - Eastwood

The Liquidamber has also decided that 'the fall' is upon us. As distinct from yesterday's sumac one can plant this anywhere with confidence, and provided you obtain a dwarf one (max about 8 feet) they are no trouble at all. Pleasant green foliage from Spring onwards and delightful colours in the Autumn. The full-size ones are magnificent but can reach 80 - 100 feet. No lawn-invasions; no diseases or creepy-crawly infestations. At least WE haven't had any in over 10 years.

Good news on the blood-level front. Reading nearly within permitted range and no test till Nov.6th - the day after the new date for Y's white-water-rafting.. The people rang Tracy to tell her that tomorrow wasn't going to be possible because the course is flooded! Don't ask - because I don't know the answer.

Y went to Burton Joyce as normal and I delivered her to the tram and then did some shopping. Messed about and then went to Mansfield to meet Bob. We had our usual laugh and a good chat but I think it's back to The Widow Frost for lunch next time. Bob's was OK but mine was luke-warm at best, my large flat mushroom was a small undercooked mushroom and my grilled tomato hadn't been grilled at all. After that we went to the cafe outside Debenhams and my 'tea' consisted of a mug of hot water and a tea-bag to dangle in it. Shan't be going there again.

Then we went to PCWorld to see if I could get onto the internet via their Wi-Fi Hotspot. Couldn't - they aren't a Hotspot anymore. But Comet, a few hundred yards away are - a BTopenzone one, which is a better deal anyway. You win some, you lose some.

This picture doesn't have any artistic merit. I just wanted to record it. One of our shrub 'Ballerina' roses sent a flowering shoot 5 feet up the garage wall. Just the one. All the other shoots have been quite normal. She's obviously more into Aida than Swan Lake.

When I've finished my Blog I think I'll have a quick kip, then collect Yvonne, then go to Eastwood Photographic.

I think my Photoshop difficulties will only be solved by Roger popping round for an hour to sort me out. I intend to ask him tonight. I shall take my laptop again but it isn't a good idea, in a club, to be too demanding of people's time.

Byeeee.......

Here are the Donkeys - Rainy day

I promised donkeys - here are donkeys. They are living in the same field as the llamas who, if the weather becomes colder, I guess will have to go inside. Shame really because they have added an exotic eastern touch to Brinsley.

Donkeys aren't as sensitive so they will probably be visible for some time yet. Whoever the farmer is, his animals always look very well cared-for and healthy and I am certainly no expert when it comes to animal husbandry.

Picture 2 is a more common sight. A Sumac Tree which at least seems persuaded that autumn is finally upon us. If younger viewers ever contemplate planting one for autumn colour there are a couple of things to beware of. There is a poisonous variety to avoid. It is simply called the Poison Sumac (rounded leaves) and is distinguishable from the non-poisonous Staghorn Sumac which has pointed leaves. Even if you settled for a non-poisonous one, whatever you do, don't plant it anywhere near a lawn. The roots spread over an extremely wide area and upper roots grow through the lawn surface and quickly make new little trees all over the place. Within a couple of years your lawn will be ruined. It is Sumac versus Grass and Sumac always wins. If you were really anti-neighbour, plant one near your boundary and close to HIS lawn. Not serious folks !

Y enjoyed her lunch with Sylvia. She is doing a course at The Broadway Cinema about Pinewood Studios (Lavender Hill Mob, Titchfield Thunderbolt - et al) Isn't there a lot to be learned when you get older?

I spent a good hour messing about with PhotoShop and still find it impossible to make a selection and copy/paste it into another image. To be fair - I have managed it ONCE and now I can't remember how I did it. Y did a nice salad for tea, and had made a jelly which we had for pudding with a dollop of ice-cream. I think it must be true about reverting to childhood. Well it's not really reverting because I've always loved jelly and ice-cream.

Yesterday's Telegraph crossword was a team effort which involved the exchange of e-mails. We were stuck on a couple and Jill was stuck on a couple. Fortunately not the same ones so we could swap. Also, I changed my signature on WUforums because I had a very polite PM pointing out that poor old Bertrand Russell was a little larger than permitted. I promptly substituted a mini Thomas Hood with the quote "....I saw old Autumn in the misty morn......"

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

More on The History Boys - Lovely Day

Although Picture 1 feature the play, rather than the film, the cast simply transferred in their entirety to the film. And the picture was better.

All I can say about the film is "Go and See it." It was superb. A brilliant piece of writing, as you would expect from Alan Bennet, great casting and not a weak performance from anyone. If you are not a 'lover of words' and 'a lover of quotations' and 'a lover of needle-sharp humour' it might not appeal. A good grasp of French would also help because my 55yr old O level wasn't quite up to speed. Got the gist though! I used to find at work that an inappropriate quotation was an excellent de-fuser of 'bollockings'. Once I was being told off by a Chief Superintendent and I offered "You could say Sir, that it's a case of 'Minerva's owl flies only in the dusk'." It completely stopped his flow.

The 'boys' were excellent and there were powerful performances from both Richard Griffiths and Francis de la Tour who I've been a great fan of ever since Rising Damp. What Alan Bennet and Richard Griffiths together managed to do was to give one a great sympathy and liking for a character who would normally attract little sympathy. Namely a genital-groping, elderly teacher of teenage boys.

Jill is to see a double bill next month of The Queen and The History Boys with a break for supper in between. I promise she will find both so stimulating and thought-provoking that one after the other would be too much for my personal channel capacity. Better than not seeing them at all though!

Regular readers might remember my point a couple of months ago that the only answer to the Iraq debacle is to bring Saddam back and ask him to sort out the mess and keep his beady eye on Iran like he used to. Corelli Barnet in today's Daily Mail has finally caught on to the same view. He points out that Saddam was anti Islamic extremism, the position of women was better, casualties and torture were less and the place was more-or-less peaceable. I've often thought that things would be better if I were in charge ! Ha Ha!

A contributor to WUforums suggested a solution to my Office 2003 address-book problem but it involved Microsoft Excel which I'm not really au fait with. But it sounded promising and I'll have a go.

I made a sort of fish-casserole for lunch and it was rubbish. Can't win 'em all.

No Art -no Films tomorrow. I've got some donkeys lined up..........

Very Mild - To Mansfield Odeon

John sent me this picture of Berjyk Windmill in the Netherlands taken during their recent campervan holiday there.

The amazing thing is that it was taken on his new mobile phone.

It is a 3.2mega pixel job and I think the crispness and definition is quite remarkable. One can understand the appeal to people who want an easy to use, point and shoot facility, with good to very good results. And that goes for the overwhelming majority of people. Journalists must love them because they are so unobtrusive and must disturb subjects much less than having a large camera pointed at their faces.

Matt strikes again! I just couldn't resist this from yesterday's Sunday Telegraph. He is so unashamedly and gloriously politically incorrect. The nation is fortunate to have such talented people; particularly in view of our apparently silent and emasculated oppostion and a mealy-mouthed but useless government. And to think that Y and I nearly cried to see Tony Blair standing on the steps of 10 Downing Street. I do feel a bit bad because I didn't even buy the Sunday Telegraph, I read it online. But we buy the hardcopy Telegraph every weekday. And this isn't a commercial station. And I do regularly acknowledge Matt !

No matter, it will all sort itself. The electorate will sort it. As Dr. Johnson so wisely said of Britain "About things on which the public thinks long it commonly attains to think right".

In my spare time I'm still tussling with PhotoShop and also with Microsoft Office 2003. A way of transferring my gmail address/contacts book into Office doesn't spring to my notice. All my existing contacts were lost of course in the 'crash'. With gmail being web-based that was no problem. Microsoft seem to expect you to enter each contact individually but I'm sure there must be a simple solution - their help menu throws up zilch. I'll probably ask on WUforums - someone will have the answer.

We went to Mansfield as planned, after my blood-test (no results yet), and arrived in plenty of time for The History Boys. More will follow tomorrow. We both agreed that it was quite excellent. The we went to Halfords for Paul's birthday vouchers, and then home for tea.............

Proper Sunday - Yesterday's Papers - Relax

Trouble uploading pictures again. Ages since that happened and it raises my concern that it might be linked to Microsoft Office 2003 which David has reinstalled for me. It all looks fine and I spent some time re-establishing my old ntlworld email address. Had to find POP3 servers and things but I managed it, and adjusted the page layout so as to please me. I discovered a change-of-address email from Maggie dated a couple of weeks ago, which I would have completely missed had we not done the reinstall. It shouldn't make any difference but ....?

We recorded The Culture Show and watched it this afternoon. (Picture 1 is their new website icon). We enjoyed it - it brings us into contact with Pop and stuff which we don't know much about. They were interested in the Velasquez exhibition too but I thought it would be OTT to blog another one.

So I decided to Blog Picture 2 which is the new presenter Lauren Laverne. Apart from looking quite dishy (to an old man's eyes anyway) she is well informed and very bright. In the interviews she conducts she seems to get more out of her interviewees than Verity used to. We still like her a lot though and it was good to see her on this weeks show. Y says that Lauren has a 1940s look and I can see what she means.

We like Mark Kermode and find his film reviews good and helpful. I know Bungus doesn't like him (nor his Dad) but he doesn't fall into the reviewer's trap of being heavily critical of nearly everything. If he gives praise, it is worth taking note of. I hope Bungus won't mind me pointing out that he never goes to the cinema anyway. While on the subject of cinema, we intend to go and see The History Boys tomorrow. I have yet another wretched blood-test in the morning but they have seen me promptly recently and we should make it to The Odeon for 12.30pm. Opinions to follow tomorrow.

Jill's 'snap' comment was fun yesterday when they also had chicken casserole. Their accompaniments (tracklements?) were different and I was fascinated with the 'pearly barley'. Our left-overs did us for today. With cauliflower, and baked sweet potato. Remember the days when you just had to have a roast on Sunday?

I've done some further work with PhotoShop and my new books are a great help. Both are in full colour, in the 'Teach Yourself VISUALLY' series and they really are graspable even by my failing brain.

This morning my OAG (old-age gremlin) struck again. When I got up it was chilly and I switched on the heating to warm the house up for Y. I made a little breakfast and settled down to catch up on some reading. Half an hour later, because the radiators were stone-cold, I realised that the OAG had gone and switched it off again ! The sod.

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

Lazy Day - Weather mostly Sunny

Yesterday evening on BBC 2 Simon Sharma as the start of his series The Importance of Art featured Caravaggio. This - The Cardsharps - was painted in 1586 and, I suppose, once seen never forgotten. He often included himself in his paintings - but never as the hero or good guy, always as the villian. I'll leave you to work out which is Caravaggio.

He was like no other painter. Violently unstable - but he could certainly paint. He never did preliminary drawings; he would just wade straight in and apply brush to canvas.

According to our tutor this is a History Painting because it has a narrative. And how!!

An early work but it captures his style and the vigour.

Picture 2 is completely up-to-date and is the chrysanths I mentioned yesterday. From our 'bean-man' up the road.

It isn't a panorama; it's just been cropped that way. And only a very minor bit of photoshopping.

I made a chicken casserole for main meal, containing peppers, mushroom, onion, celery and loads of fresh tarragon (which is still thriving in a tub because it's been so mild and frost-free). With it we had mashed potato, carrots and sugarsnap peas. And it was good, and enough left for tomorrow.

An interesting fact from David - who has inherited the gene that causes one to collect such snippets. WD40, which I am addicted to buying cans of, acquired it's name from an experiment into something else. It was found that the product displaced water. And, as it was experiment no. 40, the substance became WD40. I'm not a WD40 sniffer, or anything sinister but I think "Well, I've got a can in the garage and I've got a can in the car-boot. I really ought to have a can in the kitchen. And it would be better to have a spare - or perhaps two!".

June rang this evening and she and Y had a good chat. She still enjoys the Blog from time to time and "Thinks it's great". Praise indeed.

We enjoyed Strictly Come Dancing. I voted for Peter, the goalkeeper 'cos I thought they were the best this week. Y voted for Anton and partner. Not that they were any good, she says, but she likes Anton. And we've got the Culture Show to look forward to.

My PhotoShop Elements books arrived from Amazon - bang on time again. So efficient, trouble free and £9 cheaper than Waterstones...............

New Mechanics - Old Poly

This is The New Mechanics where our class is held. It is right at the bottom of North Sherwood Street which is no longer a through-way, as you will see from picture 2.

I straightened the verticles a little in PhotoShop but there was little to compensate for the fact that it was a damp and dull morning and the lighting was terrible.

A pleasantly designed building which seems to function efficiently. The old Mechanics was fairly good too, but has been flattened in the redevelopment of Trinity Square. What with a new Slab Square (Market Square) not very far away, we soon shan't recognise the old place. In my opinion it would be good idea to demolish Victoria Centre while they are at it. It always has been dreary - apart from the Roland Emmet clock which fascinates children and adults alike.

Picture 2 is from the bottom of North Sherwood Street. The whiteish building, top left, is what used to be the main Polytechnic building and the older, classy looking stone buiding in the middle is The Arkwright uilding which used to be the main library. To my immediate left (out of picture) is The Orange Tree, ex Clinton Arms of which I spoke earlier.

I've messed-about with PhotoShop and worked on some pictures from Eastwood Photographic Association. They gave you 3 on a CD and invited you to modify them to your own choice. And then they are going to look at everyone's efforts. Could be fun !

Just after lunch I picked Y up from the tram, and it's nice to have her home. She's enjoyed her visit though. On the way I stopped at our 'bean-man' because he had buckets of freshly cut chrysanths outside his gate. I bought some for Y and by the time I got to the tram, the car was filled by that distinctive smell. One of my favourite Lawrence short stories is The Odour of Chrysanthemums. Beautifully written, as you would expect, and the aroma pervades the story, so to speak.

Strictly Come Dancing at 6.30pm and then Simon Sharma on the importance of art at 9pm.

Toodle pip..................

Clinics Fine - Still Mild - Sunny Afternoon

This is going to have to be the briefest Blog ever. When I was listing today's events yesterday I forgot Eastwood Camera Club this evening.

Anyway everything so far has passed off smoothly. My cardiovascular clinic this morning gave me the 'everything OK' tick; if only we could get this INR level sorted. I did all my shopping and then went over to Long Eaton.

I took David to the Fracture Clinic and that was fine too. Everything healing satisfactorily but they said he could still be finding things painful for some months. I felt it for him when he tried to raise his arm etc.; it was so obviously agonising to do. Physiotherapy is to be arranged for him and fortunately he can do it at the Long Eaton Health Centre and not at QMC. The parking was horrendous and people in the disabled badge-holders car-park were nearly coming to blows. "I'll have ten quid each way on the bloke with the zimmer-frame" I thought.

David's having a new bike for his birthday (see picture) and even though he isn't up to riding it yet he wanted to sit on it. Having sold his old one on e-bay for an excellent price, abit of additional birthday money should cover it!

Helen is much much better, which was good to see and after I delivered David home from the clinic I was able to have a pleasant time with the girls as they arrived from School. Stars and stickers have been awarded again. Brooke is proving a very good reader. She was showing me a soft-toy spider on a length of elastic and I said "It's a bungee-jumping spider, do you know what bungee-jumping is?". She immediately replied "Yes. It's sort of flexible ropes". I don't think the description could be bettered. Sky is not being stretched enough at School and she gets bored. She's miles in front and although there is special provision for backward children there doesn't seem much done for the gifted. I played 'Guess Who' with Brooke. It really is an excellent game and I don't know anyone who doesn't like it.

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

'Holbein to Hockney' Day - Still Mild

I went down to Nottingham quite early and by 12noon, had arrived in The New Mechanics restaurant, sensing it was going to be busy again. And it was. After a leisurely lunch I went up to the room where we meet and played on my laptop for half an hour. An unencrypted Wi-Fi signal was available from a pub called The Orange Tree across the road. But I didn't use it - I disapprove of hitching a lift on someone's broadband without permission. It always savours of theft.

Just in passing, The Orange Tree was The Clinton Arms which, as far as I know, was the first pub, in the swinging 60s to feature topless barmaids. Teenage boys used to drool as they walked past.

In the class, although starting with Hogarth, we moved on from just portraits to History Paintings and Conversation Pieces and then back to portraits again. Picture 1 is by Allan Ramsay, and his wife is the subject. Painted 1754 and a remarkably beautiful work. The 'still-life' bowl of flowers on the table gives it a distinct dutch feel. But it isn't. Ramsay was Scottish but painting in London.

Picture 2 is The Orangery at Belton House and is included because it always seems to me to be a beautiful piece of architecture. Although the main house dates from Tudor times the building shown was built in the early 19th Century and to me, has a modern feel to it.

Belton House is often used as a setting for period dramas and, if any readers happen to be in the area, it repays a visit. It is a National Trust property and one of the really welcoming ones. I've yet to see a 'keep off the grass' sign but, in the formal gardens the grass is so beautifully kept one wouldn't dream of sullying it with a common foot.

I forgot to mention yesterday that John and Yvonne bought two genuine Dutch bicycles while they were on holiday. John says that they are quite distinctive looking and are extremely comfortable. Unfortunately he has inherited the family back-problem and the new cycle cause him less of a problem than his old one. For health reasons he tries to cycle to work each day. Never mind, he can retire quite soon. That makes me feel my age !

Yesterday evening I made a submission to the 'world's biggest blog' organised by the beeb and the idea is that people contribute 100-650 words outlining their complete day for 17th October, with photos. Everything is going to be recorded and archived and will form a sort of snap-shot of life now, for future generations. Seemed like a brilliant idea to me.

Another busy day tomorrow. Me clinic in the morning. Tablets to collect. David to fracture-clinic in the afternoon. Must do some shopping. I think that will have to do 'cos I'm feeling crackered.............

Another Mild Day - Busy doing not Much

Last night on TV, I intended to watch MegaStructures again. It was to be about The Golden Gate Bridge.

I pretty soon discovered that, would you believe, we are not subscribers to The National Geographical Channel. And the fact that we successfully watched it for several evenings, was either a fluke - or more likely, Andy says, it was NTL trying a 'come-on'.

Anyway, I found an alternative on UKTV History about a Georgian House that was followed through it's successive occupants, through Regency etc. Bearing in mind that last week I encountered copyright problems with the Sears Tower, this week I took evasive action by photographing the TV screen. It's tolerable, I think, little more.

Picture 2 is a distinctive spider that was inhabiting the lid of the garden-waste bin. Maybe one of our 'wildlife-correspondents' can identify it. I would guess that the very prominent crucifix on it's back has some significance. Perhaps it is a British Airways spider !!

If the image is a little blurred, the reason is that it is an action-shot which I was unprepared for, because he was really 'tazzing along' when I pressed the shutter button.

Still on camera matters, John came over this morning and brought the old camera-bag full of stuff I had given Laura but which she does not now have a use for. It is all from pre-digital days. There are some filters and bits which will be useful but a lot of it David can put on ebay. Somebody might still want developing tanks but I doubt it.

He showed me his new Sony Erikson mobile phone which is equipped with a 3.2megapixel camera. It isn't very long since we thought that 3meg was a respectable sensor size for a fullblown digital camera. He showed me a few pictures from their recent Netherlands holiday and the quality and definition was incredible. You can enlarge and crop in camera and apparently you can print up to A4 without any trouble. It was good to hear everyone's news. Philip still hasn't decided about the flat he has been offered. Allanah is settling into the sixth form well and her A level choices are English Lit, Psychology, and Religious Studies and Philosophy. Although not really religious, I found the component I did - The Rise of Christianity and The Early Roman Empire - particularly valuable. It has been surprising how often I have been able to drop a 'killer-fact' into the conversation. Laura is trucking along but John says she seems to spend a lot of time working in a Costa Coffee Bar. She no doubt needs the money.

The OAGs (Old Age Gremlins) seem to have been active today. My particularly ones specialise in (a) throwing things off shelves when you've just put them there (b) taking things back to the bedroom when you have fetched them and placed them carefully on the dining-room table and (c) twisting things out of you fingers and chucking them on the floor. No doubt other people's have their own favourite maliciousnesses. I'd love to hear..................