Family, Photography and other misc news
Family related posts; generally only of interest to fellow members of the Brown Clan and relations by Marriage into this mad house.
It’s been a long time since we have been back to the moon.
The fashions on show from our local vintage market were likely new.
In that time NASA has moved from film Hasselblads on the moon to professional Nikon D5’s well proven to stand up to the temperature range and radiation of space.
I believe there testing mirrorless cameras but for now the trusty Nikon D5 professional camera is NASA’s main stay and is currently heading back to earth with the crew of the Artemis II mission.
The other day while walking Ted the greyhound, we came across a cardboard white Rabbit. It turns out someone has setup a treasure hunt for the children.
From the school, to the post office then on to the crossroads, each bunny had a poem to lead you to the next.
From the post office to the village cross roads, to the swings and then to the village tennis courts. From there around the main playing field with the mini vintage trains and tennis courts.
It was then to the old blacksmiths and off to the church.
Now down the old church lane where the paths, road and streams all meet.
So down church lane to school lane and back to the start to find the last bunny and claim our prize.
And so the end of the trail.
If you noticed each bunny had a letter:
R, C, T, A, E, O, L, I, E, N, B
So now to work out the anagram. Can you get it?
I love food, good beer, robust red wine and good whisky.
I currently have over forty bottles of whisky plus lots of tasting samples in small 50ml bottles. The majority is Scottish single malt, but some blends including a few independent blends of grain whisky, as well as some Irish, French and American Single Malt as well as some good old bourbon.
One thing that I do not think is given enough thought is about the glass you drink from. There is now scientific evidence too prove that glassware affects the taste experience.
In general I’ll use a Glencairn, but for some of my more expensive single malts I use a stemmed tasting glass to really appreciate the smell and flavour.
Spring is finally here in the Northern hemisphere. Lots of local events starting this weekend, so I’ll be grabbing the camera and seeing what I can find. At least one local village is having a spring fair so hopefully there will be something to photograph.
This Sunday morning was a very indulgent one.
Saturday was spent working hard in the garden trimming trees and chopping wood.
So this Sunday morning we treated ourselves. After getting up and giving the chickens their food and fresh water, it was the normal Sunday morning long dog walk.
Once home we toasted some fresh bagels, added cream cheese and smoked salmon. Opened a bottle of fine riesling wine, light and not too alcoholic, and I brewed up a couple of large lattes.
I have not been to the show for a couple of years, last year it was held in London, which if you live in the south of England is fine but for the rest of England and the UK, its a pain. Talking to. a couple of venders I know, they’re expecting much better footfall to this years show.
So I’ll be travelling by EV. A quick trip to drop my greyhound off at the dog sitter, then a trip to Chris’s to collecting him and then off to the show.
Its still a bit of a haul south to the midlands for us, but we can get there with a full charge without issue.
The show is being held at the Birmingham NEC so a far more central location for England. The NEC was a charging nightmare, but now has lots of rapid chargers and even better, a dedicated EV carpark. This carpark is for EV’s only and each parking space has a type 2 AC charging post. You can park up, plug in and leave your car charging while you enjoy the show. You do need to provide your own cable but a part from that its a great if slightly pricey solution, but shows are never cheap.
I had a photoshoot yesterday near York, so thought I would dig out an old image from Whitby one of my favourite English holiday destinations.
So for a new year resolution I set myself a musical goal of practicing at least 5 minutes a day, for six days a week for the whole of January. So far it’s been good. I have yet to miss a day for piano and only missed one day in the first week for banjo.
This week has been cold and snowy at the beginning of the week and wet and cold towards the end.
The few times the sun came out I grabbed the camera and took a few snaps. Nothing special but you never know when a great scene may come your way.
Its seems since COVID the last few years have been a bit of a blur with family commitments, Ill health, hospital visits.
I have managed recently to go on two wildlife shoots and have also gotten to the studio to photograph new models several times over this year.
Photography wise things are improving.
Fitness I need to do something. Just before COVID I was thinking of starting swimming again so might look into that.
Music, well, I have a new Roon server and recently updated my streamer and amp over the last few years. Next on the list is a new rack and to start looking at a new record deck and speakers.
One thing I have not been doing this last year is playing music. One of the reasons is the end room we use as our music room / library has become a dump it room. We have been decorating one of the guest bedrooms and we ripped out all the built in wardrobes. All this stuff that was in there and the bedroom contents prevented me from getting to the piano. I have a banjo in the office which I have also not touched and for that I have no excuse.
So I have given myself the task of playing for five minutes a day for six days a week for the whole of January. Lets see if we can get back into this which I do love.
Last journalling. I have a cupboard of journals but I stopped a few years ago for no real reason and I miss it, so will start up writing once a week.
What are your plans?