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.
Another weekend of gardening for us. We started off by digging out the chicken run and cleaning it up. A number of the bushes on the border are very over grown one them a pyracanthas has to come out before we can get the fence replaced so that is what I did as my main weekend job.
As I mentioned yesterday, last week saw us having the first walk in about four months.
We enjoying walking and Lincolnshire is often overlooked as a walking county but has lots to recommend it. From flat fenland and marsh, to woodland and the rolling Wolds. We also have one of the great long distance footpaths running through the county, the Viking Way. It was the Viking way that we made a central feature to this walk.
Light rain was forecast for the start of the walk ending with heavy rain, so equipped my best walking Gore-Tex trousers and full walking gear I felt well ready to face the elements. With this winter being so mild I dressed slightly lighter then usual but did have an extra fleece in my ruck sack.
We started at Woodhall Spa and first dropped into a rather nice little tea room for a hot soup and bread roll to start is off in the right mood.
The light rain arrived as expected but then cleared up so the bulk of the walk was done in the dry. Heading out of Woodall Spa we joined the Viking Way and a brisk walk ensued. After a few miles we detoured away from the Viking Way and looped back before joining back on the Way after a nice walk by some local woodland. This led us back into Woodhall Spa from the other side. In total about a six and a half mile walk, so nice and easy but having not done any serious walking in the last few months, with the fast pace we really felt the last mile and a half.
Heres hoping to a great 2016 of walking.
Its been an odd and occasionally stressful 2015. The lows were my mum, Christine Brown admitted to hospital and having to have an operation to remove her gaul bladder. There was also my father-in-law Alan Turner having to spend time in hospital having a couple of operations starting with his new knee which has left him far less mobile this year.
With all of this we still managed to accomplish a few goals. Photography was very light, a few working shoots; weddings and studio work, and we also finally finished the end room.
At the start of 2015 we stripped the end room down to bare plaster and the concrete floor. We then re-plastered, re-decorated and finished the room with book cases and our piano plus hi-fi. This end room captures the sun and has french doors out to the garden so is a lovely room to relax in. This is now our ‘sun room’, music room, library and has the space to be my studio.
We also had solar panels fitted to the house so my goal to be energy independent within ten years is on track. The final step is to get battery storage sorted and a replacement to our oil fired boiler but that will not be for a few years.
The highlight of the year was our second honeymoon on the Orkney Islands, with my wonderful wife. This year was our tenth anniversary and we took the opportunity to re-visit these lovely Islands.
For 2016 the plans are for a lot more photography, I did very little wildlife or landscape so I intend to get out there at least once a month.
I shot a couple of rolls of film in 2015 and want to increase that, also develop more myself.
On a fitness note, we cancelled the gym to give us more time and certainly my shoulders are telling me I got a good strength workout this last week with all the gardening we did but we do need to do more cardio. Last year we went for a few walks on some of the Orkney Islands but not much else, so we must do better. So far in the last week we did a 6.5 mile hike along the stretch of the Viking Way and on Sunday did our first bike ride in over a year. In 2014 we commuted to work in the summer twice a week but in 2015 did not go on the bikes at all. This year we also intend to correct that.
Around the house and garden the next projects are to put up all new garden fences round the property and also get rid of some of the more thorny bushes we have growing and replace them with climbing roses, blackberry bushes and clematis. In the house the main project will be to decorate the kitchen.
Here is wishing you all a very Happy New Year.
Christmas has now passed but we still have the New Year to look forward to.
Christmas day was a quite day for us, just myself and Caroline with our respective parents at our place for the day.
Boxing day was a little busier and loader. Including Tilly the Dog we had thirteen with us for the day, so with a dog and young children around is was noisy and fun Boxing Day.
http://go.nasa.gov/1NDhc6Y;
Merry Christmas everyone. This Christmas Day is an extra special one as we also have a full moon. The first Christmas full moon since 1977.
Have a great Christmas everyone.
Last Friday was the official works Christmas party, good food and good company. We have also had a few more small team meals and get togethers over the last week and some of us also went to see old work colleagues from previous companies we used to work for.
We are all now on a final countdown for the big Christmas holiday. Last year I had to work but this year I have Christmas to the new year off but will be squeezing in one Christmas theme photoshoot.
I love going to the cinema but rarely find the time now. Its also far less enjoyable, our local major multiplex is soulless and very expensive.
The last film we went that we really enjoyed was Joss Whedon’s Much ado about Nothing which was played at a local college.
I would love to see the new Starwars movie so I am hunting down small local theatres in Lincolnshire that may be showing it.
I love music, and used to play the guitar and currently play the banjo and piano. I now have my Hifi setup in the end room which has been turned in a music/library/studio room.
I also have some decent powered speakers in my office linked to my MacPro and my iTunes library which mostly consists of ripped CD’s. Where we listen to the most music is in the kitchen which with our love of cooking and baking we both spend a lot our time.
For my birthday last year we have had a Sonos One in here, its pricey for what it is but does perform very well and needs little else to make it work. It came with one years free Deezer subscription which is now coming to an end, and so I was pleased to see that Apple music in beta has now arrived for the Sonos. Once my Deezer subscription expires i’ll give the Apple music a trial and see how that goes.
The think to remember with most of these streaming systems is you need to invest in the time and energy to let the service learn about your musical tastes. Of course once a service is setup how you like its hard to move and go through that again which is what most of them are hoping.
The weather has been unseasonably warm recently and on a recent commute into Lincoln, I took the back country route. I was surprised and pleased to see a pickup truck parked up, and behind it a young man in a deck chair playing the Banjo in the sun.
It was such a surprising thing to see in the countryside of Lincolnshire.
It has been a busy weekend, Saturday had us rained out, so all the plans for the garden went on hold. The evening was spent up at A&E with Caroline’s dad. He was kept overnight but released on Sunday afternoon.
That gave us Sunday morning to dig up the winter potatoes. We were not expecting much but was pleasantly surprised. To test them out we did a nice salad for lunch with potato salad as the star.
In the now free plot we dug in some compost from our well manured compost heap, another benefit of keeping chickens; and planted next years onion crop and two varieties of garlic, which will be a first for us.