Family – Page 21 – Richard & Caroline's Blog

July 7, 2014July 5, 2014

Tour de Yorkshire (France) – or back on the bicycle again

Well the Tour de France has come to the UK again, and this looks like the best tour yet for us. Cycling was mainly for kids when the tour first came to the UK 40 years ago back in 1974. A very few strange people cycled for holidays and some people commuted to work but the car was taking over.

Over the last ten years cycling has become incredibly popular in the UK and as a sport its something we are now world leaders in.

So where are we going with this. Well it may come to a surprise to people who have known me for that last twenty years but once I was a very keen cyclist and would happily jump on my bicycle and do a seventy mile ride round some of Lincolnshire.

When I moved into my flat my bicycle was stored in my mothers shed for ten years and then at the old house it sat at the back of the garage for another ten years.

Me and Caroline did get the bikes out once and do a ten mile ride but with the garage full of motorcycles and garden tools it was always to much bother to get them out.

Now we have moved into the new bungalow with lots of room the bicycles are stored in the garage but are easy to get to, so with that in mind during the two week holiday we recently had, one of our tasks was to get them roadworthy again.

A bit of a strip down, degrease, grease then oil with a full clean, new lights, locks and mudguards, I have been gradually turing my old racer into more a sensible commuter.

We first did a quick five mile cycle round to the next village and back, just to make sure the bicycles were working well, then with a few tweaks, such as new mountain bike SPD peddles and cycling shoes we have been off.

Gradually working up to a gentle twenty five miles a week, usually with a quick ride on Monday and Friday nights, today with the Tour de France as our inspiration we went a little further a field and explored some of the further villages as well as the local Whisby Nature Park.

With my iPhone mount on the handlebars I had a cycling computer app installed tracking our route and facts about the journey.

A gentle afternoon cycling turned into a twenty one mile trip so with the fourteen miles done on Monday exploring a local disused railway line that has been turned into a cycle path leading to the city we managed thirty five miles this week.

Nothing compared to what the Tour de France guys did today and will do every day but a great start to getting us both fit again.

July 1, 2014July 1, 2014

Open Garden’s

Many of our local villages have open gardens events.

With our current garden, it is well designed and well established from all the hardwork of the previous owners but we are starting to put are own stamp on it.

The great thing about open garden events is you can borrow ideas and many of the owners are always keen to offer advice.

The local villages around here had a wide variety of gardens from more traditional lawns, wild areas, roomed gardens and even one had a wild meadow at the bottom.

After our walk round we finished off with tea and cake at the church.

June 19, 2014June 18, 2014

Lincolnshire Show 2014

This week its the Lincolnshire Show, one of the UK’s largest agricultural shows. In the main ring we had all the usual displays from show jumping, motorcycling displays and even a parachute display team.

Its always fun to look round the livestock tents, we had a good look round the rare breeds and especially the chickens as we hope to get some this year.

One the best places to visit is the tent of the Lincolnshire Beekeepers Association, we hope to join them soon once we have the bee hives up and running.

They even had a live demonstration of beekeeping. We had a good look round the show hive which has the frames all behind glass so you can see the bees up close working in their natural environment, and we played spot the queen and spot the drone. The queen is larger then the rest and has attendants, the drones which are the males are the large bees that do not do anything. As a few commented like most males!

The weather forecast was a little uncertain so I packed a waterproof in my ruck sack and for the photography carried my little Nikon V1 with the 10mm (28mm field of view) lens which performed quite nicely.

June 16, 2014June 14, 2014

Quilt Show

So the last two weeks has been a bit blogging light, so what have we been up to?

Well its been a mix of trips to things we enjoy, Quilt Shows, Fabric shops, a small motorcycle tour as well as lots of work done back at home.

We started the holiday with a trip to the quilt show held at Spalding in Lincolnshire. As is usual at events like this there are no photography rules to prevent people stealing the copyright of some of the quilt designs but there are still opportunities for a few photographs.

While Caroline went round the stalls I practices my candid photography, getting a few nice shots in the process. Camera of choice was my little Leica M8 with the Summicron 35mm lens, which on the Leica M8 is a 46mm field of view.

June 6, 2014

a none content kind of blog post

So with the best intentions I was intending to blog about my recent shoot photographing a breeding pair of Grebe’s with their young, but with the wonderful weather today, I spend the day weeding the garden, digging over the veg plot, and drinking a fine white wine while enjoying the sun, rather then editing photographs.

So just so you don’t feel to bad if you have been stuck at work all day here are the baby Mute Swans I was also photographing.

Forgive me the edit, its just a straight out camera raw to jpg with a little sharpening and a default tone curve applied.

May 5, 2014April 12, 2020

Vintage Fairs – Lincoln Drill Hall

Vintage fairs have become very popular over the last few years. On our monthly visits to up hill Lincoln we often pop into a vintage shop and the antique shops in the Bailgate area and Steep Hill.

This Saturday there was a vintage fair held in the Lincoln Drill hall, a familiar location for those of us who attend the Lincoln Photography Show.

I picked up a few items to add to my collection of antique shaving equipment and a rather nice silver stamp holder and a leather match book holder.

Some had dressed the part, the visitors and some of the stall holders. I took a number of photographs with my Leica M8 and there was a number of photographers there taking pictures and making themselves known with their big SLR’s and flashguns.

Next week there is another vintage fare in Lincoln and we might pop over again, it made an interesting and fun morning out.

April 21, 2014

Gardening – Veg Plot

Jeremy Clarkson remarked recently that gardening was a pursuit of the old who are waiting to die, well I suppose that means I am now old. Over the last few weeks we have been building our raised beds and tidying up the garden to suite our needs.

This bank holiday weekend we have been concentrating on the raised beds which we built over the last few weeks. Its been hard work but they are nearly finished and we have been digging over the soil, and sorting out are seed trays in anticipation.

Despite the the hard physical work its been very satisfying.

April 7, 2014

Family Update – The House & Garden

We have now been in our new home for about six months. Both myself and Caroline have celebrated birthdays here and its really starting to feel like home.

Caroline’s sewing room is coming along nicely as is my office or digital darkroom as I call it.

We have also had the workers in and now all windows and doors have been replaced, but its the garden we have also been concentrating on.

Now with the lighter evenings and warmer days the garden has been bursting into life. A new compost area has been built behind the garage and a garden shredder and new mower has also had to be bought.

The main building work for the raised beds where we intend to grow our vegetables has also been completed. Caroline has also chopped down two trees that were far to close to the building and blocking a lot of light. I say Caroline chopped down the trees, as I had a bad cold one recently weekend and while I was asleep in bed she got stuck in.

We have also built a brood box for our bee hives, we still have the supers and frames to complete so we are a bit behind schedule on that front. There is an old wooden shed at the bottom of the garden and that is being torn down and a hen coop and run built. It would be lovely to have the veg plot, bees and chickens all in for this year but this is a marathon not a sprint.

January 30, 2014January 29, 2014

Views in the Forest

While in North Yorkshire we went for a few walks, including a forest walk hoping to see some deer.

Despite carrying a big heavy DSLR and long lens together with a Gitzo Series 5 tripod I came back with no shots except for trees!

We were staying in a small wooden cabin in the wood and while there some wildlife did come to visit.

A grey Squirrel did come to visit most mornings as on two occasions did a woodpecker. These were taken through the cabin window.

January 2, 2014January 2, 2014

Happy New Year – What’s Planned

Happy New Year Everyone.

Alice

Well its Thursday and everything is back to normal, we are at work but that does not mean I am not thinking about what to plan for the coming year.

One of the photographers I admire is Joe McNally, I love his location portraiture, this year he is giving a seminar in the UK and I already have my place booked and paid for.

I also want to try more outdoor portraiture and art nude work, I have not done much to date but the few times I have tried it I have always come back with fantastic images.

My focus each month is still going to be street photography. I have a number of images in my head it just needs the right people in the right place, so I’ll keep trying.

Once Spring starts to arrive i’ll also be heading out to local parks and Whisby Nature Reserve with my SLR and long lens to capture more birds in flight.

Last year was a bit light on studio work so i’ll be wanted to get back into the studio and try a few ideas I have come up with.

At home we have major plans with the new house. Within the house a priority is a wood burning stove to make winter nights more cosy, as well as new doors and windows. Not a priority for this year but next i’ll be wanted to setup my home studio and home darkroom so I can develop medium and large format film and scan it myself.

Outside we are planning a veg plot, bees and chickens. So lots to do and exciting times ahead.