Meanwhile, at the coast...

Cullercoats......

2012-02-19T13:10:00.001Z

beach chat, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......make that chilly Cullercoats........

looking for monkeys.....

2012-02-17T15:21:00.001Z

looking for monkeys, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....went to the sealife centre today, I'm not quite sure how monkeys fit into their brief......

9 out of 10 fishes prefer......

2012-02-15T09:14:00.001Z

9 out of 10 fishes prefer......, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......to be flashed at.....
Brian's mountain minnows.....don't ask.....

icy in parts.....

2012-02-06T11:19:00.001Z

icy in parts, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

It's cold out.....

2012-02-05T14:12:00.001Z

path, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

path.......

2012-02-04T20:14:00.001Z

path, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......it's cold out.......

blurry birds.....

2012-01-27T12:42:00.001Z

blurry birds, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....on Cullercoats beach.....

shoreline.....

2011-12-15T17:21:00.001Z

shoreline, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......with boat.

threatening skies.....

2011-12-09T13:34:00.001Z

threatening skies, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....and mighty chilly with it!

the window of shame......

2011-12-05T14:42:00.001Z

the window of shame......, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

....I don't go up to the attic much......

herman......

2011-12-04T10:56:00.001Z

herman, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......instructions for family members who received a seething pot of yeasty stuff today.....it's easier than writing it all out 3 times!

dog on a rock.....

2011-10-30T13:34:00.001Z

dog on a rock, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....the master of all he surveys.......

cullercoats to tynemouth

2011-10-20T13:37:00.001Z

cullercoats to tynemouth, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......fab morning for a wander!

grey on grey

2011-10-04T11:24:00.001Z

grey on grey, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....one of THOSE days!

diving deep......

2011-10-01T12:21:00.001Z

single diver, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

Browns Bay, Whitley Bay

bed rock

2011-09-30T17:57:00.001Z

bed rock, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....it'll probably snow next week......

lowtide

2011-09-28T13:24:00.001Z

lowtide, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....and some more nice light!

in search of bait......

2011-09-28T13:23:00.001Z

in search of bait, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......nice light this morning.......

mini jogger......

2011-08-28T11:17:00.001Z

tiptoe, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....on a windy beach.

lie back and think of England.....

2011-08-21T11:36:00.001Z

lie back and think of England, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.......chance would be a fine thing........

I SO want to make one of these!

2011-08-18T17:33:00.004Z

animated photographs, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

Found at Modern Mechanix

lots of rockpool activity......

2011-08-18T17:08:00.001Z

rockpool survey, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......looked like fun!

keepin' cool......

2011-08-15T15:20:00.001Z

keepin' cool, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....nah, I didn't go QUITE that far!

SIT!!!.......

2011-08-14T13:14:00.001Z

SIT!!!......., a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......there was a dog and a chap off to the left, not sure which of them she was talking to.......

not a lot happening........

2011-08-12T11:41:00.001Z

not a lot happening, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

poke it with a stck Grandma......

2011-07-27T18:38:00.001Z

poke it with a stck Grandma......, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....no comment.......

busy doin' nothin'

2011-07-21T19:19:00.001Z

busy doin' nothin', a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....say no more.......

An impressive sense of balance.....

2011-07-17T12:18:00.001Z

balance, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....he was about 100 yards out to sea and going at a fair old lick......

garlic breads

2011-07-10T12:06:00.001Z

garlic breads, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

left to right:
with added sliced brie,
with added salsa,
with added basil leaves and grated parmesan
and plain (garlic, butter and dried parsley)

.....and now it's all gone........

Oh dear.....

2011-07-06T10:07:00.001Z

weather forecast, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....it looks like we're going to get a bit damp at the Mouth of the Tyne 'do' on Friday.......today I'll be mainly looking out waterproofs, wellies and brollies.......

I bet he's regretting it now........

2011-07-03T20:00:00.001Z

bet he's regretting it now........, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

......if MY scorched forehead and nose is anything to go by!

It's growing!

2011-06-28T13:47:00.001Z

It's growing!, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....progress report, and just to prove I don't kill everything I plant!

Lean and shoot......

2011-06-28T13:36:00.001Z

lean and shoot, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....a proud fisherman taking a pic of his boat this morning! Memo to self, must blog a bit more.........

garden progress report

2011-05-16T09:07:00.001Z

reclaimed, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....my back hurts!

morning devotions

2011-05-09T15:20:00.001Z

morning devotions, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....life's a beach........

I know which way I'll be voting.....

2011-04-28T11:50:00.000Z

.....and it won't be for coffee!!

AV explained by Dan Snow

Shooting into the sun....

2011-04-09T10:04:00.001Z

Shooting into the sun, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

.....taken on the early morning emergency bread/catfood run......

2 people 2 dogs

2011-04-04T15:15:00.001Z

2 people 2 dogs, a photo by moclaydon on Flickr.

Just trying the newish Flickr 'post to a Blogger blog' thingy

Why can't we walk straight?

2011-01-11T14:25:00.000Z

A Mystery: Why Can't We Walk Straight? from NPR on Vimeo.

.....personally, I blame it on the booze

Still snowy.....

2010-12-03T12:35:00.000Z

Weather report

2010-12-02T20:47:00.001Z

I'm saying nothing, it's probably not printable.......

Cold (sea)front

2010-11-29T15:49:00.000Z

Can I just point out it's damned chilly out there?

Flush Tracker

2010-11-20T13:51:00.002Z

Just for fun, track your crap......

Flush Tracker: "I just tracked my flush online to raise awareness for World Toilet Day, Nov 19th. Track yours"

Christmas is coming......shock, horror!

2010-11-18T21:18:00.000Z

What can I say.....it's apparently true.....

Still here!

2010-11-12T12:07:00.000Z

Just busy.......

Nearly the same as the other place but taken 10 minutes earlier...

2010-10-17T16:02:00.000Z

CHANGES IN CHILD BENEFIT EXPLAINED......

Cold front.....

2010-10-15T13:54:00.000Z

Two quick pics to prove I'm still in the land of the living......

Cabin fever.....

2010-10-07T14:18:00.000Z

......is starting to set in, waiting for deliveries is doing my head in. Tomorrow I'm having a day out come hell or high water! I did manage a quick dash down to the seafront this morning though, not that there was a lot of action.....

OTHER STUFF

I'm strangely tempted by the idea of broccoli and cheese muffins

......but maybe not one of the things you'd try on a first space date....

Weather window?

2010-10-06T11:10:00.000Z

It was pouring down at 9am but by 10 the sun had made an appearance.....I thought I'd better make hay while the sun shone.....probably a good move.....

Monster alert.....

2010-10-05T14:09:00.001Z

.....it's not up to EZ's standards but just look at those hairy legs!! Enough to say I served a speedy eviction order and he's making a new home down at the bottom of the garden.

Some slightly less scary flora and fauna.....it's been a slow day.......

Miscellaneous Monday shots

2010-10-04T11:29:00.000Z

Up to my neck in wallpaper paste at the moment, thought I'd better do the scenic walk to the shops before I dived in!

Does my bag look too big for this?

2010-09-28T14:39:00.001Z

.......well, maybe a bit!

Out to lunch.....

2010-09-26T15:11:00.001Z

Quickie post.....just back from Sunday lunch at Tynemouth Station, it's a wee bit more upmarket than the 'station buffets' of yore......not a curly ham sandwich in sight...

I had some company.....

.....now we're all off for a bit of a snooze......

Coded message.....

2010-09-24T18:26:00.000Z

.....for 'still a bit rough'

High temperature

2010-09-22T14:17:00.000Z

.....me not the weather....coming down with something I think, I'm taking to my bed with a large Lemsip, a 2 litre bottle of water and an audio book....

LAST PUNTERS ON THE BEACH

ONE OF THE MORNING REGULARS

Mishmash

2010-09-21T14:30:00.004Z

Assorted images from the morning bread run.....
Cullercoats beach....

A hazy view towards Tynemouth.....

solitary shorts, Cullercoats......

and one from last night....the Tyne Bridge reflected on the west side of The Sage

A musical evening.....

2010-09-20T22:23:00.001Z

Just back from an evening at The Sage seeing The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain....a good time was had by all but I have to say my photographic endeavours were mediocre in the extreme....it's a photogenic place but the lighting is weird at night, maybe I should have read the camera manual......

Rough stuff....

2010-09-17T15:19:00.000Z

.....offshore but not actually THAT bad on land, just a bit breezy but warm (though some of those waves dwarfed the lighthouse on the end of the pier)....it looks worse than it was! Of course we're a tough lot here on the Tyne, bloody have to be!

Good for the feet....

2010-09-16T16:15:00.000Z

.....apparently.....but I gave it a miss today.....too bloody cold!

Winter pasture.....

2010-09-14T10:15:00.000Z

.....they've moved the full-sized plastic cow at the care home around the corner.....I wonder where the milkman leaves the morning deliveries.........

For Lizzie.....Spicy Sesame Potatoes recipe

2010-09-12T12:49:00.003Z

SPICY SESAME POTATOES

1 KG potatoes
dice and boil until cooked without salt, no need to peel them, a scrub will do
In a large frying pan heat some oil and when it's hot add
4 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon mustard seeds (black or yellow or a mixture of the two)
1 Tablespoon cumin seeds
(they should start to pop if you've got the temperature right)
Cook for a few seconds until the sesame seeds are just starting to go golden
Add the potatoes, turn and cook until they start to brown
Sprinkle with
1 Tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon paprika/smoked paprika OR cayenne pepper if you want them hot and spicy
the juice of a large lemon (I sometimes add the grated rind too)
Cook until the potatoes start to go crispy or to taste
Check the seasoning, you might want to add some more salt
Eat them hot or cold!

Added bonus.....hours of tooth-picking pleasure when they're gone..........

Accidental backyard fish......

2010-09-10T14:26:00.000Z

......no idea what the cut-off cable is, hope it's nothing important..........

Under the eaves......

2010-09-09T18:11:00.000Z

.....there's unexpected rot.....but it'll be fine......I'm sure it'll be fine......tell me it'll be fine.......

Man in black (with a bag on a blurry beach)

2010-09-08T13:48:00.003Z

Not a lot to say about this one....it's a man with a bag on the beach.....maybe he'd been collecting shells....or he was on his way to the shops.....or it's the reincarnation of Andy Warhol....hey, whatever......

Imagine for a moment you're a binman.....

2010-09-07T11:23:00.005Z

.....you see a backyard gate wide-open, but no bin ready for collection.....you're filled with concern for the resident, maybe there's been a break in, maybe the doddery old lady has had a tumble when doing a bit of recycling, so what do you do?

a) clock the fact that there's scaffolding everywhere
b) ditto there's a large, red builders van
c) and a skip
d) and a yard stacked with slates and builders rubble
e) AND, for good measure, two builders on the roof.....hey maybe, just maybe, THEY might know what's going on
f) or, heaven forfend, stick your head round said open yard gate and ask the doddery old lady (at that moment making a cup of tea and cursing the fact that she hadn't moved the bin into the back lane before the slates arrived the afternoon before)
OR
g) none of the above?

And the answer, of course, is 'none of the above'.....oh no, you dial 999 and request the police and the ambulance services! 10/10 for social conscience, 0/10 for common sense!

It made for an interesting morning.........

PS......I might have forgiven them BUT they didn't empty the bloody bin.......

It's coming off....

2010-09-06T08:59:00.000Z

......the roof that is, so this is just a quickie......

Walking on water....

2010-08-22T14:19:00.000Z

Just a quickie, I've got a kitchen floor to wash.......

Back to the sea

2010-08-21T10:10:00.000Z

One of the regulars.....he must live over the road from his sunbathing spot (on the sea front) and I often see him in his deckchair bronzing his limbs of a morning....radio on, a cuppa to hand, but with his back to the sea staring at the traffic.......

A bit of a.....

2010-08-20T16:45:00.001Z

....low-res, pixelated sort of day..........

A bit of North Sea glitz.....

2010-08-19T20:19:00.000Z

It started out a nice day and then the clouds rolled in....but it gave me a chance to get to the bottom of the source of vague, but definitely memorable, cat pee aroma that's been bothering me for a couple of days. Result.....the washing machine has worked it's socks off, the cats are looking well-and-truly pissed off and the air is comparatively fragrant.....probably too much information.........

But did he jump?

2010-08-18T13:58:00.002Z

Sadly not....because that really WOULD have been a good one! (but, hey, I was ready and waiting.......)

Then there was this comedy duo who, I have to say, displayed a few interesting fishing techniques......

OTHER STUFF

I stayed up way too late last night playing this......

"Things could not be easier: you have to herd all of the identical stones into clusters, at which point they will flip over with the uniform efficiency of a Mexican Wave. The trick is getting them together. A stone is flicked into a direction and it will perpetually travel until it hits a boundary or obstacle. A board with one or two stone types is relatively easy to crack, but when the game starts to hit four it gets tricky. Every board is shaped differently, both on its boundaries and inside, making the shuffling a more deliberate endeavour. You have to maneuver a stone around bends, past other stones and into its own group. but once a set of stones has flipped, none of them can be moved. So you have to keep your end game in mind and not accidentally corner a stone beyond redemption."
Play Rock Garden Deluxe

Bench-to-bench salesman

2010-08-17T15:05:00.004Z

So the conversation probably went a bit like this......

Man with the bag: Mornin' pet, do you want to buy some tabs....good price, good price
Old biddy on the bench: Eeee no pet, aaah divvent smoke
Man with the bag: What aboot fer yer auld man, or one of the bairns or grandbairns mebbe?
Old biddy on the bench: Naa, naa, not today pet
Man with the bag: Now are ya sure aa can't tempt ya?
Old biddy on the bench: Wey no man, aav'e just telt yer
Man with the bag: Aall reet, aall reet, keep yer hair on wumman....

NB I know he was selling cigarettes because I was the previous old biddy on a bench he tried his silver-tongued charm on....the rest, of course, is pure conjecture.....

On the up and up....

2010-08-15T17:07:00.000Z

.....though it started more like this......

But just to make sure, I'm off to bed early with a good book and a flask of tea.....nighty night!

Too many cooks.....

2010-08-14T12:49:00.000Z

....don't necessarily spoil the broth. Quickie from last night's family get together to celebrate niece Lizzie's marriage in South Africa today....the stay-at-home's had a great time! (my fuzzy head tells me so....)

Sunny in parts.....

2010-08-12T11:46:00.001Z

A couple more from yesterday, when the sun shone for longer than 5 minutes at a time.....

IS IT A BIRD?..........

I'm trying very hard to gear myself up to do a bit of decorating, but I haven't quite managed that 'leap of faith' yet.....maybe if I open a can of paint and breathe deeply........

Headless in Tynemouth

2010-08-11T13:43:00.003Z

ANONYMOUS CAFE SOCIETY.....EVEN THE DOG

HIGH HEELS (and yes, she walked on tippy-toes even without the shoes!)

Caught the Metro a couple of stops along the line to Tynemouth this morning then walked home along the beach......burnt my nose again.....

Seaside dereliction....High Point no more

2010-08-10T20:29:00.001Z

On the days when I only get to the bottom of the street to hang over the railings to take a picture this is what's behind me.....one of many boarded up pubs on the seafront between downtown Whitley Bay and Cullercoats. OK, so when it was open for business the decor left a lot to be desired (a lot of tartan upholstered seating and resolutely stuck in the 70's, along with the piped music), but the food was decent (though the, er, head waiter's suit could have done with a more regular clean) BUT, much more importantly, the beer and company was good....but all gone now for maybe 5 years. It'll probably end up being ripped down and rebuilt as executive flats, sorry apartments, with secure underground parking ('superb sea-views, within minutes of all local transport and amenities') when the property market eventually takes an upturn....question, am I a grumpy old git to see that as a backward step, a community asset being turned into expensive personal spaces? (Don't worry, no answer required.......I really shouldn't have opened that bottle of wine...........)

OTHER SEMI-RELATED (DERELICT) STUFF

99Rooms........an interactive journey
"99Rooms is an unique internet art project that interweaves wall painting, photography, animation and sound in a manner entirely unknown until now. Shortly after its launch in June 2004, more than 4 million individuals throughout the world have already visited this interdisciplinary composite work of art. 99rooms stemmed from the mystical, often apocalyptically charming pictures created by Berlin artist Kim Köster within the countless vacated premises of East Berlin‘s industrial sector. Photos of these paintings were initially produced in digital form and then animated through a cooperative effort between Richard Schumann & Stephan Schulz and then subsequently complemented through a personal sounddesign from Johannes Buenemann. The final product of this year long effort is a scintillating intermediary world which invites the observer into an journey through its morbidly-beautiful rooms"

AND The Hospital.....creepy medical dereliction with a floorplan......

Dehydration blues

2010-08-10T11:44:00.000Z

I overdid the sun yesterday (I'll not inflict a picture of my pink-and-peeling nose on you, but just to give you a hint, it's nearly the same colour and about as rough as the concrete at the bottom of that picture up there, I'll leave the rest to your imagination!).....and the wine consumed after the sun sank below the yardarm didn't help either, suffice it to say I've got a bit of a sore head this morning. So that one's from yesterday..... I couldn't work out what the 2 guys in black in the foreground were up to, the one at the back had a metal rod that he was using to poke things with....maybe they were council officials checking the outlets from the Table Rocks pool on the left (Whitley Bay's first open air swimming pool, Victorian but now disused, but the local dogs like it!) Next up a couple from this morning's bread run....and there's a couple more on Flickr

3 FISHERMEN

OLD MAN AND THE SEAWEED

In need of a nap

2010-08-08T14:36:00.000Z

Sultry weather and I'm feeling a Sunday afternoon snooze over a good book/trashy film coming on.....that or I'm coming down with something.....it was an effort just getting down to the sea-front and hanging over the railings this morning. But these 2 walkers somehow reminded me of the Abbey Road live webcam where you can watch an almost constant stream of tourists re-enact that famous Beatles LP cover.....strangely enough a lot of them seem to be Spanish......it comes with a sound feed so expect plenty of irate horn action from motorists! OK, I'm off for that nap.............

Another one bites the dust.....

2010-08-07T19:40:00.001Z

Yep, that's right.....EzHighway has been suspended at the other place for the heinous crime of linking to extra-large (ie bigger than they do) images on his SmugMug Pro a/c........to be honest, I'm lost for words.

Mixed bag

2010-08-06T11:47:00.002Z

This chick (what a whopper!) was taking it's chances the other night strolling nonchalantly along the road, his/her mother/father was perched on a nearby roof squawking fit to burst and dive bombing cars as they came around the corner.....luckily no lives were lost!

I could take a variation on this picture most mornings.....this fishing boat, the Stacey E, does a regular-as-clockwork sail-by around about 10 o'clock......top marks from me for colour coordination!

.....just a random chap with a dog on the beach.

OTHER STUFF

Haven't tried this game yet, but it sounds like a good stress buster, y'know, like after a Virgin train journey.....

"Virgin Trains have built a fantastic Street View zombie killing game to promote train travel in the UK.

In the game you have to follow directions in Street View to your nearest train station. But watch out for those zombies because just as you think your journey is going OK hordes of the living dead suddenly appear.

When this happens you have to grab your ticket machine and blast the zombies to kingdom come. As every zombie killer knows, just as werewolves can only be killed with silver bullets, zombies can only be killed by train tickets."

Play Don't go Zombie...go Virgin

BLAST FROM THE PAST

I've only had time to watch the first 10 minutes so far....but it looks good!

"Reporter Martin Young follows the fortunes of a group of Glaswegian holidaymakers as they spend their annual Glasgow Fair holiday in the seaside resort of Whitley Bay, Tyneside, during the blistering July of 1976. There's crazy golf and a trawl around the arcades, followed by a drink at the club and a snooze on the beach. Refreshments of cheese rolls and drinks from a thermos flask complete the picture."

Watch it here on the BBC website

To the North

2010-08-02T13:59:00.000Z

Today was my first 'officially retired, no longer on the payroll' Monday, up until now I've just been on holiday.......haven't worked out a new regime yet.....therefore I've done sod all but written lots of lists and made zero decisions.....except maybe to take full advantage of the 3 months left to run on the all-zones metro travel pass!

ANOTHER THING

Sundry Sunday pics.....

2010-08-01T13:46:00.000Z

.....a bit short on narrative......just pics from the morning bread run........

Surf's up

2010-07-31T15:01:00.001Z

New camera.....this was taken from the bottom of the street looking North maybe a mile or so....

.....and this one looking South from Marconi Point (on the Whitley Bay/Cullercoats boundary) towards Tynemouth (about 3km as the seagull flies)

So I bought myself a little retirement present, a Fuji Finepix HS10 with an in-built 30x zoom lens (I know my limits, I'd never, ever get around to changing a lens and anyway my camera bag....one of those re-usable Co-op carriers, yep, I'm a class act!.....is always filled with onion skins, semi-sucked sweets and half-done crosswords) But the compact still has a safe place in the broad scheme of things, for one thing it fits in my pocket!

Snapshots....

2010-07-27T18:59:00.001Z

Not a lot to report, still in holiday mode, getting up late and not doing much......

Onwards and upwards.....

2010-07-25T14:21:00.000Z

Funny old day on Friday.....last official day at work. I'd really hoped I'd be able to 'leave the building' quietly but it looks like I'm committed to an official 'leaving do' in early September (partly to bail out my boss who I'd instructed, under no circumstances, to arrange anything of that nature under pain of death.....but apparently he'd had no end of grief and dark looks).....not really looking forward to that. It's not that I'm antisocial, I just don't go a bundle on the 'big goodbye' and all it entails.

So anyway.....the next phase....building repairs....lots of 'em......bring it on!!

PS......oh, and an end to getting up when the alarm clock goes off!

Living in the past.....

2010-07-22T20:23:00.001Z

.....3 more from yesterday because there ain't any from today!

Top 2 from the Winter Garden, the 3rd one is looking down on the shop in The National Glass Centre.
Last official day at work tomorrow........

Into the badlands......

2010-07-21T20:25:00.002Z

A bit of a daytrip for me and the firstborn today.....yes, we pierced deepest Sunderland, pasty capital of the UK, I truly believe there's no point anywhere in the city centre where you CAN'T see at least one branch of Greggs! This is the glass platform at St Peters Metro station on the way home (minor incident on the journey back when a young girl got her elbow stuck in a metal handle contraption on the top of a seat.....but luckily the firstborn was equipped with a tub of vaseline, she goes prepared for all eventualities, no lives were lost!) One from the before lunch (and no, we DIDN'T do Greggs) trip to the Winter Garden.....

And another one on the way home......

Midgie attack

2010-07-20T12:40:00.003Z

So I had 2 possible projects today.....finish off the wallpaper stripping (postponed....way too humid for anything physical indoors) and sorting out the shed/hosing down the backyard (postponed....swarms of midgies congregated under the overhanging ivy, I could do without bitey bit) Only thing achieved has been picking up the wallpaper I ordered last week (came home like a damp rag, panting gently) But at least I took some pics on the way.....here's a couple.....

THE LIFEGUARDS MORNING COMMUTE

ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

It looks like the night shift might have been a tough one...............

(almost) random image

2010-07-18T12:34:00.002Z

....an afternoon of housework for me (but on the upside it's possibly the last Sunday before a Monday at work.....well, maybe, ever!) Now there's a thought to conjure with........

OTHER STUFF

Martin Wilson says.....

"My pictures are painstakingly created frame by frame on 35mm film. I get the whole film developed, scan it, then piece the final image together on the computer, making a large contact sheet. It's only when the completed film strips are laid out side by side in the contact sheets that the final image appear.

Each work usually takes months to complete, as each frame is obsessively taken in sequence. No pasting together after the event, no cheating in Photoshop! If I make a mistake or take a frame out of place I start the film again from the beginning"

Worth a click to check out his work....it's impressive!

Strip joint

2010-07-14T16:55:00.001Z

It's a naff picture but I'm making no apologies......that little corner took me 4 hours this afternoon and it's still not finished. Luckily I don't have to strip the rest of the room, after I've re-papered that bit it's just (!!!) a paint job. As you can see I had assistance from the original perpetrators of the damage that necessitated the stripping marathon.....they don't know it yet but they'll be banned when it's finished....guaranteed they won't be best pleased......

Supersaturated Sunday....

2010-07-11T21:04:00.001Z

....with lots of leaping.....no, not me, that would be Daizy in the distance.....luckily she has a foghorn voice.
'NOW Grandma', did you get it?' (me....'hmmm, not sure.....do it again, didn't quite catch it')

much later..........(I'll leave you to fill in the gap)
'3,2,1, I'm jumping.....' (me...Diz, can you do it just ONCE more?)
Bigger on Flickr

Waiting for Miss Daizy

2010-07-10T09:38:00.001Z

Quick pic of the Hebe in the garden....it's feeling thundery out there. Hope it holds off for a couple of hours because I've got the granddaughter coming for a sleepover and I'm on a promise for a trip to the beach later....it could turn out to be a damp business if we time it wrong.......

I suspect I won't get much computer time after she arrives........

EDIT.....The Daizy has landed

Let joy be unconfined.......

2010-07-08T10:45:00.005Z

.....because I know what I'm going to be watching tonight, seeing as it's just arrived in the post from the kind folks at Amazon! I'd almost given up hope of Tutti Frutti ever coming out on DVD (there's been a copyright battle running for years, it was first aired in 1987...I'm guessing one of the protagonists must have died!) Anyone else remember it with fondness?

Rant alert

2010-07-06T12:33:00.000Z

Grrrrrrrr......most of the morning wasted on the phone TRYING to speak to the taxman......and then, when I eventually got to speak to a real person rather than hitting random buttons and listening to a crap music loop lasting about 15 seconds (I think it was supposed to be a happy beach 'snapshot' with plinky-plonky guitars and a background buzz of happy sun-worshippers......but it didn't fool me!) only for the phone to go dead after about 10 minutes (presumably when 'they' thought I'd lost the will to live and wouldn't notice) it turned out I needn't have bothered DESPITE what their bleeding website said........dammit, I need a drink, and I don't mean a cuppa!

20 - The Beatles - Anthology 2 CD1 - Taxman

Found at: - FilesTube

Pre-platypus

2010-07-04T19:58:00.002Z

It was one of those days for going through old books.....I didn't know ~~platypus ducks~~ duck-billed water moles were venomous.....

Not much to report......

2010-07-03T16:49:00.001Z

Some ivy on the backyard wall.....it's growing.......

Currently watching....'Bonekickers', one of those dodgy downloads that I don't like to talk about, just 1 episode to go.....definitely a mistake, but I've started so I'll finish.......even though an archaeologist friend of the firstborn's said he almost died laughing.....but I'm made of sterner stuff.....kids today huh, no application?

NOT THAT I RIDE A BIKE.........

.....but there's an interactive 'live feed' google map of the Tour de France here if you fancy doing the trip without the puffing and panting........

The deed is done!

2010-07-02T14:52:00.000Z

This one's from last night, really threatening skies over the North Sea but bright sunshine on the coast....dramatic stuff! I had to go up to town today to hand in my 'acceptance letter' to the HR department (didn't quite trust it to the postal system!) and I nearly melted, it was stifling even though there was a breeze.....one thing I definitely WON'T miss is shopping in town in the summer!

OTHER STUFF

"UNphotographable is a catalog of exceptional mistakes. Photos never taken that weren't meant to be forgotten. Opportunities missed. Simple failures. Occasions when I wished I'd taken the picture, or not forgotten the camera, or had been brave enough to click the shutter."

The Mating Rituals of the Water Shrew.....animated in slo-mo (and very, very funny!)

Link:

Rampant ant

2010-07-01T15:24:00.003Z

Ants in the garden before breakfast.....I only took a couple of pics today, I was using the 'old' camera, I think I like it better for macro shots somehow.....

Busy old day.....the boy-in-the-attic and I filled a full-sized skip before lunch, the house is now 3 sofas lighter (chopped and diced to take up less space) and there's an almost empty shed in the back yard, not to mention all the other crap we filled all the spaces with. It's still just scratching the surface though.....that skip will be the first of many I'm thinking!

ANT-RELATED TIMEWASTER

"The world of an ant is a scary, dangerous place. All you want to do is get home to the safety of the anthill, but there are a multitude of dangers out there; ravenous predators, impossible chasms, careless humans, and a whole host of other dangers for a single member of the family formicidae who only wants to go home."

Play Hormiga (online point and click)

NOT ANT-RELATED
The National Archives goes to the movies podcast (on the sidebar, just click on the title to play) is an entertaining listen!

Bee Bumble and the Brambles

2010-06-30T18:29:00.000Z

If the number of flowers (and the bee activity) is anything to go by it'll be another bumper bramble crop this year....and I haven't even finished off last years yet. There's still a few (large) boxes in the freezer and a couple of bottles of bramble/rosemary/balsamic that haven't been opened yet, and I'm pretty sure there's still some jam at the back of the cupboard. But the apple tree....now that's a different story, it must have been hit by a late frost, barely a sign of a baby apple.....hey, you win some, you lose some!

CARTOON INTERLUDE (with a bee)