365 – Fraggle's Otherverse

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 22

June 5, 2023June 4, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, Photography, UncategorizedTagged 365, 365 project, Aretha T65 lens, Corktown Pak, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, iPhone11, Miles TMAX film, Photography20 Comments

This week we’re looking at the Corktown Hipstapack which consists of the Aretha T65 Lens which “Gives a subtle color shift with warmth and desaturation”, and the Miles TMAX film, an “aged film (which) adds subtle light leaks to your prints”.

Sunday 28th May
Ben and Lewis and Marc were still wiith us and we decided to take them back down to the coast, but the other end, and we visited Souter lighthouse and climbed up to the top to see the views. Then we went off to Marsden rocks for coffee, it was quite cool down at the coast so there wasn’t, (should that be were’nt? ~ doesn’t sound quite right, never mind) the herds of people like there were on Saturday.

Monday 29th May
Yet another Bank Holiday Monday, lovely weather again and time for (Phil) to do more gardening! The guy who’s garden backs on to ours has a ginormous leylandi which was towering above my shed. Every year he attacks it from his side and Phil gets on top of my shed and attacks it from our side. Neighbourly co-operation is still a thing.

Tuesday 30th May
Back to work, sigh, I was getting the hang of 1 & 1/2 day weeks! Never mind busy of course with the deaf and the desperate. When I got home the sun was backlighting one of the flowers on my California Flannelbush (🤷‍♀️) plant, the hipstamatic has desaturated the bright yellow, but I still like it.

Wednesday 31st May
I might be obsessed with Bonnie & Clyde, I get worried if I don’t see them at work.

Thursday 1st June
Yay! Summer! and 15 degs C and my winter wooly pully back on! 🙄 I went for my chiropractor appointment this morning, and on the way home went through the ASDA carwash, I love taking pictures whilst I’m going through, I liked this one best.

Friday 2nd June
A nice sunny day though not that warm, and Phil and I went off to Morrisons in Shields to spend the Christmas voucher he got from work, finally, and then we called in to see our chums Lorraine & Paul. I am very jealous of their huge garden and a view of the sea. Which you can’t see on my photo but trust me, it’s there.

Saturday 3rd June
Hot and sunny today, so nice. More gardening jobs, getting ready to make hanging baskets, putting out the solar lights and repotting the bamboo. Vinnie has sat under a bush in the shade most of the day, Winnie has been in and out and has cystitis again, sigh. She finally settled down in the furry tree. Tomorrow is the Northern Scale Model show which Phil’s club hosts every June, and Phil’s up and down in the loft getting boxes out, packing up models and getting stuff ready to sell second hand. I’m just mucking about with my Pentax, plucking up courage to use the damn thing.

Not a bad combo this time I think, the lightleaks are subtle and don’t get in your face,and the muted tones work well, especially with the sea shots I think. That’s it for this week but

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 21

May 29, 2023May 28, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, Big Bertha lens, Coney Island Pak, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, iPhone11, Photography, Ringmaster 71 film20 Comments

This week I chose the Coney Island Pack and just in time for a mostly sunny week which was very serendipitous. The Coney Island pack consists of the Big Bertha lens which is “inspired by the carnival and summertime fun, this lens pops saturation in cyan”, and the Ringmaster 71 film, which “compliments the Big Bertha lens, and adds subtle contrast in the shadows to increase the drama in your image”.

Here we go.

Sunday 21st May
A really nice sunny day and Phil and I cracked on with some gardening. Or, Phil cracked on with the gardening and I re~potted my spider plant which, considering how pot-bound it had become, is still a thriving entity. Now transplanted from my bathroom to the conservatory.

Monday 22nd May
The rhododendron in our front garden has taken a few years to settle in, but this year it has done nicely, and I was chuffed to catch the bee on it when I got home from work.

Tuesday 23rd May
Another workday, I loved what the Hipstamatic did to the sky, and accidentally caught a street light receiving a text, or on his kindle app 😉

Wednesday 24th May
I took Phil down to the riverside pub in South Shields where he and some old school chums get together once a month for a glass or two and a natter After I dropped him off I took a picture of this huge vessel, The Spirit of St. Petersburg sailing out of the River Tyne towards the sea. I googled the ship and “The City of St. Petersburg is a roll-on/roll-off, pure car carrier cargo ship made for Nissan Motor Company Ltd, designed with a sleek semi-spherical prow to reduce wind resistance, thus saving 800 tons of fuel annually“. Why it’s named after a Russian city I know not, maybe the Japanese were being all sucky uppy to sell their cars to Russia. Anyhoo there’s a huge Nissan plant up here so I expect they were picking up some Jukes or the like.

Thursday 25th May
Back to the Chiropractor today, and then on to my manicurist (WTH does that sound like! 🤣 La-de-dah indeed) with 45minutes to spare between appointments, so I took myself off to ST.Mary’s lighthouse after having my bones cracked, and had a little walk on the nature train there.

Friday 26th May
Nearly a rubbish shot, I was quite busy on Friday with an iminent surprise visit by my son Ben and Grandson Lewis and their pal Marc who drove them. up. But this view is my fave part of the house, so it’s not really rubbish.

Saturday 27th May
A gorgeous day, and we went over to South Shields fairground to take Lewis out for the day. Unfortunately everyone else, their dog and their mother had the same idea and getting a parking space was a nightmare. The place was packed. Still, we found a little part of the beach that wasn’t crowded and played in the sea and the sand.

So that’s it for this week. I’ve loved this combination, it goes so well with sunshine. I don’t want to do a different one next week, but I must, so that’s that 😦

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 20

May 22, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, Photography, UncategorizedTagged 365, 365 project, Cheshire Film, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Marshall Lens, Photography21 Comments

This week I’ve gone with the Marshall lens which adds ‘unexpected color shifts reminiscent of infrared photography’, and the Cheshire film, a vintage film which ‘adds a nicely aged border to your image’. So this week we’re looking at the world through rose tinted spectacles.

Sunday 14th May
Not much happening today, weather is meh. I cooked a Sunday Roast dinner which was yummy. Took a test shot of the new combination and was pleasantly surprised. No more grey skies this week!

Monday 15th May
Another day another dollar. Our office manager is back from her holiday and we can all breathe a sigh of relief. When I got home there was a bit of evening sunshine and the Happy Eater tree looked good in pink.

Tuesday 16th May
Bonnie and Clyde await the apocalypse.

Wednesday 17th May
The weekly ‘rubbish’ shot, sorry. Busy day and this was the best I could come up with. Sigh. It’s some sort of wildish rose thing in our front garden.

Thursday 18th May
Another busy day as I worked extra as the OM had to go to hospital today and I had a chiropractor appointment. I shot the next door neighbour’s magnolia which pokes a flower through our fence quite fetchingly, though I could have done without the hole in it’s petal. I suppose it gives it character. Not sure why this one was more purpley than pink.

Friday 19th May
I had an optician appointment this morning, to have my new blinkers fitted. Whilst I was in the waiting area I noticed the gentleman across from me was holding a bag that was a skull wearing goggles. It’s a strange world we live in isn’t it?

Saturday 20th May
Sophie was back from Spain this weekend and it was a gorgeous sunny day to go out with our cameras. We went to a few different places but first to South Shields to shoot the cool new graffiti I’d spotted the day before, and the umbrellas in the sky. They’ll be on Film Friday at some point.

So that’s it for this week and it was a fun week Hipstamatically speaking. Not always easy to get a decent colour or exposure (Thursday) but mostly worked out OK, well I like them anyway!

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 19

May 22, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, Iphoneography, Photography, UncategorizedTagged 365, 365 project, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Peel-apart Pak, Photography18 Comments

A better week this week I think. I chose the Peel-apart hipstapak which consists of a Peale lens – “Add a saturated and contrasty colour quality with this instant film inspired lens” and the Type 10 film, which adds the “lovely analog quality of peel-apart instant film to your arsenal”.

Sunday 7th May
A day and night out for Phil and I. A blue sky day too! We went into Newcastle in the afternoon as I wanted to visit The Baltic, ( a flour mill converted into a centre for contemporary art) to see the “full career retrospective by one of the UK’s most important and influential post-war documentary photographers, Chris Killip (1946–2020”) who spent 2 years immersed in the North East in the 70’s and 80’s when everything had gone to ratshit up here. Well worth a visit. After, we had a bite to eat and then went to the Anarchy Brew Company to see one of our favourite up and coming bluesy bands, Cardinal Black. It wasn’t a large venue and I was lucky enough to be at the front, had a great time!

Kitiwakes nesting on the side of the Baltic.

Monday 8th May
A coronation Bank Holiday and Shelley came to visit with Cal and Liddy. Phil’s clearing out the loft of stuff including old toys and he inveigled the kids into checking out that the jigsaws going to the charity shop had all their pieces. Turned out to be more fun than a phone!

Tuesday 9th May
Oh my days what a nightmare back at work. Lynn our office manager is away in Thailand so I’m in an hour early to ring back and book in all the people who have emailed in to get appointments and after the Bank Holiday weekend they were legion. This on top of doing my plethora of clients. I was glad to get home. This evening Phil cleaned some of his newly purchased LP’s, the machine he uses is louder than a loud thing on a loud day, sounds a bit like a chainsaw on speed.

Wednesday 10th May
Same poo different day applies here for work, though at least I finished at 2pm, but then had to go and do the weekly shop at ASDA. Phil cooked a pub-grub dinner, I know, I know, Scampi,chips (fries) and peas are not the healthiest, but oh my was it lush.

Thursday 11th May
I did an extra morning at work to do the bookings, postage and sales as I had an appointment with the chiro anyway. It was a beautiful sunny morning when I got up and at 7am Winnie was rolling around catching the rays and being cute on top of my shed.

Friday 12th May
It was Phil’s daughters 39th birthday yesterday but she was at work. So after I’d been to specsavers to get some new blinkers and Phil had perused the record stall on the market, in South Shields, we went over to Shelley’s house for a cuppa and to give her a card.

Saturday 13th May
We are at war. Over the past couple of weeks, a big bruiser of a cat we have named Billy~Big~B****cks (for obvious reasons when you see him from behind) has been visiting our driveway and back garden, spraying his urkiness and being aggressive with Lord Vincent and Winnie. Not too much a problem for Lord V, he’s big and stands his ground until attacked, when he runs back home, and really not a problem for Winnie as she’s faster than a speeding bullet getting away from him, but it stresses her out and of course the cystitis she had that we’d just got on top of, is now back. Lord V has taken to policing the catflap at night for hours so at least Billy~Big~B’s will not get in the house easily. I sent for weaponry which arrived today, and we will prevail.

So that’s it. I liked this combo more than I thought I would, and took a lot of shots with it so had a hard time choosing the daily! It also reminded me of my Mum who had a Polaroid land camera back in the jurassic era, which used peel apart film, fun memories.

Onwards dear chums!….

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 18

May 8, 2023May 8, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, ap, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, iPhone11, May23, Photography, week1839 Comments

This week the randomiser chose the Jack London Lens, inspired by vibrant Jack London Square in Oakland, California, this lens apparently adds a pop to any scene. I am not convinced. The film it chose is W40 which supposedly ‘heightens the excitement with this full-of-contrast film’. Wasn’t convinced about that either, but hey ho. Not my best week for taking photos, for various reasons, but here they are such as.

Sunday 30th April
A visitation from Phil’s son Carl and his kids this afternoon.

Monday 1st May
We had a quiet bank holiday today, a bit of housework and gardening done. Phil went out to the model club in the evening and took some of his work with him.

Tuesday 2nd May
Our office manager is on holiday so I get in early to open up and sort out the answer-phone emails and call back all the people who want appointments, so have been mad busy doing that and all my clients too. I was glad to get home and put my feet up. Bonnie & Clyde are still manning the rooftops.

Wednesday 3rd May
I’ve been going to the chiropracor twice a week, usually a Monday and Thursday but this week Wednesday instead of Monday because of the ruddy King’s thing. When I got home a little bit of sunshine happened, and Vinnie sat himself in a patch of it.

Thursday 4th May
Just before the Burritos and Movie night here started I remembered I’d forgotten to take a photo, so I took a quick snap of the making-of burritos, it’s pants, sorry.

Friday 5th May
The sun came out this afternoon and I got quite excited and went to sort my camera out for a walk. 15 minutes later it was chucking it down so I stayed home. Another rubbish shot but I wanted this to remind me of it’s rare appearance.

Saturday 6th May
Couldn’t leave Winnie out, she’s much better now, and not having to have painkillers at the mo. Phil and I watched a 2011 movie called The Guard tonight, starring Dominic Gleeson, Don Cheadle, Mark Strong & Liam Cunningham, I can highly recomend it. Synopsis ~ Sergeant Gerry Boyle is a small-town Irish cop with a confrontational personality, a subversive sense of humor, a dying mother, a fondness for prostitutes, and absolutely no interest whatsoever in the international cocaine-smuggling ring that has brought straight-laced FBI agent Wendell Everett to his door. A good story, a lot of humour and we liked it better than The Banshee of Innesherin but it’s got a similar vibe. Gleeson is great as the Irish cop.

Anyway, a bit of a lacklustre week photographically speaking, and I wasn’t all too keen on the results from this combination, I had to take and delete a lot to get anywhere. But onwards chums!….

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic week 17

May 1, 2023April 30, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, April2023, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, iPhone11, Photography, week1722 Comments

This week a random shake produced the Mark lens, which adds nice desaturation and vintage colouring, and the Cinzano 36 film which adds cool tones and additional emphasis on your subject. Apparently.

Sunday 23rd April
A lazy day, and I’ve been enthralled by my new book The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows by John Koenig. The basic synopsis of which is “a compendium of new words for emotions. Its mission is to shine a light on the fundamental strangeness of being a human being – all the aches,demons,vibes,joys and urges that are humming in the background of everyday life.” As someone who regularly adulterates or makes up words, this appealed to me, but this guy is much cleverer.

Monday 24th April
Back to work and I was taken with these two seagulls which are around our carpark most days, and today standing guard on the out-building.

Tuesday 25th April
Bonnie & Clyde were back on the roof today and I tried to get a closer shot, but they flew of just as I was about to take the shot, but I like it anyway.

Wednesday 26th April
I tend to take photos throughout the day when something appeals, and then choose the one I like best at the end of the day. My shot in Lidl won today.

Thursday 27th April
A long weekend coming up with a Bank Holiday on Monday next week. Phil decided to attack the back leilandi with his chainsaw and Winnie went up on top of the shed to supervise.

Friday 28th April
Winnie has still been plagued with cystitis and needed a Daddy cuddle.

Saturday 29th April
Sophie is back from Spain this weekend, and we went off to Alnwick Castle Gardens to see the blossom orchard. A bit late for full bloom, they’re losing their blossoms beautifully though. A group of ladies turned up and started banging drums and chanting ‘oooms’, ‘oms’, “hy-oh’s” and such like. I thought they might be a tribe of Native Americans but Sophie reckoned it was a kind of woman meditation & wellness group type thing. She was probably right but I liked my thought better 🤣. Yet another crappy weather day but we did the best we could in the circumstances.

So that’s that for week 17. Lots of brown tones for this combination, which is a bit like Week 15 but more so, and more contrasty with the blacks havng a purple tinge to them. But it did the job. Now onwards to 18! so

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 16

April 24, 2023April 24, 2023Posted in 365, Cat, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, April2023, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, iPhone11, Photography24 Comments

This week I chose the Jalisco Histapak which consists of the Chivas lens, which adds cool contrast even in dark conditions, and the Estrada 83 film, which is a grungy film with a tatty border.

Sunday 16th April
It didn’t rain today though there wasn’t any warmth in the air, we did bits of housework and Phil mowed the lawns which are in pretty poor condition having been overrun with moss.

Monday 17th April
Back to work, and busy as always on a Monday. It was a sunny day, not that I had chance to appreciate it until I got home and saw the view from our bedroom window is getting it’s spring greens.

Tuesday 18th April
It’s been a while since I got a chance to take a picture of Teddy the boss’s doggy. The little chap has been ‘done’ now but it hasn’t calmed him down any, he’s still as mad as a box of frogs. So cute and happy though.

Wednesday 19th April
The sun was out again early doors, and as the light crept up over our garden fence some rays started touching the new leaves on Mum’s plant, so I got my shot done before I even went to work.

Thursday 20th April
We had an appointment to take Winnie to the vet today which was quite traumatic for all of us. She might be little but she can up up a good fight when the cat box beckons. We managed to get her in, and then to the vet, the howls on the car journey break your heart and mind. When we got there she wouldn’t get out of the box of course, so another palaver, and when eventually she did come out, she squashed herself right up to me and stuck her head inside my jacket as if to hide. But she suffered being examined, then the vet prescribed painkillers, and gave us advice on stuff we already knew. She went back in the catbox no problem, and was quiet as a mouse on the way home. Back home and she was right as rain. It was also our 11th wedding anniversary and Phil had booked us in at Bellini’s, which I hadn’t been to before. It wasn’t a cozy romanic place by any stretch, and reminded me more of a canteen. It was quite busy and noisy, and we wondered how long we’d have to wait for service, but it was all very timely and the food was really good. I liked their ceiling deco!

Friday 21st April
Phil at work this morning so I did some chores and had intended to take the Pentax out on it’s inaugural session, but it was cold and grey and I had no enthusiasm or motivation for it at all, so I did the washing instead and did a Winnie shot. She seems a little better today.

Saturday 22nd April
It’s really annoying when my work days have all been nice weather, and my off days are damp and miserable, the best today has to offer is a concrete sky and muddy greens. It’s been raining all day, but not proper photographic rain, just a continuous fine mizzle. Phil was at work again for the morning, so I read my book and drank tea, and cuddled the cat.

Another week gone, and I think this combination worked reasonably well, gave a little bit extra without being too arty farty.

Fingers crossed for some nice weather for me next week! Onwards!!…..

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic week 15

April 17, 2023April 17, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, Iphoneography, Photography, UncategorizedTagged 365, 365 project, Blanko C16 film, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Photography, Ranger 66 lens30 Comments

The hipstamatic app has a random setting, so if you have the app open and then shake the phone it randomly chooses a film and a lens, so this week I gave it a shake and it came up with the Ranger 66 lens, which gives you low contrast warmth, and the Blanko C16 film which gives subtle warm desaturations to the colours.

Sunday 8th April
Today was Phil’s sister Annette’s husband Brian’s birthday, as well as being Easter Sunday, so we visited with them for the afternoon. I was going to take a nice picture of A & B for the 365, but they have a cat. 😁

Monday 9th April
We just chilled at home today and I cooked Easter Dinner, which is the same as Sunday Lunch really. The blossom tree is just about deblossomed now, but I noticed on one of the cut back branches, a little blossom was still hanging on

Tuesday 10th April
Back to work and it was full on. Especially as I had to go in an hour earlier to make up for finishing early on Wednesday when I have to take Phil to the eye hospital. Our Winnie has been in the throes of a bout of cystitis and sits on a warm radiator to ease her discomfort when ever the heating comes on.

Wednesday 11th April
Another early start – I was so glad it was half-term and the traffic wasn’t as bad as it usually is at this time. A busy busy morning but I got away on time, went home to have a quick lunch then took Phil to the eye hospital for his cataract operation. I had to wait for him of course to drive him home after, and the waiting room was hot and stuffy so I kept nodding off trying to read my book, 9 times it happened! I then started taking surreptitious photos of anyone sitting across from me to keep myself awake. I took Phil home,completely forgetting to pay the hospital car park fee on the way out. As there’s a £70 fine for that I got on the phone to the parking department at the hospital and apologised profusely and pleaded with them to let me pay now over the phone. Don’t worry about it, said a nice lady, I’ve put a permit against your visit so you won’t be charged a fine, and no need to pay. Flabberghasted by kindness was I! Anyway after that relief, I made dinner, then went and did my weekly shop at ASDA as I usually do it Wednesday afternoon. We call this sort of day a Jack Bauer day.

Thursday 12th April
Phil’s eye was a bit sore today and leaking tears a lot. Luckily I had had the forethought to get him some protective eyecovers. 😃 I had my first appointment with the chiropractor today, he took measurements and karate chopped my collar bones 😳.

Friday 13th April
Phil’s eye was a lot better today, though he still can’t see clearly through it, and we went off to South Shields Market which is a euphemism for checking out vinyl record stalls. Phil bought a couple of 12 inch discs and a CD and I took some photos. And back to parking, I paid for 2 hours via the paybyphone app, which I’ve used succesfully many times. When we finished in Shields we returned to the car with 54 minutes left to go on my parking, but found a PCN notice stuck to my window screen saying I have to pay a fine for not paying! I was completely unamused. Tried ringing the paybyphone people but got nowhere. In the end we read on the PCN notice that we could deal with any dispute by going to the Town Hall, so we trudged up there, most peed orft, where I was given a form to fill in describing the problem. They put a hold on my fine until such time as someone has looked at the form and either cancelled it or said it must go ahead. If the latter, I shall be having a day in court at some point as I’m not paying a fine.

Saturday 14th April
Winnie seems a bit better today, other than that, an unremarkable day, except it was sunny 😊

I like this combination, the warm subtle tones are really nice and there’s no silly bits.

So that’s week 15 over, onwards dear chums…

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic week 14

April 10, 2023April 9, 2023Posted in 365, B&W, Hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, Black Keys Extra Fine, Black&white, Florence Lens, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Long Island Pak, Photography25 Comments

This week I’m using the Long Isand Hipstapak. It consists of the Florence lens which gives desaturated tones with sunny highlights, and the Black Keys extra fine film which is a black and white film adding subtle contrast and a super clean edge to pictures.

Sunday 2nd April
We had a visit from Shelley and the grandkids today, and as always Liddy had a huge wodge of cake to see her through the afternoon.

Monday 3rd April
I travelled down south again today. The journey wasn’t too bad but heavy enough with people going on holiday or days out or whatever. It was nice weather when I arrived in the afternoon, and it was necessary for Louie to have a coke and an ice cream.

Tuesday 4th April
A lovely sunny day today, a cloudless sky, but not too hot, and Ben, Lewis and I went down to the canal, parking up near St Mary’s Church and walking along the canal path to The Globe Inn where we sat outside and had cheesy fries. I gave Louie my X100F for the day and he took lots of pictures, there’ll be a post!

Wednesday 5th April
And then it rained most of the day and we played monopoly and chilled out. Mrs Miaow Miaow doesn’t like the rain.

Thursday 5th April
I packed up my things, cleaned the place I stay, visited with Ben et al, and then got on the road back home. More heavy traffic, and one 10minute standstill, but on the whole an easy ride.

My down-south hideaway

*Friday 6th April*
The blossom tree is shedding like crazy, it looks like it snowed out there. Am sure our neighbours love having their cars decorated with little pink petals though. I do 🤣

Saturday 7th April
There’s a saying around these parts ~ ‘you can never have enough cameras’…
and so my latest turned up whilst I was away. A Pentax 645 medium format film camera. A basic one at that, not as coveted by the filmoscenti as a Mamiya or Hasselblad, but also not in their lofty price brackets. I loved my old Rolleiflex medium format but it’s not repairable and I want to get back into the format, hence the Pentax. Just need to finish the 2 rolls of film I’ve got on the go in the Contax and Ektar so I can get this one up and running!

And that’s a wrap for the Long Island Hipstapak. I do like how it does the black and white so a 👍 from me.

📱😊

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 13

April 3, 2023April 3, 2023Posted in UncategorizedTagged 365, 365 project, Blanko BL4 film, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Lowy lens, Photography28 Comments

This week I went with the photojournalism hisptapak which consists of the Lowy lens, which is crisp and clean, and the Blanko 4BL a simple film to document any moment with precision. So that’s plain enough, no arty farty bits.

Sunday 26th March
Sophie was back from Spain this weekend so we went out in the grey and showery weather, to Saltwell Park as they’ve got a long path full of blossom trees we wanted to shoot. The damned things weren’t blooming at all when we got there so we made do with other bits and bobs.

Monday 27th March
A reasonably busy day at work and I got sent to pick up some milk for teas at Lidl just down the road from us. I’ve spoken before about the upheaval in the land next to our workplace where they’re building 3000 houses, and lots of infrastructure. From Lidl carpark I could see a whole lot more of it than through the fence around our carpark.

Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair.

Tuesday 28th March
Time for the tree shot 😊 I love walking in to the bedroom and seeing it through the window.

Wednesday 29th March
The Marketing Suite for the house building company (which I’ve featured a couple of times) is the gift that keeps on giving. Walking to the car after work I spotted what I first thought was an owl on top of the fence, but quickly realised it was a fake. Then I saw it move it’s head, which freaked me out for a minute. When I went up close I could see it’s head is on a rocker so when the wind blows the head moves. Don’t know if it’s to keep mice away or other birds, or someone’s just having a laugh. 🤷‍♀️

Thursday 30th March
Phil and I went out for lunch and tried The Marsden Grotto, which I also featured in Week 1 or 2, can’t remember. This shot is one of the backrooms, amazing how it’s carved out into the rocks. It’s got a fair history bit, but I’ll leave that for a Universe post at some point. The lunch was overpriced and not that great so a first & last time, though the coffee is nice.

Friday 31st March
Lord Vincent is very enamoured of the lurid green cat tube toy thingy I got for the cats, and is constantly rubbing his chin on it. I tried to take a picture of him sitting at the far end of it but he suddenly charged towards me which made me jump and fall over so it’s not the shot I meant to take, and it’s pants, and I forgot to do another. 🙄

Saturday 1st April
Phil’s out at a model show today, just texted to say he’s won a gold and a silver for his tanks in the competition. I’m getting sorted ready to travel down south again, No. 1 grandson is on half term so I’m looking forward to spending time with him. Today I’m getting my blog posts ready to schedule so have been on the computer a couple of hours. Winnie decided she would take my chair for a snooze, and I’m on a not-as-comfy bedroom stool! She is snoring.

So another week ends, and I like this no nonsense combination, but on we must go, so

📱😊

Today I’ll be doing the long drive down south, so may be late visiting blogs or responding to comments.

365 ~Hipstamatic Week 12

March 27, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, Aegina Hipstapak, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, Photography25 Comments

This week I chose the Aegina Hipstapak which consists of the
Aphaea 12 lens which adds vibrant contrast and saturation to images, and the Aeacus 6 film which has light bursts coming from unexpected angles and a strong grain pattern.

Sunday 19th March
Today was Mother’s Day in the UK, and Shelley and the kids came over with cards, flowers,chocolates and hugs, so that was lovely.

Monday 20th March
A steady day at work, we’re not so busy of late, and can only think the upsurge in the cost of living is putting some people off getting their ears done, priorities change as the economy tanks. Anyway, Winnie cares nothing for that, her ears are one of her superpowers!

Tuesday 21st March
Oh my tree is really giving it’s all to the pinking, it only lasts a couple of weeks so there’s going to be a few shots of it until it’s over.

Wednesday 22nd March
Today was new carpet day. Phil spent the previous few days emptying out the East Wing and painting the skirting boards, then the gadgies arrived at 8am and were gone before I left for work. When I got home in the afternoon Phil was rebuilding the stereo.

Thursday 23rd March
A busy day for me. This morning I took the car in for a service, and this afternoon I went to see the chiropractor who has his business in the same set of buildings as where I work. I went to see him as my neck isn’t getting any better, though it’s manageable and my boss offered to pay for me from the business to see him which is really kind of her. Anyways, apparently I’m wonky of bone structure (subluxation of spine I think he said) and need treatment, which I’m actually a bit wary of but I’ll see how it goes. This morning the tree was still looking spiffing.

Friday 24th March
A day catching up with laundry and housework, and in the evening we met up with Carl, (Phil’s son) his wife Karly, who is currently awaiting a liver transplant so it was lovely to see her looking well, and their son Matthew to go and see one of our favourite bands, Daughtry at the City Hall.. Anyway it was a disappointing gig for various reasons, but at least we got out and tried!

Saturday 25th March
This afternoon we went to see Liddy performing on stage. She goes to a drama/singing/dancing school once a week and every year they put on a show consisting of musicals’ songs, dance routines etc. Liddy is both the youngest and smallest amongst 20-25 older girls but holds her own very well, she’s a natural performer and absolutely loves it. Towards the end of the year she is going to be on a kids Channel 5 TV programme, I expect she’ll be famous one day!

So that’s that and time to move on to a new combo. This one was OK, I quite liked the texture, but the lightleaks are a bit naff, so a bit of a non event. Onwards….!!

365 ~ Hipstamatic Week 11

March 20, 2023March 25, 2023Posted in 365, Hipstamatic, hipstamatic, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged 365, 365 project, blanko film, Fraggle, Hipstamatic, magdalena lens, Photography, week1133 Comments

This week I’ve gone with the Madalena lens which is inspired by the warmth and vibrance of Vila Madalena in São Paulo, this lens adds a strong flavor to any print. The film is Blanko, a simple film with a light border.

Sunday 12th March
My pal Connie is doing the hipstamatic 365 with me, and I am also doing the Sunday Coffee series with her, though on Flickr not here on WP, but today I did an extra one for the 365, which is killing 2 birds with one stone, a phrase I’m not keen on as I wouldn’t kill a bird ever but I can’t think of an alternative. Anyhoo, I may do that again, being a lazy~daisy.

Monday 13th March
Back to work, nothing new there and no time for photos. I thought I was getting a cold as I had the sniffles and a slightly achy neck. Still trying to get the hang of this Hipsta combo, it seems to do better with close up things than landscapes. This is my water feature lamp Shelley bought me for Christmas.

Tuesday 14th March
Still feeling a bit rough though nothing mega and I had an easy day at work. I took a picture of my flowers when I got home. I bought these in ASDA 2 1/2 weeks ago, they appear in week 9’s set of photos. There’s no water left in the jug but they just don’t seem to give up the ghost, magic!

Wednesday 15th March
A steady morning at work and then the weekly shopping on my way home. My neck was more achy now and I needed to take ibuprofen for it. Phil had been practicing his bass guitar when I got home, so after we put the shopping away I had him give me a performance. He’s trying to play Hysteria by Muse, which is hellishly fast and difficult.

Thursday 16th March
Neck even more painful and restricting the movement of my head, wasn’t easy to drive over to Kendal’s place to get my manicure but lots of straight roads thankfully and not too much traffic. Had to park up and get a shot of the crocuses/croci (take your pick, both are right).

Friday 17th March
Last night was an experience. My neck was so painful I couldn’t sleep, and so I spent the night in the spare room ouching in between dozing fitfully. More ibuprofen today and we tried the tens machine, but that didn’t work. We went out for a walk as I’m desperate to get out and shoot some film, but it was too much pain and we came home not long after we set off. Plus I took one shot with the Contax and it packed up because the batteries went flat. I’d left the spares in my other camera bag, duh. I took a couple with the Hipstamatic though.

Saturday 18th March
No way was I going through another sleepless night, so had a diverse cocktail of medications that would floor a buffalo, and managed 4hrs straight before I got up and redosed before another 3 hours kip. Whatever it takes. Today I’m still in a lot of pain but keeping it at bay just about with 4 hourly meds. I HAVE to go to work on Monday so this HAS to be gone, and I’m FED UP, but my Happy Eater Blossom tree is gearing up for the big bloom regular readers will know from past spring posts, and that lifted my spirits.