Tag: UK

The Corona Chronicles ~ 4

Posted in Corona Chronicles, FujiX-T2, Mucking about, Photography, Thursday Thoughts, UncategorizedTagged , , , , 37 Comments

Into week four of lockdown, and though it feels like it’s been forever, I still haven’t really ‘settled’ into it. No routine has popped up, the yoga went out the window when I pulled a muscle in my back 🙄 but at least the house is spotless and the washing done! They’ve just announced the lockdown is to continue until at least the beginning of May which is 2 or 3 weeks away, but I’ll be surprised if it’s lifted even then. The incompetancy of the government has never been so obvious/staggering/unbelievable – delete as applicable (I still can’t stop myself reading the news daily) the latest is our Health secretary launching a green enamel badge with CARE written on it, for carers in the community to buy themselves to make them feel appreciated. You couldn’t make this up. The care badge is the idea of a consortium of business people in the care business who run care homes, the chairman of it owns several of the homes. His instagram feed looks like something out of Hello magazine. They run Care England, a registered charity, apparently the leading representative body for independent care services in England. Charity my arse.

Phil was refitted for a FFP3 mask on Sunday so is now able to do his job and also to work in ICU if required. His shifts change constantly as people go sick so he’s been off all this week as he’s now covering the weekend instead of his normal shifts this week. As it’s been sunny for a few days (mostly) even if quite chilly, he’s got the garden up to scratch.

Battling the Leilandi.

He also had to go to ASDA to pick up his eye drops prescription and did a full shopping thing whilst he was there, Took me a good 1/2 hour to wash it all down in the garden and pass it through the window for Phil to put away! We must look like mad people to our neighbours, but after reading about people licking their hands and wiping them over products on the shelves in shops, I don’t really care. My hands have cracked open in a couple of places from all the handwashing so am going to have to use gloves more often indoors.

I’m still doing a bit of photography. I have to post a ‘fast shutter speed’ photo in the 52 frames group on Sunday so my ‘diving Homers’ last week were a good practice and I spent 4 hours yesterday dropping things in various receptacles. It’s not easy as I only have wrong size vases, I really need a fish tank, and no flash, but the sun was so bright I did it outside with a reflector instead. Out of nearly 500 shots I only got 6 useable ones, have narrowed it down to 2 but can’t decide which I like best and I can only post one, let me know if you have a preference!

Red Pepper Meteor
Tumbling Dice

Hedgehogs are still visiting the garden and I’m keeping their Youtube channel up to date, you can find the link on the home page of this blog, don’t think it shows up in the reader though. We’ve seen some in the flesh so to speak on the past couple of evenings and it’s cool to hear them crunching on their biscuits and see them running along on their little legs, they don’t half shift when they want to. Hope we get hoglettes this year!

I’m keeping in touch with Sophie, we are really missing our outings and I feel bad for her as her chap Mentat lives in Spain and is in lockdown there. Although they use Skype to talk it’s not the same, and with no end in sight of getting together in the near future it’s hard for them both.

My great friend Kathy who moved to Florida for good with her hubby on Saturday facetimed me today and that was just brilliant. When all this is over we are planning get togethers both here and over there. Something to look forward to.

Have just stood outside and heard the estate clapping, honking car horns, setting off fireworks, all to support the key workers, it’s quite amazing to hear it, we don’t of course, Phil is far too cool to clap and he just wants everyone to stop clapping and stop voting Tory, that would be thanks enough for him. Anyway that’s it for this week, it’s Phil’s Thursday night movie tonight, he hasn’t told me yet what it is, he does like to make it a surprise 🙂

Hope y’all are staying frosty,

and here’s a pretty to finish with

Wardley Sunset 15th April 2020

The Corona Chronicles. 1

Posted in Corona Chronicles, Personal HistoryTagged , , 20 Comments

Our country is now on lockdown, everything is shut apart from hospitals, food shops and essential services. People have been told to stay at home, and only go out once a day for excercise. We have to stay 2 meters away from anyone we come across, and no more group gatherings, you can gather in two’s so long as you live together anyway! Police will have powers to disperse any groups and fine people who are out and about for no reason. We are allowed to go out for food and medicines if needed, but that’s about it. These new rules were announced last night and about time too, as this country is full of knobs who at the weekend ignored all the advice to stay away from people, went out to public parks, beaches etc in their droves thereby increasing the risk of spreading the infection. So now it’s not advice anymore, it’s do it or else.

There’s been a lot of bad things going on, corner shops inflating prices of necessities to a ridiculous level, teenagers coughing deliberatly into old peoples faces, and social media is full of all the bad, but there are some good things happening, and some light relief so that’s where I’ll be looking and will share anything fun.

In my work I do earwax removal, which means I deal with patients not at a distance of 2 meters, but about 0 inches, so after a lot of flip flopping our governing body, the British Society of Hearing Aid Audiologists finally told everyone to cease doing face to face appontments as of Sunday night, but we carried on as my boss was on holiday until today and she wanted me to honour the appointments already booked in. Wasn’t ecstatic about that, but I did it, and did everything I could to minimise the risks to the patients, (my clinic has never been so cleaned!) and to home, with me getting through the door, stripping off clothes into a black bag and hot footing it straight into the shower. The last of my patients was at midday today and that’s that, I’m now self isolating, not because I’ve got symptoms, but in case I do within the next 10 days, plus I’m following instructions!

Phil of course is a front line worker, and is going to be having ITU training this week at work, as are all the theatre (O.R) staff in his hospital, as the theatres (O.R’s) will be used for patients on ventilators if the ITU can’t cope. That isn’t happening yet, the worst of Corvid is in London and the South, but it is spreading Northwards and I don’t suppose it will be long until we are in the same boat up here. In the mean time he’s going in this week to do trauma and emergency operating lists.

So what am I going to do with myself under house arrest? I obviously can’t go out on photography outings with Sophie, but I have a few left to post on Sundays over on the Universe blog, and I have books to read, movies to watch, mosaics I can faff on with and photography can be done anywhere. I’m going to concentrate on a photography course I’ve been doing haphazardly, and will continue to blog. We are going to be face timing with our kids and grandkids, and connecting with friends through social media and blogging, (always assuming the people who maintain the WWW don’t go under) and Phil will finish his tank (at last) and has some other projects on the go. We will be just fine with our hobbies. I’ll be attacking the garden too when it warms up a bit more.

I have 2 projects going on over on the universe blog too, one is called 52 Frames, and it’s a web run weekly photo prompt, I’m posting my weekly shots not as a blog post but in the ‘project’ area of wordpress, and you can see that HERE. My other project is an anthology to do with photography and it’s history, covering the different specialties such as abstract, street, landscape etc, and including trivia, whimsy, great photographers past and present to check out and much else to do with photography, and you can check it out HERE.

Now and then I’ll post on here about the goings on in the Wardley universe and the North East and hope you’ll all still be visiting and saying hi. 🙂

Worst thing to happen this week:- My hairdressesr/manicurist Kendall has had to give up work for the interim. I will go grey and have short nails by the end of my confinement, 🙀 and it won’t matter as no-one will see me, but I do love my pal Kendall and will miss her.

Best thing to happen this week:- having a positive mental attitude and looking forward to enforced creativity!

My little noddy in the empty carpark at work today.

Stay frosty my friends!

Feb 01 ~Tales from Fraggle Towers.

Posted in B&W, Fuji X100F, Iphoneography, PhotographyTagged , , , , 15 Comments

Not the best of weeks, Phil has had a bad cold, and gave it to me so am not feeling the best. I also gave up alcohol last Sunday which (apparently) made me grumpy at work 😀 . I stopped giving up last night so I must be happy again, but I’m feeling poorly so I can’t tell.

In spite of that, Sophie and I had a little outing today, to see the visiting Knife Angel. We also went into the Baltic art gallery, and went to lunch in The Empourium just over the river in Newcastle. I took the Rollei but I noticed after a few pictures that the counter has not moved, though it feels like the film is being wound on, so not sure what’s going on. I’ll take a few more to see if it gets to the end of the film and it’s just the counter not working, but it may be the film isn’t being wound on and I’ll have to retrieve it. 🙄 I should just stick with the Minolta, no problems with that little baby.

The Knife Angel is a 27ft sculpture crafted out of 100,000 knives that have been surrendered to police forces across the country. It is also known as the National Monument Against Violence & Aggression. It was first unveiled in 2017 and has been touring the UK since. Artist Alfie Bradley worked with The British Ironwork Centre who contacted the Home Office requesting permission to collect knives from police forces in the hope of prompting new knife amnesties with the Ironworks offering to supply each force with knife bins free of charge. Permission was granted and the campaign took off.

Once the knives and weapons were delivered to The Centre’s workshop in Shropshire, artist Alfie got to work. He created a structure out of steel and formed the basic shape which the knives could then be welded onto.

He then disinfected every blade, some which were still blood-stained.

He then blunted each knife before welding it onto the sculpture. The wings were created using the blades only, creating a feather like appearance.

Knife Angel at The Sage

Wednesday June 20th

Posted in Film, landscape, Minolta Riva Mini, Photography, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , 15 Comments

Over on the universe blog. I’ve been doing a series of posts on Alnwick Gardens, shot with my FujiX-T2, but of course I took my little Minolta Riva Mini with me and shot some pictures on Fuji film.  Lovely readers who follow that blog will recognise some of the shots, (I like to compare! 🙂 ) but if not, here’s Alnwick Gardens on film.

The Tai-Haku cherry blossom Orchard

 

 

 

A weeping blossom tree (I made that up)

The Cascade

The Treehouse

 

 

 

 

 

 

The 50 Picture Project

Posted in FujiX-T2, Photography, reflection, The Mirror Project, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , 21 Comments

Men are in my kitchen replacing the boiler, I have no water until tomorrow and my car is blocked in by their vans. It’s blowing a hooley outside and I had to chase the garden furniture and plants around the garden – currently, we are in the throes of Storm Hector or is it Howard, I forget, whoever it is I’m not going out there until it stops! I am keeping out of the way and hiding in my shed or in my study.  Haha, study indeed! How middle-class does that sound!!?? I’ll be voting for Jacob Rees- Mogg next.  (NOT!!!)  Anyway, it’s really a converted bedroom which houses my computer and camera stuff, books and useless knick-knacks.

I started a new photography project today, as part of the 50 pictures Project group over on the Ipernity photo site.  The only parameters are to use one object in 50 different shots, or you can use 50 different objects but have the same title- i.e 50 different chairs,. No time limit to do the project so it’s all very loose, which I like. I have decided to do 50 mirror shots, though I haven’t quite decided yet whether to do 50 of the same mirror or change it up a bit and use/find different ones.  I like having a project to work on.  It hones creativity I think or at least focusses the mind to think creatively.  Having a time limit would focus it more of course, but I’m not one for limits. I chose a mirror because it makes you think about composition, and it helps to tell a story so the viewer engages with the photo, you can tell me if that works.

So here are my first  2 shots for the project

(1) Shed shelf

 

2 Other shed shelf

 

they’re embiggenable of course.

 

Tuesday 5th June

Posted in FujiX-T2, Photography, Scale Models, UncategorizedTagged , , , , , , 13 Comments

It was our model show this weekend gone, scale models of course, not lingerie ones (sorry chaps)  of tanks and ships, sc-fi and figures. Known as The Northern Model Show, it’s well thought of and well attended by modellers and model clubs who display their stuff within a fair radius and traders from all over. I’ve been busy with updating the club’s facebook page, answering questions, and giving out info. On the day, Sunday I also judged the junior class and the vignette class in the competition and took photo’s of all the competition models that won, plus a few more.  So a good day out.  Phil doesn’t enter in his own club competition, bad form he says, so he was judging armour and the like. It’s a really good atmosphere, everyone’s on the same page  no matter what station in life/religion/political views etc they have, it’s all about the modelling and everyone is having a good day and is happy. Well maybe not those who hoped to win in the competition and didn’t, but that’s a whole other post.

Modelling really is just another art form, a blend of sculpture and painting, and some of the models at the show were fantastic. I’m posting a few of my favourites, and a couple of the happy peeps at the show.

bonkers display club

bonkers traders

 

The full album of models and other stuff can be found HERE

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