For Barry

Barry asked me if i had taken any snaps of the courthouse in Stornoway - which I had not. I may currently work in that field but had no real reason till now to snap the place. So, here it is - the Court House that Barry's grandfather had a hand in building.

Pinholed

Twas world wide pinhole day yesterday so I took my much modified Franka folder [or non-folder now] out to the beach for a shoot since the sun was shining. This is the first I have printed - on Kentmere paper.

Talking political, I was wondering why, when wearing wellies [mine are green] why does ones socks get sucked off when walking. I had the great pleasure this morning of being taken to our new peats, and I noticed [in between falling over] that gradually but surely I could feel my little colourfully striped socks disappearing into the depths of the wellie toe. I would be most grateful if someone could come up with a reason for this.

Retro Jon

I love this image. Just does something for me. Mind you , Jon featured here astride his retro BMX bike that sits in his apartment in Salford, is a really nice chap. In fact you could not meet a nicer person - period. Eve & I stayed overnight here on our recent visit down south and we could almost feel the good vibes emanating down from an apartment above where an Olympic cycling champion resides.
All being well Jon will be steering a tandem for Ant 'Jam-Man' Kappes in Bejing later this year

Family

Its raining. So the neighbours peats we have been helping with till our new peat-bank finally gets allocated will remain un-cut today - or at least this morning.
Last week away in Somerset the sun did shine on our little family when we went to Broomfield and i took this snap of Mum with Lynne, my elder sister at the church. They like each other - honest!

Getting Physical!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So, we get back from our jaunt to Ingrland to see family and friends and find that for a few weeks its going to be a slog. Firstly the veg patch needs to be dug and planted then the peats must be cut - or at least commenced. At least there are no midges - yet, the sun is shining and there is always the sea to gaze when you [Eve actually] gets tired. At the moment the ships of the European [and US now] navys are playing at sailors in the Minch so we keep a wary eye out in case they slip and press the wrong button. The fishermen have already scarpered to the other side of the island for safety!
As you can see, we share the load - Eve digs the veg patch - and the peats and I direct and take photos. Seems fair.

Mum

The long trip south was to see our families and none more so than Mum in Somerset. We had a great couple of days particularly the one where we went to the Quantocks. Here we had lunch in the Blue Ball - and a lovely lunch it was too.
As it happens, I did take a camera - a Zorki 6 with Era100 film.

Fyne court

The nice thing about trolling all the way to somerset, apart from seeing the family, is when Lyne, my sister comes up with a fine idea for a day trip. This time we went up to Fyne Court in the Quantocks - just near Johnny Depp's house as it happens. Here's a snap from the ilford Sporti of a folly in the gardens.

Back to Paradise

Mondo posing in Manc.

... or at least it seems like it. After a week seeing family and friends in Ingerland that necessitated loads of driving, we arrived back on this lovely island to quietude and sunshine. What more does one want? Despite that, it was lovely to see Mums and sisters/brothers.
One of the days we were in a village called Notton, in Yorkshire me thinks. Lovely area and the well-appointed room we slept in looked out over this tree.

Strawberry Hill

Now this, is a lovely walk. In the castle grounds in Stornoway. The light among the trees is just lovely and i always want to take lots of pics - even if i don't like them afterwards. These two are quite nice. The second is Eve snapping a tree while Rocky the Terrible waits.

Getting Sporti

Peat track

Save Tibet

Not on Sundays

A walk on the wild-side [Stornoway!]

By that I mean my Ilford Sporti camera. Its simple and effective - when pointed in the right direction. I took it out for a stroll recently when the sun was shining and the place not overrun by tourists - as if! Anyway, used GP3 Chinese film.

Trees

I like trees. Whihc is a pity really since we have few here in the village. however, up in Stornoway in the castle grounds are hundreds of tress of all ages. And, the make things even better, there are wonderful walks around the estate - the best of which for me is up over Strawberry hill.
We were up there recently and I had my little Zorki Rangefinder loaded with pan400 and took a few snaps in what was limited light - and hand held. These are neg scans with prints to come.

Callanish

I took a little ride over to these old stones things lurking over there on the west side. A hugely overdone photographic subject me thinks. Still, the cafe is ok and just along the little lane past the stones is this little pier.

Taken with the Kiev 6o and Shanghai GP3 film /R09