Island Crofters

I have commenced a longer photographic project that hopefully documents the lives of a crofter in my village here on the Isle of Lewis. I will just be using B&W film and in the main 35mm cameras.
The crofter Paul is an in/offcomer and supplements his income as a dental technician and his family live in the village too - helping him run the busy croft. The project will be put on the blog Island Crofters. Hope you visit from time to time.

Colour again

Another snap or three from the slide film I ran through the Lubitel loaned to me by Toots imself. The Fuji400 film was uprated to 800 due to low light - and it could have been 1600 but thought that might have been pushing the boat out a bit.
From the same day at Caste in Stornoway.

Tea with Junior

Two weeks ago Junior was creating havoc on the croft as usual, muddying up the place and giving me the evil eye as I strolled down the village. Well, now, sadly he has gone to meet his butcher - who just happened to be his owner - via the slaughterhouse .

The butcher is learning his trade on the kitchen table and Mum looks on approvingly.

My Human walker

Here's Ghriet waiting or me to catch up and stop looking at the sea or meditating or whatever humans do. The snap is interesting in that the film was rather over-developed and scanned so it looked a bit like IR film. Still, I like it.

Sea Level rise

A piece on t'radio [ you know, the box with sound and not moving pictures] today got me thinking again about climate change and associated expected sea level rises and how that might affect the Western isles. I did a bit of digging around and found this mash-up of Google maps and NASA data that illustrates the effect of sea level rise. We are already expecting 1m sea level rise and if the greenland Ice shelf and the Antartic ice melts completely - that could ride to at least 25m
Anyway, see here for 1m rise in the Western Isles, here for 5m rise then turn down your central heating. Please.

Thanks to Bob Kingsley for the link.

Ghriet [the doggie]

Hardly Mike. [While Muriel keeps order]

Here it is; the coolest bike on the island:-) With the best dressed technician on-board.

Tapadh leibh

Birthday Chef - looking well fed-up!

A great w/e - snapping up, plotting the downfall of the Isle of Jura and gassing bout snaps. What more can one want. And The Warming Room [fka; The Scullery] is brill.
Took off to see Aonghas at the Anchorage restaurant in Leverburgh - famed for its fine food and great hospitality [and light area which was great for snapping up wif the 8x10 and paper negs]. Chef had his burfday so snapped him up [¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí! , ¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí! , ¡Feliz cumpleaños a ......! ,¡Feliz cumpleaños a tí! etc].

Also snapped up with the Kiev 60 [or it the 6c ? - who cares?] loaded with slide film which I developed in B&W print developer - as you do. Or, as I do! And Toots' Lubitel wif Panf in Rodinal not 5 mns from home at The Bridge to Nowhere.
Fun Eh???

Winters Tail

Sea 2

Time for the Hassie down at Garry beach on a small headland watching the waves roll in and out - a sort of mediation for me.

The Sea

Captured with love by a box with two lens' made in Russia on old German film developed in print developer and printed on Czech paper.

Winter Parlour

Eve & I decided that the time had come to bring in Rowston & Rowlston to knock the partition wall between the winter parlour and the kitchen down and today the deed was done. Now we have a big Winter Kitchen! Here captured on old Perutz film developed in print developer exposed in the Toots Lubitel which has a surprisingly sharp lens thing. Eh? Russians, who'ed av em :-)

As you can see we have gone rather up-market.

BTW: I notice Mr Windy has been a commenting. Av a look at his blog here

We had a visitation today. Totally unexpected but very pleasant all the same. Not long after returning from walking Ghriet on the road t'nowhere and previously, a fine 'brunch' [do we do brunch here???] wif the Smits, Toots Wilson and the Coelyns arrived. Great excuse for tea and biscuits and a chatette.

This was the second rather unexpected meeting this week since the local MP got to meet me whislt on my morning sunshine-bathed stroll in the week. Nice chap too - and he didn't do too bad at the difficult questions I asked him either. More of that another time - although I'm awaiting to hear his comments on the paper about Sustainable Economics I sent him.

Anyway, the snap shows Toots planning his next gig in the cafe at An Lanntair

Here we go.....

Loaded some out of date Agfa CHROME into the old KIEV 60, shot the whole roll within an hour in Stornoway on Sea, developed it in Print developer for 2 mins30 then printed as Lith on Foma Varient RC.

Well,

Home sky

... I've been having [yet] another crisis of photographic confidence - rubbish results, terrible prints etc. As usual, I turned to my good pals on Filmwasters.com [i say 'pals' but to my knowledge I have only met one of them - they just seem pally sort of people and if you don't believe me, have a look for yourself.] and they soon came with many suggestions for freeing up the creative juices and it didn't take me long to selct one of them to try.
Today - when all seemed much better in the world anyway - I shot hither and thither on my various little outings in the great metropolis that is the Tolsta Head area of the Isle of Lewis & Harris. And I really enjoyed it too.

William's

I work as it happens; proper work but only part-time and William is the chap with whom I sometimes work . He lives in a lovely part of the island and a visitation is always worthwhile - not least for the tea :-) The last visit was as lovely as always and included a fine stroll round the back of their village - Cromor. Must go back on a better/dry/less-windy day with the KOWA or Hassie. I did have the little Zorki with me tho and here's three snaps from that day.

Its Friday

... and as yet I've yet to post anything and I know the Coelyns will be looking so I have post summut.

I suppose I should be pleased that at least two people look at the blimin thing but it does rather put pressure on one to come up with a snap and drivel to match. Its bad enough that the weather has been awful and the dustbins have had to be tied down to prevent them beccoming airborne and then floating off across The Minch. Its bad enough that the fire has had to be lit, the peats brought in and The Visitor had to take his jacket off and move back against the wall before he spontaneously combusted. Eh?

Talking of which, The Visitor took The Table to revision it to a more manageable size that will fit the Winter Parlour which is soon to be joined at the hip with the Kitchen after the removal of The Wall. I see dust. However, I can swing a rabbit in the Summer Parlour - if only Count Wiesmier would let me!

Anyway, the snap; a generic builders pose from the Velodrome in Manchester. The hole is gone and beneath it is a bloke in a bowler hat :-)