Oh look

While some chap was making history jumping out of balloon some miles up somewhere of other - and then breaking the sound barrier on the way down, I found some negs down the back of the settee. Negs that seemingly came from the little trip o'er the water to the Ullapool cyclosportive - that Mr Windy and Eve did on the tandem in horrible wet and windy conditions.

I shan't over excite you with too many more snaps from this occasion as it may prove just too much so recently after the above event in the skies. Still, two showing Eve and Mr Windy at the race control, thank-full it's all over.

All galleried out

The day was nice. The barking dog was asleep in her Smit-housey and Oiseval Gallery beckoned. We loaded the little vehicle with fruit and some Doris Burgers for Mr Coelyne and set off for a late breakfast. We didn't quite make it into the gallery as there was coffee to be drunk and, the world put to right. If you notice how much better the day has been?

We came away this time with darkroom papers very kindly gifted to me by Saffron - another photographer from Engerland who now works mainly in alternative processes now. And lovely work it is too. I can hardly wait to get into the darkroom to work with these lovely papers and hopefully make a masterpiece. I wish!

Now, shall I start with the trad shots [see above], the lith or the blur?? Mmm, the choice is somewhat overwhelming.

I shall just go in there and do what the mood takes me.

Now, the winter is lovely here. The wind blows regularly, it can rain for days and the tearooms are often shut. Not so the Butty Bus in Leverburgh mentioned a few days ago [a four Butty rating here] and now you can add to that the Rainbow Gallery & cafe where a fine cup of coffee and lovely cakes are available six-days a week over the winter. Go there, look at the photos on sale and also the lovely paintings of Sarah Green. [a five coffee-pot rating here].


BTW;  Please read this article.

I've not much to say

Near Cromor

Yip, yip, yip, yip, yip.

Guess who is here? Eh ? No? Ok it's Ghriet. She's here for a few days much to the chagrin of Maisy who is not so keen. Maybe Ghriet will have a few hours at her home today so Maisy can have a meal.

This is not one of my best days so it can only get better. Have a listen to harpist Mary Macmaster and be amazed.

It's all over the news

What a[nother] sad day for the sport I [used to ] love. Cycling has at least started to emerge from under a dark stone as the USDA has put the final nail in the career of the American cyclist of ill-repute - and whose name I will not give air to here. He's not alone in his deeds but it does rather seem he was in the midst of things and tried to keep things under wrap with threats and clouds of charitable work - the latter rather like the downfall of a disgraced UK DJ recently.

I am rather losing faith in 'my' sport - again. It took a dip when GB rider David Millar was caught using drugs - but I have to admit that he has at least seen the error of his ways . It seems there is just too much money in the industry - for it is not longer sport. The temptations are too big for many. However, at the moment I do still keep the faith for riders like Ben Swift, Geraint Thomas and their cohorts. Please don't disappoint me.

Horses

Sometimes you have to believe in your work. Even if you get no response. I believe.

much pleasure

It is with much pleasure I post this little snap of The Smit boys taken last weekend using up the last from of a roll of Fomapan400. I like it. Like them too. Lovely family and everything.

Tell me you like it, tell me please.

The darkroom beckons for this one.

Bradley Wiggins was playing in a band the other night. Thrashing his guitar within an inch of his life with his band. The place was full but by the interval a lot had gone. The performance was a little dull and I told Mr Wiggins too when he popped in my box to see me. "The performance was a little flat" I said. He nodded sagely and disappeared to prepare for the second half. It started interestingly with the TDF winner laying on a hospital trolley his band pushing him about the stage while he held the guitar  his bassist bowing Mr Wiggins' strings with a violin bow, flames leaping from the body of the Strat. Then water spurted and put it all out. Mr Wiggins announced that he couldn't go on. And it finished.

Amazing what one dreams Eh?

I didn't even have a butty

Can you imagine a fine eatery with views to die for, an interesting clientèle that's open over the winter months? Of course there's always the Tolsta shoppe where a grand tea or coffee can be had to compliment your paper, bread and herrings. Only, if you are in Harris - the bottom part of this island [Lewis&Harris] - Tolsta Shoppe is too far away to be convenient.

Butty Bus and Ferry

So, lose no time and get yourself down to Leverburgh, past the Hebrides Art place which I have never been in due to it always being shut when I'm there -and as it is till March 2013. Go right down to the ferry ramp that would take you to Berneray if you so wanted where there's the Anchorage cafe which, as you might have guessed is mainly shut at this time of year then turn to your right and you'll see an old bus. A coach really. An Italian made one by all accounts. This, I can now tell you, is The Butty Bus. Famed far and wide for it's butties, soups and if you are that way inclined, beefburgers. And clientèle. Why, you might meet John Maher here. Will Self did. Rod Ellingworth did too. And I had that pleasure too.

There was Cullen Skink on offer when we were there. A lovely brew it was accompanied by the finest of butty bread and supped while watching the locals drag a boat along the road with a rusty van. As you do.

Sometimes you have time to make a portrait of an island

The ferry hadn't come in and I had time on my hands with the sun shining warmly for a change. South Harris was there so I went and snook a snap or two down this lane. Twas lovely.

I like portraits of places.

It wasn't all rain and wind

There was lashing rain and howling wind. The day of the cyclosportive over the wild roads of Assynt that is.

 Still have some energy left

 Some poor soul mending a puncture in the rain

 Ooh, that's looks hard.

 Leaving the Lochinver feeding station

 It was wild.

 Up here too

I just knew...

 Mr Windy. Wondering what lays ahead

Sea. Out there

This was before THE RIDE IN THE WET AND WIND ON T'TANDEM. That's why he looks quite relaxed and happy. He didn't know what was ahead. Neither did I but I suspected and kept it to myself. I saw 'it' in the sea - all lumpy and bumpy with a touch of white cresty things on top that weren't seagulls. I have that gift - or like to think I have - especially in retrospect when I know I was right.

Someone had been there - Assynt that is - before us a took some nice film.  Look and learn.

Yeah, well.

Man on bike

Personages on Tandem

They leapt out at me. In the darkroom that is. Had to fight them off such was their desire to be printed. I stuck some Russian Slavich Unibrom paper under the enlarger and then developed the first one. Then I stuck some old Kodak Bromesko under the light for the next. I like them both.

Don't panic, I might find some other recognisable images soon :-)

Castle - lithed up

Like this one.

The very moment

The pain starts

Here it is; the very moment Mr Windy and Eve cocked their respective left legs over t'tandem for the start of the epic in excessive dampness and wind. 

A young Windy looks on bemused. Deanne is thinking 'why'. The bushes seem rather unconcerned at the 88 hills miles ahead.

An ostrich chases the tandem.

There seems to have been an incident with an Ostrich. I must have missed that while I was concentrating on the camera thing. But, look there it is. No doubt at all. Maybe he was a ringer in the Elphin chicken races a few days before. You would have thought they would have noticed!! 

cheerie 

I'm not sure what to think........

The tandem has not revealed itself in silver. Not one snap can I find where the tandem sits there demurely with two personages aboard. Or even one. Must have been the weather. The image got washed or blown away before it reached the lens. Or it fell out the bottom of the camera. Since there seems to be a lack of gaffer tape about the place - and all weekend end too, I suspect the latter.

One thing is strange though, snaps of hills remain. I found these today after sloshing the film about in random chemicals and the like. They sit there. I wonder if they know where the tandem snaps went? They do look a bit guilty.

I shall search again. Meanwhile you can see the two tandemist here and here.

It was a wee breeze.

The aptly-named Mr Windy rode the tandem with Eve for 88 miles over the Assynt hills the other day on a tandem. Why? Mr Windy had no answer to that when a bright 5 year old asked him.

The weather was a tad breezy, and wet. The next day we prised them out of their seats and walked up a small hill in a breeze. This was they/that.

 I told you it was breezy!

 Three on a hill

Looking down on a path

Further input later on. Once the other film from the Perkeo and the films from the OM1n have gone through the soup.

I may have lost it........

My pal William used to work with me. Well, for the same company anyway doing the same sort of thing and this meant carrying a bag of 'bits' / wires / plugs around to the various locations. When he gave up the job, the bag he had went to my colleague Alec who reckoned he fed his sheep for a month on the hay he got out of William's bag!

I was reminded of this after paying lovely visitation to William and Gemma today and since looking at this blog-site where they show people's camera bags like this one for example. My bags for camera portability is nothing like this one at all. It's more like Williams without the hay - mostly. I'm not going to show it to you as I have several bags with cameras lurking within. None of the bags are 'proper' camera bags but rather bags I use for carrying cameras. And film, and glasses bits of this and that, dust, odd things I have forgotten about - and that's why I'm not going t show it to you!

Instead here is a digi-snap taken with a very old half-a-pixel camera we have had for yonks - which cost a fortune at the time and is barely used. The snap depicts two of my gaffer-taped cameras I use from time to time. Proper cameras with film and everything. The one on the right is a Petri7s - which does the job nicely. And the one on the right is a Voigtlander Perkeo - which is a lovely little thing. But snuggle in a bag - but separate bags at the moment as they are prone to fight!

another day, another snap

It wasn't the best roll of exposed film I've seen. But then I did fall over it as it were when I picked up an old Ricoh 500g that was hanging about the place. It's a natty little camera although the rangefinder patch is rather weak, it is prone to flare, it hadn't been used since I replaced the foam seals and I wasn't sure what film was inside when I shot the last 25 shots on the film that was in there! Apart from that, they are all brilliant. Especially the one with my thumb in the frame and the other with Coelyne's hand. Classic really.

Thumb

The Hand of Coelyne [plusToots] 

Doing the village shoppe run

 Traigh Mhor

Then I took the little camera for a stroll in the storm behind the big beach and almost got the exposure right, and almost got a nice snap! Souped in LC29.

Just a wee breeze

I found this neg lurking down the back of the settee today. Dusted it off a bit and threw it into the scanner as it does seem to give an indication of the wee breeze that's sweeping these parts at the moment - albeit without the little dampness that pervades the mainland at the moment. Looks like I must have taken it with the Korrol on account of the odd shaped negs. Actually, looks like I didn't dust it off much now I look at it closely.

And another from the same slither of film I found - shown to you as the Coelynes are away and can't berate me for it!

Spudatoes

 George goes to his crop

George basks in the glow

Apparently, according to George, the growing of veg around the village of New Tolsta [just a few hundred yards from North Tolsta - which is south of New Tolsta !! ] has declined markedly. Even in George's lifetime it has gone down. The crofts hereabouts are often neglected - or at least, under-used. There's sheeps on some, coows on some others but few veg. Maybe its part of the culture here - they do eat a lot of meat after all. 

The Stornoway abattoir had pigs and poor sheeps awaiting their sad fate outside this morning when I passed getting the papers for the village shoppe. I really hate seeing that and must remember to go the other way round at this time of year.

Still, George likes to be close to the land, lifting his crop of potatoes that he sowed in a traditional old way - whatever that is. Eve has a few veg growing at some land we have use of at The Batty's - but not half as much as The Battys have growing. Or The Crofter.

Cage

Thank you

Yes, it's lovely.

The sun was shining in my eyes as I rode the bike along the road towards the sea. Not a care in the world [that I could thing of at the time] and not a car either. Bliss.

It wasn't today but it could have been since the weather is terrific - making this place seem even more like the paradise it really is.

And from time to time I am tempted out for a little pootle around the local road. This was last week. Eve was out today on the bike and loved every moment of it. As so she should.

Cage; What's that all about ?

Look, what's this all about five grown men playing with radios while another reads a newspaper? And the Stornoway Gazette at that! Bonkers. Even more bonkers was that Eve & I paid to watch it. Only I found myself enthralled. Totally enthralled with a smile welded to my mush all evening.

It was a John Cage event at An Lanntair. And yes, they did 'do 4' 33" - and what a virtuoso performance it was. From the moment Peter who-sit walked on stage it was brilliant. As was the next piece for piano, percussion and voice. Some erb for tv world called John Cavanagh did that bit - and did it rather well too. Strutting hither and thither and commanding the stage as the percussionist at the rear threw caution to the wind and table tennis balls to the floor.

There was a very fine rendition of 42 LPs bought at Bethesda shop in some relation to I ching or something equally odd. The best was kept till last. 6 radios and one voice. Yer man Cavanagh again with reading of newspapers, and 5 men on [analogue] radios - including The Artist formerly known as Jon who looked rather wary as if he was worried about tuning per chance to The Archers mid performance. He didn't and the piece was amazing. Yer Man read the gazette and fish update - as some do. Quoth Ian Stephens, Jori et al to their surprise as they sat in t'audience.

Yes, most of you missed it which was great pity. I was there and have a fine old time.

I have a photo lurking in the camera somewhere of the whole affair. While I develop the film I shall record the sounds, write the score and publish as a hand-made book as a momentoe of the event. Perhaps.

I have included here two snaps from earlier in the day. From Traigh Mhor, Toslat