I met the troops of Sergeant Joan 'Bilko'. At least, some of them.

Sergeant Joan 'Bilko' at ease.

I had the pleasure of our newly promoted Sergeant Joan company the other day. [I mean I was with her - not all her Company or whatever she has under her auspices. Oh please help me!]. Walked up the village with me - no doubt to make sure I went home and didn't lurk about the place taking snaps willy nilly. Then, knock me down with a feather and all that, I was invited in for a cuppa. How lovely that was and I got to meet some of her troops - well family really. Her troops are elsewhere I am told. I shall have to do some research on that, lurk in a hedge somewhere to take a sneaky snap - if only there were some hedges here.

 Troops; family that is. [some of..]

It was all quiet after a while. The troops had gradually crept out the room where I was taking tea with the Sergeant - to escape my yabbering I should imagine. And one cannot blame them for that. They were found later building an escape hut on the path at the back. Eh? 

I was still smiled at as I snook a snap there, sneakily like. Well, as sneakily as one can do when they know you're there and have a camera in your hand anyway.

Smiler

A new Tolstonian - Moira and her Mum.

Oh, and we have another new village person. People actually, Moira and family who live not far away. How lovely they all are.

Oh, and we still have not received a postcard from Spain this year!

It takes a lot of work to make images as bad as this.

Actually, now I look at this 'properly' [through squinty eyes that don't really want to open this morning - on account of a Bad Night] the thing doesn't look bad at all. It's just a neg scan of a construction celebrating this and that over at Bhaltos.  If it were straight..... If were straight it wouldn't be my snap!

Took this snap whilst re-assessing my Vogtlander Perkeo that I'd adjusted the front element of the lens. Despite me not knowing what I'm doing, and the fact that I just snapped what I saw as I strolled to the Shoppe to see Up Yours McIver and Sergeant Bilko, it's quite nice.  I think it's quite nice - apart from the grain which is a tad overdone. I should have developed for a mere two cups of green tea rather that the four I had.

If I can survive walking the Barking Dog [who often does not bark at all with me these days] this morning, I shall have a peep in the darkroom and [try to ] produce a 'masterpiece'. eh?

I met The Artist [formerly known as Jon] today. I pointed my re-squiggled Perkeo at him and then snapped. That's the sort of person I am. Then I idly looked out the window, and snapped again - but not before I had wound the film on.

Out the window a cloud decided to pass by and distracted me from my Artist snapping. Still, I have this nice skyscape with roofs and everything. Where everything includes a lamp-stand.

Ahh, now that's how the newspapers arrive these days. On a lorry from the ferry. All ready by 2pm to take to Tolsta Shoppe. They were not refrigerated either.

That's what I did today. For some of the day. Before, during or after I met Barbara of the Coelynes who bought me a mocha. Just as I met The Artist.

Barbara of The Coelynes

I had a lovely cup of tea with Sergeant Bilko later but the image will just have to be imagined for now. It resides in a camera.

Now, how about this lovely little place?

I've passed this place many's the time in my horseless carriage. Reminds me of a building I came across in the mountains on the edge of the Atacama desert some years back. I left pretty smartish then as some rough looking fellows came rushing out at my vehicle. It wasn't long after that the particular horseless carriage was stuck in the snow with a faltering engine due to the lack of oxygen. There's no problem here though. The house looks like it's been empty for a while and the sea glistens / rages not too far away.

And look at that wall. Ooh, lovely.

I think I may have overdone the ND grad here. Just pretend its a shadow :-)


And no, it's not where that sign is!

Does this help?

So, where is this? Eh?

Mr William Holden Sir, had a celebration for his birthday. Then I find out the village shoppe has a newly promoted Sergeant. How does that work?

Yes, That William.

It was a significant birthday was it not. We were there to toast his day and everything. He didn't want a fuss so we didn't have lots of small candles in his Tarte au Framboises but one, stuck in his hand then lit by his dear wife Gemma. The bubbly drink was drank then we chatted the afternoon away. How good was that? Very.

This morning, on arriving at the village shoppe I am informed by Up Yours McIver that there has been a promotion and now it's Sergeant Joan Bilko or something like that. Not sure if this is a shoppe position or the Beavers are getting ahead themselves - or maybe that TA thing Mrs Sergeant Joan goes to. It must be the uniforms!

Of course I have been celebrating; I just rodded the drains out.

Ooh, I like this too. Even though I say so myself

Look, see that. Proper Lith print and everything. It's that lovely wall again.

Tiredness pervades this morning. Her Highness Henrietta Cartier Bresson was making a nest in the bedroom or something last night. Then rushing around the room, down the stairs and back up again. I didn't sleep well. No wonder HHHCB is asleep beside me on the settee now.

It's William's 65th this weekend so we shall be paying a celebratory visit on the morrow - delivering his bus-pass cover and all.

No. It's a portrait of a road.

Despite me spending most of my time tickling HHHCB under the chin in the hope that this will bring on the birth of her cat-lings, I have managed a short stint in the dark. This time trying some old Forte Fortezo paper I acquired. Dunked it in Lith developer. I like it.

Snap was taken on Bhaltos / Valtos last weekend on a short stroll. I liked that too.

The sun is still shining BTW.

I have nothing to complain about. Still, that won't stop me!

Her Highness Henrietta Cartier Bresson in contemplative mood.

What a day. The sun is shining yet again and it's warm too. Just had a lovely stroll down the road chatting to all and sundry as one does. HHHCB is blooming nicely and should calve soonish rather than laterish I should think - unless of course she faking it just to get extra food. Only time will tell.

On arrival at the Village Shoppe I find Mrs Up Yours, her of Unhinged/Unsound/Unbound blog or whatever it is promoting the thing on TV outside the shoppe. At least I thought that was she was doing - and having a few local extras walk in and out of frame to make it look 'real' whatever that is. Then I find it's the local TV station filming a non-story about the papers no longer being flown at great financial and environmental cost to the island early in the morning. They will, instead come on the later ferry. Back to what it used to be - and back to what makes sense. Surely.

But the TV didn't want to hear a view that didn't match their non-story. They just want to hear people complaining. Only I was complaining about the papers coming by plane! Sorry. I want a biosphere to live in not just read about it's continued demise in the papers!

The Master Framer's hand, Toots sings and HHHCB sits

Did I tell you I went to Glasgow yesterday? Eh? No, well I did. Flew there and back. And a right waste of time it was too. I cannot even be bothered to tell why I went, you'll just have to make it up for yourself. Needless to say I was not impressed!

Instead I shall delight you three snaps. Taken on Kodak Tmax 100 - which came from I know not where. Just as well I had it though as I managed to capture the hand of The Master Framer Coelyne of The Coelynes. See, that's why the frames are good!

Then I was in the right spot when Toots Wilson decided to sing a Spanish folk song - so pleased was he to be off to warmer climes - again. And a lovely voice he has too - especially when he's warming his rear in front of the revamped stove.. What a change has come over he man since he got married to Anne.

And now, see, what you have all been waiting for; Her Highness Henrietta Cartier Bresson [please curtsey] sunning herself - after getting bored waiting for me to sort the camera out. Oh well, one day....

Wow, now that is a lovely wall.

Oooh, excuse me while I wipe up the drool on the keyboard. That wall is really doing something for me. Look, it even snook below the skyline so the islands over the hill can't see it.

Oooff. Look at that. Now, contain yourself. Those contours are so very curvaceous .

Ok, now you know what I mean. Book yourself a trip to Bhaltos now and feel the wall-vibe.

Did I say 'a wall'? Maybe I should have said geo-art piece in a wild place.

That's the sort of thing this is.

I mean, eat your heart out Andy Goldsworthy. This lot got to do this ages ago. Perhaps nearly 100 years ago according to the Bodoch who was sat in his car in a village nearby listening [on a Sunday no less ] to Gaelic music. Although I had as much difficulty understanding his accent as he did mine. It might have been that he was 100 years old.  He had a nice doggie though - wagged his tail at me and bared his teeth for good measure.

Look at that! Eh?
What a lovely wall describing itself across the rough landscape like something,,,, like a boundary wall perhaps. It is a boundary wall mind you so I suppose that's why it reminds me of one. I'm so excited about this wall, I might just drag out the presentation a bit till you get all over-excited too. Only, there's something odd about the tonal values. [that's a technical term which I really don't understand but I use when the negs look odd - as these do].

Eve really enjoyed the stroll too. Sat here all contented, dipping into the bag with The Sandwiches and The Green Tea. Beaches of white sand just behind the dunes in the background. Lovely.

Eve was just up the way from this bit of orphan wall. Not sure if it was originally part of The Wall, but it's nearby so gets a mention from me.

It's no wonder the moors are burning a lot at the mo, we haven't had any rain for two weeks and the ground is so very dry.

We followed a wall. It was ok, it didn't move very quickly

A wall. A nice one too - in situe.

This wall is my favourite. I'd passed it many times and even snapped the thing up but yesterday it was the day we explored its length - how ever long that was. Wasn't going to be huge - not quite the length of Hadrian's wall but much much prettier. For a start, it's pretty well intact. It spans the Bhaltos peninsula [just about] and as such is one of the most wonderful places you can imagine to be. Can you not see it yet? It's zigging up the slope at the back after bounding the lochen in the foreground.

Tis just so wonderful how they built this boundary wall between the townships of Kneep and Valtos finding its way between the fabulous landscape outcrops hereabouts. The stroll from its inception to its terminus was just fantastic. The curves of the wall, its structure and the views. Eh? What more can ask?

The land is so very dry here at the moment. No snow or significant rain for ages makes the grass and peat crispy dry and rather prone to fires - one of which is sill burning after five days behind our village here. I have my ready-filled tea-cup of water should it get close to the house. As it happens its going towards Ness - so that's ok :-)

Had a bit of a scare yesterday while taking this snap. The Kowa 6 beast I was using didn't work properly - a least not at first. Perhaps a lack of recent use made it so. Thankfully it restored itself to health and I can show you this snap. I may have more for this wall in 35mm when I get round to developing later today.

Btw; I notice we have now topped 100,000 visits to this blog :-)
Thanks everso

Meeting folk on a stroll round our end of the village - excepting Mrs Up Yours who has featured a lot on here already - and I'm unsure if that's a "good thing."

 Himself

Herself

The weather was so nice again yesterday I just couldn't contain myself, setting off at a briskish pace down to see The Crofter to enquire if any sheeps-lettes had arrived. There had been none as yet. Oh well, there Herself next door out in the garden planting nice things to make the place look pretty. We pass the time of day - "Lovely day" I say in that slightly over-friendly way I have. "Ooh it is" Herself replies I seem to recall.

It's just as well I have a good memory and can recollect such interesting conversations I have as the day progresses. I mean, later in the day I found my self discussing how incomers like myself and my co-conversationalist - a former post-punk rock band drummer boy - make the decision to move to the islands based solely the ability to park. Eh? I know, but he was from Manchester originally. Just as well I almost remembered what we talking about and all isn't it?

I also recall I went in Herself's hoosey to see Himself who was basking in the window telling me, in between sucking on a roll-up about how the Muir Burning used to glow over the hooseys here before the street-lights came and ruined the sight - and that of the dark-nights.  Now it's the smoke from the out-of-control burning out at the bridge to nowhere that one can see and smell around the place. When I say 'the place', I mean the island. Could hardly breathe when I was driving out to a job in the evening on the other side of the island where the smoke had been blown!

Gregor

Then I bumped into Gregor - no job too small - mending the roof on Cal's daughter's hoose.  Right smiler he is too - and a fine ballroom dancer with his Dr wife. And no his head is not on fire - it's the moor on fire!

Last of all I see Theresa who is still reeling from The Move. Her nice big hoosey over the road has been finished and they are in - moved from the other side of the road. 

Theresa

The New Big Hoosey

Ok, Ok, I know you want to see Mrs Up Yours but you cannot. Not today. Today is the day Mrs U-Y has released a segment from her excellent novel. Here's a sub-clip;

"Guardian Psycho more like," Degs interjected

Right that's enough. Don't actually want to promote the thing - she is bonkers after all.

It seems my personal timescale has come unbolted and slipped round a month. It is still March is it?

Mr Windy has kindly [but unkindly at the same time ] pointed out that I was a month out in my WWPD snaps. It should have been April.

Deflated.

Pity, because I had this gorgeous shot of The Crofter playing with his piggie-hutch too.

No, it's not another tractor for goodness sakes

It was World Wide Pinhole Day yesterday so I went out armed to the teeth with the pinhole camera. AS you do. The sun was shining again and that helped. It wasn't long before I was at my garage man - already deep in conversation with people. I was just about the leave when I spotted this fine old red Fiat500 car lurking and soon I had it's owner, Anne draped over it's sleekish bodywork like a 1960s starlette [although most obviously she is much younger than that].

I had it snapped up in an instant - with an almost self-portrait included.!

Eh? I hate to tell you this, but the sun is shining - again!

Look, this is the venerable Toots Wilson venturing out on his beach [the one in front of his house that is] with camera and everything. The sun is shining and it's warm - ish. Warmer than it has been anyway. When I moseyed up to the moor fire over at the road to nowhere earlier on - it was really warm - even though I was nowhere near the fire. I undid my top layer of coat. After I had walked a bit - obviously. Ghriet the doggie loved it.

Despite pointing the camera and the new lens at everything properly I messed up the development. Must change the sheep-dip or something since it [polypan-f] was very thin and covered in sheeps hair. Or so it looks anyway.

I shall try again today - loaded this time with Rollei400s.

Please note; the Western Isles is a wonderful place to live and visit, it has been the warmest and driest place in the UK this year but, it can be wet and cold. Horizontal rain that gets in every nook and cranny, wind that blows for days on end and ferries get cancelled. 'Things' shut on Sundays - except the churches - and then the roads are busy with lots of 'Sunday Drivers'.

But it is brilliant. Do NOT all come here. Please.

Hello Houston, we have a problem; it's only a little one though so don't panic.

Her Highness HCB is doing nicely don't you know. The warm sun shining in through the dirty windows of our hoosey has brought forth her beauty. She is blooming.  She doesn't dance too much though, or sing for that matter. And never have I found her buying a ticket for a football match - so she is practically a saint apparently - and a royal one at that. EH?

As one might expect one cannot photograph such a beauty without her permission - and we are still in negotiations  Her Highness did concede to these snaps though.

Please curtsey.

Excuse me, I may have shown this before but it bears repeating. In the cicumstances

Trust me, this is Mrs Up Yours McIver. Her of Unbound blog. No, don't go there. [I can say this today because she is currently swanning around down on Harris]. Mrs Up Yours has finally lost the plot  - I say finally but of course this just may be a stage of 'losing it'. Either way, I have no idea what on earth she is writing about - although to be honest, I feel strangely compelled to read it. No, don't be tempted!

The snap you see presented before you was taken as a paper neg stuck in the back of a box camera, long exposure with deliberate movement, the neg developed then peeled, stuck in an enlarger, enlarged onto silver gelatin paper then selectively sepia toned by accidentally dripping bleach on the print when it was washing. I love the print.

Her Highness Henrietta Cartier Bresson wishes to announce she in in foal [or something like that]

We are just back from the feline physician. HHHCB's personal one that is. HHHCB likes her. Most of the time that is - except when her temperature needs ascertaining perhaps. But other than that they get on well.

Today was no exception as all she needed was a little examination of her self. We thought perhaps we might have been feeding her too much. HHHCB's tum was a tad big and she was always asking for food. Then we noticed her nipples [excuse me mentioning this Your Highness] were pink and bigger than normal. A light suddenly went on in my head. And we were right too. HHHCB is in foal - or is at least a mother to be. How lovely is that? A lot really. Only it wasn't planned. No doubt some street-wise ragamuffin alley cat from her former home area defiled her and no doubt will deny all his future responsibilities. Men eh?

Anyway, HHHCB is loved here and her cat-lettes will be loved too till they find new homes. And that shouldn't be too hard since HHHCB is practically royalty anyway.

But if I find out who that ragamuffin alley cat is................

They came from Jupiter

The other day, a catastrophe came upon me and my camera. My bag fell orf the chair and collided abruptly with the floor. Inside that bag was my Kiev4 adorned as it happens with a Jupiter12 of my acquaintance  It was jammed. Couldn't move the lens at all - not even to take if off the camera. I recalled the incident here . The camera lies inert on a shelf awaiting an inevitable coating of dust.

Now, thanks to the very kind Keith Thompson of Toronto - yes that's Toronto CaNada - I have a ltm version to fit my Zorki. How kind is that? Very as it happens - and it's a lovely lens too. Now, you must go and have a look at this article by the very same gentleman - about cameras I might add. Go on, I'll wait here........

See, it was worth it wasn't it?

This is what I call a wall

I took the lovely little lens out this weekend on the Zorki6 in the biting cold wind that has been blowing from the east - seemingly for ever. The road to our village had to dug out twice this week, no not snow but sand blown in from the nearby dunes. Eve and I went over to Great Bernera - see yesterdays post and everything. I managed a few shots through the lens - even though I did have to compromise on the viewfinder front since my old Kodak one does not see eye 2 eye with the Soviet Zorki6.

This boat stood still long enough for me to make a hash of framing it as did the bridge below. Here, there are 'some stones' in the way. This is way to Great Bernera from our island - the Isle of Lewis. Nice eh?

Did manage a snap of a Mill though. Out over the hill we went to get here - such a lovely place to be - if your ears wern't about to be frozen off!

So, many many thanks to Kieth Thompson for this lovely lens. It will be my main lens I am sure :-)

No sooner do I post this pic and someone wants it!

This is just ridicidoodlous. No sooner had I posted the above pic on some social network than some erb asked to buy it. Luckily they have not got a donkey or a mule otherwise I would have had to sell it. Ha! Sorted them out quick.

See, they are only snaps from the home made pinhole camera. shot, developed and so far just scanned after a rather wind-blown strollatery over Bernera way. Found this lovely little placette Circebost Pier. Got the pinhole camera out, stuck it in front of 'things' and there you have it! Despite the cold and everything.

Nicely 'done' on fp4 in Promicrol.

Excuse me while I finish my negotiations of the social network site.

Please don't tell The Coelynes

The Stones at Callanais were calling. Or to be more precise  it wasn't the aura of the stones but the aroma of the cakes in the cafe. All the same I agreed [reluctantly] to spend some time soaking up the vibes of the stones before taking the sustenance available therein nearby that is. It's not a place I usually go to on account of the bus load of tourists that rock up here just as you commune with the gods - and the ribbing I get when the Coelynes find out . Mr Windy and Deanne decided we had to go so we did and it was bitterly cold enough to keep not only tourists away but midges and the like too.

I seem to recall the cold wind was howling too that day . Eve certainly seems less than keen to embrace the air of the day. Or maybe she was just 'listening' to the stone.

Mr Windy seemed to be enjoying himself - although I can't imagine how with his electronic imaging device he was playing with. Maybe it was the head-scarf!

But Deanne managed to stay cool despite the weather and the cakes and tea were very fine afterwards.

This is what happens when you walk out with a 1930s camera under your arm.

The thing had been just sat there. Looking all sullen and what have you. She came into my acquaintance some 10 years ago when I just had to buy her at great expense. I had monies in my purse, the camera was there winking at me and I was hooked. She being a Viogtlander Bessa 6x9 rangefinder. I love her even if I don't walk out with her that often these days.

I have seen sharper pictures to be honest although it's not for the lack of a coupled rangefinder. And she is so lovely to handle - all her bits are in the right place - unlike many modern cameras.

Yes, yes, this little hoosey is for sale. I say 'little' but it's much bigger than the one I write from and is just round the corner. If it wasn't so cold and blowy outside I'd pop out and point it out to you. Now, if you'd like to come to our lovely village there is a great school here, a shoppe and Post Office, three local beaches and more sheep than you can shake a stick at. And no, I have nothing to do with the hoosey or the sale.

There are other hoosies for sale her too - and I might just go out and point a camera at them to see what it will look like. You might even find one with a Hebridean type fence in it.