dark forces

 

I'm loving this snap. taken with the little olympus xa and polypan-f film. No idea where it was or who but who cares. 

Have I said how wonderful it is to be home on the Rock in our little mouse house? No? Well it it is wonderful.

The sun is shing as I write. Eve is out on her bike and I have another film to develop. you know, back to usual really.

and then it rained

 

It was nice . Bach concert and everything. I fell over though. Rolled around in the busy road like a drunk on a night out. Bruised me up, grazed my hand, soaked me to the skin and worst of all hurt my pride. 

The concert was lovely courtesy of pal Masha.

Just have to say how comfortable to be at home again. Makes me wonder why  we go away at all. So much hassle, tiredness and expense.

we went through here

The wind was cool but the air dry then. On the bus we rattled down the roads, this voyage uninterrupted by vehicular breakdowns. And yes I had a little camera with me.
 

Loverly

 Back home and how loverly that is.

The wind may be from the frozen north but we are just dandy in our little mouse house.

Been away to the big smoke for a few days taking in the galleries and the pollution as we traipsed around the galleries and met some pals from times past.

Another 500T

 

This time from a while back at the SamyeLing Buddhist centre. I have a great deal of time for the Buddhist way of life.

Yes, we have been off island. Back to some sort of normality soon.

Kodak 500T

 

This time Kodak 500T film which was a cinema emulsion that uses a different development protocol that the usual c41 film. I tried it because I could. I don't like it.

The snap was in the town hall in Stornoway at the Horticultural society show.

The village

 

Yes Harman again. And no it won't be a regular thing.

catching up

 

Another from the Harman colour film taken with the little Olympus  xa camera. Looks like The Crofters on Christmas day.

colour

 

I don't 'do' colour. It doesn't do much for me. having said that I thought I'd try some of the new Harman Phoenix film.

stones

 Another cemetery snap this time with the Hassie using up the film in it. Nice sky at the time.

hoping

 

Hoping this white stuff doesn't make an appearance here again in the near future. I mean, I like the look, but makes getting anywhere difficult especially off island as the mainland opposite usually cops it worse.

Art

 

The exhibition we went to visit had fine sandwiches and coffee. The snaps were great as were the paintings and poems. Best of all the peeps there were lovely.

We stopped here on the way back. Why not? It was just a momentary stop.

been a tad damp

 

The village has been a tad damp recently. The crofter's croft is a mud bath, the peat tracks are fine frog-spawning places.

Houses houses houses

 

There are new houses going up all over the village. This one one down on a croft all black and just so. I photographed here in the barn in foreground a year or two back as the local crofter wrestled sheeps - see here. 

How life moves on so quickly.

Opera

 

The Scottish opera came to Stormoway recently and we, that's Eve and I went along. Lovely evening though the story was hard to follow unless one had a babelfish stuck in one ear as it was variously in English, French, German and Russian. 

I suspect it was a take on local politics but who could tell?

We are off to an exhibition opening as I write over on the west side, the other side of this island. Snaps, writings and drawings - so lots to look forward too. I shall report back in good time.

Here's another

 

I can hardly believe that no-one mentioned much yesterday. I love that snap.

Another Ilford G3 print this time from a 6x6 I came upon in the pile that is my filing system. My system seems to have gone to pot since we bought a new settee. anyway, this was taken using an auxiliary close up lens I think. looks like it anyway. Nice shine on the print from the kitchen light too.

Ilford G3

 

I was in the darkroom yesterday and produced a couple of prints on some G3 Ilford paper I found. Did the job nicely unlike the scan here. Still a nice snap of someone going about their days. No idea where it was not that it matters.

Was taken on Polypan-f film which I really like and still have a fair amount of thank goodness. I shall be taking a few rolls of it with a suitable camera when we have a short sojourn in Edinburgh soonish on the day when Eve was born - a few years back.

the village brown bits

 

We have not got village green here. Grass is reluctant to grow well up here; Just ask the green keepers at the bowling club. Actually, just ask the Crofter who has to buy copious amounts of grassy allsorts for his many animals to feed on.

This above here is a croft just over the road from The Crofter's place. It doesn't have animals on it very often. And that is an island lamppost. We have them all over the shop.  I think they are there so we have to traipse down to Garry beach to see the Northern Lights properly.

a 20mm stroll

 It's the end of Feb already. At least the light is coming back after a few months of dullness. It was bitingly cold despite the sunshine but my stroll was lovely. Eve was having her toes tickled at the time - apparently it is a health thing. 

The lens is a bit glarey into the sun but still quite good. I was up near the main fank where I have not been for a while and as you can see twas still a bit damp. 

Is this a fair rendering of ther neg? No idea but that's the one you are getting.

Brutal

 

Designed by some geezer in the council some decades back I'm fairly reliably told these bus stops could withstand a nuclear winter. Maybe when we humans have made the earth totally unlivable for ourselves as we seem to be doing, this will be one of the few things left standing . The building higher up is one of the two brutalist and well used church buildings in the village.

The 20mm lens does have its uses.