Wednesday New York weather

Posted on November 2, 2011 by Steve

The depression which caused havoc in New York and the East coast arrived here today. It though did not bring the snow which so damaged trees in Central Park. Instead grey and damp miserable weather arrived. Ventured out to stock up with T for the G&Ts which we had allowed to get perilously low.

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Guernsey North island walk

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Steve

Fry up breakfast, including black pudding. Then the bus to Port Soif and walk to Saint Sampsons. Weather was warm and sunny, but a few spots of rain early on. Hopefully have a picture of a rainbow. Not many caffs open at this time of year, but had an ice cream at La Garenne. In total we walked I the region of 7.8 miles

Some pictures of LBJs, Kestral, Oyster Catchers and Curlew.

Back home on the 7A from the bridge in Saint Sampsons,G&Ts and then another M&S dine in for £10.00

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Monday Guernsey

Posted on October 31, 2011 by Steve

Monday was a gentle day for us. Into St Peter Port, looking around the shops, not a lot more. The old Market Place was as depressing as usual with New Look, HMV and the CO-OP. Now even the obscure shops in Fountain Street seem to have all been closed down for some redevelopment project.

Back to the hotel for luncheon and their Tenner Fest. Three courses for £10.00. It was very good. I am looking forward to horrid weather for the rest of a week. Quick swim, lunch and then afternoon sleep. What more can want, even the beer is not so bad, some local brews and a guest from the main land, Black Sheep.

So what was so good, the mushrooms stuffed with a liver pate, the smoked salmon terrine, or for the mains, Thai flavoured mussels, or the Chicken Jalfrezzi curry. A proper cheese board for deserts. Ample choices, with luck we will be back.

Afternoon walk around Fort Hommet and some hopefully dramatic rock scale photographs taken in the dying sun.

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Guernsey

Posted on October 30, 2011 by Steve

Well we are in Guernsey. Flew here on Saturday, been shopping and I now proudly sport a new fat face top. Yes there is a small saving on the price from a reduction in the tax. Last night we had a lazy Marks and Spencer dine in for £10.00 meal. It was a vegetarian mozzarella dish and microwaved peas and beans. After supper watched the waves breaking over the sea wall, attempted some photographs. In the morning there were many patches of sea weed and rocks on the coast road. After the night time sea viewing, we took to the golf course to track down a few ducks and geese on the ponds. Rosemary only took to a bunker once on the walk.

Today we bussed over to Fermain bay and took a short walk to the Auberge restaurant for luncheon. On the walk we met another English couple who regularly come to the Island, we are not the only ones. They come this time of year to eat at the Fest restaurants.

Our Auberge meal, excellent as usual. I started with Warm Toulouse sausage salad, while Rosemary ate Smoked Salmon with a caper sauce. Both of us ate fish for the main course, mine was Brill on mashed potato with Scallops and a corral roe sauce. Rosemary opted for Sea Bass on a mixture of noodles, carrot noodles and courgette noodles. I was surprised she ate her fish skin. I think it was a first for her and she now realises the delicacy missed all these years.

The finals were an Autumn Mess a mixture of berries in an Ice cream, much like an Eaton Mess. I was going to have that, but was beaten to the choice by Rosemary. The Panacotta and berry sauce, my second choice was delicious.

The eye candy served during the meal was delightful.

Returned to the flat, shopping at the local CO-OP and then back for G&Ts. The Grande Mare car park was heaving. Not sure if this a result of their 3 course Fest menu for £10.00 Shall be trying that tomorrow lunch time.

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Alice Cooper

Posted on October 27, 2011 by Steve

Selina and I drove to the Birmingham NIA to see Alice Cooper on his world wide tour. We arrived at the NIA in plenty of time despite dire warnings from Rosemary. We had standing tickets so were able to rock with the music. It was amazing to see the attire of some in the audience, lots of Halloween costumes and killer nurse outfits.

First on were the New York Dolls they started slow, but warmed up to a reasonable set by the end of their slot. Then it was the turn of Alice Cooper. Yes all the usual hits and the odd new song. He wore a jacket saying New Song when he performed one. The drummer came in for some shouts of praise during his solo which was some of the fastest drumming I have seen or heard. The show was themed on No More Mister Nice Guy. Set had Frankenstein, a Guillotine and several mock killings. Seems Alice Copper is well on his way to being a born again Christian.

Something I have not seen before was the ability to buy a recording of the gig on CD as you leave the show. Two CDs recorded, and a blank disk for you to download the Encore set.

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The recession

Posted on October 24, 2011 by Steve

The recession, or what recession. The chaps in the pub seem to be very busy. I have not met anyone who does not have enough work. Commenting this sorry in Twitter, it was deemed I must come from an affluent area.

For me, an employee, chargeable work has been pretty busy in the last few months. Old projects have come to an end with Aberdeen going live with their upgrade.

A short visit to Edinburgh to sort out an infrastructure change for a long standing client in the life assurance business. Had a great meal at a Tapas bar, and then of course what visit to Edinburgh would be complete without a visit to Whistle Binkies and some local Scottish musicians.

More recently new projects in Shropshire and Caerphilly have kept me busy with software upgrades. Caerphilly was interesting from a drinking and eating perspective. First week a premier inn and one of those cheap pub chains. The food was crap, and the premier inn was the premier inn with Lenni Henry sized beds. Luckily the weather was warm, and I could escape out side to drink a few pints and tweet to my tweeps in the dark. Ah the reason I drank outside was to miss the pub quiz.

Week after stayed at the Bryn Meadows Golf and Country club. Cost not a lot more, but gym and Swimming pool and a lush bedroom. Food and drink not outrageous either, at least compared with major cities.

The week after only suites available at the BM rather to costly for the budget. So tried the Half Way house in Blackwood. Pub with some new modern rooms. Rather nice friendly eye candy serving in the bar, and the land lord came and shook hands. Even the regular Welsh customers came up and spoke with the English man. Alas did not escape the Tuesday pub quiz. I won’t mention my score. Excuse, I was in a team of my own.

Shropshire was for a couple of days, which turned into three. Stayed in a hotel which could be classed as a boarding house. Was OK. Nice restaurant near by for food, but rather pot luck on what was severed. Not sure how a sirloin steak with salad was transformed into fillet steak with vegetables.

Should have a new install coming up in Brummie land on return from holiday.

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The news today

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Steve

Last weekend we had a trip to the local National Trust house. There was an exhibition of Andy Warhol pictures themed on famous Jewish people. This was a rare occasion where the whole group of portraits were all exhibited together in the uk. Portraits of the Marx brothers, Einstein, Golda Meir and others. The pictures are from the series 10 Jews of the twentieth century. http://www.warholprints.com/cgi-bin/Andy.Warhol/gallery.cgi?category=Ten.Jews

A long walk around the house. It’s been quite a time since I last visited the interior of the house. Then the main reason for the visit, lunch. Lunch was good, bit slow on the service, and rather pricey. Those wanting to feel full and bloated after the meal would also be disappointed.

Wednesday our ‘his and hers’ iPads arrived, white with pink cover for rosemary, black and blue cover for Steve.

Disaster with holiday plans. Should really book them with the office. We were going off the France for a couple of weeks, looks like I am now working in Cumbria. Rosemary not best pleased with my organisation. Any way, I have rather a backlog of pictures to process from the last holiday.

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Sad Gits weekend in Essex

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Steve

Sad Gits weekend in Essex hosted by Richard and Andrea. The following in attendance were Maggie & Ravi, Rosemary & Steve, Reiko & Mike, Valerie & Norman and Choir Master Simon.  The weekend was centred around culture with visits to Thaxted Church and Audley End House and a walk around the town Saffron Walden where an art gallery was visited & a garden and a “maze” admired.   The evening centred on food, drink & varied entertainment.

Full picture gallery is available here but I have included a short video which hopefully will find its way to Facebook,

Sad Gits Choir sing Jones’ Ale

 

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An update on Bulgaria

Posted on July 15, 2011 by Steve

We arrived back from a lovely holiday in Bulgaria, dragonfly spotting.  We travelled around the country with a small group, mainly in the South of Bulgaria staying in a new hotel each night.  The tour was operated by Nature Trek, a specialist wild life tour company using experts in the chosen subject.  There will be an update to the site when I have filtered through the thousands of pictures I have taken.  We managed 47 or so species of dragonflies, that leaves 7,000+ in the world to go.  Bird life and plant life were similarly fabulous in the country.

For a taster I have included a couple of Dragonflies, one obliging Dragon who flew around for quite a while allowing us to practice flight shots.

The final two days were spent in Sofia drinking cocktails next to the president’s offices, watching the presidential cars coming and going, the armed security guards, and the beautiful ladies in the bar.

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Glastonbury Festival 2011

Posted on June 27, 2011 by Steve

Glastonbury 2011, a mixture of rain, mud and baking hot sun on the last day.  Spent my time more with DJ mix sets, and not the headline bands on the pyramid stage.  So missed out on Beyonce, Coldplay and U2.  Instead saw 2 Bad Mice, The Otway Band, Heliocentrics with Mulatu, Jimmy Cliff, chase and Status, found Pulp as a special guest at the Park Stage, Don McLean, Laura Marling, Paul Simon, Kaiser Chiefs and Queens of the Stone Age.  Plus lots of other stuff which I can’t know remember.

In the Gallery there are some pictures from Arcadia and the Tripod.   I saw a fantastic ballet show there, called the Arcadia Spectacula. I just wished I had my video camera for that.

I have some youtube videos as well as my picture gallery.   You might want to subscribe to  my youtube Chanel.

My Festival

Various scenes from Glastonbury festival including sun rise above The Park

John Otway

Aylesbury’s unfamous rock star.

Heliocentrics with Mulatu

Don McLean

Laura Marling

Paul Simom

Kaiser Chiefs

Queens of the Stone Age

Picture Gallery

 

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The Black Spots

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Steve

Thought I would share three You-Tube videos with you.   They are from an all girl band, of which two are my nieces (I think I have the correct word there) i.e. my little brother’s daughters.

The all girl band The Black Spots played this gig at Rockquest, Nelson, New Zealand. Kate and Betsy Blasdale and Holly and Stacey Johnson formed the band a year ago. They would like to thank Pat Baker, Chloe Langley and Reuben Collins for all their help.

“Junk Mail” written by Betsy Blasdale, 11 years -

“Frozen Lies” written by Betsy Blasdale, 11 years -

“Exception” originally by Paramore -

Kate is on drums, and Betsy is on Vocals.

 

 

Posted in Art, music | Tagged | 1 Comment

Installed HL Twitter Plugin

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Steve

I have installed the HL Twitter plugin to WordPress.  It looks good, automatically sending out my postings as tweets, and also allowing me to follow several users at the same time on my own website.  Saves the tweets for ever as well.

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Cambridge Society visit to the Forest of Dean

Posted on May 15, 2011 by Steve

Gloucester Cathedral top of tower and views The annual three day Berkshire Cambridge Society weekend away happened on May 13th – May 15th.  The weekend started in Gloucester where we had a tour of Gloucester Cathedral, climbing the 269 steps to the top of the tower.  On route to the top we stopped to admire the roof space and fire prevention measures and the bells.  Following the tower tour, was a tour of the cathedral, and the Harry Potter Cloisters.   I was even shown where Catherine used to climb the tower when she was a teenager living in Gloucester.

Lunch was at the New Inn Gloucester, where a hearty buffet was served with a pint of Adnams Mild.  After lunch we had a tour of the newly restored Blackfriars, a Dominican abbey dating back to 1269.  Interesting room was the library, when the monks sat next to the windows transcribing books.  The window openings were cut to maximize the amount of light illuminating their desks.

Westbury Court Water Garden The final outing for the day was Westbury Court Water Garden, a national trust garden.  The garden was laid out to look like a series of Dutch canals.  Here there was a magnificent Holm Oak.

We then made our way to Speech House Hotel in Coleford where we were to spend two nights.  After dinner we were entertained by Christina giving as a talk about verderers in the forest.

Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail Saturday was a lovely dry day, and started off with a walk through the nearby Sculpture Trail in the forest.  Odd and rather peculiar was the verdict of most of us.   Would not give many of the exhibits house room.  Lunch back at the hotel, and then off to see Goodrich Castle.  One of the many castles built to keep the Welsh under control.  Spent quite a time here being guided around the ruin.

The drive back passed through Symonds Yat, with a fantastic view of the River Wye, and a twitcher’s paradise.   Masses of people there with their spotting scopes and cameras trying to catch the elusive peregrine falcons.  Managed to get a picture of a boring old buzzard.

Sunday and we had a tour of Clearwell Caves, an old iron mine which has operated since prehistoric times, up until the second world war.  The caves have also been used for filming scenes from the BBC drama Merlin, and Dr Who.

Lydney Park The last stop was Lydney Park for lunch and a tour around their gardens.  Spectacular valley setting for rhododendrons, and a great view of the now defunct nuclear power station at Berkeley.

More pictures are available here.  I suggest you also check out the links in the posting for more details.

 

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My New lens

Posted on May 8, 2011 by Steve

Kite surfer Trip down to Lee on Solent, lovely sunny day, and tried my new lens out on some people participating in aquatic sports.  See the whole Lee on Solent, Hampshire gallery here.

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The Edfest

Posted on April 29, 2011 by Steve

I missed the Royals tying their knot.  Instead drove over to Combe Martin, Devon for the 50th birthday  celebration party of Ed, an ex Walker/Elevon contractor.  He had arranged a party in his field, BBQ, bands and drink.

Ed Fest, Ed Aldridge 50th Party at Combe Martin I arrived in the afternoon, and was immediately spotted by other ex-Walker people, Phil Blunt and Paul Dixon.  Tent erected, bacon and egg role duly cooked and eaten, and then a few beers to tide the afternoon over before the festivities.

Ed Fest, Ed Aldridge 50th Party at Combe Martin Met up with Ed, who was overseeing the stage and bar, had a chat with Mary and was introduced to Ed’s son, Bob who would be entertaining us later in the evening.  It was Bob’s 18th birthday celebration as well.   Now we must not confuse Bob, with the other Bob, who severed beer all night.  Bob the purveyor of beer was to me Glastonbury Bob.

Ed Fest, Ed Aldridge 50th Party at Combe Martin A few bottles of beer later Tessa and Robin arrived to enhance the crowds.  Music was played,  the BBQ was lit, and a very dedicated villager proceeded to BBQ anything and everything presented to him.

Alas the bands stopped at midnight, and instead the phones were plugged into the PA system to entertain the stragglers around the fire until  6.30 am.  I have a question for those who regularly stay up late, why did the cockerels start crowing when it was seemingly still pitch dark.

Ed Fest, Ed Aldridge 50th Party at Combe Martin

Was left slightly annoyed with Paul Dixon.  He borrowed my camera, and I have to admit his pictures did appear rather more dynamic, atmospheric and generally better than mine.  I can’t blame the equipment.

Made it to my tent for a short sleep, and the breakfast of Bacon and Egg butty before a walk down to the sea.

More pictures from the party can be seen here on EdFest gallery, Combe Martin.  Yes rather too many, but I want everyone who was there to have an opportunity of remembering the event from their perspective.

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