Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[sb photos]

2 hours ago, zxzoomy said:

I managed to load my 80 year old Zeiss Super Ikonta with a roll of Fujichrome Velvia 120 and take one frame with it. I had a similar Ikonta in the 70's and also a 120 box camera but I feel very rusty.  

 

I've still got my fathers old Ensign Selfix 12-20 folding camera with the Ross Xpres 75mm lens. I last put a 120 roll of velvia through it over 20 years ago. The camera is around 70 years old. The non coupled rangefinder is screwed, has been ever since I can remember. Every now and then I cock and fire the shutter, same with my C220 and Toyo 45A lenses. I did pullout a selection of negatives taken around Wood Green by my father with the Ensign, with the intention to reshoot the same now. I never did as so much is no longer there.

[gvallee]

We just spent a very enjoyable 3 days at the Aboriginal Barunga Festival in Northern Territory. The community is off-limits outside the festival. 

I rarely take pictures of people but I've just done that non-stop for 3 days. They won't be any on Alamy as there was no commercial photography allowed.

Not sure if you need a Facebook account to see the video.

 

https://www.facebook.com/1642230603/videos/8018546514854471/

 

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by gvallee

[NYCat]

Looks fascinating. Love the glasses and baseball caps. Went to a powwow in New Jersey once and lots of designer sunglasses. Mixtures of fashion culture are rather delightful.

 

Paulette

[gvallee]

36 minutes ago, NYCat said:

Looks fascinating. Love the glasses and baseball caps. Went to a powwow in New Jersey once and lots of designer sunglasses. Mixtures of fashion culture are rather delightful.

 

Paulette

 

I was rather peeved about them wearing those during traditional dances. However, all was forgiven when I spotted the same guys part of an excellent rock band. They were also experts at playing the didgeridoo. So they straddle both cultures. The festival has tourists but it's not primarily for tourists. There are visiting Aboriginal groups from other areas. They chartered 6 planes from Groote Island to bring those guys.

[Rebecca Ore]

4 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

I was rather peeved about them wearing those during traditional dances. However, all was forgiven when I spotted the same guys part of an excellent rock band. They were also experts at playing the didgeridoo. So they straddle both cultures. The festival has tourists but it's not primarily for tourists. There are visiting Aboriginal groups from other areas. They chartered 6 planes from Groote Island to bring those guys.

 

Cultures aren't museum pieces, so yeah.  Much of early Renaissance tech in Europe -- spinning wheel, harness looms, horse collars -- was Chinese.

[zxzoomy]

This man was threatening to jump from a bridge in Manchester, UK, tonight. He didn't in the end. The Nikon D750 with 300mm lens was perfect for getting photos, which I can crop a lot,  without winding the guy up. The UK has been hot this week so maybe that added to his problems.

 

[Bryan]

We sunk our fangs into home grown corn on the cob this evening, cooked for a few minutes in boiling water then served with butter - they were sweet and delicious. Possibly our best crop to date, the UK heatwave along with some welcome downpours has certainly helped. The beans are now cropping too, after a disastrous start when I had to re-sow due to very poor germination. Then there are the blackberries, too many to deal with. We have rain predicted later in the week, the garden could do with another good drink.

 

You win some and lose some in gardening, our potatoes have been relatively disappointing, probably due to a very dry start to the growing season. 

[Betty LaRue]

12 hours ago, Bryan said:

We sunk our fangs into home grown corn on the cob this evening, cooked for a few minutes in boiling water then served with butter - they were sweet and delicious. Possibly our best crop to date, the UK heatwave along with some welcome downpours has certainly helped. The beans are now cropping too, after a disastrous start when I had to re-sow due to very poor germination. Then there are the blackberries, too many to deal with. We have rain predicted later in the week, the garden could do with another good drink.

 

You win some and lose some in gardening, our potatoes have been relatively disappointing, probably due to a very dry start to the growing season. 

I can make a meal out of nothing but corn on the cob. Love it. Although adding some cornmeal covered okra, fried crisp, with a slice of buttered hot cornbread and home grow tomatoes is heaven.

[Bryan]

10 hours ago, Betty LaRue said:

I can make a meal out of nothing but corn on the cob. Love it. Although adding some cornmeal covered okra, fried crisp, with a slice of buttered hot cornbread and home grow tomatoes is heaven.

That's way beyond my culinary skills Betty, although I could manage the home grown tomatoes. 

[VbFolly]

Despite having no rain in this part of the country for weeks, the blackberries have done surprisingly well this year. Reading Bryan's post reminded me to go out to the countryside and pick some yesterday, most of which are now in the freezer. They'll be lovely cooked with apples during the winter.

[Betty LaRue]

7 hours ago, VbFolly said:

Despite having no rain in this part of the country for weeks, the blackberries have done surprisingly well this year. Reading Bryan's post reminded me to go out to the countryside and pick some yesterday, most of which are now in the freezer. They'll be lovely cooked with apples during the winter.

I would make a blackberry cobbler. Pastry on the bottom, pastry on the top, sweetened berries in the middle baked until brown and bubbly.

[Bryan]

53 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said:

I would make a blackberry cobbler. Pastry on the bottom, pastry on the top, sweetened berries in the middle baked until brown and bubbly.

 

The boss has made blackberry jam, my requests for an apple and blackberry pie have so far gone unanswered, but I live in hope......

[Betty LaRue]

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

 

The boss has made blackberry jam, my requests for an apple and blackberry pie have so far gone unanswered, but I live in hope......

 I don’t combine the two fruits. Each shine on their own. I don’t make apple cobblers, but pies and fried pies. Blackberries, only cobblers. Sugar the blackberries, and as they sit for a few hours, they make a lot of juice. With a cobbler, you bake it in a square or rectangular dish with all the juice only slightly thickened with a bit of cornstarch or flour. You serve by dipping it out wiith a large spoon, piling it into a bowl and let the juices run, which is fantasdelicious. Vanilla ice cream is good on top of it, too.

It’s interesting how things are different between the continents. I recently did a big study about clotted cream, which isn’t a thing popular over here.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Betty LaRue

[Ed Rooney]

 

I treated myself to a lovely Indian lunch at Mowgli today. Twas not Italian, but I considered it a Ferragosto treat. (I like none of the Italian restaurants in Liverpool.) Ferragosto is an accent Roman end-of-summer holiday started by the first Roman Emperor, Augustus.

[Allan Bell]

1 hour ago, Betty LaRue said:

 I don’t combine the two fruits. Each shine on their own. I don’t make apple cobblers, but pies and fried pies. Blackberries, only cobblers. Sugar the blackberries, and as they sit for a few hours, they make a lot of juice. With a cobbler, you bake it in a square or rectangular dish with all the juice only slightly thickened with a bit of cornstarch or flour. You serve by dipping it out wiith a large spoon, piling it into a bowl and let the juices run, which is fantasdelicious. Vanilla ice cream is good on top of it, too.

It’s interesting how things are different between the continents. I recently did a big study about clotted cream, which isn’t a thing popular over here.

 

My mother used to make blackberry wine with the excess fruit. One year she mistakenly added double the amount of sugar and we had a superb liqueur.

 

Allan

 

[Dave Richards]

It’s raining....at last!!

[Betty LaRue]

7 hours ago, Dave Richards said:

It’s raining....at last!!

And a cool front came through here lowering the temp by 20 degrees!

[Bryan]

Yesterday was our 48th wedding anniversary so we decided to have a day out and took the train across country to Carlisle. It's a pleasant trip through rolling countryside, mainly farmland. At the lower level it's arable, getting higher there are cattle while higher still there are sheep. If you get lucky you might see a deer. We visited the cathedral and ate in the cathedral cafe, then spotched around the city. We separated, me to take photos and her to visit shops. Getting back to the railway station I was surprised but pleased to see a steam train about to head off on the Settle and Carlisle line. It was due to depart at about the same time as our train, but I managed to get a couple of shots of the locomotive. Nothing  worthy of an upload here.  Coming back she dozed but I enjoyed the ride. A good day.

Edited August 18, 2022 by Bryan

[Cecile Marion]

Sounds like a very nice day. Congratulations on your 48 year celebration! 

[sb photos]

3 hours ago, Bryan said:

Yesterday was our 48th wedding anniversary so we decided to have a day out and took the train across country to Carlisle. It's a pleasant trip through rolling countryside, mainly farmland. At the lower level it's arable, getting higher there are cattle while higher still there are sheep. If you get lucky you might see a deer. We visited the cathedral and ate in the cathedral cafe, then spotched around the city. We separated, me to take photos and her to visit shops. Getting back to the railway station I was surprised but pleased to see a steam train about to head off on the Settle and Carlisle line. It was due to depart at about the same time as our train, but I managed to get a couple of shots of the locomotive. Nothing  worthy of an upload here.  Coming back she dozed but I enjoyed the ride. A good day.

 

An ideal and enjoyable way to celebrate your anniversary. The few times I've visited Settle I've never seen a steam train pass through. Carlisle I've only ever passed through or around on long journeys.

[sb photos]

Here the cost of E10 unleaded fuel continues to fall from the dizzy heights previously reached. I paid 167.9p per litre the last 2 times I topped up at a local supermarket filling station. Other local filling stations were charging over 170p per litre. I hate to think what I payed per litre for the fuel in the 10 litre legal metal can I sometimes carry on longer journeys.

Edited August 18, 2022 by sb photos

[Bryan]

2 hours ago, sb photos said:

 

An ideal and enjoyable way to celebrate your anniversary. The few times I've visited Settle I've never seen a steam train pass through. Carlisle I've only ever passed through or around on long journeys.

Thanks Stephen. Carlisle is well worth a look. It's a relatively small city without high rise buildings, but with some interesting architecture including the cathedral and castle. The main shopping area is traffic free, so pleasant to wander through.

 

In the past it was served by several different railway companies so was always a bit of a mecca  for steam train buffs - myself included !  I remember going there aged about 12 in the early 60s with a group of older lads from school, we managed to get around two of the three steam loco depots.  I dread to think of our 14 year old grandson doing something similar today.

[Ed Rooney]

 

Like most mornings, today began with me watching highlights of NY Yankee baseball after breakfast. They've been having a rough month, but last night in extra innings they won with a walk-off grand slam home run. That's the way to start my day!

 

Edo

[Allan Bell]

Got my Sony RX100 mk7 back from Sony servicing today.

 

It went in on 1st July because it was not producing sharp images and Sony was asked to recalibrate it.

 

Will try it out next week sometime. Too busy with other things just now.

 

Allan

 

[sb photos]

Last night went local to see a three piece blues/rock band, the Krissy Matthews Band, at the Petri Dish. Good music, acoustics good, not over crowded as some venues I remember, bumped into a few old friends and surprise surprise I didn't take any cameras with me. This was the first time I've been to see a band since Covid became an issue.