Post a good thing that happened in your life today

[Bryan]

On 13/05/2021 at 02:04, Betty LaRue said:

I had a problem.  I had a large plastic pot I bought to plant a tomato plant in. But it had no drainage holes. I asked my son-in-law if he could drill holes in it for me, but he forgot, was busy.
I thought about it this evening, then got a large flat screwdriver. I heated it up on the stove then applied it to the bottom. It melted right through. A few twists and I had a round hole. I put quite a few in.

It’s full of soil now and a tomato plant is in it. Draining well.

 

Much less hassle than a drill. I re-use old yoghurt and cream plastic pots as plant pots, and plastic food trays for sowing seeds and always use an old bicycle spoke heated on the gas flame of the hob. You can do a few at one time by stacking them. For tomatoes I use buckets bought from a hardware store, durable and much cheaper (£1)  than large plant pots - plus they come with a handle.  Finally old toilet roll tubes are the best way to bring on legumes, peas and beans. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Bryan

[Bryan]

9 hours ago, aphperspective said:

After getting a bit bored during the lockdown retired to the shed made up this bird box, no measurements just made it up out of bits. Stuck it up on the garden wall and had "lodgers" within 2 days. Finally got to see the brood, must say it gave me a great deal of satisfaction seeing the wild life making use of my effort.

 

 

 

Super shot of the bird feeding the young!  I've a few photos of blue tits entering/leaving bird boxes, but never managed to catch them feeding the chicks.

[aphperspective]

1 hour ago, Bryan said:

Super shot of the bird feeding the young!  I've a few photos of blue tits entering/leaving bird boxes, but never managed to catch them feeding the chicks.

Thanks Bryan that what was the first day they were big enough to crowd the entrance, prior to that it was just loads of racket inside every time the parents turned up. Just as a footnote it did show me how hard parent birds work to keep them fed. Non stop trips every 15 minutes or so dawn till dusk rain or shine they keep going. 

[gvallee]

11 hours ago, Bryan said:

Super shot of the bird feeding the young!  I've a few photos of blue tits entering/leaving bird boxes, but never managed to catch them feeding the chicks.

 

In my experience, bird photography is about two things:

1. patience, patience, patience, patience (involves several hours in the same spot)

2. luck.

Edited May 14, 2021 by gvallee

[CAROL SAUNDERS]

13 hours ago, aphperspective said:

After getting a bit bored during the lockdown retired to the shed made up this bird box, no measurements just made it up out of bits. Stuck it up on the garden wall and had "lodgers" within 2 days. Finally got to see the brood, must say it gave me a great deal of satisfaction seeing the wild life making use of my effort.

 

 

That's gorgeous and even better that you made the box yourself😁 

 

Carol

[aphperspective]

4 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

In my expeirence, bird photography is about two things:

1. patience, patience, patience, patience (involves several hours in the same spot)

2. luck.

True,true and true that shot took lots of attempts, the wretched bird would constantly land directly in my line of fire so to speak, so just a shot of the back of it. Finally it landed further across allowing me to see the chicks and get a decent side shot on of the birds plummage.

[Thyrsis]

On 14/05/2021 at 14:36, aphperspective said:

True,true and true that shot took lots of attempts, the wretched bird would constantly land directly in my line of fire so to speak, so just a shot of the back of it. Finally it landed further across allowing me to see the chicks and get a decent side shot on of the birds plummage.

I like your images of the swan and cygnets.....but you might want to correct the spelling of lillly pads! A couple of extra l’s snuck in there! 🙂

Edited May 16, 2021 by Thyrsis
typo!

[sb photos]

26 minutes ago, Thyrsis said:

I like your images of the swan and signets.....but you might want to correct the spelling of lillly pads! A couple of extra l’s snuck in there! 🙂

I wonder if it was typed on one of the MacBook Pro’s with the key cap butterfly mechanisms. Many have a habit of doing that.  Mine is starting to intermittently repeat the character h, and unfortunately it’s just over 4 years old so not covered by the warranty extension. 

[MizBrown]

Got the new washing machine put in.  Only one further problem -- the standpipe leaks at the bottom, but that's probably not an impossible fix.   Ran a cleaning normal wash with some detergent as recommended, and now am running a small load.  This machine tests the weight of the load and adjusts parameters accordingly.  It has alarm codes for any problems that show up, but does appear to be level enough on the new concrete pad.  Probably need to ream out the former shower drain and add some silicone sealing around the standpipe.  Have it done rather.  I don't appear to be getting the whole load of water leaking when the pump to drain the tub runs. 

 

Next job is getting a new faucet for the kitchen sink.  Unfortunately, most (all?) of the kitchen cold water only sink faucets sold in Nicaragua can't be repacked. 

Edited May 14, 2021 by MizBrown
distinct from old

[gvallee]

I'm trying not to let it go to my head. An incredible thing happened to me today: I have been recognised in the street for my photography!! And I wasn't even holding a camera as a clue! A woman called me 'Genevieve! I love your photos!'. I was gobsmacked. In a country as big as Australia...

[aphperspective]

5 hours ago, Thyrsis said:

I like your images of the swan and signets.....but you might want to correct the spelling of lillly pads! A couple of extra l’s snuck in there! 🙂

Thanks for that I will get on it. Must have had a stutter...rrr🙄

[aphperspective]

10 hours ago, CAROL SAUNDERS said:

That's gorgeous and even better that you made the box yourself😁 

 

Carol

Well thanks It's what you call a heavy duty over the top box, far to many screws🙂

[Michael Ventura]

3 minutes ago, aphperspective said:

Well thanks It's what you call a heavy duty over the top box, far to many screws🙂

 

Well the home should retain it's value or even escalate in value with time!! 😃

[aphperspective]

10 hours ago, Michael Ventura said:

 

Well the home should retain it's value or even escalate in value with time!! 😃

Probhably outlast the wall.🙂

[sb photos]

Currently on a train travelling into London (is that good?) then I’ll be walking about, avoiding the tube. Train to Marylebone not crowded. Haven’t caught a train into London since last September. Likely to bump into a few photographers I know. Was hoping this might happen more, the good old days eventually returning, but not sure now with the Indian Covid variant on the increase. Good to note weather should be improving a little later. I forgot to bring some PVC tape to stop a lens hood falling off. Was going to replace it but rather than £38 a little tape will do. Hoping to find something suitable on my travels.

Edited May 15, 2021 by sb photos

[Martin L]

17 hours ago, Thyrsis said:

I like your images of the swan and signets.....but you might want to correct the spelling of lillly pads! A couple of extra l’s snuck in there! 🙂

😉

[Thyrsis]

17 hours ago, Martin L said:

😉

Oops! 🤔

 

[gvallee]

We had our first Astrazeneca shot today. First good news.

 

Then tomorrow, we're hitting the road again. 375km through the Outback on a ribbon road, no town, services, traffic or anything. The Bush at its best. Fuel consumption has to be carefully calculated. Fuel prices in remote locations are understandably horrendous. I once watched a road train next to me filling up for nearly $1,000!! We have two fuel tanks lasting 800kms, so all good. Adventure!

[Allan Bell]

8 hours ago, gvallee said:

We had our first Astrazeneca shot today. First good news.

 

Then tomorrow, we're hitting the road again. 375km through the Outback on a ribbon road, no town, services, traffic or anything. The Bush at its best. Fuel consumption has to be carefully calculated. Fuel prices in remote locations are understandably horrendous. I once watched a road train next to me filling up for nearly $1,000!! We have two fuel tanks lasting 800kms, so all good. Adventure!

 

An all electric vehicle would not be much use to you in the outback would it?

 

Although with the constant sunshine and solar cells it might just work. Take longer to get somewhere while waiting to charge up sometimes though.

 

Allan

 

[Steve F]

Damn, I thought this thread would have ground to a halt after this morning. Keep looking up guys!

[gvallee]

6 hours ago, PAL Media said:

What about breaking down, do you do your own repairs, carry tools, welder or do you just service very regularly?

 

I wish... It' a Toyota Coaster bus with the engine in between the driver's and the passenger's seat, very ackward to access. We have a satellite phone, a personal locator beacon and a breakdown insurance for gazetted roads. In fact, a few months back, an injector packed up right in the middle of the desert. Of all places! We got a 800km tow on the back of a truck. Cost the insurance $6,000!

 

We have all the equipment for changing the gigantic heavy wheels (super singles). Apart from that, God help us! 

 

We just had a complete service done and had a new intercooler fitted. The Outback roads are atrocious, and I'm talking about bitumen, all groved by the road trains. 2 days ago I was driving, doing exactly 49kph, when a bump impossible to spot sent us flying in the air. Our 5.7t bus landed very hard. Although it's a 4WD conversion, I was certain that we could not get away with that one. Sure enough, in the next town, we noticed coolant dripping underneath. So we had new hoses fitted yesterday, without springs but with a clamp.

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2021 by gvallee
Grammar girl, grammar!

[gvallee]

4 hours ago, Steve F said:

Damn, I thought this thread would have ground to a halt after this morning. Keep looking up guys!

 

To be honest Steve, the rate cut was so expected, it was only a matter of time. I went through a series of changes since joining Alamy in 2002 (did we start at 70% or 65%? I can't even remember). There's nothing I can do about it, don't want to go non-exclusive while on the road, I've never done it for the money, I thoroughly enjoy taking pictures along my travels, so although I am sad for those contributors either making a living from photography or heavily relying on its income, life goes on for me. Better seeing it that way.

[gvallee]

6 hours ago, Allan Bell said:

 

An all electric vehicle would not be much use to you in the outback would it?

 

Although with the constant sunshine and solar cells it might just work. Take longer to get somewhere while waiting to charge up sometimes though.

 

Allan

 

 

An electrical 4x4 5.7t bus going through sand dunes, potholed gravel roads, river crossings?

There's plenty of sunshine, that's for sure and we have an excellent 3 way system: charges while we drive, on inverter and when on mains. Almost 1,000W of solar on the roof. We can go on indefinitely. Unless like recently in Cairns when they had a late monsoon season and we were caught in 2 weeks of deluge!

[Keith Turrill]

The Midwest rain stopped for a few hours today. The really good news is that I sold another Biden yesterday. The bad news is that is was for $3 dollars.

[Steve F]

8 hours ago, gvallee said:

 

To be honest Steve, the rate cut was so expected, it was only a matter of time. I went through a series of changes since joining Alamy in 2002 (did we start at 70% or 65%? I can't even remember). There's nothing I can do about it, don't want to go non-exclusive while on the road, I've never done it for the money, I thoroughly enjoy taking pictures along my travels, so although I am sad for those contributors either making a living from photography or heavily relying on its income, life goes on for me. Better seeing it that way.

 

One upside is that Alamy says they're making more sales. But I'm not sure that's necessarily applicable for individual contributors. I'm slowly increasing my portfolio (when I have a working camera, hah!), but Alamy's collection is growing so quickly... Feel like I'm running to stay in the same place.