Saturday, 12. July 2008, 13:49:26
Well, I've been looking at key areas not far from home where certain birds like kestrels, Foxes and other wild Animals hang out and do their thing... with the intention of photographing them and some places of interest and adding some of the photos to my blogs - to give you an idea how beautiful it can be here.
The trouble is there are hordes of kids in the rural location I live in too, but I don't want to take pictures of them - unless I want people thinking I have some ulterior motive - but can they be considered a background to a picture or do I have to come out and take a picture of a place of interest with no people or kids present - advice please, if you will? I don't want to upset anyone...
We have the second largest Lake/reservoir/ and forest in Europe and these places are just begging to be taken pictures of, so if bikers whatever their age is permissable, I might have to take pictures of mountain bikers as well as the places I'm focussing on...
So today has been one of writing or thinking of putting together a to do list of events I need here to tell a story in pictures as well.
Please comment and add suggestions - I will read all and maybe contact you (by e-mail) for more details of a deeper idea of what you might want to suggest I do (nicely please
) Ta!
Regards
Grommet
Tuesday, 8. July 2008, 20:30:43
The days lengthened as Summer progressed, and as the first day of Summer approached and went, I found myself working more in the Communal garden we use (Communal in the sense that the whole family use it). Wimbledon Fortnight held my thrall as I watched Andy Murray fall to Raphael Nadal - and wonder of wonders - he beat the reigning Singles champion, Roger Federa. I can see all of Spain celebrating Nadal's win after so long since a Spaniard won the last Wimbledon final. I guess the island where Nadal lives (Majorca I think) will be heaving with celebrations - the Piela will be cooking everywhere and Sangria flowing free!
It was five years ago that I had the wonderful honour of visiting Spain for the first time, staying in Benidorm - as a base. I just about visited everywhere I could in the two weeks I was there. I much loved the mountain villages that showed Spain in its true light and the quiet dignity of its residents - old and young.
I went to this place some way from Benidorm which was a Theme Park called "Terra Mitica" which had an area laid out like Greece, Rome, Egypt and Spain... it was wonderful - but the Sun beat down - and not used to such heat, had me looking for a covered portico to at least sip mint tea rather than have a siesta!
Today the Sun was very hot this morning and reminded me of my sojourn to Spain and the Sun that followed me everywhere. Benidorm Castle saw me on its battlements looking at the grand sweep of the bay and the white sands below. Below me in the castle, a Spanish boy was having a photo-shoot for some fashion magazine and attracted some attention from the tourista as well as myself!
My son, never being one to miss an opportunity went over and actually spoke to the boy - they were much the same age I think, and for the short time they spoke to each other before the 'minder's' moved their charge on, it was a pleasant interlude for me and my family.
I think I'll have to go to the 'Med' again, as I am missing the treats to be had in Crete, Nice on the Costa Del Sol and the Spanish resorts I have come to love so much...then there's Croatia, Serbia and the delights that those places may give me as Croatia did when I was there looking at former President Tito's home and his island retreat.... In all of these places I've mentioned the food and the wine (and spirits) were gorgous and much recommended!
Buonos Nacte!
Grommet
Saturday, 27. October 2007, 14:09:15
Well this time I've moved on up to Ubuntu Gutsy Gibbon (7.10) came out on October 18th so its fresh and new - and since I'm exploring my music just now (i've already changed my background to a nice blue colour with some crescent-shaped silver motifs on it - its beginning to look cool
! Thanks for the comments.
Serbia... I've been there, I think! It was before the war when it was Yugoslavia, in a place called Split by a wonderful lake - I met a family there - hospitality was superb and I tasted some of their wine - Oh My - I took three bottles back with me but had I known about the war I might have taken a case back since I can't find the family anymore ... Still I got a new friend in Serbia and that's good - Any friend is a better start than making war!
Wednesday, 29. August 2007, 21:31:24
Its been a while since I wrote my blog... I've been decorating - again! Kicked out XP in favour of Ubuntu Linux, then yesterday went over to Kubuntu (which has a KDE Desktop) and more technical stuff on which to put my pics on - OMG! I have a lot of pics to get through!
I've had an argument with a bus (which I was in at the time) the driver slammed on his brakes turning into Hawthorn Road (Ashington) and my leg shot under the seat and hit a seat stanchion and carved a neat crescent shaped hole in my shin and ruptured a vein. The Driver wasn't the least bit bothered so I walked home enduring the pain and by the time I got there my trainer was over-flowing with blood. I eventually went to hospital and I got dressed and packed off home again. Its ok now but I have a scar like the crescent moon to remind me of my adventure...the bus company hasn't answered the three letters I sent them complaining of their treatment of a passenger - and that was like three months ago now!
Nearly time for bed here, been all over the place today shopping and working in the Greenhouse and sleep may not be far away. The loneliness of a friend who went away is still there and the loneliness still cuts like a shuriken - nay, a Katana, and wish he would come back again or someone would be my friend - but who wants an old guy for a friend? I guess I am counting the minutes to my eventual passage to the other world where pain does not exist and I may see my ancestors again. Oh hell - stuff this morbid talk, I got lots of life left and there's much to do...isn't there? Besides which I have to write 'Life On The Wild Side 3' yet...
Sunday, 17. June 2007, 19:26:32
It's been a while since I was on last. I intended to come on the next day and write another piece instead of about mist across the hills where I live, which was my inaugural piece in my first blog - well you've probably heard about Sod's Law? Well this came about because of my picking up my computer magazine (and here my doom was sealed) and the reason for my absence was cos I've been reading up on Linux! I have several distributions of this very good stable system: Caldera, Mandriva, Red Hat, Suse... and now UBUNTU! I got a hold of Fiesty Fawn (the brand new distribution that came out in April 2007). Damn, Its hot! It runs so much smoother than some of the others. Maybe Mandriva comes closest to it, but it was the thinking that went behind Ubuntu that attracted me. It says it all.. we are One and together, sharing our individual talents to make this a better place to be...where have I heard that before? Alexander Dumas succinctly puts what Ubuntu is in a nutshell: All for One, and One for all!
So, I have finally got Linux on my computer. I'm writing this on it now! It was installed today, Sunday 17th June 2007 - and I'm putting it through its paces whilst listening to some quiet, soothing music - did I say quiet? Ha! Petrov Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture crashed all around my ears as I'm writing this and can see why Linux is so popular. It doesn't scream from the rooftops, how good it is like some other brand-new Operating Systems I could name. My current XP will be losing its support in 2009 so Microsoft have said, well I am ready! By the time XP stops getting updates I'll probably be onto my fourth or fifth update of Ubuntu by then! The new updates come out six-monthly - and unlike Microsoft, they are free! If you do try Linux, I hope you enjoy it as much as I am right now
! Cheors!
Friday, 8. June 2007, 21:08:09
Well it came in (mist) like a ravaging Lion, when the sun was at its hottest and cooled everything down very fast (uggh)! Had I gone out with my camera I would have had some great moody atmospheric photos but I was working around the house, so I never got to go out. Maybe tomorrow on my red 'Kielder Classic' Mountain bike...
Northumberland can be bland and exciting all in one go. We have castles (the real ones) and Alnwick Castle, which is the backdrop to 'Hogwarts' in the film, 'Harry Potter' and the castle which featured in the film 'Robin Hood Prince of Thieves' is just up the road from me
!
I like to take pictures of birds, still lakes, scenery, Ancient Monuments of religious events in far-history and I also like to wander lonely as a cloud doing my own thing too.
Today was not very good for taking pictures of anything, since the mist was thick and I had difficulty seeing past the garden fence where normally on a clear day, I can see the Cheviot Hills some thirty miles away...I guess I'll end this blog, being my first, and think about a subject for tomorow? 'Night all! Thanks for reading this and I'd be glad to hear from ya'll.
