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The 12 months of Christmas Hello, good evening and welcome (well it seems I was overcome by the Frost). I apologise for this very age-related introduction, but hey if you didn’t get the reference then be happy that you still have a modicum of youth on your side. If you did get the reference and even had a little chuckle, then I am afraid that your youthfulness may have put on it’s running shorts a long time ago, went for a jog and never returned. Such is the merry meanderings through life’s tangled webs. What do Elves like to listen to? Wrap Music. Well, there is a beginning I bet you never saw coming. If I am honest, neither did I but there it is, it’s done, can’t change it now as you have already read it. Anyway, why change the habit of the lifetime and work to any kind of planned, considered and sensible format. Whoa, I hear you shout, surely you mean the 12 days of Christmas (and what kind of mad man are you)? Firstly, there is no need to shout, I am quite sensitive you know. Secondly, nope I did mean the 12 Months of Christmas and thirdly, as I just stated I am a quite sensitive kind of mad man. You probably have already guessed the reason for the 12 months of Christmas, is due totally to the fact that once again I failed with my attempts to bring you a selection of entertaining blogs throughout the year. I only managed a pathetic 2 blogs after last year’s Christmas Blog. Not that the Blogs were pathetic, far from it. I would like to think that they were witty, informative, entertaining and full of decent images. It was just that there were only two of them and that was the pathetic part. I am hopeless, I take full responsibility for my utter hopelessness and only wish that I could take all of my good ideas and intentions and make them a reality. Sadly, alas and alack the knack I lack. So once again you will have to put up with a whirlwind trip through 2025. Not everything and everywhere we visited are represented here but there are images from every month of the year and a broad spectrum of the things we have done. Although I still hope that at some point in time, I will be able to do more comprehensive and individual blogs for each event, walk or trip we have taken. However, don’t hold your breath just yet. But we can all aspire to be something better, can’t we? Oh yes, by popular demand the Christmas Jokes are back. Why are Christmas trees bad at knitting? They always drop their needles. How have you all been? What a year hey? Where did it go? Oh, lovely shoes. It does seem that every year I seem to get less and less done, I wonder if the answer is because the older I get the slower I get, ………could be. This year went so fast, but looking back the itinerary was once again chock full of things done. January saw us feeding ducks in the park, and yes, we were dreaming we were far away (a Jam reference. I have used it before but hey a good line is worth using twice, right? The question is can you remember what blog I have used it on before? Answers on our Facebook page please, not a post card as the old kids shows used to say. Mainly because where would you send it?). Watching the light dance through grasses and messing about on the river.      Different places on different days, making images from things in our gaze, and because it was cold hot drinks in a café’s (Now I am not posh by any means so I would say it like caths but for this purpose please read it as cath hays or it doesn’t work ta). Ok it’s not Wordsworth I grant you but come on. What do you call Father Christmas when he takes a break? Santa pause. February once again we battled the cold, to London we ventured to see what would unfold. We had a great time and saw many sights, culminating in Battersea where we looked at (Have you guessed it yet? Have ya? Wait for it. Yep.) the lights.    We also saw two cats wearing polar neck jumpers, sitting on their owners back. Well, when I say that I mean his rucksack.  February seemed longer than it oughta, we saw pretty birds and fallen trees reflecting in water. Where we were was muddy and messy and we even saw a distant cousin of Nessy.     (You could say it was waterlogged, get it, there’s a log in the water oh please yourself. This is hurting me more than it is hurting you, you know). Feb finished off with a trip to Little Venice, maybe because of the time of year we weren’t that impressed. Even so we still carried on, determined to do our best.    March we visited the Photography Show, a full-on day it ended up being quite a slog. Here are a few pictures you may not have seen, but of course as you know it was the subject of our May blog. (What you didn’t, you haven’t read it. Surely you mean yet don’t you, yes you, you’re going to read it straight after this, well that’s ok then).     Back at the park for some artistic fun, then quick as a flash that was March over and done.      What do elderly gingerbread men use to help them walk? Candy canes. April on a mini break, we went to Kent and visited the coast. It really is one of the places we like to go to most. Lots to see a variety of scenes, a lot of pictures for us to take, as well as the odd ice cream and lots of tea and cake.        May we had a trip planned this time, to Egypt, well sort of, we were bound. But much before our arrival an opportunity we found. Lots of people in costume were walking on the street so a few more pictures we took, what an unexpected treat. Several images taken, we had to move on soon, to get to our planned trip, an immersive journey in London, featuring Tutankhamun. After, we walked around the city, taking pictures of the things that we decided were odd, architectural or pretty.              To be honest and transparent these four were taken on another day in London, however it was still in May. So, all is fine and dandy, I hope you agree it’s ok.     The signs on this one could almost have a dual role, as the couple look like they are flirting, which means they could be describing them. Or is it just me projecting, you decide. June we started this year’s holiday, we went to a place that we hadn’t been with hopes of seeing things we hadn’t seen. But the weather had other ideas, the rain it just didn’t stop, so sadly our holiday was cut short, all in all, a bit of a flop. We still got some pictures for our memory box to remember the time we had spent, but due to being soggy and cold a few days later we packed up and went.       How did the reindeer learn to play piano? He was elf-taught. July back in London for the Paradox Museum, this certainly opened our eyes. It’s amazing what can be done with mirrors, lights and some hardware supplies.     We walked round Fishers Green the day was bright and sunny. It was nice to see people enjoying the sun. Some boys were trying to keep cool by jumping off a bridge, these pictures were kind of funny.     Walton-on-the-Naze was another day out. We went to watch the Kite Festival and see what it was about. The weather once again wasn’t playing ball the kites would rise then fall because the wind kept dying. However, this didn’t stop the East Anglian Kite Flyers from trying and trying. The day was great, and a lot of kites soared up into the air. We both agreed at the end of the day that we were glad to be there.   What do you call a snowman with a six-pack? An abdominal snowman. August was such a busy month with family visiting and so much we wanted to do. We crammed in as much as we could and here are some of the results for you. We started at the Toot Hill Country Show we decided to go on that day. We were very glad we went and we really enjoyed our stay. There were plenty of stalls offering so many things and lots of entertainment going on in the ring. The features we thought were really the stars, were the rows and rows of classic cars.      Next our hearts went on as it says in the song. We pretended to be Jack and Rose as the Titanic Experience was the next day out we chose.     The Gun Powder Mills provided some vintage style stills. Situated in Waltham Abbey this day out was not too shabby.   Off to the seaside, fish and chips for two, ice creams and doughnuts and lots of piccys too. Some people watching and a smiley face for you, the amusements at night and a car with Pikachu.       September a day out to Richmond Park. A return visit as we had been last year. 1000 fabulous hectares to walk and if you’re lucky you can also see deer.       What is green, covered in Christmas lights and Christmas bulbs, and goes ribbit? A mistle-toad. October and autumn colour was in full bloom. So, time for some landscapes oh and some mushrooms.         November the days were getting colder, and the nights were getting shorter, but still we braved the weather and found ourselves at the seaside, once again by the water.     Keeping with the seaside theme, but bearing in mind it was November, a different day on Southend Pier, now it was time to remember.         At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them. “For the Fallen” By Laurence Binyon Which finally brings us to December. With Christmas lurking just around the corner, what festive thing could we do? Well, yes that most festive of festive things, a day at Colchester Zoo.     Now it really was quite festive even though there was no snow and we stayed well into the evening when the whole place was a glow. For what we hadn’t told you was that on this very night, the Zoo became a magical place bathed in enchanted light.       What do they sing at a snowman’s birthday party? Freeze a jolly good fellow! That brings us to the end of the whistlestop tour through our year of photography and creating. We really only just scratched the surface. We literally could have done this several times over. Which is why I really should produce more blogs throughout the year. Oh well, no guessing as to what my New Year’s resolution should be then. I also hope you have appreciated my attempts at making it all rhyme. It wasn’t easy or planned and I will not be doing it again anytime soon (no thank you very much, my head will hurt for a month now). So, just time to decorate the tree, post your letters to Santa and hope he gets them in time to add your wishes to his sleigh.     What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite. (Have you also noticed this joke is the closet I have come to making any sci-fi/horror references in this whole blog? Do not fear though for “I’ll be back” and I will build a better Foundation, Boldly going where no one has been before, as a good Virgo, no I am not an Ares. I will be the Man Running ideas through my head and taking them from Pluribus. I know I’m clutching at straws, no I am not referring to Worzel Gummidge, or am I? But it does mean Many, honest look it up for yourselves. Ok I am stopping, this is getting silly and I don’t want you Supergirls and men begging for Mercy – this one is not even out yet, so that is so current. Oh, and I have just seen a Spider Man!) Ooh er, a sudden outburst of Scifiitus I do apologise, but Stranger Things have happened. What would Santa suffer from if he got stuck in a chimney? Claus-trophobia! Finally, all that is left, is to end the Christmas 2025 blog as we do all our Christmas blogs. Here’s looking to a very bright and prosperous future for everybody. Happy Holidays to all. Be careful, be safe, enjoy what you have, eat, drink be merry and stay warm. We hope that 2026 brings you many adventures both big and small. In our best Dickensian voices, we say (imagine in your head the voice of Brian Blessed, you know, he said Gordon’s Alive in Flash. I did it in past years and I've done it again). May we wish you a Merry Christmas and to one and all a Happy New Year. Psst.
One final, thing did you count how many images there are in this blog? Does it follow some Fibonacci Sequence worthy of a Dan Brown mystery (one for the more mature readers) or answer a puzzle/mystery worthy of a Swifty (this one is for the youthful among us). Or none of the above. Answers on our Facebook page. “Come Watson the game is afoot”. One final, final thing, this time I promise, if you liked the blog please comment on our Facebook page, like and above all tell everybody to take a look (share). That’s it, now go sit with a sherry and a mince pie, go on you deserve it.
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 Well, when the year started, I have to tell you I was pretty pleased with myself. Not only had I got the Christmas Blog completed in time (just before Christmas that is) I got the January blog completed and it was only the start of February. If I were to give you an analogy, I would say that it all started with the speed of a thoroughbred racehorse in the lead of it’s first race of the year. I had every intention of continuing the blogs with this fast-paced enthusiasm. Here we all are (you are here aren’t you? Thank goodness, for a minute I thought it was just me) it is now the beginning of May and sadly my thoroughbred racehorse turned into a rag and bone man’s nag (not that there is anything wrong with this type of horse) plodding along. Like me, this kind of horse is in it for the long game showing strength and longevity, which hopefully I will also replicate, in a blog writing kind of way if you know what I mean. Fun Fact: A rag-and-bone man is a person who goes from street to street with a horse and cart buying things such as old clothes and furniture. Not something you see much now days. He is also a very good singer, but I have no idea if he has a horse or not and is not for the purposes of this blog the person whom I am referring to. Once more into the breach dear friends and back to the subject of our blog. Erm, just before I do, can I just say that even though this is quite late in the day ( I have seen a few youtubers filming their visits not too many if I am honest, maybe this is not a good subject, maybe you have all stopped reading already, maybe you never started or maybe I am in some parallel universe where I don’t even exist **@&%!) it is as I have said a different perspective. Yes, looking at all the lovely shiny new things, and there were so many “my precious”, is great but if you are like us (me and the Mrs) then there was no intention of buying anything as we just don’t have the spare cash. However, I can tell you that as well as window shopping which was fun there is a lot going on at these things. If you have previously seen other videos/blogs about the Photography Show, ours is surely to be one of the last. I am also sure you will agree ours is by far the best, obvs.😁 We begin on the train, where we ran into a lovely woman, on her way to work at a vintage style clothing shop, who herself was dressed in vintage clothing. We chatted and I asked if I could take a picture, and she was happy to oblige.    Artistic Version The last image being a more artistic version, with the train carriage being changed to a more 1950’s style. Just one change later and we were on the Elizabeth line for the last part of the journey.  We arrived at the ExCeL London and the weather was lovely especially for March. We had gone on the first day, Saturday 8th March. We had never been before and had no idea what to expect. Can I just say that the ExCeL is big very big and the photography show was just one of the events being held there. I know that there was a baby event going on and also some kind of dance troupe competition and there are places to purchase all kinds of food and drink as well, all within the complex.  Above - One of the dance groups practicing in the main hall. There were different galleries of winners of various photographic competitions on display. All manor of stands for absolutely everything to do with photography from new cameras to school photography and everything in between.  There was a whole area dedicated to creative fun which was very impressive.       Of course, it would have been rude not to have a go at some of the photo opportunities on offer. This is where my wonderful wife dived in (on one occasion literally) and fully embraced her fun side. These are some of the resulting mobile phone pictures taken, that were sent to friends and family on the day.         After some fun and giggles, we continued our journey around the show. Many stands had provided models for the event, which was great, and all the models were very friendly and happy to pose. Many thanks to them, as this was just day one of four very long days for them all. Here are some of the raw files so you can get a flavour of how the stands made space for the models.     With a little bit of time and effort, this is just some of the images we were able to create, we liked them and hope that you do also.          Other models and sets were on offer as we wondered through the lanes of vendors, some slightly more elaborate.              There was even a tuk tuk on one stand.  My wife then started a small side project of photographing people wearing hats.    It was only sometime later that I was able to offer my own contribution to the project. This one my wife most definitely won.  After some time of walking around I realised something about my YouTube viewing habits, well it seemed like it at the time anyway. My name is Len, and I watch lots of photographers whose name begins with G. This revelation came to me due to the youtubers I had spotted at the show, there was Gavin Hoey, Gary Gough, Gary Norman, Gareth Danks, Gary Lashmar (didn’t see him but I do watch him), and honorary G, Mali Davis, what I hear you cry “Mali Davis” yes, now bear with me on this one, this is my Sherlock Holmes like deduction. Firstly he is friends with Gary Gough who is a G already, Secondly they were both on the Nisi stand and lastly (and this is the most important deduction of all, elementary really) Mali always ends his videos by saying C D, well it sounds like that, so it isn’t a big leap to go past E and F which brings us to G, see I told you. Obviously, I also went up to each one and told them what a fan I am and had a long conversation (no I didn’t, I am nearly 60 and just don’t do that sort of thing, why on earth would any of them want to be bothered by a bald old bloke who they don’t know from Adam). This is just a light-hearted observation, in reality I watch many people both men and women whose names begin with all sorts of letters, some of whom were also there on the day, I didn’t speak to any of them either. One more observation whilst I am at it was that all of them are so much taller than I imagined from looking at them on my TV. Gary Gough is no less than a giant! One of the other great things we also enjoyed about the Photography Show was the abundance of freebies, yes that’s right free stuff. Mainly cloth bags (pretty good quality cloth bags you know well stitched and that), paper, keyrings, and pens, a perfectly pleasing plethora of goodies. Here is some of our totally legal stash of free stuff.  This bag is my favourite, well made and with a statement that works in many ways, if only we could all do such a thing.  So, we arrived early and left about 4.30 but we didn’t go far. If you are not aware the ExCeL is located at the Royal Victoria dock which is now a smart vibrant area due to regeneration. This used to be a working dock until 1981 when the docks closed to commercial traffic. Fun Fact: The Royal Victoria Dock, opened in 1855, was the first dock in London specifically designed for steamships and featured direct rail links to the quay. It was part of the Royal Docks, the largest enclosed dock system in the world. The dock initially accommodated large steamships and played a crucial role in handling import and export trade, particularly of goods like meat, fruit, tobacco, and grain. It also links to my family as my father was a docker and worked all along the docks here. I had never visited before; I did take a moment just to think about him. The weather was still nice, my wife wanted to go on the cable cars and as I already said we had never visited before. It was time to investigate and take a few more images of the area. There is lots to see and many photo opportunities from boats to vistas of London and a little bit of nostalgia for earlier times.            The large cranes remind me of the machines from War of the Worlds terraforming the earth.  We weren’t the only ones enjoying the weather either.  Artistic Version There was art all around too, all in a small area.      People had apparently attended the Show from all over the world and time period, maybe it was the mode of transport for the models from the start of the blog.  To fulfil my wife’s request, we made our way to the cable cars.     Enjoying the return trip and finally making the most of the last of the sun’s rays.     We fitted in quite a lot considering the days were still short at this time of year, including a cup of tea and an ice-cream mid investigation. We agreed we would certainly go again although sadly it seems the 2026 show will be held back at the NEC Birmingham, which is the normal venue. This would be more costly and probably include staying there, which would mean more time taken, something that has put us off before. However, I would still highly recommend the day out to anybody in the Birmingham area for next year. Oh, and before I sign off, the reason we went was not just the fact that it was in London. We actually had an image each on show on one of the Cewe competition walls.    If you made it all the way to the end thank you very much. I hope you enjoyed our alternative look at the Photography and Video Show 2025. It was a bit long, but I hope this in some way makes up for the previous lack of blogs. So, for now I will hoof it on out of here and trot off. Anyway, I will stop horsing around. Until next time.
Or: The almost January blog in February - Setting the tone for the year ahead (playing catchup already). Welcome to the first blog of 2025, when I say first, I mean the first for us of course I am sure many others have already posted blogs but for us it’s the first. We hope you had a lovely break ate too much and in general just enjoyed your Christmas/Holiday time. Do you even remember it or is it now just a distant memory in the rear-view mirror of life? Did you all make New Year’s resolutions? (Show of hands please) Well very impressive and how many have now given up on those New Year’s resolutions? (Once again, a show of hands will suffice) Ah not quite so impressive, oh well there is always next year to try again. Never say never that’s what I say. Actually, that’s not quite true I do say never quite a lot, for instance, never walk naked through a field of very tall stinging nettles. Never pick a fight with a wasp, not only very valid examples, I am sure you will agree but also good and free advice for you to keep and take away with you. Never let it be said that we do not offer our readers anything for free. Well after that sage advice back to the blog. Now I wasn’t going to originally put this out as a blog as it is another few hours out spent walking around our local park and river, however firstly it was a lovely day,  (when I say lovely, I mean really cold, freezing, icy and why we went out I have no idea, we must be mad)   a bit brisk, slightly chilly but lovely. Secondly, I think it is very important to show that, and I am making big assumptions here and only hope that you agree, nice images can be taken locally even if you don’t live in the most picturesque places (by that I mean we don’t have mountain backdrops or rolling hills, however we don’t generally have the most severe weather or flooding either). Thirdly, it gets you out in the fresh air and its fun trying to get a few pictures.  Did I mention it was cold? Well, it was also icy, probably not a full-blown hoar frost, but pretty good for where we live. An ideal time to take a few images before the ice melted and as it happened the rain came (no surprises there then, rain in Great Britain, hardly a spoiler alert).  Right from the start the ice transformed the mundane into something else, a winter wonderland worthy of a visit from the Ice Queen.    Did you like that last one? Did you get how I tried to mirror the large trees in the background with the saplings in the foreground? I mean how artsy is that, just give me a minute while I put on my dressing gown (I don’t have a smoking jacket, I don’t smoke) and reflect on just how lovey (Noel Coward kind of lovey) I am at this moment, it’s all just terribly terribly wonderful darlings. In case you didn’t notice, the very first image of the blog was treated similarly. Ok that’s better the dressing gown is back on the hook on the bedroom door and it is just ordinary common old me again.    The grass was frozen, the leaves were frozen, the fungi was frozen, practically everything was frozen including me and the lovely missus and this time she didn’t even bring her camera. Never the less she was still enjoying the walk, with slightly warmer hands than mine I might add. Thus far we hadn’t even gone much of a distance, only just making our way to the bridge to the river.  Artistic version.  The small stream/river (When does a stream become a river or vice versa? Don’t even mention brook or creek. No, I said don’t mention brook or creek) that runs by the side of the bridge had never looked so mystical, so it seemed only fitting to do a mystical style edit on the second image above. Even the trains and the tracks looked better than ever.   Of course, the sculptural bridge looked great too.   Artistic version.   Artistic version. To our surprise, on the other side of the bridge several people were working away pruning, chopping and clearing. We spoke to a couple of them as we passed, quipping about the cold. One of the gentlemen replied that it was better than last week as they had all been soaked from the persistent rain. The amazing thing is, I am pretty sure that all of these people are volunteers, what stars they are keeping the areas tidy and usable for everybody else whatever the weather.  Images were everywhere in the more hidden details and the wider landscape. A song of ice and fire was from Game of Thrones but this was more a melodic ballad of water, ice and woodland.    Artistic version.  Just as a side note there is also a short poem called Fire and Ice by Robert Frost (his last name nicely tying back in with the subject of the blog). Some say the world will end in fire, Some say in ice. From what I’ve tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire. But if it had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate To say that for destruction ice Is also great And would suffice. Copyright Credit: Robert Frost, "Fire and Ice" from New Hampshire. Copyright © 1923 by Robert Frost.  Artistic version. Our stroll through this alternate reality, where silence (you know the kind of all-encompassing silence that only comes when there is snow, fog or the freezing of the landscape) and sub-zero jewels that shimmered and sparkled reigned, brought us to the water’s edge (sorry I think the above poem took over my typing then).  Then just not quick enough to focus properly, I half caught a winter dragon on its way, to allow the snake to take over for the beginning of the Chinese New Year which was shortly to arrive, at the time the photographs were taken.  Well, at least in my opinion that’s what it was so that’s what I am going with. I guess it could have been just a blurry clump of grass on the left-hand side but I really don’t think so, dragon wins it.     Upside down.  Vintage vibes.   Artistic version. We continued walking along the waterside enjoying the stillness but beginning to feel the cold more. We decided to turn back as we had had enough for today, however the camera wasn’t quite ready to be put away.    Finally capturing a few more images as we returned back home through the park.    I hope that you enjoyed the images which make up this blog, do you remember at the beginning there was a spider’s web? Of course, this is nature at it’s best and really can’t, in my opinion be bettered, however it did get my brain whirling when I began to edit the images. This led me to do a bit of tinkering that you may or may not like I will leave the choice to you. There is one that is child friendly, one that probably isn’t (unless you like spiders) and finally one for the steampunk fans.    So that’s that blog over until the next one. As I said at the beginning it is another local walk, but let’s face it, that is what most of us have at our disposal more often than not so make the best of your own surroundings. Everybody no matter where you live can do the same with your camera or your phone, whatever you have to hand. The pictures may be very different and have very different subjects, but being different is what it is all about, as long as you are happy that is all that really matters. Thanks for staying to the end, if you have, and see you next time round when time allows. Which, you all know me by now, could be practically anytime this year. P.S. 🦶🎵 It's a foot note, get it. I realise that this blog has been slightly low on humour and Sci-Fi references so to remedy this here is a final joke: Have you heard about the Disney virus? It makes everything on your computer go Goofy. Also, a Sci-Fi-esque recommendation: if you have Amazon watch The Devils Hour. There are two seasons now. The first season I watched when it first came out (which was brilliant) and I started on the second, however it is so complex that I started from season 1 again. I am glad I did as there are so many crossovers into season 2 that I didn’t even know about the first-time round, the whole thing is mind boggling so far. I hope the ending is as good as I haven’t got to the end yet. If you get the chance give it a go, but you will need to concentrate. Really this time toodle-oo, pip pip, cheerio, tara for now.
Merry musings, memory lane and much, much, more. I have to say I have not fully embraced the festive feeling quite yet. In fact, I am feeling rather sorry for myself, due to an as yet unknown viral threat to humanity for which I appear to be patient zero (well right from the start and a nod to World War Z or Z Nation which is a slightly weird in places, but brilliant series if you like that kind of thing or even the amazing 28 days/weeks and apparently soon to be years. Oh, and I can’t not mention the Walking Dead). So maybe that is a slight exaggeration, but I am very sick, no it’s not man flu, even after antibiotics. However, it was a great excuse to highlight some amazing shows and continue with my slightly quirky musings, maybe a glimpse of what is to come, who knows? Who can tell? Who did it? Oops, got a bit carried away again didn’t I. I could have listed so many more shows you know but apparently, so my wife tells me, not everybody appreciates everything that I do????? (BAH HUMBUG I say, yes BAH HUMBUG)  Go figure, I’m not sure I believe her. Anyway, more about the blog and less about my ailments. In the Pitcher household the tree and decorations are up and it is starting to feel Christmassy. Although I could swear, we only took them down from Christmas 2023 a month ago. I say it all the time now but it is true, it all just goes by so fast now. Even so, when I look back, we still managed to shoehorn an awful lot into this year once again. At this point I would like to say that after last year’s Christmas blog, by popular request the Christmas jokes are back. Well, no one actually requested them but I am sure you were all thinking about it. What do donkeys send out near Christmas? Mule-tide greetings If you read the last blog, you will remember that I said we had done something different this year, something we had never done before. Well, this is the time to find out what it was that we had never done before. Drum roll please.🥁 We went out with the specific reason to shoot deer. No, no calm down not shoot deer, but shoot deer, with our cameras. This is exactly what we did, we went to Richmond Park, we had never been here before either, so we had “no I deer” (get it), what to expect. It is a huge park, but luckily for us we did manage to find some deer and we had a fantastic, but exhausting, day out. Here is a small selection of some of the images we captured.        Artistic Version How much did Santa pay for his sleigh? Nothing – it was on the house. If you like these images you can check out our latest reel on Facebook, Instagram or TikTok which show the ones we have put on our wall for the Christmas period. If you have never been to Richmond Park, we would highly recommend it. Please follow the advice when visiting though, keep your distance from the deer (as we did but we saw many who didn’t) and keep pets on a lead, again many didn’t and not too long after our visit sadly the park hit the news when an unleashed dog killed a deer, so very sad and unnecessary. Prior to this, earlier in the year we took a visit to Canvey Island, I had not been there for years and my wife had never been. Our first stop was to the Transport Museum where they were celebrating their 90th year anniversary. It was lovely to walk around and see all the old transport (much of which I actually remember from my youth), there were also stalls selling items, a lovely cake and a hot drink stall too. Many people had dressed up for the occasion and there were bands, people dancing and a choir. All in all, it was a lovely way to spend a day.      How did the bauble know that she was addicted to Christmas? She’d been hooked on Christmas trees all her life. We even got to take a free, yes free, ride on a very old Routemaster bus down to the seafront and back to the museum. This was a first for my wife and reminded me of the old 69 bus that went to North Woolwich Ferry if my memory serves me. The noise of the bus and the “ding ding” of the bell were great. After this we finished off the day with a fish and chip supper at Bruno’s, which was lovely and very reasonable, we then decided to walk the chips off along the seafront before leaving for home.   Another day out found us hunting for toadstools, we captured lots but here are just a few as we haven’t got mushroom (get it much room).     Please it isn’t easy you know trying to come up with little puns and being a fungi (fun guy). We also captured a little bit of autumn.   What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations? Tinsilitis. Visited a local County Fair, which had the added bonus of the bus used in Dads Army going straight to Walmington-On-Sea. So many things to see and do, quintessentially associated with a traditional County Fair.   A trip to the Great Dunmow Carnival was also on the cards, like the County Fair it also had a more rural feel and a lovely atmosphere.   Why was the snowman embarrassed when he was spotted rummaging through a bag of carrots? He was caught picking his nose. This year we also continued our quest to visit the big seven Cemeteries of London with a trip to Brompton Cemetery.   Now far from being morbid places they are peaceful havens for both humans and wildlife. They are great places to unwind for a while where you can read a book, just take a seat or watch the abundant wildlife as it goes about its daily business. Interesting fact: More than 205,000 people from 40 different nationalities lie buried in Brompton Cemetery. In 1800, the population of London stood at around 1 million. But in just 50 years, it more than doubled – and soon the city was bursting with the dead, as well as the living. At this time, most people were buried in churchyards, but these were rapidly reaching capacity and this gruesome overcrowding began to threaten public health. The solution was the creation of the ‘Magnificent Seven’: beautifully landscaped garden cemeteries that formed a ring around London. Grade I listed Brompton Cemetery is one of the oldest and best loved of these Victorian garden cemeteries. So, as you can see these Cemeteries were always intended to be a place to visit and enjoy as well as visit departed loved ones. I got a Christmas card full of rice in the post today. I think it was from my Uncle Ben. Walthamstow Marshes gave some images of the city and a busy pub.    Fishers Green got us all in a flap.  Oh, and did I mention that we entered the Harlow Chair (Harlow Council) Photographic competition this year 2024. (For some reason we just completely missed last years comp if there was one, I am not quite sure). Over 500 entries were received and this year both myself and my wife entered images. We can now announce that we were finalists in the competition. We were invited to a private showing on the 12th December 2024 with the other finalists at the Gibberd Gallery, The Water Gardens. It was a very pleasant evening and it was very nice to chat with some of the other finalists there. We were very pleased and honoured to have both been chosen to display one of our images each, amongst the other very talented photographers.    Why are mummies such big fans of Christmas? Because they enjoy wrapping. There were so many other things that we did like the Cressing Temple at War, full of Military & Vintage Re-enactments.       Mock up Many more local walks and lots of other days out and visits that we haven’t even mentioned. Like our holiday or visit to Edinburgh.  Artistic Version  No that isn’t us and yes this is the Red Arrows   Maybe these will be new blogs for 2025, what do you think? Please let us know if this is the kind of thing you would like to read and see more images of. Obviously, we will still be out and about throughout 2025 too, so the problem as always will be trying to keep up. But the fun is seeing all of these things and creating memories, I consider myself to be very lucky to be able to do this and have an understanding wife who is happy to join in too. What is Santa’s favourite kind of pizza? One that’s deep-pan, crisp and even. If you take your own images by phone/camera don’t forget to get a few printed and put them on your wall. To be able to glance at a physical thing remember that moment in time and how you felt is truly worth the effort so give it a try. Even hang them from a string of Christmas lights (make sure it is safe to do so first though). So, at the start of this I wasn’t sure where the blog was going and now we are near the end I still have no clue how we got here. We have meandered our way through the year in no particular order and with no agender other than to show you some of our images. We hope that you enjoyed this journey with us and will return in the new year for some more. The Christmas jumper my kids gave me last year kept picking up static electricity. I took it back and exchanged it for another one – free of charge. All that is left is to end the Christmas 2024 blog as we do all our Christmas blogs. Here is looking to a very bright and prosperous future for everybody. Happy Holidays to all. Be careful, be safe, enjoy what you have, eat, drink be merry and stay warm. We hope that 2025 brings you many adventures both big and small. In our best Dickensian voices, we say (imagine in your head the voice of Brian Blessed, you know, he said Gordon’s Alive in Flash. I did it last year and I've done it again). May we wish you a Merry Christmas and to one and all a Happy New Year. I have to go now the Doctor has arrived to make sure I am ok for the Christmas break and apparently, he wants me to go with him as there is something out of this world to photograph (his words not mine). Funny he looks just like David Tennant.   If you made it to the end thank you. Please like, comment and share here and on our Facebook page.
Hello to all, we hope you are all well. So, I have a few things to say about this blog: Firstly, all the images were taken on the same day which was the 16th September 2024. Secondly, they were all taken on a walk around my local town park (which has been mentioned many times and has been a continual place to go for many years). C). The day was bright and crisp. D). I was going a bit stir-crazy and needed to get out with the camera, hence the trip to the park. Finally, (well when I say finally, I will still say things about the blog, because the blog is the things I am writing about if you know what I mean. Do you? You do, good, phew I was worried. At least we are all on the same page, well this page, yep, the blog page, you know what I mean. Oops I am doing it again aren’t I?) I wanted to get this blog done far closer to the day in question rather than November, which is where I now find myself, yes November it’s much darker now, even during the day. The sun as always has gone on holiday for the winter months coming back for its maximum two-month part time job sometime next year. Autumn came and went in what seemed just one or two weeks, then the bad weather came the trees all shuddered, the leaves fell off and that was that, although we (me and the Mrs) did something we have not done before but that will be for another blog. I know frustrating isn’t it but if you want to know what it is you will have to come back for the next blog, which will possibly be the Christmas blog, although it might not be published until at least May at this rate! Like a good Scout I will promise to do my best, not that I ever was a Scout or a Girl Guide for that matter anyway I digress. I will promise to do my best. Oh, and yes to all of you that have talked to whatever screen you are reading this on saying “What is he doing mixing numbers and letters the total buffoon” (what a great word, not used enough in my opinion), well I knew and I did it on porpoise for comedic effect. Like saying porpoise instead of purpose, I blame these dark cold nights you know. Anyway, back to 16th September 2024 (which was the exact day in question melud, sorry that isn’t what courting with my audience means is it?) I hadn’t been out with the camera for a while and as I already mentioned I was going a little bit stir-crazy. I went with no expectations just knowing I needed to get out and take a few snaps (snaps as in photos not the alcoholic drink). Time for a blog fun fact; the term "stir-crazy" originated as a way to describe a prisoner who became distressed after being confined for a long time. The word "stir" is a slang term for prison that dates back to the 19th century. Some word historians believe the term comes from the Romani word stariben, which also means "prison". However, there is no convincing evidence to support this theory, end of fun fact. Turned out to be a better couple of hours than I thought it would be. It was very sunny; I think from memory the few days prior had been dull and rainy so the sun was very much appreciated. Autumn was not yet in full swing but everything was in that time of transition, the trees and plants not quite ready to let go of the waning summer but almost ready to succumb to changes ahead in preparation for the imminent and inevitable winter months that are all too soon to arrive.      I guess that this is a continuation of the previous blog that you have all already read, obviously you have, haven’t you? Although far more insects in that one and I clearly remember how hot it was at the time of writing that one. Oh, how the times change no need for a fan now, oh no, none at all. Although a fan of my blogs is always welcome at any time of year (too cheesy? maybe but true none the less).  Artistic Version     Flowers were still dotted everywhere although some starting to show a bit of wear and tear, berries and seeds were all around in abundance.  Artistic Version What do you think of this one is it too out there? Please let us know.    Artistic Version  Artistic Version  Artistic Version Some plants holding on to the earlier rainfall, thinking again I do believe it actually rained earlier that day prior to the sun coming out, adding glistening jewels to their leaves.   Other plants making one last heroic stand to ensure that they give the next generation every possible chance of survival.  Thus, helping the insects to also feast well into autumn. Well, yes, I didn’t say that there wouldn’t be any insects at all now, did I?      Artistic Version Autumnal colour and summers end shared the spaces in harmony. Like nature decided to host a fashion show, with the park as it’s venue, free for all that enter to see and enjoy.     Even at the water, life was still in abundance, both young and old and those still to come.   I am sure that we would all like to be on permanent holiday, where vistas and photo opportunities are tripping us up all over the place (yes me, me, me please). However, in reality this isn’t possible for the majority of us. If you think about it, the people that live in these places probably find these same vistas, we would love, a bit boring. It is very easy to get excited by somewhere new no matter who you are and where you live. The trick, if there is one, is to keep being enthusiastic no matter the scene that is before you. If that is somewhere you have been many times before then try looking with different eyes, try seeing the little things, the mundane things or even the big things. Even if you come away with few or no photos, you have still been out which is surely a good thing in itself. I love the park even though I/we have been there a billion times. It’s great just to take a breath and enjoy the surroundings. I truly hope that you can get out and do the same. Take care for now until the next time (remember something different that we did to come in the next blog) and if you can, why not put your coat and boots on and get out there too. I will leave you with these final artistic style images. As I left the park the light was still warm and low, casting great shadows of the trees and shrubs.  Artistic Version  Artistic Version Just to confirm, no AI was used in the making of this blog, writing or images. I do however, think that we should embrace new tech that can assist (not replace) us with our ideas, as long as we are honest about its use. Let’s face it I would expect some of these writing AI thingies’ to be far better than me. However, would it have that quirky personal touch, that I know you all can’t get enough of, and eventually will make me rich and famous! Ah, it all went quiet, have you already left? I will take your silence as confirmation of my musings. Anyway, we all know what comes next don’t we?
We have all seen Terminator! TTFN I’ll be back next time. See what I did there and I got a sci-fi analogy in. How happy can one person be? The day I saw many Dragons. To all those currently in the UK - oh, it’s hot, isn’t it? I am sitting here on the 1st of August 2024 with a fan blasting away blowing hot air all over me (yes, I did try turning it off ……. It was hotter), in as little clothing as possible. Sorry I should have warned you about that I hope you weren’t eating, but it is the truth. It has been said before but believe me it won’t stop me from saying it again, us residents of the UK do like to talk, actually complain, about the weather. It’s too hot, it’s too cold, it’s too wet and it’s too dry. That last one not good for the plants you know. We are a fickle lot but that’s what makes us, us. Anyway, storms are being forecast so I am sure it won’t be long before it is too wet. By the by (that one is an idiom don’t you know, every day is a school day).  Artistic version Well, so how have you been? Good, that’s just peachy. It’s a bit of an odd saying that isn’t it “just peachy”, an Americanism, one of those old ones that is fading out of existence. However, if you have read any of the previous blogs you know I like to add the occasional oddity, as you can clearly already see from above, and yes there will also be a very tenuous link to all of this too, for which once again I apologise for in advance.  Oriental feeling artistic version Insects, do you like them? No, I don’t mean to eat, although I know in humanity’s search to save resources they are not “off of the menu” so to speak. I didn’t even mean to keep as a pet. Yet, I know that many do and that’s just peachy (once again there is that phrase). What I meant is images of insects that you can look at and appreciate for their form and beauty albeit sometimes quite scary and alien like. Can I also add no spiders, mainly because I didn’t get any photos of them, actually completely because I didn’t get any photos of them. Maybe another blog. But you have already guessed it, I did get some images of other insects whilst on a local walk at the park and riverside. You know through the park.  Over the big bridge.   Arriving at the river.  To be exact the day was the 6th June 2024 where aerial battles were being fought out. In their own way a war with some similarities to the very famous one also being remembered on this same day in 1944 let us never forget.  It was a lovely bright warm day on my walk and there were an abundance of birds and insects flying and humming all around me. Until this point, I had just come out to get some air and see what I could capture with my camera. Now I had a plan, so many insects around me how hard could it be? Well let me tell you it was actually pretty hard, for one they are fast very fast, and another thing they are quite small and finally they don’t stay still and they won’t come near you, their eyesight must be amazing. But even so I persisted.   Artistic version. I started off with some easier to capture insects that were quite happy to go about their business and ignore me for most of the time. Then I just kept looking around trying to get my eye in. It is amazing once you really start looking you can see them everywhere, however creeping up on them is still not easy with far more misses than hits.    It was lovely to see all of the different colours and varieties of insects too, so many more than I was able to photograph. But that is the beauty of photography there is always more to capture on another day and different conditions, time of day and light which all make photography compelling.    Be careful where you walk as well, as the insects were even sunning themselves on the path. Once again, they were pretty fast at getting out of my way so a stealthy approach was definitely called for.   The last image here being a Mayfly. The adult Mayfly’s lifespan is short, in part due to the fact that they make a tasty meal for the Dragonflies that inhabit the same areas. Such is the circle of life, harsh for most of the time but with fleeting bursts of beauty and bedazzlement. Do not look at this one if you are squeamish as it confirms the above musings, however it does have a kind of beauty all of its own.   Now that’s a snail not an insect I hear you cry, but look closer and you will see it also has a lodger and anyway a slight diversion off of the path is ok, isn’t it? In just a few hours out, on what was a glorious day to be messing about near the river, a lot of fun was had including the odd disappointment. I didn’t manage to get one of the bigger Dragonflies this time, they were just too fast moving and too far away to properly focus on them. I was only using a standard zoom lens not a super zoom and no macro capabilities, so some of the images have been cropped to better highlight the stars of the show. This also proves that you could also go out with whatever lens you have and try to do the same if you wanted to.  The final image of the day was taken on the way back home on the surrounding grassy areas near the riverbank.  I had also spied two people walking along the narrow and overgrown path, which I have shown here.  Artistic version Although this one breaks the rules of all the images being captured on the same one day, I didn’t want to go without showing that different days can give you different results, so here is one of the bigger Dragonflies from the same stretch of local river.  So that’s it, did you get the tenuous link? Well, insects like fruit and a peach is a fruit. I know, I know but there was no need for that language. How do you like those apples? Yep, insects like them too lol. Can I use lol on a blog? You may be looking at it on your phone so I guess it’s ok. I will let you decide. This whole blog I have just been winging it. I think it's time for me to buzz off. No Weddings were harmed in the making of this blog. So, another day another blog! Until 1858, all British passports were written in French. In 1940s Britain, children’s TV was shown from 5 to 6 pm, then transmission stopped for an hour to encourage them to go to bed. Oh, how the world has changed. I bet you didn’t expect that as an opening to this blog. It has no bearing on the rest of the blog but who doesn’t like a fact or two and hopefully it was just a bit different. I can promise this time round you will find something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue. We have a theme, not sure where this is going yet but if you follow along with me, we will find out together. I did say that the opening had no bearing on the blog, however you can’t deny the link between Children’s TV and this first image. Something Old Can I just say this category is very easy to fulfil as we have so many images you haven’t yet seen covering several years. I did also want to reflect a sense of history if possible and that childlike enthusiasm we all had, hence this first picture.  Who could forget Mr Toad a mischievousness, impulsive creature prone to become obsessed and get into trouble. Created by novelist Kenneth Grahame and appearing in “The Wind in the Willows” published in 1908. Is there not a little bit of Mr Toad in all of us? These next images are old and old (see what I am doing it’s just like years and years, quick Eurovision quip, go Olly, or well-done Olly or commiserations Olly all dependent on when I finish the blog – got to cover all bases). A point in history captured 2016. Now at this juncture I could easily say things like, yes jumped in the Tardis for this one or went through the Stargate or put on a headset and a cybernetic me appeared in the past – without the headset Terminator with the headset The Peripheral (shame they cancelled it). As you know I am far too grown up to do such childish things so I will just continue.    Who could forget Greensted Church the oldest wooden church in the world, mentioned in the Christmas Blog this is an artistic version. Now after that historical journey that I hope you enjoyed, just a few more images that were taken some time ago now. The first image from Portland taken in 2015 and the two lima pictures taken in 2014. So long ago now but seems like yesterday.    Something New I have been playing with a program called Sweet Home 3D. It is actually a room planner, but I thought hang on, a 3d Gallery would in theory be just a room, right? So, I tried creating a 3d Gallery. It has a video and image capture facility, again I thought a walkthrough Gallery video. Well after some very frustrating days trying to get my head around how to do what I wanted I finally came up with something I thought was ok. Now to create an image and a video, this is where it didn’t quite go to plan. The image came out ok considering I started with just a blank piece of virtual paper.  However, to render this with the lights on and good enough to see the images on the wall took over an hour. Not so bad as it run in the background while I got on with other stuff. To create the video to the same best settings would take in excess of 409 hours, that’s 17 days and the total just kept going up (yes, I did try it) so I gave up cursing that I had wasted all that time. Some days later I found that with the settings set at basic, which just does a daylight version, it would render in a few hours so I did it. It only renders at maximum 25fps so with basic settings it was just ok. I was still pleased I had managed it and you can view it here on the YouTube videos tab. Then on a visit to my sons, I saw a PlayStation game, hence why the video is only on the website via YouTube. Yes, that is the sound of very loud sobbing you can hear. Moving on, many tissues and rude expletives later. It wouldn’t be right not to show some “hot off the press” images taken in the last week or so.  Hiding in Plain Sight B&W  Hide n Sheep  Beauty and the Beast  VivoToon Something Borrowed I will start this off with little smidgens of advice that I have gleaned and remembered, which now days is no mean feat I can tell ya, from the tinternet telebox thingy. Firstly, don’t be so hard on yourself, if you enjoyed the process of creating and like the end result yourself then that is all that really matters. It is very easy to be too critical of our work especially when comparing it to others, but if you like it that’s enough. Many dream of being rich or famous or both but statistically speaking we all can’t do that can we, so enjoy what you do. That really applies to everything in life not just photography. Secondly, like a famous sports brand says “Just do it” even if you don’t think your image is perfect just show it to people, on social media, in person or in print etc. Chances are someone will love it and most people won’t even notice the thing that you have been worrying about. I personally am guilty of this, I am far too critical of my own work. Thirdly, experiment, try doing different things like street photography if you don’t do it, or try to create a walkthrough gallery by yourself. It may not all turn out fantastic but without getting things wrong we can’t learn to get things right. You don’t fail at something, you are just experimenting with a view to learning. Thirdly + one, this is similar to the above but not the same. Do something that is out of your comfort zone, this could be asking someone to pose for a portrait, or try painting one of your photographs or if someone asks if you can do whatever. Don’t be to quick to say you can’t, think it over, it may be out of your comfort zone but is it really out of your skill set? Again, if you can do it, you will gain confidence and we could all do with a confidence boost now and then. Lastly, not advice as such, but how do you think about your photography? Do you look back at old photographs, you know, the place you were born, where you live now, things that happened in the past, whatever you class as the past? Well, if you do someone had to take and document that image for you to see it now. So, now I like to think that I am taking images for people to see in the future, now isn’t that a bit Sci Fi? See you never know when I will get a reference in. It may be complete rubbish and vanity on my part but I think it has changed the way I take images, some images I would not have taken prior to hearing this way of thinking. I will from now on.   As with the first image above, that we took in Pompeii, part of the image was borrowed for the resulting image below it.   Now these two images above were created using ornaments borrowed from The Range. No, I don’t mean I stuck them under my coat and walked out of the building, I just took some mobile phone pics of the ornaments. You may have seen these before but I hope you will forgive me for using them again. Something Blue No great epiphany here or even some suggestive mumblings. The final images just have a lot of blue in them, thus fulfilling my final obligation to provide the aforesaid something blue.     Finally, I hope you enjoyed all of the information within, if not I hope you enjoyed the images presented for your delectation and if you didn’t why on earth are you still here???? All joking aside, thank you very much, stay safe, see you soon and be lucky. TTFN
Well technically at least. It's definitely on the way, just changing boots and coat for something lighter. Hello again, here we are with another blog for spring. This is the second this month so I am quite pleased with myself at the moment.  As I just said this is the Spring blog, so I am sure you will be expecting to see images of daffodils and lambs, things like that. Not wanting to disappoint you too much, here are some of those images.    I hope you enjoyed looking at those and they gave you all that warm fuzzy feeling, that dreaming of sunny days to come can only bring. Keeping that warm fuzzy feeling and an open mind, lets have a look at some photography taken in towns/cities on the streets. Yep, that very traditional spring subject! I have to also confess that none of these images were taken in springtime either.  Is this just one step too far? Am I pushing it a bit too much? Can you ever forgive me?  Well let me try to explain myself. Firstly, you have probably noticed my wording was a bit odd – why not just say street photography, I hear you cry. Well I’m not too sure what actually constitutes “Street Photography” there are far better photographers of this genre than I or my wife (no it’s true, I know hard to believe) and all of them do “Street Photography” differently, just take a look on that popular video channel, some take buildings (architecture) some take people going about their day candidly and some stop and ask people, one of my favourites at the moment is Gary Lashmar (aka the street thief) his style is ask everyone but considerately, far braver than I could ever be.   There are many others that I watch too, all different approaches and styles. Anyway, I hope you get what I am trying to say. We are both novices with this genre and like everything else that we photograph we just take images of what we like. So, these are just a few pictures of what we like but just taken on the streets.   As you all know, apart from normal photographs, we like to mix things up a bit, composites, artistic interpretations and things created from scratch. All digital creations (although I was shooting with film cameras from the age of 18 and moved to digital as many others did). My wife has always been digital. No, I don’t mean I made her up, she isn’t some kind of creation from photoshop.  I just meant she took up photography due to me. Standing around waiting for me to take “just one more” can be frustrating, so, if you can’t beat them join them. She does actually love taking photos now and annoyingly takes very good images, many times very different to mine and possibly better. Don’t tell her I said that.  Secondly, I know it’s the start of spring but some times when I am editing, I get a bit, not bored exactly, but I have to change things up a bit and change the images that I am editing to be a little less repetitive. You know what I mean, you may love pie (yum pie) but you wouldn’t want to eat it everyday for the rest of your life (but it is pie, I’m not sure I used the best analogy here).  I have also found that although I love taking images of waterfalls, I can’t edit a lot of them in one go.  Token waterfall image. Sometimes I think how you feel also affects what you want to edit at certain times. That’s really why you have been treated to these images, you, lucky things you. I have recently been editing some images taken on the streets by both of us. So, I thought I would share them with you here. At some time, I/we will share many other images with you from many other sources, on social media and if I get the time many more blogs. I can already feel your excitement and anticipation. If nothing else this year you have this to look forward to.     I think I will leave it there for now, for some unknown reason I suddenly have a craving for pie. Can’t think why.  We hope you like the blog anyway, TTFN. NB. The pie and flower border were free to use downloads and not taken or created by us.🙂
Well at least in a pictorial sense. 📷👩🚀  Hello to all. So, I was thinking of what to do for a blog. In fact, I have been thinking of what to do for a blog for at least a month. Ok alright, since I finished the last Blog, did you read it? It was funny and Christmassy and packed with piccys, and it is just below this one. What’s the link I hear you ask, you did ask, didn’t you? You are there reading this aren’t you? I am not just typing for myself? No not again, oh well as a great man once said “I have started so I will finish”. Just maybe by the end you might have joined me.  Back to thinking (for a very long time) about a theme for a blog. I can tell you what I came up with nothing, nada, not a thing there was just a large sheet of blackness in my mind. It’s difficult, isn’t it? Trying to be current, come up with new ideas and new images to go with the new ideas. Not just here but across all social media, I believe (and you may disagree) that there is a compulsion to keep posting new things all the time. It has to be the best pictures, the best content, the best ideas and of course the very best version of you in this “shiny happy people kind of world”. We all get pulled into this at one time or another, I am sure, because we all want to be liked and we all want those likes and follows. We all want to be validated even if it is only for 30 seconds and then we have to do it all again. The thing is, I am quite old, no I hear you cry, yes, I am (I respond). This means all this technology is daunting to use and get my head around. I know little bits about a few things, hopefully this is enough to make it all look quite good. The rest is all smoke and mirrors. This also means it takes me ages to do it all, I can’t even use both my hands (thumbs) to text and if I try to text and walk, I get dizzy, feel sick and would ultimately fall over. When I edit or create our work for posting etc. I do it on my static computer so that, quite frankly, I can see what I am doing. Things I do on my phone are limited. I am sadly a troglodyte; I don’t want to be and I try not to be but I am regardless. You youngsters can laugh all you like but eventually like me the King of the troglodytes will come looking for you too, to add you to his clan. This all boils down to, I don’t post that much and if I have to be current all the time what do I do with all those other images/creations that I haven’t posted, are they all now just out of date? The only answer is to post what I can when I can regardless of age. There is no best before or use by and for the majority of the time we, myself and my wife create for ourselves because we love what we do. Our home is full of our images. It is in my opinion the best gallery I have ever visited, don’t get me wrong this is just us, you should have your own creations on your walls and this should be the best gallery you have ever visited. If you aren’t creating for yourself, why? If you love it, hopefully others will also.  Now after explaining all that where was I? Oh yes, a great big blackness in my brain. Then a small spark (very small, I don’t have a big brain to begin with), an idea maybe not a popular idea but my idea. At this junction I must issue a spoiler alert. I am still going to go on about my idea. However, the images that you have already seen may have given the idea away. I just wanted to keep the blog interesting, look, let’s face it no one comes to read the blog just look at the pictures, right? Regardless I will continue, please pretend that you haven’t seen anything yet and it is all a big exciting surprise still. What could it be? What did he come up with? My word how does he do it? At this point could I please request that you all start to think of the main tune from 2001 a Space Odyssey and the very small spark in my equally small brain filled with blackness. (This could be the only sci-fi reference in this whole blog so please think very hard). It came to me that a while back we took some photographs of our local Harlow Carnival and to the best of my knowledge they haven’t really been posted anywhere. There it is, the idea the concept the irrefutable proof that contrary to belief I do have a brain! Where all these other words before this paragraph came from and what relevancy they have is anyone’s guess. Now when I said a while back, I actually meant pre Covid. When the world was a different place. So much has happened since in what is ultimately a short space of time. It truly feels like a form of time travel when you look back (ok no it's not sci-fi, I didn’t even mention the TARDIS or Stargate or The Peripheral – oops I just did, didn’t I). This Harlow Carnival was a wet and rainy day – 26 Aug 2018. I truly hope that all the people seen here are still healthy, happy and maybe just a little less wet. Oh yes and the link to the last blog I mentioned at the start, well the Christmas blog was a look back at our year and this blog is a look back at a single day. So how many joined me then, hands up. Three people wow that’s 50% more than last time brilliant, at this rate I will be an influencer in no time at all…………. 🥳🤦♂️
How are you all, how’s it been going and have you had a good year? I don’t expect you all to answer, however we trust you are all well, you have had a productive year and it has been a good one for you all. Yep, Christmas is just around the corner. Can you believe it? I can’t. I really have no idea where this year has gone. I did wonder whether there had been the possibility of Alien Abduction, this could certainly explain the missing time, however my wife distinctly remembers seeing me every day this year. So that theory can’t be proven. Although how do I know that my wife wasn’t abducted too and then given false memories. See it is all totally possible really….yes really. I have a confession; I really didn’t do very well with the posting on social media and the blogging this year despite all my good intentions and plans to be more organised. But I’m guessing that you already know that don’t you! I will not promise to do better next year but I will promise to do my best and show you some of the stuff that we love to create in the hopes that you may also like it. Christmas Joke What reindeer game do reindeer play the night before Christmas Eve? Truth or deer. So, to the blog, because I last blogged in March, I thought I would do a look back on 2023. Just so you know we were doing things (in between the Alien Abductions obviously) and what sort of things we were doing. Without further ado, here we go: January and onwards through 2023 This year we made a return visit to the Canary Wharf winter light festival.    Strangely the people who seem to be right in front of my wife, who took this photo, couldn’t see her at all. Such fun. (Quick Miranda quote, my wife likes Miranda) Onwards our first visit to the Graffiti Tunnels. This is literally a captured moment in time as the walls are continually changing with new graffiti artists adding their own art.    Some of the artwork is truly stunning, well worth a visit, I am sure we will return. Then a change of tack when we went to see the oldest wooden church in the world - Greensted Church. Now I would not want to cast any aspersions on this claim I am sure that it is quite accurate and it is a lovely little church. However I can't help thinking about Triggers broom in Only Fools and Horses…..Just saying. It is a lovely church.   Battersea Power Station was next on our list. I have always wanted to go there and it just so happened they also had a light show going on at the time of our visit. You would even think that we planned it like that. I would have loved to have seen the power station when it was a power station but the more modern iteration is still very impressive with shops on all the floors and some of the old equipment preserved within.   Another Christmas Joke What happened to the man who stole an Advent Calendar? He got 25 days! This next part comes with a scare warning of 1.5 out of 10 for those of a nervous disposition. We took a stroll down to Highgate Cemetery East, I say East as we did not have time to see the West side mainly because they closed quite early and we take ages to go round anywhere. You know the thing if it says on the website or someone on TripAdvisor has said “took about 2 hours”, then we know we will be there most of the day (which is probably why no one goes anywhere with us anymore).   Now this second image was a bit freaky to say the least, have you noticed why? If you are familiar with the cemetery, then if you turn around from the tomb of Karl Marx you will see this grave. Imagine my surprise. How strange would it be if this was a relative, albeit an unknown one. We did try to do some checking but couldn’t really get anywhere. However, if there is a will waiting to be claimed by a distant relative please let me know in the comments as here I am ready and waiting to take on the burden of a vast fortune and possibly a mansion.😁 Another Christmas Joke What is an elf’s favourite type of music? Wrap! We then found ourselves literally walking through a wonderland in Dorset, luckily, we escaped with our heads intact. We found a tower on top of a hill; it was so windy the tower was even being blown over. No, I am just kidding it is the wide-angle lens used that causes this distortion. Some people would have to straighten it all out in post but I quite like the effect.   Back to Harlow Town for this next one. Taken because the buildings shown here no longer exist, demolished to make way for new changes taking place. Nothing stands still for too long. I hope this progress will truly be of benefit to the town and its people.  Next on the whistle stop tour a visit to a local favourite of ours Fishers Green which always offers opportunities for a piccy or two or three or four. If your not into taking photos yourself (who isn’t nowadays with mobile phones so ready to hand), then Fishers Green offers lovely walks, oh yes and there is also an ice cream van most of the year, what more do you need.   Moving on two images from a commission we undertook. Taken at our local park.   And another Christmas Joke Why is the Christmas alphabet different to the ordinary alphabet? The Christmas alphabet has Noel. Somewhere else very local to us, Latton Wood, a great place to take a look around and maybe find a piccy. It isn’t massive but still offers a nice little walk on reasonably good paths. There is also common ground where horses can be found grazing.   We also found our image on the front of the Harlow Times Spring edition.  We may have mentioned this before.😇 A quick train ride and back into London, this time Spitalfields and the Brick Lane areas. At Spitalfields we found ourselves transformed to an earlier era watching an impromptu tea dance. The band were excellent and great time was had by all.   Brick Lane is again all about the graffiti and the market. Some fantastic street artwork and lots of it.   Keeping with the London theme and later in the year another adventure this time to the Barbican Centre, which was quite quiet and a stroll down to Covent Garden. Sadly, the gardens at the Barbican were shut due to a private function. At least it gives us another reason to return another day. Covent Garden in contrast to the Barbican was awash with people having fun, shopping and dining out.     These next two images are from our holiday to Wales, we love Wales it is our fourth year there and we have been to a different area every time. The people are always friendly and there is so much to see. This is one of the train drivers who was happy to pose and give us a wave as he went, steam filling the air. The next image is Borth beech where we found ourselves in a mini sand storm. The way the sand danced across the beech was mesmerising. So many images taken just on this one visit.   Another Christmas joke I hear you cry. What’s the absolute best Christmas present? A broken drum — you can’t beat it! After Wales we went straight on Safari capturing the animals in blistering heat of Kenya.     Nope hang on that’s not quite true, I wish we could go on Safari. So, this was the next best thing a trip to two of our local Zoos, on different days just for clarification. Would you have guessed if we had continued with the charade? Well, if you are all sticking with this well done and thank you. Back and even more local now with a walk around Gibberd Garden which was the home of Sir Frederick Gibberd who was consultant architect planner for the development of Harlow. He spent the rest of his life living in the town he had designed.   Because we didn’t get to see the Highgate Cemetery West on our first visit we decided to return for this very purpose. We were very glad we did and enjoyed another day walking around. If you haven’t been, again we highly recommend it, it is not scary at all quite the opposite full of history, quiet and peaceful.   Although, if you do have a penchant for the macabre you can also imagine scenarios with vampires, werewolves, crusaders and treasure maps. Look, at this point you have to admit I have not been forthcoming with my usual sci fi references so I need a little bit of mind wonderings. Another suitable Christmas joke for the last visit. What do you get if you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite. Keeping with the magical and mysterious, this next trip brought us face to face with a Death Eater whilst walking through Diagon Alley. After we clocked it (slang - for saw something UK), we thought it was time (get it time the image is of the clock, clocked it get it. Well I’m not going anywhere, just renewed the website subscription, so you will just have to put up with it) to make a hasty retreat. Once again another brilliant trip, even if you are not a dyed in the wool Potter fan, it is very interesting.   Ok sorry no more silliness or tall Tales next is our trip to Canterbury (nope not saying anything about Canterbury and Tales it was just a strange coincidence “honest governor”). Ahem as I said Canterbury. Not exactly what we thought it would be but still very nice, although charging you to walk around the outside of Canterbury Cathedral (that was covered in scaffolding when we went, didn’t say nothing about that on the website before we visited) was a little bit steep in our opinion. Pay to go in we get, but to walk around outside? Bah Humbug (had to get a little Dickens in somewhere, well it is Christmas after all). Anyway, as I said there is much to commend Canterbury and it was nice to visit as we hadn’t been before.   Almost there now time for another Christmas joke. Where do Santa's elves go swimming when they have stopped working? The North pool. Just a quick one now, took some frozen fruit out of the freezer and thought “that could make a picture”. Here is my artistic version what do you think?  This little image taken on a walk along the riverside (local of course, just through the park and over the bridge) led to our Halloween Reel which was very well received, so we thank you all very much. Check it out on this website.  You may have seen one of our other images on Facebook from this walk which was once again local to us at Parndon Wood. Another place full of photographic opportunities throughout the year. We were not out long but came back with lots of lovely fungi images.   Finally, December is here and we finish with the Christmas lights in London.   Which brings us to the end of our journey and 2023. We hope you enjoyed a wander through the year with us. You may have noticed that a lot of our images were taken very local, so I think what we are trying to say is, take your inspiration from all around you whether that is in an artistic way or just noticing the little things, get out there and see what you can find, you may be more surprised than you think. If you take a look at last year’s Christmas Blog I started off with a quote from C. S. Lewis: “Isn’t it funny how day by day nothing changes, but when you look back, everything is different...” I think that can equally apply here, now I have taken a quick look back I realise just how much we did do in 2023. There is a plethora (don’t you just love words like plethora, so posh) of images from all of these visits to work on. So, 2024 will be equally busy and of course there will be many more adventures to be had. Just time for one more Christmas joke. Why did Father Christmas get a parking ticket on Christmas Eve? He left his sleigh in a snow parking zone. What? There that good you want one more, well ok then. How much did Father Christmas pay for his sleigh? Nothing, it was on the house! Boom Boom. So, we end 2023 as we do all our Christmas blogs. Here is looking to a very bright and prosperous future for everybody. Happy Holidays to all. Be careful, be safe, enjoy what you have, eat, drink be merry and stay warm. We hope that 2024 brings you many adventures both big and small. In our best Dickensian voices, we say (imagine in your head the voice of Brian Blessed, you know, he said Gordon’s Alive in Flash. I did it last year and I've done it again). May we wish you a Merry Christmas and to one and all a Happy New Year.  If you made it to the end thank you. 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