A challenge for me here. I was asked if I could clean up an old picture. Well, here's the original below, & right is my effort.
Had some fun with that I must say

Oops, Almost forgot...Carol has booked a 4 night stay at Bodelwyddan Castle for my 65th, Jan 20. We go on 19th, lets hope the weather holds. I hope to have changed the car by then as well. Now we have closed the archery business, I don't need the Saab to tow with. Something smaller & cheaper to run would be good. Don't get me wrong, the Saab is a great car, but with my income as it is/will be, I need a few more MPG

I'm also looking at an extended holiday in perhaps Tenerife maybe 3-5 weeks should do it. There are a few offers in the keep net..Well, at least I can dream, Can't I?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Just a little something for Christmas

Halloween 2008.
Had a great time with the ghouls at Rosliston Forestry Centre. Lurking in the bushes waiting for the tourists to turn up in their walking groups. I also gave some of the scarer's a bit of a fright as well. Being the "Grim Reaper", I was able to wander around at will, quietly walk up to some of the other scarers whilst they were talking, & standing close, clear my throat. That made 'em jump a bit. Errm, I'm in the middle here

I went for a walk the other day & took some pickies (as you do) I thought they looked nice, I hope you do as well

OWL ATTACK

This evening I went out for a walk around 11:00 (Just got back actually).
I heard an owl, unusual in this area. It was sitting on a house roof, the noise it made was an "Oooh-Oooh" quite loud & fairly deep. I looked but did not see it at first, then...I heard another cry & I was clipped on the ear as it passed me. It landed on the roof of another house & cried it's call again, looking at me. I carried on walking, another cry then BANG, it hit me on the head as it flew past, landing on yet another roof. The same cry as it looked at me. I said something to it like "Sod off" & carried on. Another cry, nothing for a few seconds then BANG again. quite a heavy contact this time. It then flew off to a tree near to the open spaces which form part of the Oversetts open spaces, & cried it's call once more. The size I would guess would be like that of a small eagle owl, the colouring was dark with a few light areas in the feathers (This in sodium street lighting) I also reckon that it is used to human contact & was wanting to be fed perhaps(?). If it wanted to cause me damage, it very easily could have. The question remains Is there one that has possibly escaped in this area?

How much to process?

I received a cheque today for the staggering sum of £0.07 How much did it cost to print, post (envelope & delivery) & process at my bank?

Opening of "The Glade"

Back in May I think it was I posted a picture of the stage that was being built. Now it is completed. Last night 12th Sept' the opening ceremonywas held. Hosted by S'Derbyshire Council, Rosliston Forestry Centre in partenership with national Forest. The music was supplied by Newhall Brass band..."Last Nght at the Proms"






















Dambusters March

Wot a weekend

It started well fine weather , managed to even clean the car. Our guests came to us for the w/e where we had a great meal & drinks with nice music as a background. A few drinks after dinner then off to bed somewhere after midnight. Sunday was the main event for us as we were off to a concert in Derby at Darley Park. The day started well, sun & a light breeze. I went for a walk in the morning to loosen up. We left for Derby around 13:00 just as things were getting cloudy. We got into Burton just as the rain started (Knew I should not have cleaned the car). We arrived in Derby & went to the Abbey public house for lunch. (Free parking, if you know where to go). Having had a good meal, we went for a walk to kill a couple of hours. We had to turn back to go to the car as the weather was getting too much for us, we needed to put on our other waterproofs. To cut a long story very short we set our chairs down for the forthcoming concert. Fully waterproofed & ready for whatever came at us. We decided to leave the camcorders behind as the outlook was not good. Good job we did, the heavens opened we GOT SOAKED despite the waterproofs. So there we sat in the rain getting very wet listening to music. We must have been MAD! Still, we enjoyed ourselves.
The fireworks were fantastic, set to music. Pity we left the cameras in the car, as we would have liked to have recorded the event. But, we still have our cameras undamaged , there is always another time

It's about time I entered something here!

The archery equipment has still not been sold. But that is not surprising, being a somewhat limited market, I'm going to have to be patient..

I have recently joined a local forum Derby, Bygones. Basically a site devoted to the personal memories of people who live, or lived in Derby. I wander if there are other sites that do something like this?
Soon, I shall be driving to Avimore for a weeks walking holiday. I'm really looking forward to it. A change of scenery & somewhere new to walk. I hope to write up a full report on "tripadvisor" it seems a good site for information on holiday destinations

I'm going to a concert this weekend in Derby. I missed last year's & was very disappointed, I was under the impression that it was held in September, so I set up an automatic reminder to get the information for this year the info' is in the link.

I can't remember if I mentioned my hernia op'. Well, things are now fine,,, walking properly again, I shall leave the garden until I return from my holiday. Goodness knows, there is enough work to keep a gang of navies employed for a month or two. I have no intention of doing myself possible damage at this fairly early stage of my recovery.

Thats' all for now I'll get back when something shows up

Retirement looms
I have decided that as I ain't getting any younger, it is time to hang up my business equipment I'm looking for £1750 for this lot. There is more than in the listing see below.

Trailer & archery equipment for sale.

Ideal for new club or business.

Conway Van Trailer model number VT506, Max Gross weight 500Kg

3x layered foam bosses 90cm, 5 target stands.

2 x 12x8 backstop netting, 4 line-posts. Bag assorted guys & ground pegs.

6 x 54” R/h (Ragim) trainer bows, 2 L/h trainer bows @ #14. (Bagged)

3 x 66” R/h (Ragim & Petron) trainer bows, 1L/h trainer bow @ #20. (Bagged)

6 x 68” R/h trainer bows (Ragim) 1 L/h trainer bow @ #20. (Bagged)

2 x Ragim trainer R/h risers, 1Ragim junior size riser. Used for spares/swap L-R, (Bagged).

15 Club sights for bows with a few spare sight pins

4 tubes with assorted arrows (approx’ 150) plus some (25+) non-descript of various sizes.

Bracers 13 full arm length, 3 junior & 10short, finger tabs

Pkt target pins, plus others.

Some target faces, 80cm & animal

Home made bowstands & quivers (Ground & belt).

Plus other odds & ends such as vanes, point nocks etc in draws & tool box

Buyer to collect. Or can deliver, 50p per mile (includes return trip C O D)

£1750

Collection / Delivery when funds have been cleared.

Please vote for Rosliston http://www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk/awards/shortlistitem.cfm?id_category=6&id_entry=55

The video was removed by AOL after one maybe two days of me getting it on here SPOILSPORTS

I have decided that enough is enough. I am calling it a day as far as my business is concerned. We worked in Derby at a primary school looking after young children about 45 in groups of 10's or close enough to that. We have been thinking of packing it in for some time now as my health is stable but not too good right now, I have a hernia, & the operation is set for Friday coming. My back lets me know it is still there, & gives me a severe jolt every now & again. So Bye Bye archery business. WANNA BUY SOME GEAR???

Whatever has happened to the Cornish pasty???

I had a very nice week in Cornwall near to Praze-an-Beeble, just south of Camborne. The weather was great, well, up to the Friday when the heavens opened.
My only disappointment was the quality of the Cornish pasties. They are verging on the tasteless mass produced pap we can buy from any fast food outlet. The pastry is fatty & flaky stuffed with possibly cheap dog food, it used to be a "Short" pastry with the filling of good quality meat & veg' with quite a hint of pepper. Is this progress? COME ON CORNWALL, GET YOUR ACT TOGETHER!!


Above is the lodge we had for the week it is at Clowance Estate, a time share complex. The lodge is fully equipped with all you could wish for,3 bedrooms (master with on-suite) fully fitted kitchen, comfortable lounge with internet access via the TV, the second bathroom turned out to be a shower room with our own sauna. With over 96 acres of parkland & woodland walks. The swimming pool is free, also with jacuzzi & jet pool (Swim against the jet) with the added bonus of hot showers & free soap/shampoo after a swim. The only downside was the restaurant, it did not meet my expectations for price & quality. The food was expensive for the quality of the food. I do have a query, "Should sweet& sour pork be cooked with a tomato & basil sauce???" Well mine was, in fact my wife had the same sauce on her mussels. We did smile at one table, a lady ordered a "pear based" sweet. The lady at their next table went over to her asking if she could find any pear, as hers seemed to missing the vital ingredient. Watching them both dissect & having an autopsy on the sweet in question was to say the least, amusing.

ps. if you want a proper pasty, look here

Had a few pictures sent to me today. I thought have a bit of fun. I call it "Going for Gold".
I guess I could have taken longer with it & done it differently, but I only had 5 minuets to spare This is the result. Not bad for a rush job, even if I say so myself.

I did not mention that some of us had a presentation as a thank you from the organiser. I felt guilty about this, there were more people working other thanCarol, Pat & myself. As I see it, we should all have had something, or everyone had nothing other than a verbal thank you.

Today is the big one for the club.......... Our Open shoot We had the rain yesterday we have wind promised for today. I'm not shooting I have a field party job also Photographer & first aider.
Yesterday afternoon was spent by putting faces to the target bosses with Brian whilst two of the ladies Carol (My Good Lady) & Kelly sorted out whatever it is they sort, but we did get a nice coffee from them "Thank you". The field was pretty well set up by Stan & Ian by the time we got there . It is surprising how much work can be done by just a small team of workers in such a small amount of time...Well not really Last year was a farce 3 managers & two workers This year No MANAGERS says it all really
I'll see what I can report later, after the shoot

0800 start by tying the direction signs to lampposts, Then up with the targets, stands & generally pretty well everything else. A gazebo was put up & half hour later was taken down again with three damaged legs & roof support.It was a windy one to say the least, Some big branches were blown off the trees. At least, the rain stayed away. There were in excess of 60 archers, although 70 had paid their entry... well, that was their choice. The BBQ was excellent Young Abigail made some sweet chilli sauce, it went very well with the burger & salad. The shoot was a success for most archers a disappointment for one or two, well, they should have hit the target instead of breaking their arrows on something else. (Easily done though, as I only know too well).
The presentation was well received, a buffet, enough to feed twice as many people as were there was attacked with gusto, & still plenty was left (but not wasted)If you want to view some of the pictures taken look at http://picasaweb.google.com/peter.studden/2008OpenShoot
Thats all for the time being

OOPS

Had to make the 0800111999 call this morning. I could smell "Curry" or something like it. The gas engineer came out to check on our gas leak...seems I had left the gas oven on, albeit very low. I did not realise that once the flame had gone, gas could still escape. IT CAN! lesson here, MAKE SURE !!!
Still, no damage done. I will not be doing that again. At least, we cleaned the oven out so that was a good thing.

Latest bit of fun with pictures. This is Jen' a member of our clan.
You can find me perhaps in the bottom R corner of the picture

PayPal? COME OFF IT!

I just had an e-mail from PayPal telling me I have had my account severely restricted. I'm rather glad about that, seeing as I do not have an account with them. If you do get one of these, just delete it, don't even bother opening it. Report it if you wish, I expect thousands have already.
I would love to be able to reply to the SCUM that send these mails, with a program that does severe damage to their equipment.
I saw in the news the other day, that a great percentage of Scam is now sent from London (UK) & that the Police are powerless to intervene. Seems strange does that. I guess the prisons are too full, & the innocent will just have to suffer.

Have a nice life

THIS I LIKE

An Israeli doctor said, 'Medicine in my country is so advanced, we can take a kidney out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in six weeks.'

A German doctor said, 'That's nothing! In Germany, we can take a lung out of one person, put it in another, and have him looking for work in four weeks.'

A Russian doctor said, 'In my country medicine is so advanced, we can take half a heart from one person, put it in another, and have them both looking for work in two weeks.'

The English doctor, not to be outdone, said 'Hah!. We can take an arsehole out of Scotland, put him into 10 Downing Street and have half the country looking for work within twenty-four hours.

Playing with pictures

I enjoy taking pictures, anything that takes my fancy at the time. recently, I was asked if I could/would put two pictures into one. The subjects are two dogs, one now dead & the other a stroppy teenage puppy. No e-mail as yet, But I have been practising with other pickies.
Below is one I did have a problem with. The lady is a good subject but the original background (Coat of arms) that was sent to me later was not suitable, so, searching on the net, I found the Open University's logo, the off centred toilet seat. Using Corel's Paint Shop Pro X, altering light values picture sizes & various other tools available.........

The end result

Another I have done

This one is from two different pictures, the young gent is a straight edge finder, copy /paste as new layer The young lady (his sister) was taken from a family pic' using edge finder with lots of feathering, also light levels had been modified to soften the overall effect.

After asking advice, I retried the top picture again, here's the result
I think I prefer this as it has a "softer" look to it

Archery at Camp America

2:46 PM on Monday 26 May 2008

Today, I was giving advice to a young gentleman on how to set up a shooting range for archers. This in order to work with children & perhaps young adults at Camp America. He also wanted to know the various parts of the arrow, the bow, & other information in relation to shooting safely. Seems he has been shooting for about two years, & then not a lot because of study commitments. This is fine, in as far as it goes, but what concerns me, is that Camp America could well be taking on well meaning archers without the experience. My guest did shoot a few arrows so I could watch, he did quite well for saying he had not picked up a bow since last summer. I just hope things work out well for him when he is there. The best I can do (have done) let him have my e-address, at least he can keep in touch for any questions he might have.

Shot a long Western round this afternoon. (Sorry! Yesterday afternoon) the wind was gusty, my shooting was OK (at times) but on the whole.... lousy. The last time I shot this round, I made a score of 730+, this time... Not even 660. I felt like giving up, I would have if I was not enjoying myself so much. The last arrow had had enough as well, it took a nose-dive into the ground & buried itself about 2 inches deep, right by the target. I needed the metal detector to find the damn thing.

What's a Long Western? I hear you ask (I did didn't I?) Well, 4 dozen arrows shot at a 128cm target @ 80yds distance, & 4 dozen arrows at the same target , but @ 60yds distance. That's 96 arrows + six sighter arrows for the first distance. A lot of walking & a lot of pulling. Hard work, but relaxing

3 Pictures into 1

Nothing to do with archery this time. I thought I would do some editing of photographs, something else I need to practice at. We were in Tenerife where the pictures were taken, two different places, so I had to try & get the colour /lighting /contrast close. The background I found on the web whilst searching for "Chinese Gardens". The garden has had some things removed by cloning over, the lighting has been softened by reducing the opaque values. I like the result.
The original picture is still in flux. The picture above is a "print screen" copy & cropped to size. If I make further adjustments, I will post it (them) here for comparison.

Hospital appointment

Had a letter telling me that my appointment Friday 23rd May has been cancelled. No reason as to why, but I will be contacted at a later date advising me of the next appointment.
I have in the past been accused of being cynical. Perhaps I am, but is this one way of keeping hospital appointment waiting list numbers down to the "target"?

A bit of much needed practice

Yesterday saw me at the field, setting up a sight mark for 80yds. I'm in a competition Sunday & need to do well (Ha!) Several arrows down the line & I cracked it, 5 in the Gold, 1 in the Red, just out of the Gold. It would be nice if I could repeat that at every end on Sunday.

Drop the #

Kelly wanted her weight dropping by a lb or two. She is pulling #30 @ 28, tried everything, can't get it any lower. Her limbs do not have any # marking at all, everything but!! Sorry Kel' you will just have to build up those back muscles.

Newsletter

June is coming & I have yet to put the club's newsletter to bed. My problem is, I now have a little too much to put in, as the beginner's course has just ended, & a birthday announcement to make. Well, it makes a change from having nothing to enter. I still hear of our juniors winning medals & trophies, but never get information for the newsletter. Same goes for the seniors as well.

Pie 'n Peas shoot

So far, so good. Next Thursday sees Carol's shoot in action. So far, there are 28 archers taking part. We shall be shooting at a quartered target with "Tramlines" Hit the tramline & the score is a miss. I have taken 10 target faces home to mark, & discovered that I might have to take them back. We have the Sunday's comp' & I have since learned that we are hosting TWO competitions, so we have a shortage of faces perhaps. I have just put in an order for 50.
Thanks for letting me know guys. Just prey that you will have enough faces for the day.

Today's blurb

Ref: "Indoor shooting" I made the comment that Tesco were building a store on the site of the leisure centre. Seems I was wrong. They are not. I could have been right & they have cancelled the project. Whatever, I guess we will be shooting at the centre, next indoor season.

This evening saw the second lesson in the beginner's course 3 children & 2 adults. Nice & easy going, I was hoping that we would be in the "Crop Circle" by now, but it seams that little or no work has been done there since my last visit. I took the camera to record progress, if any. I did not even get out of the car when I saw what had not been done. It seems that the 2 new holiday chalets are going the same way, little or no work being done. I gather that Ros' were hoping to let out these chalets by the end of this month. No chance, no furniture has been purchased yet. Still, why should I worry, I do not work there now.

Swad Rifle & Pistol

Had a good day At Swad Rifle & Pistol Club We shot some rifle, .22 bolt, & semi automatic also .375 (?). Whatever, it was fun. Could get hooked onto that kind of pastime, except for the cost involved. Our archery gear cost enough as it is...at least you can shoot an arrow twice, or more.

We went along to show some of the members how to shoot archery style. A more gentle approach to target sport. There are one or two there who think they are very knowledgeable in the art of archery. I think that somebody has been reading a lot :) I had to point out to an "instructor" that we do not use the finger tips, as damage can be caused to the nerve endings there, possibly leading to an operation later in life.

Above: Debbie's first Gold

Below: Nice Form

Indoor shooting

I have just looked through the past 12 months of drivel. I thought that I had mentioned that we were creating an indoor venue at the club,. Hmm, must have been on another blog.
Anyway, Sometime in January (I think it was), we started to modify the tractor garage-cum-workshop, in order to be able to shoot indoors without having to pay the extortionate prices charged by the local leisure centre. Work started & was going well for the time being. Then club politics raised it's head, & the whole project was put into question. I do not know the full story, but to say that the parent club were putting quite a few restrictions onto us, perhaps would not be too far from the truth. However, it now seems that the building is too small by a matter of some 3 feet. Hmm, no comment.
To add to the not so good news, (Well, not news exactly), Tesco will soon be building a bloody great superstore where the leisure centre is. This means no leisure centre to shoot in come the indoor season. Now what are we going to do, or where do we go from here? It looks like our secretary has his work cut out to find a new venue which is big enough & cost friendly.
Oh well, carry on regardless

New Beginner's Course

Started the 6-week course yesterday, only 4 wannabes turned up, seems there were 5 originally. Never mind, the group is nice & manageable, 2 ladies & 2 boys. Lots more can be achieved in the time. All went well... should have had some bloke to help me set up, but he found another job he had to do instead. This often happens, but hey, I get paid by the hour, so if I'm going to be there longer, I get paid more. Should have taken the camera as I wanted to record the progress (if any) of the stage being built. But having had quite a busy day, swimming followed by 2 hour walking sessions, I dozed off when I got back home.

Have I mentioned that I am a Walk leader? Can't remember now. Never mind.
I started as a walk leader a couple of years ago here in S' Derbyshire, taking the people who needed the exercise out on accompanied walks. A lot of these people would not walk if they were by themselves...understandable these days. However, most walkers have been recommended by their Doctor to walk as a way of improving their health, or to speed up recovery from heart operations etc. Look at the link above for more information, there is bound to be something in your area.

Makes sense when you think about it :-)

Swadlincote rifle

As stated in the past, we have been challenged by Swadlincote Rifle to a shooting match. I called in today to view the club. There are some very nice people there, who made us very welcome. The facility has everything you could want in a well run club. We had been given some dates that it was possible to shoot. the first was too soon to organise a match (11th May), the second , 22nd June is our Open Western Shoot, a very big day in our calendar. I have asked if another alternative could be arranged. Hopefully, we should get a date soon preferably on a Saturday. There are some members there who have shot archery some time ago, & would like a re-introduction to the sport. Also, other members have shown an interest in taking up archery as well. We have offered to go to their club & coach them , so later on, we can have a return match at our club. Who knows where this can lead?

I just want to congratulate My Good Lady on passing her "Extend" exercise program for the elderly. She is now able to teach these good folk :) Nice one

Archery maitenance

As I work at Rosliston Forestry Centre on a "As needed" basis, I thought it about time the bows were looked at. 17 in total & all had a damned good safety check. This I do at least twice a year. As I am not the only user of the equipment ,but the only user to have the knowledge of how to repair/replace the strings. Of the 17 bows, only one needed a string rebuild, as the end loop was all nice & furry, also the centre serving was looking tired. All strings were re-waxed & new nocking points were fitted. There is a beginners' course due to start 7th May, so the bows need to be safe.

I do have a problem with some of the "Instructors" there...
Equipment left lying around, no arrows put away , just dumped in a cupboard, bracers, finger tabs anywhere but where they should be, and so on.

The trouble is, these "Instructors" are multi sport instructors, a little basic knowledge of a sport, & they think they know it all. An "Instructors course" was set up last month, where 6 young adults were trained in the art of archery instruction. What gets my goat, is that some of these "Instructors" had never shot an arrow before the course, & then getting an instructors qualification After one week of instruction . Would you know how to run a session with a mix of children & adults who had never shot before, with the knowledge that all equipment was in safe working order, and run it safely after a weeks course: bearing in mind, that a session may not come up for a month or two??? I doubt it, I know I could not!

At least, I am paid to do these checks, something I do not get at the club.

Picked up an e-mail today from Swadlincote Gun Club, inviting me to go & view the place. This is in response to a challenge from their Ladies team issued to our club. I'm looking forward to this. Don't know what will be expected of us... guns against guns, or guns against arrows, Either way, it gorra be good ;-)

Should have been shooting today in the "Burton Round". But sad to say, my back was off this morning. I hoped that a walk to Swadlincote, over the fields might have eased things somewhat, the walk did, but not enough. There are new compound shooters (new to the Dark side that is), I could shoot against, giving me some competition. We, Carol & I went to the field yesterday to get our sight marks for the distances, we came away feeling good, & looking forward to the shoot today. Ah well, such is life
I WILL BE BACK