As there was nothing to see here I removed it

Here's a little something I am working on. It's the faces I'm going to have problems with. How does one re-create a face when the important bits are missing?

An old B&W from 1965 (I think) needed a repair job doing, think perhaps I should have brightened up the finished pic'.

The Reunion
(NESTLES 09)

What a night. We met at the Littleover Lodge Hotel for the first reunion. It was 1965 when I left Nestles to go to work at Pirelli Tyres Burton on Trent. Now 44yrs & a few months later we all got together again. Something we should have done 20yrs sooner it was stated. We had 82 bums on seats, of which 64 were employees at the time. The guests were family members or friends. We had a three course meal at £10. per head. Nestles of Tutbury came to our aid by supplying us with a free raffle draw of a super collection of various Nestle products. They also provided a star prize of a Krups Nestles Dolce Gusto Coffee maker. The products were split into 5 separate prizes. Thank you Alan for contacting Nestle & thank you Nestle for providing the prizes. I would like to say thank you to Dot for pulling my number out of the tin (No7) the Star prize no less. That was an added bonus to my evening can tell you.

My Coffee maker & Dot Thanks Dot

It has been suggested we have another reunion 2nd November 2010...everyone went for the idea

They call this Broadband???

I cant even get a reading in the evening. I'm sure my Dial-up was faster

Bye Bye Nature?

We are about to have a new golf course situated between Newhall & Swadlincote on the former open cast site. A hotel is also going to be built. As to how much land will be taken up we have yet to find out, but there will be a cost to it all. Wildlife will be the first to be affected, Skylarks & Lapwings have nested there over the years

However, it would seem that the golf course will be a "Wooded" one as we are in the heart of the National Forest. Different perhaps. I shall try to keep a pictorial record on a monthly basis of the progress. I was talking to the Ecologist who was on site, he told me that over the past 5yrs there has not been much in the way of wildlife moving in other than the birds & a few Grass snakes. His words were "Surprisingly dead", there are quite a few golf courses in the area, I thought another would be overkill, but who am I to argue?

Just draw a circle, create a background (of sorts), play about with the whole thing & get a hole? Well it passed the time for 5 min's or so.

HOT STUFF

I was sent a mail today, I don't know what the lady was implying but...... I have been told they will grow up to 18" in length. I'm saying NOWT.

By the way, they are called Peter's Peppers

Nestles

Back in April I mentioned I had been in contact with former workers from Nestles. Well, I'm pleased to say that there is a reunion planned for 3rd November at the time of writing this entry, there are 42 people going to attend with another possible 50 or so if they can be contacted. Things are moving along nicely

Put your feet up & listen

Common Blue

I was walking in Rosliston Forestry Centre on Tuesday morning with my camera. I had decided I wanted to capture a Blue butterfly. They are getting scarce these days, & I wanted one before they all went. I called by at Greenheart lake where I knew I should find one. Armed with camera ,tripod & a stool stick(Walking stick with built in seat) I perched my bum on the stool & waited. The morning was slightly overcast, but with a promise of sun later. Whilst waiting, I shot a few shrubs, but nothing worth while. After about an hour or so, I saw a movement, it was a Blue. I removed the camera from the tripod & went chasing. It was a fast little beast. Got me running about in circles I can tell you. The tripod would have just got in the way. Anyway, to cut a long story short, I got pretty well what I wanted. When I retuned home after picking up My Good Lady from her yoga session, I loaded the picture into my computer only to see the wing had been damaged. Old age do you think? Well, it is a bit late in the season. Well, I have the program & I have the time, so I thought I would try & repair the wing....What do you think? I have enhanced the colour a little, but not by much. I now need to catch other butterflys such as Peacocks or Tortoiseshells & hope the wings are not too damaged as that could make the repair very complicated. I will be starting a course in September on Digital Imaging, it lasts for 10 weeks (I can only make 9 of them), but I think I will have picked up enough information to do more than just basic cloning & other fairly simple editing projects.

I call it Golden Sunburst. I put it here because I liked it when I had done the conversion with Corel Paint shop Pro X

Having seen the news the other day, I just had to put this in here.

Bye Bye Saab

After having a long rest on the front garden I finally said goodbye to our old Saab. I decided to put it into retirement in January of this year as too many job needed to be done, such as the exhaust was beginning to blow, cracked nearside mirror (thanks to some moron driving his/her Chelsea Tractor too fast on a country road on a bend in Scotland) The gear would slip out of reverse often & sometimes was difficult to keep in. Not a lot perhaps, but enough to warrant a replacement car.

Time to pack 'em in!

OK I've been smoking for some 50 odd years or so. Cigars mostly, I packed in cigarettes when I was in my 20's, but did have a few now & again. Why am I giving up?
Well, the cost of enjoyment in this country is getting ridiculous, & I do enjoy my cigars. I gave up drinking in pubs years ago as the cost was getting prohibitive. I do have the occasional glass of wine or a cider, but then perhaps once a month. I do go abroad for holidays where the cost of enjoyment is better. A week in this country costs more than a month abroad, half board & flights included (I must be honest here, we tend to go in January February time). Plus the weather is usually guaranteed. Oh, & the service tends to be better as well. We go to Cyprus in February.
I still have to pay for it
I could do with a new camera, as I have signed up for an adult learning course for digital editing.
We go to N' Wales in September to celebrate our 38th anniversary.
Just a few good reasons for chucking in the habit I reckon

I had a nice e-mail from WHI telling me I had one first prize in the monthly photo competitionn. Read below. I will not put the picture here as I already have it blogged, but the link in the mail will show other entrants as well
Dear Peter,

I am delighted to tell you that your lovely photo is the winning entry in the WHI photo of the month competition for June 09

Please see page http://www.whi.org.uk/details.asp?back=true&key=2638|0|3DA9864004506|R|986|2854631612008455167331&parentkey=2638|0|3DA9864004506|p|986|0

It has occurred to me that I have not placed any archery related articles here recently. This because I (or should I say we), have not rejoined the club since the subs were due last June. As a pensioner my income is fixed, whereas the subs continue to rise on an annual basis, so, it is a case of "Eat or Shoot". No competition there then! The last time I shot an arrow was on holiday in Gran Canaria, back in February of this year. I shall probably have another "Go" when I go to Bodelwyddan Castle in September. I have promised to take some of my own equipment to show them "Some proper gear" It'll be good to use my own after such a long time

Orchids

Whilst out walking recently with my camera, I have spotted a few flowers that need keeping, so here they are. I do not know what the first orchid is called, any help would be appreciated

Bee Orchid (apprently)

This was found by a fairly busy unofficial footpath leading into Sainsburys

car park Swadlincote

A video slide show I have put together as an exercise in editing & my enjoyment of walking.

From My Videos

Just an idle thought.

Do I need a return ticket to take a trip around the world?

Congratulation, you did not win.
(By e-mail)

I entered a photo competition on the WHI web pages I did not win, but I was a runner-up. As it was my first entry to a competition, I was quite pleased. Must try harder next time though.

Sunday's Plod

Foremark Reservoir & Bretby Woods

The first of 26 styles

26 walkers gathered at Bretby Nursery for a 10.5 mile walk, the weather was good, in fact perhaps too good for walking, as the skin started to leak after 15min's or so.

We had company part way, I think they fancied a change of scenery.

Bretby Church

Former School House at Bretby

There were many fields like this on the route, with various crops in the early stages of growth. Some of these fields are very steep hills with the footpath buried under the growth, & very hard on the feet, despite the heavy rains of the past week.

A woodland walk by Repton

By the time we had arrived here We had climbed few hills & the weather was not getting any cooler, so the shade provided by the wood was a welcome respite.

Now this looks to be a good idea for a Sunday's leisure pastime. Relaxing, cool & not a great deal of traffic noise









So this must be Foremark Reservoir then. A popular place for locals to spend a sunny Sunday afternoon. There are walks to follow, picnic area toilets, shop for refreshments & errm, £1.50 to take the car in. Have the right money, as the bollards do not let you in.

It's not every ones idea of a Sunday's drive, but why not if you've got it?

A wooded walk to "Carvers Rocks". A nature trail at Foremark
Nice & cool in the shade

But you have to watch where you put your feet


The last pic' I took

Just 3 more miles to go & a very steep hill to climb Then we're back where we started. The route was 10.5 miles in total, with the hill climbing, it felt more like 15

Something different

We went to the theatre last night, something we have not done for years. The play was the stage version of Terry Pratchett's "Lords & Ladies", his 14th book. A parody of Shakespeare's "Midsummer's Night,s Dream". I'm sorry to say that the acting did not do the story line justice, in fact, if it was on the TV, I would have switch off or over. The cast did try, but were amateurs to say the least, but all credit to them, there could not have been more the 12 in the cast, & they all played several parts. The scenery was very basic & was constantly moved or turned to suite the act. Fortunately, my own imagination did the rest...It had to.
Oh, the theatre, it is at Buxton, the Opera House. Not very big but decorated in the traditional way, lots of gold & White/Cream paint with Cherubs, pictures & musical instruments painted on the walls & ceiling.
Would I go again? Perhaps. Having said that, we are going to see "Dinner Ladies" (Victoria Wood's TV comedy) 6th June. More on that later.

Coton-in-the-Elms walk

To continue the theme of walking in South Derbyshire here's a few bits from the walk yesterday, it turned out to be 8miles as near as... the day started fine, but soon turned to rain. We saw ourselves plodding through eight different woodlands & couple of meadows.
The walk lasted pretty much 5hrs. Although I live locally, there were a lot of thing I had never seen before. Living in Derbyshire people think "Peak District" Yes true, but it's not that near to me I probably have a 60 to100mile round trip to do the Peaks, depends on my destination. Here it is quieter. less traffic so easier parking. The views are excellent in places you can see Warwickshire in one direction Cannock Chase in another The Peaks in yet another. The woodlands are sustainable commercial for various "industries". The average age of the woodlands here is around 15yrs, & the trees are growing very fast, obliterating many local landmarks. Below is one such wood, it has many pathways in all directions, you could easily get lost.
We do rest from time to time, well, you have to eat it is a question of , do you sit on the grass even if it has been "chucking it down", or do you stand. I stood, as you can see some didn't
There are a few interesting things to see on the way around apart from the woodlands. Below is one you will not see every day. We thought it might have been dead, but the weather had cooled a lot owing to the rain, shedding the old skin is a slow process I believe, I like to think it was just waiting to warm up before moving off.
That's all for now I think, I'm off to Rosliston today for a couple of hours, I might take the camera

S'Derbyshire Festival of Walks.

The festival started Saturday 16th of May. We met at the YHA building at Moira. After a little talk from a couple of guests we set off. There were three different walk taking place at the same time. Pictured left is a group who took the "short walk" about one hour in duration. We met as our paths nearly, but did not cross. I joined the group on the "5 mile" walk as I needed to see new walks. Below are a couple of pictures of some of the terrain we had to go through. Note the "Duck boards" there are several broken

I was disappointed to see that some locals had light fires (there was one smouldering as we passed by) in the woods also a lot of litter was left, some of it broken glass. I can only think that is must be the younger element of society doing this. It is a great shame that these people have not been taught how to respect the countryside, & the dangers of fires in the woods!
As you can see, there is plenty for fire to get a hold of
In all the walk took around 2 hours to complete including rest/comfort break. This was taken at Moira Furnace









We were fortunate with the weather as the showers did not come to much. The sky was grey as you can see but the temperature for walking was perfect.
I got second placing for this photo. Here's the results of the competition

Back garden Back breaker

I've had a few days of working in the back garden Stripping the decking of the old stain & getting back to the original wood, Thanks to my Good Lady, we have just about completed the project after a second pass with the sander. Net I will be "painting" on the decking oil. Meanwhile, 14-15 fence panels have been re-coated in preservative, along with the shed. Several shrubs have had a serious pruning, if only to get to the fence panels. My water feature had sprung a leak, so it will be filled with soil for plants & a bucket for a small water feature. I'm aiming at redesigning the whole back garden whilst I'm still able, I ain't getting any younger. So as a reminder, I'm putting a couple of pictures from my garden to remind me that it will be worth the trouble.

Oops. I missed a day

Saturday I (& 3 other leaders) took a party out on a Bluebell walk. Quite a few people turned up They were not disappointed either The flowers were in full bloom, & the scent was powerful.
& the weather was perfect for the walk, despite the promises of the meteorological office

A good day all in all

I went to Derby Assembly Rooms yesterday to watch Joe Brown in concert. It was a great show, a cheeky grin, a strum, & off they went. Old, new & not so new. His son Peter Brown is one hell of a guitarist, mind you I reckon he must have had a good teacher. I wander who that was?

Would I go again? You bet I would

I've added Facebook to this blog. I can't think why. I don't go there a great deal. I expect there's always a chance that someone might remember my name from the past.

Mind where you walk

If you go to the woods, be careful, you might see more than you bargained for.

Not really certain of what the "Animal" here is, but it looks like it lays eggs. Could it be the "Flattybilled Duckiepuss"?
See below
Thanks to Misty15 (Bowland Central Forums)