Supplementary Post,

it was fine when we passed the cinema at 04.30 this morning, (Tuesday),

as I dropped Diana off at work, but now 10 fire engines in attendance, thankfully no mention of casualties, and lets hope it stays that way.

After Diana Left For Work,

I had a quiet day, 

it was time for me to buy my holiday insurance for our upcoming trip to Thailand and for Diana the Philippines and Hong Kong as well, last year the premium for myself was £280.00 from memory, I contacted the same company but was told they no longer cover holidays longer than 31 days, but rather helpfully gave me the details of one that did cover unlimited holiday periods, long story short £1,215.00! nearly £1,000 more for just 2 days over the 31 days! so I spent the morning and early afternoon emailing different companies until I found one that offered the same cover and luggage insurance thrown in for £407.00, note to self, next year book a holiday less than 31 days! after that I did not fancy playing with photographs, so I settled down for a couple of black & white films, the first Glory at Sea, the original title, Gift Horse, the military mission in the film is based on the real World War II raid on St. Nazaire by HMS Campbeltown in a campaign known as Operation Chariot, but in the film the Captain had more than a few problems before the attack, I followed that with,

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel, the film based on the real life Rommel, which appears to be a fairly factual account of his later life and death, after which I had my evening meal and I was out, tonight there was a interclub photograph competition for the Retina Cup between the club I belong to, the Beckenham Photographic Society and the South London Photographic Society, I have never been to one of these interclub competitions, basically the best 8 prints and the best 8 digital images from both clubs from the last year are shown to an accredited judge, the standard of photographs as you might expect was high, the ultimate scores were close, I will not gloat over which club won, lets just say the South London Photographic Society were the runners up, back home Diana had already arrived, so a coffee and a chat, then Diana was off to bed, another 05.00AM start for her, a couple from Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

I Say It So Often,

where have all the days gone?

it is Sunday again, so start with a read and a sherry, 

chicken liver pate and toast for our starter, 

eyes down and tuck in!

for today a roast chicken with all of the trimmings, sans gravy for myself, 

'Cheers!',

then a real treat for desert, 

a rhubarb crumble, with cream and ice cream, diet starts next week! after our meal we were entertained by Columbo, a couple we had not seen for some time, after a small snack in the evening our film for tonight, 

Tomb Raider, a enjoyable romp through Hong Kong and a jungle island, this film setting the pace for the next two, we rounded off our evening with,

House of Guinness, we watched the first in the series and really liked it, both of us saying we will watch the next one when we are both at home in the evening, after which Diana was off to bed, another 05.00AM start, for myself two from Bangers & Cash, before I too was off to bed.

Whilst Diana Was At Work,

I played with a few more photographs, 

I have to say the two orchids that yesterday I changed to black & white, were a total disaster, they looked and were horrible, oh well there it is, on a happier note I chose a few more, the one above from a day out at the Natural History Museum, I quite like the black & white look, as it happens the colour photograph looked nothing special at all, 

although I had made this a black & white some time ago, I was not happy with it so I played with it some more, and it is now as I like it, all of this brought me nicely to,

 

my evening read and sherry, 

followed by some smoked lake trout, and nice it was too, and made a change from the normal smoked salmon we have,

eyes down and tuck in!

on to my main course a Indian curry with rice, 'Cheers!', after which a couple of,

 Shed and Buried, motorcycle fanatic Henry Cole and his friend Sam Lovegrove travel across the UK in search of automotive bargains they can restore in their workshop and sell on for a profit, then feet up for my evening film, a old black & white one for this evening, 

Carrington VC. A court-martial attempts to find out why, and if, an officer embezzled his unit's funds, I followed that with a Marco Polo which finished just in time for Diana to return home, so a coffee and a chat as we watched a Bangers & Cash before we were both off to bed.

We Had Another Early Start,

as I dropped Diana off for her 05.00AM start, 

during the day I played with a few more photographs from the Viharn Sien folder then decided on a complete change of tack, I wondered what some of my orchids would look like if I changed the coloured image to a black & white, and here are a couple of them, 

I think the first one looks quite nice, but somehow the spray of then just does not look quite right, it may be me but I will know for sure when I print them out in A3 size tomorrow, 

after Diana arrived home it was time for my evening read and sherry, 

for tonight Diana made herself a mince dish, 

for myself a few slices of pork shoulder, 

then  a real treat, 

the first of the Christmas seasons panettone, delicious as we watched,

 Knives Out, a really enjoyable murder mystery featuring a all star cast, the storyline with more twisty bits than a bag full of twisty bits, we both thoroughly enjoyed watching this movie, after which Diana was off to bed, for myself another couple of episodes of Marco Polo before I too was off to bed.

I Have Been Printing So Many Photographs,

it was time to top up the ink tanks on our printer,

 

and nothing could be easier, just line up the inks in the order of filling, some left over from the last filling and some new ones, 

open up each of the ink reservoirs and insert the bottle, they can not be mixed up as each ink bottle has its own shaped nozzle which corresponds with the same filler on the tank, as each bottle is inserted it makes a glug-glug sound as the reservoir fills, 

next tell the printer which colours you have filled, so that it can adjust the onscreen information panel, and all is ready to go, and guess what? not even the smallest trace of ink on my hands and that was after filling all 6 tanks! next outside to meet another contractor, it was thought that the house should get a third quote for renewing the side and front fencing, after that as Diana was at work, it was play time!

I stayed with the Viharn Sien folder, from our visit in April 2015, when Diana's family came to Thailand and stayed with us,

a look at the garden in the temple complex for this one, after my evening meal I watched a Marco Polo followed by a episode of Wolf Hall, during which Diana arrived home, so feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched a Bangers & Cash before Diana was off to bed, a 04.00AM start tomorrow morning, for myself I finished the last episode of Wolf Hall, which I enjoyed immensely, Diana was not so keen on the series, for myself it would have been nice if they made a third series, but alas they did not, so with the end of that I too was off to bed.

I Spent The Day,

doing odd bits of paperwork, 

and playing with a few more photographs out of the Viharn Sien folder, from our visit in April 2015, when Diana's family came to Thailand and stayed with us,

as well as temples in the complex there are grounds with pools and fountains that you can walk around, 

which brought me nicely up to my evening read and sherry, 

for tonight Diana had left me a huge chili con carne, 'Cheers!', 

then out into the night, it was Wednesday, so a visit to the Beckenham Photographic Society meeting, I joined late in the last season, the club closes for the summer, although I had only attended 10 or so meetings in the last season I had a fair degree of success, in the few competitions I entered I ended up with one first, one third, two highly recommended and the Caithness Bowl for one competition, that I keep for the year, I think I may have ruffled a few feathers being as how I had only just joined, but there it is, I should say there are 2 standards in the competitions, the one I am in, and the other that has members who are all accredited, with numerous letters after their names of organizations in photography,  

I think I ruffled a few feathers again last night, no not of the heron that I put into to be judged, as it happened I took third place with the photograph, 

what was a tad embarrassing I also took first place with my study of Technicolour Cranes, every entrant can put in 2 photographs, congratulations all round, well it has certainly started the club year of well! after saying my farewells I was off home,

over the green, (I have made the photograph a lot lighter), at 10.00 in the evening it was pitch black, shortly after I arrived so did Diana, so feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched a Bangers & Cash before Diana was off to bed, for myself another episode of Wolf Hall, before I too was off to bed.

Diana Does Not Have To Start Work Today,

until 6.00 o'clock in the evening, (and does not finish until 02.00AM tomorrow),

so that means we have the day to ourselves, and where better to start?

the Toby Carvery at Eden Park of course, 

£11.50 each for as many platefuls as you can eat,

including unlimited toast, jam, tea, coffee or soft drinks,

'Cheers!', with a mug of tea, 

fully fed we were on our way, 

through narrow country lanes, 

driving through dappled sunlight, 

and hoping not to meet a tractor or bus coming in the opposite direction!

and here we were Knole Park and House, 

regular readers will know, 

we were here in January 2023,

this time we decided not visit inside the house,

 as we had explored that on our last visit, 

for today we wanted to have a closer look at the deer in the park,

but here is the problem, they never seem to stop eating!

except for a sneeze, 

a look around and then back to eating, 

some of them had very distinctive coats, 

did I mention it was cold?

we should have put a fleece under our jackets, 

under the entrance archway,

and up the stairs of the tower, entrance to this and the car park were £6.00 each, 

up to the first floor, 

looking down, 

and up, 

we found ourselves in the music room, 

with the latest hi-fi of a by-gone era,

one or two more flights up,

and we found ourselves at the top of the tower, 

time for a pose,

and a look, 

at some of the decorations of the building, 

I should mention when you walk on to the tower, the door is a tad small, nearly too small for Diana, so be careful not to bump your head, anyway my bruising will disappear over the next few days,

as we were looking at the main building, 

the clock struck 12.00 noon, 

the sky was clouding over from the blue skies we had on the way here,

looking through the next archway leading to the entrance to the house, 

and here is the entrance on the left, 

we made our way back, 

but first a pose from Diana,

on our way to the café, 

a solitary deer was grazing, after a warm up and a coffee and cake we continued walking, 

some deer on the left, 

but they were examples,

of a woodcutters craft, 

well I just had to have a pose, 

as did Diana, 

and one of the deer, 

then back to grazing,

unlike our last visit the deer were much closer to the road and easier to approach, but not too close!

time for another pose, 

or two, 

or three!

these two striking the pose as well,

as they started looking,

for pastures new, 

I guess building themselves up for the coming cold winter, 

we both thought this one was staring at us, but on looking closer we think it was sleeping!

we started making our way back to the car, 

more deer here than you can shake a stick at, 

all of these here, 

I am guessing were born this spring, and I guess we have all heard of the black sheep of the family, 

it looks like deer have them as well!

we arrived back at the car, 

and found that the black deer of the family had decided to follow us along, 

and quite handsome he looked, arriving home it was feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched this afternoons Tipping Point and The Chase, after our evening meal Diana was off to work, for myself after a Outback Opal Hunters, I decided on two episodes of Marco polo, then time for the second, third and fourth episode of,

Wolf Hall, a really enjoyable period drama, the sets, acting, costumes and storyline all first class, in the early hours of today a call from Diana so I was off to pick her up from work, next for us, we were off to bed.