After Dropping Diana Off At Work,

I started getting a few things together,

for my upcoming trip, only 5 weeks to go, I started by charging all of the batteries and keeping their chargers to one side, and after putting the tripod in my case packing the little space that was left with clothes, topping it off with my hat, this was just a trail run to see how much space I had for clothes, in the evening,

time for my read and sherry, the latest issue of Private Eye a day late this week, I followed that with, 

a huge chilli-con-carne that Diana had made for me, 'Cheers!', next a real treat, the 

New World Symphony at the Proms, if you missed it the programme was Dvorak’s epic, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra and a new triple concerto for BBC Young Musician star alumni Sheku Kanneh-Mason, Jess Gillam and Ben Goldscheider, a pleasure indeed, I then went for a period film that I like so much, 

The King, it was, I had watched it before, but just fancied watching it again, as it finished Diana arrived home so a coffee and a chat before we were both off to bed.

Towards Midday,

I dropped Diana off at work, 

on the way back home I called into Sainsbury's our CO2 cylinder needed exchanging, and of course they had none in stock, as it happens I was told they had none on Tuesday, the manger was called, he assured me they would be back in stock tomorrow, (Friday) but could not give a time, so another trip to Sainsbury's on Saturday, as with my luck they will arrive just as the store is closing, and this is the problem with the Internet age, go onto the web site, they are in stock, but go to the store and they are not, and the real rub? you cannot telephone the store to find out if they really are in stock, so back home for a few YouTube videos until my evening meal, then a Zoom meeting for all of us going to Namibia in 5 weeks time, we will all be under the leadership, of Will Gray for a 17 day photo workshop, to say I am looking forward to it is a huge understatement! a very successful meeting after which feet up for,

 The Last Castle, a enjoyable if slightly far fetched plot, as it finished it was then then the time to pick up Diana, arriving home we decided to finnish Sleepy Hollow, which we did before we were off to bed.

Blogspot Has Magically Started Working Again,

so back to Wednesday, 

as arranged Harry and Bobby arrived, 

with as usual mountains of gear, 

and our refurbished sash windows,

Booby soon had the first half installed in the kitchen, 

as Harry tackled the big bay window,

all going so well, 

Bobby with the second half, 

both of them in the living room,

 

as Harry finished off, 

kitchen completed, 

as was the living room, and the best part, there was no mess! every scrap of paint chippings, wood trim, you name it meticulously removed, what a great job, it is supring how because we could not easily open them never missed them, but now the windows open easily it is so nice to have them to open, 

in the evening a read and a glass of milk, no sherry this evening as I will be picking up Diana after the meeting of the Beckenham Photographic Society, that I will be attending, 

for tonight a Chinese chicken curry, 'Cheers!', after a coffee I was then off to the meeting, for tonight it was a 'carousel' by members, 4 tables were set up, as each of 4 members tackled various subjects, Fred and Phil explaining about how to edit photographs in various programs, Photoshop, Lightroom, and a few others, Marcia talked about how to prepare your prints for competitions whilst Andrew held a talk on copyright, censorship and other related photographic subjects, each presenter taking 45 minutes or so then a break before another 45 minute session, I choose Fred for the first half and then joined Brian in another hall where the lights could be turned off, as he gave insights and practical examples of studio work, both hugely interesting, as the meeting ended I was off to pick up Diana from work, arriving home it was feet up for a coffee for Diana and a spiced rum for myself as we settled down to watch, 

Sleepy Hollow, we had watched it before, this is what I wrote then, 'Constable Ichabod Crane, (what a great name, Ichabod), has to find the headless horseman of Sleepy Hollow, who cuts off heads, in case you are wondering the village of Sleepy Hollow is a real place, a book entitled Sleepy Hollow is a personal reminiscence, written by Washington Irving under the pen name, Geoffrey Crayon, this article (not to be confused with The Legend of Sleepy Hollow [1819]) also written by Irving, first appeared in The Knickerbocker Magazine, in May of 1839, given that the film is set in the US, I was amazed at how much of it was filmed in the UK', as it happened we did not watch too much of it, Diana was so tired she was off to bed, for myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

The Blog Will Be A Tad Late Today,

 for some reason,

blogspot will not upload any photographs, which is tres bizarre as there are no problems being reported on the blogspot site, I will try again later today.

Isle of Wight,

day one,

we were up early, we had found out that all trains had been cancelled from Beckenham Junction, so a tram to Croydon, then a train to Victoria, a short walk to the coach station and we were Portsmouth bound, on to the hovercraft and over to the Isle of Wight, a bus ride to Ryde, and here we are on the beach, our hotel the Premier Inn literally just across a narrow road opposite the beach, 

looking towards the pier, 

refreshed after our journey, we went for a walk along the front, 

when I spotted one of my favorite signs, dogs are fine, it is the owners that are the normal problem,

and here is a sign of the times, 

a derelict hotel failing into disrepair, 

no we will not be hiring one of these!

there are a few beach huts for rent, 

and stalls on the beach walk, 

I snapped a few interesting buildings, 

and a nice one, a Austin Healey Sprite, but alas it had broken down,

a couple more photographs, 

what a great name for a fish & chip shop,

we settled for a ice cream, 

and made our way to the pier,

it looked empty, but it was because so much of it was under cover,

Diana tried her luck at one of the Tipping Point machines, and turned £2.00 into 78 pence, then 32 pence and then we left, 

at the end of the pier a concrete jetty for fishermen, to try their luck,

we started our walk back, 

looking along the coast, 

it had turned into quite a nice day, 

we went back to our hotel and had a early night, a busy day tomorrow.

The Isle of Wight, Day Two,

started with a early breakfast, 

saying it was early, the staff had not started laying out the food, although yesterday evening we were asked what time we wanted to eat, 

but all was ready soon enough,

eyes down to truck in,

a great start to the day!

we were soon walking up the steep hill, 

and onto the bus, 

we were going to the Needles, 

and here we are, 

a tad early, 

but not to worry, 

as we had a look around, 

up to the viewing platform, 

Diana arriving there first,

and there they are, 

the Needles and their lighthouse, 

looking to the right from the platform,

the chair lift soon to be opened, 

a quick look at some of the dinosaurs, 

these around the go-kart track,

I am not sure that many dinosaurs have been found here,

but there are plenty of fossils from a earlier time to be found, 

the chair lift was now open,

scary-dairy!

it was a long way down, 

looking to the right, 

and down, below us a graveyard, for shoes and hats!

you can take the steps, 

but for myself, I could not have managed the steps, my knees would have given out

there are 2 boats go to the Needles, a slow one and a speedboat, 

we walked along the beach, 

you may have heard of the coloured sands of the island, 

and this is where they see the light of day, 

but no sand on the beach, 

it is all shingle and pebbles, 

a quick pose, 

originally the strands of colour were horizontal, but due to Technomic pressures they became vertical, 

just scrape at the black looking top coat, to reveal the coloured sands underneath, I should say there are notices up saying 'private beach', so I guess that means you can not take sand samples yourself, 

into the boat, 

and we were under way,

the sea nice and calm, 

although it was a bit blowy, 

grey skies were creeping in,

the last Needle and the lighthouse, 

as we started making our way back to shore, 

Diana happy as we made our way back, the sea was starting to get a bit bouncy,

a pose, 

and then we picked up a guest, 

or I should say he picked us, 

back on to the chair lift, 

and we were soon on our way up, 

selfie time!

then some fun, in one of the shops there were empty bottles you could buy, 

and coloured sands you could fill them with, 

they had so many samples of the different coloured sands,

so you could make your own unique coloured glass souvenir, 

so Diana filled her bottle with hand selected colours, 

which were then expertly tapped down and sealed, 

a look at the jewellery shop, 

and then a demonstration into glass blowing, 

to say it was warm inside was a understatement, 

I hate to think what their gas bill must be!

the gaffer, 

took us through,

 the various stages of making a vase, 

and then a chat, it was so amazing to watch him as he crafted molten glass into such a decorative piece,

next into the shop, 

Diana admired so many pieces, 

then on to a bus for our next stop, 

Shanklin Old Village,

so many thatched homes and shops,

some painted, 

in pastel colours, 

it all looked so nice, 

even the hotel,

I made my way back, 

to Diana, 

who was looking at the Christmas shop, 

opposite this imposing building, 

we went for a walk looking for red squirrels that live on the island, but alas none to be seen,

another neatly named fish & chip shop,

we walked up to the bus stop, 

and back to our hotel,

for a freshen up, before our evening meal, 'Cheers!',

we had decided on a Indian meal, 

a tofu dish for Diana,

a prawn puri starter for myself after some poppadoms, 

then our main course, a lamb and chicken dish with vegetables and rice,  

well I just had to, then back to the hotel for our evenings sleep.