Sunday Again!

I was up early wanting to try the new editing program Bob had put on my computer for me, 

this straight out of the camera, I ran it through Topaz making a couple of small adjustments, 

and arrived at this, much clearer, cleaner and a tad brighter and with a better contrast, 

the detail in this crop, 

much clearer, a great programme, it has saved me a ton of work in Photo Affinity 2 and the NIK 9 Collection that I normally use, 

on to my read and sherry,

straight onto our main course, roast lamb with lashings of gravy for Diana,

sans gravy for myself,

'Cheers!',

then a real treat, Diana had made a apple and sultana crumble with cream and ice cream it was delicious! we settled down on the sofas normally for a couple of Columbo's, but the ones showing we had recently watched so for our Sunday afternoon film,

 North by Northwest, great for a Sunday afternoon when you are relaxing after a Sunday lunch, in the evening after a snack a old favorite was showing on one of the television channels, 

 The African Queen, Rose Sayer takes on the German warship, the Louisa, on one of the great lakes of Africa, Tanginika, as it happens I was SCUBA diving there at a catching station for the tropical fish trade way back in the late 1980s, arriving back in the UK within 24 hours I was in isolation at the London School of Tropical Medicine as it was known then for 10 days, but that is another story!, back to the film, when watching this I was immediately reminded of Commander Geoffrey Basil Spicer- Simson, who by means of three small armed vessels, on Lake Tanganyika took on the German navy who had on the lake at that time, the gunboat Kingani, a vessel of 30 or 40 tons, (which was captured after surrendering), leaving the Graf von Gotzen, a vessel of 400-500 tons carrying one 4 inch and two smaller guns, and the Hedwig von Wissman a gunboat of about the same size as the captured one, the Hedwig von Wissman was attacked and sunk, leaving the Graf von Gotzen, but she did not risk an engagement, after being bombed by a Belgian aeroplane, she was scuttled by the Germans in Kigoma harbour, on the eastern shore of the Lake, but the real story is of how the British ships arrived on the lake, it is a fascinating story, 

after being landed, at Cape Town the boats had to be taken 2,300 miles by train, via Bulawayo and Livingstone, to the railhead north of Elizabethville in the Belgian Congo, next there followed 150 miles of haulage, over atrocious roads, across country varying in altitude from 2,000 to 6,000 feet, this was followed by another journey on trucks over a short section of railway, then the boats were floated 400 miles down the Lualaba River under their own power for part of the journey, and for the rest on lighters, shoals and rocks abounded, and barrels had to be lashed under the boats to reduce their draught, the final stage of the journey was by rail again to the small Belgian harbour of Lukuga, about halfway up the western shore of the Lake, all of this with the limited use of modern equipment, well it was in 1915! As an aside it was this that lead to C. S. Forester writing The African Queen, that was then made into the film, great actual facts, book and film, after which a Midsomer Murder before we were off to bed.

A Few More From Our Last Holiday, Day 14

a day at sea, 

we had lunch by the pool, 

then downstairs,

to the cinema for a afternoon film, 

in the evening a black tie meal, 

'Cheers!',

and one from Diana,

fish for Diana after our starters, 

pork for myself, and yes I had to! another 'Cheers!',

on to desserts, 

the meal was excellent as usual, 

then a stroll on deck,

as the sun was going down, 

a fellow traveller kindly offered to take our photograph, 

after which it was the evening's show in the theater, next a nightcap in the Crows Nest and we were off to bed, back to yesterday in Blighty, 

first thing Harry called by, 

with mountains of tools, 

off with the boards from the bathroom window, 

and off with the old paint,

he used all manner of tools, heat guns and sanders which unbelievable had their own built in dust catchers,

all sandeed,

so painting can begin, 

once finished the board was replaced, 

all done, he will call back next week to continue on this window and start work on the one next to where I sit in the living room, 

which brought me up to my sherry and evening read, one of the many things I like about Private Eye is occasionally there is a box on a page named 'Number Crunching' 2 factual numbers are placed for examination, here are a few from the last couple of issues, I will not comment on each one as they are self explanatory, 

and the sad fact is that all of the above facts and figures are 100% true, 

then time for a 'Cheers!', as I tuck into liver & bacon with mash, onto the sofa for my evening meal and what was just stating? a real favorite,

  Casablanca, great film we both thoroughly enjoyed watching before, and only a few weeks ago we really were in Rick's, not once but twice! after which I watched a Mrs. Brown's Boys, which we both find so funny, as that ended Diana arrived home, so time for a couple from Bangers & Cash before we were off to bed.

My Computer,

had another huge,

hissy fit, thankfully Bob called round, and spoke to it very harshly indeed, starting at 10.00 in the morning he continued all day, the main problem it seems was that 2 different virus checkers were in not so much in conflict, but more like in total war with each other, slowing the whole system to a painful crawl, but now all is well, also he managed to reinstall Publisher which for some reason was dropped in Microsoft Office 2024/5, also my NIK 9 is fully up and running and Topaz successfully installed, he did not finish until past 6.00 in the evening, so I have to say a huge 'Thank You' to Bob, I really was stuck without his help and knowledge, I should mention that I had dropped Diana off at work for a early start at 03.50 AM., after she finished her shift Diana popped in to visit Kai, the girls had a couple of things to do, firstly buy tickets for the upcoming girls shopping trip to Brussels, they are going on the train, then later in the year when I am in Thailand buy tickets for the Philippines and then Thailand, Kai will accompany Diana to the Philippines to visit Diana's family, and then back to Thailand to meet me there, after Bob left Diana had a few ZZZZZ's, later in the evening we watched,

 Police 24/7 a American fly on the wall show that followed police officers in the States, and then in the same genre our favorite,

  Cops, the same sort of thing but better, and we just love the theme music,

 Bad Boys, after which a Bangers & Cash before we were both off to bed.

It Was Diana's Day Off,

so as we had noticed that the dinosaurs in Crystal Palace Park had just been repainted, 

we were on a 227 bus to the park,

we made our way into the park,

 first call we went into the cafe for a latte coffee each, 

and sat in the sun, 

the place was packed with mums, kids and buggies,

then to one of the benches in the shade, it was so hot in the sun, the park was packed, all the kids now on summer holidays,

we made our way to the lake, 

passing the willow tree, 

on the small bridge, a few ducks and geese,

all set for the dinos,

and then our first large dinosaur, 

another one peeking through the trees, 

they certainly looked different from our last visit here, 

there was so much detail in the new paint finish,

it would have been nice if this one had turned around!

  but there were a few others that took the pose, 

on to the next few, 

but are these dinosaurs or crocodiles?

well this pretty chap,

does not care,

as it happens these remind me of a modern day Gharial, (Gavialis gangeticus), with its long thin snout, 

whilst this one is a prime candidate for the Loch Ness monster,

 

and I suspect a ichthyosaur, similar to the one Mary Anning found in Dorset,

another Nessie!

Diana strikes the pose,

and takes my photograph as I am snapping away,

and one of Diana, 

luckily I had brought a long lens with me,

a rare shot with no ankle biters in view, 

 I carried on photographing Nessie,

we continued our walk, 

to the end of the dinosaur part of the lake, where we meet this fearsome chap, 

and his friend, 

and yet another Nessie!

as well as 2 of this years hatchlings of Egyptian geese, (Alopochen aegyptiaca),

a look back in portrait, 

and landscape format, 

I zoomed in a tad, 

one more for the road!

I wanted to shoo the bird off of the back of this one,

so a change of position, 

that's better!

imagine going tadpoling as we did as kids, and finding that this was the dad!

we now passed the dinosaurs, the boating part of the lake in the distance, 

I could not help but notice this distinctive trailer parked in the road that is by the park, 

Diana in the distance,

strikes the pose, 

I zoomed in for a close up, next back to the bus and on to Beckenham, 

Diana made this short video of me, arriving home a wash and a freshen up, we were then out again, to Bromley for a show at the Churchill Theater,  

no wine this evening, Diana has a 04.00AM start, so I will be driving first thing, 

so cokes for Diana and myself, 

and this is who we are going to see, a tribute band to the Beatles who call themselves The Magic of the Beatles,

and good they were too, 

the act was split into a number of parts, 

each set featuring the costumes and clothes as well as haircuts of each phase the group went through, 

Diana made this short video above of some of the show, we both thoroughly enjoyed the band, and you might have guessed what we will be playing as we sit down for our Sunday lunch! as we left the theater, we noticed a poster advertising another tribute band, 

it was a group we had watched whilst we were on our cruise it was a tribute band to Dire Straits called Money for Nothing, another great act, on our way home we were both hungry, we did not have a lunch or evening meal, so a Burger King it was, arriving home we ate our meal, then a couple from Bangers & Cash, next as Diana has a early start tomorrow, we were both off to bed.