After Posing The Blog,

and Diana leaving for work, 

I had a bit of time, so what better than to use it to play with a couple of images? the first from our trip to Willows Birds of Prey Center, that we made in July of last year of a falcon, I had played with images of this falcon before, I just wanted to have another play with it,

then one from our last trip to Kew Gardens for the orchid festival, 

after which in the afternoon out of the park,

as luck would have it just as I approached the bus stop one arrived, only three stops and I was off of it again,

so I arrived in plenty of time for the strip down of the clubs photographic exhibition, 

the annual exhibition closed at 4.00 in the afternoon, so forward a few volunteers from the Beckenham Photographic Society all helping to dismantle the exhibits load them into a van and then place them in the building at the school where we normally meet on a Wednesday evening, 

that finished a walk home past the graveyard with it's display of daffodils, 

and then past the church though Beckenham Green, arriving home I watched a film,

Reach for the Sky, from the blurb:

"The true story of airman Douglas Bader who overcame the loss of both legs in a 1931 flying accident to become a successful fighter pilot and wing leader during World War II" 

what an amazing man he truly was,

 by now it was time for my read and sherry, 

followed by a huge chilli-con-carne that Diana had left for me, 'Cheers!', after which there was a evening of Midsomer Murders being shown, after the first one Diana arrived home, so feet up for a coffee and a chat as we watched the second one, Diana had a early night, for myself 2 from Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

It Was Diana's Day Off,

but the weather looked so awful we decided to stay in, 

while Diana busied herself in the flat I played with a couple of images, firstly from our latest trip to Kew Gardens for their annual orchid show, 

staying with Kew I decided to play with a photograph of the Palm House, but when I took the photograph the shy was not particularly nice, so I swapped it and made the result black & white, 

in the late afternoon I was out, I was going to help out for the last hour at the Beckenham Photographic Society annual print and digital image exhibition, 

the details above if you have time to visit,

I was going to join Sara for the 6.00 - 7.00 in the evening slot to hopefully answer any questions guests might have,

outside a 'A' board, 

as well as a small,

and a large banner by the entrance, 

as I arrived Brian, who kindly gave me so much help with my new camera, was chatting to, I am not sure if it is Sue or Sheree, after they left Sara and myself looked at the prints, as it happened we both had plenty of time to look at each one in detail, regrettably no one walked in to look, so at 7.00 in the evening we left after one of the club members secured the building and locked up, on the way back home I stopped off at Marks & Spencers for some shopping, also picking up a kebab at the chicken shop on the bridge, arriving home we both tucked into our meal, after which it was a double helping of Deadliest Catch, as there was not much on that we wanted to watch, a film it was for tonight,

Hot Fuzz, the story centres around a perfect police officer that shames his colleagues by his success rate, so the powers that be move him to a quiet backwater in the countryside, but then things hot up for the fuzz, followed by a Endeavour, after that we were both off to bed.

First A Happening In A Few Days Time,

the photography club I belong to is having it's annual exhibition,

members of the Beckenham Photographic Society will be exhibiting some of their photographs later this week in Beckenham, it is taking place at Christ Church Hall, the church is off of the High Street in Fairfield Road, the nearest landmark is the Zebra crossing in the High Street opposite Miso and the card shop. Entry is free, there should be a lot to look at as each member has been asked to provide 3 prints and 2 digital images, about any subject, anywhere in the world. In attendance there will be a member of the club who can hopefully answer any questions visitors may ask about the photographs on display, so if you have time please support our local camera club, also guest can vote on which photograph they like the best, I will be there for a couple of hours each day, so hopefully I will see some of you there, for today I dropped Diana off at work at 04.45AM, so I had plenty of time to play with photographs,

these first few, 

are the creations, 

of the gentleman I posted about yesterday,

Henck Röling,

he also planned the display of orchids,

 at the annual Kew orchid show that we visited, 

and of course here she is, it was by now late afternoon as Diana arrived home, so a coffee and a chat as we settled down to the usual Outback Opal Hunters and a Deadliest Catch, as there was not much on the usual channels we decided on a double helping of Poirot, followed by a Endeavour, after which we were both off to bed.

Whilst Diana Was At Work,

I had a quiet day, 

there were still a few things to do regarding the shop, and then playtime!, I decided on another photograph I had taken of Henck Röling, here is what I wrote about him when I posted about our day in Kew Gardens:

"he was responsible for much of the display, and very resplendent he looked too in his kilt, he is what could be described as a Master Florists, if you visit the Ritz, Southerby’s, and Fortnum and Mason, to name a few you will have seen his weekly floral displays, also Henck’s work here at Kew Gardens’ Orchid Festivals, where Henck has created a fabulous series of floral installations over the past eight years, it is the first time we have actually seen him",

when I took this photograph I was using the 100 - 200mm zoom lens, so I was quite some distance from him, there were a lot of plants between him and myself, I tried to find a spot where just his head would be showing between them, he was explaining to some of the visitors about his displays, and I waited until he looked my way, it sort of worked, next I tried my hand at one of the RAF (RAW) files from the camera, they are all huge, 200mp+

the amount of detail they contain is massive, my poor old computer was not really built with these huge files in mind, it is 8 RAM looking at advice from the Internet for this sort of thing 16 RAM is really needed, I guess as a result it takes an age to load or edit the files, but I persevered and above is the result, it looks no different on the blog, but zooming in on the computer and looking at the image above the detail looks so fine, also a A3 print that I made of it looked so detailed, maybe I am imaging it, but there it is, luckily I had finished it by the time Diana called in the afternoon to pick her up, arriving home after our evening meal it was a Midsomer Murder time, another one from so long ago we had to watch most of it before remembering who the culprit was, after which a Endeavour, tomorrow Diana has another early shift, so when that finished we were both off to bed.

Unfortunately Diana Was At Work Today,

so Sunday lunch by myself, 

first a read and a sherry, 

followed by a huge beef stew that Diana had left for me,

I played with one photograph in the afternoon, it was of  Henck Röling, here is what I wrote when I posted about our day in Kew Gardens:

"he was responsible for much of the display, and very resplendent he looked too in his kilt, he is what could be described as a Master Florists, if you visit the Ritz, Southerby’s, and Fortnum and Mason, to name a few you will have seen his weekly floral displays, also Henck’s work here at Kew Gardens’ Orchid Festivals, where Henck has created a fabulous series of floral installations over the past eight years, it is the first time we have actually seen him",

after which it was a episode of Hornblower, The Frogs and the Lobsters, (in America The Wrong War), during which Diana arrived home, so I made her a coffee as we watched the rest of Hornblower, then a late afternoon film,

 Casino Royale, the 1967 release, which was sort of fun, if for no other reason spotting the stars in the cast, after a snack in the evening it was a surprise as a Midsomer Murder was showing, one we had watched so long ago we both barely remember it, after which as Diana has another early shift tomorrow Diana was off to bed, for myself one from Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before I too was off to bed.

Happy Valentines Day!

unknown to Diana,

in the week I had popped out and bought 2 dozen huge red roses, and a few daffodils that I hid for a few days, before Diana woke up, Hey Presto!

there they were on the table with a card, after breakfast and midday Diana was off to work,

so for myself I played away the afternoon with these, 

taken with the new camera at our visit to Kew Gardens and the orchid show yesterday, 

so many beautiful blooms and the display of floral creatures of China superb, as it happens I may pop back and take a few more photographs, 

by now it was time for my evening read and sherry, 

for tonight, yesterdays curry, and it was delicious, 'Cheers!', after which I watched the usual until Diana returned home, then a couple of Poirot that are being shown on Netflix at the moment, after which Diana was off to bed, unfortunately she has to work on Sunday, and worse still a 05.00AM start, so up at 04.AM! for myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

First Thing,

as it was Diana's day off, 

we were out, to Kew Gardens, for the annual orchid festival, at this time of the year a country is asked to put on a show of their orchids, this year it was the turn of China, the show runs from 7 February to 8 March 2026, starting at 11am and is in the Princess of Wales Conservatory, entry to the orchid exhibition is included with the entry ticket to the Gardens, but, and this is important, you must book a time slot to be admitted to orchids,

a quick pose as we entered the greenhouse, 

then it was orchids galore! 

many hanging, 

as well as in pots, 

it was also time to try out my new camera with its 100 - 200mm telephoto zoom lens,

in the main area, 

there was of course a Chinese dragon,

surrounded by huge bowls of orchids, 

many with new colour varieties, 

a quick pose, 

and the man of the hour, Henck Röling, he was responsible for much of the display, and very resplendent he looked too in his kilt, he is what could be described as a Master Florists, if you visit the Ritz, Southerby’s, and Fortnum and Mason, to name a few you will have seen his weekly floral displays, also Henck’s work here at Kew Gardens’ Orchid Festivals, where Henck has created a fabulous series of floral installations over the past eight years, it is the first time we have actually seen him,

I had to take a few of Diana,

as we made our way, 

through the display, 

another quick pose, 

bowls of orchids everywhere,

 

these a little more unusual,

than the 'normal' orchids we are used to,

like these, 

not forgetting the hanging baskets, 

they all looked so nice,

near the end of the display, 

Chinese lanterns, 

and one of me of course with the new camera, 

one more of Diana,

well I just had to!

as we bimbled towards the exit, there were some orchids displayed in smaller vases

a last display, 

as we caught up with Henck,

outside Diana with the dogwood, that was still in its winter colours, 

daffodils now everywhere, 

a last look at the bassire and we were off out on our way home, the next few weeks for myself will be great fun, as I have hundreds of photographs to play with, all of the ones above from my camera or Diana's telephone I have not played with, next week the fun begins! in the evening we were out, as Diana is working tomorrow evening, Valentines evening, 

we decided to have our Valentines meal here at the Kathmandu Masala tonight, 

we did not have a starter, but went with the papadums and condiments, 

'Cheers with a sherry, 

Diana decided on a mango lassi, 

a bottle of red for myself, 

as usual we over ordered, so a Indian for me tomorrow evening from the doggy bag! we went with three main dishes, chicken, lamb and prawn, along with aloo gobi, peas, mushroom rice, and garlic nam bread, the total was £80.00 including service charge, out into the cold night air we caught the number 54 bus back home where it was feet up with a coffee and a spiced rum as we watched a Poirot before we were off to bed.