I Was Meeting Diana In Croydon,

so off to the rear of Beckenham Junction station, 

no not to get a train, 

but to use the footbridge, 

to the tram stop, where I was just in time to see one leave,

12 minutes apart I read another one arrived, 

I alighted in George Street, Croydon,

and was soon overtaken by the tram,

it disappeared down the step hill towards Wimbledon, 

I made my way into the High Street, 

Diana was looking in Primark,

I had a look at one of the stores that were in the old Alders building,

we meet up and started walking towards Surrey Street market,

and here it is, fruit and vegetable stalls, still here from when mum and myself would shop here in the mid 1950s,

behind us,

another tram was heading down the hill,

we had a look in a couple of wet fish shops, but did not see any shellfish, so we started looking at the market stalls, 

this was like being home in Thailand, a sugar cane crusher, 

pots of produce laid on on every stall,

Diana having a look at a few exotic vegetables, 

these peppers such a vibrant red in a grey day,

out of the market,

past the civic sign and water fountain at the end of the market,

but here a sign of the times, 

boarded up shops, and what was once a pedestrian arcade with shops both sides, 

now somewhere to practice graffiti, 

having said that this colorful display was for a thriving business, 

at the side,

and front, a very gayly coloured facade, 

it was the frontage of Dave's Hot Chicken,

next for us a coffee and cake, 

well a couple of dishes for Diana, a hot sausage roll for myself,

back onto the tram, alighting at Beckenham Junction, 

a walk past the green,

and into Marks & Spencer's, a few things needed, 

well we could not go past O'Neil's without buying a J2O orange for Diana, and a pint for myself, 'Cheers!',

then time for my evening read and sherry, 

'Cheers!', again, for tonight saveloys with spicy chips, gherkins and silver skin onions,

plus a few chicken legs and rice for Diana, it was already late so straight on with our evening film, a true story as it happens,

 10 Rillington Place, it was about the serial killer, John Christie, also the spotlight for the anti hanging brigade, a intellectually challenged person Timothy Evens took the drop for Christy and was ultimately though tragically to late pardoned, this case led the anti hanging brigade to ultimate victory, no blood and guts, just a true chilling statement of the facts in what was post war Britain, we rounded off the evening on a lighter though thoughtful note,

Blue Planet II is just so good, we have in fact watched it once before but it was a delight to watch the first disc in the series again, especially as it was filmed in 4K, after which we were off to bed.

I Walked with Diana To The Bus Stop,

she was going to work, 

so out of the park past the snail mail box, I left Diana at the stop, 

as I continued here, it was time to cast my vote,

there was a steady stream of people voting and going,

on my way back passing Foxgrove Lodge, I noticed a bright red potted plant was flowering, 

I have no idea what it was, but looked pretty, arriving home, it was time to play with the new computer, the problem being I was going from Windows 10 to Windows 11, not a problem for most people, but for myself nothing seemed to be where it was in 10, so I had to find bits and pieces I used in their new locations, I started to play with a couple of photographs, eventually, there were so many things that did not work, it took me an age to realize the player I was trying to listen to the radio with was the wrong one! (in my defense I did not know there were 2 players on the computer), on to the photographs I tried to play with, as soon as I tried to resize them there was a problem, I have used Fotosizer hundreds if not thousands of time before, but the first time on my new computer I received this:

I kept getting the message something about exceeding parameters whatever they were, of course it was my fault! I had put in a incorrect custom size, as soon as I went to pre-set sizes it was all fine, so eventually it all went right so here are a few, 

out of the camera,

played with, 

and with a black background, 

out of the camera,

and again with a black background, I was getting a tad tried I thought it was about 3 or 4 in the afternoon, it was nearly 7 in the evening! well past time for my evening meal, after which I watched a few documentaries before picking Diana up from work, we then settled down to another in the Perfect Planet series, this episode Oceans, after which we were both off to bed.

It Was Time To Unpack The New Computer And Screen,

as Bob had very kindly offered to call round and set the computer up for me,

I am totally hopeless at this sort of thing, so out with the screen,

everything removed first of course, 

computer in place, 

Bob could not believe the mess I had made with the wiring of the old one!

a rather neat trick I thought, Bob linked his laptop to the new computer, 

which made things a lot easier, 

and Ta-Dah! there it all is, many, many thanks indeed to Bob, I really could not have done any of this without him, as Bob left, it was time for me to go to the Beckenham Photographic Society AGM, 

new officials were appointed, Rodger the out going president, 

welcoming Andrew as this years new president, as it happens this will be the last meeting for this season, except next week there will be a get together at a local restaurant, all of the club meetings will stop for the summer and start again next autumn, there will be occasional get togethers during the summer for walks and photo sessions but no formal club meetings, then on to the prize giving where points are added up over the year and a trophy is presented, 

wait a second, what am I dong in the line up? rather well as it happens, below my photographic achievements for my first full year at the club,

I get to keep the bowl for 1 year, then back it goes to next years lucky winner,

and not only the bowl I took second place as well!

there were 2 monochrome competitions, for myself a second,

and a third, 

and lastly a 2nd. for a print, wow! I had hopped for a mention but I had no idea I had done this well, after the meeting ended I picked Diana up from work then home we went, where it was feet up as we watched anther from Perfect Planet, this episode The Sun, after which we were both off to bed.

Today's Post,

 is going to be very late,

have just bought a new computer, and I am still trying to load programs and get everything up and loaded, yesterday Bob popped to get it all up and running, but I still have so many things I use to find again and install, simple things like a photo resizer, I found one that was perfect, but do you think I can find it again? Anyway the post will be late so please call back later this afternoon.