I Had A Cracking Day,

it all went so well, 

firstly as usual I dropped Diana off for her day shift, and noticed something on the way out of the park, more of that later, arriving back home there was a message from Ripe Photography Insurance re my policy, asking me to give them a call, I could see my quote but there was no way to pay it, so I called and listened to the usual financial disclaimers and was put through straight away to a charming chap, we first had a small chat and found out it was my fault, (as usual when it comes to this sort of thing), apparently I put my full name as my first name, so the software was at a loss as to who to continue with, anyway a few questions later and I was on a secure line giving my card details and the policy was paid, and the good news Pete and myself had a interest in flying, I was chatting away about my flying a 737 and a MD11 at Gatwick when the first flight trainer for the MD 11 was installed there, and so on to Pete's flying lessons, and YAK 52's as well as a few other things, it was amazing to think that at one time in the 1980's I got so close to buying one, (a YAK 52), after thinking of completing a stint at Clearwater, Florida for my PPL, but in the end I never did, we had a great chat and in passing so nice to find a really friendly interface with a company, onto the things I was going to do yesterday, but spent time doing other bits and pieces, 

the day before,

there was a very picturesque sunset, 

going through so many subtle changes, 

I was snapping away with my wide angle lens,

but all too soon, 

the skies darken as the sun went down, then on to, 

taking photographs through a glass ball I had bought a 480mm extended rail for the tripod, the ball cup at one end,

and ball in place, 

this was the scene out of the back window, 

ball too close for the 120mm macro lens to focus,

so I tried the 20-32 mm wide angle which put the ball too far away, 

the 35- 70 zoom was as near as I could get to a full frame, I can crop this image down easily as I use a medium format camera, 

this is what the set up looked like,

the problem I had was that even the trees in the distance were too close for the shot I wanted,

 I am hopping that in the Namibian dessert the dunes will be further away, 

on to the next set up, 

using 2 cameras, my normal GFX 100S II and one of my Lumix cameras that I had changed the sensor to a infrared one, for a little more about my infrared hobby have a look here, 

both cameras mounted on the rail, above the 'normal' camera, 

looking through the screen at the back,

and the infrared, 

again through the screen at the back,

I mentioned before we left the park I spotted something, 

and here it is, 

a huge mushroom, 

growing where a huge oak tree once stood, 

I was using the 120mm macro lens, 

so I cropped out some of its growth, 

then from the side, 

and the rear, by now Diana had returned home from her day shift,

and it was time for my evening read and sherry, 

followed by a vegetable samosa, 

for our main courses, chicken and mushrooms for Diana,

a 30 day aged steak for myself, 

'Cheers!', after which it was feet up for a film, there was nothing on the normal television that we fancied and I somehow oversold, 

The Last Duel, I did not have the heart to say to Diana I had only finished watching it yesterday evening! so it was easy to spot where mistakes had been made, for instance in a village scene there was a water wheel, but it had a top (the most efficient) water feed, but the water in the building defied gravity to get to the top of the wheel! after which we were off to bed.

I Had My Day Planned Out,

after I dropped Diana off to work,

but it all went mustang, firstly I was going to pay for the quote to insure my camera and lenses for my upcoming trip, but, when I looked at the quotation it gave me no way of paying it, so email the company, only to receive:

Hi stanley,
Thanks for reaching out!
Your request (458475) has been received, and one of our team members will get back to you as soon as possible.
🚨 Important: To ensure you keep your place in the queue, please avoid sending additional replies before we respond. Each new message moves your ticket to the back of the line, which may delay our response.
We appreciate your patience and will be with you shortly!
Best regards

no reply yesterday and so far none today, next I had decided to give my new laptop, bought for the trip a battery charge and make sure all was well, as it happens it was not! for some reason it refused to acknowledge that it already had been configured to have the Internet working on it, and also it did not recognise that it already had Microsoft Word installed on it, all it kept doing was tell me I had to buy a new licence for Microsoft Word and connect it to the Internet to do so, which of course I could not, as you can see from here when I bought it in August all was working well, so I kept trying to get it to work, eventually, suddenly the Internet opened and there was Word!, I have to say I now have no confidence at all in my brand new £300+ MSI laptop, I just hope it does not let me down like this when I need it on my upcoming Namibian trip, by now it was time for my evening meal, after which a Outback Opal Hunters and for a change a Deadliest Catch, then a treat, I was going to finish, 

The Last Duel, I finished what was left of the last half, so enjoyable, this is what I commented when I first started watching it, from the blurb:

"Based on the true story of France's last trial by combat in the Middle Ages. Knight Jean de Carrouges challenges his former friend Jacques Le Gris to a duel after Jean's wife Marguerite accuses Le Gris of rape. Told in three "Rashomon-style" points of view"

the storyline, acting, characters, sets and selection of cast could not have been better a truly enjoyable film, but as I mentioned I stopped part way through watching the film for two reasons, firstly I wanted to watch a Midsomer Murder, and also as it finished I was going to be out to pick up Diana after her late shift, so I am looking forward to the second half tonight, and I can not be the only one that thought it was a enjoyable film it had 5 wins and around 44 nominations from various critics associations and award bodies, and with this cast:

· Matt Damon as Sir Jean de Carrouges

· Adam Driver as Jacques le Gris

· Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges

· Ben Affleck as Count Pierre d'Alençon

· Harriet Walter as Nicole de Buchard

· Alex Lawther as King Charles VI

· Serena Kennedy as Queen Isabeau

· Marton Csokas as Crespin

I think it was a given that it was going to be good, but somehow back in 2021 we managed to miss it being released, there it is, must look out for new films more diligently! f you have not yet watched The Last Duel and you like period drama/action films this one is a must see, I followed that with,

 Gladiator II, the basic story is that after his home is conquered by the tyrannical emperors who now lead Rome, Lucius is forced to enter the Colosseum and must look to his past to find strength to return the glory of Rome to its people, we had watched the film once before at the cinema, but I fancied watching it again, before it finished, my alarm sounded, time to pick up Diana from her late shift, arriving home it was feet up for a coffee and a chat, also to apply for my visa for Namibia, after a bit of faffing around, the visa was issued and I printed it off, it has to physically be shown on entering the country, pity we are totally incapable of following Nambiar in this for the UK, showing a visa before entering, but then they have a much more advanced system than the UK in place to make sure illegals do not enter, after which it was a Bangers & Cash before we were off to bed.

First Thing,

looking out of the window,

the foxes were up and about, taking advantage of the water Matt keeps topped up for them,

three this morning, plus a magpie, 

they all liked the peanuts,

also this morning they had a treat, some Polish sausage, I had bought, but it was not as nice as I was expecting, I had memories as a kid of going to visit Christina and George, (Jerzy), where we often had Polish garlic sausage, but the one I bought just did not taste the same, but the foxes loved it, I tried to throw the cuts so that each had a equal number but inevitably failed, it was strange when one of the two cubs chased the mother she eventually gave up and let the cubs have it, although not without a fearsome squabble I must say, after our breakfast towards midday it was time to drop Diana off for her late shift today, in the afternoon a few YouTube videos before my evening meal, 

first a read and a milk, no sherry this evening as I will be driving to the Beckenham Photographic Society meeting this evening and later picking up Diana,

firstly tuck into a couple of vegetable samosas,

followed by a huge chicken tikka masala, 'Cheers!', shortly after off to the club, last week we were all asked for entries to the PDI competition, the term PDI stands for Projected Digital Image, the photographs are displayed on a screen, the same as many years ago slides were shown in the days of 35mm transparencies, I entered 2 images, 

titled, "Three couples, two waiters and a one cat"

and this one "Industrial size art" both failed miserably, scoring only 8.5 out of a possible 10, note to self, 'must try harder!', after the meeting ended I was off to pick Diana up from work, arriving home a coffee and a chat, well a spiced rum for myself as we settled down to watch a double helping of Bangers & Cash before we were both off to bed.

In The Afternoon,

I dropped Diana off to work, 

which left a few hours before my meal to watch a little daytime television, it was dire! I had no idea daytime shows could be so mind-numbingly bad, people on couches with no discernible aim in life talking to so called stars/personalities/famous people, none of whom I had heard of, or indeed had the slightest interest in as they then pontificated their views on subjects way over their pay grade, thank goodness Outback Opal Hunters started after which it was time for my evening meal, I followed that with, 

 The Three Musketeers, I am sure we all know the story, but this one features gallons supported by balloons taking the battle in to the skies, I thought this would leave me enough time before I picked Diana up from her late shift to finish, 

The Last Duel, but I was wrong, I still had some time to go as my alarm went off to remind me to pick up Diana, arriving home, feet up for a coffee and a chat and then a bit of a treat, a double helping of Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before we were off to bed.

I Had Another Quiet Day,

after dropping Diana off at work, 

just watching a few You Tube videos about Nambiar, focus stacking and my camera, after my evening meal and the usual Outback Opal Hunters and a Deadliest Catch a film,

The Last Duel, it was a tad long so I only watched just over a half of it, but so far what a wonderful film, well directed by Ridley Scott it was doubtful if it would be bad! from the blurb:

"Based on the true story of France's last trial by combat in the Middle Ages. Knight Jean de Carrouges challenges his former friend Jacques Le Gris to a duel after Jean's wife Marguerite accuses Le Gris of rape. Told in three "Rashomon-style" points of view"

the storyline, acting, characters, sets and selection of cast could not have been better a truly enjoyable film, but as I mentioned I stopped part way through watching the film for two reasons, firstly I wanted to watch a Midsomer Murder, and also as it finished I was going to be out to pick up Diana after her late shift, so I am looking forward to the second half tonight, and I can not be the only one that thought it was a enjoyable film it had 5 wins and around 44 nominations from various critics associations and award bodies, and with this cast:

· Matt Damon as Sir Jean de Carrouges

· Adam Driver as Jacques le Gris

· Jodie Comer as Marguerite de Carrouges

· Ben Affleck as Count Pierre d'Alençon

· Harriet Walter as Nicole de Buchard

· Alex Lawther as King Charles VI

· Serena Kennedy as Queen Isabeau

· Marton Csokas as Crespin

I think it was a given that it was going to be good, but somehow back in 2021 we managed to miss it being released, there it is, must look out for new films more diligently! after picking Diana up from work we watched the latest Have I Got News For You and followed that with another film, 

Red, from the blurb:

"Frank (Bruce Willis) is retired, bored, and lonely living off of his government pension in a nondescript suburb in an equally nondescript house. The only joy in Frank's life is his calls to the government pension processing centre when he gets to talk to his case worker, Sarah (Mary-Louise Parker). Sarah is as bored and lonely as Frank and marks her conversations with the unknown Frank and her spy novels as the only things fun in her life. When something in Frank's past forces him back into his old line of work and puts an unwitting Sarah in the middle of the intrigue, Frank and Sarah begin a journey into his past and the people with whom he used to work. Like Frank they are all "R.E.D." - Retired Extremely Dangerous", and of course one of our favorite actors was in the film John Malkovich, after which we were off to bed.