I Decided To Play With The Fujifilm Camera First Thing,

I put on the 120mm macro lens, 

in the distance, a sort of nice happening, 

a group of ring necked parrots seem to be looking for somewhere to nest, nice to look at, but the noise from one of their nest sites is not pleasant at all,

the fox called by, 

and then a second one arrived, 

and a regular but unusual guest, a crow, this years hatchling, 

he visits almost every day, but he has strange markings on his wings, if you look carefully you can see a white patch, 

but it is not just a patch,

each wing has a almost symmetrical,

white marking, 

I managed to take a few photographs, 

as he came into land, 

dodging the foxes, after which I printed to two prints I was going to print yesterday, 

these two, 

will be entered into the November print competition, as it happens I will be in Thailand or the Philippines when it takes place, so I will ask one of the club members to enter them for me, next out to the front garden, 

on our last trip to Coolings, we had bought a armful of daffodils and crocus to plant, 

we had borrowed a fork and spade from Kai, so let the digging commence! I do not have a clue about planting them, so I dug several holes, placed a few bulbs in each and watered them, 

covered them over and watered them again, I have a feeling they will not do well, the soil was a dry as a desert, and not a single sign of a worm, not a good sign, but there it is, I will pop out tomorrow and give them a water, inside a wash and brush up, just in time for my evening meal, I then decided on a film as there was not much on the usual television, having just watched the 1935 version of Mutiny on the Bounty, I decided to watch the 1962 version with Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard, so feet up for, 

Mutiny on the Bounty, as it happens the movie was on 2 discs, I watched the first one then waited for a call from Diana, she was stopping off at Kai's on the way home, but then a surprise, Diana walked through the door, Kai had given her a lift home, so a coffee and a chat as we settled down to watch, 

 the Brothers Grimm, in which two brothers who trade in deceit by pretending to remove spirits and ghosts from towns are put to the test when a real situation develops, we watched it about half way through then Diana was off to bed, a 05.00AM start today, and then tomorrow even worse, a 04.00AM start! for myself a Have I Got A Bit More News For You, before I too was off to bed.

I Started With What I Thought Was Going To Be A Simple Job,

load a couple of programs, 

and print off 2 prints for the second print competition, I had already bought a new small laptop, as space was at a premium in luggage for my upcoming trip, and my normal laptop was way to big to fit in my camera backpack, all I had to do was load Photo Affinity 2 and then download the NIK Collection which needs a already installed program to work, it all sounded so easy, I downloaded the Photo Affinity, but instead of version 2 that I was used to, I had downloaded version 3, I tried working with that, everything was so unfamiliar I eventually gave up and uninstalled version 3 and eventually managed to miss the default and load version 2, it took an age! me and computers or anything electrical is not a good mix, eventually all was well, so next down load the NIK Collection, which was remarkably easy, 

what should happen next is that it automatically attaches itself to Photo Affinity 2, well, it did not! Affinity could not find the download, the annoying thing was I could see it on my computer in the Namibian folder, even worse I kept getting the message, 'restart your computer', which I naturally assumed meant that the NIK Collection had been attached, but it had not, 

I kept trying and trying, just going round in circles, and then there it was,

where it should be in the plugins section, 

a click and there they all were, by now it was late,  

so time for my evening read and milk, no sherry this evening as I am driving, 

so 'Cheers!', with a glass of milk, then off to the club,

tonight it was a interclub competition between us and South London, for the Retina Cup, it would be disingenuous to say who won, but we kept the cup, again, off to pick up Diana at 10.00 but she was with the other staff asked to stay on, so home for me and feet up for a spiced rum and a Have I Got More News For You, Diana caught a Uber to get home, it was then feet up for a coffee and a chat, as we watched the last part of a Bangers & Cash, at the midnight hour we were both then off to bed.

I Dropped Diana Off At Work,

another 05.00AM start,

then I spent the day playing with a few photographs, as there are a number of competitions at the club when I will not be here, above "!'ve Lost My Mummy".

and this study of three waterlilies I titled, "Blooming in Harmony" these will both be entered in the November print competition, in the afternoon I watched a couple of films, firstly, 

 Airplane! what a fun packed film, all of the characters were so good, but for me the part played by Stephen Stucker, that of so over the top Johnny Henshaw-Jacobs who plays the part of an air traffic controller was the film stealer,

and here he is, from the film, after that a black & white, 

Mutiny on the Bounty, it was, the 1935 version, (there is also a colourised version of this film available), after which it was time for my evening meal, later in the evening Diana called, she had gone straight from work to Kai's and then to London, a friend of Kai's was having a birthday party, but first a meal in a dim sum restaurant in Chinatown, next buy some flowers before heading to the party, she had just called to say she was ready to be picked up at Kai's so I was off, below a few photographs of the girls afternoon/evening out, 

arriving in London, 

and Chinatown,

in to the restaurant, 

Oh! the agony of choice! As Diana starts her meal, 

along with Kai, 

smile for the camera, 

a short walk to the flower shop,

and what a choice, 

they look nice, 

decision made, 

and the girls were away, 

to the party, 

'Cheers', from Kai and Diana,

and below, 

here they all are, 

no prizes for guessing who's 50th. it was!

a final 'Cheers!', from Kai before the girls made their way back from Edgware, after picking up Diana from Kai's we arrived home, by now it was late, so just one Bangers & Cash before Diana was off to bed, she had been up since just after 04.00 AM this morning, for myself one more Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.

Foxes And Crows,

here again this morning, 

one was more than a bit thirsty than the others, 

having a long drink, 

I then looked for a couple of photographs to enter into the next PDI (Projected Digital Image), competition for the club, I chose these two, above 'Neon Dreams: A Night In Chinatown, Pattaya.' and,

'Dulcimer Player, Piazza Navona in Rome', will the judge like them? it is in the lap of the Gods! as it happens I decided to play with AI and asked it to name them for me, an instruction which it totally ignored, 

and sent me this composite picture, which I have to admit looks pretty good, but still no name, I think I will leave this AI malarky to the professionals, after Diana called,

I made my way into a grey, cloudy day and meet Diana on the bus, 

alighting at Bromley, past The Partridge, 

and Primark, 

Diana popped into the bank, 

and then shopping, no haberdashery today as it is Monday, 

or stalls in the High Street, 

for myself into LIDL, as we were in Bromley I picked up a couple of bottles each of spiced rum and sherry,

 then into the Greyhound to wait for Diana,

and here she is, with her new short haircut,

and nice it looks too,

as by now it was getting late we decided to eat here, chicken bits for Diana,

scampi and chips for myself, 'Cheers!', including a drink each the bill came to £20.40,

on to the bus for the trip home, then a walk through the park, on the way I got mugged by the crows, 

they recognise me, so a few peanuts to keep them happy, arriving home for a change we watched a couple of Simpson's before a Midsomer Murder, after which Diana was off to bed, a early start today and a 05.00AM start tomorrow, for myself a Bangers & Cash before I too was off to bed.