Author Topic: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)  (Read 814272 times)

Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1350 on: August 14, 2018, 04:36:22 AM »
Quote

No, not the Imp. My bother was driving the Wolseley - the Vooloolzessley.

I do remember the Wolseley Anona.  I was friends with 2 sisters & I'm sure their Mother had one.  If it's what I'm thinking of then they were quite big & comfy.  I'm sure the three of us used to sit in the back with room to spare! Of course it might have been a different car entirely :-C
Many years ago & the mind plays tricks!
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anona

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1351 on: August 14, 2018, 05:59:42 AM »
Pen: yes, indeed, you've probably got the right car.

Our Wolseley was big, very comfy and black: an ex-police car with a patch on the roof where the flashing light had once been, and a "siren" switch on the dashboard.

birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1352 on: August 14, 2018, 06:47:31 AM »
Would really love to see your photos Birdy.  We only take wildlife and nature photos too.  We tend to eschew cities and towns for that reason.  I also keep a diary of our travels - the old-fashioned way, in a notebook.  As you say, a diary comes in handy when trying to remember where photographs were taken which, for us, can number into the thousands!


I hate to say, "You asked for it!" but you did. Here are a few - they are Facebook albums, but you don't have to be on FB to see them:

Staten Island (excuse me if I'm stating the obvious: part of New York City) last month, visiting a few parks with a friend with a car.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214755704797801.1073741996.1580311371&type=1&l=2558979d0b

Wiltshire countryside, May 2018 - visiting a friend who kindly drove me around.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214755704797801.1073741996.1580311371&type=1&l=2558979d0b

Lower Bemerton, part of Salisbury now but once a separate village - where my friend lives, so some of her garden flowers.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214450543888969.1073741993.1580311371&type=1&l=a2e3e1238f

anona

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1353 on: August 14, 2018, 08:33:21 AM »
Birdy: I think your Staten Island and Wiltshire collections are the same set of photographs?

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1354 on: August 14, 2018, 09:29:50 AM »
Birdy,

I’m glad Valerie asked for it.  I enjoyed the photos and I found out you have brown eyes.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 03:08:16 PM by Ozzyjack »
Regards, Jack

Valerie

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1355 on: August 14, 2018, 02:29:08 PM »
Wow!  Great photos Birdy.  I did note that Anona is correct: your links to Staten and Wiltshire are the same.  And I couldn't find the Wiltshire ones in the albums (but that's probably because I'm not tech savvy).  And, dare I say, snap!  You have a similar photographic eye to me.  You obviously have a very good camera.  The close-ups are fantastic.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 02:38:46 PM by Valerie »
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birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1356 on: August 14, 2018, 04:27:32 PM »
Birdy: I think your Staten Island and Wiltshire collections are the same set of photographs?

 Whoops! Hope this goes through.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10214456376514781.1073741994.1580311371&type=1&l=2fad18af90

birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1357 on: August 14, 2018, 04:32:51 PM »
Birdy,

I’m glad Valerie asked for it.  I enjoyed the photos and I found out you have brown eyes.

A good likeness, wouldn't you say?  I can't use that avatar on Chihuahua because of Linda's delicate sensibilities.

birdy

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1358 on: August 14, 2018, 04:45:33 PM »
Wow!  Great photos Birdy.  I did note that Anona is correct: your links to Staten and Wiltshire are the same.  And I couldn't find the Wiltshire ones in the albums (but that's probably because I'm not tech savvy).  And, dare I say, snap!  You have a similar photographic eye to me.  You obviously have a very good camera.  The close-ups are fantastic.
Thanks for the kind words.  I don't have the patience to fiddle with lenses any more so I use a bridge camera: Canon Powershot SX50HS.  It's a compromise: a camera that I can carry all day along with binoculars and the other things I need.  I like the results well enough considering I don't use a tripod, and I'm kind of shaky.  The only problems I've found with the camera are that it is slow to focus so I miss a lot of shots (by the time I've found my subject and the camera has decided what I'm trying to focus on, the subject has hopped/run/flown away.  It goes through battery charges fast too - I carry two extra batteries and sometimes go through them in a day.  I do use my phone sometimes, but for my kind of pictures, close-up or needing a zoom or a crop in the computer, the results usually are disappointing.  Now if only the bird or butterfly would just sit out in the open about 8 feet away for about 3 minutes...

Valerie

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1359 on: August 14, 2018, 06:27:02 PM »
Ha ha.  Do know what you mean, Birdy, about why can't the little devils just sit there whilst I fuss and fidget with the camera.  We use Canons too.  Several bodies with different lenses so we don't have to keep changing them.  The ever-present dust in outback Australia taught us that lesson!  But, like you, Birdy, I'm now (in my dotage) starting to use smaller happy-snap cameras although, as you say, some results can be disappointing.  However, the technology, even on smart phones, is quite good nowadays.  And, of course, there's always Photoshop.

That blue dragonfly in Wiltshire is stunning.

My avatar is a laughing kookaburra (as you are no doubt aware).  One of the 94 identified species of birds that visit our garden.  Hopefully I haven't upset Linda's sensibilities but I do suggest she avoids visiting us if she ever comes downunder.   :) :) :)
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 07:55:20 PM by Valerie »
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Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1360 on: August 14, 2018, 09:50:47 PM »
Hi Pen,

I said I was going to give the journal a break but Anonsi said she wanted to hear something about Scotland, so here goes

Quote from: June
Friday 1 September 2006
Packed up and left Carlisle by 9.30.  As it is almost 400km (250 miles) to Aberdeen and Michelin says it will take about 4½ hours we expected it to be a bit arduous.  However, once we were past Glasgow traffic it was a pleasant drive and we took about 3½ hours.   The Craighaar, our hotel, is rather better than the one in Carlisle; its only downside is that the airport is nearby and planes are a bit noisy.  

We had dinner in the restaurant.  The hotel serves food in the bar area, but this was full with lots of locals.  The restaurant food was excellent, and our coffees were served in the Library!  This looks like a club reading room with leather arm chairs and one wall lined with a fascinating collection of generally old, hardback books.  D was very pleased with it – “you can go driving tomorrow; I’ll stay here, sip a beer and read a book”.  He changed his mind when I reminded him we planned to go to the Whisky Trail.

Quote from: Jack
Saturday 2 September
The Craighaar had a downside – they didn’t serve porridge for breakfast as a good Scottish establishment should.

I love Scotland.  Part of the reason is embodied in today’s local newspaper.  The front page had UK news but on other days may have had world news if it was earth-shattering.   The contents on page 2 said “pages 2-9 local news; pages 11-25 Scottish news, then UK news, business news; rural news and then ads.  It reminded me of the Hobart Mercury which during the airline strikes of the early 90’s ran a headline “Mainland cut off from Tasmania”

On page 44, there was a “sermon” from a retired minister – he admitted to liking the occasional pint – and so he was obviously a man of great judgement.  His theme was that religion only causes problems where people have enough religion to learn how to hate but not enough religion to learn how to love.  It was a good sermon - he deserved his next pint.

Quote from: June
The saga of the showers continued.  I worked out the settings easily enough.  As I turned the shower off, however, the water suddenly became extremely hot and burned me.  I told D to turn the nozzle to the wall so that he would not share the same fate.  The loud yell and string of expletives that just erupted from the bathroom suggests he either didn’t listen or didn’t remember.

We set off for the Whisky Trail, but as I looked through our guidebook I saw that the Highland Games are held at Braemar on the first Saturday in September.  So, we changed direction and reached Braemar about 11am.  The car had to be parked in a paddock (recently used by lots of cows).  We bought entry and seat tickets and were glad we had seats, even though they were hard and crowded.  The ring was a hive of activity with continuous dancing, races and throwing events.  The highlights were the bands, the hill race, hammer throwing and caber tossing.  There was a lot of tug-of-war competitions mainly between various army regiments but there was a fun tug-of-war between workers on the Queen’s Balmoral estate and workers on the other major estate near Braemar.  The army participants wore football shorts, but the estate workers wore their tweed knickerbocker trousers and simply took off the matching tweed jackets of what must be their tidy clothes.

Quote from: Jack
Neither June or I like crowds so at first when she discovered the games would be on, she said we probably should give it a miss.  I said how many other Australians would get to see the Highland Games almost by accident.  I had always had a yen to see the big men toss the caber.  I had seen the games on film in “Geordie”, “Chariots of Fire” and various news programs, but we could not give up the opportunity to be there.  

The big men did not disappoint me.  Most were almost as big as me around the girth but twice as wide across the shoulders.  They also had the advantage of being about half my age.  Apart from tossing cabers and hammers, there was a competition to throw a 56 lb. weight one handed over a bar.  I am not sure if I could lift 56 lbs. these days but these guys were throwing it almost straight up over the bar.  The record was set with height of the bar at 41 ft.  We left before they finished the competition, so I am not sure if they beat the record.  The massed pipe bands were another highlight.  They were awesome.

Quote from: June
The Queen, Pr. Phillip, Pr. Charles, Camilla and Princess Anne arrived at 3pm.  They were not surrounded by any exceptional security.  They had a small “royal cottage” to sit in.  The crowd did not seem very excited by their entry although a lot of people took their seats about that time.  A few women nearby were craning their necks to see “what is She wearing?”  They seemed disappointed when it turned out to be grey.  There was also some interest in Camilla’s outfit which seemed to be a large black beret, a kilt and a dark jacket – “she looks all right” was the comment behind me.

We left about 4pm as our knees and backs had just about seized up and as we walked back to the car found that the streets were lined by people hoping to see the Queen.  The royal party swept by us just as we reached the car park.  They were probably on their way back to Balmoral Castle which is less than 10 miles down the road.  The people waiting for a glimpse and a wave were likely to be disappointed given the speed the cars moved at.  We found our car with only a little difficulty and quite a lot of hopping over cow pats and were back at our hotel by 6pm with a bit of minor road driving.  The Monday paper reported that about 18,000 attended the games.

Sunday 3 September
We set out on the Whisky Trail again.   First distillery visited was at Glenlivet.  We bought a 500cc bottle of cask strength Glenlivet and a 700cc cask strength Abelour to drink with A when we get back home and then on to Glenfiddich.  However, their prices had soared and so we didn’t buy anything.  We then went on to Cairdhu – here we were given tastes of 3 whiskys from the area, none of which are well known in retail outlets.  D was so impressed we bought 3 bottles.  It took all my powers of persuasion to stop him buying more.  We will be lucky if one gets home to Australia.

We then drove back to our hotel through a variety of country – purple and green hills (heather), grazing and cropping.  It was a very nice day.

That’s more than enough for tonight.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2018, 10:34:57 PM by Ozzyjack »
Regards, Jack

Ozzyjack

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1361 on: August 14, 2018, 10:33:11 PM »
A good likeness, wouldn't you say?  I can't use that avatar on Chihuahua because of Linda's delicate sensibilities.

Apart from the brown eyes, I can't imagine you as a Black Vulture although you seem to have identified with them as far back  as 2013 on Facebook.

I think I picture you as an owl.  You could use one of them as an avatar on Chihuahua because I understand that owls are the only birds Linda likes.

How about This
« Last Edit: August 15, 2018, 05:56:43 AM by Ozzyjack »
Regards, Jack

Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1362 on: August 15, 2018, 04:47:52 AM »
Hi Jack
Loved reading about your travels around Scotland.  I'm left wondering how much of the scotch actually made it back to Australia >:D
I've never been myself sadly.  No1 daughter went to the Isle of Skye last year & thoroughly enjoyed it.
The picture of the owl is brilliant :)  Hope Birdy likes it!
Bottoms Up!
Pen
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Hobbit

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1363 on: August 15, 2018, 04:51:48 AM »
Fantastic pictures Birdy.  Amazing!  So pleased you posted the link.
Loved Jack's suggestion of the owl :)  Hope you like it!
Pen
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anonsi

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Re: More or Les (was Bloody Plurals)
« Reply #1364 on: August 15, 2018, 06:41:23 AM »
I said I was going to give the journal a break but Anonsi said she wanted to hear something about Scotland, so here goes

Thank you! That was great. I think my husband is going to be like you and want allllll the whisky.