The Garden Workshop

MY troops have been extra busy this last few days erecting a new 10" x 6" garden shed, which I will turn into part railway workshop and part messy area for resin casting , plaster work, wood work and paint spraying. Well I have done very little towards it being under constant threat of annihilation by my kinder, should I use my left arm (post pacemaker insertion), though I did have a bit of a go today when no one was looking. I am quite exited about the prospect of having somewhere to do the messy stuff away from the house and be able to implement some new (old ) ideas and projects which I have had in waiting for some years. Pictures to come as things progress. Meanwhile, now feeling quite knackered with knees hips and left shoulder about to seize up  completely, I thought something good for dinner might be in order and a look at the box for a few hours with a glass of Chivas Regal.
I am really fortunate in having six kindly kinder who shower me with heaven sent goodies and Daughter and Son in Law, Gemma and Daniel, yesterday gave me two steaks of Wild Boar.
   I have not eaten Wild Boar since last in Poland so I thought a salad and pop it on the griddle with just some light seasoning of sea salt flakes and black pepper. I made up an interesting little dressing , with diet in mind, of four desert spoons of  Fat Free Yoghurt, juice of half a lemon, teaspoon of Cumin powder, small handful of fresh chopped mint a little salt and pepper and finally a teaspoon of runny honey. It was superb! The wild boar wasn't in the least tough and the dressing complimented it all. I would thoroughly recommend shed building to all, you never know where or what you will be eating for dinner until you build a railway workshop.

Home and Dry

For those who have been following the progress of my latest country church, I can now happily say it has withstood the vigour's of transit and is now at it's new home in the West Country. No matter how hard one tries to protect one's work there is always an elephant with a larger bum than yours waiting to sit on the box. Prompting the Olde English lament, " Some S**T has damaged my model "!!!!
Thankfully this time we won the contest.
My grateful thanks to Steve for allowing me to place these images on my blogsite. He must be complimented on his use of back drop scenery it really is first class.

FInished now

At last plastering finished new window designed and fitted painted and varnished ready to go. I did have some video footage of the latter part of construction but unfortunately the files were too large and couldn't be uploaded. The window was made by printing an actual image of stained glass onto very thin copy paper. This was then soaked in Mod Podge the wonder glue and sealer. I then sandwiched between two separate pieces of glazing and fitted it behind the window. I thought this was  most effective as the paper controls the light the detail is as good as my image and it has a very soft and delicate appearance. My earlier attempts were I admit poor and amateurish, the colours being painted on and far to garish. Still on to the  next one now, which will be some old canal side terraces included a back street Pub, the canal and a small stretch of narrow gauge railway line leading to a canal loading yard . This time I shall make sure the footage will upload so I can show you what is going on as it is happening. Thanks.

Rocking and Rollin

Not much to write tonight, am watching BBC 4, a number of fantastic progs telling the story of rock and roll. Just watched the Bill Haley and the Comets story. What a fantastic period, I am so glad I am a dinosaur and old enough to say Yes I was a alive then and kicking! 

The Roaring Twenties

My good friend and neighbour Jim O'Neil , who has given me immense support with my Heritage work over the years, has come up trumps yet again. Jim never fails to amaze me how he can , without warning, conjure up collections of archive images , whilst I, more often than not plunder the internet and  antique shops often to no avail. Here are two super images , of the Paddle Steamer La Marguerite and a motor bus outing to the Doone Valley and Lynton and Lynmouth.
My word, I fear for the lives of those intrepid day trippers circumnavigating the infamous Porlock Hill. The poor driver having to rely on mechanical brakes must have had his foot riveted to the pedal.

I am wondering if the Lady wearing the fruit bowl, sorry hat ! in the centre of the back row, is acting chaperone to the young couple enjoying footsies under the travel blanket.
" My dear Felicity, I don't wish to dither, but pledging my troth I must reconsider, your father is breathing down my neck and its doing my Head In !!!"

Hidden Eyes

And as I walked through the  foggy winding alleyways, the eyes of fishermen lost, followed every footstep I made, over cobbles steeped in ancient folk lore , through low arches and up granite steps. And then as I was aware of the cold sweat pouring down my aching back, I found the safety of the  cottage, and realised that I had turned the colour off on  Paint Shop Pro and decided to watch the Liverpool V Stoke game instead of any further day dreaming.

1960s Coast Line

Yesterday I took delivery of around 500 35 mm transparencies of mixed subjects, but all from the early to mid 1960s. They are taken partly in the West Country and there are also many quite pleasant shots of the Scottish Highlands. As expected there is a variety of mixed hues, Agfa, Kodak and Ilford plus some Top Rank and Ferranicolour. It is incredible how the characteristics of old colour stock are the same according to the type of film. The Ilford seems to have kept its colour but has faded overall, while the Agfa stock has a definite  Magenta cast which is proving troublesome to remove. This needs to be done before I can add them to the main archive. However as a measure of desperation I have turned the colour off on a small number thus making them Black and White, in addition I have added a soft focus effect to one or two purely as an experiment. I don't agree with image manipulation but as long as the image stays as it was taken I think a softening effect is OK on this occasion.