Sunday at Leeds Castle

Having looked after Callum for a few days it was time to return him to his mother.
We met his mum, Sharon, at Leeds Castle in Kent for a day out.
The weather was changeable. It started nice and sunny but the clouds came over and it threatened to rain. It didn’t but it was chilly though. I didn’t get the photographs I wanted of the Castle bathed in sunlight but I took plenty. Here are some of them.

It is said to be the most beautiful castle in the country and I would tend to agree.

A tour of the rooms in the castle is a must for any visitor.
Photography is allowed, apart from the Chapel, so I snapped away.

The grounds of the Castle are extensive and have an aviary, adventure play area for children, a maze and falconry displays:

What is so good about visiting Leeds Castle is that once you have paid your entrance fee you can visit as many times as you like for a year – free. Excellent value.

Callum went home with his mum. We returned home to put our feet up for a well deserved rest.

A good day out, a really nice time with Callum.

We will be returning to Leeds Castle through-out the year you can be sure of that.

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Callum on Rollers

Callum says
“I have been staying with my Nana and Gramps and we have done lots of things. Today we went to the Royal Esplanade, Ramsgate and I went on my Roller Blades along the promenade.
I told Gramps to take a photograph of the Bay as it looked very nice

I skated passed the Boating Pool and went passed these big hands.

This is a photograph of me on my Roller Blades.

The Ferry was coming into Ramsgate Harbour:

We had a look at the Boats on the West Cliff Boating Pool

In the afternnon we went to the cinema and saw G Force in 3D. It was very exciting as things jumped out at you from the screen.
It was a lovely weekend.
Thanks Nana and Gramps”

Credits:
Photographic direction – Callum
Photographer – Gramps
Wardrobe Manager – Nana
Words (mainly) by – Callum
Editor – Gramps.

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A Day at Coventry Transport Museum

I like looking around car museums and, fortunately, so do Joseph, Henry and Tony. So the Coventry Transport Museum was an ideal place to visit.

It is situated in the centre of Coventry and was built on the site of the old Theatre.
Here are some of the images I took.

Although I took lots of Photographs I didn’t think to make a note of what the vehicles were. so please forgive the rather vague descriptions. It is funny that, although while looking at the vehicles, reading about them and remember some of them on the road, I cannot now recall what they were called! (Onset of senility I think!!)

The main attraction was the Land Speed Record Breakers:

On 4th October 1983, this vehicle – Thrust2 – broke the world land speed record with an average speed over two runs of 633.468 m.p.h.
It is just awesome to stand beside. The scale of the vehicle and size of it’s engine is amazing. The boys, all four of us, were mighty impressed and thought we had seen it all until we walked round the corner and watched a short film about the Thrust SSC (Super Sonic Car) which, on October 13th 1997, on the sands of the Nevada Desert broke the Land Speed Record and the Sound Barrier on land at 764mph!
This was followed by a Simulator Experience of the run in which the Land Speed Record was broken. After that there was a chance to see the actual car:

If Thrust2 was awesome to stand beside the ThrustSSC was double awesome!!

The museum had a display of the Second World War and it’s proudest exhibit was the car used by Field Marshal Montgomery of El-Alemain fame. It so proud of this vehicle that the museum goes to great length describing the vehicle and it’s association with Montgomery. Shame then to see them spell Marshal as Marchal

Henry took the opportunity to design his own vehicle:

After the Motor Transport Museum we visited the ruins of Coventry Cathedral and then visited the University Art Gallery.
But no visit to Coventry can be considered complete until you have seen the statue of Lady Godiva (she who rode through the city on horse back – bare. Her that is!).

Another great day out.
Next day out tomorrow.

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A Visit to Hatton Country Park

Wondering what we could do with Joseph and Henry while looking after them last week I decided to see what my SatNav would show as Points of Interest close to where we were staying. One item was Hatton Country Park.. So that is where we decided to go – under the directions of the Jessica (our SatNav voice – brilliant gadgets aren’t they!).

What a great place it turned out to be.
The boys got involved in:
Bouncy Slide:

Trampolining:

Panning for Gold:

Henry was quick to point out that it was ‘only fools gold’.

Helter Skelter:

Joseph decided not to experience this slide. Henry was up and down it in a flash!

Birds of Prey:

We were told what this bird of prey is but there were so many that I have forgotten this one.
Beautiful bird isn’t it!

Other things were; Rope slide; JCB tractors – kiddie size (the boys spent ages on them); Sheep dog display; Goat racing and much, much more.

It was a great day out. Jessica got us home safely.
I like Jessica. If I go a different way she just says “Route Recalculation” (the boys could mimic her quite well by the end of the week) without sounding impatient – unlike my usual front seat passenger!

More of last week in my next post.

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Shustock Reversoir

We have been staying in a lovely cottage in Whitacre near Birmingham for the past week while Janet was at the Festival of Quilts at the National Exhibition Centre.
Mae was helping Janet on her stand. My ‘job’ was to keep the grandchildren Joseph and Henry entertained with the assistance of their Dad, Tony (or should that be the other way round!).

This reservoir was near to where we were staying and we visited it several times.

The heading to this post is not a spelling error. This is what Joseph and Henry called it!

It is a lovely place to walk round or, in the boy’s case, run round. There is also an upper reservoir.

We did the rounds of visitor attraction. Coventry Motor Museum, Warwick Castle, Birmingham (where they had a beach outside the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum) and also a day at Hatton Country Park.

I will show you some more images I took over the next few posts but I thought I had better publish something now or you might wonder where I had got to and that would never do!

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A view of County Down

Last Monday, while still in Northern Ireland after the wedding, we were taken to McKee’s Farm for lunch. This is a working farm that has developed into a farm shop and a restaurant and very popular it is to. We had to queue for a table! The view from the farm is outstanding:

After lunch we went on a tour of County Down. We stopped at Ballyholme, a little town just outside Bangor, and walked along the shore of Belfast Lough.

I was told that Ballyholme Beach was used to rehearse for the D Day landings. The markers used to dissect the beach into the different landing zones could still be seen.

Holywood, where we stay, is just outside Belfast and when we visit we always take a walk along the shore. Belfast Lough leads from the North Channel into Belfast and the Docks where the Titanic was built.

Before we left Holywood to return home we had a coffee and Cinnamon bun at the Bay Tree Restaurant.

This restaurant, which is not much to look at from the outside, was voted the best restaurant in N.Ireland 2009 and mentioned in The Saturday Telegraph a week or so ago. The meals are excellent and their Cinnamon Buns (which are made to a secret recipe) are a must with a cup of coffee. It is another ‘must do’ in Holywood.

The first two images were taken with my Canon 350D. The last three were taken with my Canon Powershot.

Our stay ended all too soon.

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A Holywood Wedding!

Mae and I were in Northern Ireland last week for the Wedding of Mae’s nephew.

The wedding took place in Holywood near Belfast but the Wedding Reception took place in Newcastle at the Slieve Donard Resort and Spa Hotel.

It is a lovely setting for a Wedding Reception. It is on the edge of Newcastle in the shadow of the Mountains of Mourne and on the shore of Dundrum Bay.

The Banqueting Hall looked stunning decorated in Black and White.

The Mountains of Mourne can be seen in the background as they sweep down to the sea.

The colours were the choice of the Bride and the Wedding Cake followed the same theme.

It was made of sponge, white and dark chocolate and Malteesers. (Very nice it was too) and very dark icing. On the top was a ‘Me to You’ Bride and Groom.

The setting sun made the Slieve Donard Mountain look very dramatic.

Slieve Donard (Sliabh Domangard or Sliabh Dónairt in Irish) is the highest mountain in Northern Ireland, and in the province of Ulster as a whole, at 849 metres .
Slieve Donard is named after Saint Domangart, or Domangard, also known as Saint Donard. He was a follower of Saint Patrick and the patron saint of the town of Maghera, also in County Down.

After the Reception the Moon put on it’s own display for the couple turning the bay into a shimmering sea of white.

The Bride and Groom came out and many photographs were taken. I, of course, took some. The one above was a trial run before the Bride and Groom appeared and was taken by resting the camera on a waste paper bin and using a four second exposure.

It was a lovely day and we wish the bride and Groom all the best for the future.

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All is not what it seems

The saying that ‘a camera never lies’ no longer holds true.

I know, because I am a great one for adjusting photographs to achieve the effect I want.

Take this image posted a week or so ago:

Now look at the original:

The subject is too dark and the horizon slopes alarmingly although the sky retained it’s blue colour.
When I took this shot (and this is the best of several) it was a very bright day and it looked alright on the camera’s LCD screen.
As you can see, a lot of adjusting occurred to achieve a usable image. A bit of cropping helped re-align the horizon and a bit of ‘colour curve’ adjustment retained a blue sky and brought out the details of the boat.
The result is not meant to be a true reflection of what the actual scene was like (I lost that on taking a poor photograph) but just a pleasing image to look at.
Trashalou left a comment on a previous post asking whether this image was original or had it been tampered with. Thanks for your question Trashalou. As you can see – very much so!

Look at my next photograph:
Now you see them . . . .

. . .. . Now you don’t!

Can you spot what is missing in the bottom image?

When you spot the difference I think you will agree that a more pleasing image is the result.

I am not a great photographer but I hope that my ‘tampering’ improves the images that I do take.

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The Handsome Thrush and the not so well Dunnock

This Song Thrush was hopping around our garden on Saturday and it seemed to tolerate my presence.

I moved a bit closer and it just stood still as if posing. Occasionally it would look in a different direction as if striking a different pose for me.

What a lovely bird. I have only cropped this image a fraction just to make a better composition so I am well pleased with these images.

Unfortunately another bird in our garden is not looking so good.

I thought I saw something odd about it earlier and through my binocular I saw what appeared to be a growth on it’s left cheek.
My camera showed these growths.

My research shows that this is possibly the Avian Pox.
Two forms of avian pox exist. In the more common form, wart-like growths appear on the featherless areas of the body such as around the eye, the base of the beak, and on the legs and feet. Avian pox can be caused by several strains of the Pox virus and has been reported in at least 60 species of birds, including turkeys, hawks, owls, and sparrows. The virus can be spread by direct contact with infected birds or contaminated surfaces (e.g., feeders), or by ingestion of contaminated food or water.
The virus can be transmitted by mosquitoes feeding off an infected bird then passing it on or by contact with an infected bird or water.

I have not seen this family of birds in our garden for several weeks so initially I was pleased to see them but my joy turned to dismay upon seeing this on, what I believe to be, one of this years brood. I have also seen another Dunnock with these warts on both cheeks. The parents seem alright though.

I have not noticed this on any other Avian visitors so, while not precluding it, do not think it was caught from our feeders.

I keep my feeder clean and put fresh water out regularly. I will be even more scrupulous from now on.

I have no idea what I can do for these birds. There is no treatment for wild birds. I understand though that these warts can clear up unless they get infected.

I am keeping a watch on them.

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