Silver for Mabel

Last Friday mabel took her silver test with two other dogs... and she passed :o)

We don`t know if she`ll go for gold next, I think she has to make coffee and bake some biscuits for that :o) "woof woof".

Demise of my DSLR

I was really looking forward to photographing a nice sunrise at Cooden Beach again. It started well and I got these nice ones...

And then it all went terribly wrong. I like to put the tripod quite low at the edge of the water and get the long exposure shots of swirling water. I`ve done it loads of times but this time a huge wave came out of nowhere and soaked me and the camera. This is the last photograph I took and the flash went off as I lifted it from the water! When things go wrong they really go wrong too. The half hour after this happened, the sky was the most amazing pink and so was the tops of the storm clouds nearby. I have to wait and see if I can claim off my insurance now. And I couldn`t! That`ll teach me :(

Birling gap DRIFTWOOD!

This is for my friend Pedantic Pete, or anyone else who didn`t get to see the timber washed-up along the south coast this year...

Kindling

It seems that Ruth has a Cavaliar attitude to kindling use when lighting a fire. She only goes and uses all my kindling in one go!!! It`s a man thing isn`t it? We love and understand fires and they just want instant heat with no effort.

Dad

Father seems to have suddenly found his feet again. After being upstairs for over six weeks, virtually bedridden, he suddenly appeared downstairs in the kitchen and made mum jump! But he is still doddery, doddery he certainly is :o)

Hampshire Jam 7

No, not a new Damson sandwich spread but a mammoth electronic music concert in Liphook. This is the sixth one that myself and my friends have been to and very good it is too. Lots of old analogue equipment and modern digital equipment teased into action by a very dedicated bunch of guys. Some come over from the Netherlands and Germany to perform.

Autumn around Firle & Berwick

In the grounds of Firle Place.

Berwick Church

For those who were there for the 1982 Alfriston Walk, the rusty old Dutch Barn was the one we had to sleep in after being chucked-out by the warden at Alfriston Youth Hostel.

Folkington

Ruths arty weekend in December

Ruth and her good friend Graeme are having an art open-house on the first weekend in December. here`s some art that Ruth has made...

3" brass bolt

These were the original brass bolts used in the 1930`s to secure cables and hookswitches to the conductor rails. I bought a polishing kit and set about buffing-up the bugger, nice result but it`s very hard to photograph!

Fireplace

We had our wood-burning stove fitted today :o)

I was a bit miffed to find out we can only burn hardwoods in it! This means I will have to search the railway lines for oak and beech logs. My good friend Bob will know what are hard woods and what aren`t. And you have to leave them to season for six months. I can`t wait to see wifey build her first fire from scratch! I`ll be hiding the fire lighters, she watches Bear Ghryles enough, piece of cake!