Garden Visitor

Good old IMAC has been giving me some stick to do another post. In my last post I said that before I did do a posting I would visit all my followers blogs to say 'hello'.
Sorry, I visited about half of you fairly quickly but time has not allowed me to finish my rounds until today.
I thought this photo might be of interest to you (Click to enlarge) . ....Due to the severe weather we had in January (for us in Lincolnshire it was the worst for many years), I was tempted to put out scraps of food for the wild birds. I rarely feed the birds for fear of one of the vistors becoming a meal to our cat, Jasper. Thankfully, the snow and ice made it much easier for Jasper to stay indoors, she tended to come to the back door very quickly on the few occasions she wanted out . Fairly quickly, I progressed from throwing out bread (not the most sustaining of foods) to commercially bought suet treats, fat balls and my own offering of rolled oats (porridge), lightly soaked in lard.
The Blackbirds and Starlings soon found the food. Jasper kindly remained indoors and slept the days away and even now, on 'warmer' days she'll (don't ask!) go sleep in the greenhouse and only raise her head to look when a flock of Startlings drop in.
The bird above was one of the earlier arrivals and she stood out as different with that light patch on her throat. Although she seemed to be 'accepted' by the dominant male Blackbird I wondered if she was a female Ring Ouzel (see examples) After a bit of research, I'm happy to call her a female Blackbird.
I'm now wondering where she's got to. We had a good covering of snow when we woke up last Saturday (20th), and she must have been searching around the back of the green house for food and found Jaspers 'door'. An opening just like a cat flap but without the flap. Anyway we saw her trying to find her way out and eventually I went and opened the main door. She flew away quite strongly and I felt she was no worse for her experience.
I have not seen her since, that is, until this morning. There she was, boldly searching the lawn for the suet and/or rolled oats. A male blackbird did not like her there but she was having none of it, just moved to another section and carried on. Good for her and welcome back!

The photo was taken on a Canon EOS 450D using a Canon EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM lens. The shot was taken through double glazing and I have cropped it by about 50% and altered the lighting levels with Adobe Photoshop Elements 4

A visit to the supermarket

I’m going to tell you a story. (Now, who used that catch phrase I wonder?)

....but first of all can I just say a huge thank you to all my visitors for such a fantastic welcome. Since I started last weekend I have failed miserably in all my ‘House Husband’ duties and spent so many interesting hours in front of the PC. I’ve redeemed some points today but I just had to come and have a look – even more visitors! Wow, what a friendly lot you are!

Anyway.... this story.
I was in a local supermarket the other day for a few bits and pieces and having unloaded onto the conveyor, I scanned the other isles and noted a young woman placing her groceries in the trolley after they had been scanned. She was in full conversation on her mobile whilst loading her trolley. I thought how rude she was being and then concentrated on my own purchases.

Imagine my surprise when I next spotted her. She was crouched down, picking up what remained of a dozen eggs from the pavement outside the front door of the Supermarket. Initially I thought, ‘Oh dear’ until I realised that the mobile was still stuck to her ear and she was in full flow. ........I walked across to the car with a huge grin on my face.
The best of it was that even as I drove off, she was still on the phone, unloading her fully loaded trolley, one handed.

Must have been an awfully important call!
BH.

PS I won’t be posting over the weekend and before I do, I will be calling in on all my visitors for a proper chat. Have a great weekend!

From behind the Curtain

Just a joke with Imac but a reminder that spring is coming.

Oh for those days when doors and windows can be opened

to let the fresh air in!

0oo! I just thought that centred text would be more pleasing.

An old favourite

Sunset over Lake Geneva. Its been a Desk Top image at work and home. Taken on our first 'digi', a Canon Powershot A10 with a sensor size of 1.2 Mp, long before I had any real concept of framing, thirds foreground, lead ins etc. I find it amazing how many I shots I took of that evening (in that spot) before I moved to this exact position.

In 2003, we visited Switzerland for our holiday and on a day trip from Montreux, Lake Geneva, we visited the French town of Chamonix. This is La Mer de Glace which was reached by mountain railway.

At first we thought the glacier had melted and our trip was in vain but as we looked closly we were seeing the rock and debris of its journey down the mountain.

The scale was bigger than we thought and there were steps to take you down and INTO the glacier.

The Ice Sculptures there were amazing!

As the Glacier moves down the mountain, a new cavern is carved out of the ice and new sculpures are created.