Now it is cover number 10

Who would have thought it. Cover picture number 10 has been used for a Russian edition on Kindle. 
Nunney Castle and moat set as a square picture.

Checking idly on Morguefile and wondered what some of the downloads had been used for.

I wonder what nexr?

Found another batch of Negatives.

It seems that every time I say "Thank the Lord that's the last" I turn up another few negatives from my film days.

This time from around the 1989's just after I retired.

It was from a visit to Exmoor in the days of my Volkswagen Golf. 

A trip when we walked down Hoaroak Water to the junction with Farley Water at Watersmeet.

Must have been pre 1994 I think.

Also found some Ilford XP1 negatives shots that I had taken from a visit to the South Molton area. 

I managed to get some pix of the rough track road from High Bray down to the main road to Brayford that we had tackled back in the days when i was on the Milk Round..

I can still remember the look on the face of Len Hurley when we got to the end of the track and on to a relatively safer lane at the end. I was on the trusty B31 with Nigel Langson on the back and Len was on his precious Triumph Boni. I must admit I was a little worried. But I reckon Len was horrified. 

I couldn't walk up to the really bad section at the time of my return because it was a mile or so up the track.

But just imagine a surface like this but with a few deep rain gullies in it and you will get the idea of what it was like.

Even the B31 with the extra weight of Nigel on the back bumped a couple of times.
I think when we got to the bottom 

Len checked his silencers for bumps but they seemed to pass OK.

There was no way we could have called it off because the B31 would not have pulled back up the 3 in 1 to 4 in 1 gradient with a pillion passenger. I had discovered that previously on Porlock Hill when i got stuck behind a foolish car driver who had not changed down to negotiate the hairpin. 

Can I NOW say "Thank God that is the lot?"

Raining Thursday morning.

I checked the weather forecast and they said it would be clearing. I had been thinking of going down to Crowcombe Heathfield to take train pix.

What should I do? Chanced it and took off. By the time I got to Taunton the weather was brightening and the sun peeping through.

Looked in at the station and got a Gala timetable. Also took a sweep shot of the downside platform using the Tamron 11 to 18 mm. wide angle. Actual focal length 16 to 27 mm, I reckon at the widest it covers well over a 200 degree angle on a sweep picture.  

Chatted to one of the staff and arranged I would send them a series of what I took that morning.

I had as targets the two Hall Class ex-GWR locos and Britannia. Luckily they were the first three locomotives to run. I got a series of Raveningham Hall as she came round the bend and up the line from Roebuck crossing.

Britannia was 10 minutes late for the passing link and upset the timing. The wind was rather strong and very cold.

If I moved back to the car I would lose my place. By the time she had arrived and dropped off and picked up my ears were really cold. I checked and decided I had time to get to Leigh Farm level crossing to get shots of Kinlet Hall.

Because of Britannia the cross at Williton meant that Kinlett Hall was in turn running around 10 minutes late. She came round the bend going great guns, hoping to make up time I expect. By this time my head was cold and I realised I should have worn my sheepskin cap to keep my ears warm.
The wind was quite a lot stronger than it had been at Clevedon and much colder. Although it was early I packed in and got back home by 12.30. Earache, Headache but very satisfied with my results.

Ornamental Cherry today

Went down early and snipped a spray, the flowering shrubs and bushes are beginning to show blossom.

Delicate little flowers Not much leaf yet so they are not hidden.

Closer shot reveals a suggestion of pinkness spreading form the flower centre

Leaves lower down the stem are starting to sprout. But they don't cover the flowers.

Bit cold for insects at the moment. Quite a hard frost overnight. I had to use a bottle of warm water to clear the car windscreen.

Made sure it was not too hot. I once saw a man pur water from a kettle on his windscreen and it shattered.

Far too hot and almost boiling. He hadn't seen there was a small chip on the glass. Just enough to do it. Bam - screen in little bits.

Didn't require any accessories for this one The Tamron 90mm macro covered it all. 

Managed a black background in most of the shots by using the reverse side of the bits from my old printer/scanner although the shot with the camera flash at a distance had a greyish tone and unrelieved shadow.

Booked an appointment 

Went up this morning and booked an appointment with the doctor. As I left I noticed some very small white flowers in the privet hedge. Got cheeky and snipped off a twig.

When I got home I set up and clipped it in the little stand.

Put the Tamron 90mm Macro on the camera and found that it took at 2x lifesize with the tele-extender on it. Made the f32 change into f64.

Rigged the ring flash and was able to take at full power.

The ring flash permits detail deep into the flower  when the petals are parted.

Then put a 10 dioptre lens on the front of the Tamron and it increased the magnification to 3.5x life-size.The dioptre lens didn't increase the f number but brought the camera very close to the flower.

All I can say or think about it is Hooray for Minolta's 1200 AF flash and the Control unit.

Got my first wild flower shot this morning.

Growing along the path outside the wall. Looked and had a suspicion it was Shepherd's Purse. Confirmed later with the help of Octopus.

Got a good series using the ring flash control unit. Best buy I have made for a long time. Managed to get some 4x life-size of the seed head and flowers by using a 2 times tele-extender and a 10 dioptre close-up lens on the Tamron 90mm macro lens. The tiny flowers are only about 3 mm in size and when seen as macro pix are hard to take shots of the interior. Also a couple of  shots of the panicle from above and the side view.

Culpeper says of this plant :--

Shepherd’s Purse Capsella bursa-capsoris AKA Casewort, Shepherd’s Scrip, Shepherd’s Pounce, Pickpurse, Toywort, and Whoreman’s Permacity,

Time.] They flower all the Summer long; nay some of them are so fruitful, that they flower twice a year.

Government and virtues.] It is under the dominion of Saturn, and of a cold, dry, and binding nature, like to him. It helps all fluxes of blood, either caused by inward or outward wounds; as also flux of the belly, and bloody flux, spitting blood, and bloody urine, stops the terms in women; being bound to the wrists of the hands, and the soles of the feet, it helps the yellow jaundice. The herb being made into a poultice, helps inflammations and St. Anthony's fire. The juice being dropped into the ears, heals the pains, noise, and mutterings thereof. A good ointment may be made of it for all wounds, especially wounds in the head.

Add caption

Oh what a surprise.

Checking on Morguefile this morning. Out of curiosity I looked to see what a picture of myself had been used for.
Found it was on a book cover - cover number 9 - by a Swedish? author.
The book title translated is "What a Life" 
The picture was myself and Pete the cat sitting on the doorstep of my father's shop in Ken Road.
We used to sit there and watch the traffic - very little in those 1927 year's days; except milkmen's horse and carts and sometimes even a car. That was something to be seen. Mostly though people on bicycles or walking. Pete was more like a dog than a cat, where I was he came and we were constant companions.