Saturday's Sunrise

We were out and about at just the right moment yesterday morning.
Glorious Sunrise

Looking South from my front gate


Looking East back down the lane


Looking East across the school grounds


It was the usual battle of wills.
The four legged boss wanting to examine and analyse every enticing scent.
Me wanting to reach the ideal place for that final photo before the event was over.
You will only need one guess as to which of us won this time.

Took my mind off it being Flu jab day at the local surgery.
No problems with the actual injection but I know that area of me is usually sore for several days afterwards. The session started at 8.30 a.m.. There was already  a queue of about 30 people when the doors opened. It pays to be early as I was informed they ran out of vaccine a couple of weeks ago when they had a session at their other surgery on the coast. As these are walk in sessions it is difficult for the staff to accurately estimate how many of those eligible for a free flu vaccination will actually turn up on the day.

Saturday was another exceptionally warm day for the time of year.
My weather station recorded 24.8C by mid-afternoon.
Dry but very blustery. Maximum gust recorded was 52km/h

Multicoloured Breakfast Time

I was up and about earlier than usual yesterday. The idea was to get the early morning walkies over before any rain arrived. I was tucking in to my individual pot of peach chunks in juice and watching the Sunrise through the kitchen window. Just as some of the clouds were starting to take on an orange hue I  noticed the rainbow.



It seems many months, if not a couple of years, since I last saw one and I don't think I have ever seen one so early in the day. A cheerful start to what was forecast to be a wet and windy day. Fortunately it wasn't very wet here. Just the occasional light shower but we had plenty of gusty wind.

2500 Today

Yes, that is how old I feel some days but it actually refers to this being my 2500th blog post since I took a deep breath and started out in Blogger Land, January 2009. I knew not whether anyone would look at and read what I had to say and show. It has been a very pleasant experience and pass-time and I am eternally grateful for those who have visited and for those who leave comments.

One of the photos from that first post was of this juvenile Great Tit enjoying a peanut



I think one of my favourites of those early photos is this Rook balancing on the thinnest of twigs



I used to see my favourites much more frequently back then
Long-tailed Tits



My constant companion was Bobby the Lurcher



Enough of looking back. What of the future? One thing is for sure, I will keep blogging so you readers will have to put up with my wittering for a few more years yet. What has amazed me is the variety of places where my visitors reside. According to 'Flag Counter' they have come from 159 different countries. It just shows how the internet has no bounds or barriers, apart from a few political ones.

This past year or so there has been little variety and numbers of wildlife visiting my garden. That has been partly due to the tidying up and general clearance of overgrown bushes and trees nearby but as new plants grow and flourish I look forward to seeing and photographing more visitors.

Of course, blogging works in both directions giving an opportunity to find interesting and informative blogs from all corners of the world.

Weevil

 
A cool start to the day yesterday but once the Sun got going the temperature climbed steadily almost reaching 21C for several hours.  When I went out to clear a cobweb from in front of one of my cameras I spotted this little weevil sunning itself on top of the warm rain cover.



Managed to get some pruning and weeding done so the green wheelie bin is suitably full for Friday morning's green waste collection.

Wordless Wednesday

The Ghostly Amaryllis

Monday Montage

Last Monday's WidsMob Montage modified photo was



Yes, it is some sort of cooker containing vegetables.
Everyone got close but only Adrian was 100% correct as it was



a steamer. A small 400W electric steamer. Has overheat cut-out and timer. One problem with it - the timer can be set up to one hour but the water container doesn't hold enough water to last that long. Safer to stick with 40 - 45 minute sessions. You also have to be careful when cleaning out the bottom section which holds the water. The mains lead is permanently attached so it can't be immersed in water. They do come with three tiers but I craftily only showed one so as not to give the game away.

I do have a slow cooker which I used occasionally when I was out all day at work. Personally I hated it. It cooked things just fine but I found everything I put in tasted the same. So with some minced beef and mixed vegetables I found everything tasted of beef. Steaming the vegetables usually allows each type of food to retain its individual taste.

A somewhat smaller object this week.



which is a ..... what?

If you think you know or want to hazard a guess please leave your answer in the comments.
They will be revealed, along with the original photo, next Monday.

First Attempt with Blender on Ubuntu

Having seen the marvellous things Adrian (Adrian's Images) achieves with Blender and other 3D graphics programs it inspired me to take the plunge and install Blender on my new (refurbished) desktop PC.

It is a steep learning curve but fortunately the Blender user community is large, nay vast, so a quick Google ( as Doddy used to say - They can't touch you for it) can usually throw up several helpful, detailed help files and videos.

My first simple 3D house shape



... with a bit more detail and a first attempt at rendering a video



This should keep me off the streets and out of mischief for hours during the coming long, dark evenings.