St. James's Church, Louth

It is all but impossible to take in a complete view of the church as it is surrounded by other buildings The only way to get an overall impression of its size and the height of the tower and steeple is from a model which can be seen inside the church:



As I approached the church from the shopping area of the town the great East window could be seen:



Viewed from inside:



I had only set out to visit the market but on impulse I decided to have a quick look round the parish church as well.  I hoped the cafe would be open as I was looking forward to a sit down with a cup of tea. Fortunately it was so I ordered a pot of tea and a toasted teacake to enjoy in pleasant surroundings:



While I sat looking around to my great pleasure the organist decided to have a practice session. I started up a video just to capture the sound. I only managed a short recording before I was interrupted:



The camera wasn't able to capture the rich bass sounds which could be felt as well as heard from the organ positioned at the opposite end of the church.  I said I was interrupted, though in a pleasant way. A lady with her daughter and two grand-daughters asked if they could join me as this was the only table with enough room for us all. We had a long chat while I enjoyed my toasted teacake. They were hoping to climb the tower to take in the fantastic views but it was locked. I think, for safety reasons, someone has to make a note of how many people go up and make sure they all get back down safely. Hopefully someone would be available to allow them access before they left.

The cafe is situated under the tower and from where I was sitting I could see one of the many stained glass windows:



Looking straight up I could see the sunburst decoration on the roof of the tower over 85 feet above my head:



The sides of the Nave are full of stained glass windows. As far as I can work out they were all installed from the mid 1800's to early 1900's. All told there are some 33 windows with stained glass.







The Chancel with the high altar and choir stalls:



An old font positioned near the organ loft:



The 19th Century font made from Staffordshire alabaster:

    

     

Four of the panels show biblical scenes:
The Garden of Eden, Christ's Baptism and the Crucifixion seen here:



The fourth shows Noah's Ark.

A view of the roof of the Nave:



There is much more detail to be seen in and around the building which I will have to explore on a future visit as it was time to think of meandering back to the car. Next time I will take another camera and a flash gun.

Food Friday

Louth, my local market town, has three market days each week. Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. The 2nd Friday each month is designated Food Friday and the 4th Wednesday of each month is Farmer's Market.  I hadn't been there on a market day for several years. Lots of reasons, not least of which is the limited availability of parking spaces. In the past I have usually set off soon after 9 a.m. before the rush starts. This time I left it until half eleven which meant heading for the largest car park and hoping to find a space.



I had to go to the farthest end but did spot an empty space, one of only four or five left by that time of day. Bought a ticket. £1.50 for 2 hours, not a bad price in this day and age, and set off through the main shopping street heading towards the market place.

This stall is always there, in pride of place, selling good quality garden plants and cut flowers.



 



Not just food stalls but also sellers of trinkets, decorations, clothes, etc..

 



Many home made by local traders





Not forgetting food. Didn't see much veg but plenty of fruit







I bought some pears and blueberries and then spotted



where I bough a dressed crab. Not had one for years and it was delicious.

After a look round the market I visited my favourite electrical shop



hoping to find a new fridge but they only had one on view.

Then on to the parish church



where I spent about an hour exploring inside.
More on that in my next post.

Finally I wandered back past the market place with its view of the clock tower.



It marks the entrance to the old indoor market which used to contain many small stalls until it was sold off and is now occupied by a single trader and is really a normal shop.

Back to the car park where I noticed something which was new to me



two reserved spaces where electric vehicles can be charged.

Brush That Bottle

The second set of flowers have finally opened on my Callistemon plant



I have always been fascinated by the way they develop.
Growing right on the branch and part way along it.
Bottle Brush is a very apt name for it.

More Blood Tests

I set out in time to arrive at Louth Hospital soon after the department opened. Usually there are few waiting their turn at that time but this time the waiting room was nearly full. Fortunately there were two nurses on duty so it wasn't too long before I was on my way back home. As I always video my car journeys I have put up part of the homeward drive through the market town of Louth, Lincolnshire.

News from the doctor: My red blood cell count is fine and I don't need any more injections.



Not much sound as I toned down the volume of the music playing in the car.

A brief description of the journey:
Out through the hospital grounds. Turn right and down a steep lane, turn right towards the North end of the town to top up with petrol.  Back the way we came, on the Grimsby Road, a steep road to the bottom of the valley. Before a bypass was built all heavy traffic used this route travelling South from Grimsby to Boston and further South. At the bottom of the hill we weave round the parish church with it high tower and steeple. So high the steeple can be seen, poking up from the valley, from my village four miles away. Turning left near the pedestrian crossing would lead to the town shopping area and market place. We go straight on, up Upgate, climbing out of the valley to the traffic lights. Turn left to head towards the coast and out through the East side of the town. Finally reaching open countryside.

I wonder how the 125.9 p/litre for unleaded compares with other parts of the country.

Another Flight

Another experimental video using Mandelbulber 3D v2.
A more colourful, complex shape.
Video made from 360 rendered stills which took 6.5 hrs to create.
Some in the middle of the animation sequence went a bit haywire so were omitted.



I noticed that the still background was rendered fresh every time which added to the time taken.
The close zoomed section ended up faster than I wanted.
Lots of learning to do regarding choosing where to put keyframes for a smooth flight.

Mandel Flight

Inspired by Adrian (Adrian's Images) when he posted some animations and following  a link he sent me I found Mandelbulber 3D for Mac. This app draws 3D representations of Mandlebrots. This is my first attempt in making a video with it using one of the 3D 'shapes' included in the app.



It took about 34 minutes to render 198 png images. First I tried importing them in iMovie but for some unfathomable reason it reversed the animation direction of every other image. Next I tried VideoPad which reversed the order they played. Anyway I saved that as an mp4 then imported that movie in iMovie and reversed the direction of play, added sound and created the finished video.

Callistemon

As we came back from our mid morning walk I spotted this flash of red:



The first flowers on my Callistemon, bottle brush, plant starting to open.