My G9ii Journey

Regular readers 😉 will have heard of the Old Geezers before. For those who haven't,  we're a group of six, mostly single, old men who enjoy photography and each others' humour and company.  Today, five of us caught the train to London for a few hours in the King's Cross area. Unlike some of the others I'm not very familiar with London and didn't know what to expect from that area. It turned out to be very interesting. I really liked the mixture of old and new architecture and discovering the canal and small nature reserve in the middle of an urban landscape.  I felt a bit of a tourist. My cameras were busy taking pictures of just about everything I saw. Many shots have been discarded but this update still contains many more photos than previous ones. You might want to make a coffee at this point  🙂 I'll start with King's Cross station. This is a panorama shot in which 9 separate pictures have been stitched together (by my computer) to give one very wid...

On Saturday, the St Ives Photographic Club held their annual Interprint competition. This is a competition between local photography clubs - this year 23 clubs entered including St Neots & District Camera Club, of which I'm a member Each club selects six prints from those submitted by their members and I had the honour of having one of my prints chosen. Its called Mangabey Monkey and here it is ....... I've since found out I was awarded 19/20 for this image, a result I'm very proud of.  Overall, SNDCC came 11th out of the 23 entrants.

I is for......   INCONVENIENCE  The road between Little Paxton and St Neots is closed again.  I've lived in the area for 51 years and although I've seen worse flooding in that time,  I don't think it's ever been closed as many times as in this winter.  The detour via the A1 isn't too bad but with this road closed,  it totally disrupts the traffic flow in St Neots,  with all A1 traffic entering the town from the North now using Crosshall Rd.  Unfortunately,  I don't think there's a low-cost solution to the problem,  which with increasing traffic and changing weather patterns,  will only get worse in coming years.  OK,  Rant over!   😃 Den

H is for.... Heron,  in this case it's a Grey Heron.  I took the image when it flew off to get more material while building a nest with it's mate.  As this bird was doing the hard work,  I'm guessing he's the male while his partner builds the nest. 😜  Taken at Paxton Pits Nature Reserve.  And now I must think of an "I"  🙂 Den

I'd not been looking forward to this day,  the anniversary of Mave's stroke,  and I knew I had to keep myself busy and not dwell on those events too much.  So I'd decided to go to Lakenheath, planning on splitting the day between the fighter aircraft at RAF Lakenheath and the quieter flying at RSPB Lakenheath Fen.  I often look at FB while having my "wake up" coffee(s) and that's where I learned there'd be no flying at the airbase today.  So I spent a few hours just at the nature reserve.  Mave and I visited there a few years ago and it was difficult not to think back but it was better to be out in the sunshine and with nature than sitting at home.  I didn't see much wildlife away from the bird feeders but a Great Crested Grebe did some fishing close to the Mere Hide which was very enjoyable to watch.   Unfortunately,  if he caught a fish while I was there, I missed it. A couple of Canada Geese The feeders were quite busy and...

This month's Group outing was to see the snowdrops at Benington Lordship near Stevenage.  This was an emotional trip for me because this time last year Mave and I did the same trip and it was the last day out we had together before she was taken ill on the 16th. Apart from a chilly breeze at times., it was a lovely sunny day and the snowdrops were in full bloom.  Lots of crocuses were flowering too.  Here are some of my photos. There's a nice little church nearby where she took one of her favourite photo - a stained-glass window. I keep a print of it on our lounge wall. I took a similar (but poorer) version today. Thanks for taking the time to look at my blog. It'd mean a lot to me if you added a comment so I can see you've visited and if you could include your name or initial, I'd have a better idea who the comment was from. Bye for now,  Den

A late-night purchase of tickets on Wednesday had me in Ely this evening for the Crown & Coronation event at Ely cathedral.  Their website described it as follows ,,, Crown and Coronation A spectacular, immersive, light and sound show by Luxmuralis. Following its highly acclaimed launch at the Tower of London in November 2023, Ely Cathedral will be one of the very first venues to showcase this new creation which celebrates the spectacle and significance of the Crown Jewels and the Coronation ceremony. And finally, King Charles III I also shot some video which I might add later. _____________________

After a disappointing evening at SNDCC last night,  today I felt the need to get my camera out and get shooting again. After an hour at the Pits this morning with no shots taken, this afternoon I changed tack and went to Moggerhanger in search of snowdrops. When I'd arrived and parked the car, I started my search. I soon came across a sign saying the Woodland Trail was closed due to expected high winds. Given that today was the calmest day we've had in awhile, that was a surprise. I later learned that it had been put up a few days ago but the Head Gardener wasn't onsite to authorise its removal. Thankfully only a short section of the path was fenced off. Here are some of the photos I took .... ______________________

Well, we went to the Anchor for lunch today as the Band Gang, had a very enjoyable meal, and then departed renamed as the Band Crew. Apparently the original name could somehow get confused with another "activity".  It's beyond me but if someone could explain it to me I'd be most grateful  😜 _____________________

Today,  more than most days,  I remember my dear Mave. We married 16 years ago today and I share this photo in her memory.  It was taken in 2022 during a day out with grandson Thomas and,  with the emphasis on him that day,  this photo didn't get processed and was forgotten.  Having come across it recently  it's now my favourite picture of Mave.  ___________________

An unexpected invite to go to RSPB Nene Washes quickly made me put doing laundry on hold and I got my camera gear ready instead.  It was a sunny winter's day and it didn't seem polite to stay indoors,  This first image is a multi-shot panorama to show the general area - a bit flat init!  🙂 And here is some of the wildlife we saw ... Kestrel Cormorant Stonechat (?) Tawny Owl (?) I think you'll know this one  🙂 Red Kite Thank you J & J for an unexpected and very enjoyable day. __________________________