Scottish Widows on Valentines Day.

Thor about to clobber a Goat

Spent much of the day comparing interest rates, bonds, capital growth rates and other financial gobbledygook as visiting the bank with Toot on Wednesday. I wrote an Excel spreadsheet to do compound interest sums and realised that security and gain are inversely proportional. Its clear to me and St Valentine that the best investment one can make is in a stable loving relationship.
Received a very nice hand made Valentine's Day card from a secret cohabiting admirer!
Decided to create a Valhalla Photoshop montage and may make a painted version.
Toot is preparing a smoked fish and mussel pie for dinner, so I'm off to chop the cabbage!

A spec of dust in the Cosmos

The Astronomers,the Aurora and a Quadrantid Meteor

An enlargement of part of the same photograph
showing the Meteor top right

Going through my Tromso photos I discovered a better image of a Quadrantid meteor and this time in the same field of vision as the Aurora. Oh joy is me!
Off now to see my friend Mr Tesco and then home for tea. I think a Pizza (the most Italianate of all the cheese on toasts) is called for!

Astro-Photographer of the Year 2011

An auroral bridge over the Seven Sisters

The Aurora peeps over the hills on Whale Island

The Aurora spirals across the sky

The Aurora showing bands of colour

Aurora dances with the Great Bear

Cutains of light descend to the horizon

I have been looking at the competition on the Flickr site. A chap from Canada has the best aurora photographs I have ever seen! So I'm not going to win any prizes with my photos but heigh-ho I still have plenty of room for improvement. I have spent the day in the Cabine messing about with photoshop and my Tromso snaps so posting results for comment prior to submision to Sky at Night.
Off to see my friend Mr Lidl; smoked salmon, prawns, pickled ginger and horseradish for tea with some of Anita's scrummy(pauses,looks at camera and licks lips in a lascivious manner) bread.

Sky at Night




The Cabine took on an astronomical flavour as I decided that I would enter a photograph in the Sky at Night competition for Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2011. Thought I might stand a chance in the newcomer to astro-photography category with a Tromso snap.
I have spent most of the day messing about with a trial aurora image in Photoshop. A great piece of software with the same capacity to devour time as the Rubik Cube.(Did you know Rubik was an architect too!). Quite pleased with the result.
Toot says its Plaice and Chips for tea. Excellent!

Visit the Bank Manager

A Chook for Aunty Rita





Very informative visit to the Bank! Did you know that if you don't renew your e-Saver Account at Lloyds each year the interest rate drops to zilch per annum, similar to Cash ISAs. The wonderful world of Banking!!

Little action in the Cabine today but have photographed recent oil painting of a chicken and just about completed a seascape based on a view of the Longstone Light on the Farne Islands.
We are invited to a wedding in Central Park New York so looking at American and Canadian holiday brochures, these Countries are enormous and underline the finite nature of our cash reserves and life expectancy. Investment in a weekend Lottery Ticket seems appropriate! "Do ya feel lucky punk,well do ya"?
Toot promises to make her signature dish for dinner tonight. Chilli crab linguine with Indonesian crackers. Nice!



The Wave



Making-marks Day One

Scarcliffe Church Derbyshire

Strumpshaw Fen Norfolk

A sunny day in East Anglia, what an absolutely fabulous day to be alive. Spent a constructive hour or two in the "Cabine" framing completed paintings. Applied penultimate coat of paint to a seascape, second seagull from the left looks less grumpy than yesterday.
I have a desire to paint angels flying through the sky! Think I might use photographs of the Aurora taken in Tromso last month as a starting point for the "Choir Celestial"
If all this is not exciting enough we have fried fillets of mackerel for dinner with sauteed potatoes,honeyed parsnips and gooseberry sauce. My cup runneth over!