I’ve been based back at home today after yesterday’s commission in Merseyside so I’ve been kept busy editing the pictures for my client as well as the library shots I took on the journey. Well, that and dealing with an overflowing email inbox, Ebay sales and trying to get fitter after shaking off our self-imposed lockdown lethargy! There’s been a lot to juggle and the days just don’t seem long enough to fit it all in. Oh yes – there was also a blog update on the past 6 weeks events on HS2 (our new high-speed railway). I hadn’t realised it was that long since my last update, or just how much had happened in the intervening time.

Because of the ‘action-packed’ programme I didn’t get out to complete my 12.5k steps until late this evening – which was interesting as it’s the first time I realised there is an impact from the latest lockdown(ish). During the day the levels of road traffic seem unchanged – especially when it comes to the school run. This evening was different as there wasn’t a soul on our local roads. Why would there be – there’s nowhere to go! Everyone’s at home in the evenings which makes it the perfect time to go out for a wander. There was just me, the odd fox and the occasional cat as I bimbled along the road through Scarr Woods and back.

OK, It’s late and I’ve a busy day ahead tomorrow, so here’s the picture of the day, which I scanned earlier. I took this in Mid August 1998 from the rear deck of our Homestay at Lake Maninjau, Sumatra late one evening as the sun set beyond the volcanic crater edge. Having a place that was built on the water’s edge is superb. I’d discovered the Homesty a few years earlier when I passed through on a solo trip in 1992 and I was more than heppy to find it unchanged 6 years later.

If you’re interested in looking through more photos from Sumatra (or the rest of the epic trip), you can find them in this gallery on my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be adding many more shots of other exotic Indonesian Islands over the next few weeks…

Meanwhile, I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank You!