Tag Archives: Musings

1st May picture of the day…

01 Sunday May 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways

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Well, that’s another month ticked off on the calendar, we’re now in May although the weather belies that fact. It’s bleedin’ chilly up here in the Pennines. The days may be getting longer but the temperatures aren’t keeping up with the spirit of the seasons. Today’s drab conditions meant that neither Dawn or I have been particularly active, instead we’ve spent most of the day recharging our batteries and pottering around at home, sorting out bits and bobs for the future and our impending trip to Berlin.

Late in the day we did slip into another gear, Dee headed for the kitchen to prepare us a gorgeous evening meal (lamb and lots of veg) whilst I made it outside for a semblance of exercise by walking for an hour but failing miserably to hit my daily targets. Ho hum! Still, it’s a bank holiday weekend, so I’m not going to beat myself up too much – at least it’s not all been spent in a pub! Plus, tomorrow’s another day…

What I have managed to do to redeem myself is get more old railway slides sorted ready for sale on eBay. You can find out what’s on offer by following this link. Right now there’s over 500 diverse slides that include rail images from the UK, Malaysia, India and Ireland – with hundreds more to add. The next batch will feature some historic shots – one of which is today’s picture of the day.

Back in 1991 I visited India which still had hundreds of steam locomotives working on both the broad gauge and metre gauge networks. They weren’t in isolated areas either. Steam could still be found in the capital, New Delhi. I managed to blag my way around the steam shed at Old Delhi railway station. The dilapidated state of the she was reminiscent of pictures of the end of British steam back in 1968. So, watch out for this slide being offered for sale tomorrow. Here’s one of the majestic WP Class broad-gauge 4-6-2 ‘Pacific’ locomotives seen on the 17th October 1991.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

25th April picture of the day…

25 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel

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I’ve had a few days off blogging to concentrate on more family orientated activities over the weekend and also to spend time ploughing through 100s of old slides that are surplus to requirements and have now ended up on eBay. Like the scanning and editing of their luckier cousins it’s a long, laborious process getting them prepared for sale but by the end of today I’ve added over 500 UK, Indian, Irish and Sri Lankan railway pictures to my account. You can find them here. Prices start from £1.99 but each image is in an auction as many go for a lot more – so place your bids now. The first sale ends in a couple of days with each tranche being made available for 5-7 days before the sales close. I’ve still several hundred more slides to add which I’ll be doing over the next week or so. There’s also other railway memorabilia (badges, notebooks, branded merchandise, old TOC souvenirs etc) to add which I’ll do as time allows.

However, tomorrow I’m having a day away from the scene. The weather’s been rather mixed of late. There’s been a fair bit of sun but the wind has taken the shine off it (so to speak) leaving the temperature feeling decidedly chilly. The forecast’s not much better tomorrow but an old friend will be gracing West Yorkshire with his presence so I’ve arranged to meet up with Richard Clinnick, late of RAIL and the International Railway Journal who’s taken over as editor of Inside Track magazine, one of the stable of magazines published under the Rail Business Daily flag which I’m also lucky enough to write for. No doubt my day out will include a rolling blog and a few pictures from within ‘God’s own country’ as I’ll be journeying to and from Sheffield for our rendezvous.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is of rather a railway bywater nowadays, although at one time this was the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway’s main line from Liverpool to Manchester. Engineered to the gradients you’d expect of a main line it boasts some substantial structures, but now it ends at a set of bufferstops at Kirkby in Merseyside where the line from Wigan ends. You have to change trains and catch a Merseyrail electric train to get to Liverpool nowadays. I took this shot on my day out last week. It’s from Rainford, which was once a busy junction. Nowadays it’s the end of the double-track line from Wigan but it still possesses a signalbox and semaphore signals as trains need to collect the single-line token to proceed West. Miraculously, it still carries freight to/from a waste terminal near Knowsley where ‘binliner’ trains remove containerised trash to landfill at Wilton in Teeside.

150143 working a Kirkby to Blackburn service passes 66187 hauling empty ‘binliner’ containers from Wilton to Knowsley whilst being protected by traditional semaphore signals – an increasingly rare sight on UK railways.

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If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

22nd April picture of the day…

22 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by in History, Musings, Photography, Railways, Travel

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It’s another short blog from me today. After yesterday’s day out I’ve been very much home and office based trying to catch up on stuff. I’ve been threatening to get back to selling surplus slides and other railway memorabilia on eBay but having let my account lapse over the past year that’s been made even more complicated by the fact I’m starting from scratch. I’m having to relist everything, which is a major PITA, but it’s allowed me to be more organised this time when it comes to record keeping. In theory I’ll benefit in the long run as I’ll find it easier to keep track of stuff. Well, that’s what I keep telling myself anyway!

I’ve managed to reload a couple of hundred surplus slides so far and hope to at least double that over the weekend before getting into all the memorabilia. All this stuff’s been sitting in cupboards for years so it’s time it went to new homes. I’ll be adding the occasional link to stuff in the future, bit for now, the picture of the day is a slide that’ll be on eBay very soon.

I took this shot in Limerick, Ireland way back in 2003 when Irish Rail was still using locomotives and coaching stock on a lot of services. This meant many locations had station pilots – engines who’s only job was to shunt empty coaches around the place. Like this one.

‘Baby GM’ 146 prepares to haul a rake of the old ‘Cravens’ coaches out of Limerick station whilst a brand new railcar sits in the opposite platform. Their introduction would lead to the demise of scenes like this.

As well as UK railways going back to 1990 I’ll be putting pictures up for sale from other countries (like Ireland) that will include Sri Lanka, Malaysia and also the last days of Indian steam trains. Watch this space…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

20th April picture of the day…

20 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by in Musings, Norfolk, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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It’s been another mixed but productive day here at Bigland Towers. The pair of us have been busy beavering away at home and enjoying the fine weather which is gracing us once again. Well, when I say ‘enjoying’ I mostly mean looking at it through windows as we’ve both spent most of the day staring at screens of one sort or another. Still, I can’t complain. I’ve occupied my time alternating between writing and preparing surplus slides ready to restock my eBay account after a years break from selling. As well as old railway slides I’ve still got a selection of railway memorabilia to put up for sale – all of which will appear over the next week or so as it’s a labor-intensive process when you have hundreds of unique items to catalogue and add, but more of this anon.

Away from screens I did manage to get out for a daily constitutional later in the afternoon, which was glorious as the sun was really starting to show its strength. I don’t mind having to take vitamin D tablets but I’d much rather top up my levels by basking in the sun – something I’ve missed terribly over the pandemic years…

Tomorrow I’ve an appointment over in Huddersfield, so I’m looking forward to having some time out and perhaps a bit of rolling blogging, depending on events. In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day which come from the end of another old slide album which I’ve finally completed. This is the penultimate one remaining from my 1990s years and the final one before my world changed when I gave up working as a Housing Officer in London to travel the world for 18 months. Little did I know then what the future would hold…

Today’s picture dates from August 1997 when Lynn and I were cycling around Norfolk on a long weekend. We’d often load our bikes onto a train and head off into East Anglia. North Norfolk was a favorite as it wasn’t as flat so had more of interest – as well as a great coastline. On this trip we discovered the Slipper Chapel in Little Walsingham, which has a fascinating history.

Our bikes are resting outside a chapel built in the mid-14th century that’s dedicated to Saint Catherine of Alexandria. The chapel served pilgrims on their way to England’s Nazareth (Walsingham). Saint Catherine was the patron saint of pilgrims to the Holy Land and her knights kept open the road to Nazareth during the Crusades. Her tomb lies in the Mount Sinai Monastery, in the Basilica of the Annunciation. As on Mount Sinai where Moses took off his shoes because he was on holy ground, pilgrims to England’s Holy Land used to remove their shoes and walk the Holy Mile into Walsingham from the Slipper Chapel – hence its name. After the Reformation the Chapel was used variously as a poor house, a forge, a cow shed and a barn. It was restored to the Catholic Church in 1896.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

19th April picture of the day…

19 Tuesday Apr 2022

Posted by in India, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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With the bank holiday out of the way along with Dawn’s week off work it’s back to the grindstone for the both of us today. I’m making a concerted effort to up the ante with my energy and exercise levels, hit all my Fitbit targets – and be productive at work. To that end there’s been little time for blogging, but I’ve a new tranche of old slide scans that have allowed me to supply a new picture of the day. It’s one of the last in my series of pictures from India. Having them all scanned has made me realise that I’d got the date wrong by a year (I blame the absence of my old notebooks) so I’ll be correcting those as time permits. What I’d thought was 1995 was actually 1996, but then the memory dims somewhat after so long…

Anyways, here’s a shot taken on the beach in Arambol, Goa, India from January 1997. In those days locals and the more active travellers would gather on the beach at sunset to play volleyball. Admittedly, more people watched the sunset than took part, but it made for some interesting pictures. Here’s one…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

14th April picture of the day…

14 Thursday Apr 2022

Posted by in India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Apologies for the lack of blogging this week. This is due to several reasons. One is enjoying my new found freedom now that I’m Covid free. Dawn’s had the week off work so the pair of us have been extremely sociable, having eaten out several times already this week. First with Dee’s family, then last night we were invited round to friends for a home cooked meal of delicious Greek meatballs. Today we’ve been out for a pub lunch and a few drinks with another couple who’re the powerhouses behind the friends of Mytholmroyd station. We’ve really enjoyed these short-notice events which are such a refreshing change after all the lockdown protocols when the levels of planning involved in getting to see someone was like a military operation. Being able to share spontaneous quality time with friends again is brilliant.

This hectic social whirl has meant I’ve simply not had time to blog, but I’m sure I’ll be able to make up for that shortly. Tomorrow I’m taking a trip over to Southport to drop off a Tuxedo for my Niece’s husband to borrow, so I’m sure there’ll be blogging involved in the trip.

Until then I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is another from the latest batch of old slides from India. This is Sravanabelagola in the Southern state of Karnataka, seen in January 1997. It’s famous for its Jain temple and statue of Bahubali which is the tallest monolithic statue in India. As you can see, it’s quite a surreal landscape.

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

11th April picture of the day…

11 Monday Apr 2022

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Travel, West Yorkshire

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Finally, after what seems like an age, my morning Covid test was negative – which was a great start to a new week. Time seems to have dragged over the past 10 days, but at last I’m in the clear. All I want to do now is one last test tomorrow to make sure the result wasn’t a fluke and then my mind’s at rest. Mind you – so’s Dawn’s mind. She’s been hugely supportive whilst I’ve been a (sometimes temperamental and impatient) patient.

Dee’s off work this week so the pair of us celebrated by going out for a long (ish) walk. Rather than going local we drove over to Todmorden to explore the hills to the North of the town. We’ve been walking on the tops of the valley to the North of the Todmorden to Burnley railway several times. There’s some great walking around there as the views are fantastic. Add in the fact there’s some fascinating old buildings and wonderful rock outcrops and it’s a winner. But today we tried somewhere different and explored the opposite side of the valley and the area known as Todmorden moor. Our experiences were mixed. On an O/S map the area teems with footpaths but when you’re on the ground it’s obvious many of them are so little used they’re almost impossible to find. That said. the views across the valley were superb, as was looking down from on high into the valley around Lydgate and the A646 road to Burnley. I’d certainly come back with the camera sometime, but if it’s the quality of walking we’re after we’d stick to the North side of the valley. What was interesting was finding out that Todmorden moor was once the site of industry. Collieries and a tramway once graced the area which must have been a desolate place to work. Imagine tramping all that way uphill from Todmorden only to return 12 hours later?

Having enjoyed our wanderings we headed back via an old haunt that we realised we’d not visited since before the first Pandemic lockdown. We used to walk from home to the Robin Hood pub in Cragg Vale above Mytholmroyd several times a year but Covid put a stop to all that. Our last visit was in 2019 so today we thought ‘why not’? and dropped in for a drink at this brilliant local boozer. It still retains its character (and characters) despite everything that’s happened in the last few years. It was lovely to be able to sit at the bar, enjoy the heat from the fire and join in the banter and laughs between the bar staff and regulars. It’s something I’d really missed in isolation.

Now we’re back at home preparing for the week ahead which is looking a lot more optimistic – and far busier! But for now I’ll leave you with the picture of the day which was taken from our walk.

A pair of Northern Class 150s (150149 and 150127) cross the viaduct at Lydgate whilst working 2N98, the 12:53 from Kirkby to Blackburn. As you can see, it’s not exactly flat around here! The bizarre thing? This is the first picture I’ve taken in 10 days…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

10th April picture of the day…

10 Sunday Apr 2022

Posted by in Food and drink, Musings, Picture of the day, Uncategorized, West Yorkshire

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Right, I’m bored now. I first tested positive for Covid last Thursday. I felt shit for several days, then bounced back, but I’m still testing positive – including this morning! Unlike many people Dawn and I are taking this seriously and not putting anyone else at risk so I’ve had no close contact with anyone since I first tested positive. Well, apart from my wife – obviously! Oh, I’m tempted, there’s a few people who I’d quite happily give the Rona to but as they’re nowhere near me the chances of that happening are minute! I’m frustrated as I’ve no idea when I’ll start testing negative again. In the meantime it’s really cramping my style and the things that I can do.

The pair of us are feeling frustrated as there’s so many things we’ve had to put on hold – including family gatherings. So, to lighten the mood the pair of us had a long amble around the streets of Halifax today, exploring side-streets and areas we’ve never visited before. I find the town fascinating to wander around as the architecture is so diverse. It ranges from huge mansions to back-to backs and with a timespan that covers centuries. Many building have changed form and purpose over the years which leads to the opportunity for some detective work, trying to guess what the places were used for originally. There’s also some impossible building footprints too as properties have been squeezed on to odd plots of land, leading to some very oddly shaped structures which must be almost impossible to furnish well.

Back at Bigland Towers we’ve enjoyed another quiet night in. Dawn decided to take over the cooking tonight as I prepared last night’s meal, which leads to the picture of the day. I really enjoy cooking but it’s once in a blue moon we cook red meat at home. Maybe it’s the result of the ‘Rona’ but yesterday I fancied trying something different and found an Asian recipe for a beef Red Curry which sounded delicious so I gave it a go. When I cook I like to have everything prepared beforehand and laid out in a selection of bowls we’ve brought back from our travels in Thailand and Vietnam. So, here’s last night’s meal broken down into its constituent parts. Vegans, look away now…

I’m hoping that tomorrow I’ll finally test negative and can start to come out of my shell as (potentially) we’ve both got a lot on in the next week or so. Time will tell…

I’ve a favour to ask…
If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, 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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Or – you can now buy me a coffee! https://ko-fi.com/paulbigland68312

Thank You!

8th April picture of the day…

08 Friday Apr 2022

Posted by in India, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Bugger, despite my gradual return to form as I shake off the ‘rona’ I’m still testing positive for Covid, which is cramping my style good-time as I’m avoiding everybody and everything (bar the great outdoors) until I start testing clear. I’m the last in the family – both my Father and Mother in law are now in the clear and Dawn’s never contracted it. I should be past the infectious stage now but I’m not willing to put anyone at risk – so no Friday quiz night for me…

Instead, Dawn and I managed to get out for a reasonably long walk through our local woods, although that was touch and go at one point as the weather really wasn’t playing ball. We had glorious sunshine this morning but the temperature was anything but spring like. By the time we’d finished up the work we were doing the sky had changed and kept dumping hail and snow upon us at regular intervals. It certainly made for some dramatic skies but Baltic conditions. Undeterred, we headed out for an hour to get some exercise. The beauty of the weather was bugger-all people were around apart for a few hardened dog-walkers, so I wasn’t too perturbed. Plus, if Covid can hang around long in the cold, windy and wet conditions we were out in then it deserves to survive!

So, for us it’s a quiet night in watching the TV, having enjoyed a glorious sunset as the skies cleared at an opportune moment and let the setting sun illuminate the undersides of the high cloud that decided to hang around. Dawn’s been busy in the kitchen, rustling up a prawn stir-fry so we’re certainly not going to starve – which means it’s time for me to bid adieu and leave you with the picture of the day, which is another old slide from the latest batch of images of India that I’ve been scanning. This is another from my favourite Indian city of Mysore. The city has an excellent market although there’s one area that vegetarians should certainly avoid – and meat-eaters who are so divorced from the food-chain that they think that everything every carnivore eats comes in cellophane wrapped polystyrene trays! Sanitation, hygiene and animal welfare are not high on the agenda…

You get an idea what this area of the market might be like when you look up and notice that many of the surrounding buildings are crowded with Raptors who sit there, eagle-eyed just waiting for the opportunity to snatch scraps as the butcher’s shops are open to the street. In fact, some butchers deliberately throw scraps into the street to allow the birds to swoop down and feed. It’s quite a sight to watch an Eagle do this – and it certainly makes a change from Pigeons!

Not an easy thing to capture on the slow slide film that I was using at the time (January 1996) but I did manage this after a few practice runs. I’d love to go back with a modern DSLR and try my luck again.

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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

6th April picture of the day…

06 Wednesday Apr 2022

Posted by in Covid 19, India, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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There’s only a short blog from me today. Despite still testing positive for Covid I know that I’ll be clear any day now so I’m keen to try and return back to a normal life – part of which is increasing my exercise levels and stamina. I’m not a great one for taking to my sick-bed as I start chafing after a couple of days. Unfortunately the weather’s not been conducive to long strolls due to the constant rain storms so I’ve been doing more weights than walking. Hopefully the bouts of tiredness that seem to be a symptom of Covid will soon be a thing of the past.

Not that there’s been little to be getting on with at home of course. I still owe one magazine an article, plus I’ve been trying to catch up with picture editing, decluttering and restarting slide scanning – a project that’s very much taken a backseat recently. I can’t dedicate the time to it that I did during lockdown but I’m determined to keep that particular ball rolling as part of my decluttering – if nothing else. Today’s picture is from the latest batch.

Back in January 1996 a group of us were in Mysore, India. A larger group of us had spent Christmas in Goa but Lynn, I and a couple of friends from North London had more time to explore and visit one of my favourite Indian cities. Whilst we were there I spotted this rather surreal gem. I’ve always admired the hand painted posters you see across India, be it adverts for films, shop signs or just general hoardings. Local artists are kept busy with these (often huge) hoardings and they make a welcome break from the standardised adverts back in Europe. But every so often you see one and thing “wait, what?” This was one…

Quite what a woman playing a saxophone has to do with sanitaryware is a complete mystery – especially a woman dressed like that, which is hardly traditional. I had to do a double-take when I saw it as I really couldn’t work out the message. But maybe that was the idea as it certainly stuck in my conscious because as adverts go ‘bog standard’ it wasn’t!

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 me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!