Tag Archives: Picture of the day

16th December picture of the day…

16 Monday Dec 2024

Posted by in Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Transport for Wales (TfW), Travel, Wales

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Apologies for absence these past few days. It’s because of a variety of reasons which include work, the weather and my father-in-laws 90th birthday party. Like Royalty, he’s had two birthdays, the official one (his date of birth), then on Saturday he held a party for family and friends at a local cricket club. Dawn and I stayed over at Platt Mansions so there’s been little time to blog as I’ve had so many pictures to edit from various events. Yesterday, I’d half-hoped to have headed up to Ashington in Northumberland for the reopening of the railway line to passengers after a gap of 60 years, but the weather and intermittent trains here in West Yorkshire dissuaded me. I’m really not too bothered about first and/or last events anyway. I’d rather pay a visit when the service has settled down to see how well it’s being used.

Unusually, I never even set foot outside the house yesterday as we’ve had several days of gale-force winds and driving rain. Instead I decided to put my feet up, recharge my batteries and clear the picture editing decks. Dawn did much the same (bar the picture editing of course) which led to a relaxing day. Now it’s the start of a new week and I’ve various things planned that’ll see me out and about to make up for my indolence. I’ve not ventured far today other than a trip to the local shops as I’ve been waiting in for a new battery for my laptop to arrive. It was ordered from China a couple of weeks ago and finally arrived today, just in time for Christmas. The last one was 5 years old and life expired as it wouldn’t hold a charge longer than 45 minutes. Now, with this new one installed I’m getting indications that it’ll last for around 7 hours or more, which is plenty of time when I’m travelling and takes away the anxiety of getting caught somewhere where I can’t plug it into the mains. It’ll also mean that I can hang onto this laptop for a little while longer before I renew it as it’s still a fine machine for my requirement. Now I just need to replace/upgrade my mobile which is also reaching the end of the line…

OK, it’s time for me to go as I’ve more writing to do before the evening ends. I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is one I took whilst I was away in Wales. We had some incredibly moody light over the Brecon Beacons, as this shows.

Looking North into the Brecon Beacons from atop GCRE’s Nant Helen opencast site. GCRE liked this picture so much they’ve posted it on their LinkedIn page!

You can find more scenic pictures from my Welsh travels here, whilst the rail orientated one can be found here.

I’ve a small 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

1st December picture of the day…

01 Sunday Dec 2024

Posted by in Manchester, Manchester Victoria, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Railways, Social media

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As expected, we’ve had a quiet day here at Bigland Towers, although the mild weather’s been a boon as it’s allowed me to spend more time preparing the gardens for winter by cutting back various plants and shovelling bags of dead leaves to prevent the back of the house (where there’s lots of cobbles) becoming a skating rink. Another positive is that Dawn’s finally on the mend, shaking off the lurgi that’s bedeviled her these past couple of weeks, which is good timing as it’s her fathers 90th birthday next week.

Apart from getting mucky in the garden I have managed to get some photographic work done, filing and editing pictures clogging up my laptop’s hard-drive which are now safely duplicated on several different hard-drives for safety. Modern digital cameras are wonderful things, but file sizes have increased so much in recent years that they soon eat up disc space.

I have had time to peruse social media whilst I’ve waited for stuff to copy. I can’t say I’ve been impressed with what I’ve seen. I used to be an avid user of Twitter, but since Elon Musk bought it he’s turned it into a right-wing cesspit full of conspiracy loons and clowns who’ve paid for blue ticks that spend all their time rage-farming in order to try and make money. The day’s when it was the place to go to for real breaking news are long gone. Now, like millions of others, I’ve set up a new account at ‘Bluesky‘, which is far more civilised as it doesn’t have Musk screwing around with the algorithms in order to promote his own world view whilst supressing real news. You can find me at (@paulbigland.bsky.social). The levels of engagement are far better as a result and the people there are far more reasoned and civil. You can actually engage without getting bombarded by shit-posts from Trump or Farage groupies. I still use Twitter (I refuse to call it X) as there’s still some people who I want to listen to who haven’t made the transition yet, but it’s clear Twitter’s dying bit by bit. Why would anyone want to spend their time in such a depressing place? The other day I saw a post on Bluesky which made me laugh as it summed up the situation perfectly. It said ’25 years ago we used social media to escape the real world. Nowadays we use the real world to escape social media’. So true…

With that thought I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is another one from the archives as I’ve not been out with the camera for a few days now. I took this at Manchester Victoria station on the 5th October.

I’ve a small 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

30th November picture of the day…

30 Saturday Nov 2024

Posted by in Bali, Indonesia, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel

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Here we are on the last day of November, about to enter the madness that’s December as everyone gears up for the Christmas festivities and the country goes slightly mad as a consequence. Meanwhile, it’s been a quiet Saturday here at Bigland Towers, the lull before the storm if you like. I still have a poorly Dawn on my hands, hence the day being fairly quiet as Dee’s had a ‘duvet day’ whilst I’ve stayed at home to be on hand. Plus, the front garden needed tidying up for the winter and today was a good excuse for doing it. The garden now looks rather barren with everything cut back but at least it’s not going to be a victim of high winds scattering stuff everywhere.

Hopefully Madame will be on the mend after having a restful weekend. I’ve taken over cooking duties with a few new dishes planned for my own amusement if nothing else. The weather here’s turned mild again so I’m intending to have an active day. I’ve decided that the start of December is an ideal time to ramp up my fitness regime in order to prepare for the festive season which sees us all over-indulge, otherwise I feel like a slug come New Year. Plus, there’s a huge amount of places I want to get to in the UK before the years over when I can start to cast my eyes further afield. I’m looking forward to 2025 for that very reason. But first, there’s December to tackle. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of rolling blogs coming up soon…

Meanwhile, I’ll leave you with today’s picture, which is from a place I’m determined to get back to in 2025.

A rain storm approaches the lush rice paddies and plantations at Tirtagangga. Bali. Indonesia, in January 1995

I’ve a small 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

27th November picture of the day…

27 Wednesday Nov 2024

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

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Not quite the sort of the day I had in mind, but hey ho.

I’d planned to work from home today as the forecast was suggesting we’d be having snow-showers and all sorts of sh*t today. In reality, we ended up with almost wall-to-wall sunshine. Bugger.

That said, I had plenty of things to keep me occupied with at home, but I couldn’t help feeling it was a wasted opportunity to get out with the camera – but that’s life. In the end It was fortunate that I didn’t as Dawn (who’s still not recovered from a virus) was knocked for six by a migraine, so I ended up donning my nurses uniform once more. Dee retreated to bed whilst I alternated between looking after her and working/cooking/shopping.

Mind you, whilst the weather’s been sunny it’s also been bloody cold as the day’s moved on. The council’s gritting lorries have been kept busy as temperatures hover just above freezing. With those conditions in mind I’ve been kept occupied by watching the birds feasting on the oats I’ve put out for them on one of the shed roofs outside the back of the house. The beauty of oats is that they appeal to a much larger range of birds than if I put out old lentils or other pulses plus, they’re far cheaper than birdseed, which I reserve for the feeders that attract the even smaller birds like tits and nuthatches. That said I had a woodpecker gorging itself on the feeder outside the bedroom window the other day but the damned thing moved too quickly for me to be able to get a picture.

As we needed supplies I did manage to get out for my daily constitutional, popping in to our local supermarket as part of the trip. Oh, and a quick pint in our local pub. Anyone else noticed the paucity and lack of quality of fresh vegetables nowadays? It’s not confined to one chain either. Having secured what I wanted my evening’s been spent productively (apart from the pub, obviously!) making another batch of pea and ham soup for the other invalids in the Platt family, which we expect to deliver as ‘meals on wheels’ tomorrow. Never let it be said that we don’t live the rock and roll lifestyle here at Bigland Towers!

Now for the picture of the day. Hmm, what to choose? I’ve still not finished editing yesterday’s haul, so how about this? The seasons are moving on. I’ve got itchy feet and it’s time leave this septic isle for a while. Here’s a famous feature of a country that’s likely to be the first stop in the new year. Recognise it? You might do if you’re a fan of old James Bond films or you’ve ever been to Thailand…

We were last here in 2017. This is ‘Ko Ta Pu’ otherwise known as the ‘nail’. You can find it in Thailand’s Phang Nga Bay which is off the West coast, not far from Krabi.

I’ve a small 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

23rd November picture of the day…

23 Saturday Nov 2024

Posted by in Climate Change, Indonesia, Photography, Picture of the day, Travel, Weather, West Yorkshire

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What a change in the weather! When I opened the bedroom window blinds around 08:00 all I could see was oppressive skies and an inch or two of new snow. The latter was welcome, the dim light wasn’t as I’d half-hoped to be able to get out with the camera. It wasn’t to be. By the time I’d breakfasted, checked in with Dawn and perused the daily (depressing) news the rain had started to arrive. The only sensible choice was to stay at home, catch up on some work and wait for the day to unfold.

Unfold it did. Rain replaced snow. Over the course of a few hours all the snow was washed away. which then left us with another problem. Flooding. The Calder valley’s become renowned for such events and the local authorities issued several warnings, from Todmorden to Luddenden Foot. Thankfully the high water levels haven’t proved to be a major problem.

None of this stopped me getting my daily constitutional and the opportunity to call into my local for a pint. But, as I’ve said previously. If we flood – high as we are above the valley floor – then the world’s in a whole new level of hurt! Looking at the forecast there’s not going to be a bright side tomorrow. Well, weather-wise anyway. On another front I expect to have Dawn home tomorrow, so things are looking up.

With not having got out with the camera today I’ve been wondering about what today’s picture choice will be. As the weather’s been so dismal I’ve decided to delve into the archives to find this. Frankly? I’d be quite happy to escape from the world as it is in 2024 to return here.

Here’s the beautiful and isolated small island of Kanawa, which is off the island of Flores, Indonesia. The picture was taken in September 1998 when we spent a week staying here. There’s several stories I can tell about those backpacking days. One is that you learned never to order breakfast until you saw what the first longboat of the day from Flores was carrying. One day I’ll tell you what happened when someone ordered chicken…

I’ve a small 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

22nd November picture of the day…

22 Friday Nov 2024

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

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Well, that wasn’t quite the start to the weekend I was hoping for! Since my outing on Tuesday I’ve been pretty much confined to barracks for various reasons, one of which was the fact I’d a final round of judging to complete for next years Community Rail Awards. Of course, since Tuesday we’ve had almost wall to wall sunshine up here in West Yorkshire and surrounding counties, which has been rather frustrating, especially as the snow as pretty much stuck around in many areas, but that’s life. Then, yesterday we found out that Dawn’s father wasn’t feeling very well. As John’s coming up to his 90th birthday you can imagine everyone’s concern. So, yesterday we ended up dropping everything at short-notice to head over to Huddersfield in order to be with her mum and dad and offer our support. We’d only been with them on Wednesday evening as I’d cooked us all a coq-au-vin for our weekly evening meal get-together (another reason why I’ve not been out much) and John had seemed fine then. Thankfully, it seems that I’d not poisoned my father-in-law and his current hors de combat is due to a virus and not my cooking! Dawn’s remained over at her parents whilst I’ve returned to Bigland Towers in order to be around for other duties.

Right now – I’m going nowhere until things are resolved. Plus, there’s another storm on the way – which might prove to interesting – although I’m struggling to take a storm called ‘Bert’ seriously right now. Whatever else ‘Bert’ might bring it’s seeing an end to the freezing weather we’ve had, which is no bad thing.

So, what’s next? I’m not entirely sure to be honest. I’ve plenty to keep me occupied with at home for this weekend, especially as it looks like I’ll be spending most of it on my own. Next week? well, that’s another matter. In the meantime I’ll leave you with today’s picture which was taken on my visit to the Hope valley on Tuesday.

A snow-covered Back Tor seen from near Edale station on Tuesday. Traversing that ridge is one of our favourite walks, but not in weather like this!

I’ve a small 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

18th November picture of the day…

18 Monday Nov 2024

Posted by in Calder Valley, Community Rail Network, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, Weather

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As I write this on Monday evening we’re still waiting for the predicted snowfall here in the Pennines. The day’s certainly been cold enough for those little flakes from the sky, but so far (despite what various forecasts are claiming) I’ve seen barely a wisp – despite having just got back from a walk.

Dawn’s made it back from North Yorkshire without problems so the two of are hunkering down for the evening, waiting to see what the morning brings. I’d hoped to have got out myself today but judging the Community Rail awards ‘It’s Your Station’ took a lot longer than usual. mainly because there were so many new entries this year and myself and my fellow judge (Mark Barker) had awarded very different points to some entrants, so we had a lot of discussions about the merits of more entries than usual. In the end (and thanks to the skillful moderation and guidance from Hazel, our helper and adjudicator) we agreed on the category placements and the winners. It’s very hard to judge these awards as there’s so many excellent entries and there’s often little more than a few points between the tops of each category.

Still, it’s done, and we’re all pleased with the process (which was certainly rigorous) and the winners of each category. Who are they? You’ll have to wait until the awards next year to find out! Now all that remains is the photographic competition shortlist…

What I get up to tomorrow depends on the weather, which brings me on to today’s picture. Here’s how Bigland Towers has looked in the past (2021) when the snow’s arrived. And no, that’s not our lofty eyrie in the background – that’s the Wainhouse Tower!

I’ve a small 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

17th November picture of the day…

17 Sunday Nov 2024

Posted by in Food and drink, Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day, The Big 6

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Whilst today wasn’t quite Sunday I’d had planned, it’s been a productive one nonetheless. Much of this morning was spent editing and adding captions to a backlog of rail and travel pictures which are now on my Zenfolio website. If you follow this link it will take you to the ‘recent’ section, showing which galleries have been updated. There’s plenty to gaze at.

That job done I’d intended to do some cooking, but a trip to our local supermarket proved fruitless. Or, in this case – vegless. I wasn’t after anything terribly exotic either, merely green peppers and parsnips. There were no peppers to be had and the only parsnips available were already soft and limp – despite them having been ‘fresh in’ today. To be honest, our local Tesco’s is getting worse. It’s not just the fresh veg section that has empty shelves, the frozen food section has plenty of empty cabinets when it comes to vegetables. I’ve no doubt the recent bad weather has had an impact, but then so’s the thing no politicians seem to want to talk about – Brexit. Transit times for fresh produce have been extended by Brexit red-tape, so the shelf life of what does arrive is noticeably shorter. I’m kicking myself for not having stocked up with some more produce from Halifax market yesterday, which is where we picked up some really good quality plums, squash and cauliflower. I can see I’m going to have to change my shopping pattern and go into town more often. The only problem is that the market closes by 17:00 so is less convenient. Anyway, I digress. As cooking was off the agenda we’ve fallen back on meals from the freezer. Not a problem as we batch-cook and there’s always something home-made and delicious in reserve.

As for gardening – the weather conspired against me as the heavens opened just as soon as I got out there! I’ve managed to re-organise some pots and plants, giving them better protection from the snow that’s due but I didn’t get as much done as I’d planned. Hopefully, I’ll have some spare time tomorrow after my morning spent judging the Community Rail Awards. Besides, Dee’s up on the Settle and Carlisle railway tomorrow for a meeting so I’ll be left to my own devices and the snow’s not predicted to arrive until the evening.

Now it’s time to wind down ready for a busy day tomorrow, so I’ll sleave you with today’s picture. I popped into our local, the ‘Big 6’ on my way back from shopping. This time of year it’s even more welcoming as there’s a lovely real fire in one of the back rooms. Sitting there with a pint on a wet autumn day is one of life’s little pleasures.

Oh, go on then – here’s an extra picture. These are the beers that were on offer. Any guesses as to which I chose?

I’ve a small 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

16th November picture of the day…

16 Saturday Nov 2024

Posted by in Halifax, Musings, Photography, Picture of the day

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‘Tis a quiet weekend here at Bigland Towers. The veritable lull before the storm if the weather forecast is to be believed. Apparently, we’re due for several centimeters of snow here in’t Pennines on Monday-Tuesday. That could be fun as our local council (Calderdale) have been busy sticking up signs on roads around us saying they’re not going to be gritting some of the steepest streets – so we’re on our own. As two of the main ways out of where we live are cobbled roads that will now be left to the tender mercies of the elements, this could be a ‘fun’ winter,

Fortunately, I’ve a Zoom meeting on Monday morning as we’re judging the Community Rail Awards. Once that’s done – and if the snow does arrive – I may be able to sally forth with the camera.

As the pair of us have a lot going on we elected to have a leisurely weekend at home. Whilst the morning was spent pottering we did walk into Halifax in the afternoon in order to stretch our legs and pick up some shopping. Our perambulations took us to the fabulous Piece Hall which is hosting a Christmas market. I’m not a great fan of these things nowadays as they tend to be incredibly expensive and full of overpriced tat. The sort of stuff you’d only buy after sinking some expensive mulled wine or other themed booze. Give me a proper German Xmas market every time.

That said, the Piece Hall’s such an amazing venue it was worth paying a visit – as today’s picture shows.

Tomorrow, with the mercury heading South (even if we aren’t) we’re planning another day around the local area to prepare for the change of conditions. I suspect I’ll be busy in the garden protecting some of the more vulnerable plants which have had it easy so far this year. Oh, then there’s a whole host of new recipes I’ve discovered. Maybe it won’t be such a lazy Sunday after all…

I’ve a small 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

Normal service is resumed.

11 Monday Nov 2024

Posted by in Musings, Nottingham, Photography, Picture of the day

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Sorry about the lack of blogs these past couple of days. That’s been due to a rather interesting weekend in Nottingham attending a 21st birthday, with added drama caused by Dawn’s parents getting locked into the bedroom in the apartment we’d rented and the hours it took to break them out! The weekend is worth a blog in itself as so much happened. Hopefully I’ll find a quiet moment to write it up – although that won’t be right now. We got back last night but today we’ve both been back in the thick of it. Dawn’s day’s been spent glued to her computer screen – as has mine. I had to finish judging and marking the ‘It’s your station’ category then catch up with picture editing and planning the rest of the week. Plus, today’s been our 7th wedding anniversary, so quiet celebrations were in order due to the frenetic few days we’ve had – and because Dawn’s looking like she’s going down with the lurgi. Our current plan is to make up for things next weekend.

Tomorrow I’ll be down in the Birmingham area on another HS2 construction visit so expect a rolling blog as the day unfolds. Thankfully, the weather’s finally broken. The dull and dismal weather we’ve endured this past fortnight has given way to clear skies and glorious sunshine. Long may it continue!

Right, it’s time to go as the pair of us have another early start. I’ll leave you with a picture of birthday celebrations. The 21st part was that of Dawn’s niece, Jessica, who’s at University in Nottingham. Naturally, I was asked to bring my camera. Here’s a picture of Jess (hiding in the back, in red) with all her friends at the Cosy Club.

I’ve a small 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