2022 has started in a relaxed fashion here in Bigland Towers, mainly because the weather’s been so wet neither of us have ventured out since New Year’s Eve! On the plus side – it’s been unseasonably mild, which has worrying long-term implications, but as there’s nothing I can do to change that right now I may as well enjoy it.
This lack of activity (although not idleness) means there’s not much of a blog from me today. I’ve kept myself occupied by writing and tidying up my picture filing by clearing away stuff from 2021 in readiness for opening 2022’s photographic account just as soon the weather improves.
Whatever the weather I’ll be sallying forth tomorrow if for no other reason than getting some exercise and working off some of the Christmas largesse. Neither of us really over-indulged, but we certainly ate more than we would normally – and multiple courses too so I’m looking forward to cooking some simpler but no less tasty food this month and cutting back on the meat dishes.
Right, I’m off to watch a film with Dawn so here’s the picture of the day. Another of today’s tasks was to polish off editing the scanned slides I’d amassed before Christmas. The last of the shots from Indonesia in 1994-95 have been added to this gallery and the British travel pictures have been added here. Next in the queue are travel shots from Anglesey, like this view of Red Wharf Bay which was taken on the 6th May 1995…
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Another year that I won’t be sad to see the back of to be honest, despite the fact it wasn’t all bad – although did any of us expect the year to end in the way it has? After the year beginning in a lockdown did we seriously think we’d be be seeing the year out with record numbers of Covid cases, even if it does seem that Omicron is less lethal a strain? The amount of my social media friends and real relations that I’ve seen report contracting Covid has been sobering to say the least, but at least Dawn and I have managed to dodge infection so far – and plan to stay that way!
I’d hoped 2021 would see me finally being able to escape the clutches of ‘Brexit island’ and head back into Asia. I’d planned to do so early in 2022 but Omicron looks like it’s put the mockers on such dreams for now at least. Instead, I’ll be stuck here, watching the UK’s international reputation continue to disintegrate as Johnson and his Government lurch from farce to scandal and back again on what looks like an endless loop. A year on from leaving the EU the realities are becoming obvious. Far from getting Brexit ‘done’ Johnson’s embroiled us in a protracted blame war with the EU in order to detract from the fact the Brexit unicorns and ‘sunny uplands’ were always a fantasy. Covid’s helped him in that but he can’t hide from the reality forever and it seems (according to polls) even many Leave voters have come to realise what “Caveat Emptor” means. Sadly, far too late and the shambles will continue for years to come…
We may have the ‘fun’ of the Tories ditching Johnson in 2022 in order to save their skins in the 2024 election, but let’s face it – the field to replace him is hardly attractive. I mean, Liz Truss? Seriously?
Workwise, 2021 has been enjoyable. The gradual wind-down of restrictions meant that press trips and events resumed so there was plenty for me to photo or write about and the COP26 Climate Change conference in Glasgow in November kept me very busy indeed. I also added a mixture of 7,924 new pictures and old slid scans to my Zenfolio website, the most I’ve ever achieved in one year which beat last year’s previous best of 6200 plus so Covid’s proved to have some benefits. I’m now well on course to have all my old slides scanned in 2022 a mere 33 years after I first switched to that medium! 2022 promises to be an exciting year on the photographic and journalistic front as the construction of the HS2 high-speed railway will be in full swing. Over 20,000 people are working on the line at the moment and next year will see work start in earnest on the section from Birmingham to Crewe. Phase 1 is already well underway with three tunnel boring machines in action, the huge Colne Valley Viaduct under construction and work started on the stations at Euston, Old Oak Common and Birmingham Curzon St. There’s far too many landmarks to mention but HS2 Ltd have put out this helpful video which showcases much of what’s happening.
We’re ending the year as we began it – at home. We’re having a quiet one just to ourselves, enjoying good food, a drink and time to relax – ready to hit the ground running in 2022 as we’ve both got a lot of things we want to achieve next year. Let’s see how that shapes up.
In the meantime, thank you to all the people who either keep popping in to read my rambles in these blogs or who visit my Zenfolio picture website. I’ll be keeping both well-stocked in in 2022.
All that remains is for me to wish you all a very happy and prosperous new year and let’s all look forward to one where we finally cast off the madness and tragedies of Covid and return to a much more normal life. Onwards to the next challenge – whatever that may be….
The festive season’s rather put a damper on blogging these past few days, as has family commitments but today such things end as I’m finally heading home after my Surrey sojourn. Whilst Dawn and her parents have driven back I’ve headed North by train as I had to make a detour for both business and pleasure.
I’ve had a long lens in for repair at Fixation in London since the end of August but a lack of spare parts has meant it wasn’t fixed until just before Christmas. As I had to pop in to Vauxhall to pick it up, and I have an old friend who lives in Clapham – and the Southern main line between London Victoria and Balham was closed for resignalling work it seemed like the ideal opportunity to kill three birds with one stone!
The family dropped me off in Farnham where I caught a train into London. The weather was still as crap as ever but at least it’d stopped raining. That said, temperatures are ridiculously mild for this time of year. Double figures in December? Sheesh!
My train through to the capital was quiet, because of Omicron many people are either choosing to work from home or have extended their holidays to avoid having to travel. Apart from a few souls like me heading home after being with family the majority of my felloe passengers seemed to be folk heading into London for a day out shopping or sightseeing whilst the city’s quiet.
Having picked up my lends I met Hassard in Clapham where the two of us explored photographic avenues that allowed us to capture pictures of the resignalling work. As this sort of stuff (engineering possessions) is Hass’s day job at Network Rail it could be called a busmens holiday for him, but that’s what happens when hobbies and work collide!
Afterwards we spent a convivial hour at a pub enjoying a pint and a light lunch before I traipsed across London to get to Kings Cross and home. The Underground was surprisingly busy but mask wearing was adhered to by the vast majority of people, which was reassuring. Unfortunately, the East Coast Main line was suffering from a common malaise – overhead wire problems – this time around Stevenage. I’d visions of being heavily delayed as the train that was meant to be working my service to Leeds was over 40 minutes late on its inbound trip. Fortunately, LNER control stepped up sets and ran a Class 800 that was already platformed in its place. Even so, we were caught up in the congestion the issue caused, leaving us 20 minutes down by Grantham. My connection in Leeds was now out of the window, but at least I was getting home.
We were still 20 down on arrival at Leeds but having over half an hour to wander round was no problem as a large part of the station was under an engineering possession which made for some interesting photo opportunities, plus one rather surreal one – but only folk with railway experience will understand why it’s not as mad as it first seems.
Now I’m back at home as Dee picked me up at the station in order to save getting a soaking as the weather’s wet and windy back in the bosom of West Yorkshire. Still, it’s good to be home. Today’s excursions are my last train journey’s of 2021 as the pair of us are going to kick back and relax tomorrow with only each other for company. Oh, expect a year end blog even so. After all, it would be rude not to…
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Unsurprisingly I took a day off from blogging yesterday, it being Xmas day and all that. After all, the time was dedicated to families, not type-swiping. There was no chance of of a white Christmas here in Surrey as the we had a downpour that lasted all day – unlike back in West Yorkshire where the mercury was low enough to allow a dusting of the white-stuff across most of the county. Clearly, we were in the wrong place at the wrong time!
Even so, it was a very enjoyable day. The Platt family (plus me) came together for a very traditional Christmas that involved some superb food which was prepared by Dawn and her brother Darren, aided and abetted by myself and the Matriarch of the family – Norah.
Today’s been a much more relaxed and disparate day following a lazy morning at the Lodges where we’re staying. Dawn took herself off for a walk, her folks watched ‘Calendar Girls’ on TV, whilst I had some solitary time to catch up on picture editing in order to clear the 2021 decks ready for New Year.
Later in the day we met up with some of the Tilford neighbours who’d completed their traditional Boxing Day walk to call at the nearby ‘Duke of Cambridge’ pub before heading back into Tilford. I joined them for a couple of drinks and the final leg of the walk where we ended up outside the Barley Mow pub. Both establishments have the advantage of large beer-gardens where we could get together in safety.
Now the Platt family have come together for drinks and an evening meal. I’m seemingly exempt from cooking duties tonight so I’m sitting sipping a 15yr old MacAllan whisky whilst typing this and enjoying the wonderful smells drifting over from the kitchen. Tomorrow I’m looking forward to working off some of this Christmas cheer and upping the exercise level.
In the meantime, here’s the picture of the day which is from another old batch of scanned slides but one that has a tenuous link to our recent weather. In January 1995 I was in Kuta, Bali waiting to fly home the next day. We had torrential rain there too – but the Balinese have a very different way of coping with downpours and flooding. I’m not sure UK traffic cops would be too happy to see this tho’!
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
We’ve had a relaxed and convivial day here in Surrey – and feeling very fortunate too. Our main mission today was to celebrate the 14th birthday of Dawn’s nephew, Sam. Before hand I saw a message from my brother that his family’s Christmas has been kiboshed by the fact Bev – his wife- has tested positive for Covid this morning. Bev works in a school and has done throughout the pandemic, but right now staff are ‘dropping like flies’ as Dave described it.
So far we’ve been lucky – and we’re determined to keep it that way. However, seven of us did go out for a meal in Guildford to celebrate Sam’s birthday. Considering it’s Xmas eve which is normally a frantic day for last-minute shopping and catch-ups the town was remarkably subdued – as was the restaurant. We’ve eaten at Olivio before. It’s a lovely Italian restaurant based in a classic old building full of character where the staff are lovely and the food (which comes in huge portions) is delicious. Normally, this time of year Olivio would be booked out. As it was there were just two 1st floor tables taken for lunch, ours and another family group of 6. An awful situation for the restaurant but good for us as the kitchen staff had few people to focus upon.
The pair of us had eschewed breakfast in order to do justice to the portion sizes. Here’s what Dee and I shared…
We’re both fans of Calamari so this shared starter was right up our street. The Mayonnaise dip was mixed with garlic and the calamari is laced with herbs. The whole dish tastes divine as the Calamari is cooked perfectly.My main course was Buridda, the chef’s version of a classic Genoese fish casserole dish containing mussels, swordfish, tiger prawns, monkfish, potatoes, cooked in a delicate white wine, garlic, chilli and tomato sauce. The picture doesn’t really do the dish justice as the portion size and amount of fish it contains was excellent. Dee plumped for another fish dish. GUAZZETTO DI SALMONE contains salmon, prawns, potatoes, olives, capers, garlic, anchovies, tomato and aromatic herbs served with garlic crostini bread. – delicious and filling!
We’re now back in Tilford, chilling at Chateau Platt whilst preparing food and presents for tomorrow’s festivities. I hope you all have an equally relaxed and fun day, wherever you’re celebrating and whomever you’re celebrating with!
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
This wasn’t quite how I was expecting to be travelling, but when needs must…
Dawn and I packed the car early this morning before driving over to Huddersfield to pick up her parents as we were all going to be travelling down together. There was only one problem. Four of us, all the clothes and presents plus the other Xmas supplies (and my camera bag) meant that there was so little room left in the car that it would’ve been a very uncomfortable journey down to Surrey. We’d looked at hiring a bigger vehicle but the rates this year were ridiculous, it would have cost us nearly £1000! I’d a sneaking suspicion this might happen so I’d already planted the seeds of a plan B – which was me catching the train and meeting them down there. When Dee saw how little space was left in the saloon for her parents even she agreed! So, here I am on my Jack Jones heading down to London. It was cheaper to come via the West Coast and there’s less cancellations too (LNER have knocked out a lot of services due to Covid staff shortages). I jumped on a TPE service from Huddersfield across to Manchester and now I’m sat on Avanti West Coast’s 12:15 to Euston. It’s worked by a 9-car Pendolino which is around 60% full but I managed to find a table seat where I’ve set up the mobile office to get some work done – something I couldn’t have done in the car!
I’ll keep you posted how the journey across London and down to Farnham goes as it unfolds. Right now we’re heading for Stoke-on-Trent in the same miserable weather that’s followed me all the way from West Yorkshire. I hear from Dee’s mum that they’re heading down the M1 right now. I hope their weather’s better on that side of the country…
13:50.
We’ve had a classic Pendolino journey so far, speeding South with ease. Say what you like about these trains but they can’t half sift and you never even notice when you pass another service as there’s no pressure pulse or juddering like there used to be with the older Mk3 carriages. After leaving Stoke the train had filled up to around 70% occupancy. Now we’ve stopped for the final time at Milton Keynes where dozens more folk have joined us taking that up to 80-85%, thankfully the vast majority of people are wearing masks so the atmosphere doesn’t feel uncomfortable. There’s been no ticket check en-route, which is hardly surprising at the moment with the numbers of rail-staff off due to contracting Covid or self-isolating.
14:05.
We’ve just sped through Cheddington which (in 1963) was the site of the infamous ‘great train robbery’ which took place just up the line at Ledburn,. The weather here’s dry but just as gloomy as the rest of the country I’ve traversed today. It’s 2 o’clock in the afternoon yet most cars have headlights switched on and industrial estates security lighting has tripped in!
16:15.
Tempting as it was I didn’t hang around in London. Instead I caught a tube straight across to Waterloo. The Underground was far quieter than you’d expect this time of the year although Euston station was rammed with people heading North.
Waterloo was much more subdued but as much of its traffic is commuters that was no surprise. Rather than get a direct train I hopped my way down to Clapham Junction in order to see how busy services were. Here’s a Shepperton service after leaving Vauxhall. Good to experience an old friend (the Class 707) again. I drove one of these when they were being shaken down on the Siemens test track at Wildenrath in Germany!
Now I’m on another (earlier) Siemens product, a Class 450 heading for Alton. There’s half a dozen of us in this car, which is one of 12 making up this train…
17:05.
Beat them! I’m now sitting in the ‘Mulberry’ pub next to Farnham station waiting for the car team to catch me up. They pulled off the M4 20 minutes ago so it might be a while before they get here. In the meantime I’m nursing an indifferent pint of the local Hogsback IPA whilst downloading pictures from the camera to the laptop. I’d originally intended to go for a wander when I arrived but the weather’s even wetter here than it was up North. So much for the sunny South!
My train from London to Alton passes a service heading in the opposite direction at Farnham.
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Here at Bigland Towers we’re in the final wind-down to the festive season although (to be honest) it seems more like a wind-up as there’s so many things to do! Dawn’s ‘demob happy’ as she finished work yesterday but today’s hardly been restful as there was a long list of things for her to do in preparation for us heading South to Surrey for the festive season. Part of that list included her cooking Bakewell Tart and Millionaire’s shortbread to take with us to feed the family so the house has been filled with delicious smells all afternoon. I’ve also been busy finishing various bits of work and stockpiling enough other stuff to keep me occupied and fruitful if we get poor weather or enforced downtime due to Covid whilst we’re away as none of us have any idea how things might change.
As usual with this shambolic Government we haven’t got a clue what to expect them to do next – other than it’ll be too little, too late. Whilst the Welsh and Scottish administrations have announced plans in advance to give everyone certainty and chance to prepare the only announcement from Downing St is – “ummm”… Very helpful.
Despite this, we’re determined to make the most of the time away whilst still staying safe and not taking any unnecessary risks – especially when one considers the number of daily Covid cases has just passed the 100,000 mark for the first time. Unlike the shit-show that governs us I may be eating cheese and drinking wine in rather more isolated (and enjoyable) company.
So, tomorrow the four of us travel South for few days. Sadly, our old moggie, Jet, won’t be going on his holidays with us this time as he’s on a permanent and far-ranging ‘holiday’ beyond the rainbow bridge, but no doubt we’ll have a few fond memories of his first and only venture earlier in the year as a Northerner down South!
Expect a few gaps in blogging over the next few days but not too many as I’ve a series of articles previously published in the print media that I’ll be posting as blogs. Plus, I’m sure there’ll be the odd day out and chance to grab pictures (railway or otherwise) that I’ll have time to turn into a commentary.
In the meantime, I’d like to wish all of my readers (and there’s over 40,000 of you so far this year, reading over 80,000 articles – and you’re spread all over the planet, which is amazing!) a very merry Christmas and a Happy (Gregorian calendar) new Year!
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I wish! The weather here in the Calder Valley’s gloomy and murky still, only with added drizzle for interest. So, I’m escaping the confines of the valley to head Westwards, mixing business and pleasure in order to drop in on a couple of family members before Christmas as the way things are going with Omicron we could well be in another lockdown in January – so who knows when I’ll get to see people again?
I’m currently on Northern’s 09:22 service from Sowerby Bridge to Chester. The train seems reasonably busy but as it’s only a two-car Class 195 instead of the normal 3-car that’s hardly surprising. There’s the usual mix of ages and reasons for travelling with ramblers rubbing shoulders with Christmas shoppers and other folk heading for a day out in the bright lights and colour of the big city, which must seem very attractive after a few days of monochrome weather here in the Pennines!
It’s grim up North…
I’ll update the blog as the day unfolds, so feel free to keep popping back…
10:20.
As expected, most passengers bailed out at Manchester Victoria, leaving a handful of us still aboard. I’ll be doing the same at Newton-Le-Willows in order to check out the rebuilt station before catching a connecting service to Liverpool Lime St.
10:45.
Flying visit to NLW complete I’m on my way to Liverpool once more. Newton station’s been massively improved with a purpose-built ticket office and staff facilities, level access to both platforms provided by lifts, a new bus interchange and a massive (and busy) car park. The original building still exists on the London-bound platforms but its shutteted and closed. The subway underneath the tracks is decorayed with a variety of artworks from local sources and lit with changing coloured lights. It’s a vast improvement on the old station where you had to climb a multitude of steps to reach the platforms. New waiting rooms have been installed at platform level too.
A copy of the commemorative tablet which is in a monument on the spot further up the line where William Huskisson was struck by a train is located by the new subway.
11:50.
Curses, foiled again! I’m currently en-route to Southport having lingered long enough in Liverpool to grab a series of shots at Lime St station before wandering across to Central.
Lime St contained a couple of shots worth grabbing. East Midlands Railway have a Class 156 on loan to Northern and the unit graced us with its presence. Meanwhile, Transport for Wales had scraped together a pair of Class 153s for their service from Chester. Nicknamed “dogboxes” many, these single-car units aren’t normally allowed out on their own anymore as most have toilets that aren’t disabity legislation compliant so have to work with a set that is.
I wonder what the Welsh is for “dogbox”?
Central station was eerily quiet. I’d have expected it to be buzzing this close to Christmas but many folk seem to be staying away. Having read the latest SAGE predictions on the way over this morning that’s probably a wise move. If it wasn’t for the fact what little moral authority this Government had has been shot to pieces I’d expect a new lockdown to be declared in January. Now, I’m not sure they dare…
Empty platforms…
My curse was due to the fact I’d hoped to have been able to get more shots of the new Merseyrail trains on test runs today but none are running. Mind you, the weather’s hardly conducive. The railways are starting to be hit hard by Covid with many staff self-isolating or off sick. This is bound to have an effect on maintaining service levels but also on training. I expect to see further delays in introducing new fleets on South-West Railway and Merseyrail next year.
Still. I’m now off for lunch with my Neice and her Husband, so not all’s bad..
15:45.
Well, that was a lovely interlude! The three of us had a lovely lunch in Birkdale, a village subsumed by Southport but a place that’s very much kept its villagy feel and become quite a little community. The area around the railway station’s a thriving place full of restaurants, cafés and independent shops, many of which nestle under Victorian canopies. When Adi had to go back to work Charlotte and I stayed for another hour chatting and swapping stories. Like me, she’s inherited the footloose gene and misses travelling. We’d arranged to meet up in Bali last year (a place we both love) but Covid put the kibosh on those plans. Who knows when we’ll be able to return?
Now I’m back in Southport proper, hoping to be able to meet up with one of my siblings…
There’s not much of a blog from me today. It’s not been a vintage day and the weather here in the Calder Valley’s been miserable. We’ve been buried in dank and dismal fog all day with visibility down to just a few hundred metres. I did my best to keep occupied with a spot of gardening and stretched my legs by going shopping for tonight’s home-cooked meal (Parsi prawns, which I haven’t cooked for ages) but otherwise much of my day has been spent building up an archive of fresh slide scans which will give me something to do during down time at Christmas. My plan to have all all the old slides scanned by the end of the year proved optimistic. I’ve still several thousand left to do, but there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Barring some unknown cataclysm such as the end of the Earth I will have the project finished in 2022 – just don’t ask me *when* in 2022! I’ve finished all the shots from my Bali trip in 1994 and 1995 and moved on to a series of UK travel shots from the summer of 1995. Here’s one of them supplying the picture of the day…
Easter 1995 saw Lynn and I join a couple of our North London neighbours who were walking the whole of the Ridgeway. We joined them for the last leg to the amazing village of Avebury in Wiltshire. This tiny village is built in the middle of a prehistoric stone circle which is surrounded by a massive ditch, but it’s not the only prehistoric site in the area, just a few miles down the road is Silbury Hill and West Kennet Long Barrow. This is where today’s picture was taken, on the 1st April 1995…
Silbury Hill framed by some of the stones that form the outside of West Kennet Long Barrow.
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/Thank you
Yay – I got the month right from the off! For some strange reason my brain seems to be stuck in November, which is why I’ve cocked-up two recent December blogs and backdated them until kind readers have pointed it out. I suppose I could always try the Captain Mainwaring defense from ‘Dad’s Army’ and pretend I wondered who’d spot it first. Truth is – it wasn’t me!
There’s not going to be a long blog tonight, mainly because this hasn’t been the most exciting of days. The Calder Valley’s spent most of the day bathed in fog and I’ve been stuck at home sorting out paperwork, old slides and the occasional Xmas present. I did get out for a wander late in the day in order to get some shopping and get my daily exercise, so a wander in to Sowerby Bridge was in order. We may be in the run-up to Christmas, but the town seemed quite subdued for a Saturday at this time of the year. I suspect the reality of the new Covid strain’s starting to concentrate a few minds even though Calderdale has (for now) seen Covid cases decreasing.
Whilst we’ve been lucky I couldn’t help suck my teeth at today’s news that the anti-vaxxers and Covid conspiracy nuts decided to hold a rally in London. If there’s one place where Omicron is going through the roof it’s London. Still, a cynic might argue this is social Darwinism in action and if this means the shallow end of the gene pool gets deeper this is no bad thing. Will they be missed? Nope…
Once back at home I indulged in some cooking therapy and knocked up a veggie casserole which was an ideal accompaniment to the miserable weather. I love any recipe that contains Cumin, Garlic and Smoked Paprika and this one certainly did.
To pass the time I’ve been scanning and storing lots of old travel slides. They won’t see the light of day just yet as they’re in reserve to give me something to do over Christmas during those quiet ‘down time’ moments when everyone’s stuffed to the gills with Xmas fayre and falling asleep in front of the TV. But here’s a snippet. I’ve finished scanning the Bali pictures from 1994-95 and moved on to UK images from the latter year. So here’s one of the last Bali pictures. I’ve always loved the sculptured landscape of Bali and the way farmers have managed to carve out paddy fields from the most extreme of slopes. Here’s an example.
These fields are near some fascinating old Buddhist temples at Tampaksiring in the islands hinterland. Spot the nursery field where young rice plants are grown before being pricked out by hand across the other terraces….
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 appreciate all the help that we can get to aid us in bouncing back from lockdowns. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 