Thursday 31st July - Weston-super-Mare

Hellooooo,

The Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare was burned to the ground (well, burned to the footboards) this week. A tragic event for the town and for all the many tourists who visit the seaside resort for their holidays. The tide is often out in Weston, and when it's in you still have to walk a distance to go deep enough for a swim, so the Pier was used by many for their entertainment throughout their stay. Sadly it is no more, it is gone, it is a late Pier. Because of the events I thought (well, it was my secretary's idea actually. I must give her a raise) it would be apt to update the Weston-super-Mare page on the 3d website to include all the pictures I could find of the structure. So this week's update includes the said page. The photos were taken on a bright sunny day in April 2006.

Last Sunday my secretary and I visited Ilfracombe in Devon. A super place to visit and get sunburnt (which the secretary duly did. Not me though, I did mine the day before when cleaning the car) and a lovely place to while away the time. Afterwards we popped to Woolacombe before heading home. I've included some of the photos I took in this weeks blog (see below for a panorama of Ilfracombe and the end of this blog for more).



Apart from Weston-super-Mare this week's update also includes Staple Fitzpaine and Cowes in the Isle of Wight.

I intend to change some of the photos on my normal photography website over the weekend, so pop by for a look sometime soon.

The normal summer weather has returned, so probably no 3ding this weekend. Whatever.

Hope yours is a good one. More next week.

Thursday 24th July - Buckland St Mary

Hello to you all,

Last weekend my Secretary and I ventured off into the Somerset countryside to record some more villages for the 3d website.

We started in Buckland St Mary and had a good look around the village before entering the church after the morning service had ended. The interior is fantastic. One unusual feature was a ‘split grave’. This was of mother and son who both died within a short time of the baby’s birth. It is one of only three in the country, I was informed by a local parishioner, and is a quite stunning piece of work.

We then ventured off to Chard for a bite to eat and to have a look around, followed by Combe St Nicholas and South Petherton on the way home.

I always take in more of where I am when the Secretary joins me. The walks around the villages are more leisurely and she also makes sure I don’t miss anything. On my own I tend to rush around each location, trying to get to as many places as I can to make sure I get as much out of the day as is possible. The first approach is by far the better one. Unfortunately, when the weather is poor for long periods I need to follow the latter method to ensure I have enough stock to last until the next fine weekend appears.

This week’s update is of Lullington and the second page for Bembridge on the Isle of Wight has also been added.

More next week. Have a good one.

Thursday 17th July - Pixie the Cat

Good day to you all.

This posting is an early one, as I'd like to record the sad passing of my dear friend Pixie the Cat.

Pixie had had sickness problems for a number of weeks, but a previous vet visit suggested that there was nothing to worry about.

Then his sickness suddenly became more frequent, and a change in his normal happy active personality was very noticeable. This culminated in my wife and I staying up all night Friday trying to help him and eventually taking him to the vet at 1.00am in the morning. After a check over, in which nothing was found, the vet gave him a couple of injections to help ease his nausea and an antibiotic and made an appointment to see him again that same morning at 10.10.
The appointment came, more checks were made, nothing was found, injections were given and tablets were issued and another appointment was made for the following Monday morning at 9.10am.

He stayed with us all Saturday night, but we could tell that he wasn’t comfortable.

The next morning there was no sign of him and, fearing the worst, we both spent the whole day looking for him in the hedges, the fields, the sheds, everywhere we could think of, but no joy. Eventually, in the late afternoon, one of us had to pick up The Little One, after the day with her father, and to break the news to her that Pixie was still unwell and was missing. She reacted very bravely and, once she returned, we all set off up and down the lane to place posters of our missing cat on lampposts and to ask neighbours to look out for him.

All done we returned home and, within minutes, there was Pixie. He looked OK but again he wasn’t his normal happy self and he looked a bit out of sorts and unsure of himself. We were careful not to over fuss him, as we didn’t want him to run off again, and let him go where he wanted to go. After a short while he had settled on the bed my wife and I share. We gave him the attention he deserved and then gave him some peace to give him a chance to recover. Later, when we went to bed, he was still in the same spot. Unusually for him he stayed with us for the whole night.

The next day my wife my wife took him to the vet for his appointment and this time they discovered some discomfort in him and decided on a blood test. Without going into details the test results were not too good and it was suggested that he stayed at the vets overnight where they would treat him and do another test in the morning. Although Pixie was more lively the results of the tests were much the same so more treatment was suggested and another overnight stay agreed.

Wednesday (yesterday) morning arrived and a call from the vets on his progress told us that the treatment hadn’t really shown much in the way of progress and another test was arranged for later that morning. Then the call came to say that an exploratory operation was recommended to find the exact cause of the problem so they could decide what course of action was needed to help him. After some deliberation we gave the vet the go-ahead.

It wasn’t long before the vet was in touch again to inform us that Pixie has severe swelling in his liver and a swollen pancreas and that there was nothing they could do for him. Pixie never woke up from his operation. We took him home and created a grave for him. Telling The Little One the sad news was horrible. Understandably she was very distraught. Eventually, after having time to get ourselves together and say our good-byes, we put him to rest.

Some of you reading this may say that he was only a cat. Well I say (we say) that he was more than that to us. For me he was there for me when my first marriage came to an end. He was a good listener and very enjoyable company to be around. He would follow you around the house, watching what you were doing. He was good company and enjoyed the comfort of a lap, often. He had a good character about him too. He knew when to look cute, which he did often, and he was clever. As he kept bringing in mice we fixed the cat-flap so he could go out but not come in, unless we let him in. Or so we thought. He found a way of grabbing hold of the door with his claw and opening it from the outside so that he could get in. He stopped bringing the mice in though. When my wife and her daughter moved in with me he took to them very easily, and they to him. My wife works from home and found him to be excellent company throughout the day and I know she will miss him terribly. We all will..

My mother summed it up for me when she expressed her sympathies and said, “You won’t find another one like him”. She is right. He was unique. There really isn’t a way to explain how, but we don’t have to, as we know how special he was, and still is.

Our thanks go out to the Shepton Veterinary Group for their help with Pixie, we know you did all you could.

We love you Pixie, we will miss you but we won’t forget you. xxx

Thursday 10th July - Website now live!

Hello to you all,

Lots to say this week so let’s get on with it.

First let’s start with the exciting news (exciting to me anyway) of the launch of my Photography website. I’ve been working on this for some time now and it’s great to see it come to life at last. The photographs are of the 2d kind and all photos shown can be purchased as a 6x4 or 10x8 print. Other sizes may be available but best to check first by using the contact form on the website. I will be changing the pictures on the site on a regular basis so please check often for new photos and features. You can visit the site by clicking here. I’ll be interested in your feedback so please use the contact form and tell me your views.

On the 3d site the ‘Speakin Zummerzet’ feature is taking a rest for the time being as I need to give the new website some time and, as regular readers will know, time is one of those things that I don’t have enough of. This week I feature Adge Cutler. I was lucky enough to see him live at a village fete some years ago. I can remember very clearly everyone, and I mean everyone, laughing along with his songs and humour. For those of you who have yet to visit the West County, listening to a recording of him is a good way of hearing and understanding the way we speak.

This weeks village update is of Wellow and also Culver Cliff in the Isle of Wight continues the 6 week special. I visited Wellow many times in the past to play in a Sunday football league. Had great times in the local pub after the match but never had a look around the village until now. It's a lovely place and well worth a visit.

A big thank you to Ray in Washington, England for his help recently. Ray contacted me to say nice things about the 3d site and also to advise me that the Woolly Anaglyph link was broken. I fixed it Tuesday night and asked Ray to test it for me, which he duly did and all now okay. Ray also sent me some of his 3d pictures that he’d taken. They are very good. It's always interesting to see what other 3d'ers are up to. Ray is a recent convert to the 3d scene and is now hooked on the technique. I know how he feels. Thanks again Ray and my apologies to anyone out there who had problems trying to download the Woolly Anaglyph software recently. Hopefully all now fixed.

Well that’s it for today. No mention of the weather for once (oops!! It rained in case you were wondering), I hope you all have a fine weekend.

Before I go I'd like to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful wife. She's 15 years older than she looks today, congratulations hun. See you later. xx

More next week.

Thursday 3rd July - New Site

Good morning and welcome to July,

I've had a good week this week building a new website for my photographs, the 2d kind. I'm using Clikpic as a host as I just don't have the time or skills to be able to build the site myself. With a bit of luck and a following wind the site should be live by this time next week. I'll let you know.

The news on the pictures sold to magazines after the Cranmore Quarry Gala weekend is....well, no news actually. I haven't sold a picture, not a single one, not a sausage. But don't worry dear readers, all is not lost. There are many good reasons as to why my pictures didn't sell. One is that the event was visited by around 5000 people, and at least 4000 of them had a camera, so there is lots of competition. Another is that I had to wait until the Wednesday after the event to obtain permission from Mendip Rail (Who I took the pictures for) to be able to submit any of them. The 4000 that had cameras would have sent theirs Sunday night. Out of the 4000 there are probably at least 1000 regular contributors to magazines, this was my first submission. Understandably an editor, when inundated with pictures from the same event, would more than likely look for his regulars to save time. So I'm not too concerned about not getting any pictures selected. I have learnt from it though.

This week's update is of Laverton, and the town of Sandown starts the Isle of Wight special.

Right, time to get on with some work.

Hey, look, a blue sky. Summer is here. Hurrah. No, wait. It's a break in the clouds. Carry on.

(with apologies to Blogger).