Any cheerful news today? (Nothing negative please! šŸ™‚) (Part 1)

Yes the combination of strong sunshine and a nice breeze can be very deceiving.

When I lived in Turks & Caicos we occasionally photographed weddings for British visitors and of course they went and sat on the beach for a couple of days before the wedding and got utterly roasted - the constant ocean breeze fooled them into thinking it was ā€œEnglishā€ sunshine not Caribbean!

I had to develop a Photoshop technique to remove magenta from the skin tones of UK grooms who had entered the Beetroot Zone. :slight_smile:

Americans and Canadians were usually more circumspect, having mostly been on holiday to the tropics before.

Another comedy moment was provided by UK grooms who had been to Moss Bros and hired the full morning suit and top hat wedding rig - a wool suit and waistcoat outfit is not conducive to comfort when the temperature is 80F / 27C or higher!

My cheerful news…. we have sunshine, and our resident squirrel, who we haven’t seen for a few weeks, reappeared, helped himself to nuts from a newly installed box and settled in the tree to nibble his nuts in comfort.
Then a huge flock of pigeons jetted in and landed in the next field. However, we did spot the local Ʃpervier on a fence post, looking for prey, but the garden birds had obviously felt his presence and had already scarpered.

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wonderful experience with a sparrowhawk back in the uk

Our garden, trees, hedges were full of wildlife and birds and one day there was a blur of something going into the hedge… noisy chaos, then mass exodus (it seemed) of every living thing from the depths of the hedge and the sparrowhawk emerged triumphant, clutching his prey.

wonderful to witness, never seen anything quite like it …

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I once asked a wedding photographer if he had ever had problems with the photographs he had taken. He said not really but once a roll of film with photos of the bride and groom with various groups of family and friends had gone missing. He had arranged a retake straight after the honeymoon. The honeymoon had been to the Caribbean and he said that you didn’t need the wedding dress or smart suit to spot the bride and groom, their faces stood out from the rest.

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Yes that’s every photographer’s worst nightmare, especially for weddings which you can’t really redo, not properly.

Thankfully with digital you can use cameras like my Fujis that have dual card slots.

For weddings and events I shoot with two camera bodies (one with a tele lens, one with a wide), and each camera shoots in both RAW and JPEG formats simultaneously to two memory cards - so I effectively have four copies of each image, plus I can switch to the other body should one of them die without warning.

In 23 years I have only had a camera body die on me twice, which is not bad going.

And I’ve never lost any critical images thankfully - once or twice I’ve had a couple of images on a card get corrupted and be unusable. But as an extra safeguard I will also shoot multiple images of each moment, especially important ones like the bride coming down the aisle or the first kiss.

Looking forward to retiring in a year or two though and not having to photograph anything more stressful than a French landscape! I’m phasing out weddings this year and will only be doing commercial work.

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22°C here this afternoon, had to stop digging and take my jumper off.

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We had some watery sunshine earlier and the temperature went up to 4 degrees, which was nice.

Spent the afternoon with the grandson - good to see him and his family again.

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Sunny today.

It was like everyone was emerging from hibernation, slightly bleary-eyed but grateful.

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[quote=ā€œShiba, post:9867, topic:34107ā€]
asking what the english for something is.
[/quote] I have a thick book I found in a charity shop full of drawings of objects that tells me the French for most things I’m likely to ever need.

I have one too, Collins I believe and was very useful in the beginning. My son had to ask me by phone in front of the class so could not spend long finding out and one of my BIL confirmed it was a welding torch in english.

Yes, some neighbours had their BBQ going and sat outside to eat lunch, bad for me whilst digging and inhaling the wonderful smells.

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I thought Sodastream was enough for me in the the long hot Southern France summer but now I know different.

Ninja Slushi is just out.

  • Transforms various liquids like *wine", coffee, and juice into frozen drinks

  • Controls to choose temperature and texture

  • 5 presets: Slush, Spiked Slush, Frappe, Milkshake, and Frozen Juice

  • Customizable thickness texture of icy drink.

I have tried frozen red wine and if you pick the right one can be great. Iced coffee can be now be a frozen coffee slushi or a shake. 15mins to 1hour max to slush from scratch. Hmmm wonder if it works to make really frozen daiquiris…

Seen it’s out abroad for Ā£270 will look out for it in France.

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Today has been glorious… 43c in direct sun. Laundry has dried in a flash, birds are twittering and all sorts of buzzing insects are about… although not seen any bees yet. Lizards hoped to pay us a housecall, but I shut the bedroom window just in time and they scuttled away. :rofl:

I’ve spotted signs of Bee Orchids poking through the grass, fingers crossed we’ll see as good a display as last year. Now just need to check further up the road, to see if the ā€œstinking orchidā€ has survived the winter chills (I’ve forgotten its name).

Will we get some snow? Probably not this year… but morning frosts are still making their mark.

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Lots of butterflies about yesterday along with the bees collecting pollen. Spent day digging out my driveway with the big SPIT hammer, wheeling the dirt to yet another place in the garden and basically getting ready for the tons of rounded pebbles coming this morning. We both got burned faces from being out in the sun allday too so now look like 2/3 of a neapolitan ice cream unless you count the mud as the chocolate part.

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Delivered all the documents demanded by the Notaire’s assistant regarding the land purchase this morning, including paying the €100 fee. All checked and correct and the lady apologised for not speaking English after the Notaire walked in, shook my hand, and spoke to me in that language.

Only back in the house 10 minutes and there is an email from her suggesting April the 22nd to sign the acte de vente. I know that is 9 weeks away but from what I have come to believe recently about Notaires, that is supersonic. :astonished:

I replied confirming I will be there and congratulated her on her rapid learning skills, because the message was repeated in perfect English below. :rofl:

Now to organise the geomet expert. :joy:

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A brief note from the lady commenting on my language congrats ā€˜c’est le traducteur :smiling_face:’

She has a sense of humour oh and another comment bringing it forward half an hour on the 22nd. Getting even closer. Told my son that he may find himself clearing underbrush on his next visit. :wink:

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Dropped off a copy of our probate grant at the solicitors this morning together with the fee. After hours of sorting documents and details, my mother’s flat is in progress to be sold.

We’re presently off in Caister on the (bitterly cold) east coast for a couple of days, to see the seals and have time somewhere that is new.

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Cheerful News: Progress! Yesterday I bought my one-way ā€œAdios, USAā€ airfare billet from the US to Paris, and got the two dog cargo space reservations navigated, paid for, AND approved same-day (they told me minimum 72 hours). Today I sent certified mail for driving records from two states so that I will have my initial driver license record (from 1975!) as well as the last 10 years to make that process easier when the time comes. And I packed and labeled three shipping boxes and emptied four cabinets - most going to donation.

TBH, the mailing and the packing was a distraction from the massively expensive day prior! I do not mind paying for the expenses I’ve planned out, but I have inherited my Dad’s miserly attitude to actually parting with the dedicated monies when the time comes. Chocolate Therapy helps.

So? All on track and moving forward! May 28/touch down in France May 29.

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Well done to you and I know you are going to love it!!

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My daughter and her husband did it the other way and the cat was not happy ater two days at the animal centre at Heathrow before being squashed into a cage and then flown to DFW. Since then, moving has happened a lot and he is an indoor cat so not too upset now - seasoned traveller. The dogs however get very excited. By the way they are glad to be rid of Texas as it was getting unbearable and love Tennessee very much after the horrendous hurricane they suffered in NC.

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