Thursday 29 April 2021

Swan Lake Sky

 

You you spotted my WW Blog on Wednesday you will have noticed the swan

Zooming back a little gave a bigger view behind

Stand back and the swan had stuck it's head in the water but there was a nice blue sky with a few clouds behind

 

As we were staying the night I let the dog out and looked up to see the moon over the hills in the distance. Happy Skywatch



Monday 26 April 2021

Thatching in Blewbury

 

After some of the replies I had last week about the thatched cottages I though you might like to see how it is done. Blewbury is along the road from where I live and I used to pass though the village on my way to work. There are a few Thatched cottages along the road I went and a barn. Here is some of what you can see. the blog is a bit picture heavy as there is a lot to see.

One of the cottages

Typical chocolate box cottage with roses

One with a thatched wall

They are called Cob walls and are thatched to keep the rain off as the cob is made of mud, horse manure and straw

There are a lot of placed you can walk to in the village a network of paths


 
 This barn was on the London road which I drove along so I stopped to get photos on my way to and back from work
 

The new thatch is placed on the old stuff underneath which is compacted down over the years
 
 
It's pinned in place with wooden staples made of hazel and called spars, the thatching is normally straw though Norfolk reed is supposed to be the best
 

It is a very skilled job with is dying out
 
 
The finished barn
 

You can see how straight they cut the eves, bit left to do on the end
 
 
Mind you around this are you need to watch out for the Dragons on the roof.
 
 Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone.

Saturday 24 April 2021

St John the Baptist Stanton St John

 

I took the time to visit this St John the Baptist Stanton St John while over in Oxford a few weeks ago. A superb looking church which I am eager to return to when it is open


Thursday 22 April 2021

Poppy Field Sky

 

 These were taken a few weeks ago when I went to look at a development in our village

These were the sky's over the Poppy Fields they will not be seen in this field any more
Turning right a bit and looking up Bill Money Way
At the end of that road you come to this walk with the sky over the Vets
Happy Skywatch



Monday 19 April 2021

Thatched Cottages

 

 Came across these cottages while out visiting a church the other week


Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone.

Saturday 17 April 2021

St Nicholas Church Ickford

 

This week the Church Explorer returns to Ickford to show some new photos of this beautiful old church that he did not have time to take the last time he visited.



Thursday 15 April 2021

An odd Sky Week

 

Clearly it was an odd week for our sky because on Monday morning I woke up to find the place was covered in Snow 

 Not the sort of thing I expected to see when I went down to get breakfast

From the bedroom window the sky looked grey and unyielding but by lunchtime the snow had gone and the rest of the week was mixture of cloud and clear sky's.
Tea time today I looked out and saw these sky's with the sun shining on the houses
It did not look good from the darkness of the sky
The cloud looked like it was chasing the blue away. An odd week but no rain
Happy Skywatch

Monday 12 April 2021

A New Lens

 

Last year I purchased a new camera changing from my old Canon EOS70D DSLR which was a crop  camera meaning the  sensor was not full size like on the old 35mm SLR's. I decided to upgrade to a new Canon EOS R6 DSLR mirror-less camera which was a full frame version. The camera came with a new mount that meant I would need new lenses though at least Canon made an adaptor to take the old lenses. I purchased the camera with the standard lens that came with it which was 20mm-105mm. this was a reasonable wide angle zoom. I id like how the camera responded and the lens was good enough for most things I did but I felt the zoom length did not quite do what I needed so I ordered a new longer zoom which was 24mm-240mm, the wide angle was the same but it gave a little more reach on the zoom. In March I took the new lens out for  try as day or so after getting it.

First thing I tried the lens on was the Hose Chestnut and bus shelter on the Forty. This was take at the wide setting
This what I zoomed in on, you can make it out on one of the left had branched rising up from the main trunk
The clock on the bus shelter
I went up the church yard to take some shots of the gargoyles on the tower, you can see the spouts poking out where the are
Its much clearer zooming in
You can make out what the gargoyle is
Look what happens when you crop the photo a little
You get a much better idea what it is
I always seem drawn to this monument on a grave which I zoomed in on while on the path through the churchyard
Moss on this headstone
Last view of the churchyard
On the way back I forgot to tune the camera off and found I took this by mistake
That's all for now, I was impressed with the new lens and glad I bought it, next one to get will be a wider angle one
Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone.



Saturday 10 April 2021

St Leonard Waterstock

 

This week the Church Explorer visits  St Leonard Waterstock, a place I have driven near to many times but on this occasion  I was nearly thwarted due to a road closure.