River of Blood

I have dearly wanted to visit the Rivers of Blood exhibition depicting poppies, surrounding the Tower of London.  Each poppy represents one soldier's death in the 14-18 Great War.  But, two things about this exhibition disturb me.

The first is how this outpouring of National grief and sentiment for the soldiers who died - which I feel is 100 years too late.  How many soldiers returned from that Great War to End All Wars - disabled in one way or another - and were ignored?  Left to try to scrape a living somehow, many had to resort of selling matches on the streets - or worse still - begging.

The widows of deceased soldiers were similarly left to try to support their children and themselves, best as they could.  Sadly, many had to resort to prostitution.  Not something for this Nation to be proud of, is it?  I know the Nation was shell-shocked then, and money was scarce.  Thankfully, we seem to be more appreciative of our soldiers today - albeit we rely heavily on Charity for this.

Never mind - the sale of the poppies at £25 each to raise funds for today's needy soldiers sounded a good idea, and I almost parted with twenty-five readies for this cause.  Then I learned that less than 50% was going to go to the two charities purported to be being supported: the Royal British Legion and Help for Heroes.  About 20% went to offset expenses - and the rest?  A big secret.  Apparently, some fat-cat in Switzeland has made millions - but YOU try to find out more?

I am donating £12.50 to each of the charities instead of buying a ceramic poppy!  At least then I'll know the full amount goes to the right recipients.

The display was impressive, and although the crowds were unbelievable - I did manage a quick grab shot or two with the little Canon G10.

A shame about the brollies and the bland, white skies!  Weather was grim - but nonetheless, a very sombre and impressive display.

On until Armistice Day - 11th November 2014

Louis off to do his Duke of Edinburg Silver

While visiting the family at half-term, Louis had to spend three days away doing his Duke of Edinburg Silver.  After several days of lovely, unseasonably warm weather - wouldn't you guess, it turned cold and damp!  Poor boy!

The back-pack.  It came past my waist and I couldn't even lift it!!

A quick bite of breakfast . . . 

. . .a fond farewell from Mum . . . 

. . .  then it was load the car - and go!

Mall Galleries, October 2014

Spent half-term visiting the family.  Ella, our granddaughter, won a category in the Birds and Animals  category of an RSPB sponsored competition. Her picture was an acrylic of a sea-lion she photographed when on holiday in Cornwall in August.  Her prize was an impressive £100 voucher to spend on art materials.  Needless to say, she had great fun spending it - so fingers crossed for next year?!

"Greedy Chops" by Ella

Ella with her picture, hanging in the Exhibition

With Mum

Receiving her certificate from the Director of the BTO.
Sorry Salon Manager - but there was such a crowd, and I couldn't get a better angle to avoid the that microphone!

The Goddess Conference

Sunday 3rd May saw me in Glastonbury at 9.00am for the annual Goddess Conference.  I had never been to one of these before, so didn't really know what to expect.  The area outside the Town Hall was buzzing when we got there just after nine with lots of excited greetings between the "goddesses".  At spot on 10.00 the procession moved off to the beat of the drums and the women singing.

They processed up the main street, turned left at the top of the road, then immediately right and continued up the hill.  Eventually, Glastonbury Tor came into view - but the procession continued until they reached their designated field.

There the ceremony took place, celebrating life, death and the Crone - whose effigy had been carried in the midst of the procession.

I took loads of pictures - and this is only a quick representation.  See more on my Flickr site at -

https://www.flickr.com/photos/snaphappyann/

The Procession sets off.

Moving up the High Street.

Singing as they go.

Arriving at the field where the ceremony took place.

Giving thanks for the earth's bounty.

Two priestesses.

Participating priestesses with the Crone

Birds of Prey Workshop

Thursday July 17th, saw me heading to The Hawk Conservancy, Andover on another Guy Edwardes workshop (http://www.guyedwardes.com/workshops.php) - this time with Pam Sherren.  We'd booked this on impulse in March (http://www.hawk-conservancy.org) - and found our mutual friend Sheila Haycox had also booked onto it!  Guy's workshops are always excellent value for money.  I learn something every time I go on one - if only that my equipment is sadly lacking!  It was no exception this time, exacerbated by the fact I had Tennis Elbow, which made holding the 100-400 lens aloft extremely painful.  Well - that's my excuse for loads of oof images!

The big drawback to doing these photographic workshops is that you, by default, end up with very similar images to your peers!  I guess the answer is to go out on your own and practice the technique you have supposedly learned!  One day - maybe!!

Here are a few of the birds "shot" that day!

 Tawny Owl

 Secretary Bird.  Don't be fooled by the "bad hair-day" look.  One kick from these birds can put you in hospital!

 Great Grey Owl.  My favourite!

 Long Eared Owl.  Very nervous and still being trained.

 Vulture.  An impressive bird looking like a big bundle of feathers!

 Bald Eagle.  Sheer power.

 Even in flight - the power of these birds is stunning.

Everyone's favourite - the charming little Barn Owl!

A great day out, and as usual, some great shots.  None can be used in Natural History competitions as all the birds were captive - and some of them were "fiddled with" to get rid of jesses.  However, I learned I must save up harder for a better camera and a gimballed head!!  Don't suppose I will ever be able to give up work!!

Cardiff

On 8th June, Pam Sherren and I travelled up to Cardiff for the PAGB Print and DPI inter-club competition.  We both had work accepted for this and were interested to see what would happen, and how our work would compare with the rest of the country's club submissions.

More importantly, we went up a day early and took the opportunity to have a look around the Cardiff waterfront - now developed and quite photogenic.  We were not disappointed!

The iconic War Memorial.  Had to dodge showers and wait for a half decent sky!

View across from the Assembly Rooms towards the Cardiff skyline.

The popular water feature.  We were lucky to catch this working - but it shut off within an hour.

Little girl puzzling out how her reflection got there!

That all-important phone call!  How did we manage without mobiles ten years ago?

I deliberately haven't uploaded any images of the Welsh Assembly Rooms; a) because they were closed, and b) because those images are well documented.  Instead, I became fascinated by different designs created with Welsh slate, used on the floor.  I took the opportunity to snap a few examples during a heavy rain shower.

A fellow shelterer from the rain - using his . . .  guess what!

The Millennium Building.  Last shot before heading off for something to ear!

Pembroke with Exeter Camera Club

For a week from the end of June, Exeter Camera Club organised a trip to Pembroke.  We stayed in a barn complex, and each day, we tripped off to a new venue, and found our own photos!  Once we understand the routine, we were fine!  I was with Maggie Martin and Anne Whitley.

Maggie (L) Me and Ann (R) enjoy a picnic lunch.

First evening saw us going Castlemartin.  Usually, the Army uses this land for its training - but weekends are time off for them - and time for us to go mad with cameras!

The Green Bridge.  

The same evening, we went along to Freshwater for a hoped-for sunset.  Didn't really happen - but we got some pleasing pix nonetheless.

The Seaweed Hut.  Now restored, but once huts like this peppered the cliffs.  Women used them to dry seaweed in.  This was then sent to Cardiff, Swansea and other large cities, where it was pounded and used in the making of Lava Bread.

The next day we went to Pendine Sands for the Hot Rod Racing.  Only a couple of images from that day here for you to see - but more can be seen at my Flickr site - https://www.flickr.com/photos/snaphappyann/

A couple of boy racers, driving their car to the collecting ring.

Some of the spectators!  More interesting than the racing itself, I found!

 Creating a kind of crop circle in the sand on Bosherton Beach!

 Featured on Grand Designs - the restored old Lifeboat House at Tenby.

 Playing soldiers!  On manoeuvres at Castlemartin where we were allowed to snap them!

Wonderful sky over the lilly ponds at Bosherton.

 St Govern's Chapel, tucked between the cliffs near Castlemartin.

 A different view of the Chevron Oil Refinery near Pembroke.  Everyone else took it at night!  I like to be different!

A beautiful day spent on Skomer Island.

My ambition is to get a puffin in flight!   Methinks I will need to upgrade my kit a bit before that happy day!

 Tenby Beach - looking towards small island.

The Bandstand, overlooking the sea at Tenby

General Store, at St Fagan's Living History Museum, near Cardiff.

Finally, after a week of the most glorious weather imaginable, we had to go home!  However, a detour of a few hours at the St Fagan's Living History Museum near Cardiff proved well worthwhile.  We didn't even scratch the surface of this wonderful museum after four hours!  Well worth a visit - and a very reasonable day out.  Only paid £3.50 to park the car - and there is food, drink and ice creams available - all at reasonable prices.  Well worth a visit.  Click on the link to find out more.  https://www.museumwales.ac.uk/stfagans/