Anouar Brahem à Coutances.

This is a good version of  ‘Astounding Eyes of Rita’ with a lot of improvisation.
I remember going to a party quite a few years ago (excuse for drinking some beers with good people) at Khasab Oman; they had a local Oud player as guest of honour who when improvising was amazing. This reminds me of that evening, although I think we all got a little less compos mentis than we should have been.  😎

Checking stored backup files.

Checking all my backup files after the external drives had been in storage for about five months and the long sea voyage.
I did bring one drive home in hand baggage which was fine, two others packed separately from my computer (PC) along with two 1TB hard drives which hold a complete ghost image of everything on both my laptop & PC. not taking any chances with lost boxes.
A lot easier with my negatives; a good thing because I have rather a lot and all filed (not very logically 😉  ) in ring binders & archival storage sheets.

 

 

A little snow.

Dark, cold & wet.
We have snow again – where is global warming when you want it ? although I remember some years back that there was a scare (sorry serious in-depth report) that we could go into a mini ice age again. Skating on the River Thames and Ebenezer Scrooge or stepping out of the wardrobe and seeing a gas light.

Driffield canal.

A quick early morning walk along the canal – I had hoped it would be foggy but alas no, just a light mist. It was very cold though.
(yes I know it’s all relative, 1 or 2C. is not 25 to 35C. so I have an excuse)

Construction authorised in 1767, it was fully open for traffic in 1770. Although the railway arrived at Driffield in 1846, the canal prospered until the 1870s, when there became a gradual decline. The last commercial traffic was in 1951, it now being just a lovely walk.

UK Weather.

Getting better at keeping warm after being back in UK for a few months now; had snow, rain (lots!) wind & what purports to be sunshine.
The grass is always greener on the other side, I remember Shams on the day this was made.

Shams – Fog & rain.

Love the new house, although still a few boxes that need emptying, that is the trouble with merging two houses into one.

Got all my camera & darkroom gear unpacked and apart from one problem with some marks on the 35ti (seem to have come off the bag I packed it in, almost like a dye staining some of the metal). Everything else seems ok, which is a compliment to the packers & shipper in Oman,  especially as they stored it for 5 months. More than I can say about the ones in UK, very slipshod in their packing & a lot more expensive!
Lots more unpacking and I forgot how many books we have, although after years of wishing for a room dedicated as a library, we now have one  🙂  I will even (eventually) have a new darkroom. Will also find time for some pictures of Driffield & the surrounding area, the canal looks very photogenic.
One thing I do find strange is the pace of life, far more hectic here than Oman, not sure I like it very much, not to mention the background noise everywhere one goes. The best thing though is no longer being required to have my phone with me all the time and no alarm clock. Must escape to the mountains this summer; Wales, Scotland or the Lake District, somewhere tranquil.

Hello.

Just thought I would write a few words in the way of news.

Pick up the keys for our new house in Driffield tomorrow – it has been a busy few months of travelling, paperwork & paying out a large chunk of money. But we got there in the end, although at times I never thought we would.
My stuff is now being shipped and our UK belongings will wing their way into the new house over the next month or so.

Just got to sell the old one  😉