2022 Odds and Sods

By shendyNo Comments
The last set of 2022 is wrapping up a few bits and pieces that didn't fit anywhere else. Table The first two are from the very lovely Felin Fach Griffin hotel near Brecon and Hay-on-Wye, where we stayed for a couple of nights in July - the food is fantastic and the rooms are good, lovely beds.The Eat Drink Sleep chain are recommended - we've already stayed at their other two hotels in Cornwall - The Gurnard's Head near Zennor and The Old Coastuard in Mousehole. The beach huts are in Exmouth, from a trip down to see friends there (and their classical concert in Exeter Cathedral).Then 4 from a walk in Budleigh Salterton the next day - unfortunately those ominous clouds did dump rain on us. And finally, two very rare selfies - it's even more rare that I share any!Both taken with the fisheye lens - one at Sea Mills, the other under the Second Severn Crossing....
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France 2022, there and back again

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These are from the journey down to the gite and back - we always drive, and have started to spend a few days on the way. We could drive all the way to the gite in one go but there are other bits of France we want to visit and it breaks things up a bit - it's 400 miles from Caen/Ouistream to Bordeaux but it's autoroute the whole way and actually quite an easy drive. As an aside, we bought a "Bip n Go" device, which enables you to use "Telepeage" on the autoroutes, meaning we didn't need to use cards to pay the tolls - roll up to the Telepeage lane and the device will beep and the gates open. So easy, it made the journey a lot less stressful for SWMBO, who always had to manage the tolls given the tickets etc are always on the left. It cost something like €20 to buy and activate, and something...
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Autumn 2021 part 1 – Blaise and Westbury Court

By shendyNo Comments
These two sets come from the tail end of the summer and early autumn. After the photos I took at Cumberland Basin at the end of April, I didn't take any photos (other than a few on my phone, mainly food) until the end of August when I forced myself out to Blaise Estate, which is only really at the end of the road but which I've hardly visited. This trip out was also an opportunity to try out my latest camera - an Agfa Synchro Box from the 1950s. 1 shutter speed, two aperture settings, a very simple lens and a basic viewfinder. To be honest, the results weren't great - these are the best two, and they're not much to write home about. Hazel Brook | Agfa Synchro Box, Catlabs 80 film St Mary's Church | Agfa Synchro Box, Catlabs 80 film The second set are from a trip to the Dutch water garden at Westbury Court, over on the other...
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Abbey House Gardens, August 2020

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I visit Abbey House Gardens in Malmesbury most years, but this one was a bit different to the usual trips - I normally go to their clothes-optional days, and this was only the second time I've visited and kept my clothes on. As well as wanting to visit (and support) what is a rather lovely garden, they also had a sculpture exhibition on, which is something we've taken quite a liking to - see previous posts Quennington Fresh Air Sculpture and Quenington Fresh Air Sculpture, June 2019. Most of these were taken on my Fuji digital, but I was also shooting on slide film in the Hasselblad (the last one is from that) as well as some expired film in what was my dad's Pentax MX (a lovely all-manual SLR). The expired film thing was a bit of an experiment, not hugely successful if I'm honest....
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