Friday My Town Shoot-out - Match

This week's challenge is to match a quotation with a picture from one's town. I've chosen, once again to use the Outer Hebrides where I'm holidaying with GB.

“Learn the richness of solitude and quiet. That "still small voice" is yearning to be heard.” - 
Susan Jeffers

"I see myself as a boy playing on the sea's shore. Now and then finding a smoother or prettier shell than ordinary, while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me."
Isaac Newton (1642 - 1727)

Why not visit the link to other bloggers and see what quotations/pictures they have chosen?

Light Flights for Adrian

Light Flights for Adrian.

A recent posting by Adrian reminded me of some photos I'd created in the 1960s. I called them light-flights.

Some were created by waving torches and other light sources in front of the camera with its shutter open. Others were taken from the car (the passenger seat!) waving the camera about.

Slide Shows

Do you remember how, in the 'good old days', the family would gather in the living room to watch a slide show. The big heavy projector would be set up on its stand. The screen was unrolled. The hunt was made for a spare bulb in case the projector decided to burn out its lamp.

And, if the projector took 'magazines', hours would have been spent in advance putting the slides into them, getting the order correct and making sure none were upside down.

Last night, round at the house of some friends, I enjoyed (after a delightful meal) the modern equivalent. GB plugged his computer into their television and we looked at their daughter's photos of Callanish (on the Isle of Lewis) and Alaska.

Even Briagha paid attention for a while.

It was a heck of a lot easier than the old days and the pictures looked superb - mind you, they were exceedingly high quality and of lovely subjects. The snow-melt was so real it made me shiver.

Here's one for son-in-law-and friend-who-loves-otters. (Bearing in mind I photographed it off the TV you can imagine how good the original was!)

Briagha was really more interested in being petted.

While Misha played hard to get and refused to face the camera.

A lovely evening - thanks to all concerned.

Handy Hints

Cacti - Add crushed egg shell to the soil to give them extra calcium.

Ferns - Feed them with weak tea or bury a used teabag in the soil beside Ihe roots or give them a teaspoon of olive oil every three months Ferns and other plants that like humid conditions will flourish close to a washing machine or spin drier.

Heather Display - Wash a large raw potato and make holes in one side of it with a knitting needle. Insert the stems of heather in these to make a pretty display which will stay fresh lor months.

Cake storage - Use tins not plastic Plastic is porous and less airtight, It also harbours smells.
Do not store fruit cake in silver foil as the acid in the fruit may corrode the foil and form a mould.

Cheese - Lightly smear the cut edge of cheese with butter before you put it away to help it to keep fresh.

Melons - If storing in the fridge keep them in plastic bags as they absorb smells frum other foods. Put at room temperature for an hour before serving as it enhances Ihe flavour. When serving melon in
slices cut a little bit off the bottom of each slice so that it sits more easily on the plate.

Mushrooms - Store in ihe dark - i,e make use of those paper bags in the supermarket if it has them.
They should be kept cool but not refrigerated.


Asparagus - Open Asparagus tins at the bottom to reduce risk of damage to the tips when emptying. (Better still use fresh asparagus!)


Pill Bottles - Save empty pill bottles (after removing labels) For sauces and dressings on picnics.

Weighing Syrup - Put the jar on the scales and takeout spoonfuls until the weight has gone down by the amount you need.

Flies - Hang bunches of lavender at your window to keep flies out.

For more handy hints around the kitchen see Salamagundi.

What is the world coming to?

In this month when we have had riots on the streets of England one has heard the question “What is the world coming to?” asked a fair bit. It is worth taking a moment to put this question in context.

A tablet from ancient Assyria, about 2800 B.C. – I stress, that’s nearly five thousand years ago - stated: 'Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is speedily coming to an end. Bribery and corruption are common.'

Around two and a half millennia later, Socrates complained, 'Children are now tyrants... They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.'

And a few years later Plato wrote of his students: 'What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them.'

What is the world coming to? It's carrying on, pretty much the same as it always has done. And that, in its own way is an even sadder reflection than if it were changing.