Photography…

As a lot of my readers will know, I love to take photographs and have done since I was 14.  My first job was as a photographic lab technician in charge of enlargements for the company and correcting photographs that had things in them that needed to vanish, a process called spotting.  I had to spot away everything from dust marks to some, well, how do I put it, penis erasing.  Yes, you read correctly, usually, a big group shot and there would be in the photo a man with his bits out.  It was very enjoyable to do and made me laugh quite a lot, and surprised me how many men got their junk out on photos.  I would always ensure that the offending item was erased and no one could ever tell.  Now that is easy with the use of digital photography, and I have done some of my best corrections using the likes of Photoshop, especially on old photos that have fold marks and tears on them.

Anyways, I was invited to join a photography site and now have some of my work there.  But, I did not want to let you all away without seeing some of my prize images.

Postage Stamps…

Today I received postcards from Chicago, Finland, Taiwan & Japan, and I have to say I loved the postage stamps on them.  The UK postal system is crap, we do have picture stamps, but try and get them and most post offices have limited supply or, at it would seem most of the time, none at all, so we have to stick to the crappy one colour picture of the Queen.  Not that I have a problem with her majesty, but our banknotes, coins and stamps all have the same picture on them.  Don’t get me wrong, we do have picture stamps at regular intervals, but not all denominations, usually first and second class and the odd another one.  I just wish we were like other countries and had all these fancy ones all the time, it would make sending post to others via letter and postcards more of a pleasure.  Below is a card I received from Japan today, take a look at all the fab stamps on it.

Scarecrow Season…

Living in the country does have its perks.  Each year the residents start making scarecrows for the festival we have.  So as you are driving through this part of the country there are literally hundreds of them.  Last year we had Trump ones, which were by a carrot farm funny enough.  Even the kids get involved and tie them to the school railings.  Here are some I took photos of.  There are hundreds to photograph, but I am usually driving past them and just do not have time to pull over grab my camera and shoot, also I keep forgetting to bring my camera with me.  Doh!

Polecat Rescue…

This week has been a fun one in many ways, but the best part of it, and the saddest was to find a stray polecat.  Yep, live and kicking polecat.  He was so friendly and was wandering about looking a little lost, and hiding under things looking out, presumably for a friendly face.  That friendly face became mine.  At first, I was not sure if he was totally friendly or if he would be a little bit bitey, as they are known for that.

I grabbed a box and lured him in with a small piece of banana, and before anyone says that the only eat meat, I know, but, this little morsel had him in the box in no time and munching away on it.  Next, I got him inside, put a tee shirt in the box and some water.  Quickly looking at the web to confirm he was a polecat and not a ferret and to see exactly what he would eat, I presented him with some minced beef, however, he really was not interested in it and only of the banana.  Quickly thinking I checked the ingredients of the dog biscuits I have, and they matched almost exactly that of the ingredients of dried ferret food.  He loved them.

As the animal sanctuary was not open I had to keep him overnight, so we got the old dog cage/crate and adapted it for him.  M added a Russian hat hanging from the top and some ropes if he fancied climbing, and of course a small box for a sleep station.  Filled with food, water and shreddings he settled down after eating and drinking and made himself comfortable and had a sleep.  We have two spare bedrooms, so the smaller of the two became his room.

He slept so much, and it turns out they sleep about 20 hours a day, so we left him to it.  The dogs were very suspicious of what was going on as they could smell him in the house and also on me.  He was a little bit smelly, but nothing too bad, slight urine and a musky odour that was a little woody.

The next day I took him to the RSPCA rescue centre where he was greeted by Mark, a worker there, who played with him and made a fuss, something he seemed to thrive on.  I had called him Toby for the time as he just seemed like a Toby.  I was a little sad at handing him over but crossed my fingers that he would be reunited with his owners.  Mark said that if no one comes forward he would adopt him and take him home.  So, all in all, he will be fine.  I was tempted to say I would keep him, but with the dogs about I would not want them to get frustrated with another being in the house that they could smell, but not see.  I played quite a lot with him and he was a bugger for crawling all over my shoulders and head.

Penpals Update…

And we are off.  A lady in Hamburg contacted me and wants to write, so YAY!, here we go.  She is sending the first letter which I am looking forward to receiving and starting this journey again.

I have also been chatting to an 82-year-old chap who wants to write, but can only use email as he has tremours so writing is a no-no, which is fine with me, so email it is, not exactly snail mail, but I can live with it.  I used to correspond to my 85-year-old Great Uncle via email, although we had never managed to meet. My Mum was adopted and when I finally found her family my Great Uncle found me via Ancestry.com as I had him in my tree, we emailed quite a lot, but unfortunately, he died last year after a short illness.  It was a great shame, as he had said that he would like to meet me and my Mum and due to his eyesight, I said I would drive over to visit him, saving him travelling, he agreed, but, as he was not feeling too good said that he would arrange some time soon, alas that never happened.  Although we never met we wrote to each other each week.  He was a fascinating man that I wish I had got to meet.

One of the downsides of the sites I have joined is one has to be paid for and so far, no one wants to talk to anyone.  The free one everyone wants to talk, some want husbands, romance, money and other things that are yet to be revealed.  My profiles states I am looking for snail mail pen pals but so far I feel that it is being ignored.  Oh well, I can always ignore and delete.

I have also returned to Postcrossing.  I have been a member since October 2007, but in 2011 I stopped sending as the cost to send a postcard as I had quit my job due to professional disagreements, that is to say, my boss wanted to do illegal things and I disagreed, so I walked.  I kept thinking over the years I would pick it up again and sent 2 in 2015 and did not receive a single one back which was not what the rules of Postcrossing dictate.  I have received 214 postcards in the past, so let’s see what cards I get and where they come from, and of course, I will share them here with you all.

I have checked out also some swap sites to and joined, so it looks like it may start to be a busy hobby for me.  Of course I will leave time to knit, and in all honesty, I think I need to pick up my needles again as the hat project I was doing has sat there since April, begging me to finish.