Manchester Wheel

•November 29, 2009 • Leave a Comment

 

Manchester Wheel, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

Met up with a group of people that are doing the T189 Photo Course – we had a great time wandering around Manchester with our cameras. This was one of the first shots of the day and I liked the low sunlight peeking through. It had been pouring down with rain only a few minutes earlier so the sunshine was particularly welcome.

Young at heart

•October 23, 2009 • 4 Comments

Young at heart, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

Mum, proving that age is no barrier to having fun !

Autumn

•October 6, 2009 • 1 Comment

Autumn sees a new chapter for me as I’m now down in sunny Manchester and readjusting to city life after the calm and tranquility of the Aberdeenshire countryside. I no longer have beautiful sunsets to photograph from my front door, or wild birds landing just outside the window. Instead I have roof tops and cars, a park with trees (a life saver – love greenery, love space, love trees). Music and art is never far away, which is a definite bonus for me.

I’ve just started doing the T189 photo course and hope that this will encourage me to get back into the habit of taking photos, and indeed uploading them to Flickr and adding some to the blog.

This leaf was collected on Saturday from Victoria Park, Stretford. We had a great time mosaic making with Amanda McCrann http://gallery.me.com/amandamccrannhttp://gallery.me.com/amandamccrann and Friends of Victoria Park Stretford http://www.fovps.org.uk/ – there was also a fun tree seed collecting event in the afternoon.

There will be more Mosaics in the park on Saturday 10th October and a Halloween Spooky Walk – Sat 31st Oct 2009 – 5.30pm – 7pm – “Join us for a spooky walk around the park with a lanterns and some spooky stories to boot – only if you dare of course!”

Aboyne Highland Games

•August 2, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Drummers, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

We had a fab time at the games yesterday – lots of things to watch and do and a good selection of food and drink available.

The rain didn’t stop play and by the afternoon we were treated to some warm sunshine along with the music from the pipe bands (and the fairground music)

A visit to Grampian Transport Museum

•July 11, 2009 • 3 Comments

Fun in the Morgan, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

We recently paid for family membership at the Grampian Transport Museum at the cost of £45 for the year. This represents great value for money, especially as children love to visit time and time again. We went along for the sports car rides and J and I had a ride in a Morgan while my eldest son opted for a spin (literally) in a Lotus Elise.

www.gtm.org.uk

Scottish Traditional Boat Festival, Portsoy

•July 11, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Sea King Flypast, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

We went to the Boat Festival at Portsoy, Aberdeenshire and had a fantastic time. Great boats, fabulous weather and great company with some of the folk from the Neeps forum.

I love taking photos of boats and being by the water.

I did think that the prices were somewhat higher than they’ve been for a while, and in particular the food prices were very high. It was reported that one caterer covered all costs on the Thursday alone, they must have made an absolute fortune by the end of the Saturday as there was a reported 10,000 people that visited.

I’ll be adding more photos to my Flickr account in due course.

Little weed

•July 11, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Little weed, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

Pretty little weed – I think it is a willowherb of sorts. I thought it looked good against the blue sky.

Balloon Race

•June 30, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Balloon Race, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

Up up and away went these biodegradable balloons as part of the Lumsden Gala on Saturday. I was very relieved to hear that they were going to be biodegradable balloons – three cheers to the organisers for that!

There were fun and games aplenty at the gala and we had exceptionally good weather too – the fire brigade took advantage of that and turned the hose pipe on for a cooling shower too!

The drumming group Dezibel came along and this proved to be very popular with all ages – there really is something about the drums that appeals to so many people. Check our their Myspace page http://www.myspace.com/dezibeldrummers for more info. I’ll be adding some drumming photos and more from the Gala to my Flickr pages. Click on the photo to be taken there :-)

Our journey to the gala wasn’t the best – we were halfway up the hill about a mile from home when the prop shaft went on the landrover – thankfully we were able to call our friendly local mechanic Derek Smith and he was able to come over and enable us to get the landie home (albeit after he’d had his lunch but that was more than fair enough, especially on a Sat!) – I walked home with J to get my car and J and I went on to the Gala while D waited for Derek – D then cycled to the gala and met us there. On the way back D’s chain slipped off the bike and totally ruined a couple of cog things (insert technical term yourself because I don’t know what it is – only that it’s going to cost about £40 for a new one!) and so that was the landie and the bike off the road.

On yer bike

•June 26, 2009 • Leave a Comment

Slow Down Huntly 8, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

It was fun to watch people trying to get onto the penny farthing at the Slow Down Huntly Cycling & Walking Festival last weekend. This guy seems to have the knack, but then it’s hardly surprising as he and his friend cycled to the event on a couple of custom made bikes – you can see more on my flickr photo set.

There was lots of fun in The Square and it was lovely to be there – there was a great feeling of community and co-operation. Deck chairs (and blankets just in case – it is Scotland in summer!) were laid out around the square to allow people to kick back and relax for the afternoon before the 3 mile cycle to the old quarry. Bikes were equipped with a special device to leave coloured chalk trails along the route and the end result was very colourful.

designed by Jacqueline Donachie for Slow Down Huntly

designed by Jacqueline Donachie for Slow Down Huntly

Great fun!

First Foxglove of 2009

•June 20, 2009 • 1 Comment

First Foxglove of 2009, originally uploaded by The Neepster.

It’s been ages since I posted anything here – I plan to start posting more often with a view to posting my favourite photos of the week.

I love the colour in this one – fresh and vibrant and so new. The flowers have opened just recently and I’ve been watching and waiting for them for ages. The foxgloves themselves are growing inbetween the paving and a tidier gardener may well have scraped them away before they turned into these tall and majestic plants. Me – well not a chance of that happening, I saw them as a bonus. There is one with white flowers just next to it too.