Randoms

No theme or location on this post, simply a few shots that I have taken which I thought were interesting but didn't have enough decent shots to fill out a individual post.

I call these the randoms and decided to collate them into this one post.

The rapeseed fields I took while out on a bike ride.  I only hand my phone with me to take these images and of the half dozen I took only these two came out half decent.  I hope the subject overcomes the limitations of the camera.

After seeing Welbeck Abbey on a television programme we thought it would be a good place to visit and explore the very impressive gardens.  The problem with that became apparent when we arrived to discover that the abbey and gardens are not open to the general public.

In the grounds next door to a large garden centre is the recently opened Harley Gallery that is home to the  Portland collection of fine art and antiques collected by various Dukes of Portland.  If you're interested in art then it is worth a visit as it has a good range of paintings including Van Dyck, Joshua Reynolds and George Stubbs. The area outside caught my attention with the geometric design of the benches next to the sandy walls






The robin was also taken at Welbeck next to water feature.

The paraglider pictures I took from the back garden as it passed low over the neighbouring houses.  I heard what I thought was a particularly loud petrol lawn mower and then looked up to see it coming towards the house,   I had to run inside, grab the camera and fit the memory card before rushing back, pointing and clicking and hoping that the subject wasn't blurred.

At this time of year, the sunsets through the living room window can be impressive.  I took these from the garden and the last of them I was virtually lying on the ground the get the red sky into the shot as this part of the garden faces towards the north.

Blog on the Tyne (Sorry!)

This week we spent three days in the north east of England, catching up with family and friends.  It's been a couple of years since I have been back on home ground and walking around the city where I used to work it felt strange to see how much had changed in my absence and was (to my mind at least) a relatively short space of time.

Our base for the visit was the Copthorne Hotel on the Quayside.  With all of the visits we had scheduled we didn't really get time to stray very far from the Quayside itself.  Newcastle was also one of the host city's for the Rugby World Cup which was why we had to go midweek, as the cheapest hotel we could find on a weekend was £300 per night! due to matches being played.

I took the pictures with a combination of my trusty Olympus and my iPhone.  In fact, the pictures that I like best (the Sage at night and the black and white shot of the Millennium Bridge) were taken with the iPhone.

The High Level Bridge

The setting sun on the Tyne Bridges

The Millennium Bridge from The Baltic 

The view from the Millennium Bridge

Bridge and Baltic Arts Centre

The Sage Concert Venue

The Baltic or to give it it's full name, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art is an amazing building on the Gateshead Quays that used to be a flour mill.

I do enjoy contemporary art, when it is done well.  This visit disappointed Terry and myself  due to what we perceived to be weak exhibitions. There was however one show stopper of a moment.  Take the lift to the fourth floor and walk around the obscured entrance to the gallery and you are greeted by this.

 It's not what you expect to see 4 floors up.  The 17 tonne truck is part of a exhibition by Fiona Tan.   We spent most of our time wondering how they got the truck up on the fourth floor.

The Sage at night

Runners training outside our hotel window

Sunset from the Quayside

Housebound

 

I'm currently off work at the moment due to problems with my back which has greatly reduced my mobility (hopefully the consultant will be able to shine some light on the matter tomorrow). I can't walk very far or stand for very long and the medication leaves me dull of thought and dopey (although friends will say "no real change there, then").

All the photographs in this post where taken in the last ten days.  I've tried my hand at "Arty" pictures and last night we had a fantastic sunset that I managed to photograph from the back door.  In fact, most of these pictures were taken from the back door.  I hope you enjoy.

The Wisteria on the front of the cottage.

Silver Birch being buffeted by the autumn winds

The kitchen window

Full moon through a gap in he trees

Squirrel scoping out the bird feeders

Sunrise through the bedroom window

The sunset yesterday (Saturday 18th October)