Terry Baldwin's Blog

Picture No 79

The picture is finally on the wall, see picture No 64. As you can see the colours are really beautiful. Not one of my best photographs, but it will do for now.

Picture No 78

The words of a song “What a difference a day makes…….. ” are echoing inside my head.

Picture No 77

Our Bengal cat Tilly sleeps in the most odd places, here she is sleeping on the arm of the settee, with both front paws either side of the arm of the settee.

Picture No 76

Having planted some flowers in the garden last Sunday, this morning I was amazed to find that some the tulips are starting flower.

Picture No 75

I arrived home from work this afternoon to find a surprise waiting for me. It will go down nicely with a cup of tea.

Picture No 74

Two lovely ladies from the Centre’s Pop-up Art Weekend (PUAW) sent me a lovely thank you card for all my help before, during and after the weekend.

So thank you Lori and Nikki.

Do your know the link between the postcard and Pop-up Art Weekend ?.

Picture No 73

I recently mentioned to a friend that my hands were cold, he then told me about a brilliant pair of hand warmers. They are re-chargeable, magnetic so the stick together when they are not in use, they have three heat settings and can charge your mobile phone all for £19.99 from Amazon !.

Picture No 72

It’s amazing that Covid is still with us. Monday’s picture is of my negative test result that I took after potentially being in close proximity to someone that had tested positive earlier in the day.

Picture No 71

Sunday morning and afternoon was spent in the garden. Gaynor spent her time tiding the garden, I spent mine planting the flowers that we bought yesterday.

Just a small selection of the flowers that are in the garden now.

Picture No 70

Saturday morning found me wandering around the local garden centre with my wife looking for some flowers to add abit of colour to our garden.

Sunday’s blog will no doubt feature the flowers planted in the garden.

A couple of stepping stones for the cat……..

Picture No 69

Friday’s picture is of a couple of Goldfinches eating sunflower hearts from the bird feeder in the garden.

The picture that I was actually trying to capture was the birds in flight. As you can see this is work in progress !.

Picture No 68

Thursday’s picture is of all my small-bore rifle kit laid out ready for to shoot some targets.

It comprises of the following;

• .22 calibre rifle
• Mat
• Jacket
• Glove
• Hat
• Ear defenders
• Spotting scope
• Ammunition

Picture No 67

Wednesday’s picture is of Reculver a former monastic church on the Kent coast.

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/reculver-towers-and-roman-fort/history/

Picture No 66

I leave home with no sign of any snow, I arrive at work in the Chiltern hills to find everywhere covered in a light dusting of snow.

Picture No 65

Monday’s picture is of a cheeky little Robin sitting on the garden fence in the winter sun.

Picture No 64

This afternoon I travelled back to work with my wife to help return the Centre back to normal after the Pop-up Art Week had finished. Whilst we were waiting for the exhibition to finish we brought a picture. The picture is titled “Bird of Paradise”, the picture is of a bird of paradise flower. The picture was painted by a lovely local artist called Lori North.

Picture No 63

When you view my daily Blog, just above my name is a picture of a rat. Today Blog is a little bit about the picture.

Walking around the Fitzrovia area of London a few years ago. I unexpectedly found a Banksy artwork on a wall.

The is my original picture that I took. The artwork has been covered in a Perspex sheet to protect it.

I then cropped the rat which I have used in my WordPress picture.

Below is a link to the Fitzrovia News with a little bit more information on Banksy’s artwork.

https://fitzrovianews.com/2011/04/25/banksy-graffiti-fitzrovia/

Picture No 62

This weekend where I work we are holding our annual Pop-Up Art Weekend (PUAW).

Pop-Up Art Weekend 4 & 5 March 2023

Picture No 61

Yesterday’s picture showed my old Raspberry Pi set-up with the 7 inch monitor and all the cables. Today my 10 inch monitor arrived. I brought the new monitor because it allows you to mount the Raspberry Pi onto the back of the monitor complete with all the interconnecting cables, which are now hidden. The new monitor makes whole thing is a much neater set-up just needing a power cable.

New set-up

Old set-up

Picture No 60

Today at work I have to connect a Raspberry Pi to a TV/Monitor, it occurred to me that during “Lockdown” that I had brought a Raspberry Pi to learn about them. I dug out of my Raspberry Pi out of my desk draw, connected it together, it was then that realised why I have stop using it. It is just messy needing a monitor and keyboard, it was easier to use a laptop. So tonight I have ordered a larger screen that the Raspberry Pi can be mounted on the back, which will hopefully do away with all the wires and make it a bit neater.

Picture No 58

Yesterday having shown you my first motorbike , it’s only right that today’s picture is of my current motorbike a BMW R1250GS

Picture No 57

In the early to mid 1970’s I learnt to ride a motorbike on an old BSA Bantam that belonged to my cousin in the woods behind where we lived. My first motorbike was a Suzuki RL250 off-road trials which I rode in trials competitions.

Picture No 56

A couple of years later I upgraded to a Ducati 916BP.

Picture No 55

Returning to motor biking in the 90’s, some say a mid-life crisis, I brought a Ducati 750SS.

This is unfortunalty a picture of a picture.

Picture No 54

Yesterday Blog picture featured my own QSL card. Today’s picture is a small selection of QSL cards that I have received over the years. Once sent, cards are often used to confirm details for amateur radio awards. The cards can also be very decorative and are collected by some as a record of their amateur radio contacts, mine are just kept in a box in the loft. QSL cards often feature a photograph detailing something of radio, social or geographical interest about the Radio Amateur’s life and interests.

Below is a list of Q-Codes used by Radio Amateurs.

Picture No 52

Today is Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday, is the traditional feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. Lent – the 40 days leading up to Easter.

I prefer my pancakes with lemon juice and sugar, but orange juice and sugar is another nice alternative.

Picture No 51

Apart from my interest in modern motorbikes, I’m also interested in classic motorbikes.

Picture No 50

I was such a lovely afternoon we decided to go out for a walk. We passed a couple a places where the ground was covered in crocuses.

Picture No 49

I promise that this will be the last post about my LEGO BMW kit until I’ve built the bike. How LEGO has changed since I was a boy, to build the bike there are 199 step to complete !.

Picture No 47

On Saturday evening I finally decided that I did want to buy a LEGO BMW R1200GS kit. I went on to that well known auction site and bid for a LEGO BMW R1200GS. Low and behold I now have two of the models!

Picture No 46

Last Saturday I was visiting my local BMW Motorrad Dealer in Welwyn Garden City with my wife. In one of the display cabinets I noticed a LEGO BMW R1200GS very similar to my bike. The kit has been discontinue and I was trying to decided if I should buy it. Unbeknown to me my wife noticed that I was looking at the LEGO kit. She returned to the dealership a day later and brought the LOGO kit for me as a Valentines day present. Thank you very much Gaynor.

Picture No 45

One thing that I enjoy doing is riding my motorbike. I currently ride a BMW R1250GS. More will be revealed about the significance of my BMW will be revealed tomorrow night.

Picture No 43

I have been trying to photograph a flowering cactus at home today with my Olympus 12-40 f 1:2.8 PRO lens. I must admit I’m struggling to get the bits of the cactus that I want to photograph if focus. I think the purchase of a Macro lens is on the horizon !.

Picture No 42

This is my last picture from Tuesday night’s visit to Brick Lane. The Gentle Author’s post card of the Spitalfields.

Picture No 41

Another picture from Tuesday’s trip to Brick Lane.

View Post

Picture No 40

Another picture from Tuesday’s trip to Brick Lane. The house number intrigued me.

Picture No 39

As I mentioned in yesterday Blog, I visited London to listen to a talk by a chap called “The Gentle Author” on the “Spitalfields Nippers”.

In about 1900 a photographer called Horace Warner took a number of pictures of some of poorest children in London. Basically The Gentle Author managed to gain access to Horace Warner pictures and over the space of 10 years the managed to research the pictures and produce the book below.

Below is a link to The Gentle Author’s website.

https://spitalfieldslife.com/

Picture No 38

Today I made a short trip into London on the Metropolitan Line from Rickmansworth Station to Liverpool Street station for a talk in Hanbury Hall. I killed some time taking some photographs of the graffiti along Brick Lane. In tomorrow’s Blog I’ll tell you about the talk in Henbury Hall

Picture No 37

This is a picture from my weekend in London. The picture shows some steps at Battersea Power Station. Somewhere else I need to re-visit in the near future.

Colour

Black and White

Picture No 36

I have converted a picture from colour to Black and White another one of my favourite buildings in London.

Picture No 35

30 St Mary Axe (The Gherkin) a building in London that has always fascinated me.

Picture No 34

Imperial War Museum (IWM) – The Holocaust Galleries. During my visit to IWM a couple of weekends ago, I spent a long time sitting a listing to a video interview with Ezra Jurmann a Holocaust survivor. I appogise for the picture it was just snapped to remind me of his name. I urge you to Google him or watch the video on YouTube. The way he tells his story is so spell bounding, so matter of fact. I still find it very difficult to understand how human beings could be so cruel to other human beings.

I’m hoping re-visit the IWM again in the near future because there is so much else to see there.

Picture No 33

At least the winter is over, the days are getting lighter and the snow drops are coming up in the garden.

Picture No 32

During my visit to Battersea power station one of the attractions as I mentioned in a previous Blog is a lift has been built into the centre of one of the chimneys. Personally I think that the view from on top of the chimney is much better than from the London Eye.

Picture No 31

One of the attractions at old Battersea Power Station is that you can ride in a lift in the centre of the chimney to the top of it. When to get to the top you are approximately 100M above ground level and the view of London is amazing. The Picture for today’s Blog is the view from the lift traveling up the inside of the chimney.

Picture No 30

Another picture from my trip to London, Big Ben. The last couple of times that I have visited London, Big Ben has been covered in scaffolding hiding the beautiful clock face.

Picture No 29

I didn’t realise The National Covid Memorial Wall existed. The wall surrounds St Thomas Hospital on the river Thames side of the hospital. The wall seems to go on forever…………….. so sad

Picture No28

Yesterday was a trip to the Imperial War Museum.

Picture No 27

On Friday I spent the day at Battersea power station. Which now has turned into a very trendy shopping centre.

Picture No 26

When I mean addicted to pens, I mean fountain pens. There is something very special writing with a fountain pen.