Tag: Leica M9

Under leaden skies

Posted in Matters Concerning, PersonalTagged , , , , 2 Comments

L9999755

Day 3 – After the awful event in Paris last night, a city so close and familiar to me, I couldn’t really sleep, but managed to get a few hours rest from watching the streaming breaking news on TV. We had a 4 hour drive the next morning, which was today, 14th November.  Leaving the West coast and crossing the Highlands down to Brora on the East coast, under leaden skies. It had been raining and sleeting non-stop the whole night, and the clouds are low and menacing.

There is a light dusting of snow on the mountain peaks above 500m and the temperature is hovering around 5C. So no ice. More particularly, no black ice. The A832 to A835 route across from Poolewe to Lairg via Ullapool is spectacular. We practically encounter no other motorists for at least 50 miles on this route. Amazingly raw landscapes of valleys, and mountains, rivers, streams, waterfalls, sheep and huge black cattle. Boggy heather knolls and dark grey granite crags.  Just hoping the car not breaking down or the tyres getting a puncture.

Jpeg

L9999794

Minor Earth, Major Sky

Posted in PersonalTagged , , , , Leave a comment

L9999666

Day 2, and Storm Abigail is upon us. High winds and squally showers, mixed with sleet and driving rain was the order of the day. Some snow settled on higher ground. Shot this amazing storm cloud as it approached Loch Ewe, which opens out to the North Sea.

I did little photographing today as it was raining pretty much the entire day, and went in search for food. However, as it is out of season for now, many establishments are closed. We did locate a real hippie joint in Gairloch called the Happy Mountain Coffee cafe, which served deliciously hot and creamy potato and spring onion soup with crusty seedy bread.

Jpeg

Tomorrow, we head east.

The Lone Tree

Posted in PersonalTagged , , , , 1 Comment

L9999586

Lone tree, road to Shieldag on the A896, Western Highlands, Scotland. Taking a week to tour the NorthCoast500 route around the Scottish Highlands. Day 1 on the route and Abigail, the first storm of the season is battering the North Scotland, right where we are with 90mph winds, rain and snow forecasted for the next 24hours. The winds are howling through the gaps of the window of our hotel in Poolewe, holed up here for to sit out the Amber warning. We will have to change our itinerary. The scenery is astounding. More later.

Man and dog in fog

Posted in PersonalTagged , , , Leave a comment

Once in awhile, we get a foggy day in London.  This used to be far worse in the 1950s apparently, days and weeks of fog and smog, also known as ‘peasoup’ caused by the dirty coal fires and uncontrolled industrial emissions. London air is now a lot cleaner with European guidelines enforced strictly. With vehicle CO2 emissions falling year on year, and Congestion Charging to limit daytime vehicular access in the city.

Still, Life

Posted in PersonalTagged , , Leave a comment

L9999337

The light was sublime. The time was around 4pm. The setting for tea was perfect. Petersham Nurseries in Richmond, South West London is essentially a nursery, selling mature and young plants, garden furniture and ornaments. It also has a lovely conservatory tea house and an award winning cafe restaurant, which advocates the SLOW FOOD movement. Rustic is the key word for this place.

L9999350

L9999324

Petersham Nurseries

Leviathan 2 – Death in the Med

Posted in Matters Concerning, news, PersonalTagged , , , Leave a comment

L9998834Nice Pontoon, France

Over 800 migrants, men, women and children, from North Africa – Libya, Syria and Eritrea, drowned yesterday in the southern Mediterranean Sea, whilst attempting an illegal night crossing, near Libya’s coast and also, another boat sunk in southern Greece. According to reports, there are an estimated 1,000,000 migrants amassed in Libyan ports waiting to take these perilous journeys to cross over to Europe. These people pay thousands of dollars each to human traffickers to get onboard unseaworthy boats, with little or no food, medicine and technical skills, hoping they will be be picked up by Italian coastguards. They are desperate to escape persecution, civil war, famine and disease, but exploited by ruthless gangs to come to Europe, where, supposedly, life is better.

‘More than 1,750 migrants have perished in the Mediterranean since the start of the year – more than 30 times higher than during the same period of 2014, the International Organisation for Migration said on Tuesday.’ – The Times.

The figures are staggering.

‘It is thought that the Italian Navy saved some 170,000 boat people in 2014 and brought them to Italy. It is also thought Italy’s centre-Left government then lost all trace of 100,000 of them once inside Italy.’

I can’t even attempt to guess what the solution to this will be. Stop the boats? How? Accept the migrants? Where to house them? When people are desperate to survive they will leave everything, risk everything to seek ‘Eldorado’. Then, there’s always the threat from ISIS using this guise to enter Europe.