Mandy is already on the ferry back from Ireland, Hil won her competition at the advanced dressage event on Sunday although she was disappointed in the marks as her horse was being a bit wilful, mind you hers was the only entry, this can happen at top levels when there aren't that many who qualify to go through. I bet it is a bit choppy out there on the Irish Sea. I got the post ready and dropped it off and then carried on to Runcorn and Widnes, both similar locations to before but then again different so of particular interest. With the M56 Expressway junction now finished the shots from the former roundabout which was so useful have gone but standing to the south side as they come out to either head towards Chester or Frodsham I got the sun in a good position and there seemed to be plenty of lorries. The other session afterwards was over the new Mersey Crossing and thus required two tolls paying by internet. The temporary diversion at Stobarts inland Port is spot on, some sun but could have stood more as it was cold in the bitter chill. I got two programmes out of the days filming and thus done something to boost the lorry releases which will see more work at the weekend with both Llandudno and Truckfest at Peterborough. Here are the initial shots from Runcorn tomorrow a wealth of Stobart. Its nearly time to head off for Chester, this may be my last ministry course session as the reading and typing is very difficult, there is only the one session left after the bank holiday, another chapter closes. Another month nearly gone and what an amazing time it's been, you get up in the morning, work all day and then bang your sight is all over the place with nothing to do but wait, typical of a stroke event. Typing and reading are the worst things as well as navigating uneven surfaces and people coming in from my 'blind' side. We have also had a very busy month with the DVD orders, three batches went off to the post on Friday and looks as if there will be a lot for Monday. I'm not sure that the weather is ready to settle yet, it certainly didn't go as planned in Edinburgh on Saturday. There are chances coming up and as and when I will get out and scoop up some lorry footage and with bank holiday comes Llandudno and Truckfest so lots of opportunities there. It's ministry course night tomorrow, I should get back about the same time as Mandy who returns from Ireland. That leaves one more evening after the bank holiday which I might give a miss, the whole thing has gone out with a whimper after the unexpected and unwarranted telephone call last Sunday which sent my blood pressure soaring, the blood pressure tablets dose has now been doubled and I'm not to measure it for another week then take an average over seven days. With the pressure of being a Churchwarden off its been a more productive weekend for PMP, I've now made a start on two Ultra Productions which mark the end of two transport stalwarts of India. The trams are being left to melt away in two runt sections and the double deckers in Mumbai are set to be replaced by modern single deckers in 2020. I've put clips from the Scottish trips on Youtube, here are some stills from Edinbrough in the rain! Another box ticked, wet in Edinburgh, near perfect at the bus station in Glasgow, here are some shots from the latter! Bed now, I'm trying to keep typing and reading to a minimum because of the eye problem, daft as it is driving is quite comfortable I just have a problem making anything clear close up. Today I finished Bus Spot Ultra Coventry and tomorrow I'm filming in Glasgow and Edinburgh, rare that I go out on a Saturday these days but they are some of the destinations I need to cover before my travels I should be able to get on top of the others. The weather looks set to change for the better by Bank Holiday weekend next week and the week after so perhaps a sunny Llandudno and Truckfest. I start on my increased level of blood pressure pills tonight. ealth like the weather up and down, it was a typical April day, cold and showers quite miserable other than a few glimpses of sunshine. When I put the fertilizers on they have now been well watered and everything is in a powerful grow mode, jopefully I'll get some time in the garden maybe Friday after I've been to the doctors, I think thats the next big wet but tomorrow looks a lot more settled. Trucks are on the agenda, just keeping my options open as the forecast keeps changing. Whatever I'll get the lorry lads and lasses some good views, its a lot less stressful than buses in the rain aka Coventry. Good news there, I managed to rescue the files which were damaged and got the full quality albeit in the rain as good as I could manage and there isn't a lot you can do to make Coventry look pretty more than pretty awful. I might be able to get a bus spot ultra on Coventry I've plenty of archive material over the years and even spotted a couple of tram shots trawling the net, these vanished in the blitz in 1940.I'm staying away from the church agm for the pcc tonight having decided not to stand again for churchwarden, in fact my blood pressure shot up again today and the headache is coming back which is a pity it was all a load more bearable and catching up with the soaps late afternoon I even managed to forget about the double vision for a while. I got the DVD edited and covers made and will update the list on the shop, tonight we'll have the Coventry pictures, not a whole lot as the weather mitigated against that. I'm considering many locations tomorrow, Liverpool is out, very high winds in the morning, Immingham I've done, Wakefield was rubbish last time I went there. Uttoxeter on the A50 is a good local standby, Carlisle / Penrith on the cusp of changeable weather. Oswestry another favourite or could go down for the Monmouth, Ross/ Bristol run although I like that on a hot day. Then there is the A57 to Sheffield which I haven't done yet, treacherous though with so much water about, better perhaps when it drys out. You see its all decisions, decisions, not an easy life at all. Soon we'll have the bank holiday run up and the lorry festival season starting. Here are the covers first for the recent releases, I must get some of the shots filed, same old story there 'm afraid. I've put the shot of he women walking in front of the bus which manages to stop in Nottingham on Youtube. That was a very busy day and evening but the headache associated with the palsy seems to have vanished and the blood pressure has normalised a lot but I've still got a doctors appointment for Friday morning. I know Mandy liked me being a warden but when it puts your health as risk it isn't worth it and I bowed to vicar Jane's wisdom and discernment that my ministry and gifts are more on the theological side, I've talked it through with our retiring warden Keith who fully understands why we've chosen this route. I had an early start and was over in Nottingham for the morning rush hour which was disrupted by a building alarm going off and a badly parked scaffolders lorry blocking both bus stops and a pedestrian crossing, one lady tried to cross over via a parked bus and nearly had her end with an emerging overtaking bus, the drivers quick reaction probably prevented more than a slightly shocked driver and pedestrian, the whole episode is on film and will end up on Youtube tomorrow. I'm trying to download the files, the stuff I did later in Coventry seems to have been mainly lost as the memory chip became corrupted perhaps from the damp, may be an idea to renew my chip stock as I've had them all for several years under constant use. I can easily cover Coventry again perhaps in more clement weather. Anyway here are some shots in Nottingham, the first time I've seen so many 18 reg buses! It is strange how small things become so important when you have an illness or trauma, I came home tonight in the dark for the first time at the wheel since the onset a week ago last Sunday, pain free, no headache. Well must be the Holy Spirit moving through our group and it is much appreciated. I went and collected my useless ( at present) new specs from Ellesmere Port, I didn't stop for any trying on ceremony, not in the right 'frame' of mind, excuse pun.My pal John down in Sussex phoned to see how I was doing, I'll phone him back tomorrow. I've made my excuses to the church standing committee, vicar Jane thought I should put my health first and avoid the pcc agm Wednesday not that I wont be busy with my duties as I have people coming in the morning to do a heating survey, can't overrun as we have a wedding on, must be a farming family as the flowers had been set up this morning in milk churns. The village list a young man this week just 17 , a sudden death - terrible at that age, he had been at our school then moved to the senior school at Knutsford, allowing for the inquest the service is in early May which I imagine might be the largest service we'll have this year if all his class mates attend with families. A bit of a learning curve for our church when I tried to contact our safeguarding officer who didn't realise she was still down for it, not ever having had an issue to note. I'm hoping to get to Nottingham then Coventry tomorrow, I'll start early and catch the morning rush hour in Nottingham and then cut down to Coventry, I don't want to be too late as I've got a few DVD ortders to get posted out, I may get them in envelopes before bed which will be very shortly. Clips from todays Birkenhead film going on Youtube also before bed. Here are some shotys from this mornings trip Its now just over a week since the bleed which caused my eyesight problems, a lot to get your head around and I've got the headaches to prove it. My blood pressure seemed to go a bit off the monitor again , hopefully just a blip but if it measures so high again tomorrow I'll go back to the docs, as it is I have to go and collect the new glasses which will be of no use to me from specsavers at Ellesmere Port, my last contact with them I will move to a new supplier nearer home, its been fine in some ways retaining the outlets I had when my office was there but now is the time to reappraise the situation. It was a busy day at church, the services seemed almost to blend into on another. I didn't get many of my target jobs done sand the warm weather has ended with sun and clouds plus rain alternating through the day. After Ellesmere Port tomorrow my intention is to film at Birkenhead then Tuesday perhaps Nottingham and loughborough but as its likely to be a last minute decision nothing is certain for the next week but Wednesday is out as I have a chap doing a survey of heating at St Oswalds and then if I have tiome to go down to Oswestry if there is some sun to film trucks. Sorry all the lines seemed to get muddled but I hope you get the drift my eyes have had enough for today I ask your understanding at this difficult time. I'll try and get extra clips on the Youtube channel and may still get the Calcutta tram Ultra production done this week. I did manage to get a lot of photos roughly sorted prior to filing so there were small pluses. It should be my course evening tomorrow at Chester but if there is the slightest hint of stress I'll call in sick. I'm trying to think of something really different for tonights rather late slide show, how about Nottingham seeing as I' thinking of heading there this week. I guess I'm not in such a good place with my eye as I thought, if the prisms start at 9# I'm at 45 so it will be a while before i move on from a blending patch although at least its on the correct eye now. My appointment was early on but I didn't go to sleep that early and then still woke very early but i think I'm ready to make up for that this evening. Then there was the follow up appointment which clashes with my return from Russia so I'll have to get that sorted, she only works Wednesday at the Alex and Saturday she does children's eyes there but I'm try8ng for an early time like 8.30 again before the kids start arriving. I had a call from my church warden oppo Keith, we had a chap who comes to St Oswalds occasionally, he was baptised there, he is an author and has done a book on the WWII survivors with a forward by Dame Vera Lynn, we said we'd have a joint event with some of his vets along but he thought he's pick a date say next Sunday, anyway we needed time to sort it and have got a date but Keith wanted me to do a poster, not hanging around its already up in church, pub and shop plus community notice board. When I went round to see what sort of state it was in after the school assembly it wasn't that bad but the book shelves with the hymn books was broken, nobody had spoken about it, just left it. I went home , go a hammer and wood glue and sorted it, I also laid into the flower arrangers ironmongery and multitude of watering cans getting them stashed below sight level and the corner which Tom and I hung up the banners in now looks more respectable. Anyway it's all setup other than an inspection of the toilet which isn't usually that bad. I've been getting the DVD orders ready for posting Monday, there is quite a pile. The Youtube hits have gone down yet again, I guess the hot sunny spell is stopping folk looking at their mobiles etc, I expect it will pick up. It's been sunny here most of the day and into the low 20's. I transferred all the still shots to my external drive and made a start on deleting the unwanted shots prior to filing but I kept nodding off. Idid quite a lot of work in the back garden borders, I called at B&Q on the way back from the hospital, got some flowers to replace spent hyacinths by the front door, blood fish and bonemeal feed and pelleted chicken poo, all good food fo the plants and soil. I also got and applied a lawn care tub of pellets. The wind picked up when I was putting it on, perhaps I'll shoot up green. I've had a glimpse at my course material, I think I'm far enough ahead to let this week get put down to experience until I can read more easily. I'm looking at the weather and appointments in the coming week, Monday I have to pick up my new glasses! Fat lot of use they are of course but still need collecting, its all the way to Ellesmere Port. The weather isn't likely to stay as good as it has been which is a shame I could have carried on to film near Oswestry, always a popular spot. I was trying to get a blend of buses and lorries. I'm looking at doing something on the Calcutta trams which look even more likely to vanish as they have been halved again with two small remnants and a tiny fleet left to serve this. Looking at India over the years here are some shots tried an brief experimental drive with my specs and blending patch as applied by Chester Countess hospital but I never even got around our block it was that back. I stopped and reassessed the situation, I really had felt that the blending patch which blocks out the double image was over the wrong eye ie my good one. I took it off and put it on the left side and hey bingo I was away, able to drive safely with near full vision and walk without falling over. I really do hope that the prism to be fitted tomorrow mirrors that in an even better format. Mandy was up early and off through the fog to Ireland to stay with Hil and Sean. I went back to sleep until breakfast time then got a whole bundle of jobs done including mowing the lawns, strimming the edges, weeding and tidying the garden which now look thoroughly respectable again. I had my afternoon meeting with vicar Jane after a three week Easter break. We discussed plans to be raised at next weeks PCC AGM. I got all the outstanding DVD covers made and printed and all have been added to our shop and here are the covers for the recent releases. All orders were sent out, those received over the weekend will go out Monday when I pick up the ill fated specs from Ellesmere Port, lets hope it isn't too long before I can wear them in action, I may still go for a manufactured prism pair should the eyesight problem linger and they will give a better image. |
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