Well it's the laptop

Hi folk's

Well the main computer is a bit sick so I am now on the little laptop till it gets better.

Have been a bit busy this week so have not taken any pictures. Spent the day today in the garden and watching F1. What a race, full of drama and even a fire, who says it's boring and as a bonus Jenson won.

Will try to do better as I was told at school.

Well here's one of the American trip taken in Naples Florida Zoo.

Lots happening over the next two weeks, watch this space and all will be revealed

nite nite Mike.

What a week !

Hi folks,

Well sorry I haven't been about, it's been quite a week what with Daisy's and my birthdays, plus trouble with the puter again. Well never mind, thanks to you all for all the good wishes on my momentous birthday, I'm going backwards from now on.  A BIG thank you for my lovely card Eileen.

Well It's Tuesday again so Daisy is back with us. As it was nice we packed a picnic and set off the Riverside Country park with Margaret our friend from up the road and Maddy, her granddaughter.

This is Daisy taking Maddy's toy dog for a walk, this as about a close to owning a pet at she will get. Watch out Daisy and Holly.

Daisy loves the Riverside although she was a bit overwhelmed due to the amount of children there as it was the holiday. She is getting more adventurous as the weeks go by.

This is her at the end of the session, totally worn out.

Still the day was young as after the picnic we went to the Barn Yard to feed the ducks. This a wonderful place for children with lots of animals around.

We found the not not Neddies who were a bit fed up after having a haircut and I think needed a coat to wear.

This one is for Daisy the dog on the other blog. See these dont mind the mud up to there tummies.

Well we all came home totally exhausted but had a lovely day.

nite nite,luv Mike XX

Daisy Day

Hi folks,

Well Tuesday was a very special day for us parents and Grandparents as it was Daisy's third birthday.

Off to Ashford we went to give her her presents and go out for a meal.

It was nice to meet up with the other Grandparents, Jennifer and Terry and we all had a very nice meal. Poor Daisy was overwhelmed when her cake (ice cream) came out and all the people started to sing Happy Birthday to her and she started to cry.

Still Daddy soon cheered her up.

We just can't believe that it is three years since she was born, where does the time go?

That's my story for now, let's all raise our glasses to Daisy and wish her a long, happy and successful life.

 Luv Mike

Going back to the Titanic.

Hi folks,
As most of you are aware, the Titanic exhibition is on till 30th September in the Dockyard Chatham.

As it was not very nice yesterday, Sue and I decided to take a second look. Like a lot of attractions now you only pay once for the whole year so a visit is well worth it. I took my low light lens this time for another "crack" at the china.

Close up of one of the plates

This one was a bit sad, the watch came from the wreck and shows the time when the ship went down.

Kate's famous necklace from the film although I had Trev's problem with reflections as It was behind perspex.

A couple of shots of a model showing the ship on the bottom, this much have taken a long time to reproduce as there is very fine detail in it.

Lastly a shot across the exhibition floor showing the wonderful displays, well worth a visit.

Well a least it kept us out of the rain.

Bye for now, luv Mike

Daisy's new dress

Hi folks,

You will remember yesterday I kept going on about her new dress well her it is. I tried to get a natural shot of her on her secret bed which as you can see is a sofa bed were the bed part hides away in the daytime.

She is starting to take an interest in what pictures you are taking whereas up to now she wasn't interested This is the last one I took before she was three.

Well what a difference, Daisy at 2 months.

nite nite luv Mike X

Daisy doing what she likes best

Hi folks,

I'm back after a bit of a rest due to a bad cold at the week end, all better now.

Not had a lot of free time this week, had Daisy Tues/ Wed and had a great time with her. On Tuesday we had to pick little legs up from Ashford as Ian who normally brings her to us was away for work. Picked her up from home and went to Folkstone, Clare said that she liked it in the play area below the Lees. Off we went but Daisy had other ideas, " want to go to Maidstone" she said, why god only knows. Still pardon Daisy we said and continued on to Folkstone.

Daisy was very proud because  mummy had bought her a new dress and she showed it off to us all the time. We had a picnic which she loves and explored the play area. Well it was wonderful Daisy wanted to play in the sand and was told that if she changed into her plays school clothes  she could. So back to the car we went and she understood why she had to change.

Back to the play area we went, shoes and socks off, away she went

She really like the play kitchen area and set about making some pastry.

Let's do some sieving, I think the spelling is ok.

Then she started to get adventurous and climbed the large slide with a nervous Dad Dad behind. All of a sudden she was not nervous any more and climbed to the top.

And slid all the way down.

She really enjoyed herself and wanted to relax in a boat.

Well she and we had a great time down there as she was very tired on the way back home in the car after changing back into her new dress.

Had tea and a cuddle.

Then off she went to her "secret" bed.

nite nite all, Mike X

onwards and upwards

Hi folks, Just a line to tell you that I am on the mend.

Went to work today even though I was not that great and managed to do a big service with lots of little breaks during the day. Being in the open air helped a lot and the sunshine kept me going. Needless to say that I didn't take any pictures but tomorrow we are going to Ashford and then down the coast with Daisy for a picnic. I am really looking forward to it.

That's all for today, hope to get a few shots in tomorrow.

nite nite for now, Mike

Down in the dumps with a cold

Hi folks, Just a line to say sorry that I have not been about.

Stayed in all weekend and didn't do a lot, apart from sleeping interacted with F1 and another sleep. Still onwards and upwards, work tomorrow and then a couple of day's off  with Daisy.

Sue is doing a slide show of her first three years so she is busy, another week to her birthday.

Ho well back to bed, hopefully be better in the morning.

nite nite Mike X

No birds in my garden, here's why

Hi folks,

I know I dont put out bird seed like Trev and Eileen and I now know why there are not many birds in the garden here's why........................

This little devil was so cheeky that when I tapped on the window he came closer..............

Well I have to work now so I have to go, I dont fancy taking him for a walk.

See you all soon, Mike X

Continuing on the nautical theme ~~~~~~~

Hi folks. well this is good, two in a bed, no, two in a day.

Took Daisy to dockyard today, shall we go in the car, shucks no says Sue, let's go on the bus.

Off we trundled down the road with Daisy and pushchair, (she might get tired), 3 coats, (we might get cold) , Toilet seat, (Daisy night want a poo), Picnic, (Lunch is a fortune in there cafe) and of course the camera. Ain't I glad I invested in Micro four Thirds ( low weight) if you don't know about this camera system them Google it. The only comment I will make is that it is useless for sports and fast photography but boy is it easy to carry.

So whilst waiting at the bus stop with all this lot I was wishing I had taken the car. Anyway we had a very sedate and comfortable ride to Chatham and I must admit I was impressed. That's were the went down hill, we arrived at the grotty Pentagon, what a dump, no wonder they are building a new bus station although it looks like you are going to get wet waiting for a bus when it rains. On to a Double decker to go to the dockyard, the journey was only a couple of miles but I wish I had walked. the driver did not have a clue how to drive and we raced along Dock Road at it seemed like about 80 mph. flying round the corners like a man possessed, Perhaps he was in a rush to leave Chatham, I must admit I don't blame him. Leaving the bus with a mild headache we arrived ta the Dockyard.

The main reason for the visit was the Titanic Exhibition which is on till September. What a wonderful exhibition it was only marred by the amount of school children in the place. (sorry I am beginning to sound like Victor). Why don't the teachers have a little chat to them before the enter and to keep the noise down and behave, no such luck. The lot of children who are going to keep me in my old age eventually left and it was BLISS, you could hear a pin drop.

One for Trev, behind glass

I was amazed that you could take photographs in the exhibition side but not in the static exhibits in the right as you entered. looked for my 1.7 - 20mm low light lens and guess what, I left it at home, Doh! still it don't matter. it goes on till September so I can have another crack at it. Here's one I got of the White Star Line Crockery. It is very dark in there so be prepared and take good lenses.

After we trolled around the rest of the Dockyard which we had done many times before and had our picnic in the sunshine. I than remembered the " old Steamer" that we tried to get on Sunday. low and behold it appeared just at Daisy wanted the toilet, her timing is impeccable . Sue, bless took her to the loo whilst I got down to the job in hand to take this "ruddy" boat.

Well Here's one....

And another...

Well the day couldn't be complete without our Daisy, So nite nite from us and a big kiss from Daisy XX.                                                                                                                        
                                                             

Got it !!

Hi folks,

just a quicky to say I got the old steamer.

Will post more soon as I have little legs today.

Nite nite Mike X

Waiting for the Kingswear Castle ??

Hi folks,
What a nice day Sunday was.

Sue and I decided to go to the Dockyard and see the Trains we have to go there anyway as our yearly ticket has run out. Quickly phoned Tony and Glo to check how he was due to him having his Knee scraped the other week. Pop over they said, so off we went to see then and the new Porche, well not new really but new to them. After about an hour and a half nattering we set off for the Dockyard. Well it's like this, it was then 2.55 pn  so we went over to Strood, through the industrial estate down to the river just in timre to MISS a great shot of the Kingwear Castle against the Dockyard wall. Undeterred we sat and watched the boats going up and down the river.
It was very tranquil down there, we has our picnic lunch and Sue the fell asleep, bless her, she has worked twice as hard as me this week. I know I thought, lets try the 300mm lens out ( stop yawning Eileen), I had to pass the time away somehow until the Kingswear castle returned at 5 pm. This is all OTL's fault as in an earlier one of his blog he didn't recognise it. I was waiting for it's return and I thought it would go past our spot and I could snap it to use a technical photographic term

A shot down river looking at No1 slip.

This is about as close as I got to the Dockyard but the old 300mm lens came up trumps.

Well I started to yawn (again) at this stage, there I was on my own with Sue fast asleep (bless).

Ho  look a Swam I cried as if I had never seen one before, come on Kingswear I was getting really bored at this point.
                                                                                                                                                           

I was going off my head by now, I started to think I could get a gull to do the same as Ken's Tern with it's wing aloft, no such luck this one had a stomach full of chips.from McDonalds.

Here it comes I cried, waking poor Sue up, did it come past me to turn.........No, it docked down river and I waited another 20 minutes and it did not budge so we went home.

 Never mind as we arrived home I looked across and the Clematis was in full flower so I took one of that instead of the  silly old Kingswear Castle. I well get it one day, I am on a mission..

Well that's it, Chicken for tea Daisy and Holly.

Nite nite luv Mike X

Girls with boys toys

Hi folks,

As you know we have Daisy most weeks and she does love her toys. Whilst in America I spotted the Hexbug nano and decided to get a small set to play with on holiday being a big kid at heart. Well one thing led to another and I got a few more bits to bring home.

Well Daisy loves them and wont stop playing with it, she likes picking them up because they vibrate in her little hand. So one thing led to another and we ordered the Battle bridge set up to add to the track. This means that they can now fight to take charge of the bridge.

Well one thing led to another and now we have Elevation which allows you to run at two levels. Why is it that I always go overboard with this sort of thing,

Must be a big  kid at heart.

Here we are the little big kid playing.( wearing her hat as the sun was shining and her P J's as she had just got up).

Bye bye  luv Mike