It's the Birds!!

Hi folks,
short post tonight as I have been out to the radio club and have had little time what with the van pickup (thanks Trev) and loads of other things going on in my busy life.

Here's one of my favorite ones in all his splendor and you don't need a telephoto lens to get a picture of him as they are so friendly.

Now this bloke was a bit more difficult to photograph and I needed my long lens to get him but I am glad I did.

Busy weekend as Daisy is staying so that's it.

Thanks for looking.

nite nite, Luv Mike XX

St. Louis Cathedral, New Orleans

Hi folks,

as you know I love to go inside places of worship to look and photograph the interiors. The main problem is the lack of light in these places but it is a challenge and I like a Challenge.

As we stood looking at the street performers it started to rain so we made a quick decision to visit this Cathedral behind the Monument.

As we entered we were flabbergasted by its splendor, the next few show what we saw. I will leave you to view this amazing house of God.

If you compare the first and last image you will see how the weather changed after our  half an hour inside.

I hope you enjoyed St. Louis as much as we did.

Thanks for looking.

nite nite, Luv Mike XX

Rain in the UK so back to New Orleans

Hi folks,

well I was hoping for a few nice days in the UK but as you know all we have is Rain and more Rain. So lets go back to the Sunshine of New Orleans and cheer us all up.

Ah, that's better back in the sunshine and the warmth of this Magical City.

This chap was part of a Jazz group doing a photo shoot in the city. Their music was fantastic.

Halloween was looming, and in true style the decoration came out, the chap with the trumpet looks like Trev, only joking.

Beautiful balconies all around the city, lots of trees too.

By the river the railway track went on the outer side of the Levees which seemed a bit strange.

No electrification here, they burn diesel oil so the tracks are wide open to the public. Our health and safety would have a field day

Bit more information on the river defence, notice the large close-able gate that is shut in the event of a breach. The five posts are to keep the area free so the gate can operate.

Another colourful balcony.

Last a statue if Joan of Arc, Maid of Orleans in the city centre.

Will continue with the magical city in the next blog.

Thanks for looking.

nite nite, Luv Mike XXX

Sunshine in the UK, Hooray !!!

Hi folks,

stand back in amazement an English blog. We awoke to bright sunshine streaming through the window so up we got and out before the weather changed.

Down the park we went.

To make a change we went in the other end and found a nearly empty car park and sauntered through the park to the "historic" waterfall.

Needless to say there was a lot of water in the waterfall but not very historic..

Trees still had some leaves on their branches.

Then we came across this chap who after a chat showed us his dog Crystal doing her party trick. The chap tossed leaves into the air and the dog did somersaults.

The chap said that Crystal was a rescue dog he has had since she was seven mouths old and didn't have the heart to change her name so instead he bought her a gem collar to wear.

Next there was a load of noise as a flock of Canada Geese flew over.

We had to have an obligatory Swan.

View across the lake as we made our way up the slope for a cup of tea in the cafe.

Lastly a shot of a dog very much like our neighbours with such a sweet expression..

Thanks for looking,

nite nite, Luv Mike XX

Vicksburg on the Missisippi

Hi folks,

Well I spoke to soon and down came the rain.

Coming down from the north we stayed at this town by the river which is steeped in history re the Civil War. Like New Orleans and other towns on the Mississippi it suffers badly from flooding and the levees are very high.

Note the white sign on the tower and you will see the last years flooding was not the highest at river has been, these are massive defence walls to keep out the water.

Behind the levee was this magnificent paddle steamer.

How the civil war started.

Further down the Levee are a set of painting, one of which depicts the war and the steamboats firing on each other.

Another scene on the Levee wall, our Sue is in the process of cleaning a few of them with cable shadows on then to show later. What you are seeing will not last long as a few of them are starting to deteriorate.

This last one is a modern scene of a Tow boat as Stephen corrected in the original holiday post.

That's it for tonight, hope the sun shines tomorrow and we can have some English scenes to show.

nite, nite, Luv Mike XX

Missisippi

Hi folks,

Looks like we might get a good weekend, here's hoping, anyway we will continue on our trip across the US.

Just a quick note to our American friends, you see that this place England is called a " green and pleasant land" the trouble is to keep it green we get loads of rain which sometimes lasts a week or so, anyway I digress, back to our wonderful trip.

I love America for its diversity, things are always changing and we never  tired of the different scenes you come across.

From one extreme to another.

We arrived at the Great Mississippi and tried to follow it down the road to Vicksburg.  

Even up near  Memphis the river was huge.

The banks were adorned with private buildings with there own landing stages for their boats.

From the landing stage you can just see the silver Taurus on the bank. 

We are starting to go south now and about halfway through the trip. I planned to go down the Mississippi next to the river by road but the roads came away from the river so we joined the main road to Vicksburg and then on our way to New Orleans.

Thanks for dropping bye.

nite, nite, Luv Mike XX

All Shook Up!!

Hi folks,

after our lunch we went to see the "King", well his house anyway. It is the 35th year since he went.

You arrive and enter by the front door.

All these shots were taken without flash of tripod as they were not allowed. I think is is obvious where there were taken so I will let you enjoy them....................

Out in the garden of remembrance there were lots of floral tributes to him.

Lastly in the concourse outside.

Thanks for looking, if you can I really think this place is worth a visit.

nite, nite, Luv Mike.XX