What I enjoy about my job

Bluebells

Excellent weather
One of the things I really enjoy about my job is the holidays, I've managed to work the total of seven day in the past four weeks. This enabled me to take advantage of the excellent weather we have been having lately and tackle odd jobs about the garden.

A bit of a spectacle and a well earned pint
On Friday past I rose with the intention of having breakfast and tackling jobs that needed done about the garden, but I ended up watching the Royal Wedding and I must admit I thoroughly enjoyed the whole spectacle.
In the afternoon I made a start fence painting, which is not one of my favourite tasks but the fence is starting to look rather smart and well worth the effort. In the evening I went to the British Legion and had what I thought were a well earned couple of pints of Guinness. OK so it was four!

An excellent lecture
On Saturday I continued painting the fence. In the evening I went to the Buccleuch Centre accompanied by my archiving friend Jean to see Laurie Campbell who was giving a presentation of some of his recent images. This was an excellent lecture but sadly rather poorly attended. I managed to have a chat with Laurie and he told me how much he enjoyed the work shop he conducted throughout the day with about nine youngsters. He said this was the first time in his career that he has done a work shop for juniors and when asked said he would do it again. This was organised by Cat Barlow, who is project manager for the Langholm Moorland Project.

Items of interest
On Sunday morning I went to collect some items of interest for archiving from Betty Little. Betty is a former proprietor of the E & L and what I collected was a little treasure trove. As Mr Tootlepedal  and I agreed a winters worth of work.

A nice leisurely stroll
On Monday morning I had a nice leisurely stroll round by Holmhead. On what I call the bottom road to Holmhead a small plantation has recently been cut down and has left a spectacular view across the valley onto Timpen. Stopped for a while to rest and soak in the tranquillity of the morning.
Dennis Barker ( roast beef and beech leaves ) came by and stopped for a brief chat. I carried on at a somewhat leisurely pace taking photos of various subjects until the camera batteries ran out. This was yet another stroll that served to remind me why I have no wish to live anywhere else.

Natural light

I think I need some lessons from Mr Tootlepedal on flower photography

stone me!

Langholm's answer to Center Parcs 

Yew tree

An Extremely Busy Day

It was damned  cold when I went I went down to the Buccleuch Centre for my lift to work this morning. According to Brian's car it was 6 degrees below when he picked me up, so I was very pleased that I didn't have to wait too long. Time for the Long Johns to come out I think.

I put my camera in my pocket with the intention of taking photos of the Christmas lights in Carlisle which are extremely attractive and seasonable. Unfortunately when the time came the batteries were flat. So my apologies there is no photos again. 

I had an extremely busy day at work, helping some of the students get their portfolios in some kind of order. The groups of students I'm working with can be quite challenging at times but there is also a sense of neediness amongst them, and they treat me with a lot of respect which is always returned. The Motor Vehicle department is off to the Motor Bike show at the EEC at Birmingham next Wednesday so hopefully I'll be accompanying them.

After I got home and had some tea I went down to The British legion for a lovely pint of Guinness. I must congratulate Ian on his bar keeping as he is probably the best in the town.

I'm getting more and more envious of Mr Tootlepedals bird photos, they continue to get better and better, so I will really have to get my finger out and keep the batteries charged up, as he is always extremely courteous of mine and listens to what humble advise I can give him.

Friday at the club

When I was in the Legion for my usual pint of Guinness on Friday night Avril Grieve gave me a couple of postcards to put in the Archive database. The postcards were interesting enough, but what caught my attention was what was written on the back of one. It was addressed to a Mr John Morrison in Haddington dated March 29th 1905 and I found it interesting enough to share.

We had a grand fire at the Skin Yard on Friday night. 

the wooden shed where the wool is stored in went

on fire and with it being only 12 inches between the houses

at the foot of Caroline St and the shed, there was some fun in 

getting it out. Damage is about £2000. 

Fire engine arrived when fire was nearly out. 

Some grand laughs at it.

                                   JB

This could be interesting enough to search the E & L and find out more. We have had quite a few postcards in the past but unfortunately I've never been one to read what was written on them but with reflection I may have missed some interesting information the could have been posted on the Web.

I phoned Mr Tootlepedal earlier to see if he fancied a change from our usual Thursday at the Archive Centre and attend the Wildlife club as there is an evening of bird photography by Brian Irving, which I thought he may find interesting after seeing his excellent bird photos. I phoned Jean but she said she still wasn't feeling to great and would let me know on Thursday.

The Usual Friday Night

Wish I could blog like Mr Tootlepedal, he seems to can make the ordinary most interesting.

Anyway last night I picked up Mr Tootlepedal en route to the Archive Centre. Jean phoned earlier and said she was feeling slightly unwell and decided to give tonight's session a miss. Mr T entered the outstanding E & L entries which kept him busy for awhile while I fiddled about cleaning up some photos We have a few new volunteers (slaves as Mr Tootlepedal light-heartedly refers to them) working on the E & L indexing now, which is very much appreciated and encouraging. After we had finished we adjourned to the Douglas for our other passion of research.

I took my car into college today for a pre MOT check, so all seems well and should pass with flying colours. I must admit working in the Motor Vehicle department at Carlisle College can be challenging as it was today, but it does have it's perks.

After I arrived home I made myself a bacon roll for my tea and had little nap, then went off for my usual Friday night pint of Guinness at the British Legion. I really enjoy this session as I usually meet up with Mark Grieve and his Dad. Tonight it was Ian Hotson's 70'th birthday party and it seemed to be a very jolly affair, with lots of family and friends arriving. Mark and I had an interesting conversation with Stevie and Claire Kinstrey who are neighbours of Ian, about Dog fouling of all things. After a lengthy discussion we all agreed that it was a subject that irresponsible dog owners should be made to address.

Sunset near Gretna

Unlike Mr Tootlepedal I don't carry my camera about with-me as much as I should so I can't show any recent photos, so I will have to delve into my archives for my two humble offerings.

Browhouses near Gretna