An Abandoned Horse

March 31, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Things Leave a comment

I saw this toy horse from across the parking lot of one of our local supermarkets and couldn’t resist going over to take a closer look. It stands next to a clothing drop and I thought that when I got over to it I would find a ratty, old weather beaten object. And I suppose it probably will be if it’s allowed to stand out in all kinds of weather for a long period. For the moment though it’s in pretty good shape.

It looks as if it’s quite content just standing there watching the world go by.

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

Around the Neighborhood – Deer in our meadow

March 31, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Around the Neighborhood, Black & White, Wildlife & Animals Leave a comment

We often get deer in the meadow in front of our house. I have my cameras elsewhere and so I’m usually woefully unprepared for when they put in an appearance. I end up using an iphone where the deer are little more than specks. Then I have to resort to extreme crops to try to make them visible. Needless to say this does not result in technically good pictures.

So I decided to relocate one of my older cameras with a longer lens and I was ready for them when they appeared. I just wish that I’d thought to bring a tripod. Just the same it’s a better picture than my earlier attempts.

Taken with a Sony Alpha 500 and Minolta Maxxum AF Zoom 100-200mm f4.5.

Lunch with the royals

March 31, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Buildings/Structures, Places Leave a comment

A while back we went for lunch to Florrie Kaye’s Tearoom in Carmel, NY. It’s a very pleasant place with a fine selection of teas and a number of British delicacies to eat.

This is the closest I’ve gotten to British Royalty (although I did once shake hands with the Queen of Spain). I wonder what happened to Philip? I thought maybe he’d been grounded for saying something stupid…again. My wife felt that he wasn’t allowed out after his car accident.

Another view of Prince Harry.

Interior view of the tearoom.

My lunch: A ploughman’s lunch with three cheeses; apple and strawberry slices; slices of pork pie; nice crusty bread, branson pickle and home made bacon jam.

Delicious!

Taken with a Sony RX-100 M3.

Shiva Shadow Silhouette

March 31, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, Statues, Things Leave a comment

This statuette usually stands on a window sill in our sun room. We’d had a period of bad weather and I hadn’t been able to get out. I was a bit bored and started taking pictures in the house.

My intent was to take a picture of the statuette against a plain background so I moved it away from the window. Then I noticed that in the new location a slightly “fuzzy” shadow was being cast on the wall so I decided to take a picture of the shadow rather than the statuette itself.

Taken with a Sony RX100 M3.

Granddad

March 31, 2019 by Howard Dale Posted in Black & White, People Leave a comment

I recently connected with some cousins back in the UK that I haven’t been in touch with for about 40 years. One of them has a daughter who is doing some genealogical research in the family.

She shared with me the above picture of my paternal grandfather, George Dale (hence my middle name, George). He was older than my paternal grandmother. He passed away long before I was born, so I never knew him. I have a vague memory of once seeing a photograph of him. It was a very formal portrait and he was very well dressed. So this is the second photograph of him I’ve seen. Even though he’s in uniform here he seems much more informal. Look at the very natural smile on his face. Perhaps not surprisingly he’s the “spitting image” of my late father.

I knew that my father was in the British army in the Second World War, but I wasn’t aware that my grandfather was also in the service. The photograph suggests that he was in the Cheshire regiment (as was my father) and the uniform looks to my untrained eye to be First World War vintage.

It’s great to have it!