Every morning when I walk the dogs I’m mobbed by sheep. I like sheep but they are daft beggars. If it’s not sheep it’s horses. They are much the same but bigger.
Alf was a town dog so until I got him he had never seen a sheep, a hen or any other farm animal. He chased the sheep this morning and got his bottom well slapped. For the last year he has wandered through flocks and totally ignored them. Naughty boy! These are all whethers so apart from their dropping a bit of weight no harm was done, he didn’t chase the whole flock of a hundred or more just half a dozen. Bad dog!
A year ago he thought these might be fun. The gander chased him pecking at his arse. Now he doesn’t bother with hens, ducks or geese. He knows they are not up for a game of chase. These have just started laying so it has been goose egg for lunch, breakfast and tea. I have four to take away with me, My sister raids their nests…..I’m too wimpy. I’m like Alf. Geese are fierce birds. Moll has never bothered but it reminds me of the day I lost her when she was a wee pup. She had joined the goslings under the gooses wing. It was a chilly day so good on her and good on the goose.
This afternoon I went down to Loch Leven. Photography is a solitary pastime so I have to be quick. It is a bit annoying to ones company. It’s a trifle aggravating for me on my own.
Loch Leven in Perthshire. It looks good weather but it is blowing half a gale and the rain gauge has recorded 3.3mm of hail stones. It really isn’t shorts weather. This panorama was stitched in CS6. The stitcher in Elements is better for a quick job. PTGui is the best yet but awfully RAM hungry. Getting all posh software and learning Canon has given me a new lease on life. I like Canon now but it has taken four months for me to fall in love. I am looking for a (35mm) full frame lens of around 25mm. I am using a 17-40mm zoom. I don’t like it. I don’t like these pictures but I am growing up and am learning full PS. So much to play with it’s hard to stop playing. I dropped this into the new crop tool. brilliant it is but Toshiba said no halfway through. Little tinker. I’ll clean her up and retire her gracefully.
This is the last from here, St Mary’s Gate. I love simple iron gates and this, to me, is in perfect proportion. The best gate in the world?… I would say so. It’s supporting pillars are the worst. Ignore them if you can.
Tomorrow we are off to Killin. Internet maybe it will or maybe not but I will write as the mood takes me and the muse grabs me and post when I can. I’m then away to Glencoe and then back here to pick up the new super computer in a fortnight from now. I’ll miss this abused Toshiba but the poor old machine just can’t cope with Photoshop, PTGui, Helicons stacker, Deep sky stacker and I may start on 3D video…I know how she feels! I feel tired at the thought of it
Have a great week.
Fascinating gate design - middle bit opens to walk through, all opens to drive through.
ReplyDeleteJohn, I like gates...The newly gilded ones at Chatsworth are superb but this one for purity of line and functionality has to be top of my gates list.
ReplyDeleteI was out for a posh dinner last night so am not a complete nerd.
I am glad the dogs learned their lesson about harassing farm animals. It's sweet that Mol found a mother goose to warm her up. I am enjoying PS 6 at work, though there is never enough time to play with it.
ReplyDeleteI like those pastoral views. I hope you find more in your travels.
I'll try my hardest JoLynne.
DeleteDogs love anything that will run. Geese don't run and as you say can be nasty and your dog found out how nasty they can be. Yes, photography is a solo activity. It takes patience and you don't need somebody wanting to move on.
ReplyDeleteRed, I thought that i had these two sorted. Deer they still can't resist.
DeleteI have never understood people that go out in large groups to take pictures.
Sheep are stupid, but not with mint sauce and a decent gravy, damn this vegetarianism. They are one of the few animals that run away from you if you chase them, but carry on running after you if you overtake them. I like the gate picture, taking photos of gates and doors is a hobby of mine.
ReplyDeleteThese run towards me because they are being fed concentrates and they are hopeful that I have arrived with a sack of food.
DeleteNever mess with geese. (Though geese make an awful mess.)Slightly eerie that the gate seems to open into a field - as if there were a house there once but it has gone . .
ReplyDeleteLucy these geese are generally even tempered.
DeleteThe gate is in the boundary wall of Kinross House. The road out through it has virtually disappeared.
Glad to hear you're getting to grips with PShop, it takes a while and you may start to have dreams about it. it's at this point you become a pshop guru:) Don't forget there are forums out ther for both tutorials....
ReplyDeleteThanks Douglas, I spend about an hour most days trying to absorb tutorials. I really like the new crop tool and Curves Layer. I never had that or such a powerful RAW converter in Elements.
DeleteI already dream about it.
good that your dog has learned not to case sheep,nice tale of the other dog and the goose,great photo of the gate,looks like it was built to hang much bigger gates on.
ReplyDeletepeter
Peter, Terriers are never a hundred percent reliable. The gates are old, I assume contemporary with the gate posts.
DeleteI guess that now Alf has had his bottom slapped and, I suspect, more than a few expletives aimed in his general direction he's now seen the error of his ways? Have you acquired a new dog? (top image)
ReplyDeleteAt least you managed to grab some great shots when the sun appeared between the hailstorms! Nice gate, simple but functional...leads to St. Mary's church I guess?
Glad to see that Photoshop is keeping you out of mischief? There'll be no holding you back when you get that new super computer!...[;o)
Trevor, I may have let the odd expletive slip out. He was fine with them this morning. It is one of my sisters Jack Russels.
DeleteNo sign of a church..Perhaps he was a religious blacksmith.
It is a necessity....They seem to last about three years. I have tried to get in it but it means removing the whole base whereas the HP I had prior to this was equipped with removable panels for hard drives and the RAM bit. The Toshiba I can't even get at the cooling fan without dismantling the complete unit.
A practical modification of the gate no doubt ... funny & interesting nonetheless.
ReplyDeleteIt's called a wicket gate Jay. As you observed practical.
DeleteI'm starting a catch-up so comments may be brief or non-existent and I may miss reading some comments too which could be a shame. However on this post I cannot resist commenting on the gate. Unique it may be and beautiful it most certainly is.
ReplyDeleteIt is a simple but beautiful creation.
ReplyDelete