personal blog – Page 6

1990 – Letter to Steve XII

Dear Steve, If I were in a position to be able to photograph the nest of a harvest mouse, I’d eagerly grab it, obviously without disturbing the occupants. The nests are quite a feat of engineering. I certainly wouldn’t do what Gilbert did, take one indoors and roll it around on the table, apparently withContinue reading “1990 – Letter to Steve XII”

1989 – Taking it easy

I have to confess that I don’t like talking about any ailments that I might have. The one exception to this is if it affects something like going for a walk. Which is what happened to me on Thursday. I’d been for a walk along my usual route, past the Cockle Ponds, along the seaContinue reading “1989 – Taking it easy”

1988 – A u3a Project

Only 5 days ago, I did a u3a review. The Geology interest group was one where I had recorded “No Task – Yet”. Well, I think I have found one. We go to the beach fairly regularly, say a couple of times a month, even if it is only for fish and chips. Recently, IContinue reading “1988 – A u3a Project”

1987 – The Cockle Ponds

The Model Yacht club was active today, racing. There was one yacht which was well out of it. I couldn’t help wondering if a prospective new member was controlling the yacht and was doing the same as I did when I was thinking about joining the club, I was able to watch the pond clearerContinue reading “1987 – The Cockle Ponds”

1986 – How did they Know?

A while before I joined u3a, I started reading some history books. Briefly, I became interested in the English Civil War, and bought a book about it. The problem with the book was that it didn’t tell me what led up to the start of the war. I temporarily gave up on the book (OK,Continue reading “1986 – How did they Know?”

1985 – Macro & Stacking

Tonight was camera club night. It was a member’s night, when we get to choose what we are going to do, well, almost. I think it might have been Tim, the club chairman, who decided the topic for the evening. Some members brought in setups; Jon was showing how to do photo-stacking, Mike was doingContinue reading “1985 – Macro & Stacking”

1984 – A u3a Review

I joined the u3a in early January. That’s nearly five months ago, I can hardly believe it. I thought this would be a good time to sit back and look at how things are going. I wrote a quick list of the groups I’m involved in. Where there’s an opportunity in a group, I likeContinue reading “1984 – A u3a Review”

1983 – Letter to Steve XI

Dear Steve, I read through Letter XI, and I confess, I was more than a bit surprised by the first paragraph. Gilbert had acquired a dead falcon. Taking it into his home, he took measurements of it, and looked at its characteristics. That kind of floored me a bit. What could I do that wasContinue reading “1983 – Letter to Steve XI”

1982 – A Trip Out

For several weeks now, I’ve had a thought in my head, that lead to today. I went to London, for a very specific purpose. My first port of call was the British Museum. I’ve walked past this grand establishment before, but I have never been in. It almost didn’t happen. It’s best to book aContinue reading “1982 – A Trip Out”

1981 – Asterisms

At the u3a Stargazing session on Monday, we started talking about Asterisms. Beyond knowing they were something to do with stellar arrangements, and didn’t fully understand what an Asterism was. I didn’t know that I had been looking at them most of my life. There are constellations that I have known for a very longContinue reading “1981 – Asterisms”