Picture(s) of the day....

[Zelandeth]

This will most likely have been in the autumn/winter as that's generally when we got the really good sunsets.

Film is just garden variety Konika 200 negative, i.e. the cheapest stuff that TriplePrint/Truprint (whoever had the best offer on at the time!) gave you free with each film you sent in for processing. This wasn't a hobby that I had any money to throw at back then. I'd like to think that I did a reasonable job of making something out of nothing though from time to time.

Fuji's slide films were gorgeous, I know everyone raves about Kodachrome, but personally I've always found the Fuji films to give sharper results and there's very little between the two in terms of colour fidelity at least in my opinion. Sadly they've (at least all but) exited the film market now so we're not likely to see any more. Our local photography shop came across a recent batch of what are probably going to be one of the last runs so I did make a point of grabbing a couple of rolls (at £17 each...ouch) as I'm not likely to get a chance again. All of my film is kept refrigerated these days so it should last just fine until I come up with a project I deem it worthy of.

While I do miss the visual spectacle of those sunrises and sunsets, one thing I do NOT miss though was my commute in the autumn/spring coinciding with them. I lived about 35 miles west of Aberdeen...and had to commute to Aberdeen...so you spent the best part of 2 hours in the morning with the sun on or barely above the horizon in front of you - and then the same home again in the evening. That tended to get old in a hurry! Likewise when I was in college where several of the rooms had no windows, and I could in the winter end up going three or four days in a row without ever actually seeing daylight.

[Armidillo]

OK - today I'm going to set a task/puzzle to solve, as well as putting up a photo.

Can you name one, two or all three vehicles in the photo? The front brake/estate/wagon belongs to my son, the middle SUV belongs to my wife (but she lets me drive it), while the ute in the steep driveway belongs to the neighbour. Yes I know that none of them are French, but all my French cars, seeing as it's Christmas/New Year, were taking a well-earned break

For those unfamiliar with some of the more bizarre habits of Australians, at the top of the wooden steps (LHS, foreground), on the left side of the wooden "landing", and almost obscured by the heavily pruned tree, is a little white box on a white stalk. This is a letterbox, used as a receptacle for incoming mail.

Yes, that's right, the postie doesn't even have to get off his bike to stuff advertising guff, bills, and letters addressed to other people into everyone's letterboxes. We don't have slots in our front doors, so we all decided to put these little boxes on stalks right on the edge of our blocks.

[bobins]

Being Australian, chances are at least one is a Holden and one is a Toyota

HNY to you down there

[mickthemaverick]

My TOTH stabs at these would be A BMW 5 series Tourer, a Ford Territory and maybe a Toyota Hilux?

[Armidillo]

So Bobins has one right, but doesn't really count without the model . Anyway, Happy New Year to you all!! It's just after Midnight here (unless you want to ignore daylight saving time), so I'm off to bed.

Mick - 2 out of 3!! The Hilux is tricky, because there were so many identical looking white tradie utes - Toyota Hilux, Maxda BT50, Holden Rodeo etc. etc. I actually own a 2001 model Hilux ute, but my son seems to have pinched it (he's down near Canberra, so about 500 miles away).

Very impressed that you got the Ford Territory Mick - given that they were one of very few cars designed and manufactured in Australia, I assumed they would not be well known outside our wide brown land .

So still one to go (hint - it's not German).

[mickthemaverick]

Hyundai i40?

[CitroJim]

For those unfamiliar with some of the more bizarre habits of Australians, at the top of the wooden steps (LHS, foreground), on the left side of the wooden "landing", and almost obscured by the heavily pruned tree, is a little white box on a white stalk. This is a letterbox, used as a receptacle for incoming mail.

Yep, I'm very familiar with that, having lived in two countries were that was how it was done! Also very familiar with those landings too... So civilised! Seeing those pictures makes me realise both how I loved Australia and how I still miss it and the way of life there... We had Toyotas when we were there, one cunningly disguised as a Holden Apollo

I loved our Toyota Ute too

Keep the pictures coming Alec. I do love to see them, even though they make me turn green with jealousy!

I think today, at juniors, I took my best picture in ages... Really quite proud of this - two boys fighting hard for first and second with first girl close behind Definitely my POTD!

[bobins]

Yep, I'm very familiar with that, having lived in two countries were that was how it was done! Also very familiar with those landings too... So civilised! Seeing those pictures makes me realise both how I loved Australia and how I still miss it and the way of life there... We had Toyotas when we were there, one cunningly disguised as a Holden Apollo

There's been a couple of articles on the BBC in recent days about how all is not quite so well in Aus, Jim. It appears property prices down there are now on a par with Mayfair on the the Monopoly board, and average summer temperatures in the cities are now only slightly below that found on the surface of the sun

[Gibbo2286]

My brother's extended family in and around Brisbane seem quite content with life and the family's growing bigger all the time.

[CitroJim]

Yep, I'm very familiar with that, having lived in two countries were that was how it was done! Also very familiar with those landings too... So civilised! Seeing those pictures makes me realise both how I loved Australia and how I still miss it and the way of life there... We had Toyotas when we were there, one cunningly disguised as a Holden Apollo

There's been a couple of articles on the BBC in recent days about how all is not quite so well in Aus, Jim. It appears property prices down there are now on a par with Mayfair on the the Monopoly board, and average summer temperatures in the cities are now only slightly below that found on the surface of the sun

I saw that Robin... It's quite horrific and having lived for several years in those sort of temperatures I know exactly what they're up against...

It did have the effect of permanently acclimatising me to the heat and I now only really start to thrive when the mercury climbs into the high-20s...

And there's the danger of course, 30 years on, I perhaps only remember the good bits of having lived in Oz. Rose-tints and all that...

Speaking of climate, I'm just back from my last run of 2023...

Our river is looking very deep and muddy after a lot of rain that's left large tracts around here under water...

I'm OK with it, being inbred West Country and growing up on the Somerset Levels, I have webbed feet...

[mickthemaverick]

I'm OK with it, being inbred West Country and growing up on the Somerset Levels, I have webbed feet...

That explains why you're half quackers!!

[CitroJim]

I'm OK with it, being inbred West Country and growing up on the Somerset Levels, I have webbed feet...

That explains why you're half quackers!!

It explains a lot more than just that Mick

[myglaren]

Yep, I'm very familiar with that, having lived in two countries were that was how it was done! Also very familiar with those landings too... So civilised! Seeing those pictures makes me realise both how I loved Australia and how I still miss it and the way of life there... We had Toyotas when we were there, one cunningly disguised as a Holden Apollo

There's been a couple of articles on the BBC in recent days about how all is not quite so well in Aus, Jim. It appears property prices down there are now on a par with Mayfair on the the Monopoly board, and average summer temperatures in the cities are now only slightly below that found on the surface of the sun

Just read that!
Beeb

[Armidillo]

Hyundai i40?

You got it Mick - well done. Are they sold in the UK? I think they got a European stylist in on that model. My son is very happy with it - except that the air conditioning is playing up.

[Armidillo]

...
Keep the pictures coming Alec. I do love to see them, even though they make me turn green with jealousy!

I think today, at juniors, I took my best picture in ages... Really quite proud of this - two boys fighting hard for first and second with first girl close behind Definitely my POTD!

Spectacular Jim - looks like all 3 have a great future in athletics!