One single plant has produced around £100 worth of redcurrants this year. I was somewhat amazed to find a few more the other day at the tail end of September. Tasted amazing. Thoroughly recommend a redcurrant plant for 2016.
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Redcurrants from surrey
Just a various eclectic mix of food photos taken in various locations. Nothing special. Just enjoy and be hungry.
Coconut Tart
Sliders and Beef Wellingtons
Strawberry from the garden. My favourite photo of 2014.Copyright chris Bushe
Spider in Motspur Park Copyright chris Bushe
Peregrine Falcon eating a chick.Copyright chris Bushe
coffee by the canal in amsterdam. Copyright chris Bushe
Heron in Vondels park amsterdam. An old heron i guess.Copyright Chris Bushe
Heron in Vondels park amsterdam. An old heron i guess.Copyright Chris Bushe
Lemur at Twycross zoo.Copyright Chris Bushe
Meercat at Twycross ZooCopyright Chris Bushe
Starfish point on Grand Cayman, as lovely as it looked. Copyright Chris Bushe
Crab Spider in the garden one summer day. What was it doing thereCopyright Chris Bushe
Arctic Tern on Farne Islands.Crab Spider in the garden one summer day. What was it doing thereCopyright Chris Bushe
Iceland geysers.Crab Spider in the garden one summer day. What was it doing thereCopyright Chris Bushe
Crab Spider in the garden one summer day. What was it doing thereCopyright Chris Bushe
Bird of prey at Painshill Park Copyright Chris Bushe
The first apples ever grown on the small tree in the garden we planted 2 years ago. Copyright Chris Bushe
Just occasionally a flight is interesting. Sometimes the cabaret that some passengers bring, sometimes the crew but also sometimes the view. Flying into Edinburgh yesterday it was fascinating to see the snow. There was a fair amount from the Borders up to south of Edinburgh and then none at all. Edinburgh seemed devoid of its fair share of snow. Today also driving up to Perth and Stirling, there were areas that looked whited out and areas that were luscious green, that seemed to have also missed the snow. I suspect there are complex geographical reasons that will remain hidden from me till eternity.
View from plane
Whilst watching all the scores come in on Twitter I could only but notice that at at Lincoln V Telford in the conference there were 12 away fans, and at Gillingham v Accrington in League 2, there were 28 away fans. Weather I suppose a factor today but still fairly shabby numbers.
This is a new annual competition I am running. Here is the first entry from Barcelo Raval Hotel Foyer in Barcelona. A life size horse, with the lamp coming out of its head. This one gets 7/10 for nonsense factor. 
In a life of a football fan and especially a non-league photographer a day of hideous weather such as yesterday, is not wanted. Most games were called off and the challenge was to find a game that was actually on. For me this would have represented a challenge to the management of a club that wanted to boost their attendance by getting the word out there that the game is on, or even off. Some clubs did this very well. Respect due to Sutton who even replied to my humble tweet to them about if the game was on. A club that did badly on all counts was Tooting and Mitcham FC. I could find no social media nor internet site to answer my question. The websites attributed to Tooting seem to have been last updated months if not years ago. No Twitter account. No Facebook page. I might add that all these media are freely available and indeed free. Many other clubs did well to update their fans. Lets throw some praise around. Walton and Hersham have both twitter and facebook and their fans knew the night before that the game was off. Horsham regularly tweet game updates during the game.
I belong to a closed group on Facebook related to non-league photography and from the multiple postings there it was clear that our little coterie could have been driven to any game probably on, hence boosting attendances by a few, but multiply this up and clubs could have done themesleves a real favour.
Having guessed correctly that the game might be on I arrived 2.20pm at Tooting to find no information available. Was the game on or off? Turnstiles all locked. No signs. No clues. No programmes. A few stewards appeared, mostly young lads, doing a grand job I must say, of about 13-14 years, who appreciated the issue and went away to solve the problem. Turnstiles duly opened at 2.40pm. A thin paper based programme was on sale from a cheery gentleman for 2£. In all honesty the poorest non-league programme I have seen for some years. I do not exaggerate but I could have printed this off from my computer in far better format. Little to no food was available in the snack bar. A wait for 10 minutes led to a burger. Priced at the not so cheap price of 3.50£. Entrance to the ground was 10£.
The pitch was not in bad condition at all considering the rain .
I will stop my social media rant here, but what opportunities are being missed by clubs who want to boost their crowds. Each week we read that non-league football needs larger crowds but clubs must promote themselves a little better to get new fans. Tooting missed this opportunity big time yesterday.
The game itself was not a phenomenal one. The better side won easily. The reality was that Horsham looked fitter and better, by a bit, but maybe more interested as a team. No players stood out. no one disgraced themselves. Tooting might have felt a little aggrieved that they did not get an equaliser in the second half but maybe this would have been unfair. The Tooting manager in his technical area spent most of the second half swearing badly at his team, with some non-funny sarcastic comments thrown in. Seemingly oblivious to the fact that children could hear each and every of his well chosen words. I cannot say I warmed to him and wonder if his team does. Neither side will win anything this season and neither will get relegated, although on a bad run, Tooting might be drawn into the relegation battle. The low crowd of 155 should however be of concern to the club as based on this performance will not be getting any larger.
Small Crowd at Tooting
In a life of a football fan and especially a non-league photographer a day of hideous weather such as yesterday, is not wanted. Most games were called off and the challenge was to find a game that was actually on. For me this would have represented a challenge to the management of a club that wanted to boost their attendance by getting the word out there that the game is on, or even off. Some clubs did this very well. Respect due to Sutton who even replied to my humble tweet to them about if the game was on. A club that did badly on all counts was Tooting and Mitcham FC. I could find no social media nor internet site to answer my question. The websites attributed to Tooting seem to have been last updated months if not years ago. No Twitter account. No Facebook page. I might add that all these media are freely available and indeed free. Many other clubs did well to update their fans. Lets throw some praise around. Walton and Hersham have both twitter and facebook and their fans knew the night before that the game was off. Horsham regularly tweet game updates during the game.
I belong to a closed group on Facebook related to non-league photography and from the multiple postings there it was clear that our little coterie could have been driven to any game probably on, hence boosting attendances by a few, but multiply this up and clubs could have done themesleves a real favour.
Having guessed correctly that the game might be on I arrived 2.20pm at Tooting to find no information available. Was the game on or off? Turnstiles all locked. No signs. No clues. No programmes. A few stewards appeared, mostly young lads, doing a grand job I must say, of about 13-14 years, who appreciated the issue and went away to solve the problem. Turnstiles duly opened at 2.40pm. A thin paper based programme was on sale from a cheery gentleman for 2£. In all honesty the poorest non-league programme I have seen for some years. I do not exaggerate but I could have printed this off from my computer in far better format. Little to no food was available in the snack bar. A wait for 10 minutes led to a burger. Priced at the not so cheap price of 3.50£. Entrance to the ground was 10£.
The pitch was not in bad condition at all considering the rain .
I will stop my social media rant here, but what opportunities are being missed by clubs who want to boost their crowds. Each week we read that non-league football needs larger crowds but clubs must promote themselves a little better to get new fans. Tooting missed this opportunity big time yesterday.
Small Crowd at Tooting
Ann Wildgust has her latest exhibition at Holt, a small Norfolk town in UK. A truly superb series of paintings all around a theme. European links with early US settlers, hence some are painted in UK and others in Holland, Leiden. Well worth a visit. What is equally amazing is that Ann has only been painting now for a few years but is starting to attract attention as she is working in different styles and themes. We are fortunate enough to have one of her paintings and another print of one in our house. 
There has already been multiple rants over the Marriott policy to charge for wi-fi at the extortionate rate of 15£ for 24 hours, which is unfair on many levels, including how rarely one actually stays physically in a hotel for 24 hours, and of charging to park. Well, here in Edinburgh it is warmer outside than in my room. Despite turning all the dials up like a mad old professor , the heat level seems to have decreased with the added benefit of a hideous grinding noise coming from what might be a fan.
My solution? To find an abandoned radiator in the hallway, wheel it into my room when no-one is looking , turn each dial up to maximum and then hope………
chris1957
Arcticterntalk.org 