By George – its English #thrifty
Yes, it’s St George’s Day today and so maybe you’ll want to cook something typically English or treat your family to fish ‘n’ chips. You don’t have to spend a fortune, if money is a bit tight; sausage, egg and chips is just as English. (more…)
Midweek thoughts on English society and culture
The Autumn colours are nice and make photographs more interesting, but it gets dark early in the afternoon. In summer I go out at two o’clock on a Sunday to take photos. This week I was ready to come home by two thirty having rushed to take some photos before the light changed. The weather is changeable, it’s either dark and cloudy or bright and sunny, but very cold.
This weeks words and pictures
It’s not very warm this morning in the heart of England. I suppose this is good news for the energy companies who will fleece us again this winter. Maybe, the new governor of the Bank of England can bring some pressure to bear on the water companies and energy companies to keep bills down this winter.
Free Days Out
Today’s photo was taken in Redhouse Park, West Bromwich, a few weeks ago. On a nice day, you could do worse than go there for a picnic. There are lots of places here in the Black Country. There’s parks, nature reserves and canals everywhere. You could even do a bit of fishing!
A Englishmans home is his castle
Today’s picture is of the Manor House, West Bromwich, which has a St George’s Day Family Fun Day on today. There will also be a big St George’s Day parade in Stone Cross tomorrow.
Neodigital Art | Defining Art
I used this picture last week and it was suggested that a colour version might look better. I did a lot of editing on this, cropping it and changing it to a watercolour image. I also edited out the cars in the background again.
A Black Country ramble
The weather is still very changeable in England. I need sunshine! It was a long winter and then we had snow in Spring. I want to take some photos of this beautiful landscape that we have in the Black Country.
What class are you in?
Today’s picture is of the church just up the road from where I live. I took this photo yesterday, it was a little misty, it’s still quite cold. The church is said to date back over 700 years and is a landmark that can be seen for miles. For me it signifies where I grew up, my roots.
Neodigital Art | Editing snow photos
We have more snow, here in England and so I thought I would cover editing snow pictures a little more. I edited this this one with PhotoScape and used the option to make it look like a pencil drawing and added some text.
How to write a novel | Inspiration
If you’re following my story about Nick and Lily, you will know they have travelled by camper van to Shropshire where Lily is staying with her friend from her university days. She is staying in the lodge of a country estate with Victoria and her grandparents Matt and Margaret; while Nick stays in the camper van. I’ve started today with a woodland picture for inspiration.
Neodigital Art | Seasons
I took this picture of the Milky yesterday, in bright sunlight. It’s not one of my better photographs. You can see how the colours are changing through Autumn though, they are slowly getting lighter.
How to write a novel | Writers block
If you’re following my story about Nick and Lily, you’ll know that they have a love-hate relationship. Nick is typically English and Lily is American and almost his opposite. I need humorous dialogue between Nick and Lily, but I can’t think of any. Is it writer’s block? Do I need to be inspired? Maybe, I am approaching the problem wrongly.
Neodigital Art | changing colours
At this time of year I like to record the changing colours as the seasons change. We’re are month into Autumn in England and so I expect all the colours of nature to change as winter approaches. You can see the colours better, when we have better light. In this picture you can see the first signs of winter colours.
How to write a novel and make it plausible
If you’re following these blogs about writing a novel, then you will know the story is about Nick and Lily. Nick is typically English and a little reserved and Lily is American and extrovert. So far they have travelled in Nick’s camper van to Shropshire in England, after being thrown together by circumstances. That sounds plausible, doesn’t it?
Neodigital Art | Changing seasons
I took this photograph last October on a sunny day. You can see the colours changing and reflecting more light. The light was better in Autumn last year than we have had in summer this year. We have to be prepared for whatever nature decides to throw at us and make the most of it.
Are some of us evolving into a technocrat species?
It’s Autumn now in England and so the nights will get darker and longer. We are headed for winter, long cold nights, snow and other things to challenge us. I have written before about humans interbreeding with the Neanderthals to produce a long line of dreamless ones. The theory is, that humans were smart and smart enough to take to caves and other shelter and get a good night sleep. The dreamless ones had a couple of hours at most, didn’t get much sleep and had little or no time to dream; they were generally dreamless…
How to write a novel | Imaginary names
If you have been following my series of blogs about how to write a novel, you will know the story so far. Last week Nick and Lily were on their way to see Lily’s university friend Victoria who lives with her grandparents in a gatehouse to a country estate. I have used a picture of a Manor House, this week for a little inspiration. I imagine the Manor House on the estate to be a little like this. An old black and white building and the gatehouse would be very similar except very much smaller.
This week – the truth?
I have written a few blog this week both on this site and on a zillion ideas. The UK is still in recession, the government still insists on austerity and the rich get richer. I write my ideas on how to cope with all the things that are happening. This week saw the ‘truth’ as the Sun saw it after the Hillsborough disaster. They backed the police, who blamed the fans, but now we get closer to the truth. Am I surprised that a police officer claims that she was coerced into changing her statement by an officer from the West Midlands? Perverting the course of justice isn’t new. News International publishing total crap isn’t new either.
Neodigital Art | Step by step edit
As I write this I can see blue skies and sunshine. It wasn’t like that when we went out to take photographs on Sunday, it was dull and cloudy. It looks nice today, but the wind is a cold Arctic wind. I might still try to take a few photographs later. This picture is after I did the edit, take a look at the before picture, very dull.
How to write a novel | Emotions
If you read last week’s post then you will know that my protagonist, Nick has met Lily and they are forming a love-hate relationship. They decided to stop at Nick’s home in Birmingham on the way to see Lily’s university friend, Vicky. People are interested in people, what they do and how they feel. Writing a novel is about people’s emotions. This one is meant to be humorous, but doesn’t need to be a laugh a minute. The drive along the motorway would give a lot of opportunities for humorous dialogue.
This week in blogs
I started the week by taking some interesting photographs, despite the cloudy skies again. I took this one in Perry Hall Park in Perry Barr. I would like to go back when the light is better. Not on a day when there is a major football match though, we hit a lot of traffic both on the way there and on the way back.
Frugal summer update
It’s summer in England but we have had almost constant rain so far. It’s not over though is it? We still have half of August left and if previous years is anything to go by we could have quite a mild Autumn right up to December. We can’t take chances though and so get out and enjoy it while you can especially if you have children on holiday from school. Think about the future though, retailers are and they have stock to get rid of, before summer comes to an end.
Save money by being careful
I have been doing this blog for nearly two years and have written about lots of money saving ideas. I also have a new site a zillion ideas with more ideas on saving money and being frugal. Today on a zillion ideas I looked at planning journey’s to save on petrol. That blog is worth reading. If you’re careful, you can also save and then become debt free and instead of paying interest to the bank; they pay you interest. You can save on many things from food shopping to motoring costs. The key to saving money though is to cut waste and to get value for money.
Mike10613's Blog 
Easter 2013
I took this photo in March last year, the weather was warm and sunny, before the rains came. This year, my lawn is covered in snow. Is climate change to blame? That was the subject of one of my articles this week. The UK government will be cutting welfare this week too, the poor will get poorer.
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30, March 2013 | Categories: culture, NeoDigital Art, photography, psychology, Ramblings, Reviews | Tags: England, photography, reviews, social comment, Spring, UK | Leave a comment