Well, it's a Sunday and I find myself in my den (my office,
or computer room as we oft refer to it). I felt it was time to write another
blog, as much to keep me progressing with them, as to bore the reader with! So
here I go:
Often I think of subjects to write about, but as fast as
these thoughts arrive, they seem to dissipate when I'm actually faced with the
microphone I dry up, (I dictate, because my typing speed is appalling, a tortoise
in boxing gloves could get away from me!).
So what have I been up to recently? Good question, and one I'm
keen to know the answer to! Over the last couple of days the missus and I have been
de-weeding a couple of flowerbeds next to the house, and then planting them out
with some flowers that we bought.
The weeds would have been all right if they had decent
flowers, but they were those annoying weeds that are all foliage and vigourous,
spreading over any open soil like a disease. So we pulled them out, and hoed them
until the soil returned. I'm not a keen gardener, and Anna is even less so.
There are pleasures to be had seeing the difference you make
through your own efforts, enjoying the open air, the view, the birdsong, etc.
Which is just as well to offset the myriad of aches and pains that seems to
result! I have quite hard skin on my palms (time was, in my labouring days when
I had what used to be called "horny hands", before it meant something
else). Well, that was obviously some time ago, because having hoed enthusiastically,
I've worn a hole in the palm of my right hand, and wouldn't you know,
everything I grip, or touch seems reliant on this one spot, ouch!
A spot on the palm of your hand is only really a worry if
your pirate, and I guess, if it doesn't heal, whereas mine will heal once I
stop bashing it (a plaster is no good, I've tried that until I got fed up).
Anyway, we went down to the local garden centre, a place
that was built in the early 70s, and one I used to enjoy visiting in my younger
days. Back then, I'd sometimes pop in, have a wander round the gardens, and
grab a coffee, as a pleasant way to spend time.
In more recent years, I've only been there once or twice, but
needing a few plants, I thought it would be good to have a look, see how it had
changed.
It is now owned by larger group, who seem to own most of the
garden centres in our area, and all somewhat similar, at least, in terms of
what's on offer. The old garden centre is still there underneath, older, and perhaps
a little less cared for, but I guess like many businesses, garden centres are
not the goldmines they probably were in the past. These days, customers are
price conscious, there’s greater competition, and profit margins are squeezed
as a result.
All in all, the experience was good, the cafe was pleasant,
great coffee, and I expect we'll go back again from time to time. We were able
to buy some bedding plants as part of the half price sale. We were careful to
pick "Rabbit proof" (hopefully!) plants.
All the plants looked a bit dry, and worse for wear, so
hopefully they'll appreciate a good home and bloom. On the other hand, if
they've given up the fight, our efforts we will have been annoyingly wasted!
Time will tell, but last night's rain has done them a power of good.
I've mentioned my photography before, probably bored you
with it, and therefore won't do so now. Oh, you want to hear about it? Alright
then, you twisted my arm!
Looking at Photoshop lessons on disc, and online, it's been
obvious for a while that using a graphics tablet has certain advantages, at
least at times, and so I decided to have a go. I've had a graphics tablet for
some years, but never really used it, so dusted it off, and plugged it in.
It's like starting all over again, a whole new science, and somewhat
different to what I'm used to. I reckon I will need to take time to learn this,
and so will initially put a little bit of time aside each day to practice. Probably,
if I’d been doing so since I bought the tablet sometime back, I’d be ahead of
the game instead of just setting out., but what’s done, etc….
I'm still discovering features and experimenting simply to
understand what it can do, and how. I'm finding it a bit daunting, and, as ever
with Photoshop there are so many variables possible with each aspect. If I knew
what I wanted to achieve I'd have some idea about how to get there, but I'm
still exploring possibilities.
It's exciting having a lot to learn, I'm still getting to
grips with Photoshop, and Lightroom, both of which are likely to be "icebergs"
in that you will only ever use a small part of them. So boredom is impossible.
Now I have the graphics tablet to master as well.
With a graphics tablet, you can progress into the areas of
drawing and painting, as well as use it on photographs and similar. Perhaps
some of my problem with a graphics tablet is that I've always been pretty
useless at drawing? I suspect it has a lot to do with it, and if so, that's
another skill to master, another learning curve.
So for the foreseeable, and beyond, this old dog is going to
have to learn a whole lot of new tricks, and he's going to enjoy doing it too!
If there's one thing the mind needs, it's something to occupy it, without a bit
of load, the machinery whirrs round and shakes itself bits!
This brings me neatly back to graphics tablet practice,
which is my next task after writing this. In the meantime, I'll watch our bedding
plants take off with all the extra water they're getting, and nurse my aching back.
Hope I haven't bored you too much? Feel free to leave a
comment, good or bad, and I'll see you next time.
Thanks for reading this, regards, Dan
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