Back to the land of blogging and another one of those weird objects in the sky!

At last my15 GB allowance has started for the month so I'm back in business again.  It seemed like forever not being able to blog or browse the web and all because I used up nearly all our data allowance in the first two weeks of November on uploading RAW picture files. Boy did I learn a lesson the hard way! Never post photos in RAW format without first changing it into a JPEG file! One RAW photo takes as much as 25-30MG of data whereas converting back to JPEG changes to around 4-5 mg. Now you know me, I always go a bit OTT posting photos to the blog so, having accidentally deleted a fast number of them spanning over several months from July 2013 to May 2014, I started looking on my external hard drive for the backups. (Good job I saved them!)  I then started the long process of trying to recover the files and upload them back to the appropriate post. So you can imagine, I was busy uploading all these photos without giving the data usage much thought. It was only when I decided to check to see how much of our allowance was left that I realised my error. So glad I did 'cause at 10p a MG over the limit I could have ended up paying well over £100.


 So what have I been doing since my last post. Well having returned from Bournemouth without incident (no sudden stops by the coach other then comfort stops) and being dropped off before the road bridge, it was a mad dash back to the boat clutching cases and trying to hurry up and get inside FS as it was tipping it down. The first thing on the go was kettle followed by the lighting of the fire. After 30 minutes FS had warmed up nicely so it was get the washing on and then relax in front of the roaring fire. Telly went on so I could watch my I'm a celeb (sad I know) and notice the TV signal breaking up. Very strange as it was okay before we left for Bournemouth. Next morning Ian was out with the long handle saw to remove a branch in front of the aerial which he thought may have been the cause.

Putting the TV back on, it worked fine. We thought problem was solved until that evening. Same thing happened again! Most bazaar. How can it work okay in the day and not at night?  Ian then had a quick look on the web and discovered that faulty external lights could cause interference and the answer was to get a special ring that the TV cable can be wrapped around. Maplins had the product called Ferrite Hem which is a ring and bead designed to cure electromagnetic and radio frequency interference at source so a trip to Nottingham was on the cards to purchase one.

 Our trip to Nottingham also coincided with a visit to the hospital to see the Consultant. Excellent news was waiting for us. All seemed to be okay with the scan and Ian was told to go away and enjoy Christmas and the New Year and not darken the consultants door for another 6 months.


Oh and guess what I spied in the sky again! Now you might think I'm obsessed with taking pictures of weird cloud phenomenon especially phallic symbols but I would love to know what causes this!

With the first real frost of winter earlier this week I was out and about with the camera. So here are a few of my wintery photos.

Unusual to see a Tufted duck on the Erewash Canal