Yorkshire Snowman

Test Picture

2007-12-04T20:20:00.001Z

Test picture

Garden Bird Watching - Starting From Scratch

2006-10-19T12:26:00.000+01:00

When we moved to our new home in the summer of last year, I had great hopes of being able to attract a wide variety of birds to our new large garden having had only a small back yard in the years before. Things haven't really worked out as planned so far, we've done so much work on the garden over the last year, it has for the most part been looking like a building site.

The work on the garden is far from complete, we've still to build a patio at the top of the garden where the greenhouse once stood and we need to relocate some rose bushes that we've got growing in the lawn so that mowing isn't so much of an obstacle course.

We do have a bird table in the garden, next to the fence, but it doesn't attract very much, except when I put one of those fruity fat blocks out which the Starlings see off in about a day! On the other side of the fence, our neighbour has a variety of bird feeders hung in trees which always attract a variety of common garden birds including large numbers of goldfinch. I'm not jealous, honestly I'm not, but I do want to get into garden bird photography and pointing the lens over next doors fence may not go down too well!

What I'd like to do this autumn and winter is to establish some new bird feeders in our garden and possibly hang some nest boxes in time for spring. I'm basically starting with a clean sheet as the existing table is where it was when we bought the house and with the array of feeders next door, I do think it needs to be re-located or replaced with something more suitable.

My copy of Birds magazine from the RSPB came yesterday and flicking through the pages of the accompanying mail order booklet and various bird related web sites, the array of feeder systems now on the market is mind boggling!

Paul.

Firefox 2.0 RC3

2006-10-17T08:24:00.000+01:00

Well, did defect IE7 for a very short while before I noticed that the new Blogger Beta editing icons don't show on your blog when you are signed in. I seem to have got round the issues with Firefox 2 now as well, having got the update for the Noia Extreme theme, I've started using that instead of the standard Firefox one and the right clicking problem seems to have gone away. It's strange that no-one else seems to have experienced the same problems as me, I do seem to have that effect on anything electrical!

I've downloaded Firefox 2.0 RC3 this morning and so far, the freezing problem seems to have gone away which is great news for this Firefox fan.

Paul.

All Eyes On Cairngorm

2006-10-16T13:14:00.000+01:00

My secret sources (so secret, they're all in the sidebar) were suggesting last week that this week would be much cooler but as is usually the case, everything changed and the unusual mild conditions are set to continue for few more days.

Some long range boffins seem to be going for a colder than average winter this year. Given that our local forecaster couldn't get it right for the same day during the summer, I'll take that with a pinch of salt but with snowfall on the increasing year on year recently (still nothing like it used to be), maybe this will be the year we're snowed in for a week!

The number of locations in Europe recording snowfall is now on the increase and today snow has been mentioned in the forecast for the tops of the Scottish mountains this week. It's time to start checking out the web cameras at Cairngorm Mountain, when I see snow falling there, I'll know winter as arrived.

Paul.

Firefox 2

2006-10-16T08:21:00.000+01:00

I've just installed Firefox 2 and I wish I hadn't bothered. While I'm a great fan of Firefox and grant that this isn't the final release, it seems to be much more unstable than the beta releases for version 1.0 or 1.5.

The menu often fails to appear when right clicking on links and it really seems to struggle with multiple tabs or windows, often grinding to a halt and freezing. I do hope they get the issues sorted out for the final release because the release of IE7 is imminent and on this performance, looks like winning back some ground.

Paul.

Snowstorm, Buffalo, USA

2006-10-14T15:10:00.000+01:00

I've just been reading over at Chis & Fips about a freak snowstorm that's hit Buffalo in the USA. Looks quite severe, even for America. News reports can be found at CTV.

Paul

Armed & Dangerous

2006-10-12T08:11:00.000+01:00

Back in the summer, I went out and bought an SLR camera, a Nikon D50, thinking that I could be the next David Bailey.

Having used the camera for a couple of months now, I'm thinking that unless David Bailey often stood at the lakeside behind his tripod, fiddling with the knobs and buttons and eventually screaming 'bugger it!' before setting the contraption to landscape mode, I don't think I'll be the next big thing in photography.

Having said that, even using the presets, the quality of the photos I've taken so far have been a cut above the ones taken with the old camera so I'll settle for that and leave the knob twiddling to the professionals.

Hopefully this coming winter season will bring plenty of opportunities for shots of gratuitous snowy landscapes, more on that thought later...

Paul.

Yorkshire Snowman Is Back!

2006-10-11T13:22:00.000+01:00

It's been a while, but if there's any time to crank this thing back into action, it's just before winter.

You'll notice I've got a new template with all the new Blogger Beta extra bits and I've also updated the list of blogs that link to me which seems to have shrunk faster than the Tony Blair appreciation society.

Got to run now, always busy I am. If you want to know what I've been up to all this time, take a butchers at our main blog, Snowbabies.

Paul.

And It's Goodbye From Him!!

2005-03-25T18:50:00.000Z

The time has come to hang up the blogging boots, well on this blog anyway. We just haven't got the time anymore to keep three blogs on the go so we're going back down to one, our first love - Snowbabies!.

Thanks to everyone who has left a comment or linked to me over the last nine months, I've added all your links to Snowbabies so I don't miss any of your posts.

Time to get the drinks in, mines a pint!

Paul (Yorkshire Snowman)

If I Had A Brain Cell!

2005-03-24T13:08:00.000Z

Not me, the pillock at Barnsley Council or Yorkshire Water or both that decided not to fix a problem with water leaking from cracks in the main road in to town. Preferring instead to leave it for two whole weeks so they could have the road up on one of the busiest days of the year. Whoever it was, I hope they're stuck in the traffic that is now backing up to the motorway!

What, No Camera!

2005-03-23T08:47:00.000Z

I've not had my camera with me for the last few days with the chances of snow disappearing now until next winter, however today I wish I'd had it with me.

The tiny village I drive through every morning looked beautiful today with the sun shining and the roads lined with daffodils in full bloom. Further down the road I had to stop to wait for Mrs Mallard to make her way very slowly across the road, mumbling to herself, "I bet you wish you'd got your camera with you!"

Crash Nitro Kart

2005-03-22T13:38:00.000Z

We bought a couple of new Playstation games over the weekend, Debbie picked Sonic Mega Collection, all the old Sonic games for Mega Drive and Game Gear on one fun packed disc. I picked Crash Nitro Kart, which is Mario Kart but better...hopefully.

I've only managed three laps up to date and on the easy setting found that I had to keep breaking to let the others catch up so I could shoot them. I got a bit carried away then and tried the hard setting, as the lights turned green they all pissed off and left me on the start line!

Thanks For Linking!

2005-03-21T14:00:00.000Z

A big thank you to Toasted Crumpet for linking to me

And It's Goodnight From Him

2005-03-18T14:19:00.000Z

No, I'm not going anywhere, not without a struggle anyway! The title of this post is just one of the memorable catch phrases from the classic TV show The Two Ronnies.

Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker are back on our screens tonight with The Two Ronnies Sketchbook on BBC1 at 9pm and I for one am really looking forward to some top quality Friday night entertainment.

In my personal opinion, the best sketch they ever did was the fantastic play on words in the hardware shop, with poor old Corbett being given the run around by Barker asking for, amongst other things, fork handles (four candles) and the look on Corbetts face by the end is a picture.

Yorkshire Snowman (aka Phantom Raspberry Blower Of Old London Town)

Google News

2005-03-18T13:23:00.000Z

I've found a cool new feature on Google News today, you can now customize the front page with standard topics like Sport or Entertainment just like many other sites have been offering for some time.

The really cool bit though is that you can also add any subject of your choice, for instance, I'm keeping tabs on the latest news on the new Star Wars movie Revenge Of The Sith. All you have to do is add a custom section and enter the search string "Star Wars" and it works like a peach, gathering together all the latest inter-galactic news.

I think the force is strong with this one!

Amarillo

2005-03-17T14:19:00.000Z

I've just been out and bought the new hit single, Is This The Way To Amarillo, sung by crooner Tony Christie and lip synched by comedian Peter Kay. All in aid of Comic Relief. Bring on the club mix!

Star Wars III - Revenge Of The Sith

2005-03-15T13:27:00.000Z

The latest trailer for Star Wars III - Revenge Of The Sith was made available to the general public yesterday on Starwars.com. I've only had chance to watch it once but it's looks good and I can't wait to see the transformation of Anakin to Darth Vader in May. Who knows, we might even find out if Darth Sidious is in fact Emperor Palpatine.

I think this will be the movie of 2005, it's the one everyone's been waiting for, just to find out just how Anakin gets seduced by the dark side of the force. It wouldn't have taken much doing, he was a cantankerous little bugger in Episode II.

Looking Goofy

2005-03-14T11:25:00.000Z

Thanks to Gemmak and Kerry for linking to the photo below, we had a great night on Friday, helping to raise more than ever before for Comic Relief!

The picture would have been even worse had it been taken today because this morning I've managed to extract a tooth while munching on a ham buttie, well, a crown anyway. It's not the first time I've had trouble with this tooth, last time it popped out was while munching on a sausage and egg McMuffin.

It's marvellous, I stay clear of things that are likely to cause a problem and get caught out by an innocent looking soft white loaf! Anyway, I've got an emergency appointment at the dentist tomorrow to hopefully have it put back in again.

Update: I've just realized what time my dentist appointment is at tomorrow.......Tooth Hurty!

Honk! Honk!

2005-03-11T08:46:00.000Z

It's time to get those red hooters out, it's Red Nose Day! Wear your nose with pride and support Comic Relief!

Jaws

2005-03-10T10:00:00.000Z

This Is London reported yesterday that authorities in the North East think they have a rogue shark problem, possibly a Shortfin Mako. Now I do like watching programs about sharks and I didn't think Mako was in the 'friendly' category, a little search through Google threw up this handy piece of advice:

Warning: Although there are few reported attacks on humans, this shark is regarded as dangerous. Hooked makos have been known to attack boats.

It's funny, we're probably more likely to be struck by lightning than ever be attacked by a shark, but a warning about a possible thunderstorm doesn't come close to the effect a warning about sharks has on most people.

We're on holiday in a couple of months on the East Coast but no shark story will disrupt our holiday, we've never been one's for swimming in the sea, nothing to do with what might be lurking in there, it's just too bloody cold!

Beer Less Fattening Than Wine?

2005-03-09T10:18:00.000Z

I was quite surprised to find after reading this BBC news story that beer is actually less fattening than wine and even has less calories than fruit juice! Apparently it's the lifestyle that accompanies the beer that causes the eight months pregnant look on fellas propping up the bar down the local.

I think with this revelation, I need to go back into beer production. I've not done any home brew for years, I only stopped because there wasn't enough room for a couple of barrels and so had to bottle everything instead which was real pain. Hopefully we'll be moving soon, to a bigger house with plenty of room for a beer factory, I can almost smell those hops!

What No Lap Dancing?

2005-03-08T16:53:00.000Z

After a few weeks of trying to wear the mouse button out on Blog Explosion, I've given up before I develop RSI.

Anyway, now I can actually see who is coming here for a peak rather than look at rows and rows of thirty second refers from the same place. There's nothing unusual in my referrers list, however, I've checked our site Snowbabies and we're apparently attracting folks looking for Lap Dancing In Llandudno.

We did go to Llandudno once but I don't recall any lap dancing going on and I'm sure I would have remembered.

Creamy Heads

2005-03-07T12:40:00.000Z

Red Nose Day is almost upon us and we're looking forward to a great night in on Friday, although we are having some new carpet laid that evening. I'm sure the fitters will be impressed with me sporting a red nose and keeping one eye on them, the other on the telly while necking a pint or two. We've been watching Comic Relief Does Fame Academy over the last week and while the first show was a bit hard on the ears with not a lot in tune, they're all getting better every day, even Nick Knowles.

My favourite, not surprisingly is Adrian Edmundson, who like me, is quite partial to a drink or three and regardless of his singing ability gets tops marks from me for falling arse over tit off the back of the sofa the other night and never let go of his drink. They all seem to be drinking bottles or cocktails in there which I don't mind myself but my fish like drinking technique tends to cause wobbly leg syndrome too early in the night.

I prefer a nice cold pint of bitter, recently it's been Boddingtons, the cream of Manchester. It really is creamy that stuff, if you don't rinse your glass, after about fours cans, you end up with half a pint of creamy head and you can almost hear someone saying "Do you want a flake in that luv?".

What's The Meta With Google?

2005-03-04T14:22:00.000Z

When we first set up our blogs I read up a bit on search engines and how they pick your web site and ended up adding three meta tags as suggested for title, description and keywords. Sure enough all three blogs started appearing in Google search results. A while ago we changed the templates and didn't bother putting the tags in as looking at other blogs, it didn't seem to be necessary any more.

In the last few weeks we noticed a lack of hits from Google and found that one of the sites had gone from about 5th on the list to about page fifty-seven, I mean, my blog entries might not be the best but thery're not that bad surely!

So in an effort to fix things I put the tags back in again and now we're getting hits again. However, the results from Google don't show the title or description and I've noticed others missing this information too. If I view the page information through Firefox, the title and description are picked up correctly so they must be working and both Yahoo and MSN show the title and description.

Has anyone else had this problem?
Does anyone know if the tags need to be there or not?
Has Google just started missing things out, become dyslexic and having it's name changed to Ogleog?

Cairngorm In Full Swing

2005-03-03T12:38:00.000Z

It looks like everyone's having a great time up on Cairngorm Mountain today after all the extra snow yesterday.

Picture source: cairngormmountain.com

Snow Makes The Headlines

2005-03-03T11:23:00.000Z

Shivering UK Braves Icy Weather

Headline news last night and this morning from the BBC, but you've got to laugh at the council admitting they we're caught out! Everyone following the weather on the net knew it was coming well in advance ..lol..

I'm not council bashing though, they get a hard enough time in winter with scathing remarks from commuters about the state of the roads. It's not the councils fault, grit really needs spreading on top of snow and by the time there is a covering on the road, a handful of clueless people have brought the whole place to a standstill before the gritters can do anything about it.

I think part of the driving test should include a trip to a skid pan with artificial snow so people can learn how to drive confidently and safely in snow. Obviously, I'd be booking me and my little car in for a session every week ..lol..

Snowing Darn Sarth

2005-03-02T13:30:00.000Z

The fun and games have started today with snow in the south, it looks like Kent is bearing the brunt of todays snow and the situation doesn't look like changing anytime soon with most people down there heading home early.

A weather warning has been issued for us here in Yorkshire but as yet all we've seen here is a moderate shower of snow pellets, although Debbie has called me from Sheffield and says it's snowing really heavy there.

Will I be driving home through a couple of inches of snow later or just the puddles we have at the moment?

Best Season For Years

2005-03-01T11:17:00.000Z

I've not posted any web cam images for while with us having plenty of snow pictures of our own but while we're waiting for the next possible snow event due tomorrow and Thursday, here's a snapshot of the conditions on Cairngorm Mountain in Scotland where they seem to be having the best skiing season for years. It's probably down to our visit to the top of the mountain back in December which heralded the start of the season for Cairngorm ..lol..

Picture source : cairngormmountain.com

Ice & Snow

2005-02-28T09:33:00.000Z

Ice and snow clinging to the Holme Moss transmitter.

Chilly Holme Moss

2005-02-28T09:32:00.000Z

We had a trip up to Holme Moss in the Pennines on Sunday, it was the busiest I've ever seen it up there with hundreds of people sledging and a few trying to paraglide off the side of the hill but with not much success due to the surprising lack of wind up there.

2005-02-25T20:13:00.001Z

Ice Lolly Van!

2005-02-25T20:13:00.000Z

How many frozen cars was that!

2005-02-25T20:12:00.000Z

Frosty or What!

Incredible Melting Snow

2005-02-25T12:31:00.000Z

Despite all the snow that fell overnight on Wednesday, through Thursday, the snow that fell all through the day didn't settle anywhere, not even on existing snow. I've never known anything like it before, usually snow will settle here at +2c or even +3c but yesterday it was having none of it even at 0c.

We still had the most amount of snow lying that we've had for 10 years so I can't really complain too much! While the cold weather is allegedly still going to be with us for a few days yet, the snow we had is quickly melting away and any showers we get today are likely to be sleet or rain.

Top Banana!

2005-02-24T09:04:00.000Z

Overnight and through this morning (it's still falling) we've had the most snow I've seen for many a year! Only an idiot like me would take the scenic route into work instead of the main road on a day like today!

Get Your Sledges Ready!

2005-02-23T09:07:00.000Z

All through yesterday we had snow followed by sunshine and anything that fell soon melted away. This morning we've had almost non stop snow since 6am and while it's stopped at the moment, it's staying cloudy so the inch of snow we have so far today isn't melting. The forecast is for more showers through today then for more persistent snow overnight and into tomorrow. It's certainly going to be a very interesting night with lots of lamppost watching and hoping that we're snowed in tomorrow morning!

Slip Sliding Away

2005-02-22T09:45:00.000Z

My little car getting to grips with almost and inch of snow ..lol..

Here Comes The Snow

2005-02-22T09:44:00.000Z

After all the watching and waiting over the last few days, we finally got a decent fall of snow over night :-)

Just A Few Flakes

2005-02-21T12:53:00.000Z

We had a few flakes of snow over the weekend but it never really got going and even last night when I was expecting a decent amount of snow all we got was a couple of short showers.

Today we've had quite a few reasonable snow showers, however, not a single flake is settling. Here comes another snow shower as I type but I can't see it settling unless we get flakes the size of footballs. What we could do with is a few showers through the afternoon and then about a foot overnight so we can't get to work in the morning ..lol..

I would have taken a photo this morning of one of the heavier flurries but some idiot forgot to put his memory card back in his camera! Never mind, it's in now and I'm ready to spin round and snap away should anything else fall out of the sky.

Stripping Off In The Bathroom

2005-02-17T09:32:00.000Z

It’s been a hard week so far, finishing off the kitchen was a pinch of salt compared with striping the bathroom. I’ve not been able to use the steamer because the walls have been skimmed and it fetches off the plaster.

So I’ve been there with a sponge and a scraper doing an inch at a time and now every muscle in my body is aching. I’m definitely not in very good shape and I’m glad I don’t do stripping for a living, I’m certainly no Chippendale that’s for sure ..lol..

It’s not escaped my attention that the weather forecast is going for cold weather this weekend. I’ve seen it all before too many times this winter and it’s come to nothing so even though the charts are looking good and the weather forum is buzzing, I’m expecting nothing and if we do get any snow it will be a bonus.

Valentines Day

2005-02-14T13:14:00.000Z

Just a flying visit today, I'm off work this week, not strictly a holiday, more like one weeks hard labour finishing off the decorating.

It's been a manic first morning trying to sort out the kitchen with three cats jumping on everything, Lucy mostly jumping on me and our new puppy Lollypop wanting to be picked up every two seconds!

My beautiful Wife has left me a lovely valentines message today :-)

I'm going to be busy this afternoon making sure everything is ready for when she comes home from work, I know she loves surprises and I'm pretty sure she'll be very surprised :-)

Have a great Valentines Day sweetheart; can’t wait to see you this evening ;-)

Love Paul

Happy Ending

2005-02-11T12:23:00.000Z

It looks like being a cold weekend, I've no idea if it will snow or not and even I did, I wouldn't say because that always seems to jinx it!

Instead, I've been reading the news for a change and found a lovely story with a happy ending. A Labrador puppy fell off the cliffs at Flamborough head and after an extensive search was given up for dead until he was found safe and well five days later :-)

Red Nose Day!

2005-02-09T13:00:00.000Z

After the shock of Zippy's death on Monday, we're slowly getting back on our feet and remembering the good times we had with Zippy from him perching on our shoulder for the first time to him saying his first word, 'hello'.

It's hard to think of anything else at times like this but while in the local shop last night, we picked up some crisps sporting the Comic Relief logo, advertising the next Red Nose Day so I've been to have a look at the web site to find that this years theme is Big Hair & Beyond and will be on Friday 11 March 2005.

For anyone who hasn't heard of Red Nose Day before, it's a fun charity event run every two years, the highlight of which is an evenings madness on BBC1 with comedians and celebrities coming together to help raise money for many different causes all over the world. To find out more and get involved, check out the web site.

We always buy a red nose but last time we couldn't get hold any for the cars. This year I think we'll be buying direct from the Red Nose Shop so we get both our red noses with bonkers hair doo's and two car hair freshener's. It's also traditional to get blind drunk on the night, have a roaring good laugh and donate some more hard cash over the phone.

Ornithological Question

2005-02-07T13:22:00.000Z

We saw this duck at Worsborough yesterday and I'm not a hundred percent sure what it is. I think it might be a hybrid, produced by a very shorted sighted Mr Duck jumping on the wrong Mrs Duck.

Understanding Begins At Forty

2005-02-04T10:02:00.000Z

Watching the news this morning, a story came on telling us that when men reach the age of 40, they start understanding women more. Now at 35, I would have thought that I might be starting to pick up on things that previously went over my head, but alas no, like most other men under 40, I still have no idea whatsoever what makes women tick.

So, unless this 'knowledge' just appears in your head on the morning of your 40th birthday, I fear there may be no hope for me.

Reflections

2005-02-02T14:10:00.000Z

I think this is going to be my new pet subject for taking pictures of, reflections of anything in the water. It reminds me of going fishing when I was younger, watching the float and it's reflection bobbing in the water, waiting for it to disappear.

Life Is A Roller-coaster

2005-02-02T14:03:00.000Z

It is if you follow the winter weather like me!

One minute it looked like being cold and snowy all next week and then it looked like being cold, dry and then warmer and now it's all up in the air again. For instance, the Yahoo weather forecast for Saturday has gone from snow to rain and now back to sleet in the space of three days.

I should really limit myself to looking at the charts for the next three days but because they are available for the next two weeks, I just can't help taking a peek.

Thanks For Linking!

2005-02-01T09:04:00.000Z

A big thank you to Dreaming-Neko for linking to me

Lapwings

2005-02-01T08:22:00.000Z

The Lapwings at Old Moor, soaring into the sky every few minutes when they're spooked by something.

The New Old Moor

2005-01-31T13:25:00.000Z

We visited Old Moor for the first time in a couple years and it seems to have more people and more birds since the RSPB took it over. We didn't stop long as we weren't dressed for the job and it was freezing cold, we just called in to change my single subscription to a joint one.

We'll be back again in the coming weeks, wrapped up warm, carrying two cameras, two pairs of binoculars, a tripod, a telescope and a widget to fix the camera or scope to the hide windows.

Back on the weather front, it still looks like being colder from the weekend through next week, I've just got everything crossed now hoping that we do actually see some snow this time.

2005-01-31T12:29:00.000Z

This sits just outside the visitor centre at Old Moor, I'm not sure what it does yet, I'll have to investigate next time we're down there.

Knock Me Down With A Feather!

2005-01-28T20:18:00.000Z

I've just read the UK MET Office Monthly Outlook and for the first time that I can remember, they are actually talking about a cold snap! It looks like it could be quite interesting during the first half of February :-)

It's only in the last year or so that they started issuing weather warnings for snow before it had actually started snowing so to publish this so far in advance, they must be pretty confident.

I might even nip out on Sunday and get the Sunday Telegraph to read all about it ;-)

Boring Weather

2005-01-28T13:19:00.000Z

It's getting gradually warmer here day by day, the harsh frost on Saturday is but a distant memory. However, Paul Hudson did say last night on the local weather that there is a chance that the cold weather will be back at the end of next week.

The charts seem to have looked much the same all through this week, boring with outbreaks of very boring and not a lot of snow . . . . . unless you live in Ibiza! I'm sure this is how the film "The Day After Tomorrow" starts, with it snowing in places it shouldn't be. I'm not expecting the next ice age in ten days time, but a foot or two of snow would be nice.

On Patrol

2005-01-27T08:53:00.000Z

The geese patrolling the allotments near the park at the weekend and giving me the 'don't mess with us' look.

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-26T08:16:00.000Z

A big thank you to Photographic Wanderings for linking to me

Step Too Far

2005-01-25T14:47:00.000Z

I've been thinking about what I'm going to write about here when we're out of the snowy season, not that we've had much of a winter so far. I think it's going to be case of less words and more photographs.

I've read my new photography book, looked through countless magazines for hints and tips on taking the perfect picture, the only thing I'm lacking now is inspiration. I've got all the gear ready to go at a seconds notice, camera, spare batteries, rock steady tripod but nothing is jumping out at me and saying "hey, take a photo".

Maybe I need to be looking at the world in an arty sort of way, which is not something that would come easily, I'm one of those people that looks at masterpieces in art galleries and says to everyone, "a three year old could have done better".

What if I got togged out like Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, would that make a difference, probably, but looking like a tit in a overly long jacket stood on the top of a hill might be going a step too far.

No Show For The Snow

2005-01-24T14:21:00.000Z

I was hoping to get out and about with the camera this weekend, however due to the intake of wine on Saturday night, Sunday's plans for a trip to the coast or elsewhere were scrapped in favour of going out for a quick walk in the park and lazing on the sofa all afternoon.

I spent most of the evening checking the latest radar images and popping outside to see if I could spot any snow falling but it was all to no avail, not a single flake all night. This morning we've had the odd shower of snow grains or soft hail but that was about it. It's still possible that we could see some snow here between now and tomorrow but I'm not holding out much hope.

Jack Frost

2005-01-22T18:33:00.000Z

Who needs snow when Jack Frost has been out during the night....

2005-01-21T13:28:00.000Z

Lots of snow about on Cairngorm mountain this morning, could be a caption competition this one - "I can see the pub from 'ere"...

Picture source: cairngormmountain.com

Cold Weekend Ahead

2005-01-21T13:18:00.000Z

The charts have been chopping and changing all week, this weekend looks like it's going to be a nightmare to forecast accurately.

Our best bet for snow here in Yorkshire seems to be along the east coast but there is a possibility it might just come further inland early next week. One thing is for sure though, it's going to be very cold, yesterday the temperature first thing in the morning was 9c and this morning it was only 3c, what a difference a day makes!

Digital Photography Step By Step

2005-01-20T11:22:00.000Z

This is one of the books that Debbie bought me for my birthday, Digital Photography Step By Step, having read through a couple of other similar books before, I can honestly say that this is the best one by far and does exactly what it says on the cover.

It starts with a brief history of photography from right back to the Box Brownie through the early days of digital photography to the present day. Everything from file formats to aperture settings and shutter speeds are explained in a refreshingly easy to understand way allowing even me to get my head round some of the more technical stuff for the first time. There are sections on taking photos of almost everything you can think of from sunsets to household pets. Best of all, there are loads of step by step exercises on using Photoshop to sort out those pictures that don't quite look as good as they could.

All in all, a wonderful book and the best present I could have wished for!

Vanishing Fences

2005-01-20T09:02:00.000Z

Thank you to everyone for you birthday wishes yesterday :-)

I had a great day and have a lovely curry at Meadowhall before going browsing for a new mobile phone.

I had a go on Photoshop Elements last night and having got my book with step by step guides on common editing tricks I was removing mesh fences from a photograph of a tiger in no time. However, I think it would take me about two hours to remove a whole fence but if we get a magic shot that we want to blow up and frame then it will be well worth the effort.

It's been very windy here since yesterday evening and on the ride into work this morning I had to negotiate a few obstacles in the road like, branches, trees, water carriers and a garden fence. Looking at the weather forecasts this morning, it looks like we might have another taste of winter this weekend, although the likelihood of snow might be confined to the East coast if we get any at all.

Another Year Older

2005-01-19T14:04:00.000Z

The good news is that it's my birthday today!

The bad news is that I'm 35!

The worse news is that I'm working today and have to buy buns for everyone!

I've loads of great gifts, enough to stand Barnsley Market tomorrow flogging aftershave, or to give it's posh name, odour toilet.

Debbie came to the rescue though, with a cute six pack bear and a couple of photography books which look really cool and idiot proof, so watch out for some award wining photos appearing here soon...... err... maybe not, but there should at least be an improvement and I might even be tempted to take a picture of something other than snow!

2005-01-18T14:25:00.000Z

It's a convoy across the white dessert ..lol..

2005-01-18T14:24:00.000Z

Looking at the wind turbines from Woodhead Pass today.

There's Snow On Them There Hills

2005-01-18T14:20:00.000Z

Well we didn't see any snow last night but we did have a dusting overnight and a few moderate snow showers through this morning. This cold snap is over already though, it's mostly sunny now and anything that does fall out of the sky is likely to be sleet or rain now.

With the snow melting away, I decided to have a drive up to Woodhead in the Pennines at lunch time and see how much snow there was up there and I wasn't disappointed. The roads were clear but there must have been about 3 inches of lying snow up there. It was snowing heavy when I got there but it soon fizzled out when I got the camera out of the bag ..lol..

With this cold spell out of the way, it's eyes down looking for the next one, not sure where it's coming from though, the charts show cold plunges all the way, but will they be cold enough for some more snow down here....

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-18T10:10:00.000Z

A big thank you to Elephants & Dragonflies and Crevulating Dendrites for linking to me

Fake Snow

2005-01-17T13:42:00.000Z

It looks like it's going to get colder here later today, with a chance of snow overnight and into tomorrow then milder on Wednesday and getting colder again at the weekend.

The first severe weather warning for heavy snow has just been posted by the Met Office for North West Scotland, we'll just have to wait and see if the snow makes it this far down later on tonight. If we have got lying snow tomorrow morning, I'll be itching to take some piccies with the new camera.

There is an article in a photo mag we got on Friday on how to add snow to your photos using photoshop, I could cheat having bought Photoshop Elements at the weekend, but it's not really cricket and in any case, it's going to take me until summer to work out how to do it.

Wedding Piccies

2005-01-15T19:45:00.000Z

Just a quick note to say that we have just added our wedding album to our photos page which you can view here.

Time to go and chill out, read my photography mag and most of all, get stuck into all that lovely beer we bought today!

Allergic Reaction

2005-01-13T13:44:00.000Z

The man-flu is taking hold today, it's been doing the rounds at work since before Christmas and it's a minor miracle I didn't contract this in time for our wedding having sneezed my way through the Christmas holidays for the last few years. I think I'll be popping over to the chemist for some man-flu repellant (Lempsip), it did seem to do the trick last time.

Debbie thinks it's just an allergic reaction to the DIY schedule she's lined up for this weekend, finishing off the jobs we started last summer. I'll be there, armed with hammer, nails, screws, loads of wood and an array of choice words to fire at the tongue and groove going round the kitchen window.

As for the snow prospects round here, it's not looking very promising at the moment, The Weather Outlook home page early last week was sporting a snowy scene and speculating on a post mid month cold spell, since then it's been downgraded every couple of days and is now showing daffodils!

Getting Lighter

2005-01-12T10:29:00.000Z

It's starting to get a little bit lighter as we head off to work in the morning and after the ten minute drive to work the sky recently has been showing lovely shades of blue pink and red. Hopefully in about another weeks time, it'll be light enough to park up on the country lanes on the way in and take some photographs, especially of the sheep I say hello to every morning as I drive past.

A photo that I wished we had got at the weekend but didn't due to the weather and lack of time, was of some sheep that appear to have taken up residence on a cricket field near Holmfirth. They've been there for over a week so they must have written permission from the groundsman, maybe they prefer mowing the grass the natural way at this particular cricket club.

It seems any chance of snow for us here has been quite literally blown away for now, predictions of a cold period starting around mid month are fading away, never having shown up in the charts at all. The forecast today is for blizzards on the higher routes in Scotland and just plain old cold, wet and windy down here in Yorkshire. I've just had a sneaky look at the Cairngorm webcams and it's certainly snowing heavily up there.

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-12T09:19:00.000Z

A big thank you to Brian Patton for linking to me

2005-01-10T09:24:00.000Z

Me out with my new toy on the Longdendale trail
in the Pennies on Sunday.

New Camera

2005-01-10T09:19:00.000Z

It's certainly been a bit of a windy weekend around here although we seem to have escaped most of the rain that has badly affected the west of the country. Driving back from a night out on Friday was a bit hairy on the motorway, it was really difficult to keep the car in one lane, luckily there wasn't much traffic about and we got home safe and sound.

I've been and got myself a new digital camera, Debbie got one a couple of weeks ago and we liked it that much, we've got another one! It's a Konica Minolta Dimage Z2 and with 10x optical zoom and 4x digital, it's just what we need for our trips to Knowsley Safari Park. I've not even read the manual yet, just took it out on Sunday, pointed and clicked and we're chuffed to bits with the results.

The outlook for this week looks like being wet and windy again, with a severe outbreak of DIY at the weekend as we get the kitchen and bathroom finished in order to get the house on the market as soon as possible. We can't wait to move to a bigger place with a decent garden where we'll be able to attract the local bird population to within shooting reach of our new cameras.

Celebrity Misfits

2005-01-07T16:07:00.000Z

I flicked over to channel four last night to watch the first instalment of Celebrity Big Brother, Debbie's not a fan of the show but watched it with me anyway and I think we were both quite amazed at the bunch of social misfits they've managed to get together.

First in was John McCririck who is apparently unashamedly obsessed with breasts and whose wife is called Booby, you just couldn't make this stuff up! Another nutter that caught our attention was Bez, formally of Happy Mondays and judging by his head wobbling all the time, must have been very happy, on every day of the week.

I almost wish I'd missed it now, because now I've seen the housemates, I'm intrigued and want find out if Bez gets followed by the police when he's evicted after saying the only thing he'll miss is the wacky baccy.

It's just twisting my mellon man.

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-07T11:11:00.000Z

A big thank you to The World Of Liam for linking to me

2005-01-06T13:02:00.000Z

The snow seems to be melting on Cairngorm today, I think being in charge of the centre there must be one of the most frustrating jobs in the world, not knowing from one day to the next if skiing is going to be possible. It just goes to show how lucky we were on honeymoon the other week when our visit coincided with the first days skiing of the season.

Picture source: cairngormmountain.com

2005-01-05T12:07:00.000Z

This is Finse, Norway and when I last looked last year, they had a couple of inches of snow, it now looks like they've got a couple of feet there! There's no wonder we don't see much snow here anymore, it's all in Finse!

Picture source: www.bt.no/kamera/article.jhtml?articleID=24451

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-05T08:06:00.000Z

A big thank you to Sarah's Blog and Refluxology for linking to me

Thanks For Linking!

2005-01-04T13:03:00.000Z

A big thank you to Lisa's Blog for linking to me

2005-01-04T08:45:00.000Z

Still plenty of snow in Lapland to keep me going through this mild spell :-)

Picture source: www.tiehallinto.fi/alk/english/kelikamerat/kamera-LZ.html

Back To Work

2005-01-04T08:41:00.000Z

Back to work today, hey ho!

What is married life like? Flippin busy! We've been here, there and everywhere since we got back from Scotland so I've not had much time to notice the lack of snow at the moment. We did at least have a proper White Christmas, which was nice :-) The colder spell over the weekend wasn't as good as I was hoping, with only rain at Holme Moss on Saturday afternoon and sleet over Windy Hill on the M62 on Sunday.

Looking at the charts today, it doesn't look like there is going to be much in the way of snow this week, the theme being wet & windy ..lol.. Scotland may see more snow this week though and the feeling on the Weather Outlook Forum is that things may turn colder from the middle of this month, who knows, I might even have a White Birthday as well!

Busy Christmas

2004-12-30T13:55:00.000Z

We’ve been so busy over Christmas, I’ve not had time to look at the weather forecasts, let alone get a post on here. We went over to Manchester on Monday to see my new in-laws and they had much more snow than us still lying from Christmas day.

I’ve been trying out my hovercraft I bought yesterday in the sales but I’ve had to put it away now because its sending the cat’s potty! It seems to have a mind of its own steering wise, I’ll have to get some practice in outside and see if it works ok on water.

I’ve had a quick look at the charts today and it looks like we might see some snow to higher levels on Saturday afternoon / night. I think we might be going back up to Holme Moss if it looks like it will snow before it gets dark.

I'm off again now because Eric won't leave me alone long enough to type anything!

2004-12-30T13:12:00.000Z

View from a very cold and very windy Caringorm Mountain.

2004-12-30T13:11:00.000Z

Rocky Robin on lookout at the side of Loch Ness.

2004-12-30T13:09:00.000Z

View of Loch Ness while were on honeymoon.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

2004-12-25T10:30:00.000Z

Mr & Mrs Snowman are back in town!

The wedding was fantastic and the honeymoon in Scotland was out of this world!

We had the icing on the cake this morning to see snow falling as we woke for Christmas Day!

Merry Christmas to everyone :-)

We've posted a few pictures on Snowbabies with hundreds more to follow!

All the best,

Paul (Mr Yorkshire Snowman)

Wedding Bells

2004-12-18T09:33:00.000Z

My last post as a single man!

The wedding bells are calling so I'll have to rush off, I'll leave you with a view of Loch Ness this morning.

Paul :-)

Taking It Easy

2004-12-14T15:31:00.000Z

I was running about like a maniac again yesterday and ended up slipping on the stairs, pulling a muscle in my back, just in time for the wedding rehearsal! I was a bit concerned that Id be stuck after kneeling down but I was fine and everything went well.

Today I'm having a bit of a break and keeping out of mischief, just making a few phone calls to make everything is still going to plan. I've spoken to the chap in Scotland, where we are spending our honeymoon, apparently its warm enough to sit outside today. I must admit it is milder here today, the temperature anyway, it still feels cold with the strong wind.

This year the Met Office appears to be going for a mild Christmas and most independent forecasters seem to think it will be cold. I've been monitoring this over the last few days and while every set of charts is different, its been looking cold next week for a while now.

Time for me to go and find if my waistcoat has arrived yet, I'll leave you with another lovely view from Finland.

Picture source: www.ruka.fi/webbikamerat/

Thanks For Linking!

2004-12-11T13:19:00.000Z

A big thank you to Now Then for linking to me

2004-12-11T09:14:00.000Z

This is Finland but could this be the scene driving up to Scotland after our wedding?

Picture source: www.tieh.fi

Busy Couple Of Days

2004-12-11T09:05:00.000Z

I’ve been a bit on the busy side over the last two days even though I’ve been off work, it’s been all go sorting out my wedding suit, our Christmas tree and doing a bit more Christmas shopping.

I’ve decided I want a cattle prod for Christmas, for next years shopping, so I can make my way through the crowds of people who haven’t got a clue where they are going or why.

I managed a couple of hours on the computer yesterday afternoon, doing the post on Snowbabies, I was battling again the gremlins, with FTP not wanting to play and Hello also being a pain in the butt. I just managed to get everything done before it was time to make tea and amazingly, that went to plan. Debbie even said it was a better lasagne than she had ever made, not bad for my second attempt!

This morning I’ve had time to look at the weather charts and it’s still looking quite interesting for our honeymoon in Scotland in just over a weeks time. There’s no detail available as the charts are changing every day but they seem to be consistently showing a cold spell before Christmas. Could this be the first Christmas for ages with proper falling and lying snow?

Last Day!

2004-12-08T13:56:00.000Z

It's my last day at work .... whoopee!

It's been a trying day so far though, no winding down for me just yet, I'll be dodging the flying brown stuff until home time ..lol.. I'm going to be rushing around like a maniac trying to get everything sorted before it's time to speed off home, never to return, well, until next year anyway.

Roll on 5.30pm.......... I'm not a celebrity, but get me out of here anyway!

2004-12-08T13:55:00.000Z

Beautiful Austria.

Picture source: www.webcam.at/

Thanks For Linking!

2004-12-08T13:35:00.000Z

A big thank you to Bittersweet Resonace Ver 1.1 for linking to me

Snowing Across Finland

2004-12-07T10:51:00.000Z

Looking through the snow reports on Weather Online, I was spoilt for choice this morning with around 30 different webcams showing the snow falling across Finland today, I think this is the pick of the bunch though, very festive!

With the snow melting over the Cairngorms, I was pleased to see a fresh dusting of snow this morning, not much, but it does show that even though it's quite mild here at the moment, we're getting to that time of year when anything is possible up over the mountains of Scotland.

Picture source: www.kainuunsanomat.fi/palvelut/torikamera/

Thanks For Linking!

2004-12-07T08:56:00.000Z

A big thank you to Blog of Funk for linking to me

Cuckoo!

2004-12-06T13:48:00.000Z

Only 11 days to go now to our wedding and the long range forecast is starting to include the big day and part of our honeymoon in Scotland.

After two days not looking at any weather charts, it's all change again, there's no sign of anything wintry this week and not really anything next week. The only sign of any snow at the moment starts to appear a week on Saturday ....... yep, that's our wedding day and I'm not going to go into any detail because it's too far away and I'll just jinx it ..lol..

I almost wish I hadn't started looking that far out but I just couldn't resist it, I was always going to be a nervous wreck for the next 11 days and watching the charts chop and change from snow to rain and back again will probably send me completely cuckoo!

Frosty Rainbow

2004-12-03T09:13:00.000Z

For once, there was something worth taking a picture of on the way into work this morning, a rainbow and quite unusual with frost on the ground.

The charts are still showing something next Wednesday through to Friday, but I think any snow at it stands now would be confined to Scotland and possibly the very highest places around here. I've started looking at the charts more than a week out, known as Fantasy Island (because they very rarely come true), but it's interesting to see what might happen as we move towards our wedding...

Attic Attack

2004-12-01T09:55:00.000Z

Having a planned day off work yesterday, I spent the whole day sorting out the attic bedroom and by the time I'd finished I didn't have the energy to pop on-line and check out blogland or the weather and this morning, I've got aching muscles I didn't know existed!

Having done all the work yesterday, I was a bit miffed to find today that I've not lost any weight at all over the last week, probably due to too much beer over the weekend. I'll just have to make sure I keep away from the beer this week and get the exercise machine smoking every night to make sure I can get into those new jeans in time for the honeymoon.

I'm pleased to see today that there is still snow over the Cairngorm mountains, the charts aren't showing any imminent chances of more snow at the moment although I have got my eye on something that could arrive next Wednesday but it's far too early to speculate at the moment.