A local walk with the iphone 6.

All the photo's below have been taken with the iphone 6. Without a tripod and with some editing which is available on the phone.

 The Rochdale canal

 Rowan Berries along the towpath.

 Canada Geese.

 Any suggestions of the name of the plant?

 The River Irk

One for Conrad.

Merry Christmas Everybody.

Thanks very much to all readers of the blog during 2015. Especially those who have commented and made it a better place. I hope it has provided useful information about outdoor product especially from small UK companies as well as a few places of interest to enjoy a walk.
For us it’s been a quiet year in comparison to other years but hopefully 2016 will be a good one.
Many thanks to Graham Brookes for the tractor Christmas card.

Bothy Life. BBC2 Scotland.

Watched the programme with great interest but was a little disappointed. Having used numerous bothies in my years and had very very few “Close encounters” and i must first say what a great job the MBA do and so may it continue.

I was disappointed that the line “I went there to get drunk and chase women" was kept in the programme. This was not needed and i found it off putting. So what do women feel who walk the beautiful bothy country alone feel about that. They should feel safe using bothies, not how many drunks am i going to find inside.

Maybe its just me.

A bit of Nostalgia.

Years go by faster than we think and we take lots of photo’s that stay out of sight. Then one day you come across a few and have a laugh or cry as the case may be.
So here are a few of mine that bring back great memories. The images are not as good as today’s digital as quality gets lost with scanning and also years ago we didn’t seem to mind too much.

 Hiking in Cradle Mountain National Park. Tasmania

 Sun going down in Wasdale.

 Hiking in The Outer Hebrides.

 Sheila’s Mum and Sister’s first experience of camping.

 The best campsite in Wasdale.

 Fully loaded on Wainwrights Coast to Coast.

 Never to be forgotten. My visit to Hiroshima peace park.

 Hiking across Norway. Besseggen Ridge.

 A very cold night out Hiking with Sheila and Martin Banfield.

 Finishing the 2014 TGO Challenge.

 2 photo’s above. One of the most windy nights i have been camping in. On the slopes of Cadair Idris.

 Our Special Day.

 When i was fit and used to fell run.

 After a rainy ascent of Crib Goch we came out to a wonderful experience on Snowdon.

 Our two girls.

Lisa, youngest daughter. Fell running in Hiking boots. Sat at the summit of Scafell.

Where did all that time go.

GoLite changes.

Just found this and thought readers may have a little interest to know whats happening with GoLite.
Click Here. Interesting. Will the prices increase with a 3rd party?

Wordpress bah!

Is it only me or are folk cheesed off with having to log in to WORDPRESS whenever you want to leave a comment on fellow blogs. It’s a pain in the bum especially when you are on a phone.
If it can be changed in WORDPRESS settings then for crying out loud folks change it to open. Please.

No its not me, but you get the picture.

Bloggies 2014 Award. Part the Second.

I would just like to thank Every 1 who voted for me to achieve joint third place in this years Bloggies Awards.
It is indeed quite surreal to walk side by side with fav outdoor blogger Alan Sloman.  We didn’t hold hands on the red carpet btw.

The winner of this years ordeal went to, drum roll……….Alen Mcfadzean with Because they are there blog he is a worthy winner and has my respect as somebody who provides a great read with lovely images and just the odd advert of which i am sure he has no control over.

The long term blogger award went to Mike Knipe with Northern Pies another absolute stalwart of the bloggersphere. Nice to see. Unfortunately he didn’t make the awards in person as he is still trying to extricate 20 followers from the snowdrifts of Durham. His dog Lucky has drank all the whisky and can’t find his way home.

Yes, i know its all a bit too much but its great to get a mention from fellow bloggers who do actually read some of the stuff we pen rather than some company pushing itself.

Thanks again and hopefully if my initials are AR and my blog is A Blog on the Landscape and my better half is called Sheila i may achieve stardom again next year .

Thanks must go to OM for staging the event and providing the banter.

A passing interest worth sharing.

While i was consoling myself at the failure of the Montane Minimus Mountain jacket, i searched the web to see what other folk had been saying. During that endeavour i came across what i considered to be a very interesting piece on a Gear review site called Blister.
I had not come across this before but having read quite a few pieces within it i thought it was put together rather well and the reviews were excellent.

It must have quite a widespread audience because it covers Mountain Biking, Skiing as well as Hiking and all the ancillary components thereof.

Anyway just as a taster for any other outdoors people who may be interested. I will let you make your own mind up with this piece Here.
(Outerware 101 is also interesting and worth looking at.)

And if you like it you may wish to explore it more. It certainly gave me something to think about because it is quite hard to keep up with all the new fabrics and coatings from so many manufacturers. Or if not, then there is nothing lost except a bit of time.

Just thought i would share the info.

Magnetic Declination.

Magnetic declination is not such a big thing in the UK because being a small island the variation is negligible.
But in other parts of the world there is a huge difference.

I was a little taken back when i realised that between the Outer Hebrides and the east coast of Scotland that there is a 3 degree difference.

So if you are in need to know what the declination is in your local area or if your planning a longer trip that needs careful navigation then this website may be of assistance to you. I hadn’t come across it before and so thought i would share it.

http://magnetic-declination.com

Samsung S3 phone gone haywire?

Just passing on our experience to other readers.

Sheila’s wonderful Samsung S3 smart phone was anything but smart after the last software upgrade. It would be easier and quicker to tell you about bits that worked rather than the areas which kept freezing or just didn’t work anymore.

We kept checking the Samsung web site for their “FIX” after they finally admitted the fault with the upgrade. Nothing for months.
Then we heard that there was not going to be a fix release and customers would have to wait for the next software upgrade. (Great way of losing customers)

So Sheila decided to sack Samsung altogether and go and buy an Apple phone. Her contract with Vodafone is almost up.
I had the idea of asking vodafone if they would download all Sheila’s info onto their smart expensive data transfer box and then re-set factory settings. They (Vodafone) told me that it wouldn’t work and it would just reset to the upgraded software. So one door closed.

Last week we noticed a new Samsung shop opening on Market St Manchester. It looks like an Apple store but smaller. Sheila asked if they could sort out the software mess and although they kept the phone 3 days it has been re-set to before the upgrade.
Everything is working fine. They did say that all the photo’s and contacts etc would be lost but that’s not a problem as we use numerous cloud type storage systems.

So if any readers are having similar problems with the S3 then there is a solution. Don’t take what your service provider says as gospel. Go to the manufacturer and insist that something is done.

Challenge supplies

Can you fit all that in your rucksac and is the dry bag big enough?

Sent from Samsung Mobile

Time goes so fast.

This weekend has just flown by. Unfortunately there was very little walking involved but we had an absolutely great time.
We had the opportunity of entertaining our friends Tina and Alan from Seathwaite in Cumbria. They live opposite lives to us townies. Living in what is a quiet and quite remote village for the Lake District, they find it a nice change to hit the towns occasionally.
So thats what we did. Friday night disappeared into a blur of Manchester pubs and restaurants. Quite a lot of Cumbria’s pubs are closing down due to lack of customers but Manchester is bucking the trend and more and more are opening. To say ALL the pubs we visited were packed is an understatement. I think Cumbria’s problem is overpricing in general, not just pubs but everything from parking to the price of hotels. A weekend away with a family can cost as much as a week in Greece. When will they learn? Probably never.

Then Saturday we booked into a hotel in Sale, south Manchester which cost a reasonable £56 a couple. We were heading to a concert at the Waterside Arts centre to watch Band of Friends.
Prior to the concert and to meet up with the band for a quick beer we tried a couple of Sale’s pubs. We met up with Sale Sharks rugby union lads who were doing some promotion business and so i paid a pound to have a photo with them. They were well on the way to rehydration.

 Sale Sharks RU

The gig started at 8.00pm and was a fantastic nights celebration of the music of Rory Gallagher.

The Band of Friends. L-R Ted McKenna, Marcel Scherpenzeel and Gerry McAvoy. 

Marcel’s guitar playing does have to be heard to be believed. It’s as close to Rory’s as you can get. 

We really enjoyed it.

Post the gig, the band and us four headed off for a curry and a wine or two. We had booked a late table at Zumar Indian restaurant only a couple of minutes away from the Waterside. Even though it was late, the staff and the food was excellent. Mine in particular, Lamb Tikka Balti was the best i have had. Even better than the fantastic curry we had on one of our border walks in Dunbar. It was that good.

There was no rushing us along and i think we left at around 1.00am. But it might have been a little later. Time flies when your having fun.

Thanks to Sheila, Tina, Alan, Ted, Marcel, Gerry (and Sale Sharks) for a memorable weekend. We will catch up again soon.

Problems with Firefox

UPDATE. MONDAY 13th Jan

I’m now relatively sure the problem lies with Google+ taking over the world. Why its only manifesting itself with Firefox i don’t know.  When i comment using Firefox, i place the text in the oblong box and under the box it says “Comment as” and you have a pull down menu with numerous options. When i click google account it normally puts a name in the frame. However with Firefox it just deletes the comment. So i think i have found the problem but how to resolve it i’m not sure. I’m loath to spend time on it when i might also muck up settings associated with other browsers which work fine.  Ho Hum.

Due to something outside of my control. (I think)
For some reason when readers are placing comments on my blog and are using Mozilla Firefox Browser, the comment is not being published.

I haven’t changed any settings and it’s not always been the case, so why i have this malfunction at this time is beyond my technical knowledge. Maybe someone has some idea and would like to pass it on for me to try.

I just thought readers should know as it can be frustrating typing comments that disappear when you press the publish button.

Thanks.

The First Walk - post op.

Today was my first day out since my recent op. The surgeon lied when he said i would be up and running in 14 days. Cynically, i wondered if this was normal in the private health service. If he had said you will be rough for 4 - 6 weeks would i have had the op? Well maybe not and therefore he might have missed out on a big fee.

Anyway i did 10K today and it was enough. I now ache in places i had forgotten about and my breathing was not great on the few inclines we did. I got back home and collapsed on the sofa for an hour and nodded off.

A soak in the bath and i feel a bit more alive. But the good news is i did it. And now i must get out every day even if its only 5k. Next Sunday is Martin's Christmas walking day which is looking like the best part of 18k and 800metres of up, we want to be there and do the whole round.  Cheers.

A cut above the rest

I have 3 posts to do to get up to date but i'm not sure just when i will catch up.

Tomorrow i go into hospital to have a lump removed. I'm told it will be an overnight job and out Tuesday. Recovery time est: 2 weeks.
I promise you there will be no pictures of before and after. I'm not as brave as Mike Knipe.

Anyway i am eagerly waiting a new book that will pass the time until i am walking. I will say no more about that until the official release has been made by the author. But i will say it's by a fellow blogger. Look out for it.

You buy cheap you buy twice. Jet Tec cartridges.

We have all heard this saying and it's there for a very good reason.  What seems a bargain usually isn't and you end up buying the genuine one and you spend twice as much money.

So this post is basically to save folks that extra money.

I have a printer connected to my Mac and it's a Kodak C310. I bought it because of the smaller cost of ink cartridge. I was going to say "Cheap" but no ink is cheap for home pc's.
My previous printer was a Canon and wonderful as it was the ridiculous price of changing 5 cartridges at £80 was outrageous and so i gave it away.

I've been happy with my Kodak. I don't print photographs on it, just mundane stuff. When my 3rd lot of ink was almost gone i went to my supplier and asked for the 2 cartridges.
Unfortunately he didn't have any in stock but offered me a compatible set called Jet Tec for about the same price but 2 for the price of 1.

I don't usually go for cheap ink, because it's a poorer grade i am led to believe but this guy was convincing without being pushy and as i don't do photographs thought what the hell, i will give them a go.

I changed the cartridges when the red light said empty and put the compatibles in place. Switched on the printer and low and behold. Red light and Error.

I started again and switched on the printer. Message:- Error cartridges not recognisable. 

Always one for not giving up, i tried to logically work out what was different. How does a printer know that they are compatibles and not Kodak.

Well on the back of the cartridge there is a 3mm square bit of plastic with 2 contacts on it. I just thought these were the signal providers which interface with the printer to tell the cartridge that it's services were required. Well it seems that these contacts also have a micro circuit board on the back and this must also provides "Who AM I" information to the mother board of the printer. Just like a Ewe and lamb they know when it's not one of their own. So it pushed me away.

I thought i could get round this problem by removing the circuit board of the my old original Kodak cartridges and attaching them to the new compatibles ones. So with a bit of carful faffing i managed it.

I reloaded the now disguised compatibles and switched on. I thought the Ewe will never spot the difference now.

Wrong! New error message. These cartridges are empty please replace with new.

So even though there was plenty of ink, the mother board remembers the old cartridge signatures and recognised  that they were empty. So even filling them from a 3rd party source would have the same effect. Once Kodak cartridges are empty, that's it. You have to buy new.

Unfortunately for me because i have now bodged the compatible cartridges i cannot take them back for a refund.

I was never aware of this before and have never come across it. My old Canon printer accepted compatibles and refills no problem. I always thought getting an old cartridge refilled was a viable alternative. Well obviously Kodak don't think so.

Be warned.

What's that racket.

 Yesterday i was painting the rendering on the house. It had to be done for winter.
It was a nice day, just the birds whistling when there was an almighty racket coming from the trees at the bottom of the garden which are about 30 yds away. All the small birds screeched and sped off in all directions and some only missing me by a few feet.

 What the Dickens is going on i thought. Then about 10 Magpies ascended into the tree and making even more noise. I stood and watched as the screeching got louder and louder.

 Then out onto the edge of the tree came a Sparrow Hawk. It stood there bold as brass with it’s head held high and basically telling the Magpies to come and try it. Well the Magpies jostled it but the hawk just laughed at them. Not budging an inch.

I wondered about going for the camera but thought it would be all over by the time i found it. Anyway i had a go, dashing upstairs almost breaking my neck going up, slipping on the floorboards. I grabbed the camera switched it on and when i got outside it was still there.

I managed a couple of pictures and just as i was about to change the shutter speed, off the hawk went. I just pointed and clicked the shutter and hoped. Luckily i managed to get it in frame, just.

I know they are not great shots but here they are anyway.

Rare Swift killed by wind turbine in Scotland

 I noticed in Herald Scotland that a rare White throated needletail swift has been killed by a wind turbine on the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides.
Many twitchers had flown to the island to catch a rare glimpse of this bird only to watch it die due to a wind turbine.

I found that sad enough but i was even more saddened by the last paragraph of the attached article where a spokeswoman for the RSPB defended the wind turbine.

"Wind energy makes a vital contribution towards mitigating the impacts of climate change, which is the biggest threat to our native birds and wildlife.”

So all the raptor deaths and other less rare birds is ok then because it doesn’t happen very often..

The said article can be found below. Just paste it into your browser.

http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/birdwatchers-see-rare-swift-killed-by-turbine.21464885

Torridon Bound

 We left Manchester at 9.30am for our journey to the Highlands of Scotland.
It has been a good drive although a frustrating one due to the hold ups caused by the numerous and annoying caravans trundling along and the 2 abreast cyclists out in droves on such a lovely day. Don't these people realise that other people have a long way to go and its so difficult and dangerous to overtake.

 So its now 6.30pm and we have checked into the Clunie Inn. Enough is enough today.
Our room is lovely with a spar bath and a sauna. 4 poster bed and beautiful views from the windows.

The hotel is a credit to the owners. We are going to check out the bar facilities now as one must.

More tomorrow.