Playing catch up... again. Sorry folks - I've been busy

Last Saturday - we went to watch Belper at Carlton and although the team lost 3-2 - it was as a result of a controversial penalty given by an inept referee in the last minute of added time.

Tim Harrisons pics are here..........

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/sets/72157627622976249/

and my very belated (only finished editing Wednesday night!) is here:

http://nortoner09.jalbum.net/2011%2009%2024%20Carlton%203-2%20BTFC/

Talking of Wednesday night, the new managers second game in charge was also at Carlton, on Wednesday evening, this time in the League Cup. Snapper was there again (dedication or wot??!!) and recorded events here: (Belper won 4-2 by the way - with a Jon Froggatt hat trick the main feature)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/sets/72157627781659818/

We didn't go - too far on a work night. Besides, we might have got lost again as we did on Saturday when a journey of an alleged 58 minutes took us over an hour and a half.

What else this week - not a lot apart from a brilliant sunset on Tuesday evening. We walked up to the local park to watch it. Pics might follow if I get time. Also took pictures of the new fork lift truck we had delivered at work but you're not really that bothered are you?

Anyway - gotta go cos I'm off on a trip to Canada and USA starting tomorrow with a train at 11:27 a.m. to Heathrow. Then fly to Toronto. The rest of the week is....

Sunday - fly up to Sudbury Ontario.

Monday meet client, fly back to Toronto.

Tuesday meet client, fly on to Grand Rapids Michigan, collect a rental car.

Wednesday visit client, drive 5 hours south to Belle Center Ohio.

Thursday meet the client, then drive 5 hours to Bentleyville Pennsylvania.

Friday visit client then fly Pittsburgh to Toronto to Heathrow to Manchester arriving at 9 a.m. on Saturday morning October 8th on which date I understand, Belper Town are away at Carlton (for the 3rd time in a month!) in the FA Trophy.

So - shan't make Rainworth away tomorrow - but the Duchess and our mate Joey are going. Pity that, we have a couple of mates at Rainworth and it would've been nice to hook up but work comes first I guess (well for the next 3 years or so anyway!)

Nowt else to say really. I'l try to post from the road next week - all the hotels have free Wifi and there aren't any really late arrivals so for now - see yer!

Change of Plan!

It's a lovely day so we've decided we WILL go to Carlton to see Belper Town.

I guess it won't be easy - Carlton are a tough proposition at home - won 3 and lost 1 this season so far and with Belper Town undergoing a period of change, if we can come away with a point, that would be encouraging.

There's no offical word on the Belper Town club web site about "ins and outs" since Tommy Taylor resigned but we hear Mark Camm has returned to Rainworth - the club he played for last season. Still to hear what happens to Taylor's "European" signings, Jaoquin Ortuno and Konstantinou (the Greek/Cypriot who signed just before Taylor's last home game in charge.)

We'll see - if nowt else it's an afternoon out and gets me out of tidying the garden!

Fingers crossed!

It's Been An Interesting Week!

To say the least!

Last Saturday, Belper Town lost again at Sutton Coldfield, leaving the team in 17th place, just one point above the relegation places and although reports say it was a better performance, the fans were generally not happy. Tim Harrisons album is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/sets/72157627694906702/

Anyway, on Sunday, Tommy Taylor resigned after just 3 months in charge and to be honest, it was probably for the best. The results weren't right but just as importantly, some of the fare offered up by what are essentially good players has been very poor.

So - debate raged on the Belper Town FC Fans Forum with all sorts of accusations and insults flying back and forth between the "pro-Tommy" and "anti-Tommy" lobbies. It got a bit lively on there I can tell you with ex-manager Andy Carney putting in is two-penorth as did assistant manager and striker Jon Froggatt who gave the board, club and fans a real tongue lashing!

Upshot is a new manager - Peter Duffield - was appointed mid-week and so essentially, the season starts again in many respects. He has vast experience at this level and took Retford Town to promotion from the division Belper are in so - hope springs eternal as they say.

Duffield's reign starts on Saturday at Carlton Town. That can be a tough place to go but the Duchess and I won't be making the journey so we'll have to rely on text updates from friends various!

More routine matters......

Thursday last week was a gloriously sunny day so the Duchess and I nipped down to Chatsworh Park late afternoon and had a wander by the river. Managed to get some nice shots of the deer on the far side of the river and had an interesting chat with a guy who was fly-fishing. Turns out he's a fishing coach and gave me his card - in case I ever fancy switching from coarse fishing to fly fishing.

Peter Lax - fly fishing coach - I have his number should you need it

After that, we drove on to Matlock Bath and enjoyed fish and chips before strolling back to the car.

We were fortunate in that the guy on the car park at Chatsworth was just packing up so declined our offer to pay the £2 parking fee and when we got to Matlock Bath, a chap was just leaving the car park and passed on his ticket which was valid until 10 pm and so covered our stay nicely. Eee! Ah luv it when ah get summat for nowt tha nose!

Friday - afternoon nap (I know - at my age - but I didn't feel well OK?) after the supermarket run.

Saturday - quick trip by bus into Chesterfield. The Duchess had won £25 on her premium bonds and so we treated ourselves to a new phone for the house. (And Sheffield Wednesday won - so not a bad day at all really.)

Sunday - apart from a short visit to Wards Garden Centre at Coal Aston, we didn't go out. Weather was very mixed and in fact, it absolutely threw it down at one point. We had Roast Pork for dinner/tea and added apple sauce using apples collected that very day from our own tree in the garden. We've had a massive crop this year. Don't know the poundage the Duchess has gathered over the last week or two but we've filled 4 or 5 Morrisons carrier bags and given some to the neighbours. And there's still dozens of apples on the tree. We'll be eating apple sauce and apple pies until next autumn but I'm not complaining!

Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday - have passed in a bit of a blur to be honest and have consisted of the routine work/home/sleep pattern. With the nights "drawing in" it's starting to limit after work activities. In fact - no serious photography has been done since Chatsworth apart from on Tuesday afternoon when I went to our sister company at Dronfield to photograph some electric hammer tools so they can be added to the product range display on the company website.

The only other thing of note this week is a decision to remove our bath and replace it with a shower cubicle. After getting a reasonable quote from a reliable company, the work starts on October 10th.

Trips to Canada and USA (commencing 1st October, back in Sheffield on 8th October) and Brazil (week of 24th October) are now in place and unfortunately this means I shall miss Belper Town's next 3 home games. Hopefully, by then the new manager will have turned things around. We shall see!

Finally - I leave you for now with the best one line gag I've heard in a while....

Rolf Harris has been ill for some weeks. Doctors don't know what it is yet!

Bye!

You Know The Guy Who Said "Things Can Only Get Better"?

Well - he was talking through his backside!

The performance  from Belper Town FC last Saturday was truly awful. About the worst I've seen in 5 or 6 years of watching the Nailers. We lost 3-0 to Grantham Town and as a contest - the game was over at half time.

In some ways it's not surprising that we lost. The managers starting line up included 5 defenders, one midfield player and 4 forwards. OK - we had certainly lost the services of one midfield player and looked like losing another two so his options were maybe limited but when the substitutes included 2 "natural" midfield players, the selection was to say the least, baffling.

The team had no shape and following on from the below par performance the previous week when we were dumped out of the FA Cup by a team from a level below us, there was great discontent among the Belper fans. The Fans Forum has a huge debate about whether the manager should go now before it's too late!

Anyway - I put the camera away after the first goal went in and so have only a few snaps from the match but Snapper Harrison stuck to the task and the whole sorry episode is revealed here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/collections/72157627070852857/

To console ourselves, we dined at George's fish & chip restaurant in Belper before heading back to Sheffield.

Then on Tuesday evening - my other team, Sheffield Wednesday, got a 5-1 stuffing from Stevenage Borough! Stevenage Borough for goodness sake! It's not so long ago that they were playing just above Belper Towns level!

That's football I guess and the unpredictability is one of the reasons we keep going back I suppose but it makes for a disappointing and miserable week. Still, my "Grumpy Northerner" tag at Belper is fully justified this week for a change!

Belper's next game is at Sutton Coldfield on Saturday. They have been in the top three all season and so I fear the worst. We shan't be there. I don't intend wasting any more diesel on long trips to watch "football" of the standard of the last 2 games.

I am also in the midst of organising a business trip to the USA and Canada so will miss the home games on October 1st and 4th and another trip - this time to Brazil scheduled for late October - could mean I miss the home game after that on October 29th. Could be 1st November when I next see the Nailers. Not sure yet.

Other stuff happening this week? Not a lot really. The company I work for is on a plant maintenance shutdown week and I am pretty much on my own in the office answering phones and checking e-mails etc. Not strenuous and I do get to leave a little earlier than usual at around three o'clock so it's not all bad.

The camera has been out this week of course but I've bored you enough for today and so I'll post a couple of pictures maybe tomorrow or this weekend.

See Yer!

A Trip to "The Dams"

Friday evening - after tea - had a drive up to Ladybower and Derwent. It was a "muggy" evening but I got some nice shots of the late evening sun (well I like 'em anyway!). Here's the "opening shot"

I love the light at this time of day and you can see why photographers call the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset "the golden hours!"

There's a few more here if you're interested.....

http://nortoner09.jalbum.net/2011%2009%2009%20Derwent%20Dam/

Off to watch Belper v Grantham this afternoon - apparently we've signed a Greek striker in the last week and lost midfielder Rubens Wiggins-Thomas to another club. "C'est la vie!" as they say!

My Sentiments Entirely....

The Duchess had a wander around Chesterfield t'other day and sent me a text to say that in their shop window, the Co-op were offering Father Christmases (Christmasi?) for sale. In September! Anyway - coincidentally, this cartoon appeared in the Metro newspaper and I just had to share it.....

Sums up the way I feel about Christmas in September! It'll be here soon enough! (And by the way - how can you tell when it's Boxing Day? ....... Easter eggs go on sale!)

Weird Sunset Last Night...

..as can be seen from these two pics.... not the best I've taken but this was the sky just before the rain came...

 A rose in our garden is much easier on the eye!!

And we had a visit from what I think is a young Robin - but I need to check this out with the RSPB forum I think.

One more thing - if you wanna look at my pictures from the FA Cup defeat last Saturday - they are here...

http://nortoner09.jalbum.net/2011%2009%2003%20Deeping%20Rgrs%202-1%20BTFC/

Pity it was such a poor result cos I reckon this is one of my best ever "footy" albums!

Anyway - Saturday to look forward to - and a visit from Grantham Town which is always a pleasure (NOT!) They aren't having a great season either so I'm hopeful. We shall have to wait and see......

Talking of Flying Things....

Friday afternoon we went to Bakewell and were delighted to get some shots of the Red Arrows who were displaying at Chatsworth. Not the best view but exhilerating nonetheless. It was their first public display since the tragic death of one of their number and it was nice to hear they flew the "Diamond 9" formation with one corner missing as a tribute. They also "drew" a heart in the sky and apparently, the only unmarried pilot flew a single stroke of red smoke through the heart. Fish and chips by the river on a warm evening finished the day.

 

Not the best shot of the "Heart" but hope you get the idea! (Click on the pic for "big")

It's been a busy week "photographically" and I am still sorting pictures from the week but in summary:

Sunday - Carburton Lakes - managed to get parked and got some very nice shots of birds on the feeding pots.

It's a lovely spot.

Great Tit

Chaffinch

 There's some bugs too!!

Monday - Bank Holiday Monday and a day off. Belper 3-1 Ilkeston was the best part of the day although there was some deep debate about HOW we won 3-1! It could (should?) have been 4-2 to Ilkeston at half time and although the team rode their luck a bit, the way Belper closed out the game after the penalty which made it 3-1 was impressive. I didn't take the camera but Snapper Harrison was there and his excellent record of the match is here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/sets/72157627431215457/

Tuesday - a second day off and a visit to the Old Moor RSPB reserve at Wath-on-Dearne. Arrived about 10:45 and spent a good four hours wandering around. More bird photos were taken but I'm still editing them. Overwhelmed with a photo editing backlog is perhaps the best way to describe the current situation! For now - here's a couple of the best shots.

Greenshank - a very "elegant" bird

Common Sandpiper - not THAT common - only the second time  I've seen one

Wednesday - Quick trip to Meadowhall after tea. Went for a new sweater, came back with a pair of shoes. As you do.

Thursday - work, home, tea, telly, bed.

Friday - Supposed to get a visit from a plumber/bathroom designer to talk about remodelling our bathroom. Unfortunately, they called to cancel on Friday morning and the appointment is rescheduled for Thursday next week. At least they guy let us know he couldn't make it. The first plumber we approached made an appointment for the previous week but he never showed. No explanation or contact from the bloke so if that's the level of his service, we maybe had a lucky escape. The company we're now talking to installed our new central heating boiler last year and did an excellent job. Didn't realise they did bathroom design and refitting and hopefully, we'll get a similar service on the bathroom. So we took a trip to Bakewell and got the Arrows shots above (plus some more shots of birds but you don't need to see those!)

Saturday - They say save the best for last but this week - the worst comes last. Yesterday, we went to watch Belper Town get knocked out of the FA Cup at the first hurdle for the third successive year and to a team from a lower level also for the third year in a row. Pictures to follow but it's extremely annoying to make a 180 mile round trip, using almost half a tank of diesel and taking 5 hours total driving time to see a team lacking in confidence, passion and who appear to have no idea what system they are supposed to be playing. Deeping Rangers seemed to want it more than us. Very disappointing. Tim Harrisons album has just been posted - have a look..,..

http://www.flickr.com/photos/timharrisonphotography/sets/72157627464710585/

As I said, mine will follow but for now, that's it. Laters