Sparkie's Junkyard » Blog?

The Rest of Christmas

Sparkie — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 11:50:37 +0000

Slight oxymoron that one, as Christmas was very busy for us both. Boxing Day saw me blast up the A1 to Huddersfield to meet Sonya’s cousins, catch up with Andy from her lab and meet up with some of her schoolfriends, then it was back to Loddon for another round of dinner parties. We made it to the New Year, when we staggered to a little cottage near Bury St Edmunds to recover before going back to work. I can definitely recommend The Old Manse Barn if you’re looking for a comfortable and well-looked after break.

Happy Christmas

Sparkie — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 00:00:05 +0000

Christmas hasn’t quite come early for Billy the cat, he’s left with nothing but a empty, poultry-flavoured, box and an expectant look on his face.

Have a good one everybody!
Love,
Rob

Has anyone seen the Doctor?

Sparkie — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 17:59:00 +0000

There’s a temporal disturbance in Loddon churchyard! Careful observation with my new lens clearly shows that someone has been messing with time and space.

Blue tit

Sparkie — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 22:29:21 +0000

Seen this weekend, click to enlarge.

Minolta 500mm f/8 reflex lens, 1/250 s at ISO 1600

Swiss Panoramae

Sparkie — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 21:38:23 +0000

Belatedly, as ever, here are some panoramas from Switzerland. Despite the best efforts of the Swiss government to force the exchange rates towards something vaguely normal, things remained ridiculously expensive all week. Luckily our apartment had a cooker so we made tonnes of pasta to avoid the restaurants, and drank the French wine I had brought along from the week before, but the Schweizerische Bundesbahnen now have a lot of my money.

Montpellier

Sparkie — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 11:23:53 +0000

Scientific conferences: everyone thinks they’re just glorified booze-ups but more often than not you spend nine or ten hours a day sitting in stuffy rooms in a concrete box located in an industrial complex in the suburbs of a city you would never have visited if you had the choice. Luckily I spent last week in Montpellier, where they have beaches, sunshine and 30C. Yet somehow I still managed to spend nine or ten hours a day being bored, confused or, occasionally, inspired. Now Last week was the Euromat conference, during which I pretended to be a materials scientist and learned about composites, hip replacements, solar cells, railway line degradation and hundreds of talks about carbon nanotubes. This week, I’m doing it all again. Geology replaces materials, but the rain of Switzerland replaces the French sunshine. More on this later, once the freezing cold and shocking prices have properly kicked in.

In the mean time, here are some photos from Montpellier.

Engagement Party

Sparkie — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 05:49:16 +0000

Thank you to everyone who made it to our engagement party this weekend. Special thanks for all the lovely gifts, cards, food and drink that you brought along. If this was how busy I am with 60 people and a only a BBQ to run, I wonder what the wedding will feel like!

Wins

Sparkie — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 23:14:42 +0000

I’m in Barbados, your argument is invalid.

Rachel and Robin – the unofficial wedding video

Sparkie — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:26:54 +0000

Rachel and Robin were married last weekend in Derby, and a gallery will appear in due course, of course.

For now, here is a sneak peek at the photos from the day

The day was a great success and I wish them all the best for their honeymoon and for the future. Hopefully by now they’re sunning themselves in Dubai before heading to the Indian Ocean for an island holiday.

Life at 500mm

Sparkie — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 22:15:11 +0000

So in a bout of consumerism, I bought a telescope for my camera that masquerades as a lens. Most of the photos from the Downing competition gallery were taken with it, as was the shot below. Hopefully it will be useful for bringing far-away things up close. Things like birds and sports; things like my credit limit…