Egypt4u

We went out for a walk yesterday after watching the Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph on the TV. Such a sad occasion, but only right that we should honour these brave servicemen and women, so to lighten my sombre mood I took one of my cameras and walked around a local beauty spot that sits adjacent to the Trent & Mersey canal and a stones throw from the filming location for the Peaky Blinders episode last week. I have posted pictures of this place before but they are usually snaps with my little pocket Nikon camera although occasionally I do take my best “Made in Japan” Fuji. The problem is the weight, it has a solid machined alloy body with a very heavy all glass zoom lens, add to that the fact I have to usually hold Annie’s leash and take the shot one handed then it can be difficult. So I decided to take one of my old cameras my Fuji HS10 which is considerably lighter and far less bulky to hold one handed, Annie is usually out in front hence she is usually in most shots. So here in no particular order are a few more Autumn images from a pleasant stroll around the lake and I have to say I had forgotten how well this camera performed specially with water in the image. I especially like the way that this camera gives a realistic image of the sky and the clouds, it represents the light levels on the day very well indeed.





Although there is a very nice cafeteria at one end of the lake it has one major drawback especially for people like myself and that is “no dogs allowed” Now that is OK by me from a hygiene point of view and they do have an outside area with a lovely view over the lake, but ……….. there is nowhere for me to buy a drink or a snack without having to leave Annie tied up outside, something I am not going to do, why they do not just have a serving window on the balcony end is beyond me. So it is nice when this floating snack bar is tied up along the canal as the lake is adjacent to the canal itself and sitting in the watery Autumn sunshine it is very pleasant not to mention more convenient for a solo walker like me with a dog.

Being a canal barge the serving hatch is low down at floor level and being right in the heart of the Potteries industrial heritage area it has to sell the local favourite of a ‘Cheesy Oatcake’ just the job with a cup of coffee after a nice walk. I had to smile at the use of the local dialect on the banners and menus on the barge, “duck” is a local term of endearment as in “Lovely to see you duck” or “Take care duck” and the "Home Made Lobby" on the written menu is a sort of vegetable stew, very warming on a cold day.




Not long before the wildlife arrives, a family of Swans, three almost fully fledged signets with mum and dad.


A couple of solitary birds looking either beautiful or serene


If you go down in the woods today


I was reminded of the lyrics of 'Boy George'
"Loving would be easy if your colors were like my dreams
Red, gold, and green, red, gold, and green"

Lovely photos H! You truly captured the day. Love the photos of the swans & ducks. I'm hoping the swans will arrive soon and take up winter residence in the marsh behind me. Also wish I could get close enough to them out there to get photos but there is so much brush I can't get close to the shore line - actually it just gets kinda marshy & swampy so I can't get close.

I don't think any of our pubs, restaurants or coffee shops allow pets. Occasionally if you have a small enough dog you might be able to smuggle one in in a purse but I haven't seen a dog inside any type of eating establishment here since forever. Health rules You sometimes see dogs tied up outside places waiting for owners to come out but a cute friendly dog would be stolen in a heart beat.

Have to ask re: restaurant menu sign - are those prices standard? I'm particularly interested in the tea and coffee prices. ONE pound? Our single cups of tea and/or coffee now average $3+ so almost double your price and our $3 price is pretty standardized everywhere for just plain drip coffee. Doesn't matter if you're in an upper end restaurant or a cheap coffee shop. The coffee shop I go to charges $2.79 for a cup of tea (hot water in a cup with a tea bag. Most places here no longer give you a tea pot). If you want a re-fill and you can get one it costs another $1. Most places you have to buy another full cup although some restaurants if you purchase a complete meal will bring you re-fills.

LLL, we don't have a blanket ban on dogs as such, for example I can usually take Annie into most pubs and get food providing it is in the Bar area, she would not be allowed in any restaurants or other food outlets, some exeptions are when the food is behind a screen or counter such as a fish & chip shop. In popular holiday areas it is now quite common for small cafe's to allow a dog inside when having food. As to leaving Annie tied up outside, no chance, she attracts too many admirers apart from the fact that she whines and cries if I go out of her sight even if she is with someone whe knows such as my daughter or son. Those prices are a about in line for a cheap outlet cafe for coffee in a paper cup. Other places it may be twice that for a coffee served in a cup such as a Cappachino or a Latte, in more upmarket places the prices will equal yours.

Here if you're talking a Latte or Cappucino or any sort of "made" coffee the prices are 3 pound UP (I can't make your "L" money sign on this keyboard).

Nice pictures H and that Fuji looks pretty good to me. Must have good optics because I thought your pictures were very sharp and the detail is very fine. I think that shows particularly in all the pictures of trees

I like the canal cafe and agree that the costs are about right for that sort of outlet. I find it hard to find a good cup of coffee, the small cafes tend to use instant or, if you are lucky, filter coffee. £3 is about the going rate for freshly ground coffee. I find it hard to find a GOOD cup of coffee anywhere and if Turkish is available, that is my choice....

LLL, you could try holding down your 'Alt' key while typing the number 156, that should give you a £ sign.

Grandad, I agree that the Fuji does give a nice sharp image

Holding down alt + 156 =

It actually results in zip, nada, nishta, nothing. Nothing appears when I do that but I've read there is some combination that produces different symbols.

Hmmmm......googling it says on an ACER laptop "Press and hold the ALT key and type the number 0163" to make a Pound symbol however either I'm not typing it correctly as the laptop is still showing zip.

It can be a problem on some laptops, have you tried pressing the 'Num Lock' key and then using the Numeric Keys? (they will be the normal keys with a small number on them). Sometimes you have to press the Num Lock key & the FN key to get it to work.