Hello Pueblo Blanco trail

We drove up, down, around and around for nearly 350km today, reaching a maximum altitude of almost 1200 meters and managing not to drive off the road into the valley below. We drove past an artificial reservoir or 2, having lunch at a place that reminded us so much of Lake Kariba in Zimbabwe, complete with trees still sticking out of the water.

A desirable diversion.

We just fancied another day at the beach today, so set off on the road to Malaga about 120km away. However the sky was increasingly overcast and as we drove the temperature actually dropped from around 23'C starting to just 20'C as we neared Antequerra on the A92.

Not so good for the beach we decided (little did we know).

So Chris looked up a route to the El Chorro canyon, with its spectacular and previously highly dangerous walkway, attached to the rockface high above the canyon. I say previously, because thanks to the miracle of EU funding, a new, shiny and safe walkway has been built, in places directly on top of the previous version that still remains underneath. The route to reach the southern end, with it's spectacular gorge and hydro-electric power station took us through tiny hamlets, swooping up and down on narrow roads past precipitous drops and yet more amazing views. The sun came out, providing more amazing and constantly changing lighting through the rapidly moving clouds, and eventually the day heated up to about 30'C again.

So we arrived, hiked a couple of kilometers to the start of the trail only to find that, being Monday, it was shut (all activities of interest are shut on Mondays in Europe - it's a rule apparently). The smells of hot pine trees and local herbage were wonderful, but it was bloomin' hot and there wasn't much shade.

We eventually returned and drove on toward home, passing a variety of, once again, spectacular landscapes, huge reservoirs of water high in the mountains and a previously unknown (to us) water sports area near Ardales. At this point both the map and satnav failed us (road signs worked OK though) and while the roads seemed to be where we expected, reality broke down with a lake on the wrong side of the road! We also drove back through a windfarm accidentally on the way to Campillos.

Eventually we got back to the hotel for showers, rest, image uploading eventually (shortly) dinner.

We began touring the 'white towns' of the mountains.

Driving back through the mountains south of Osuna, we were reminded of how amazing this area looks - with the right lighting, of course. One week on from our first drive here, it was just as amazing.

You know they have good mobile connectivity

........when your phone is down to 27% power after 5 days, instead of the usual 2 or 3.

What else is different about Spain?

I've mentioned in the past about the airport 'sniff test', but there was nothing overtly different in the scent when we first got out. However there seemed to be a subtle herby scent, almost like oregano, in the background when driving out in the hire car (possibly the interior cleaning spray!) and many foods had a similar earthy, spicy taste. There have been plenty of places with nice floral smells, usually produce by local plants, but no 'typical' smell.

We've mentioned the tapas thing, where you order small plates of food instead of a single large dish and the local prices being good. One thing we did notice was that there tends to be a lack of green vegetables, so that it's easy to slip into a diet of meat, bread and fried materials. Yesterday Az and Abby - our friends in Badajoz - took us out for churros for breakfast. Think freshly deep-fried English doughnuts (the ring type - not filled) but extruded in a sausage with a star-shaped cross section about 12 inches/30cm long. What I would describe as a fat delivery system for poor people needing lots of energy.

Driving has been mildly hairy at times, but not so different from Greece (less organised than France's roads) and only really stressful in the major cities like Seville and Granada.

We've slowly picked up a little language, but our progress isn't what one might call impressive, however we have always managed to get the necessary food & drink, fuel for the car etc, so that's good.

Anyway, it's been a good time so far. :-)

A little catch up.

Yesterday morning, from the top of Osuna.

Black Iberian pigs, growing ready for making Jamon.

In Zafra, on the way to Badajoz (bad-a-hoth to non-lisping peoples)

No pictures today

We had a day off, down to the beach at Malaga, a little swimming, a little sun burning bathing and generally not doing much apart from reading. In order to save time we used the functional but tedious motorways, which removes the possibility of stopping for pictures, and so the camera remained in the boot.

Eating has been something of a challenge for us, not really having any Spanish between us, but with the good graces of the locals and some Spanglish on both sides we cope most of the time. On the day we first arrived we headed for the main street, which seemed to be a restaurant-free zone (cafeteria & cervezeria was a common sign, but without food being evident in the evening. We ate in the hotel 3 evenings in a row until the restaurant here was closed.

A chap (and chapess) needs dinner.

We drove round until we located people eating outside at tables, managed to squeeze into a tiny parking space and settled ourselves in the Torre Vera tapas bar. A bubbly, cheerful waitress with enough English to help made life much more fun and took the dread out of dinner time. We've eaten there a couple of times now, and only went somewhere else tonight to make a change. Locals prices does no harm either, and we're trying to avoid doing 'English' style menus with their single large dish at the same price as Tapas for 2.

Tomorrow we have a long drive to see some old friends from Bicester, who now live and work near Badajoz.

Sleep well.

At 10am we shut the windows

And closed the heavy shutters to keep the fierce sun out of our room. It's warming up again, so this time we're off to the sea.

And today we were very Seville with each other.

Well, y'know - it *sounds like* civil.

We were also there with an old friend, Mike, and a new friend, Bev, who married him a while back. :-)

We visited the cathedral, the university and wandered through various gardens and tiny lanes. We all declined to join Mike in a meal of pigs cheeks, and then regretted it afterward because it tasted so good. Really.

Mike.

Neatly illustrating some of the problems with traditional 'Christianity'.

Honey - I shrank the street.

Bev.

The Alhambra is a long way.

Well, not VERY far, but it felt like it on the way over to Granada.

It's a lot closer than Mogul India, which is what the Nasrid palace looked like, and a bit closer than Rome, which is what other parts looked like. A big, fascinating, crowded, hot and busy place, with long queues and heavily restored buildings, cool fountains and green gardens.

We spent much of our day in a religious place.

The was, apparently, am early Roman church in Cordoba, which was added to by the invading Visigoths, pulled down and rebuilt as a mosque, then taken over by the invading Christians, inside (literally) which they built a cathedral - the Mezquita of Cordoba. There's a lot of treasure in there.

There was also a big dump of rain happening in the distance as we drove home - right over Osuna, as it turned out.

Who knew?

Spain is, apparently, not full of people drinking Watneys red barrel and singing "Torremolinos, Torremolinos" at the tops of their voices, but instead is a country of breathtaking beauty (and I don't use that phrase lightly).

First, a couple of pics of the room, just to give an idea.

We went for a drive down from Osuna (a rather larger town than I'd thought) to Ronda - the one NOT in Wales - and the La Cuidad bridge. Thanks to the provision of satnav in the hire car we also discovered backroads and scenes that, left to our own navigation, we might never have seen. We also went literally round in circles when trying to leave Ronda, thanks to that same satnav not being aware of road closures and other minor inconveniences.

Pics courtesy of Lightroom 5.4 (wow - it's THAT long since I updated) and perfect effects 9. If the colours are a bit off or too light/dark then I blame the cheap screen on this Macbook. ;-) 

p.s. we have heard thunder on and off a few times this evening - looks like we might be eating here again, despite our dreadful Spanglish.

Breakfast

Building from the 1750s, breakfast a little more recent. Phone blogging is so easy, even if writing is a bit pants on a tiny 'keyboard'.

This is pretty close

To some of the palaces in India, in terms of amazingness. First time in Spain, and it was like driving through somewhere drier than Greece - very much like India.

We brought the rain with us, but that made for steaminess instead of chill. Now unpacked, we're chilling (well, actually pretty hot, but anyway) before finding dinner.

This is possibly one of the less pretty bits.

I have a dislike-hate (rather than love-hate) relationship with Stanstead airport, even though I like where it takes me. I've just spent 30 min trying to find a drinking fountain or tap to fill our water bottles post security. :-(

The whole UK travel thing is curious because, even though we're not really badly treated compared to say, rail travel, it *feels* terrible. No amount of sparkly marble floors and champagne bars makes it seem better.

Maybe it's the proximity if so much un-churched humanity, though I struggle not to behave like I'm un-churched at times too. It *should* be a great opportunity to witness (not Venice as spellcheck would like) and self a sacrifice a bit, but it's far more instinctive to try to take a good place and then feel sorry for those who did badly.

People watching at airports us interesting though, and we have the full gamut from glamorous to 'cause for concern' here. On the way through duty free Johnny Drop was featured on a large video screen: bet he doesn't travel cattle-class. And even though flying really is a luxury activity, somehow it feels squalid. Or maybe that's just the effect people together create?

Is it possible for a people to be prosperous and at peace without exploitation?

I've been working my way through the old testament in my new NIV study bible (illustrations are nice, but the translation isn't good IMO - King David's sons being priests, rather than advisors as it has in the previous version - really? Don't you translators even read the stuff you write?)

Anyway, I'd just visited Solomon in the book of kings, after the kingdom is established for him and everyone is propserous and at peace. Except for the conquered nations around him, who are pressed into forced labour. Except for the other nations nearby who bring tribute (effectively protection money) to him.

The more things change the more they stay the same.

This isn't a poke at anyone in particular, but it IS a warning not to just read stuff and do a 'that's how it was then' shrug of the shoulders when some will model themselves and their society on 'how it was then', because that was Israel's golden era and everything was blessed, right? It seems I have gently wandered from my fundamentalist roots now, and become rather lost - not that I don't believe the bible is the inspired word of God, but that the 'just read it and do it' approach I once favoured doesn't really cut it, even though it does help build faith and inspire people.

So another question, for those of us in the rich west - are we happy to allow our peace and prosperity to be built on the backs of the nations subjected to us? Maybe not subjected through conquest now, but through economics and politics. It won't surprise you to know I don't have a handy solution for the problem.

Ryanair - we may have worked together for the last time.

A single piece of checked luggage up to 20kg for an extra £40 each way? Really? No matter how cheap you are, you'll never be cheap enough in the future.

So much for the increased transparency in airfares that apparently only received lipservice. #suckered

The biggest miracle about St. Peter

I've been reading Jeff Lucas' book Faith in the Fog since picking it up at Transform.

It was billed as a book about faith in times of depression and burnout, and looks at the story of Peter and the other disciples in the gap between Jesus crucifixion and resurrection, specifically when they return to Galilee and go fishing. I'm not going to review it now, particularly since some of it is applicable to me and on-going recovery, but having got near the end and considered his painting of Peter as an ordinary bloke being restored and commissioned for the future, something struck me as a major miracle.

No smooth-talking, manipulative, ruthless and smart individual cheated him of his role.

Over the centuries the church has not lacked for this kind of character, and even when redeemed, such people so often seem to end up floating to the top of the pile while the honest, more open types end up moving sideways. Perhaps this is one of the things that attracted me to a fundamentalist/charismatic approach to church, that those who God raised up seemed less into their politics and much more concerned about what God thought of the whole thing.

So to me, it's far more of a miracle that Paul didn't come along and gently slide him out of the way, and later on when it HAS happened (James now heading up the church) he's still a key figure.

And it goes to show, this religion business is complicated. Did I just suggest that James had ousted Peter from heading up the church in Jerusalem? I have no details on this, but a not too sharp reading between the lines makes me wonder if he wasn't the influence that kept the Jerusalem church Jewish and focused on its feet instead of using those feet so that it became the outreach headquarters for the ROTW. Peter, after his vision of the sheet & animals might have had some very different, very disruptive ideas if he couldn't be 'encouraged' to remember how to be a good Jewish boy. Cue Antioch stepping up to the plate.

I don't want to read too much into it, but I find it a major miracle that he didn't end up being the guy who put the chairs out.

Never let it be said British weather is unreliable.

You can be sure of rain on the August bank holiday weekend.

Mini Haha - no little injun.

Some time back I mentioned needing to replace the poor old Peugeot 307 - it had only done 120K miles, but was already beyond economical repair in terms of cost vs resale value.

Now, after years of driving cars that were designed to work for everyone else, Chris had suggested that I should find something 'for me', though of course common sense prevailed and that didn't happen, which is why there isn't a 70's Porsche 911 targa or some other impractical fanny magnet ( ;-) ) sat on our drive. However I am grateful to have had her support and encouragement to find something other than another cheap/large as possible family estate car to plod around in for the next 10 years (high point of the 307 was to see how many MPG could be squeezed out, and it once managed over 740 miles on a single 65 liter tank :p ).

Well, after much research and a few test drives I ended up having to decide between a Mazda 6 sport estate and a Mini Countryman. The practical limit I set was that whatever car was chosen, it MUST be able to take my mothers mobility scooter sideways across the boot, and Chris must be able to lift it in. That ruled out a bunch of cars that were too narrow, including a hot Volvo estate, Alfa 164 sportwagon (I was disappointed about that - gorgeous car, crazy high sill, tiny boot) a couple of smaller 4X4s and a Fiat 500L like we had in Canada last summer. I was VERY tempted by a BMW 3 series estate, but just didn't feel comfy in something quite so opulent.

The Mazda I really liked in many ways: full of toys (speech recognition to control the computer, Bose audio, cruise control & sat nav etc) and with a decent engine turning out 180bhp, it was easy to drive and potentially very quick. It was large, comfy-ish (18" alloy wheels made it a bit jiggly) but still just a bit boring and not the drivers car I'd hoped, plus there were a few signs of not being cared for as well as it might have. 

The Mini OTOH was less loaded but every bit a drivers car. Loads of feedback from the road, also jiggly but with handling that keeps the car down flat and makes you enjoy the sensation of cornering and accelerating. Space was surprisingly good inside, though bear in mind this is about the same size as a VW Golf, and the design has really caught the flavour of the original , though in a much larger vehicle

I ended up trying 3 before finding the combination of right car at right price, the first of which was just outside Oxford and too expensive (and under-spec'd) the second from a mini specialist was just a dog with stuff that didn't work and lots of damage (advertised as immaculate too!). Number 3 was good though, with mostly the right accessories and a good long service history that could be believed, Cooper D spec meant a slightly more powerful engine (same output as the pug, but revvier) and it had leather trim plus 3 seats in the rear for 'family' use.

We collected it from the dealer in Northampton around 9am on a Saturday morning 5 weeks ago, loaded it up and then went off camping at Transform 2015 in it. Confidence or foolishness? ;-)

And the verdict after 5 weeks of ownership?

It's tricky. People have kept asking if I'm pleased with it, but a simple yes or no doesn't work for me. I mentioned it's a drivers car, but it's also a car that you have to drive - there's no brainless mode, especially in traffic - and every gear change, every corner needs input and care to execute smoothly and accurately. When we had our friends with us recently we had to use 2 cars getting around, and there were times when it took work to keep up with Chris in the beetle because I needed to drive smoothly for the sake of my passengers. At the same time, when you get it right then it feels really good, and the car goes round corners on rails. 

It's idiosyncratic. For example, the key is a large fob that goes into a spring-loaded slot in the dash, and to start the car the clutch must be depressed before pushing the starter button by the key. When driving in traffic, if you stop in the queue then the engine cuts out and re-starts automatically when you put your foot on the clutch UNLESS the driver has taken their seatbelt off, in which case it won't start at all. This particular car had the 'visual boost' pack comprising a large screen in the central speedometer with information about CD/radio, car servicing, phone contact information etc. but nothing about fuel consumption or temperature: all that is confined to a small 2 line display in the rev counter above the wheel. Talking of which, the info displayed there is limited, and one has to scroll through it with button pushes, but before we sorted this out it seemed that we would see randomly selected info about temperature, fuel consumption etc in the display.

It's comfy. The leather seats have the usual adjustments plus a lumbar support that can be made more or less prominent, and off excellent support and comfort, particularly holding front seat passengers when cornering hard Rear seat passengers do have decent leg room with the rear seats (splittable 60:40 and slideable) fully back, but less support than those in the front. Suspension generally is firm, and poor Luke got bounced out of his seat a couple of times when we went over big bumps. On the motorway and at speed on other roads this makes much more sense, and the ride is good with enough compliance to be fine but without any of the softness that went with a French car. Having said that, swapping over into Chris's beetle a week or so back, that felt as if it glided over the road, which goes to show that not all German cars have a hard ride.

It's (probably) economical. The first couple of tanks of fuel are never going to be representative of what a new car can deliver, and this one has required very different technique for driving than the Pug. With that car one would accelerate up to speed, let the car settle and then gently back off on the accelerator to just before the point when the car would decelerate. It seemed that this was designed in somehow, and with care, instead of getting 40mpg at about 65mph one could get 60+mpg on a flattish road. Remember I said the mini was a car that must be driven? The throttle control is really precise, so after accelerating to the chosen speed, any backing off results in the car going slower There is no slack, no vague or economical zone, and the engine does just what it's been told. So far I seem to be seeing an average of around 45mpg vs 53mpg for the Pug.

It's got long legs. They geared this thing TALL, probably for economy and emmissions, but it again makes for a challenging drive, especially when pulling away, and there's no chance of slipping the clutch in on tickover and giving a generous bootful to just power away, because it either just creeps away (still not as gutless as a Ford Focus though!) or, worse, stalls. Gotta drive it away from a standstill too. The upside of this is that you can hang on to a gear while accelerating and, with the revvy nature of the engine, it just keeps pulling when other cars run out of breath. 3rd is good for 80mph without strain, which is as fast as I've been so far. 4th gives the same revs as 5th used to in some of the earlier diesel cars I've owned and 5th is higher than the Pug top gear, plus there's a 6th too for motorway cruising. 

So this afternoon, while it was raining, I gave it a wash.

Washing cars seems pointless most of the time, especially round here, as within days they get coated with mud again and a thin layer seems to offer more protection. ;-)  But with a new car it's good to wash it at least a couple of times to increase familiarity and have a chance to check the vehicle over. So I found a couple more stone chips that I'd not spotted before, water has been getting into the front foglights, and they need cleaning out & sealing before winter. Other than that it seemed pretty good. And I washed Chris's car for her too. :-)

So overall it's a demanding little beast to drive, but I'm glad I made the change now. Another 10 years time and I'll be ready for something fat, squashy and effortless, while keeping fond memories (I hope) of Mini Haha.

Sorry for the phone cam pic.

I'm leading worship this morning

That's not a boast, but after the posts about the Holy Spirit being present and evangelicalism & entertainment it makes me ask of myself "how am I going to do this?".

Is it enough to invite God to come at the start of the meeting, or does there need to be more knee-time? Is it better to prepare a song list well in advance (the 'well' being variable, depending on who you are) or to sit down at 6.30am on Sunday and get something, fresh from the Spirit?

There are plenty more questions one could ask - and I have - but there's also a point where you have to say "Lord, I've done what I can, but for this to actually mean anything then YOU have to turn up and make a difference". And while my head knows different, my heart says that without God being directly involved then I might as well stay in bed with my wife or go shopping/running/walking etc instead of going to the nice Christian club for a bit of karaoke.

OTOH I'm quite looking forward to our meeting this morning.

Psalms can be 'funny' in The Message.

Courtesy of biblegateway.com:

47 ^1-9 Applause, everyone. Bravo, bravissimo!
    Shout God-songs at the top of your lungs!
God Most High is stunning,
    astride land and ocean.
He crushes hostile people,
    puts nations at our feet.
He set us at the head of the line,
    prize-winning Jacob, his favorite.
Loud cheers as God climbs the mountain,
    a ram’s horn blast at the summit.
Sing songs to God, sing out!
    Sing to our King, sing praise!
He’s Lord over earth,
    so sing your best songs to God.
God is Lord of godless nations—
    sovereign, he’s King of the mountain.
Princes from all over are gathered,
    people of Abraham’s God.
The powers of earth are God’s—
    he soars over all.

I was looking up psalm 47 to use for this morning's meeting, and biblegateway was still set to display The Message version. Methinks someone had a bit of fun crafting this particular translation.

What does church make you think of?

Is it a nice place to go? Is it comfortable, a little smart and witty with clever observations from the preacher, a great, tight band covering cool newish worship music, and all run to clockwork?

Would you feel OK sat there on a nice fat chesterfield leather sofa with a glass of wine in your hand, happily watching proceedings as they ran as smoothly as a TV show?

Would you feel GOOD in there?

How would you feel if it was a bit awkward, the band wasn't very loud and so you had to sing as well, as part of the worship? Would gaps and pauses make you feel embarrassed or self-conscious, even worse if someone near you prayed aloud, read a scripture or - horrors - thought God was saying something? And how about if the person preaching threw their notes away because they felt that wasn't what God wanted you to hear, and instead you got something a bit rambly but like God was talking to you?

How about if, instead of nodding assent to well-rounded prayers, you found yourself face-down on the floor?


Something in me likes the former, but something in me loathes it even more and loves the latter. I struggle to get up early and spend time with God, but when I do, it's often face-down on the floor, because that's where I need to be. I don't want the stifling, life-removing, slick production values of a TV show in church, but rather the need to get face-down, so that when I leave I can be face-upward and know I've met God in a way I can't do just alone in my livingroom.

25 years ago today around this time...........

I can't remember what I was doing, except it revolved around another baby.

Time has gone so quickly, yet so slowly too.

Sunflowers again.

We've had a great week.

Our good friends, Marc and Dixie, plus Madeline, Luke and Olivia stayed with us last week - the house is quiet and empty without them, and we really enjoyed their company.

Naturally we visited places with them and took pictures, and I'd like to present one of my favourite photos from that time, involving a certain 'Winnie'.

Transform 2015 - a perspective.

A couple of weeks back we were at Transform 2015 – the bible-week offered by the Salt and Light group of churches, of which Bicester Community Church is part.

We have been going to bible-weeks for a long time now (since 1979) and seen a lot of different things, organisations and ways of doing stuff. Some have been big at 10,000 plus, and some, like this one, quite small at less than 2000. The bible-week has often been the place where the organisation that is responsible for that particular church group lays out its vision for the next year, and this was no exception, but there’s something that concerns me, and I’ll come right out with it: I’m afraid that Salt and Light is no longer working like a single organism, and is increasingly embracing evangelical values while letting go of its spiritual roots. I don’t want to unpack that in a public place like this, so I’ll park it here, but I am not alone in having concerns about these things.

So, what was the worship like? Isn’t that something everyone goes for?

It was very loud, very powerful, lots of coloured lights and smoke, very high quality musicianship and singing. PA was a bit iffy the first couple of days (reverb on lead vocals was iffy ALL the time) and then better speaker placement helped. If it had been a gig with a favourite band then one would probably have been happy in the end, after a rocky start. And that should tell you something from the aspects I’m not mentioning.


OK then, how about the speakers? Weren’t there some big names from the evangelical world there?

Yup, there were.

I fell asleep several times during the preaching: on a couple of guys that were shouty, one lady who was quiet and gentle and one who had some amazing stories but was often a bit strident. Maybe I’m getting old and have ‘rose-tinted hearing aids’. Some of the guys said some good things, one wittily repeated the stories he used in Christianity Today magazine and had also put in his books (available on special offer, just while I’m here).

Don’t get me wrong, there was some good stuff there, I made notes during several messages and think I probably heard God talking to me. I was really glad when 5 guys responded to an altar call one night, even though that speaker had been one I slept through.

Then there was a seminar for those with creative gifts (initially I'd understood it to be a worship seminar) from a guy who was clearly anointed to lead worship..... where he mentioned how one can feel short-staffed and lacking in personnel with a team of 60 to run the stage, lighting, sound and multimedia as well as the band. He was trying to show how he understood what it was like to be in a small church with just a couple of musicians.

There’s a nagging going on, that phrase about having started with the Spirit……

Or maybe I’ve become old, cynical, jaded, burned out in trying to help lead a difficult church, desensitised through personal failure and lack of spending time with God.

It’s not like many of the guys in leadership here are strangers that I can throw stones at in ignorance. I’m on first name terms with quite a few, although most that I know best are around retirement, and recognise them as men of God, spiritual, mature, wise, good and upright. And yet I also wondered if I were seeing a theology shaped by society, rather than the bible first and foremost, like the leader who tore me a new one about how women must be in leadership when I tried to talk to him at a friends wedding 4 years ago.

Maybe this should make me more sympathetic toward the Anglican church - or harsher in my assessment of it. God, please save Salt and Light from becoming another denomination.

Was that a bird, a plane? Nope, that was a blogpost.

You may have noticed a lack of photographs appearing in the blog, and indeed a general lack of blogging. There are several reasons for this, partly connected and partly not.

I may have mentioned already that we decided that the business was not going to work on an ongoing basis, and that really required that I get a job or 2. And having managed to do that, it is obvious that I should have less free time for many things, including taking and processing pictures. I have been noticing a decline in my desire to blog anyway, simply because the original driver for that – community – is no longer present, and unlikely to return. The blogosphere has become a marketing medium, and I have been a little slow to catch on that personal blogs are probably now pointless. .

And talking of pointless, I love having photos printed; holding a print in your hand confirms that the image you created is now real and physical, rather than being a suggestion of possibilities on a computer. I guess an un-printed image isn’t *real* to me.

But again there’s a rub.

Chris once asked “What are you going to do with all those pictures?” and as much as I like to flatter myself, to a large degree the hobby is pointless. No-one is going to buy the pictures unless I market myself hard (fat chance) and they might not buy them anyway. I can inflict them on a few polite friends to whom I donate prints in exchange for some kind words, though it is possibly unfair to present others with junk not of their own choosing, that they can’t easily discard because it was a gift.

So I’ve mostly stopped taking pictures too, though I shall take more when we go on holiday, simply for the memories and because the scenery will be quite different from anything in the UK.