Cornwall Life

Its gone so fast, can’t believe my little girl is 8 months old, so much has happened since we last posted in the blog, but hopefully things are now improving for me health wise and I’ll be posting a bit more often again…

We took Jasmyn down to the harbour today (Easter Sunday) as it was a bit of a grey day we stayed close to home…
I’d thought I could have fitted some Decals to Ozzy’s boat but he’d gone out fishing so we had a cup of tea (Now there’s a surprise) and watched a bit of the harbour Life for a while…

Was nice to catch up with Keith and julie, Russel, Geoff and his Lady wife and of Course  Dennis and Brucy..

We sat around waiting for the fishermen to come back (Popeye Clemo, Ben Thiel, and Ozzy Osman) but jasmyn was getting ready for some food so we headed off down to newlyn Fed her and had a walk around the harbour…
Ironically it seemed everyone came back into Penzance as we drove to newlyn, here’s Duncan and hannah heading back in on Shearwater II …

Keith and julie were also on their way out when we saw them so we were able to grab a nice shot of them under sail heading for mousehole island..

Jasmyn enjoyed seeing the crabbers coming in adn while Leanne went off to get some shopping I took her round to see the crabs being unloaded…

Have you got Crabs Sir...

She fell asleep so I took a walk on the pontoons so she could sleep undisturbed before we lifted her back into the car.. Its always good to see the work going on in the harbour and there was a couple of boats being restored ready for the new season.
From the end of the pontoon Ripple was running her engine, standing proud in all her glory alongside a gaffer.. I have a fond affection for Ripple having watched her being re-built completely a few years ago, plus I love the romance of the old Luggers.. must be the sailor in me lol

 Well that rounded off my visit to the harbours and we headed off through Mousehole home for tea… Just time toi pull over on the road and catch a shot of Duncan sailing Shearwater II back out on her last trip of the day…

Thanks for viewing.. we’ll be back soon

Mel

Well as most of you know by now, our little event took place on the 22nd July when my beautiful wife Leanne gave birth to our absolutely adoringly beautiful little girl Jasmyn Riona.
In true form to our lives it wasn’t without its trauma trials and tribulations.. Leanne spent over 60 hrs in intensely painful labour using only gas and Air due to allergies etc until eventually one wise surgeon realised there were major problems and Baby Jasmyn wasn’t about to come out in the orthodox way and went for an emergency Caesarian section.
The poor little mite (not so little at 9lb 2.5 ozs) was blue and struggling to breathe on arrival but with the expert work of Paediatricians at Treliske she was soon pink and breathing much better..
Due to the length of time in the womb after her waters had broken they spoke to me about antibiotics for Jasmyn to ensure any infections may be caught immediately… I of course bowed to greater knowledge and said whatever is necessary, though on reflection I have to say I wasn’t truly in the right place, watching my beautiful wife so totally exhausted being sewn together on the operating table and my angelic little girl still struggling to breathe without oxygen I felt pretty damned alone and isolated..
However in no time at all leanne was back in one piece and on the long road to recovery and I was able to take a few moments and go see my baby in the NeoNatal ward where her colour was much improved as was her breathing.. it was only later we were to learn that she had Strep B (Group B STreptococcus virus) present in her blood and would need to be treated for at least 10 days with IV antibiotics and hopefully keep the infection from reaching her spinal fluid with consequences I just didn’t want to think about.
I kissed her gently and left her in very safe hands and returned to Leanne who was in an awful lot of pain and exhausted but looking a little brighter.
Well cutting a very Long and traumatic story very short I watched Leanne deteriorate to a point where I found my faith very quickly and prayed for both of my girls that at least one would come home to me.. Jasmyn began to improve while Leanne deteriorated and after Blood transfusions and Iron infusions CT scans and a colonoscopy  they announced the bowel had gone into spasm and stopped functioning.. the fear was that it may perforate and result in very serious life threatening surgery.. Thank everything that lives and breathes and all surrounding energies that it didn’t and instead slowly started to respond and start working again.
Jasmyn by now was back with Mum on the ward but they were both soon moved back to the delivery suite where Leanne could be given 24hr care and attention while she recovered.. eventually she was well enough to return to the main ward but the staff requested she was put in her own room to recover in peace and quiet.. so we were given the room(Suite) that the PM’s wife had when they had their baby..
After moving her into the rooms I eventually left the hospital to drive home at 1am leaving my wife and daughter both well on the road to recovery.. I was driving to the A30 as I needed fuel and have to admit driving with tears of joy in my eyes as at last it seemed we were turning a corner and they’d both be coming home soon..
I stopped for fuel at Chiverton  cross roundabout and as I returned to the car was suddenly knocked to my knees with Intense pain in my chest.. I dragged myself to the car and pulled myself into the drivers seat and sat for a while with the crippling pain gripping me in spasms.. it was slightly reminiscent of when I’d had the heart attack in 2005 and this frightened me more than a little..but it didn’t feel exactly the same and I did sit there and wonder if this was going to be the end for me and 5that was why leanne had been given our child.. all the wierdest notions and thoughts rip through your mind at times like that.. but eventually the pain eased.. I stood up and went to the back of the car lifting the tailgate.. just for fresh air really but also to pacify the  garage staff who were by now obviously wondering why I wasn’t driving away.

It eased sufficiently that I felt okay to continue home.. and set off down the A30 towards penzance…
Well it hit me about another 4 times on the way down the A30 and I’d made the decision that if I made it that far I would go into West Cornwall Hospital in penzance and get checked over… I didn’t think it was the heart but I wanted to make sure…
Once in West Cornwall it was fairly obvious they weren’t about to let me out, especially in view of my history of heart disease and other illnesses and the fact that my Carer had just given birth and was currently unwell in Treliske..
So it was that I found myself on Medical admissions ward after 4 hrs of what can only be described as a circus of horrors laying in Treliske A&E  awaiting the results of the 12 hour blood test  to assure me that it wasn’t the heart just pure exhaustion and Stress with a little reflux and indigestion thrown in for good measure..
All made perfect sense I’d had about 6 hrs sleep in 8 days and eaten probably the equivalent of 2 meals..
So there we were all 3 of us in hospital and Leanne being brought over in a wheel chair to see me while midwifes looked after Jasmyn.. discussions were had and it was agreed that i could be moved into the parents suite with Leanne on Maternity and stay there until I or we were recovered..
Being back with my girls made everything feel okay again and by Lunch time I was hurtling down the A30 in a friends van so that i could collect the car from penzance, then back to Treliske where I spent the night and had the first good sleep I’d had since Labour started… Well the 10 day marker arrived… Jasmyn had been given the all clear from her Lumbar puncture that no Strep B was present in the spinal fluid.. Leanne was well on the way to recovery (though with very few veins left to get blood from) and the blood test that evening at 6pm on jasmyn told us we could all FINALLY go home.. a family together in our own home.. daunting scary but absolutely wonderful…
Thank you to the medical staff and scientists who discovered that Rituximab ( a form of chemotherapy used in Lymphatic cancer) actually suppressed the immune system enough to stop it attacking my joints and organs for a while, and so I was able to help and get everything sorted out to look after my two beautiful Girls and help nurse them both to health.

From this…
to this… and getting better every day

I can never express my thanks my gratitude and my appreciation to all the staff of the Neonatal ward, the Delivery Suite and the maternity ward Midwives who gave so much to help these days to be possible for us…

Thank you all so very very much…

So they tell us at least.. The heatwave we have to grab in between the high winds and rain showers is the summer so like all of us here including our holidaymakers we revel in the sunshine and watch the sites of Cornwall in between the rolling Raindrops of a car windscreen.. but it doesn’t last long..
The absolute beauty of living in this wonderful Duchy is that you don’t have to travel very far to change the weather.. it can scorching hot in Penzance and raining at Lands End.. Snowing on Bodmin but glorious sunshine in Porthleven and such is the way of 21st Century Cornwall.. The weather even more screwed up than the UK in General but the smiling faces of people wherever you look always makes the day a little brighter…
So we believe in the Myth that summer is just around the corner.. even though we know that midsummers day was last month.. and if all else fails there’s always the dream of an Indian summer to cheer us up

Well for me at the moment Summer is here and I’m waiting in so much anticipation to meet my Little Lady who is due to be born any day now.. and not a moment too soon for my poor darling wife Leanne who hasn’t had a good time of pregnancy… Thank god my treatment has enabled me to do more because in the early stages it was a matter of who could do the most or we’d just sit and watch each other wondering if the other would be able to help if we needed it.. but as always we did, we do and when the call comes we will because thats what we do.. we just love each other..
I’m hoping its not too much longer before our little miss shows herself to us, especially after last night when Leanne laid her legs across me for comfort and I felt how swollen and hard they had become from the water retention.. I know that pain so well from my times of edema ridden legs feet and hands and I wished I could make it better for her.. but alas all I could do was hold her and hope it wouldn’t be long before it would all be worth it.. she would hold our baby and our world would be complete and the swelling would subside and her legs would be beautiful again.

So we’ve not been able to get about much together, and her walking has been even more limited than my own because of this so we’ve spent an awful lot of time just sitting in the harbour at Penzance watching the ups and downs of everyday life…
We did however have a change in the week this week when we went to visit our friend Aidan on his catamaran up in Gweek,  It was a lovely sunny afternoon and we were amused by some tiny Mallard Ducklings who were catching worms and running to the edge of the river and washing them in it … unfortunately a mooring rope got in the way of the photograph and I missed whether this particular duckling washed and ate the worm or just washed it and let it go… Do ducklings actually eat worms?? (answers on a postcard please… well an email these days lol)
 While we were there I walked through the boats and noticed one of the permanent fixtures of Gweek.. a beautiful Beloved Yacht called Balair belonging to friends we’d met a couple of years ago in Gweek Graham and Joy Swanson, Both writers, Graham having written the book Cruising Cork and Kerry about their journey in Balair, was looking rather sad and neglected… This troubled me somewhat because they loved their boat and I was quickly reminded of how at the back end of last Year Joy was not at all well and I suddenly became very concerned and worried.
It prompted me to email Graham that evening and ask after their welfare not having seen them this year so far, and also to mention how lonely Balair was looking and offer any help he may need being as he is himself 80 yrs old..
Today I received a sickening and saddening email to find out his beloved Joy was taken from him in February.. such a sad sad loss and clearly one which has affected him deeply..
Equally saddening I was to learn that he can no longer get aboard Balair and he was having to let her go too.
Well I sadly couldn’t do anything for Joy but I certainly could make sure that if Balair was to be sold that she looked her absolute best and so I’m calling upon my son and friends to help me make sure she shines like new and that all the work is done on her. It’s the least we can do for two wonderful people and though I’m not very able myself these days with twisted joints I do have a knowledge of restoration and can lead a team to make her new again.. Unfortunately my Pot isn’t large enough to save Graham the trouble, and no doubt sadness of selling her or I would gladly become her new owner.

 Well back to brighter thoughts we will keep you informed of our latest addition to the Cornwall Life team as and when she arrives…
A special thank you for the wonderful Blog review we received in the Cornishman this week, I was quite moved by it… then again I am I realise more and more a very Emotive person and in many ways I’m privileged to feel that. so thanks to all

Mel

Well only a few days in after the Chemo but I decided I needed some sailing time so headed up to the Boat today for a brisk sail..
Maybe I should have thought first and reefed down the main at the very least, but eager to head off we pulled the sails and set out under full sail from Loe Beach, which of course is quite sheltered from the strong North Westerlies
There was nothing much out on the Carrick roads so little to judge from, just a couple of yachts Motoring their way out of the river and the local ferries and motor boats..
But we didn’t have to go far to realise the mistake and by the time we came upon the channel marker and picked up the wind from Restronguet Creek  we quickly heeled over a good 50deg and buried the gunnels underwater..
OOPS!! now it doesn’t worry me too much tho it does put quite a strain on me but if we heel more than about 15deg Leanne really doesn’t like it so I could only imgine what she was feeling looking out of the window opposite her  to watch  fish swimming by.. The gust subsided a little and we came back up to a comfortable position (for me) but was very soon hit by another and another and so it continued down to Falmouth..

By this time a yacht rounded Falmouth Castle and picked up the wind from Falmouth and Flushing and was laid almost flat as he screamed down towards us…  Being on a starboard tack I moved our boat over and found a bit of shelter from the land and decided to drop the Mainsail rather than make things any worse for Leanne.. so we sailed across into St Mawes on just a part reefed Genoa…Much more wifely acceptable it was rather wobbly out here tho as we passed St Mawes Castle we noticed a semblance of swallotail lurking in the gentler waters of St Mawes and sure enough he headed over towards us on his burbling engines just as we were completely swamped by the wake of a passing Landau cruiser travelling at about 20 knots across the carrick roads.

We met up with Aidan on his Catamaran and sailed through to Percuil under engine and dropped anchor in the pool by the sailing club.. Aidan circled us a couple of times and eventually dropped anchor behind us.
We spent a pleasant afternoon having tea and coffee on his deck… here’s a few of the Shots Leanne managed to grab on our Journey.. unfortunately I couldn’t hold the camera while sailing so she took these from the companion way when we were more upright

Lady Emily at Anchor in Percuil…

After a pleasant afternoon in Percuil, the decision was made that Leanne would in fact travel back with us, despite the offer of a lift by road to loe beach, despite the warnings of wind over tide in the carrick roads and the wind having freshened from earlier, but with the promise that I’d at least put one if not two reefs in the main so we set off!!

We were very tight to the wind after rounding St Mawe’s castle and the chop on the Roads was as I’d expected.. washing the decks with every wave.. We bounced our way across towards falmouth with me telling Adam to go below or he’d get very wet.. I was prepared and with the next wave saturating him he eventually went below.. I sailed as tight to the wind as I could to keep a good tack on and get us down the Carrick roads as quickly and easily as possible..

Not a lot of chance for Photographs apart from Adam and leanne keeping each other amused watching me taking a soaking all the way down past Mylor..

Safely back on the Moorings in shelter from the NW wind  we dried out, secured the boat and set off ashore having had a thoroughly enjoyable(if not very tiring) Day..

M

Well thankfully they got that one wrong… The forecast said rain rain wind and rain yet I sat at my desk looking out at Glorious sunshine.. windy yes but no sign of any more rain just yet, so I made a decision to go to the boat…
Well if all else failed I needed to fit a new bow roller so we could lay to a pontoon and fix that up the river.
It did cloud a bit on our way to falmouth but by the time we arrived at Loe beach the sun came out and we loaded the tender and headed out to the boat..

It was a fair bit choppy as we tried to clamber aboard and I did notice it’s getting harder and harder for Leanne to swing over the Push pit .. might need to start thinking about a bosun’s chair lol…

We pulled off the mooring under engine and headed for the channel marker… there was a good wind so I pulled the Genoa out about two thirds and immediately felt the pull so was able to turn off the engine and we sailed up the carrick roads freely and at a nice pace without too much strain..

Knowing there were gale forecasts for later (and being caught out before), I decided to make sure we weren’t too far away from the moorings so after a nice sail up to St Just in Roseland we turned the boat and tacked nicely all the way back down towards Trellissick and Channals Creek.

Panacea was sailing beautifully up the roads and I have to admit the two foot itus we all get when sailing boats turned into a twenty foot itus and I looked at what would be my ideal boat as she sailed by.. Maybe a motor sailor would be more suited tho truthfully

Still it’s always good to dream but I have to say.. My lady Emily has never let me down and I do so enjoy sailing her… what a shame we can’t just expand the windows and lengthen the cabin.. I’d be more than happy

Lady Emily on the Carrick Roads - Image courtesy of Phil Biggs

We rounded the channel buoy by Channals creek and managed to sail across the bottom of the river before starting to lose the wind.. There was a nice old Lugger anchored there, just off Turnaware point out of the wind.. couldn’t see her name or any flag but I had notice a lugger heading in from Finland on the AIS earlier and wondered if she might be the one… though I think it may have been a bigger one than this..

There was also a lovely French Yacht anchored there just off the bow of the Lugger… now that is a yacht.. massive Bow sprit and just an all round beautiful Boat… Not in my lifetime … ah well!

We finally dropped the sails and motored up the river… I took advantage to pass over the tiller and go up to the bow to remove the old roller. Managed that without errors or losing anything in the river but found that the new Bow roller.. (an excellent piece of engineering in Brass.. Many thanks Michael) was fractionally too wide.. I’d measured the top of the bow roller frame without realising it stepped out by about 1/8th of an inch lower down where the roller sat..  Thankfully I had a good file with me so we decided to anchor off the Ruan Creek as the tide was coming in and I’d get in the dinghy and file the frame to fit the roller.
(Tip and note to self… never again try to file aluminium while at anchor with the ind coming directly at you… still trying to get the filings out of my eyes lol)

After a good filing and a bit of sweat and sore eyes.. The roller dropped into place… Of course not only did I cock the width measurement up I also cocked up the bolt hole size which needed to be around 8mm not 12mm lol.. well she went in and will work for now untill I get chance to bush the hole next visit, which is now looking as though it will be after my chemo next Tuesday at the earliest.

Bow roller fitted and chain running freely over the bow we pulled anchor and headed back out of the creek onto the river… Light was fading and the weather was definitely closing in.. The inshore forecast told us Gale force 8-9 expected soon… Considering (Later) caught me out mid journey from the helford, I decided soon! meant get the F&%k back to the moorings and get off the water

Which is what we did… after trying to sail down the river and finding the wind turning to be a head wind whichever tack I tried.. Eventually we passed turnaware point and the wind came right and we sailed  quickly past pill creek and onto the moorings..
Boat sorted and secured and off the water in good time meant we were loaded and sat in the car when the rain started.. First time for everything.. this time we got it right…. What a good day came out of poor expectations…

Not an awful lot you can do when its like today other than what we did which was to take a ride around and hope the rain will stop now and then to take a few photo’s… Well it didn’t but we did

Splash2 out on the road on a rainy day in West Penwith

First stop was the Harbour in Penzance to drop off a couple of Dolphins for Keith, Decals that is not the fleshy mammals as they wouldn’t sit straight in the Car.. Then after doing the banks etc we took off up through Heamoor past Madron and the Men an Tol  and up to Lanyon Quoit.. It was still raining but I took a chance to get a couple of shots of Lanyon Quoit in the Rain..

Looking over the moor to the old tin mine, just another gravestone to a lost industry

The quoit surrounded by the rich coloured tapestry of the Winter Cornish countryside

Next stop along the road was Carn Galver Mine and for the first time I think ever of us passing the mine the car park in front of the mine was empty affording a once only opportunity to photograph it without cars in the way…

Carn Galver Mine at Rosemergy

The rain got quite heavy again so back into splash2 and off again this time being drawn into Zennor where I decided to visit the mermaid and photograph the Church..

Of course the Mermaid and the legend of her is not the villages only claim to fame, The tinners arms is of course the place where one of my favourite writers and Poets D.H.Lawrence stayed before later renting Higher Tregerthen where he wrote much of Women in Love.. Of course this being at the time of World War 1 and Lawrence’s wife Frieda being German as expected they weren’t too fondly thought of in the village and were eventually told to leave by the local police..

The Tinners Arms where DH Lawrence stayed before renting Higher Tregerthen during World War 1

And so into the Churchyard, so obviously originally Celtic by its circular origin..

Of course one needs to be aware of Low flying saints in the Church itself

The Church Organ stands on the left of the church and framed in the oak panelling by the organ is  a List of Vicars of Zennor from 1271.. the earlier ones being referred to as Sir.. this of course was dropped as their title during the reformation in 1535..

The Church font on the right as you enter the church

Finally we called in at Sennen on our way Home but still the rain didn’t stop so we figured it was time to call it a day and head home for some Tea

Looking up from the Beach towards the slip and the Roundhouse in Sennen, and finally the Gulls feeding just inside the breakwater.. time for home…

Well apologies for being lapse with the posts this year but we’ve been so busy with other things just haven’t had the chance to get much done.. Lots of surf shots this year so far at www.splashography.com  and of course we’ve been getting the van sorted slowly and having the bodywork all tidied up.. However we’ve now progressed to the family vehicle which makes it much easier for me to get around when I’m not in the van (which does around 12mpg) as we’ve invested in a nice big MPV for Leanne which gives us almost the amount of room we have in the van and room to make tea which of course is the most important thing

Well to celebrate we took a drive out yesterday and had lunch at the ‘Naughty but Ice’ in Porthleven and then went for a drive down the lizard peninsula and then across to Helford so here’s a few shots from the trip to see how the car was and I have to say it was a very relaxed and lovely day out together.

Panorama of Porthleven Harbour Mouth made up of 3 images

For those who haven’t eaten at The Naughty but Ice Cafe on the harbourside at Porthleven I can heartily recommend them.. we’ve been going for years now and never once been dissappointed with the food and service there.. Sandwiches are second to none and presented with side salad garnish and Pringles ( which is Leanne’s Delight ).

The Ship inn at Porthleven and Harbour Canons

We left Porthleven and drove out onto the Lizard peninsula and found this nice little wave rolling in to one of the coves by the Lizard and thought a few surfers were missing out on some nice little rides there..

Wait high Clean little wave rolling in

Down on to the Lizard point and we parked by the cafe at the bottom and walked slowly down to the beach..Leanne took an opportunity to catch me in almost the exact same position that we’d photographed my Father in 14 years previously..

Me leaning against the Boats on the slip at Lizard Point

Of course she wasn’t going to get away with that so easily so I told her top go and rest the bump and lean against the Celtic lass…

Leanne and Bump on the Lizard Slipway

I waited a while for this one as I’d seen the prism reflecting the rainbow every now and again as it spun in the lighthouse.. unfortunately it didn’t come out as good as it looked while standing there.. but you get the idea of the revolving prisms

The Lighthouse on the Lizard

Well from there we decided to drive over to the Helford as it had been a while since we were there and as always it never fails to uplift the spirit.. we walked out onto the river bed at Low tide and enjoyed the peaceful tranquility found here at this time of year..

Helford Creek at Low tide

Towards the River Mouth in Low Light

A couple of the local Fishing boats awaiting the tide

And an opportunity for one of those rare moments of a photograph together with the Helford as the Backdrop.. Think I needed a hairdresser though lol

Later…

Thanks for all the support and for taking time to read our blogs and hopefully enjoy our photo’s.. Hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a bright and prosperous New year..

Well first off a big thanks to Kieth Hargreaves for the loan of His D3s and Sigma 50-500VR for me to get some idea’s on comparisons with My D2XS and The non VR sigma 50-500…

To be truthful it would really need a few better scenarios and tests to make true comparisons but from a couple of hours with very little around to shoot anyhow I was happy to confirm my initial thoughts that I was getting pretty damn good results from the equipment I already use but it could be improved in a couple of Area’s..

The main area’s where the D3s had the advantage over the D2XS was in Low Light.. The High ISO Noise reduction on the D2XS doesn’t come anywhere near the quality of the D3s at 1600 ISO.. above that the D2XS is virtually ubnuseable but the D3s carries on Going and images can be shot almost in the dark with very little noise or grain..

For these next comparisons I should really have set up the D3s to my own Custom settings but I didn’t so for colour and sharpness etc its probably a slightly altered comparison.. Plus I shoot Raw and Keith Shoots Jpeg fine so there was a couple of differences created there..

The main comparison here ws that the same quality of image could be acheived Hand held with the Sigma VR as the Non VR on a tripod.. got to be an advantage.. however Personally I prefer the DX sensor which gives that extra zoom for the images I’m taking.. and in many ways that outweighs the full frame distance loss for me..
Both the above shots were taken from exactly the same spot at 500mm you can see how much closer the D2XS gets in to the subject at 500mm (for me personally thats important as I wouldn’t want to carry large prime lenses around to compensate.)

On this next shot I switched lenses and hand held the D2XS with the VR 50-500 on and Tripod mounted the D3S with my Non VR 50-500..

As I mentioned earlier I’m going to ignore the colour and IQ settings as The in camera settings have been highly tweaked in the D2XS whereas the D3s was almost on factory settings.

Again the closeness to the subject was better (for me) on the D2XS than the D3 but the real summary for me was the Sigma VR lens really improved the quality and allowed me to shoot hand held at 1/200th of a second something I could never do with the Non VR .

So from this very short and Very Concise trial my immediate thoughts are I’m more than happy with my D2XS and see no reason to change as I’m happy to switch bodies as the light drops and use the Fuji S3 pro which performs beautifully (though not as Efficiently as the D3s) up to 3200 ISO.

However it has become apparent that I DO need to upgrade my Lens to the VR version as soon as I can afford to..

For Now: Still happy as a P.I.S. with my setup Equipment and results…  

Thanks again Keith!!

To finish off I shot some in flight shots with The D3s and VR lens and they were as good if not slightly better than mine on a tripod

I thought these were probably the best hand held images shot with a 500mm zoom lens that I’d ever taken- the combintation of the D3s and the 50-500 VR at closer range was perfect… I could only get quality like this on a tripod
and finally the low light stuff.. the D3S wins hands down.. shooting at 1600 ISO there was less grain and noise present on the D3s images than on the D2XS at 400ISO

D3s x Sigma 50-500 VR Shot at ISO 1600 1/200th Sec at F8 ev 0

D2XS x Sigma 50-500 non VR shot at ISO 400 1/45th sec @F8 ev-0.3

Conclusion… Dear Santa.. 1x sigma 50-500VR for Nikon please…. Ta!

30 years ago to this very day, one of the most prolific and legendary songwriters of our time was murdered in cold blood outside the Dakota.
At around 10:50 pm on 8 December 1980, as John Lennon and Yoko Ono returned to their New York apartment in The Dakota, Mark David Chapman shot Lennon in the back four times at the entrance to the building. Lennon was taken to the emergency room of nearby Roosevelt Hospital and was pronounced dead on arrival at 11:07 pm.

For me Lennon was one of the greatest inspirational poets of the 20th Century.. he was a great influence on me as a songwriter and his loss was immense.
It all started for me back in the very early 60′s.. my Grandfather was the manager of the Odeon Cinema in Leeds and I was 9 years old.. The Beatles came and did 2 shows that day..
As I remember it My sister and I went to the 5-15 show and stayed with my Grandfather.. after the show we were taken to the dressing room to meet the beatles.. unfortunately there was some ruccus going on in the dressing room.. I remember it being something to do with one beatle dropping a cigarette end into anothers drink..
My Grandfather rushed us away to his office and promised us he would make sure he got us their autographs before they left that evening.. my father picked us up and we were taken home..

Not the original Autographs from that day but this was what they looked like..

I wouldn’t know what happened to those Autographs, but to be truthful it wouldn’t have mattered.. I held them inside me..
Instantly on my arrival home I picked up my guitar and strummed some wierd combinations and concoctions of the songs I’d heard that evening… and there at 9 years old music entered my bloodstream and was to play the biggest part in my life of anything .. for the next 40 years I would play guitar and piano and write and sing my songs on my own, with bands and many other musicians and throughout that career one influence was never far from my record decks 8track machines Cassette players and eventually CD & MP3 players.. the only other influence that ever came close to that was from Bob Dylan…

It took me through a lifetime and hearing the news on the evening of the 8th December in 1980 left me devastated.. I sat in a corner with my Guitar in darkness and remember singing Imagine with tears streaming down my face… working Class hero, woman and I’m almost certain I sang myself into a sleep state that night…
Those influences and inspirations ran so deep.. I’d just bought Double Fantasy.. and as most Lennon fans did at the time skipped the ONO tracks and felt every word of Johns songs.. then after his death there seemed to be such an empty space… I don’t think I played the album for a long long time after
I met my Wife Leanne through my music, whilst playing here in Cornwall at the Old Success, the First and Last inn and Lands End Hotel while she was holidaying here..
Our Love was scorned at first because of the age difference she was 19 and I was 41 but it was a love that ran very deep and was to prove so strong it would be the only thing to carry me through the worst years of my life.
I was diagnosed with Severe aggressive rheumatoid Arthritis which attacked 86% of my Joints after a spider bite caused Septic Arthritis to my left shoulder.. In a dramatic downward spiral that left me totally disabled and 100% reliant on the love and care of my beautiful wife Leanne she nursed me through every day of being unable to do anything at all for myself.. she would wake me dress me help me into my wheelchair, push me around everywhere and drive me to the beach where I could watch the surfers I used to spend my days surfing with before working my evenings in the bars and clubs of Cornwall.. In almost an instant my life fell apart and would never be the same again..

I watched my hands twist, my feet buckle, joints became solid with little or no movement and within the year I suffered a massive heart attack which almost cost me my life… sometimes in those ensuing months I admit to having wished it had have been fatal… to be unable to do anything at all and to sit in a wheelchair and watch the love of my life struggle day in day out to help me just to function was bringing me more pain than the Whole of my illnesses put together..
Music was gone from my hands, but never from my heart and in my low times i’d hum songs of inspiration in my head one of which was Woman .. ‘I can hardly express..   after all I’m forever in your debt’ .. and then I was given anti TNF treatment which slowly built me back up.. with the love and help of my wife and the Heart and rheumatology and respiratory teams of  Cornwalls Hospitals they got me back on my feet and slowly I began to walk again..
And so it was I celebrated my life again and shared it with Leanne once again I could hold her walk with her (albeit very short walks) and on 2 or 3 occasions even managed to pick up a guitar and almost play it to her while tears fell from her eyes….
Though we struggled and many times felt our hearts breaking with the pressures of illness and disability and misfortunes thrown upon us, we still smiled.. we still felt happiness together and we have come through the worst of those years hopefully with the help of some of the most wonderful friends we could ever wish for we have now entered another phase of our lives and a dream that could only ever be a dream finally materialised when Leanne announced she was carrying my Baby last month…
Since being Vasectomised after 4 children with my first wife I’d had a reversal which failed due to the production of antibodies which killed any live sperm.
So from the day of meeting Leanne to a few weeks ago the idea of children was one that could not, and  never was even contemplated.. it wasn’t possible..

The latest treatment for my illnesses is a form of Chemotherapy used in Lymphatic cancer which depletes the B cells and suppresses the immune system to prevent it attacking the body Joints and organs.. unbeknown to us it also depleted the antibodies and they were no longer killing the live sperm.. so 15 years into our relationship we were suddenly blessed with a miracle of life.. and with all grace and favour  Leanne will give Birth to our child in the early part of July 2011.

So on this special anniversary.. on the day that one of my greatest inspirers would have turned 70 years as we celebrate the life of a legend in John Lennon.. we also have a very special celebration of life ourselves, in the life of a child growing inside my beautiful loving wife.. What more could I ask for.. I feel a completeness ..

A celebration of Life at 7 weeks and 3 days