August Bank Holiday, CT scan news and Leica...

And I am considering putting the central heating on. What a lousy year this has been for weather - a couple of nice weeks in April and that's your lot.

Oh well.

I didn't print anything large for the living room chimney breast - we bought a third Roy Alexander to go there instead and I really must get round to hanging it one of these days...

I had the CT scan at the end of July and had to wait for a couple of weeks, as always, for the result. One can rest assured that if you arrive in A&E after an accident and need one, they will  get round to looking that the results a bit more quickly than they did mine, which is obviously just a routine. That said, it is something that you would prefer to be told about as soon as possible.

I am pleased to say that when looked at by my haematologist and subsequently by the radiologist, neither saw anything that they were concerned about. I can therefore head off into "watch and wait" mode with some confidence, so that's very good news. I feel perfectly well and wouldn't know that there was anything wrong with me if I didn't already know - if that makes sense. Long may this state of hiatus continue.

I haven't taken many photographs recently, partly because of the weather, but partly because Ann has been working a lot of weekends since going "semi-retired" as I have been cruel enough to describe it. She has given up the Sister's role and reduced her hours, meaning that she now only works four days a week - of which two seem to be regularly at the weekend. She has a couple of nights coming up in the next month, which will be a bit of a shock to the system. I was going to go to the Matthew Street Festival in Liverpool this weekend, but the rain forced that off the streets today, which is a pity. I am sure I will get back into the swing of things soon enough.

The wedding plans seem to be going OK - apart from the "finding the dress for the groom's mother" bit... A concerted effort may be required in the next couple of weeks. On a similar note, I did enquire about a made to measure suit at Gieves and Hawkes on Saturday, but to be honest, it's very difficult to justify the expense, even for your only son's wedding! I don't know when else I would wear such an expensive suit - certainly not to the office. I will have to keep looking further and a trip to London for both of us might be in order.

Everything is set for the trip to Photokina - I have been invited as a guest to Leica's press party on the Monday night, so that should be good fun. I will take a blank SD card with me should there be an opportunity to play with some new toys :-) I am really looking forward to the train journey too and there should be a few people I know in the halls on the Tuesday, so it should be a good couple of days. I just hope that they can get their act together and sort some of their PR out - they appear to have a problem sourcing a component for the M8 camera, last sold in 2009, rendering a fault with that part (the LCD screen on the back of the camera) unrepairable. For a camera to be unrepairable after only three years really is not great, so I hope that they can get their act together soon, as the publicity isn't doing them any favours. The internet forums have been going 15 to the dozen, as one would expect when this particular rumour surfaced a couple of days ago. Makes me glad that I haven't taken the plunge with a digital M camera as yet - I am still not convinced that they are ready  for my money...

I haven't quite got into a "Looking forward to Copenhagen" mood yet, (that will come next month I'm sure), but we also have another trip to Venice to look forward to in the Spring. We had a lovely time there for the same week a few years ago so fingers crossed for similar weather. We are staying at The Palazzo Stern this time though, closer to the Accademia bridge, which is great because it's closer to one of the decent value restaurants we have found on previous trips. It's been recommended by a couple of friends whose opinion we trust, so it should be fine.

I do have one photography project in mind. The construction projects that I have been working on for six years are finally coming to fruition and should be on site in October and November. The highways works have already commenced. I am thinking that a photographic record of these schemes and some of the people working on them, might be an interesting idea. Indeed, if I can pull it off, it might make an interesting gift - I have already been thinking about putting a book together for the Library in town. Let's see how we get on.