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This page is full of various items, such as hobbies, software, and interesting web sites found to date.
We have two children, both now grown up, and four wonderful grandchildren. But we decided to take any pictures off the Internet, which is a shame, but probably for the best.
We
couldn't possibly have a web site without a mention of Lucy, our
German Shepherd Dog. We have had GSD's for the past 37 years and
consider them gentle, affectionate, loyal and intelligent. Lucy (now
aged 13) can however be a real pain when she meets a dog she doesn't
know. She makes a terrible show of barking and aggression, but
usually backs away if challenged. We have tried everything, but
cannot get her to be sociable with her own kind, although she is
great with people, and especially children. Her own unique speciality
is that when we go for walks she picks up and carries two stones in
her mouth at the same time. See the picture with the smaller stone
above the large one!!
Lucy is short haired and jet black, thus the name Black Lucy Fur!
The picture below is Amy, our previous long-haired GSD, who had no faults whatsoever.
About all of our dogs
Hover on the named link to see picture and click to read details.
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[Tanya] |
[Lara] |
[Zoe] |
[Amy] |
[Lucy] |
Read more about the lives all of our dogs on this link.
Hobbies
We
have a number of interests, including walking the local New Forest
near where we live. Link
to Forest Scenes. Penny is keen on
garden and house design, art and wild-life. John likes photography
and takes video films of family, weddings and holidays. We are keen
on travel, but this is a luxury.
Our computers
We joined the computer set in March 2000 and are still learning. We have a super standard set up, with scanner, DVD writer, printer, speakers, etc.
In
2005 we have moved onto an Hewlett Packard Media Center computer
with Windows XP and Media. We use this in our lounge, in conjunction
with our television. It is useful for the capture and editing of
video footage, and excellent for replaying live tv as you view it.
Also slide shows are fantastic, with panning etc of the slides. We
have also purchased an Acer laptop, mainly for business use.
So with 3 computers, all linked to a wireless network, on broadband, we are right up with the techies!!
We have also now have Cannon Ixus 500 and Canon Ixus "v" digital cameras, which are superb and these now complete all the computer and camera / video equipment we could possibly want.
The Ixus cameras are very compact and work fine on full auto, so are ideal for sticking in a pocket and get taken where other cameras would be an encumbrance. I have loads of Compact Flash cards and spare batteries for each camera. The beauty is that the flash cards and batteries are interchangeable between the cameras, so I never run out of space or power. The definition is excellent on both cameras and overall quality suits me fine, especially when reducing size for Internet use. Photos of Lyndhurst, New Forest Walks and our USA 2002 Holiday and Alaska 2003 Holiday and USA 2004 Holiday were all taken with the Ixus V and our USA 2005 Holiday with the Ixus 500. I am very pleased with the results.
Software purchased so far:
Windows XP, Media Center, Windows 98 with Word and Excel / Windows ME on laptop
Microsoft Encarta 2000 The Encyclopedia, World Atlas and Dictionary - all excellent (seldom used!)
Studio DC10 Plus This allows capture and editing of videos. I find the programs excellent, although on occasions it just crashes, usually after I have pressed the "delete" button to remove a section of footage. However, the programs allow me to insert titles, add fades and wipes, add soundtracks and music from CD's and edit the video itself accurately to one frame. When you buy the software you get a card to install on your computer which provides VHS-S and VHS input and outputs. I also have a copy of Fast Movie Processor, which can be obtained as freeware from www.gromada.com, providing you are not using it commercially. This enables some brilliant effects, such as slow-motions, reverse mode, and lots of others to liven up your video footage.
Voice Express Standard The software that allows you to dictate directly onto your word processor using voice recognition. In practice a waste of money as we never use it, although the microphone that came with it has been useful for voice-overs on the video editing!
National Geographic Trip Planner Platinum 2000 USA and Canada. This is a great package for planning any trip to the USA or Canada. You also get with the package a street guide as well, plus a year's National Geographic Magazine on CD ROM. Even if you aren't going to go on holiday, it gives you masses of video clips and photos and travel information. We used it to plan our 2002 visit to the Grand Circle area of the USA, over 19 days and 2,800 miles! It provided a detailed route instruction and maps, with lots of local info, making our holiday that much more organised and interesting. In 2004 we again used the trip planner to travel nearly 4,000 miles around the western states of the USA.
Lots of childrens' software The Three Little Pigs is a fantastic story and great fun (and my favourite when told by the Wolf!). We also have Little Red Riding Hood, Blinky Bill's Extraordinary Balloon Adventure, Blinkey Bill and the Magician, Blinkey Bill's Ghost Cave, Learning Land at The Funfair, Learning Ladder, Learn with the Smurfs, Just Grandma and Me, Barbie as Rapunzel, Disney Infants with Winny the Pooh and more coming every day! Our grandchildren play with these when they can grapple the computer from their grandparents!
web page 5.0 Construction Kit, program Web Express 3.0, to create our own web pages. As it cost less than £25, it was terrific value. It was fairly straight-forward, and we are pleased with the results. All pages on this site are created in Web Express. Link to www.mvd.com This has an excellent problems forum and enables the novice to pick up some great ideas. My site is updated most days, usually with Thought of the Day, but also with little subtle changes and hopefully improvements. If you are thinking of developing your own site, then I thoroughly recommend Web Express, now available in version 4.
We have visited some interesting and fascinating sites.
Penny's favourite was www.africam.com This site had a number of live camcorders taking pictures of African wild-life and some of the resultant pics were superb. Unfortunately the site has now closed, but hopefully will open up again soon. In the meantime she visits http://www.orca-live.net to see the whales off the coast of Canada.
www.andyrouse.co.uk
exhibits breathtaking photos of wild-life, like this tiger in the snow.
Andy Rouse is a professional photographer, with a TV series on
Channel 5. He seems to be a really great guy as well, with a warped
sense of humour - he supports West Ham! Penny found this site from a
birthday card picture of a Grizzly Bear. A wide range of subjects,
including polar bears, hares, owls and elephants.
www.george.shilling.com is the handywork of my cousin George, who is in the music business. This site also gives a number of pictures of our family history. Thanks also to George for support and help in the early development of our site.
www.pagesbyjustme.com is a site run by Laura, containing Pool and Lake Menu Applets, and I have used some of these effects on this site, thanks to her help and encouragement. She has many great pictures, enhanced by the Pool and Lake effects.