If it is Saturday, then it must be about food /  by Dave Hileman

My Dearest Readers,

Welcome back to the fortnight review here in these United States of both food and culture. 

We start with a merging of both - the culture and food, at least at this location in Tennessee. I am extrapolating that the same is relatively true in other portions of the USA. I will explore two of those areas in the next three weeks and will provide an update if needed. But for this moment, let me say that grocery stores are huge. Massive, like the heat scale for this burg, it exceeds the planned markings on the scale. Let me start at the start. The lass offered to take me with her to the grocery store, unexplainably, the lad showed up as well. The lass had a list, which is a bright thing to do. But when we arrived at this hulking city block of a building, the list became a necessity if one was to extricate oneself by the end of the day. The rows were as long as a football field, real football as played in the UK. And often just a few types of food on an aisle. One aisle was devoted entirely to crackers and "cookies" (ridiculous American word for what is properly a "biscuit."  But in the U.S. a biscuit is a soft, chewy mass of muffin, slathered with butter or gravy, served hot, mind you. The lass loves them. The lad turns up his nose. But I digress...) Another aisle was set aside for sodas. The variety within the categories boggles the mind.  One hundred varieties of "cookies." Another hundred of sodas. How can one ever choose? I see why the lass carries a list. I saw aisles numbering in the 30’s and beyond. The meat counter stretched so far we had to stop and snack to be able to complete the journey. I thought, well, this is a fairly large town, most people must shop here. NO. There are a score or more of these food palaces within a mile or three of this one. What excess. The greengrocery itself was larger than the store I purchased from in Scotland. There was even a wine bar with people sitting on stools in the middle of the store sipping wine. Jinks! And the walking. I must say that by the time we were heading back to the car, how we remembered where we parked I will never know, I was fair puckled! Now the lad had a different approach, that is not news, I expect, for my loyal readers. He wandered to and fro, appearing from who knows where with occasional offerings, such as a jar of mustard when we have six in the pantry already and always ice cream, to put in the basket. Which by the way, would hold sufficient food for a small nation. But I did see his value; he did carry many of the bags. Good to see some usefulness. Speaking of bags, the store provided new ones and even popped the groceries into the bag for you. Jinks again. 

Well though the idea of this store has worn me to a frazzle, I will provide a glimpse into the food of the past 14 days. We ate at home mostly and avoided the dreaded vulture stands along the highways. The lass is a fine cook and we enjoyed several nice meals, well presented too. It is true that the breakfast is a bit repetitious and no “full Scottish fare” to be found but I find it acceptable. Lunch is simply not satisfying. A bit of cracker, a scrap of apple and a dollop of peanut butter or a minuscule cheese bit from the ice box is a “good” lunch here. Not sure if this is just this household or if it is a national trend. Yet the evening meal is unfailingly excellent. We ate pasta, chicken prepared in delightful manners, pork with apricot sauce and so much more. Mmmmm.

The lass and lad chose one day to ride in the countryside on bicycles with another couple. I chose to soar high above and must confess that I enjoyed the consternation my appearance caused the local twitter crews. We then ate at a place nearby called Peaceful Side Social Brewery http:peacefulsidesocial.com A very nice al fresco luncheon with fine pizza (the lad ate a sandwich - I am justly worried about him) but it turned out that it was also the main meal. So even when there is a proper lunch, then tea is sacrificed. Absurd! But life goes on and I shall report here again in a mere 14 days. I remain,

Your humble servant, 

Respectfully submitted, 

Miss Rowena Brambleglen

Deconstructed Potato Salad

Pizza from the Social

Chicken Thighs with Corn and Califlower

Blueberry Coffee Cake

Pork with apricot sauce

The riders (and Moby the official bear scarer)

Winged Things Week .4 /  by Dave Hileman

And my favorite of the birds on the trip. It did not count on the “list” because it is not a wild bird but what a beauty. We were watching a falconer show how he worked with his birds and how they hunted to provide food for the owners. And most of the time the birds would fly past at amazing speeds and I got a few nice photos but then, one time this falcon flew straight toward me moving about 50 mph and just before he lifted up I got this shot. Great memory of a morning in Scotland.

Winged Things Week .3 /  by Dave Hileman

Well, what have we here? It appears to be a European Jackdaw. Never even heard of such a bird until I looked this one up. Common in Scotland and other parts of Europe. This one was walking around the sea wall at Inveraray.

Winged Things Week .2 /  by Dave Hileman

I heard these birds several times (according to my Merlin app) but this is the only one I saw and it did not stay put long, I saw it land, hit the shutter and it was gone instantly. I was on 4 frames per second and only got one with the bird! So enjoy the European Robin. (Not Christopher)

Winged Things Week /  by Dave Hileman

Does this mean we get to see dragons? Or bats? Or is it just a sneaky way to announce a BIRD WEEK. Stay tuned to find out.

This bird is a European Goldfinch that I photographed in Scotland. It is prettier than the American version, or at least I think so. Maybe it is the kilt.

If it is Saturday, it must be about food. Poor Jill! /  by Dave Hileman

We recently celebrated our first anniversary, nice meals, an excellent play, beautiful drive and picnic on the Blue Ridge, historic hotel, etc. But day one of year two for Jill, I took her to Skeeters. Yup, a hot dog shop in downtown Wytheville, Virginia. So from the heights of farm to table cuisine perfectly prepared and served, to Skeeters dogs in 12 hours. What a guy. I hope she stays.

Actually, this was fun, and both Jill and I were delighted as the hot dogs were perfect and the ambiance, sweet. Highly recommend, just not FOR your anniversary regardless of number. Skeeters, for more information about this 100 year old restaurant: http://www.skeetershotdogs.com

Before and After .3 /  by Dave Hileman

These AI functions are smart and getting smarter. But they are not a substitute for you. This is a quick snap I made in Burnsville, NC of a sign. Note the extensive wires in the photo. ON 1 has a delete wires section. And it did a good job of the wires. But, it also removed the smile from the girls face and the ribbon trim. I did not notice it highlighted that small “wire” but it did and, presto, smile is gone. It is none-destructive so, I could retry or undo and be more careful. Note as well that it did not take the pole. It was not supposed to do so. However, when I just painted over it to remove the pole with little care, it did not do a good job. To really removed it would require sections of the work and, likely, some retouching. I did not do either of those as this it not a photo I really wanted to spend any time on. It did illustrate that you need some care with these tools but the wire removal, fast and very clean.

So, why did I take the photo? Just for the sign, I have a collection of old, unusual, interesting or just caught my attention signs.

untouched photo

Just wires —-oops.

pole with no effort to make it really neat.

This would be the image I was going for with the shot

Here the wire removal tool, used more carefully, produced an acceptable, not perfect, image. It took care of the one that crossed the sign and removed those in the street to the right. You could also, if the photo was really worth the effort, fix the bricks.

Before and After .2 /  by Dave Hileman

In this photo, also in Scotland, of the Eilean Donan Castle I removed some of the people by the same method as yesterday. It is a simple step if it works well. In this case it did. The person on the left side required a bit of touch up on the wall. The lady in the foreground worked very well with the shadow of the wall filled in correctly. I also remembered this time to remove her shadow. I did not remove every person as I did not think the remaining ones were distracting. I did try something I have rarely done and that is a “sky swap” In this case the clear blue sky was changed for a more dramatic effect that I think suited the castle. Or at least I liked it. I think the sky swap was very well done around the edges and between the trees. So, point two of four, sky replacement.

Before and After /  by Dave Hileman

This week I am going to share some of the techniques I am learning to use with my editing software. I will share four different photos that use at least one newer process. Please remember the “I am learning” aspect of this theme. There are lots of subtle adjustments and skills to master to really do a good job and not the least is knowing what needs done for your own vision or enjoyment of the photo. I also tend to overdo so I am also trying - with limited success, to reduce some of my more exuberant efforts. The software I use is ON 1 Photo Raw 2025. As I have shared before, that this is the most catchy name they could come up with after years of research is a bit worrisome for a creative company:). I like the format, the company does what they say they will do (not all of them fit that category), it is full featured along with a robust way to catalog your photos, and it is fairly priced. I subscribe to a second tier that provides additional learning videos and they give something as a bonus each month. ON 1 does far more than I know how to use but I am whittling that list down. I also follow two YouTube fellows, Free Will Photos is a prolific poster and careful with his instructional work. I use him a lot. https://www.youtube.com/@FreeWillPhotos The second guide I use is Scott Davenport https://www.youtube.com/@ScottDavenport who provides a very measured approach with an easy to listen to manner. Coupled with the videos from ON 1, I can spent a lot of time just learning about the best practices and the myriad of ways to accomplish what you wish in a photo.

Here is the first of the photos with the after, then before shot. The photo is from the Isle of Iona in Scotland and is the front of the 12th century cathedral. i did some basic work on the facade of the building to bring out a bit more detail in the shadows but the new technique is the “generative erase.” Here you highlight what you would like removed, four people in this case, and then AI does something with a wand, rabbits and a hat and, presto, they are gone and the area behind filled in appropriately. I had to do this a second time because I forgot the shadow of the person on the left that crossed the path. Overall, It did a nice job.

/  by Dave Hileman

My Dearest Readers

This has been a most challenging period that had extreme heat, a near arrest, more hours in a car, some exotic food and a grand celebration. Whew.

First the heat. My goodness “help ma boab.” I confess I had no idea that it would be this hot. My tail feathers have wilted. I don’t read the fahrenheit scale well but I would guess it has been over 200 celsius. At least. I lay down in the charged cool air and understand fully why the colonies are air conditioned. No one would survive otherwise. And I am told, not sure it is possible, that it gets even hotter.

Second, the lad nearly got arrested for stealing beverages. Well, he ought to have anyway. We stopped at one of those ostensible food places that blot the landscape for a beverage. We sat down inside and drank the cool liquid and then, the lad, went and filled up his cup again with no pretense to actually pay for the drink. I was mortified and more than a little bit frightened as I have seen American TV and the police often shoot miscreants, though on reflection I never did see one gunned down for a beverage. Still a brazen theft that would make one reconsider one’s employment. Of course, I did feel better when the lass did the same, so, perhaps, they bought some esoteric level of cola usage. Yes, I will go with that.

Finally some food. We have eaten in many disparate places. A nice hotel, a barn, a wedding venue, restaurants and, thankfully, a bit here in Tennessee. The hotel was a delightful place that my employers thought very old. Smirk! It only went back to 1833. Good food both for dinner and breakfast. And lots of breakfast, all you could gather. Amazing. Then we ate in a great big barn like affair something called Bar-B-Que. This included a huge pile of shredded pork that you could sauce with any of 6, that is SIX, different bottles of sauce left right at your table. I was appalled at the indifferent way it was presented. No actual silverware, tin sort of plate, big table and yet, I liked it. Please do not report that to the Scottish Restaurant Board. But it was good, very good, nay, great. Maybe the USA is going to be okay. We also had some fine seafood and a delightful pasta. The well presented foods were served to us at 22 Queen and Zynadoa. I don’t understand the fascination of the locals with royalty - I thought they wanted rid of such attachments.

We also got to attend, the lad seemed to have a role in the production, a wedding. The customs were different but even so there was dancing (with odd costumed creatures) toasting, cake and delicious food. That, too, was a great time. Oh, I nearly forgot we also had wha they call a picnic up on hills that look a bit like home, the Blue Ridge, I believe. That was nice too.

So, to recap: Bar-B-Que = good, Weddings = good, nice restaurants = good, picnic = good, heat = not good.

If I survive and if the lad is not arrested, I will be back in two weeks with more food reporting in the meanwhile, I remain,

Your humble servant, 

Respectfully submitted, 

Miss Rowena Brambleglen

A happy anniversary lunch on the Skyline Drive.