Say 'cheese'.

Last Autumn I mumbled something about being out in the car and cursing the fact that I didn't have my camera with me, particularly on my trips over the Dava Moor to Grantown-on-Spey where the autumnal colours were spectacular.
Not long after that Jane and I were riding the ponies through Culbin Forest, a 9-mile wide stretch of pristine forest between Nairn and Findhorn Bay, that lies a mile north, between our house and the sea. As usual, Jane was riding Dave (she only bought him because he was called 'Dave'), a part-bred Arab, and I was riding Lachie, our Highland pony (because he has sturdy little legs and take my weight). Although Jane is always out on the ponies, come rain or shine, I have to confess I don't join her as much as I should. Therefore, as we came out of the forest, and the gentle waves of the Moray Firth lay ahead, I took a few photos of Jane and Dave, then passed the camera to her so that she could capture this rare moment of me riding Lachie. Unfortunately, just as I passed the camera to her, a wave crashed on the shore causing Lachie to spook a little and the camera dropped to the floor. Zut alors, caramba and dagnabbit!
I didn't get around to replacing that camera and settled for taking the odd photo with my mobile phone, a phone so old that I have to ask people to sit still for three minutes during exposure. There was no rush to replace the camera, even when everyone I know on Facebook and Twitter seemed to be replacing their profile pictures daily (apart from Helen, who, like me, thinks that a 30+ year-old photo of half of her face will suffice). Even with this blog, I have been quite content to pilfer, pillage, plunder and purloin various images from the web to add a dash of colour to these pages (including the photos in this post).

Then, last week, I was driving along the snaking A835, approaching Loch Glascarnoch. It was stereotypical Highland weather, bright sunshine and showers, causing a vivid double rainbow. (Ever wondered why the sky is lightest beneath the primary rainbow and darkest between primary and secondary rainbows - an area called Alexander's Dark Band, in honor of Alexander of Aphrodisias who discussed it some 1800 years ago? Click here to find out). It was a scene crying out for a camera.

As you may know, I have dabbled in creating my own website during the last eighteen months. Recently I managed to secure the domain name 'Farle.co.uk' for free, but had difficulties getting the layout I wanted. Finally, I decided to buy a website package that would allow me to do what I wanted with the pages. I think the name (Farledrivingschool) is a wee bit long-winded, but it has been (comparatively) easy for me to set up. It is far from finished yet, but I tinker with it from time to time and, one day, I will finish it.
The last couple of days I have even managed to add a facility for people to buy lessons online. Jane was very dubious about this and I guess I was not expecting a deluge of new customers as a result. Therefore, I was thrilled to receive an email this morning, informing me that someone (new) had paid, via PayPal, for a block of ten hours through my website. I must reassure you that PayPal is not linked in any way with the current visit of the Pope.
One thing that the website lacks (apart from 'professionalism', 'clarity', 'interest' and 'coherence') is pretty pictures. That settled it; I had to invest in a camera. I read all the reviews, changed my mind, re-read all the reviews and finally plumped for a Panasonic Lumix TZ8. A lot cheaper than my old Minolta SLR, but, blimey, it has ten times as many features and modes. I started reading the manual, but fell asleep somewhere around page 527.
Of course, just when I am eager to rush out and take glorious photo after glorious photo, the weather has gone from dull to duller. There are a couple of photogenic puddles outside I could practice on, but I am going to be patient and wait for optimum light conditions before creating my photo masterpieces. Just don't hold your breath.