Inner Solace

New toy arrived yesterday.  And it took only 6 of the estimated 7-10 days.

I’ve taken a couple sample shots with the 18-70 and my Minolta 50 prime, but haven’t tried the longer 55-200 yet.  So far I am loving my 50 prime with the 2x tele-converter.

Now to find a suitably inconspicuous camera bag or slim camera case + sizeable handbag that I can take with me travelling so that I don’t look like I’m packing gear.

“ickle and Lardee’s Grand Adventure” Book (via Inhae Lee)

Just bought this on a whim. :)

Gwyneth’s Molten Chocolate Cakes with my awesome squid whisk.

I only heard Gwyneth Paltrow had a website recently but only ventured forth when her recipes popped up on one of my numerous RSS feeds. I had no idea the lady cooked/baked.

I’m also hoping this is nom.

Home grown kang kong (in my little row pot on the balcony) in my spanking new Scanpan wok. <3

After two months (o m g I don’t know if surface mail is really worth the savings…) my Beseler drum has finally arrived from Canada! *dance*

But but… I haven’t got the chemicals to do any developing, and I don’t know if I’ll have time to pick some up tomorrow after moving more stuff from my old place. And if I can’t, it’ll be another week before I get another opportunity.  Tragedy.

Oh well… I suppose another week after two months isn’t going to hurt… *sniff*

My partially deconstructed Bulldog.  Which I painted a lovely matte black.  The mdf split when I attached parts using the laser cut pilot holes, so I had to take the lens panel and the ground glass clips (at the rear) off to superglue the wood to reinforce it before I reattach them.

Chris said I shouldn’t unscrew the parts, but they’re meant to be loose enough to move and I didn’t want to get superglue on them by accident.

But first, buy superglue.

And I was so close to finishing too. I’d have been done days ago if the mdf hadn’t split. *cry*

Graflex Speed Graphic 4x5 (via ecaloshay)

My new baby. Just picked it up today.

It came with a Kodak Ektar 127mm f/4.7 lens which has a manufacture date of 1952.  The camera itself has had the serial plate removed and has evidence of parts being painted black. Apparently this means it was used during the war.  Can’t wait to learn more about this camera… Oh and learn to use it too.

le creuset 6 piece set (via ecaloshay)

Only $43 with my credit card reward points[1]!

[1] Yes, I did the calculations. Valuing reward points based on the number of points required to purchase a $200 David Jones voucher, it worked out much cheaper to use the points even with the extra money on top[2]. :P

[2] Incidentally, it’s more expensive to use all points to buy something rather than use a combination of points + pay.

New toy just arrived[1]. Oh happy day!

Slow cooked foods here I come!

[1] Okay, yes I ordered it online. No, not because I’m slack, but because I couldn’t find anywhere in town that had it or could order it for me.