I bought two items yesterday (it doesn’t matter what) and honestly intended writing about them on the blog and the Numismatic Society Facebook page. However, as usual, both of them, when I sit doen and think, need other things photographing as part of tyhe article. Frustratingly I cannot find either of the other pieces that I need. I may have some of the pictures I need on camera card, but finding them will involve sifting through thousands of images on half a dozen cards and being lucky. Both articles, as a result, will be delayed. This is why I don’t get stuff done.

However, as I wrote those words an idea seized me. I now have one of the extra items I require. No all I need is information and inspiration. I have Wikipedia for the former and hope that my new sense of urgency will see me through with the other.

Blue Iris

Despite this stroke of luck I still have a long-running problem. I write about things rather than people and events, and I need to own them, and know where they are, I have been thinking about the ownership aspect, because I have been noticing more and more articles written by people who have borrowed the items to photograph. I actually saw an article where the credits indicated that two dealers had provided all the the photographs, and a small booklet, where all the (impressive) illustrations came from a museum collection. If only I’d thought of this years ago. Of course, “years ago” does take us into the days of film cameras and developing. That was a whole different ball game. In those days dealer’s lists rarely had photographs and auction catalogues had few illustrations (which were all paid for by the vendors). Even eBay, in the early days, had fewer photos, and the ones you used (mainly scanned rather than photographed) had to be uploaded using File Transfer Protocol rather than by today’s drag and drop method.

I remember the time consuming struggle to upload a day’s photographs, and the nervousness at whether it was going to go wrong (again!) and leave you with hours of remedial work on top of all the initial work.

The Good Old Days, as I often have cause to reflect, would be unrecognisable to anyone under the age of forty. I wonder what Jane Austen would have made of it.

Pictures are from past Mays.

Alyssum – grows like a weed and comes back every year. My kind of plant.