At present, Tigger is working on Wednesday to Friday each week but I mustn’t grumble because that leaves us four days each week to do whatever we choose (subject to lockdown restrictions, of course). Yesterday was wet and I stayed at home so I felt that today, I must make the effort to go out.

Looking back in Pentonville Road

Here I am in Pentonville Road with a police vehicle, siren blaring, rushing down the hill towards me. You can see what the weather is like, overcast and dull. On the positive side, the temperature has risen to a heady 12°C!

Joseph Grimaldi Park

I first called in at Joseph Grimaldi Park. There was once a chapel here (replaced by a modern building) and this was its burial ground. Most of the gravestones have been moved to the perimeter and the area landscaped as a park. One grave still remains, however.

Grave of Joseph Grimaldi

It is the grave of Joseph Grimaldi (1778-1837), actor, comedian and often dubbed “the father of modern clowning”. He lived in Islington and performed at the Sadlers Wells Theatre (which he eventually bought) and other London theatres. As you can see by the decoration, his grave is still visited by admirers.

Rodney Street – unprepossessing

I set off along the road that runs beside the park, called Rodney Street in honour of Admiral George Brydges Rodney (1718-92). It is not a very interesting or attractive street, being lined with nondescript modern buildings.

Reflections

It must have rained heavily in the night, to judge from the damp conditions and the large puddles such as this one. I hoped I would make it home without being caught in the rain.

The sun shines

Just then, as if in answer to my wishes, the sun started to shine! Even this dull street became more cheerful in the sunshine.

A sight of the canal

Rodney Street runs into Muriel Street. This seems not to be named after anyone in particular, but belongs to a group of local streets bearing girls’ names. I had come here to visit the Regent’s Canal and now had my first glimpse of it, albeit across a narrow garden and its wire fence.

Two paths

Nearby is a gateway that leads to here, where there are two paths. The one on the left is obviously the one that leads down to the canal. I’ll explore the other one later.

Path with shallow steps

The path to the canal is composed of wide, shallow steps. They have collected a fair amount of dirt and are wet from the overnight rain and slippery as a result. I descend carefully, sliding my hand along the rail… just in case!

Beside the canal

Here I am, on the tow path beside the canal. In times gone by, the barges plying these waters would be carrying merchandise, perhaps from the London Docks, to various destinations inland. Those times are long gone. These days the barges are mostly residential, permanently moored in one place though some barge owners follow a more nomadic lifestyle.

The Islington Tunnel

This is what I had come to see and to show you. It’s an entrance (or exit) of the Islington Tunnel. Unfortunately, it is in deep shade at the moment of the photo and hard to see. I have written about this tunnel before and photographed the Angel entrance (for example, see Duncan Terrace and Regent’s Canal) and am now showing you the “other” end.

In the days of horse-drawn barges, when a barge had to negotiate the Tunnel, the horses would have to be uncoupled and walked through the streets of Islington to meet the barge at the other end. The bargees had to push the barge through the Tunnel, all 960 yards, by pushing against the walls with their feet. A steam tug, capable of pulling several barges at the same time, was introduced later and continued in service until the 1830s, by which time most barges had their own engines.

Pedestrians and cyclists in the tow path

The modern obsession with cycling has resulted in cyclists being permitted to ride on canal tow paths. Notices clearly say that pedestrians have priority and that cyclists must pass people slowly and leave space. Do cyclist do this? Many do not and neither warn of their presence or take sufficient care. (See above.) This is a particular nuisance for people like me with hearing loss who may not hear a cyclist approaching from behind.

The view from Thornhill Bridge

I walked along the tow path to Thornhill Bridge and went up onto it. I was hoping to have a view through the tunnel and see daylight at the other end. Perhaps the bridge was too high up because I was unable to see the proverbial “light at the end of the tunnel”!

Thornhill Bridge Community Garden

At one end of the bridge is a community garden. I was surprised to see the gate open as they are usually kept closed when no one is in attendance.

Colourful wall paintings

There were colourful paintings on a wall overlooking the garden and…

A crocodile bench

…a bench on springs, painted to look like a crocodile!

The upper path

To start back, I chose to take the upper path, to see what it is like. It is quite pleasant and I was only sorry it wasn’t a longer walk.

Rebel tree

I admired this tree, standing, like a rebel, right on the path. In wish it many years a healthy life. Perhaps I’ll come back sometimes to see how it is faring.

Bee hive but no one at home

In the strip garden between the parapet and the street I noticed this bee hive but there appeared to be no one at home – unless they were hibernating. Perhaps it will serve as a “bug hotel” instead.

The rest of the return journey was along Rodney Street and then the main road with nothing that inspired me to take notice or photos.

A familiar view

So to end with is a familiar view that you will have seen many times already, if you follow my blog.

I shall now make a cup of tea and await news of Tigger’s homecoming. In fact, as I was writing that, I received a message on my phone: Tigger is on the bus and homeward bound. Time to boil the kettle and make tea for both of us!

In my post on Sunday, ‘S’ is for snow, not for shopping, I included a video by Tigger, showing snow falling in Pentonville Road. However, I was not very happy with it because videos are hard to handle on WordPress and often display badly. I temporarily replaced it with an animated GIF made from one of my own live photos. I have now restored the video, processed as described below.

Thinking about this problem afterwards, I had an idea. I have already found a good way to display iPhone live photos on the blog by converting them to GIFs (see Live photos on your blog). What if I could convert a video into a GIF? Experience suggests that, if I could, it would display nicely and would loop without any need to click a start button. Is such a conversion possible?

Yes, of course it is! In this age of modern digital technology there exist applications to convert practically any file format into any other. Not only that: there are online sites that perform the conversion free of charge.

I am not going to cite any particular websites for converting files as I am still trying them out. There are plenty of them, though, and they are not hard to find.

My first action, then, was to have the video .mov file converted to GIF. The original .mov was 6,976 KB in size. This is a large file but WordPress had uploaded it without demur. The resulting GIF, however, weighed in at 13,631 KB! What would WordPress think of that?

Not much, apparently. I tried uploading it several times in different ways but it failed each time. WordPress advertises a limit on file size of 1 GB, and GIF I was trying to upload was smaller than that but I still couldn’t persuade WordPress to upload it.

It seemed that my idea was a non-starter…

A couple of days passed. Then I had another idea. (Yes, two ideas in one week! Imagine!) My idea came in the form of a question: does there exist a facility for compressing GIF files? You can guess the answer to that: yes, of course such a facility exists. And there are online sites that will do it free of charge.

I tried one and the resulting compressed GIF was 5,373 KB in size. Surely WordPress would accept that? Yes, of course it did.

What about the quality? Is it good enough to post on the blog? I think so but here it is so that you can judge for yourself (and you can view it in situ in its own post):

Snow in Pentonville Road
Video by Tigger

This video is fairly short. A longer video would of course produce a bigger GIF file, even when compressed, and so there is a limit to the length of video that can be processed in this way.

I don’t expect to be posting many videos on the blog but if one comes along that I really want to include, then this method may offer a way to do it.

Please note that this process is experimental and I offer no guarantees of success. If you try it you do so at your own risk. Always keep separate backup copies of your originals.

There was no sun and no moon visible today, just a cold, grey day overlain with a thick blanket of cloud.

A thick blanket of cloud

According to the Met Office, we were enjoying a sultry 5°C but it didn’t feel like that. There was a mistiness to the air and perhaps because of this it felt frosty cold.

Still bare – the Curvaceous Tree

We saluted the Curvaceous Tree in passing, noting that as yet there is no sign of renewed life. Like most of the trees, it is still deep in winter slumber.

I tried to tell myself that it really wasn’t that cold but I don’t think I was listening. My hands were stinging (I need to find camera-friendly gloves) and I didn’t object to making it a relatively short walk though I tried to mitigate this by walking slowly and stopping often!

Man on the balcony

In Myddelton Square, a movement at first-floor level caught my eye. While these Georgian style houses do have balconies, these are not very wide and are intended, I think, for decoration rather than for standing or sitting on. (Given their age, I would feel somewhat nervous about venturing onto one.) But there was definitely someone on this balcony, busy with something though I couldn’t make out what.

Signs of spring
Photo by Tigger

Tigger spotted that these plants had produced buds, seemingly a sign of impending spring. Perhaps their sheltered position down in the “area” of the house had encouraged them to wake up.

Chadwell Street under cloud

We were walking along a well beaten path that we have travelled so many times before since the outbreak of the pandemic.

“It’s like beating the bounds,” said Tigger.

I agreed. It is familiar territory that we have come to know more intimately than ever before but which I never tire of visiting.

Parakeet in the tree

As we went along, the air was alive with the calls of parakeets. These birds are now everywhere in the UK, having found the place to their taste and settled in. They are surely the most vociferous of local birds, continually calling to one another, whether perched, as here, or flying about in small or large numbers. I know they are invaders and that if they continue to multiply, they will become a problem, but I am rather fond if them and I like to hear and see them, recognisable as they are by their long tail feathers.

Elastic bands

On the railings beside one of the front doors we spotted the unusually placed collection of elastic bands. Post(wo)men in the UK use elastic bands to group letters in convenient bundles and it’s not unusual to find dropped ones in the street or even on your very doorstep. This set is unusual, though. Who left them here and why?

Flat tyre

It’s a peculiarity of Myddelton Square that it has a large number of motorcycles and scooters parked in the corners. I am used to seeing them but in this case there is something slightly awry: the scooter in the middle has a flat tyre. I wonder whether the owner knows about it, otherwise s/he is in for an unpleasant surprise later.

Tree of pigeons

I noticed this tree of pigeons and it struck me as unusual. Feral pigeons seem to prefer flat surfaces like the ground or the heads of statues. Seeing so many gathered together in a tree was odd, especially in a park where there is plenty of open space. I speculate that someone had come by with a dog and this had caused the pigeons to take refuge momentarily in the tree. I don’t know that that is the case, of course, but from previous experience, it seems plausible.

Myddelton’s – our coffee oasis

We came at last to Myddelton’s, where we were of course heading all the time, and claimed our coffees. Once these were in hand, there was nothing for it but to hurry home!

Pennies – retro and “vintage”
Photo by Tigger

This shop, called Pennies, always fascinates me, though I have never been inside. It sells “vintage” items which, I imagine, means things that are of a past era but not quite antiques. Even though the shop is not currently open, because of lockdown, the window display has been rearranged and as I was carrying the coffee, Tigger took the photo for me.

We reached home without more ado and I, for one, was glad to be back in the warm. When I washed my hands, even mildly warm water felt boiling hot!

Sorry, moon, we missed you today. Perhaps we will catch up with you one day soon!

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, you will have noticed that lately I have started adding a few animated pictures. These appear like very short videos, running for about 3 seconds. What are they and how are they produced?

I will start by reminding you that I now do all my blogging on my mobile phone, currently an iPhone 8. This includes writing the text and taking and editing the photos. Having taken a photo, I use the iPhone’s editor to edit it (for example, making it lighter or darker and perhaps cropping it) and then I resize it, using an app called Image Size. I will say more about the reason for resizing later.

In the past, I have mainly used photos in Jpeg format. These, of course, are static photos. The iPhone, however, does provide some other alternatives to Jpegs, including “live photos“.

Let’s first see what live photos are. In the iPhone’s camera app, at the top of the screen are some icons which can be pressed for various functions – see the first image on this page. If you press the icon consisting of a set of concentric rings, it turns yellow, indicating the the live photo function is operating.

When you take a photo with live photo enabled, the phone records what is in front of the lens for a period of 3 seconds, starting 1½ second before you press the shutter release to 1½ second after you have pressed it . It’s important to remember the bit about 1½ before you press the shutter release, otherwise that part of the photo is likely to consist of you raising the camera to take the photo!

Having taken your live photo, you can use the iPhone’s photo editor on it. You can alter the lighting, add contrast, straighten it if it is crooked, and even crop it to bring out details. Despite all this, the “live” function remains intact. The one thing you cannot do is to resize it, using the abovementioned app. If you resize it, it turns into a simple static Jpeg. I will explain later why this may be a problem.

So now you have what amounts to a short – very short – video. What are you going to do with it? If you want to keep it for yourself or send copies (yes, it can be copied in the Photos foldet) to other people to view on their iPhones, then you need do nothing more to it. But what it you want to post it on your WordPress blog?

If you insert a live photo into a blog post, you will discover that this kills it: it becomes a static picture, like any old Jpeg. If you want to preserve the animation, you have to convert it to another format.

One possibility is to convert it into a video. There are several ways of doing this but I am not going to describe them. I don’t like to use videos because they have too many disadvantages which I don’t want to go into here.

Another possibility is to convert your live photo into an animated GIF. I have found this to be the method of choice. Once you have made the GIF, it will display as a looping video – there is no need even to press a launch button.

The iPhone does not have a function to convert photos to GIFs. For that, you need an app. I believe there are several available but the one I use is Lively. You can use it free of charge but in that case it will display its name in large letters at bootom right on your GIF. To remove this, you need to pay a fee of £4.99.

It is very simple to use. Open the app and it will display any live photos currently residing in the Photos file. Select the photo you wish to convert, and this screen will appear:

Press “Export GIF”, to see the following screen:

Press the down-arrow symbol and a notice briefly appears saying that the GIF has been saved. You will find it in the Photos folder.

You can upload the GIF to your blog where it will display nicely as a 3-second animation.

Are there any disadvantages to using live photos in this way? There are two that I have found, one concerning people viewing the blog and one concerning the blogger.

The first is that when you first open a WordPress page containing a live photo/GIF, the latter takes a while to load. While it’s loading, the animation displays slowly and jerkily. An impatient viewer might give up on it before seeing it display properly. However, the delay is fairly short and I think that only a very impatient viewer would give up on it.

The second disadvantage concerns the size of the GIF. If you have a free WordPress blog, as I have, the space available to you for media items is limited. If your blog contains a lot of images, you are very conscious of how quickly that space is eaten up. For that reason, I resize all my photos to the size that they will appear in the post – there’s no advantage to making them any bigger. A normal Jpeg as posted here will weigh in at about 1 megabyte (plus or minus). As noted above, you cannot resize live photos or they will lose their animation. A live photo converted to GIF comes in at about 5 megabytes – equal to 5 ordinary Jpegs – using up your space 5 times as fast, a fact worth bearing in mind.

As long as you don’t consider the extra space usage a problem, then by all means use live photos converted to GIFs for the interest and amusement of your visitors.

Even though we had been out once – to do our shopping – it was such a pleasant day that when, after lunch, Tigger proposed another walk, I was happy to agree.

By the time we made it out, the sun was already low in the sky and its warming effect had dissipated. It felt cold, very cold.

First sight of the moon

Although the sun was now low, it was still brightening the sky which was a beautiful blue, decorated here and there with clouds. The moon was opposite the sun in the sky and shining brightly. It accompanied us – or we accompanied it – throughout our walk. Above is my first photo of the moon. Yes, I know, you can’t see it, because the camera couldn’t distinguish its brightness from the brightness of the sky but, trust me, it is there 🙂

Ice on the pavement

I said earlier that the snow had vanished, though I did say there was some ice on the ground. In Claremont Square, which has sheltered corners because of the hump of the reservoir, ice was more in evidence, as here. In fact, I’m not sure whether it is ice or compacted snow – perhaps snow that has partially melted and frozen again overnight.

Snow on the reservoir

The sloping sides of the reservoir are planted with grass. On the grass were patches of what could only be snow, showing that my statement this morning that the snow had all gone was incorrect. As long as it stays here, though, literally behind bars, I don’t mind it!

The moon above houses

There! This time you can see the moon. The sky had darkened enough that the camera could distinguish the moon from the background.

Moon and crow
Photo by Tigger

Below the moon in my photo, if you look carefully, you can see a crow perched on a chimney. Tigger’s photo above shows this more clearly. Moon and crow make a poetic pair.

Snow on a car

If proof were needed that there was still snow about (and not only “behind bars”), here it is: snow on the windscreen of a parked car. The sight of it made me feel even colder than before!

Crow arriving to perch in a tree
Photo by Tigger

While trying to photograph the sunset, Tigger serendipitously captured a view of a crow flying up to perch in a tree. Tigger is as fascinated by crows as I am.

Moon and tree

As the sky gradually lost its brightness, the moon shone more strongly in contrast. Here, it made a poetic contrast with the tree which seems to reach up towards it with the delicate tracery of its branches.

Sunset
Photo by Tigger

We tried to find a good vantage point from which to photograph the sunset but everywhere we went, buildings partially or completely blocked the view. I think this view came out quite well.

Moon over St Mark’s
Photo by Tigger

We had forgotten the coffee tray and so, having visited our friends at Myddelton’s deli, we were each carrying a cup of hot coffee. Tigger has acquired the art of one-handed photography but I haven’t achieved this yet. Perhaps one day! Her technique came in handy here and below.

Abandoned?
Photo by Tigger

We thought at first that this was a toy Christmas tree but closer inspection suggests that it is a real young tree intended for planting out. Unfortunately, it looks as though it had been abandoned. Perhaps someone will rescue it and give it a good home.

Home is where we were heading now, and speedily, before our coffee grew cold. Perhaps we will meet the moon again tomorrow and take it on another walk!