Hi, I am 80 years old and a retired local government officer. Retirement has brought new opportunities - a new love and marriage after the sad death of my first wife - a new home and family. Within my new family, I became a pet carer for the first time: a beautiful ginger cat for the 17 years of his life, and since then, my stepdaughter's lovely Japanese Spitz dog. I took up a new hobby of hillwalking in 2010, but this was sadly ended by sciatica in 2017; and, since 2015, I have had a new obsession - photography. Lockdown has opened yet another door - creative writing. I have just written my first novel , published on Amazon Kindle.

Flickr has enabled me to both see the photos of other enthusiasts and to share some of mine. It has also offered me an alternate form of offline storage.

As to my photographic interests , I prefer to photograph things that don't move: landscapes, seascapes and coastal scenes, cityscapes, bridges, lakes, and trees. I don't have the skills or the best equipment for subjects like birds or other wildlife, for aircraft or sports. I don't have the social skills or facilities for portraits or groups of people. I am content to remain within my chosen boundaries, but I do enjoy seeing the expertise of others in those specialist areas that are beyond me.

The above is me - as they say - in a nutshell.