Oh Happy Days

Today the website I have been helping to prepare (my role is very small) was going 'Live', so that we could do final testing before the main launch at the weekend. I am testing its usability and functionality. It is offering a really important service to anyone in the European Union, who wants to find who is getting what funds from Farm Subsidies budgets. EU Transparency.org is a trans-national group of people who believe this information should be available and publishable to any one who is interested.

This is a small team and the lead programmer has been doing a fantastic job of linking to all the arcane databases, where the information might normally be virtually "hidden". Go take a look for yourselves (well possibly wait a day or two!), especially if you are interested in Olive Oil production in Italy and Spain; or how much money the Queen of England receives for her farms. Even our local food co-op gets a little bit, as they should.

While the site was down for a re-jig, I had a few minutes, and thought this may be my only chance to Blip today. So the 50mm and my two little otters were joined together in that magic of light, optics and then web delivery to you, via my Canon 50D, my iMac, Aperture and Blipfoto.com. Oh praise to Tim Berners-Lee!

I saw my first otters two years ago, when I looked out of our bedroom window across Loch Etive, near Oban, whilst staying with Helena's Mum. They were feeding in the seaweed on the tidal shoreline, about 30 yards away, and I managed a couple of pictures of them with my old Panasonic DV camera. Somehow when you see an otter your heart flutters. Don't know why, but they must be nearly archetypal. It is quite likely that otters are here now in our valley, as the local natural history groups have been reporting about them for some years.

Helena bought me these two darlings to keep me company, and they live at the moment on top of my screen, as it is quite warm there. They move around quite a lot, sometimes kiss, but seldom fight. I love them and hope you do too. They may pop up again as they don't seem to mind being photographed.

The site is back up and running, so I must join it again, but I only have to inch my eyes upwards to see them again!