Is it just me, or are other users’ not receiving notifications of comments on posts?

Combined with the constant need to log in, I’m finding things a tad frustrating just at the moment.

A nice bright sunny day so I decided I’d go and play with my camera, the old Severn Bridge and the sun.

This bridge is still quite elegant despite the aging process and the almost constant maintenance that is now required.

Since the opening of the Second Severn Crossing, the original bridge no longer carries the main motorway link between England and Wales.

Unlike the Second Severn Crossing, which has no pedestrian walkway, you can walk or cycle the couple of miles between Wales and England via this bridge.

The title kind of speaks for itself...

Purple is supposed to be a royal colour, but I thought this might help brighten the odd morning.

For those among you with a sense of humour as crazy as mine, here's a web page not to be missed!

Bunny Suicides

No bunnies were hurt in the making of this page.

I went for a bit of a wander earlier today and while out was attracted by a mass of yellow flowers...

Yet again I've no idea what these are called, but that's okay since I'm not exactly bothered on this occasion. If anyone wants to enlighten me then great; knowledge is power after all.

I couldn't help thinking how wonderful the mass of yellow would have looked in late afternoon sunshine, when the colour of the light would have enhanced these little blooms; I decided I'd come back again later. True to form for this summer of course here we are in late afternoon, the clouds have rolled in and everything looks dull and lifeless...

I accepted a challenge from La Spice earlier to sribe a poem about lava bread: I know, how stupid can you get!

Anyway we agreed to wave ballpoints at dawn tomorrow, but I thought I'd get my effort in early and have just penned this...

Bara Lawr

Have you ever eaten seaweed,
On your breakfast plate?
Have you ever eaten seaweed?
It’s a taste some people hate.

Have you ever eaten seaweed,
After rising from your bed?
Have you ever eaten seaweed?
I refer to lava bread.

Have you ever eaten seaweed,
Fried in bacon fat?
Have you ever eaten seaweed?
Porphyra Umilicalis is the proper name for that.

Have you ever eaten seaweed,
Fresh gathered from the coast?
Served with bacon and with cockles
And rounds of buttered toast.

Have you ever eaten seaweed;
If you like it you’ll want more.
That sweetly flavoured lava bread
In Welsh it’s Bara Lawr.

Not exactly Dylan Thomas is it?

Come on Spicy, it's up to you now.

Hello all. I have a quick question for the green-fingered among you, which I have no doubt you’ll find easy to answer.

I love these sprays of bright orange flowers and would love to grow some in my garden, but I have no idea what they’re called. I do know they grow wild along Cornish hedgerows and possibly elsewhere. Whether or not the cultivated variety differ at all from the wild ones I’m not sure, but I don’t think so.

Come on guys & gals, spill the beans and make my day.
(These are clickable images if you want a larger view)

I thought I'd refresh one of my old odes with an image in the mode of la Spice: I make no apologies for reposting this poem since it was one of my daughter's favourites.

Swifty the Snail

Snail crawls slowly up window pane
Reaches the top and turns back down again,
Wondering in his humble snail-like way,
“Where shall I go on my travels today?”

Blue Tit flies from nest box in tree
Eyes bright, searching for what he may see,
Snail ignores the little bird’s rush,
“Thank you Lord, it wasn’t Thrush.”

Black Cat slinks close to the ground
And looks for that, which can’t be found,
Green eyes darting here and there
But Snail just crawls without a care.

And as his journey nears its end
Snail smiles, his mind in state of pretend,
“I’ve travelled near yet been so far
In my Red Ferrari motor car!”

Well it seems like it's my turn to have some really daft stats in Blogland today. I don't check all that often, but looked a little while ago. Apparently I've had 34 visitors today and between them they've accessed 598 pages! I don't think so...

If you are offended by foul language, look away now!

I’ve blogged about this topic before so apologies if you think I’m simply repeating myself, but this is something I feel very strongly about. I’m talking about fly-tipping here...

One of the things that really hacks me off is the casual dumping of trash on any vacant piece of ‘waste’ ground. Not only is it illegal, it’s frequently dangerous, not good for the environment, completely unthinking, visually disturbing and downright offensive!

So why do people do it? Well I’m buggered if I know. There are FREE municipal refuse facilities in this area and the git who decided it would be wise idea to dump this lot must have driven right past one to get to his/her chosen location; what a wanker!

If it was up to me the people who do this sort of thing would be stood against a wall and summarily shot...

The Tree of Life has many boughs
Some grow straight and true
While others twist and curl
Bent by the Three Fates
Who hold our lives by silken thread
Spun by dextrous fingers
And twitched by cunning hand

We dance upon the silken thread
Life’s direction not our own
Pulled this way or that by the Fate’s whim
Never in control
Our destiny being pre determined
By that triplet of crones
Laughing at our misfortune

The Tree of Life has many boughs
Each bough holds a family branch
No matter where the boughs may lead
The Fates decide where we shall tread
Our course is mapped
But knowledge have we none
To blindly go must be our fate

What lies beneath this pile of logs?
Lizards? Snakes? Toads or frogs?
Maybe bones would be found
If we dug into the ground.

Perhaps a mouse, a mole or vole
Lives within a hidden hole,
Spiders, lice and crawling things
Or flying bugs on lacy wings.

Who made this heap? How long ago?
In sunshine, rain, frost or snow?
What was the reason for this stack?
This woodpile left beside the track.

I guess in truth we’ll never know
Along the path we boldly go
Seeking that which can be found
In plain view upon the ground...

Well okay as you know I have this thing about cemeteries; they can be extremely relaxing and highly educational places. Not that I’m suggesting for a moment you should all rush out and visit your local bone-yard because if you do they’ll stop being so quiet and peaceful and then I’d have to find somewhere else to go...

I’ve found you can learn a lot from looking at the gravestones, but also there’s a certain beauty to be enjoyed in the stones themselves. Take a look at these and tell me what you think; who might lay beneath these stones?

The Old Mill

There’s an old mill by the stream
Where star-crossed lovers sit to dream,
Of what the future holds in store
Of happy days and love and more...

As you know, I have a bit of a thing for cemeteries, graveyards and burial grounds; I find them incredibly interesting places. Mooching around Saint Woolos Cemetery in Newport I spotted a monument that took my interest.

The detail from the plaque is shown below and tells of the Newport Dock Disaster in 1909.

Well I didn't know anything about this, so I thought I'd look it up and this is what I found:

It was during the construction of the South Lock that one of the most celebrated events in the History of Newport occurred, the Newport Dock Disaster and the heroism of Tom ‘Toya’ Lewis. On 2nd July 1909 at 5:20 in the afternoon, just minutes before the workers were due to finish for the day, the timbers supporting the West Wall excavation trench collapsed. Under tremendous pressure, the timbers rose, were forced together and the sides of the trench fell in, instantaneously burying the 46 men working at the bottom of the trench. Over 500 men were soon at the scene attempting to reach the men trapped below.

Thomas Lewis was amongst the crowd of spectators when he answered a call for a volunteer to attempt to reach a man trapped below. Crawling through a small space Tom worked for two hours with a hammer and chisel to try to free the man before officials insisted he return to the surface. The trapped man was rescued the next day. The people of Newport expressed their gratitude to Tom by raising several hundred pounds through a public subscription, enough money for him to be sent to Scotland on an engineering scholarship. He was awarded the Albert Medal by the King in December 1909.

Good old 'Toya' Lewis, eh? One of life's Everyday Heroes.

As some of you already know La Spice has been reposting some of her poems along with images provided by various blogfriends (myself included). Anyway, reading La Spice's words and looking at the images, I thought I'd have a go myself. Not that my attempts at poetry are anywhere near as good, but here goes...

The Man in the Velvet Coat

Down the shaded tree-lined lane
Between the monuments to death
My gaze is drawn to distant point,
A mound of freshly disturbed earth.

Not a grave this muddy heap
Nor dug by hoary human hand,
But scooped by long and curved claw
This mini-mountain on the strand.

A gentle figure basks nearby
Soaking up the morning sun,
He wears his dark grey overcoat
That from this angle seems undone.

Eyelids droop and head nods,
A closing of myopic eyes,
Gentle snores escape his lips
Comparable to lovers’ sighs.

To disturb the sleeper would be unfair
I’ll leave him napping by his hole
And make my way quietly by
With just a smile for Mr Mole.

Lots of bars have fancy decorations to bring the punters in don't they? But how many do you know that have a pair of motor cycles either side of their entranceway?

Sadly I've forgotten the name of this establishment, but it's situated on the waterfront midway between Perissa and Perivolus. It also has a WWII American Jeep tagged on the end of the bar!

I didn't actually go in at all, but we did walk past one evening on our way to eat and I have to say the music sounded pretty rocky.

I rather like to walk, so while away I spent some time just wandering around and exploring. As ever I carried a camera and took images of things that interested me, like the rather inaptly named Paradise Bar.

Talk about a shed; would you want to drink in an unfinished building site? Such a misnomer.

I spotted this bit of graffiti painted on the side of building and was taken with the colour and form; I think there is beauty in its simplicity.

Obviously the sign advertises a taverna, but there’s nothing to indicate where the establishment is. The artist must have spent a few hours constructing his masterpiece though, so perhaps we're just supposed to know about the taverna's location?

Then there's this; look closely please.

Now I ask you, would you park your car here?

This I simply couldn’t resist.

Stood beside a half-built holiday apartment block was this old power winch. It couldn’t have been there that long really, but note the fig growing up through the mechanics; ain’t Nature wonderful?

I spotted a couple of big lumps of tree in the edge of tourist shop while I was walking about Perissa one morning.

It was early, but the proprietor was cleaning up ready for opening so I asked what they were going to do with the timber.

She looked at me a bit odd and said the tree was for decoration. Well it was interesting enough so I let it go at that.

I was a bit surprised though I suppose because further down the road they had a whole different concept of what to do with a bit of old tree.

Cabinet Boat

Turtle Boat

Bar Boat

Dumped Boat

Seemed to me where ever I wandered on Thira there was stuff growing. Okay so some of it was obviously in gardens or farmed patches, but elsewhere things seemed to be just growing wild: here's a few images of the local produce.

I spotted these couple of items while strolling around Thira town and thought I'd share the images I took of them with you.

The first is, I assume at least, an old olive press.

This press stands on a building's flat roof at the edge of the cliff at Thira; the building looks directly out over the caldera.

Close by is a set of steps leading down from the top of the cliff to various dwelling levels. I looked down and was reminded immediately of one of Escher's images.

I nicknamed these The 39 Steps, which seemed appropriate at the time. I wondered what it would be like to live in such a place, being able to look out into nothingness from your bedroom window. A wonderful view over the caldera of course, but also a superb location for a spot of murder I should think - now, where is Richard Hannay when you need him?

I don't think I have too many comments to add to these; the images are of Thira town, overlooking the caldera.

Click any image for a larger view.

I lost count of how many churches there were in Perissa, but you can take it from me there are a lot!

There’s one ‘big’ church in the town though that obviously stands on the site of some ancient place of worship.

Like all Greek churches the simple blue and white exterior hides a wonderfully decorated interior. For some reason the local priest wasn’t too happy about me taking photographs inside, so here are just a few images of the outside.

The bell tower

Main body of the church

Pillars from a previous building – these are approximately 6 feet below the present ground level

Detail from one of the pillars showing the head of a bull – the bull was a powerful Minoan symbol. It seems likely the Minoan civilisation on Crete was destroyed in 366 BC when the volcano at Thira erupted forming the present caldera.

The big church dominates the Perissa skyline and can be plainly seen looking back into the town from the seafront.

I have just a few touristy after dark shots to share with you and the odd word of wisdom.

We all take our camera on holiday with us and love to shoot on the beach, or when we’re visiting towns and tourist places. But many of us are disappointed with the photographs we take after dark. Perhaps I can help shed a little light.

Modern cameras, particularly those of the digital variety, have in-built low light capabilities. If your camera has this kind of facility make use of it, but try to support your camera to decrease shake/wobble. Use a tripod if you have one, or a small bean-bag to rest your camera on. Wall and table tops work well too, but make sure you rest the camera near the edge so you don’t end up photographing your prop. Then let the camera do the work and you’ll be fine.

But what if you don’t have a low-light setting? Your camera will try to suggest using flash and this is a big mistake unless your subject is pretty close. Small cameras do not have powerful enough flash units to light a subject more than a few feet away so the likihood is your image will be underexposed. Try this instead.

Take control of your camera; switch off the flash. Use the aperture priority setting if you have one, and select an aperture of f5.6 or above. This will give you a reasonable depth of field so your subject and surrounding area will be in focus.

Steady your camera as suggested above; tripods, gorilla pods, bean bags, window clamps and other props are available quite cheaply if you know where to look.

Use the self-timer to further reduce camera shake, then press the shutter button and let the camera make the exposure.

If you have no method of supporting your camera you can still get away with after-dark shots, but use your body wisely. Hold your camera in both hands and tuck your elbows against your sides. Take a breath, breathe out slowly and hold your breath, then press the shutter. Some movement may still occur, but you may be surprised how good your photograph will look.

These are all hand-held and although not perfect, I suggest they are probably acceptable as holiday photos.

Have a go at some low-light shots – you may surprise yourself with the results.

I tend not to be your average tourist, but am prepared to admit there are times when even I join the sheep-like throng to tread the hallowed grounds of tourist routes. One such occasion on my recent jolly was a visit to Oia, renowned for its particular beauty.

The town itself which I rather like, or would if it weren’t so teeming with trippers, is really very quaint. Photographing the streets proved impossible thanks to the number of cruise ships visiting the island, but I did manage the odd shot or several.

The blue domed church shown here appears on picture postcards all over Greece. In fact if you’ve ever looked in a travel brochure that includes the Greek islands you’re almost bound to have seen it before, although not necessarily from this angle.

You may well have seen this windmill before too, since it also appears on various postcards in Greek tourist shops.

I love the way the Greeks build their towns to cling to cliff edges; more images similar to this to come later from Thira town.

As the afternoon progresses the crowds at Oia begin to find vantage points overlooking the caldera from which they can await the main purpose of their visit.

Of course some people tend to get a little bored while they’re hanging about...

And what are they all waiting for? Supposedly one of Nature’s most spectacular events. Oia is reputed to be one of the best places in the world to watch a sunset.

So there you are, my little tribute to Oia.

I guess most of us change our regular diet when we on holiday. We may try different foods, different drinks, new combinations.

I’ve been visiting Greece for many a long year and always enjoy it. I tend to trip around the islands these days, although the mainland has a lot going for it too.

The last couple of weeks have been spent on Santorini (Thira to give the island its proper name). It’s not somewhere I’d recommend for anyone seeking night-life, but Thira’s quiet laid-back attitude suited me very well. Plenty of time to walk, swim, read and generally fester in the sunshine.

I genuinely thought I’d tried pretty much everything there was to try food and drink wise where Greece was concerned, but I found one taverna in Perissa whose concept of cocktails left me somewhat cold.

Aren’t these fun? I wouldn’t mind a couple on my patio table; they’d probably float away though!

Anyone interested in Thira should take a look at www.thira.gr/.