2007 is drawing to a close and I won't be here again so this is kind of like my epitaph...

Beauty in Death

Happy New Year's Eve all, may 2008 be a prosperous, peaceful and joyous year for everyone.

Take care all... I'll see you around.

Usky

I was walking in the ancient forest of Wentwood recently and enjoying the morning air, despite the dampness of the mist. At this time of year there's little to see in the way of wildlife, but I did have the company of a robin who chittered and chattered as I walked my path.

My ramble was also blessed by the sight of a roe deer among the trees. For the briefest of whiles I watched him, watching me, watching him... then in the way of capreolus capreolus he was gone. I wished I'd had a long lens with me to capture the moment; this was the first roe I'd ever seen in Wentwood Forest.

I thought my treat for the day had come and gone, but lo and behold I was wrong. In a clearing, high in a tree, lounging on a branch and observing was one of the infamous big cats we keep hearing about that roam our wild places.

Sightings of cougars, pumas, leopards and lynxes abound, but there I was in the presence of the king of beasts... I was in the company of a lion!

I've no idea what wag had lodged this stuffed animal on the branch, but it certainly made me smile... after all it's not every day you see a five foot stuffed lion in a Welsh tree is it?

I wasn't able to do the toy justice without a long lens, but I hope you'll find these rather grainy images amusing anyway. As the old saying goes, the things you see when you haven't a gun!

...there's now a special place to find and post good news stories. It's called The Good News Blog and is operated by my chum sula36, but you can be a co-author too.

Make every week a good news week by visiting and contributing to The Good News Blog.

Lonemum mentioned hedgehogs being out and about yesterday when I talking about seeing lots of squirrels prancing about in the trees. It got me thinking... I've hardly seen any hedgehogs this year and I really miss the one that used to visit the garden regularly.

I did get one chance to capture a little chap (or chapess perhaps?) as it strolled inquisitively around a meadow. Keeping very still with my camera in my hand it seemed to ignore me, although it never came within about 10 feet and could obviously smell me.

Cute ain't it?

I'm almost certain these little guys used to hibernate when I was a kid... or am I just imagining that?

I know I'm getting old and cranky, but I didn't think my mind had completely atrophied...

...and it's dark, wet and windy; not the sort of day you want to be going out anywhere if you can possibly avoid it.

So what plans do you folks have this weekend? I guess quite a few will be braving the weather and hitting the sales (if you have any money left that is), while others will be cheering on their favourite sporting sides. For the record, Usky doesn't plan to anything very much although I do have to make a foray into the wet and cold this a.m.

If you're short of ideas you can always pop over to A Little Something For The Weekend and try your hand at my weekend teaser.

Oh and the Christmas Special is still open too if you fancy a crack at that one.

Whatever you choose to do, have a great weekend everyone.

So we're getting towards the year's end and that means it'll soon be time for the annual ghost story... hope you've all got loads of good ideas for frightening tales?

Just in case you're struggling to find some suitable subject matter, I thought I'd offer you an image to build a horror story around...

Now, make sure you're sitting comfortably...

And have a large glass of some reviving on hand...

You're going to need it...

And don't say I didn't warn you...

Because I'm warning you now...

This is possibly the scariest thing you'll ever see...

It's far worse than creepy spiders...

Much more frightening than slithery snakes...

Truly obnoxious in fact...

Are you ready?

Sure?

Really, really ready?

It's not too late to back out you know...

You can still save yourself the pain...

Oh well okay then...

If you're absolutely sure...

Click HERE...

I warned you!

I don't know why, but my depressive episodes seem to come in cycles. Ten days ago I felt good... I was even starting to look forward to Christmas. Then last Tuesday I started to slip and by Wednesday I was really struggling. What set me off? I've absolutely no idea...

I hate this whole depressive thing and the way it makes me feel. Still enough of the moaning eh? Nobody needs a moaner at Christmas, although they do say it's a time for nuts!

See y'all again soon.

Hello everyone. Apologies for not being around the last few days; I've not been too well I'm afraid.

I'm really only here to post my Secret Santa entry for CJ...

I'll try and catch up with you all in the next few days. Have a great Christmas all.

I dared to enter the void
And wondered would I be annoyed,
But some things from within
Had my face in a grin;
With a singing-cow keyboard I toyed.

Yes I dared to enter the void
In reading my eyes were employed,
Poor CJ I note
Has been both cold and broke,
But now equilibrium’s enjoyed.

So I’ll wish CJ a time of good cheer
Celebrate with fine wine or beer,
In tubs of hot water
You know that you oughta
Sing carols for Blogland to hear!

Have a very Merry Christmas CJ and a Happy & Prosperous New Year!

I know, I know, I've posted lots of pictures of Tintern Abbey and you really don't want to see any more...

Well I'm going to post this image anyway because I quite liked it and although I wouldn't say it's anywhere near my best study of the abbey it is taken from a somewhat different aspect.

Right there you are, I promise not to post any more Tintern Abbey pictures until next year.

I was walking in the winter sunshine recently and enjoying the crispness of the day. To be fair, it was more than crisp and by the time I'd walked for an hour I was cold... bloody cold in fact.

Quickening my pace and swinging my arms to generate extra heat helped, but my fingers were quite numb and a drip appeared at the end of my nose.

The route I followed was circular and I was on the homeward leg... thoughts of a hot, strong coffee were foremost in my mind when a head appeared over a gate and two doleful eyes regarded me from a dirty, dejected face.

I offered a greeting and the head recoiled as though struck... damn, was I really that scary?

Backing off a pace or two I spoke quietly and with a smile in my voice. The head slowly reappeared and with pricked ears; those doleful eyes stared suspiciously in my direction.

I continued my soft dialogue and slowly raised my hand. The head immediately snapped backwards; they eyes opening wide with fright. Then she was gone... poor old girl. Someone had obviously treated her badly... abused her... why else would she be so timid?

...back in November, but somehow managed to get myself sidetracked.

These are images of Cardiff's memorial to the unsung heroes who gave their lives to ensure this country didn't starve during WW2. Seamen of the Merchant Service put their lives on the line day after day with little or no protection in some of the worst conditions imaginable. It is hard for many of us to appreciate just how hard life can be at sea, with or without a wolf-pack of submarines waiting to pick you off...

Sadly it doesn't look as though too many people remembered the Merchant Service this year, does it?

Please Click Me!

Lycklig jul alla!

To go with my Oldest Swinger post... here's an old Hook-er

Do swingers have more fun? According to Vanessa Burton they do...

In her book she says:

If you haven't already heard, swinging is the new and exciting recreational, alternative sexual lifestyle that consenting adults (mainly heterosexual couples) engage in. That's right, swingers (usually couples) hook up with other couples and swap partners at private parties and in their homes.

Well I don't know whether that's right or wrong... perhaps someone here might like to enlighten us?

This here's a real old girl and she's been swinging for years and years.

According to Trinity House, their task is to deliver a reliable, efficient and cost effective Aids to Navigation Service for the benefit and safety of all mariners, covering a sea area from Berwick upon Tweed on the North East Coast to the Solway Firth in the North West, and Gibraltar.

Trinity House provides a mix of nearly 600 visual, audible, electronic, fixed and floating aids to navigation, ranging from storm lashed lighthouses like Bishop Rock in the Western Approaches, Lightvessels and buoys marking the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, to a modern differential global positioning service (DGPS).

This particular lightvessel is no longer in service:

The Helwick LV14 lightship, above, was last stationed off Rhossili, on the Gower Peninsula, in South Wales where she marked the treacherous sands off the western point of the Mumbles Peninsular.

The beam from the Light tower could be seen from 25 miles away and warned sailors of the Helwick Swatch, a treacherous sand bank between Carmarthen and Swansea at the entrance to the Bristol Channel.

As an ex-mariner I have always been grateful to the likes of Trinity House for providing warning lights and marking safe passages. This is particularly true at this time of year, when winter storms rage and waves the size of houses crash...

I guess a lot of us know the rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub, rhyme and many of us probably know about Jerome K. Jerome's book, Three Men in a Boat.

So my question of the day has to be...

Looking at this sculpture in Cardiff Bay...

And looking at the three characters in this tub...

The man, woman and child...

What's it all about

Feel free to click the images for a larger view.

Just one more piccy of the fountainy thing at Cardiff Bay, with the Wales Millennium Centre in the background...

The fountain really is extremely reflective; notice the blue smudge of sky reflected on the Millennium Centre.

I often find myself agreeing with Charles when he talks about modern structures being carbuncles... but not always.

For example I really like the fountainy thing at Cardiff Bay I posted earlier this morning, so here's another image of it.

Just the top portion against the sky this time and shot from the side with the light bouncing off the hard edge...

What do you guys think? Do you like it?

On this cold and frosty December Monday morning, I thought I'd post something to help brighten your day.... I hope anyway...

This is the mirror fountain at Cardiff Bay... bright ain't it?

Busy day tomorrow, so I'm off to watch Cranford before bed...

Enjoy your Sunday evening everyone!

I always find these guys fascinating... the worms that build these sand-houses keep a low profile while the tide is low, but pop their heads up to feed when the water covers them over.

You may want to click the image for a larger view.

Rusty colours on an old iron bar thingy that is.

Life without the occasional Rusty Usky bit just doesn't seem feasible somehow.

Yesterday I extolled the virtues of using your eyes to really look at the pebbles and rocks you find on beaches and in fields. This morning I'm telling you to look even closer at the stones you find around you.

We've probably all seen geodes in shops that sell crystals and the like and may well stand in wonder at the beauty of form and colour, but how many of us realise examples of geodes are all around us?

You won't always find geodes with amazing colours or crystals its true, but even so taking a close look into a crack or crevice in a rock may pay remarkable dividends.

Don't just glance and walk on when you're out and about... take your time and really look around you.

Have you ever looked at rocks on the beach? I mean really looked? Closely... not just glanced at them when you spread your beach towel, or look for a flat piece of stone to sit on.

I'm always amazed by the variety of colour and quality of texture. I dare say other beach users think me strange when they see me crawling about amid the pebbles, on my knees with my camera in my hand... or clambering over the larger rocks and peering into holes and crevices...

Sometimes you have to get up close to the rock's surface to see things clearly... or wait for the light to be right to see the best of the colours... take your time, you won't be disappointed.

Next time you visit the coast, or come across a rocky outcrop in a summer field take a moment and look closely; you may be surprised by the things you see.

A local history-type post this one, that may be of particular interest to fans of Alexander Cordell's novels.

The discovery of rich seams of coal and iron ore transformed much of the quiet, rolling hills of south east Wales in the nineteenth century. The iron and coal industries of south Wales were the powerhouse of Britain’s industrial revolution: they facilitated the relentless expansion of the empire, providing raw materials for transport, power and infrastructure.

Nantyglo, a small agricultural settlement in the eighteenth century, was the site of one of the largest ironworks in the country by 1820 – the local landscape transformed by pits, furnaces and mills. However, the decline came almost as quickly as it had arrived, and by the 1870s, ironmaking at Nantyglo was no longer profitable.

The Round Towers and former stable block at Nantyglo are all that remain of the sprawling complex that was once Nantyglo Ironworks. Built by the ironmasters in the face of industrial revolt in the first half of the nineteenth century, the fortified towers are an evocative remnant of the industry that shaped the rapid commercial development of a once-quiet countryside.