Salad rustlers terrorise neighbourhood.

A trio of sneaky salad thieves have been terrorising the vegetable gardens of south east Monmouthshire. Local resident Ivor Patch said, "My radishes have been pecked and bruised.

"Worse than that, my corns have been tampered with. There's not a single ear left!"

Inspector Corner of the Yard is on record saying police are scouring the district and will leave no stone unturned, but have no leads as yet.

Edna Cloud reported foreign nationals escaping a crime scene hot-foot via neighbour's yard.

"They were all of a flutter," Edna breathed. "But seemed determined to make a clean beak of it."

Renowned local photographer, Fred Snapper, provides us with the following image of the possible suspects...

And on this note of madness I think I'll leave you good people in Blogland for the evening... or maybe not!

What a difference in 24 hours... yesterday was such a beautiful day, but today has been blustery and extremely wet thus far... although it seems calmer just at the moment...

Look at all these wonderful little snowdrops on the bank of this reen:

Such an abundance of them... all perky and bold... bright white dots among the grren of the grass... and right where I was stood taking the photograph above was this chap here:

To many people the daffodil is the emblem of things Welsh... to me it really does mean Spring has arrived.

I've been back to the hospital this morning... a follow-up with the urology people so nothing to do with last week's op.

Seems I have an enlarged prostate... something else to get sorted out then... I suppose someone has the keep the NHS fully employed!

I wonder what else I/we/they can find to fiddle with? Bound to be something....

Good morning all; nearly the end of the week.

Amazing to think that just a week ago at this time I had already been admitted to a local hospital and was just climbing into one of those elegant backless gowns... thank God they also supplied paper knickers!

Since I promised some extra snowdrops yesterday, here's a small array of the little white beauties.

Tucked beneath a shady hedgerow adding brilliant colour to attract the eye.

Earlier today I kinda suggested that sheep may be in favour of racial segregation.

Munzly commented, saying sheep were obviously prejudiced "otherwise all we'd have is grey or spotted sheep."

Well I'm not sure about the grey variety, but here's complete and absolute proof that there's been some fraternisation between the various shades...

The Infamous Spotty Sheep

So there we have it, blowing Munzly's hypothesis out of the water, but proving his theory that inter-breeding does indeed produce Spotty Sheep!

Never let it be said this blog isn't at the cutting edge of scientific breakthrough!

Well okay spring may not have actually sprung just yet, but it really can't be that far away can it?

Judging by the all the growth I'd say spring is just around the corner.

As I've said here in Uskyland often enough, each to his own. There's room in this life for almost everyone...

People of my generation will remember the struggle against segregation in Africa, America and elsewhere. Most of us would hate to see the return of apartheid, racial discrimination, segregation and race riots; so sad we had to witness it in the first place.

This kind of amused me in a strange sort of a way though...

I was looking at a field full of sheep and I suppose it took me a few minutes to realise the inmates had naturally segregated themselves... could sheep possibly be prejudiced?

I swear these sheep really are in the same field it's just that the white sheep seem to prefer the left side, while the black ones obviously liked the right.

So, here's my question of the day...

Why are the sheep all facing the same way? Is there some other unwritten rule I'm not aware of that says sheep must always face Mecca on the hour? Answers on a postcard please...

Just because I like them

So there I was doing the ironing... I know, domestic God me... and this van drives down the street bellowing from its speaker system "this is Welsh Water please be aware due to a burst water main domestic water will be turned off in this area imminently..." I'd better fill my jug, I thought... don't want to run out of water while I'm ironing... so off I toddle to the kitchen to fill my jug... meanwhile back in the lounge... I like to watch TV when I iron 'cos it makes the time pass quicker... I pick up a shirt and arrange it on the ironing board... phht! the power goes off... oh bugger! Now I can't finish my favourite chore...

Of course the water hasn't been turned off all day, but the power was off for an hour or so... so I'm a bit confused... is there something Welsh Water aren't telling me? Or have I been getting my water from the wrong power outlet all my life?

Sorry James; I saw these yesterday morning and immediately thought of you...

I'm not sure what the thing on the right is, but it doesn't look as though it has been used for some time...

I'm never sure... is the Snowdrop a harbinger of Spring, or a reminder that Winter still holds us within her grip?

If the former, then Spring must surely be around the corner... there were simply hundreds of these little beauties smiling at me yesterday.

If the latter, I fear we're in for a hard time given the abundance of snowdrops I passed on yesterday's walk.

Here's an image I took this morning for all those who like to have a big Ahhhh..... over cute things...

All together now... Ahhhhhh.......

just don't look in the trough...

So I stuck to my plan and toddled off this morning for a short walk around the village perimeter... or at least, the perimeter around my end of the village.

It was wonderful to be out of the house and walking again. I don't think I'd realised just how much I'd missed being outside thanks to all that damn rain we had recently and of course I do need to take things a bit easy just now.

Well I supposed I walked a couple of miles and took in one quite steep hill en-route. Judging from the amount I sweated, I've lost a bit of fitness lately... to be fair, I've hardly done anything since before Christmas.

At the top of Vinegar Hill (where the Romans planted vineyards during their occupation) there's an old farm and a couple of the 'outbuildings' can be seen from the lane. Normally the hedge hides the interior, but since the hedge is just sticks at this time of year I was treated to a rusty sight... and thought I'd get into a position to photograph and share it with you...

I've no idea what this old auto was, but the tyres look in pretty good condition so maybe with a little tender loving care the old girl might make it onto the roads once more... what d'you think? Will she ever run again?

As an aside, maybe some of you mechanical wizards out there might like to take a stab at what the auto was.

Time for a cup of tea I think...

There's a high ground walk I've done a few times that can be wonderful on a dry day. The ridge of hills is joined above Cwmcarn and I drop off above Cwmbran; a distance of around 8 miles I think.

The going is a little rough at times and the climbs up to and down from the ridge quite steep, but the views down over the surrounding area are grand on a fine day. Here's an image of the path I follow from a previous visit:

My recovery might be going very well, but I'm aware it would be extremely stupid to attempt a walk like this one for a little while. However as I've managed two days without pain relief and not too much discomfort, I am looking forward to getting out for a short walk in the fresh air today. I'll be happy just to manage a couple of miles in the local lanes.

I'd originally planned to get down to the south coast during the early part of this year; I've always wanted to photograph the chalk cliffs in winter for some reason. That trip will have to be postponed sadly, but certainly not cancelled.

The hospital provided me with a list of dos and don'ts:
* No driving for at least 2 weeks
* No stretching or bending for 2 weeks
* No lifting for 6 weeks
* No lifting or carrying heavy weights for 3 months
* No strenuous exercise or contact sports for 3 months

Okay, okay I'll take it easy...

My aim now is to build up my strength and stamina slowly, but steadily; I want to do that hilltop walk within the next six weeks... so I've set myself a target and have a lot to look forward to.

Just a bit of fun, but I quite like it...

I thought I'd add a sepia filtered image of Caerphilly Castle since the effect seems to be a popular one.

Hope this meets with approval?

Sitting here playing a little bit this morning and thought I'd throw a random question out to Blogland to see what you guys think.

Here's an image I took on a recent visit to Caerphilly Castle:

So the thing is I thought this might make quite an interesting study in monochrome... but that raises a question in my mind

Because I didn't shoot the shoot the image in B&W, to render the image in monochrome I'd have to desaturate it. Images often lend themselves though to a little extra manipulation...

1 23 45 6

Here are six alternatives for a monochrome version of my image and what I'd like you to do is rate them for me...

The images are numbered 1 to 6 and are clickable so you can view larger versions of them if you wish. No need to rate all six unless you want to, but please rate your choices in order of preference; eg. 6, 3, 2, 5, etc.

Thanking you in anticipation.

Well I'm amazed how quickly things seem to be moving on to be honest. Less than 48 after my surgery and I'm almost pain free... well, relatively speaking.

I remember having a lot of post operative discomfort after having my appendix removed some years ago, although the appendix had burst so I had peritonitis and was being drained; maybe that had a lot to do with the extra pain?

Anyway I'm pleased to say my hernia repair is nowhere near as bad... not what I'd expected at all in fact. And of course being at home obviously helps.

I'll admit to popping a couple of pain killers yesterday and may well end up doing the same today as time goes on, but if I can remember not to stretch for things or move too quickly I'm hoping to get through the day without.

The best thing though is not having that large, unsightly and often painful bulge sticking out out of my belly!

Ain't life grand?

Have a lovely Saturday everyone... and if you're at a loose end, why not pop over for a go at my weekend teaser? I'll posting this week's around 7:30.

Usky

It's been good to catch up with at least some of my friends here today, but I find sitting with the computer gets a tad painful after a while just now so I'm going to call it an early night and ease the strain on my gut... after all, I want to be around for a while tomorrow to play with my weekend teaser.

Have a lovely Friday evening everyone.

TGIFday..... end of the working week for many and the first day of recovery for me.

Well Dr Nick seems to have done his job reasonably well. I'm a bit tender, as you might expect having had my guts cut, poked about, rearranged and stitched, but otherwise all is well enough.

Sadly I'm forced to sleep on my back, which I hate because I always snore like hell when I do and I've woken with a really sore throat this morning... the neighbours were banging on the door in the middle of the night begging me to cork it!

Here's hoping you all have a good Friday.

See? You can't get rid of Usky... just because I'm laying on the slab don't mean I ain't blogging!

So I had a word with my surgeon this morning and he said to make sure I remembered him to you all... well what could I say, but

Hi Everybody!

Well, when Dr Nick stuck me with a sharp sticking thing I could feel all this ooozy stuff coming out... and I thought to myself... I wonder what that looks like... and in the end the end there was so much of it... I decided it must look like this!

See ya tomorrow all!

What a difference a day makes, or so they say. Well a month certainly makes a difference, weather-wise that is.

January seems to have been wet, wet, wet in the UK with little or no respite from the rain. We've seen high winds, record rainfall, exceptionally high tides, flooding... a miserable month.

December by contrast was bright and breezy, just the job for taking a long walk on a deserted beach, following the tides edge in the sunshine...

Have a good day all

So tomorrow morning I have to be up at 5:30am... Now you'd think that wouldn't be a problem for a guy with insomnia wouldn't you? Buy you know what? I can almost guarantee since I've hardly slept the last few days I'll be dead to the world tomorrow morning. For the uninitiated it's the Law of Sod...

All things being equal I hope to be back online and in Blogland on Friday... all reports that I was taking a Blackberry into hospital with me to blog from the O/R are greatly exaggerated... I have arranged for a webcam to be installed though so you'll be able to view from the inside, out so to speak...

Anyway, hope you all have a wonderful time doing whatever you do tomorrow... I'll be spending the day in bed... sort of...

It occurred to me that I ought to illustrate just how horribly dark it got yesterday before the rains came... and especially since I have a shot to use as illustration...

These two images were shot yesterday - the one on the right was taken approximately 20 minutes after the one on the left.

The landscape of mid-Wales can be wild and woolly to say the least; not quite as desolate as some areas nor as spectacular as others, but with a beauty of its own.

Before conditions closed in yesterday I did manage just a couple of images worthy of display here.

This first image was taken south of Brecon and looks over Llyn Onn reservoir. The A470 can be seen to the left; the main road that snakes through the lower Brecon Beacons between Merthyr and Brecon.

Although some parts of the moor are wooded, the majority is scrub-land.

The second image, again south of Brecon, gives a feeling of the open emptiness of the moor. Notice how the cloud formation to the right appears to follow the shape of landscape.

Perhaps I'll revisit again in the not too distant future, weather (and mobility) permitting.

So the weather was wonderful here this morning and I thought I'd scoot off up into the wilds of mid-Wales to grab some images... I was quite excited about it because the rain has been so damn constant recently.

I got in the car... stuffed some gas in the tank... hit the road and was enjoying the drive... and it got darker and darker and colder too as I went north...

It'll pass I thought... but no... the clouds continued to build up and down came the rain...

I hung around in various pull-ins and lay-byes hoping things would improve, but sadly it just wasn't my day... in the end I just gave up and came home.

I did stop and grab a few images of a group of Welsh Mountain Ponies before the rain got too heavy, so for all you equine enthusiasts out there, here's a couple of pics.

Shaggy looking types aren't they? Feel free to click the pictures for larger versions if you're so inclined.

Well it seems my Knotty Life avatar hasn't gone down too well, so I'm going to switch back to Slob Man...

Say goodbye to the brief existence for...

Well there seems to have been a dramatic change in the weather this morning... it's bright and dry and looks as if it might stay that way for a while at least... Yippee!!

Right... I'm going to make the most of the day and am off out with my camera.

See y'all later!

So another night and not too much sleep... at this rate they won't need any anaesthetic on Thursday... I'll be so damn tired I'll just sleep through the whole procedure anyway! Hmm... wonder if I can get some kind of refund for saving the cost of the anaesthetic? Nah...

On the plus side... I've been doing a lot of thinking... probably bad for my pea-sized brain I know, but hey what the heck!

As so many people seem to be having a bad day today, it being Blue Monday or whatever, I thought I'd offer to give you a little something to lift your spirits...

...and here it is

Isn't she lovely? A beautiful old steam crane. Only one careful owner and guaranteed to pick you up no matter what the day, date or weather.

Just imagine... you could wreak havoc with this little lady in your neighbourhood day after day...

Has Blogland gone on a go-slow, or is it my Internewt connection working to drool?

Everything seems tediously slow... a bit like my snails pace picture from this morning...

So there I was telling you all I'd nothing to say, but of course that's not true; as Antlady pointed out I've got lots to say really. The truth is I'm just being downright lazy!

Well anyway I thought I'd put pen to paper... or finger to keyboard at least... and as I sit here thinking about the sun, moon, stars, universe and everything, I begin to realise just how big a task it all is.

I'm going to start slowly... well I haven't slept since Saturday night so I think I've every reason to go with a gentle start.

Old, but sustainable technology, that's the way forward. An altogether gentler pace of life with time to stand and stare... I'm off at a...

Monday morning... I've been awake all night... have I got anything to blog about? Have I heckers like... oh well... perhaps I'll just shurrup then and say nowt.

Have a good Monday all

When I was a young chorister we almost always sang from the Ancient & Modern... I assume it is sill used in today's church, but it's many years since I last attended so can't be sure.

I'm a confirmed heathen these days, but I'm sure there's a lot of mileage to be had in going into the whys and wherefores here this morning...

Sorting through a few batches of old images though I came across this picture of a wooden footbridge over the Thames at Henley... and it reminded me of my old hymnal.

Ancient & Modern

It amazes me how some folk seem to find it all but impossible to find an original title for their blog posts... still each to his own I suppose.

As it's a Sunday I thought I'd start the day with a less ropey old boat or two...

A lick of paint and a little sunshine go a long way towards a brighter day, don't you think?

Have a bright Sunday everyone.

I know it's early, but I'm in need of a sleep... so I'm afraid it's goodnight from him and goodnight from me too.

Enjoy Saturday night folks

In Gloucester Docks

There are days when you just feel a bit below par aren't there? A bit past it, old and run down...

Still there's an old bar in the background... anyone fancy a wet?
Bosun.. I say Bos'n there... Up Spirits!

I've been doing a little digging a little digging since my Do You Know Cornwall post on Thursday.

I was seeking information regarding the location this viaduct:

It looked initially as though it may have been the viaduct at Calstock (thanks to Munzly and Not-Herneschase). Then a suggestion was made that it may have been the viaduct at St Germans (thanks to David).

I've studied images of both viaducts and can now say with certainty my viaduct is the one at St Germans:

This was the image that finally swung me (found on Panoramio); the image is obviously taken from the same vantage point and the buildings and derelict quay on the left identify it positively.

The image was captured on the A374 between Looe and Torpoint; the viaduct crosses the River Tiddy.

Damn weather... It just seems to rain and rain doesn't it? Yesterday afternoon the rain stopped for about an hour though and the sun actually broke through the clouds. Things began to dry up a little and the world looked a different place.

I took the opportunity to venture out the back door and put some rubbish in the bin without having to dodge the raindrops and would you believe it? The local wildlife was also taking the opportunity to get out and about for a good feed...

I couldn't help but wonder why slugs and snails waited for the rain to stop before venturing out... are they really that bothered by the weather?

Ducks for Dafter... by way of a bribe.

Now then... where's my little bath chum?

I was reading an article in the surgery waiting room a couple of days ago about artificial environments. In a nutshell the author was absolutely set against them and suggesting there was no room for any sort of artificial environment here in the UK.

Well it got me thinking so I suppose the article achieved its purpose. While I'm not a fan of zoos and safari parks, there's no denying in my mind they do have their place when it comes to preserving species.

But wait just a minute... no artificial environments?

What about all you gardeners out there? Would you be happy to lose your greenhouse/cloche/deep-bed etc. I think not.

I can't imagine a Britain with no Kew Gardens, or Westonbirt Arboretum. No National Botanic Garden of Wales and of course no Eden Centre.

So yes okay I can see the dangers of introducing foreign species to our environment, but what a tragic loss it would be to deny the population the chance to see exotic species properly managed...

Boop-Oop-A-Doop
Dave Fleischer

I thought I'd join DavidJohn's portrait competition with my own tribute to Dave Fleischer's Betty Boop.

The easily recognised cartoon character was officially christened "Betty Boop" with the release of the 1932 Talkartoons short Minnie the Moocher, to which the wonderful Cab Calloway and his orchestra lent their considerable talents.

I'm trying to locate a viaduct...

Does anyone know where this image was taken?

I know it was somewhere on the Cornish side of the Tamar, but I've lost my notes from the trip and have no idea where this viaduct was. That said, the image was taken the same day I'd visited Looe back in 2005 so I'm assuming it's probably somewhere in that vicinity...

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

I posted a version of this image some time ago, but decided to revisit it and rework a little. Somehow it seemed fitting in these days of wind, rain and flooding to illustrate a time when the vagaries of the sea almost caught me napping!

Well?

Exiting a fine hotel on the high top of Dartmoor one misty Autumn morning and making my way to the car park I stopped in my tracks...

Could the locals have something against us visiting types?

Were they trying to tell me something?

Was a Satanic cult operating in the Duchy?

Perhaps I'd upset the group of rather lovely, but extremely odd and occasionally loud, ladies celebrating a certain ritual in the bar the previous evening? I'd only suggested they'd have been more comfortable in my suite than lolling about on the settees...

That's it! I'd got it... they were obviously a coven...

No wonder my luck seemed to have taken a turn for the worse... I'd been cursed by the Brides of Satan!

Rapunzel's Tower, or just another bit of Chepstow Castle?

You decide...

A couple of views of Chepstow Castle you might not get to see, with a bit of a scramble...

Where's Rapunzel when you need her?

Like many other castles, Chepstow was faced when it was built; coated with a white plaster. You can see in the image below that traces of the facing still remain.

The point is, the castle stands atop the cliff-banks of the River Wye... can you imagine how spectacular it must have looked all white and crisp and powerful in the morning sunlight...

You can find other images of Chepstow Castle on my blog... use the search facility.

In my over-active imagination, this stalagmite in an underground rock pool reminds me of an island rock-stack sticking up from a calm ocean on a alien world...

They say it's good to have a fertile mind, but I sometimes worry a bit about mine!

Got a sore throat?

Open wide, stick your tongue out and say "Ahhh...."

My morning post about Bradford City Hall has had me thinking through the day about other aspects of Bradford I like... architecturally that is.

Unfortunately I can't just pop out with my camera and capture the images I'd like, so I'm going to have to rely on some of the images I've taken on various occasions.

Old Bradford, like lots of Yorkshire in my experience, was built using the wonderful local Yorkshire stone. Sadly this discolours easily, especially in an industrial atmosphere. When you look at these buildings, try and imagine them as they would have been when the stone was new (or freshly cleaned).

I love the way some of these buildings have been re-utilised, yet retained their original character. The art of the stone masons who worked in Yorkshire constantly pleases me.

Please click any of the above to see a larger version of the image.

We all find things in life we're attracted to don't we? Fast cars, fast women, handsome men...

Oh dear I think this is going to sound boring now, but I wanted to tell you about one of those things that really attracts me. A passion, if you will. Something I'd rather not live without...

Bradford City Hall

Built in the early 1870s by John Ives & Son of Shipley the Bradford Town Hall was constructed according to a design by Lockwood and Mawson, a Bradford firm of architects, at a cost of £100,000.

The Town Hall took three years to build and was opened on 9 September 1873 by Mayor, Alderman Matthew Thompson. The original building was 70 feet high and 275 feet long, with a 217 foot tower.

By the close of the 1800s, the Town Hall no longer had adequate space and a decision was taken to extend it in two schemes. The first scheme, opened in September 1909, provided a new council chamber, committee rooms and a banqueting hall. The second was completed in 1914 and included a redesigned entrance and grand staircase.

The Town Hall became City Hall in November 1965.

City Hall's most notable feature is probably the magnificent clock tower climbing to 220 feet and inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence. It has thirteen bells which were installed at a cost of £5,000. The total weight of the bells is 17 tons.

My first sight of this magnificent structure was during a visit to Bradford in 1994 when it captured my heart... love at first sight you might say.

So there we are, the secret's out... Usky's potty about a load of old stones!

Hello all.

Apologies for not being here the last 24 hours and lack of Weekend Teaser today - my laptop caught a cold yesterday and I've been busy trying to clear its tubes and reinstate all my data...

I've said this before and I'll say it again... I'd love to get my hands on the mindless bastards that spend their time constructing computer viruses and spawning them in the wild. Bastards!

A word of warning to all - the bug arrived via a supposed "Microsoft authenticated active-X download". I don't use IE all the time and when this thing flashed up yesterday I read the Microsoft bit and said "yes"... BIG mistake! The bug interrupted my anti-virus, destroyed my network link, and god alone knows what else. Fortunately the firewall in my router closed the connection when the thing tried to access the outside world so no information was leaked from my PC, but the damage done to my file structure has been severe and I'm still working on that.

As you may imagine I'm pretty pissed off; especially since my AV software accepted my stupid decision to say "yes" to the install and allowed this bug to run riot on my 'puter!

Oh... I meant to say, I don't even know what the virus was called. To fix the problem I've had to zap my hard drive and reinstall all my software... it's a real pain.

Ah well, back to work...

What does bloggity friendship mean to you? The question arises because of a comment I made on a new blog earlier this morning, which got me thinking.

I've never made it to any of the various blog-meets and with one exception haven't actually spoken to/met my blog friends. Does this matter? Well no, not really. Not to me at least. That's not to say I wouldn't like to meet my virtual chums, but until the time comes when physical meetings are possible for me I'm quite happy to continue with virtual friendships.

How did these friendships come about? Unlike some folk here in Blogland I do not automatically accept invitations from other users, nor do I send out invitations to all and sundry. I'm pleased to say I've found some commonality with each and every person on my friends list... how I wish it was as easy to find such wonderful people in 'real' life. But wait a minute... this IS real life... my bloggity friends are all real people after all's said and done... so am I if it comes to that.

I digress... just out of interest's sake, how did you find/make your blog pals?

And talking of friendships... how about these guys? They're obviously close friends wouldn't you say? I wonder what they're saying...

How long do you think he stood there like that?

He kind of looks as though he's prepared for a bit of a wait doesn't he? Let me tell you though, twenty minutes later that area was under several feet of water!

Just a couple more images from one of my graveyard visits...

Poor old Dad... he wasn't to know no-one would take care of his memorial.

He's still got a nice pot though... just needs a few flowers, wouldn't you say?

Are you chicken?

Want to prove you’re not afraid of a big, bad and very messy death?

Become a part of the latest craze...

Stand on a railway line and wait for a speeding inter-city express train, then dive out of the way with just a second or two to spare avoiding being splattered all over the front of the 80 tonne loco and its train of carriages... what an absurd way to prove your manhood!

Young men have always undertaken tasks to prove themselves; in the modern world some of these tasks are undoubtedly stupid.

The rites of passage demand young men prove themselves, although I’ve never really understood why in a so called civilised society.

It is perhaps easier to understand an aspiring young hunter pitting himself against his first wolf, bear or lion, but to risk life and limb by pitting yourself against a high speed train is nothing less than crass stupidity.

For god’s sake, let’s stamp out this idiocy before the death toll grows too high.

Mother Nature performs another act of reclamation... it must be all those wonderful nutrients...

Plant a body... feed a tree!

Seems to me someone needs to get a spade out before Nature completely assumes control of the situation...

I wonder what's left of the internees?

No I'm not talking about Kate Moss et al... nor even The Dark Side Of The Moon... although that may be closer... but these are heavenly bodies... don't you think?

G'night all!

Is this a Jackson Pollock?

Nah, it's just Usky having a bit of fun!

What picture comes to mind when you think of a public convenience? For me I have to say it's a rather unsavoury one; especially true when I think about the various gents toilets in Newport city centre.

They're not all bad of course, but many a public loo could do with some serious and immediate attention. Even when clean, the experience is often marred by the broken door locks, tasteless 'toilet art' and scrawled 'adverts' and contact numbers.

How refreshing then to find a story on the BBC web about a loo that attracts some 25,000 visitors a year just to look at the walls...

Rocks are the order of the day... wonderful things... maybe we should start a geology blog...

I see a backbone in here... but then I'm a very odd sort of person.

...you'll often find something interesting.

I like the layers and folds in the rock... they interest me.

Hope you all have a good Monday.

I've been up and down the country over the weekend so haven't been on here since the early hours of yesterday morning, but am back home now and back in Blogland.

Just been having a look at your comments/guesses in this weekend's little teaser... not very many entries, but some very interesting guesses nonetheless.

It's nearly time to wrap up this weeks competition, but I thought I'd give you all a chance to have a last bite at the cherry... especially since none of the guesses made so far are correct.

Hope you're all having a good weekend?

Well here's the thing...

I was walking on the beach a couple of weeks ago and spotted this piece of bright, white stone.

Good God, thought I, that takes me back! Wish I'd had this image years ago when I was playing with the band cos it woulda made a great basis for an album cover...

Oh yeah, I used to play guitar a long time back and do a bit of vocalising too. I was never any good at either really, but I did have a lot of fun trying!

Of course we never did cut an album, which is probably just as well or I'd have been forced to inflict it on all you poor unsuspecting people.

The band's name? Oh yeah, that was pinched from this song...

Talk about a trip down memory lane!

Walking through Newport the other day and I was passing this head... thought it may be time to revisit...

The sculpture stands on the river-front beside the theatre... I wonder what makes him so empty-headed?

I was talking to mycorneroftheworld the other day about speeding up her computing by using keyboard short-cuts. The trouble with keyboard short-cuts is there are simple so many of them, we can never remember them all...

There are some very useful short-cuts though so I promised I'd put a short document together with at least some of the most common... I know, ain't I a star?

So anyway, if you're a PC user and a member of the Microsoft Millions you may want to take a look at Usky's Shortcuts.

I hasten to point out this is NOT a definitive list of keyboard short-cuts; I did produce one of those once and it ran to something well a thousand entries... now that's just too bizarre and way too much information.

Feel free to bookmark Usky's Shortcuts and please let me know if you find it useful.

If you find these word cloud things interesting, have a clicky below...

Linear

Logarithmic

If you want to have a play with these, go to Make Cloud. Once again it's a FREEBIE!

PollyGarter posted her word cloud yesterday, which looked like a bit of fun... I even got a mention in it!

Anyway I thought I'd have a go... and having finally learned how to generate one of these things... here it is.

What do you think? Is it accurate?

You can generate your own word cloud at Snap Shirts... and it's FREE!

There was a popular song around when I was a kid about a guy who was desperately trying to drive his horse-drawn cart, but tragedy kept besetting him as wheels fell off while Indians shot arrows and goodness knows what else... but he never gave up, he just kept rolling along...

So anyway I'm wondering what the story is here because some driver's obviously only got one wheel left on his wagon and popular songs or not... I doubt he was still rolling along somehow... do you?

Why would anyone go to the trouble of driving a couple of miles into a forest to dump tractor wheels?

Have a great rest of Wednesday everyone.

Anyone who knows me well will tell you I'm not big on all the fuss at Christmas. I particularly dislike all the stuff some people drape over their houses... I'm not talking about a few discreet lights you understand, but I'm not a big fan of 10 foot tall illuminated Santas or snowmen...

Worse still in my eyes are the illuminated sleighs complete with reindeer and waving Santa Claus stretching over the garage roof on a net of twinkling lights... especially when neighbours compete to see who can squeeze the biggest display into there limited garage/garden space... talk about light pollution!

Then there's all that fake snow people spray around... come on, it rarely looks real... if you must use cans of spray on frosting please use it wisely...

This is Nature's frosting on a tree... looks good doesn't it? Not overstated... not overdone... just simple frosting...

Bah humbug nearly over...

Time it seems has finally caught up with me... or something.

As some of you will know I've been waiting for a date to go into hospital... that date has arrived.

It also happens I've been waiting for a follow-up appointment with a specialist following on from last year's surgery... would you believe it? Two letters arrived from the hospital this morning. One calling me for surgery on Thursday 24th January the other calling me for the follow-up appointment also on Thursday 24th January... they must be having a special that day!

So a 'phone call to the bookings office then and a little date shuffling.

I'm to be sliced and diced on Thursday 24 January...

Then I'm going to have last year's surgery pulled and prodded about on Thursday 31 January...

Aren't I the lucky bunny?

Wonderful thing our health service... I won't have a word said against them.

Anyway, you can expect a short break in Usky Service from the 24th...

Hope you're all having a good day!

Have you ever wondered what part of a car is the most durable?

Would it be the bumpers?

The side-impact bars?

The beefed up suspension?

The anti-roll cage?

Well you might've thought the list above would at least be in the running, but hey I'm here to tell you you'd be wrong! At least in the case of a Volkswagen.

This is the final resting place of a VW Golf GTi... a nice shiny black one... until some fool decided to torch it!

As you can see, the car obviously burned well... the tyres are all gone... the seats and interior were burned to a crisp... bits of melted metal strewn on the ground...

The only thing still recognisable was the VW badge. I propose therefore the most durable part of a car is the manufactures trade mark!

Enjoy the rest of New Year's Day.

A frosty morning...

I love it when the weather is like this... unlike today, which is just damp and grey in my part of the world. Oh well, at least it isn't raining.

Hope everyone's recovered from their New Year's celebrations.

Well I really do feel like a pillock now...

my last post yesterday was meant as my last post for 2007....

sorry to mislead...

I didn't mean it to sound like my last post ever...