I had to drive up to Yorkshire this morning... left the house a little before 5:30am and commenced my journey in the dark.

The skies were obviously overcast when I left here, since there wasn't a star to be seen anywhere... shame... oh well, off I toddled up the M5 listening to early morning radio.

By the time I was approaching Birmingham the skies were lightening though and I decided to pull off the road for a few minutes to capture the moment...

Morning Glory
(click for big)

I'd only got a little pocket camera with me so this isn't the best photo I've ever taken, but I thought the colours generated by the sun in the morning sky were truly glorious.

Bookends!

The folks over the road had a party on the weekend - these are the in-laws his 'n' hers Picasos

Last week I posted a couple of images of my flowering quince and Susie (ravingmad) commented on the colour being somewhat different...

Well the truth is I photographed the same flower with different camera settings, so achieved quite different results.

But the question is, which colour is the right colour? I know, but do you?

I really rather like the colours in the left-hand image, but to claim they were real would be an untruth.

So it's the colours in the right-hand image that're right then? Well no, not exactly... I enhanced them by increasing the colour saturation level a little.

These two images are completely raw and untouched... so yes, this is the true colour of my Japonica
As Cyndi Lauper once said...

But I see your true colors
shining through
I see your true colors
and that's why I love you
so don't be afraid to let them show
your true colors
true colors are beautiful
like a rainbow

Oh... and you can vote for me again this week if you like...

I have the builders in this week... a happy little bunch not unlike the Magnificent Seven who featured in Auf Wiedersehen, Pet!

Anyway it seems the kettle will be permanently on for the next few days, so if you fancy a cup of char just drop by anytime.

Quick apology since I wasn't about much yesterday and won't be here for long today either...

Hope you're all having a great weekend and doing lots of fun things

Rampant Thing!

I'll catch up with everyone later

We all have things that act as reminders of past times don't we? Some will be happy memories, some sad...

Here's a little something that always reminds me of an early visit to the Greek islands...

Made from olive wood this simple pestle and mortar has been used frequently for grinding dry spices in my kitchen ever since it returned with me from Aegean many moons ago.

I have some very happy memories from that holiday, my kitchen and that pestle & mortar

Usky's Japonica - again

A tighter view of my flowering quince... commonly called Japonica...

Chaenomeles is a genus of three species of deciduous spiny shrubs, usually 1–3 m tall, in the family Rosaceae. They are native to eastern Asia in Japan, China and Korea. These plants are related to the Quince (Cydonia oblonga) and the Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), differing in the serrated leaves, and in the flowers having deciduous sepals and styles that are connate at the base.

My quince is absolutely covered in bloom this year... so I thought I'd just grab a quick a snap to share with you and hopefully help to brighten an otherwise dull and miserable Thursday morning...

Usky's Quince

Beauty, they say, is in the eye of the beholder... well I guess you might think I have shite in my eye then, because in a peculiar sort of way I find this quite beautiful

These barrels are stacked outside a disused unit on a local industrial estate. I assume they're empty, but have no clue really... I'm just attracted by the depth of colour.

The kitchen beckons and I must away...
I've flat breads to make for later today;
Dinner tonight will be made in no hurry
On Usky's fine table I'll be serving curry

See you later people

Spicy posted a misty pier pic this morning and I comented I also had a misty pic to post... not a pier, but a bridge... most assuredly misty though

Well anyway, here it is

Misty Morning at the Second Severn Crossing

Just thought I'd share one of the files I rejected for the last Little Something for the Weekend. There's nothing special here I don't think, I just find the image somewhat interesting.

I've no idea how many images I actually reject looking for my weekly teaser... must be hundreds!

Still not all rejects are completely useless

I just want to say a very big "Thank you!" to everyone who took the trouble to register with Panasonic and vote for me on the Lumix web.

My Worms & Dragons has qualified as photo of the week

Usk's a happy bunny

Sorry everyone, this is a bit of shameful self promotion

If you enjoy my images and a few moments to spare, I'd really appreciate your vote at the Panasonic Lumix page... just click the banner image below to vote.

Why are you voting? Quite simply you'll be telling the world you like one of Usksider's images

As you can see I've a few images lodged with Panasonic, but please don't feel obliged to vote for them all.

...rugby's on the box now, so I'm away for the rest of the day.

C'mon Wales!

The wild cherry in my local hedgerows are in full blossom... and that is the surest sign in old Usky's eyes that Spring has really arrived.

Wild Cherry Blossom

I do love this time of year... all the new growth... the promise of things to come... Spring always makes me feel quite humble.

Have a great Saturday everyone

I'd never really noticed until this week, but it now seems pretty obvious to me there is a similar coyness in the animal kingdom to that experienced by us human types.

As a young bloke I got quite used to seeing some gorgeous piece or other sitting in a bar studiously ignoring my best efforts to catch her eye...

But how about this?

Did you ever see such a coy old bird?

Oh course, he is a bloke swan... and he was looking at me... perhaps I should be worried?

Walking round Lydney Lake the other day and was accosted by an itinerant goose... the bugger chased me for gawd's sake... so in the end I turned round and grabbed a quick image before the sod pecked my camera lens to death!

Talk about a bird with bloody attitude!

Apologies for missing the top of his head, but I didn't exactly take time to frame the shot...

Study in Concentration
I don't know, some people seem to take life far too seriously...

All that sitting and staring and not moving a muscle...

Far, far too serious if you ask me...

I used to enjoy a day's lake fishing in times gone by, but for me it was more a case of lazy day lounging at the water's edge in the sun, John Arlott's dulcet tones drifting from the radio describing England's latest woes from Lords or Old Trafford, a box of sandwiches and a bottle of something nice submerged in the lake keeping cool... getting a bite from one of the carp was almost an intrusion into my idyll!

No there's no getting away from it, the bloke pictured above is definitely doing something wrong!

John Short (Yankee Jack), 1839-1933

Let me tell you about John Short, one time sailor and shanty-man, son of the small Somerset town of Watchet.

John Short sailed the world's oceans for more than 40 years in a variety of sailing ships first as an able seaman and later as bosun. In the 1860s some of John’s ships ran the blockade in the American Civil War, and because of this he was affectionately awarded the nickname of “Yankee Jack” by Watchet townsfolk.

As you probably know it was a tradition aboard large sailing ships for sailors to sing sea shanties. The rhythym of the shanty assisted the sailors to work together when hoisting sails or walking around the capstan, etc. John Short’s strong and tuneful voice often led him to take the role of solo shantyman and over the years he memorised the words and tunes of dozens of shanties, including a favourite of mine, Spanish Ladies.

John's ocean going life came to a close in the 1880s when his wife, Annie, became ill and John returned home to Watchet to care for her. That didn't mean he turned his back on the sea though; John continued to sail aboard local coasting vessels, including the Watchet ketch, Annie Christian.

In 1902 John was appointed as Watchet’s Town Crier and later took charge of the town’s Fire Brigade. He continued to sing with other sailors around the harbourside and as Yankee Jack, occasionally at local concerts.

“He thought little of his reputation as a singer, but much more of homely things”

Cecil Sharp, an eminent collector of folk songs and shanties, met John in 1914 and transcribed the words and melodies of many of John’s shanties.

Sir Richard Terry, another distinguished collector, visited John in 1919/1920 and gathered more shanties from his repertoire. Had these two renowned gentlemen not met “Yankee Jack” many of the old sailors songs may well have been lost for ever.

John Short died at the age of 94 in 1933; his obituary in The Times said of Watchet’s grand old sailor: “He thought little of his reputation as a singer, but much more of homely things”.

...and I really must get my oversized arse outside in the fresh air

Shorts and tee-shirt... I think it's a bit early in the year to go naked topless just yet!

See you later Blogland!

What do you see when you look in the mirror first thing in the morning? If you're like me, the vision the mirror displays is one of an aging old fart who often seems more than a little confused...

Sometimes though the face that stares back at me is that of a twenty-something with a lifetime of hopes and dreams ahead... before they were all shattered that is.

Funny old thing life, isn't it?

Talking about reflections, here's one I rather like.

The old, the new and the in-between, as seen reflected in the mirrored glass of the Bradford Telegraph and Argus.

...catches the bookworm

I wonder what this young lady was in such a hurry to buy when she walked purposefully into Bradford's Waterstones bookshop at 8:33 in the morning? Perhaps she was in a hurry to pick something up before starting her own working day... or maybe there was a special offer she just couldn't resist... we'll probably never know, but I thought it made an interesting capture anyway.

My previous two posts have featured the remote neolithic stones at Little Rollright, the Whispering Knights and the King Stone, so this morning I think it only right that I feature the stone circle itself and post some images of the King's Men.

The Rollright Stone Circle is the southerly cousin of the Cumbrian circles such as Swinside and Long Meg and her Daughters in the English Lake District. Family traits include similar size, shape, close-set stones, with an astronomically-aligned entrance and a pair of outlying portals.

It is believed there were originally some 105 stones standing shoulder to shoulder forming the King's Men, but today only 77 exist.

The neolithic stones at Rollright in Oxfordshire are in three distinct parts. The King's Men form a stone circle that dates from about 2500-2000 BC. It is almost perfectly round and has a diameter of 104 ft (33 m). Originally, there may have been as many as 105 stones, but today there are 77 stones. Over a third of the stones were put back in place during the site's restoration in 1882.

The stones are of heavily-weathered local oolotic limestone: antiquarian William Stuckeley described them as being "corroded like worm-eaten wood, by the harsh Jaws of Time" that make for a "very noble, rustic, sight, and strike an odd terror upon the spectators, and admiration at the design of 'em".

The Whispering Knights stand approximately a quarter of mile away and are part of a portal dolmen-type burial chamber dating from about 4000-3500 BC. Four of the stones stand upright in a tight cluster; a fifth, probably the capstone, has fallen. Dismembered bodies were placed in the chamber for burial. Human remains were place in the chamber for over a thousand years, well into the Bronze Age.

The Whispering Knights are named for the conspiratorial way in which they lean in towards each other. Local legend has it that they were plotting against their king when they were turned into stone by a witch, along with the other monuments at Rollright. Another legend says that on New Year's Eve, at the tolling of the bells of Long Compton church, the stones go down to the valley to drink.

Walking back past the King's Men we come to the King's Stone, a large block of limestone about 2.5 m high. This is believed to have been a marker stone for an early Bronze Age cemetery and was erected between 1800-1500 BC. Several small cairns containing cremations were discovered around the stone. The stone's unusual shape is not original; it derives from early visitors chipping away pieces to take away as talismans or for healing purposes.

The King's Stone

For more information about the Rollright Stones, visit the Rollright Stones web.

Well fellow bloggers I spent a couple of very happy hours with another of our number today and as well as enjoying coffee and lunch I was introduced to the King's Men... stupidly I've forgotten the name of the location, so I'll have to look that up.

Edit: The King's Men, or The Rollright Neolithic Stones, Oxfordshire.

Anyway Milly looked at this here Knight's Stone and saw something wonderful in it... and when I looked I could see it too: how about you? Can you see what's in this lump of rock?

Come on guys... answers on a postcard please.

Thursday already... doesn't time fly?

It's a miserable looking morning... grey and overcast... but hey, that doesn't matter... I'm going to have fun today if it kills me!

Funny old world isn't it? This time last week I was feeling slightly nervous about having to relive part of my youth.

A little known fact about Usky is... he used to work as a radio DJ type. A very long time ago of course and I was so much more confident and sure of my footing back then...

Anyway, the Daughter is following in Daddy's footsteps and has a regular Thursday slot at Ramair, a university based local radio station in Bradford. Here she is doing her stuff...

So given I was in the area, Daughter decided I should appear as her 'guest' last week... I hadn't broadcast for decades... but you know what? It's a bit like riding a bike... two minutes in the chair and it all comes flooding back.

We chit-chatted about the music scene (thank god I've kept reasonably abreast of things) and one thing led to another... it wasn't that long before I found myself chuntering away over musical intros and doing the whole DJ bit with my Beatles and my Stones... Zep, Mungo Jerry, Purple, Hendrix, Bowie et al...

Mind you being in a studio has changed a lot since I was in the 'chair' regularly... no-one seems to spin vinyl in the studio these days, it's all CDs and MP3s now. Still I didn't have to do the cueing so I could just concentrate on that chat and being cool!

Not a pretty picture I'm afraid, well not the old fart on the left anyway, but a whole lot of fun nevertheless. Ah well, that's history now and I've a new experience to look forward to today... I'm going to be introduced to some ancient stones... this time not of the Rolling variety!

I've been having a bit of a rethink while I've been away...

My thoughts...

My life...

Me...

Decided to revamp my outlook...

My blog existence...

My web...

Spent a few days in sunny Yorkshire last week... damn cold up there in the frozen north compared to down here in the south... mind you, it was the Southern Jessie who was walking around in a tee-shirt and without his coat!

Waking up in the mornings and throwing back the curtains of my room I looked out at...

...a tin roof, a road, some buildings and beautiful blue skies.

Not exactly Heathcliff country is it? Even if I was stuck up in the wuthering heights. Still it could've been worse... I could've been sharing a room with John Prescott!