A Yellow Flag Iris...

...bursting through a Japanese Acer

Ever since I dug a pond in the garden I've encouraged the local wildlife to make use of it... the only exception being Heinkel, a most insistent heron.

Over the years we've had various visitors who have kept me entertained, but just now my pond seems to have become the place to be if you're an urban frog. There are usually one or two around... yesterday evening I counted seven... all adults and all seemingly happy to be wandering about despite the noise of the Usksider at play!

Here are three that were on 'my side' of pond and within reach of my camera lens.

Tom

Dick

Harry

So there you are... three of my new chums...

I'm not an Attenborough, but if I was I would be an actor... anyone know why?

A couple of years ago I posted a brief series of images taken of the redundant railway viaduct between Maes-y-Cwmmer and Hengoed. Just recently I've been going through some of my old images and reworking them... and thought I'd share one of the results with you.

Before

After

(road signs and telephone cables removed, sky enhanced)

And they say the camera never lies...

What kind of picture do you imagine when you think of 19^th century industry in Britain? Textile factories? Iron foundries? Child labour? Canal networks? The birth of the railways? Dirt? Poverty? Famine? Disease? Factory chimneys belching soot and smoke?

Whatever you imagine, the birth of industrialisation saw the rise of the factory and that factory system was largely responsible for the rise of the modern city... large numbers of workers migrated into the cities from rural Britain in search of employment in the factories and needed somewhere to live...

But it's not the rise of the city I want to talk about here... in fact my topic today is the design and placement of the factory, not the migration of the worker.

Not all factory owners built their empires in squalor, even if they did exploit the workers they employed.

Of course I hasten to add not all factory owners did exploit their workers; some were real social reformers, building decent housing, schools and facilities for their employees.

I digress... the South Wales Woollen Mills Co, who were flannel manufacturers, started their Maes y Cwmmer mill beside the River Rhymney in 1765. By the 1820s the mill had grown and an engine house was added for increased power.

Whose decision it was to surround the mill with trees I have no idea, but without doubt it was a good thing to do. It meant the mill was shielded from view... something often considered by modern architects... you could say the mill was 'landscaped.'

The landscaped Maes y Cwmmer mill

It may not have been much fun working at the Maes y Cwmmer Woollen Mill, but at least the workers could hardly complain of a dark, Satanic, outlook...

Okay, I have no idea... what's this all about?

click for big

An urgently loud thumping on the front door knocker had me scurrying to see who was outside. On opening, I see the guy from across the road with a red and angry face... 

Oh dear, I think I'm in trouble.

There was a squirrel sat on the apex of his roof; a really cute little guy. I'd grabbed a camera with a telephoto lens and pointed it out the window. The neighbour had spotted me and assumed I was trying to see into/photograph his bedroom, where his wife happened to be.

No, honestly, look I'll show you the images on the camera's memory card.

Gruffly he admits he may have made a mistake. BUT I shouldn't be pointing cameras at his house and if it happens again he'll call the police!

Okay, okay... no offence meant. I'm very sorry.

Growling about bloody perverts he turned away and stalked off down the drive...

I haven't posted any pictures here for a while, so I thought it was about time I put that to rights.

The Dell

This green open space is above Chepstow Castle and known as The Dell. Kids can often be seen playing here, which is great as long as someone keeps a careful eye open... beyond the hedge-line is an open chasm leading to the steep bank on which the castle walls are built.

I've been awake for hours...

The washing is on the line...

I've cleaned the kitchen...

Coffee and toast has been devoured...

Now I'm starting to yawn...

So the burning question of the moment is, do I take myself off to bed or do I struggle to stay awake?

The sun is shinning...

The Archers Omnibus is on the radio...

The Daughter is coming home from university today...

All's well in Usky's world

So, what are you lot up to today?

I'm embarrassed to say I'm struggling find a subject worthy of my Little Something for the Weekend this week.

My last two teasers were way too easy... I know because you told me so! Oh dear... must try harder...

Well I have got an image in mind for this week's teaser... but I'm sure you're all going to pounce on it as another gimme!

Ho hum... into the Valley of Death I go...

I posted part of an advert I thought a bit odd last night... Orgasm Heaven!

Well I won't bore you with all the details, but I found an email in my inbox this morning (source withheld to protect the not so innocent) explaining what it was all about...

Studies have shown evidence of female ejaculation in between 10 and 40% of female orgasms. However, research is being performed under the hypothesis that ejaculation can occur in all (or most) cases (as suggests the article linked in a comment by my colleague Pinkfreud-ga, which I recommend you reading too), but probably most of them in an amount unnoticeable in an area typically humid during sexual intercourse -- thus, those percentages would correspond to those women who do notice their ejaculation.

According to some laboratory tests, the fluid coming out during a female ejaculation would be a substance with some similarities to male semen in its composition, produced by the paraurethral glands or Skene's glands, often called "female prostate" for its similitude in placement, structure and, given the discovery of female ejaculation, function, with the male prostate, the responsible of the production of semen. More noticeably in women -- but also in men -- these glands have also a function of sexual stimulation. They are in the basis of the so called "vaginal orgasm" (as opposed to "clitoral orgasm", opposition that is being criticized lately), and are in the physiological structure of the famous G-spot or Grafenberg spot, the location on the vagina anterior wall which would have sensitivity to sexual stimulation. More rigorously, when that area is being rubbed -- either by a penis, finger, etc. -- the glands in touch with it are those that experiment the stimulation. Thus, the female ejaculation is more likely to occur when stimulating the G-spot. The website The-clitoris.com "Dedicated to a Woman's Sexual Pleasure & Health", publishes excellent diagrams on how to stimulate this area and showing all the anatomy above depicted -- actually, you can have more extended explanations of the issue in it -- at their page "The Female Prostate, Female Ejaculation, and The G-Spot"
(http://www.the-clitoris.com/f_html/ejacula.htm )

So there we are then... you girls do have a 'prostate' gland after all... and I'm calling for volunteers to help me find it.

I've just received this...

Do you want to be one of those guys your girlfriend talks about over drinks with the girls, talking about how skilled you are in the bedroom? Do you want er to have orgasm after orgasm until she begs you to stop?

Learn Why Prostate Massage Is So Pleasurable

Am I confused?

Well that's it, it's official...

And I can state this with no fear of contradiction...

There is no recession anywhere in Europe!

On what economic model do I base my theory?

Simple...

18 weeks ago to the very day I paid the deposit on a new Volkswagen Jetta... have I got the car? Have I buggery!

Lead time was 6 weeks... or so I was told...

Then 8 weeks...

12 weeks...

18 weeks...

So where is my new car? Not a bloody clue... in some European factory somewhere... could be Germany... could be Spain... could be... well anywhere really... I just know where it's not!

Is Usky a tad pissed off? You bet your boots he is!

18 weeks and still no sign of my car... demand must be so great the factories are obviously working flat out... has to mean all those rumours about a recession must be so much bullshit!

...and I'm thinking about dinner... and feeling rather hungry too... and since I have absolutely nothing to contribute to this wonderful community today I think I'll just slip away to the kitchen and play with some lamb chops...

Men are just a bunch of horny buggers... aren't they?

The idea that men think about sex every seven seconds, like the claim that we only use 10 percent of our brains, is often repeated but rarely sourced. The number doesn't bear up against scrutiny. According to the Kinsey Report (Sexual Behavior in the Human Male), The following figures apply:

54 percent of men think about sex every day or several times a day

43 percent a few times a week or a few times a month

4 percent less than once a month

Even though the Kinsey Report relies on men to self-report on how often they think about sex, it's still eye opening to find that just under half of men aren't even thinking about sex once a day. Clearly, the seven-second rule may be a tad hyperbolic... isn't it?

Well it's been a funny old day and no mistake...

I could tell you all about it, but I know I'd only be boring each and every one of you to death...

So I may as well cut out the middle-man and simply shoot you now!

For your delight and delectation, I posted a sepia-toned image of Melincourt Falls yesterday...

Melincourt Falls

Here is the image in its more natural state. While I like the sepia-wash effect I have to admit I do somewhat prefer the natural colours, which I find lend a richness to the image.

What do you think?

I'm having a sepia overload... and it's all Munzly's fault!

Melincourt Falls

Anyone want to see what the waterfall looked like before I aged it?

Sorry, but I couldn't resist the opportunity...

I made a comment the other day saying starlings remind me of spivs... it's all down to the way they walk... a walk made famous world-wide by actor George Cole as the character Flash Harry in the St Trinian's films. If you're too young to remember the original St Trinian's films, please rent them and see how the characters really should appear!

Spiv, as I'm sure you all know, is a particularly British term for a special kind of petty criminal who deals in stolen goods or fraudulent sales. The spiv is usually a well-dressed man offering goods at bargain prices. The goods are generally not what they seem or have been obtained illegally.

Alternately the spive may be referred to as a wide boy.

Wide boy is another British term for a man who lives by his wits, wheeling and dealing. According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is synonymous with spiv. Newspapers of the late 1940s and 1950s often use both terms in the same article about the same person when dealing with ticket touts, fraudsters and black market traders. It has become more generally used to describe a dishonest trader or a petty criminal who works by guile rather than force. Think Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses.

Living very much by their wits and being especially well dressed, I give you the spiv of the avian world

Wide Bird

...especially for Munzly

This is the Second Severn Crossing (M4) photographed from Portskewett and given a little artificial ageing by yours truly.

Here I am sitting around blogging... and I really should be moving my vast arse and getting myself sorted for the day ahead.

It really isn't good enough... it's not as though I don't have a job to go to...

Oh no, I haven't come out of retirement... heaven forbid I never want to do that!

I do have a job on today though... ...a day of unpaid work for a local charity.

See you all later

I mentioned a family of starlings that have moved into my immediate area to Garden Girl recently... and also said these birds are very timid, which has made photographing them a bit difficult.

The birds have nested in next door's eaves... so getting a few images of them entering and leaving the nest wasn't too bad.

Having experimented a bit... I eventually found the ideal 'bait' to tempt the birds into my garden... now don't all shout at once... it wasn't me who gave them the taste for Ritz crackers!



Okay, okay I know the images aren't brilliant... but now I know what they like, I'll set up my camera with a long lens on a sturdy tripod and have a proper go!

'Morning all

Another Monday with lots to do and not a lot of time to do it in... but hey, that's not your problem... it's mine

Just thought I'd share another ruin with you... not me this time... ...I'm feeling a lot less blocked up today

Castel Carreg Cennen

This is the castle at Carreg Cennen, made famous by the artist Turner. Turner painted Carreg Cennen from below looking up... I think I prefer the view from cliff level though... hope you like it too.

No it's okay, it isn't Man-Flu or Swine Fever... at least I hope it ain't anything that deadly Truth is I'm not sure what's wrong... I'm just not right in the head I'm all blocked up and can't breath and feel as though I've been hit in the face with a shovel!

Chepstow Castle

Anyone fancy an old ruin?

That's me for now I'm afraid... the kitchen is calling!
(see my post on Anti-Weight Watchers)

Before I go though...

Decisions, Decisions...

More cute coots!

Hello Blogland... now I ask you... ain't life grand?

It's ten past seven on Tuesday morning and already I've sat reliving my youth and tapping my fingers and feet watching last night's recordings of Eric Clapton and Steve Winwood live from Madison Square Garden, followed by Eric Clapton: The Rock and Roll Years... an hour and a half of stonking good sounds

I've got Blues Britannia: Can Blue Men Play The Whites lined up next, but think I need a coffee beak... though I must admit I'm sorely tempted to open the bottle of Jack in my cupboard and really make the most of the day!

Decisions, decisions... oh bugger it! It's not as though I have to go anywhere today.

Let the good times roll!

...could love it

Good morning Blogland

Hope you're all in May Bank Holiday mood today?

Couldn't resist sharing some mega-cuteness with you all again today...

The Family Duck
click for maximum cuteness

I do hope I'm forgiven for not issuing a cute alert.

Coot
click for bigness

Absolutely no fever in the Usky household... not even of the swinish flu variety

But it is Saturday... and someone seems to be having a party!

They didn't invite me...

Wasn't that a bit rude?

Oh well...

At least I won't have a hang-over in the morning!

Munzly the Hermit sent me this superb little animation to celebrate my 100^th Little Something for the Weekend; thank you Munzly!

So I've set this as my default avatar... and it doesn't want to animate... and I have no idea why!

Unless it's a size thing...

Anyone got any bright ideas???

Good morning Blogland... and welcome to a wonderfully sunny Saturday!

Hope you're all fit, well and all things in between today...

And now for the promised cuteness

Convoy
click for bigness

Don't forget to drop by and have a go at my Little Something for the Weekend tomorrow will ya!

...is quietly sneaking...

Enemy in sight...

Dive! Dive! Dive!