This is another fleeting visit from me with a few words of thanks for all the wonderful messages of sympathy and support received these last few difficult days... believe me your thoughts and good wishes are most welcome.

Despite having so many other things on my mind I have still managed to carry a camera occasionally and capture the odd image. Here are a couple I shot last week, which seem somehow appropriate just now...

(click for big)

The hardest part of this for me has been choosing my four dinner guests; there are so many people I'd love to meet/dine with/talk to. I so wanted to include Isambard Kingdom Brunel and a few others, but in the end I came down to four guests I thought would compliment each other so I could just sit back and enjoy the conversation.

My guests are:

Winston Churchill: Historian, Leader, Bon Viveur
Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni: Leader, Warrior, Ancient Briton
Leonardo Da Vinci: Artist, Historian, Inventor
Captain William Bligh: Leader, Master Mariner, Warrior

My menu is:

* Seared Scallops, panceta wrapped and served with a salsa verdi
* Rack of Lamb stuffed with cherries and served with garlic spinach and glazed carrots
* Steamed Ginger Pudding served with a chocolate sauce

My table setting? A very simple oak board, set with silver cutlery and pewter trenchers. Candles for table lighting, simple electric up lighters for ambiance. Wines to be served from Italian glass decanters and served in matching glasses.

My evening would easily win the competition thanks to the sparkling repartee between the guests, the stunning comestibles and the relaxed atmosphere. The wine would flow, as would the after dinner cognac... success is guaranteed!

Okay, okay, I give in... you're right of course, I couldn't wait to get out for a test-drive!

In fact I'd probably be somewhere John o'Groats now if it hadn't been for the fact I'd arranged to Mum out for lunch today... so, first person to have a ride a my new jam-jar wasn't me dear old Dutch, it was me dear old Mam...

For those interested in such things... this is what I'd been waiting so impatiently for:

Usky's nice new Volkswagen Jetta

Finally.... after 6 months of patiently waiting... what seemed almost like a pregnancy... my new car has arrived!

I feel a bit like dancing now... singing at the top of my voice... celebrating with a bottle of the bubbly stuff...

Sorry Happy, I know you have months to wait for the stork to visit you...

I've been chatting with Pompeycaulkhead recently about Portsmouth's Funnel Tower ; apparently the locals refer to this as The Lipstick.

Pompey's comments got me thinking and yes, from the right angle I can understand the logic of that completely. Sadly I didn't photograph the tower from the perfect angle to get the 'lipstick' effect, but I hope when you look at this picture you'll see the connection too.

The Lipstick
click for big

So okay, Portsmouth has lipstick on its waterfront... sort of.

For a thriving business, it may be claimed that location is everything....

If that's true, I think it's time this lot re-located... isn't it?

Interesting reading your comments on yesterday's image... and seeing the way your minds work...

Here's the thing... or at least the thing that struck me...

At first glance the bird (it's an Egret incidentally) appears to be flying towards the camera... doesn't it?

But look closely at the bird... and particularly the bird's reflection...

Perhaps this will help

(click to enlarge)

I hope you can see the bird is flying away from the camera, but the angle the bird is holding its legs and feet make them look like a beak when the bird is in flight and viewed from the back... stuck me as being quite peculiar.

Okay, I'll just get my coat...

'Morning all

Here's an image I took recently that I thought I'd share with you...

Have a close look at it then tell me what you think is going on here

Feelin' frisky... can I has de heroine too?

Yesterday we witnessed the Trooping of the Colour for her majesty the Queen's official birthday...

Being ex-military I always get a certain amount of pleasure from these occasions; we Brits do the pomp pretty well don't we.

While yesterday's performance was primarily a happy occasion, I always find myself reflecting on the ones who can never return... the fallen... so I also find myself feeling somewhat humbled too.

I guess being an ex-sailor it's not surprising it is those sailors lost at sea that spring first to my mind; particularly those I knew who died during the Falklands Campaign...

This year I found myself draw in a particular direction; that of the world of the submariner. I never served on one of these hideous beasts, but I do have the greatest respect for those who did.

The idea of spending my life beneath the waves never appealed to me... not even the extra pay was an incentive as far as I was concerned... somehow 'boats' never seemed safe to me.

There's a memorial in Portsmouth listing those RN submarines lost at sea... I dread to think how many men lost their lives when all these boats sank...

(click both images for larger views)

Just thought I'd revisit the Spinnaker Tower...

Spinnaker Tower

...this time from the Gosport side of the harbour.

No not me...

...this little guy

...the Walrus said, to get me kit off and get out in the sunshine!

See you all later... maybe

As requested by the splendid Milly...

How's this hun?

I was going to save this until tomorrow morning, but....

Severn Bridge in Silhouette

I think this is my favourite of all my Severn Bridge silhouettes... it just kind of 'speaks' to me... if you know what I mean.

What'd'ya think? An interesting silhouette or just another piece of tasteless Usky crap?

God damn it, I work and slave... cook and clean... scrub and polish...

Well okay... but I do take care of the housework... and the cooking... and you folks know I do LOVE to cook... and pride myself a little at my abilities too... so I was extremely disappointed this evening when dinner was pushed aside with an "I'm not eating that, it's tasteless!"

Tasteless? Whoa! We're talking layered slices of potato and cabbage in-filled with minced lamb, onions and garlic, flavoured with rosemary and thyme... tasteless? I don't think so!

This is tasteless...

Apparently a European initiative to get drivers to take more notice of road signs... now come on guys, admit it... how many of you read the sign?

Now here's the thing... one of my new chums here in Blogland is from down-under... New Zealand in fact... Aukland to be more precise...

If you're into foreign places and stunning coastal scenery, check out Rob Lavender's Mahurangi Regional Park

Time I was doing splendid things in the kitchen... so I'm going to disappear like a poof... a poof of smoke that is!

Catch ya later!

Yesterday morning we had the odd drop of rain here in Welsh Wales... and when I say odd drop, I'm really talking blooming bucket-loads!

I commented to Gardengirl about my pond overflowing due to the vast amount of rainfall. Now my pond holds around 1500 gallons (around 7000 litres), which is quite a lot if you have to empty it with a teaspoon...

When the pond if full, there is normally a couple of inches clearance between the water level and slabs at the edge. After a week's hot sunshine, the water level had dropped a little and I was thinking I'd have to top it up unless it rained soon... and then of course it rained! It rained and it rained and it rained... then it rained some more... and then it stopped.

These were taken about an hour after the rain stopped.

You can see from the trails of beached Duck Weed how much water there had been in the pond.
The water level dropped back during the afternoon and early evening, until the rain started again. It is back to the level of the slabs again this morning with the overnight rain... and we have a severe weather warning in operation this p.m. in Wales...

Oh well... looks like the fish will be knocking on the patio doors for their tea again this evening then!

Yes yes yes I know, the song didn't really waffle on about Cranes, it was Trains... but to a Meerkat it sound the same... simples

There are some odd bits of architecture around these days, but in an odd sort of way I quite like some of the things that've been going on in Portsmouth over recent years. The Spinnaker Tower I thought was interesting as soon as I first saw images of it. I wasn't so impressed with the funnel though... until I actually saw it.

Portsmouth's Funnel Tower is a glass and steel construction modelled on a ship's funnel, but that's where the similarity ends. This block of fancy flats is probably the best spot to be in Portsmouth... the Penthouse flats at the top are extremely expensive, but do have a commanding view!

The crane is obvious and the Funnel refers to boats... the planes? That's easy... there are London Plane trees planted along the concourse.

Seems to me this would be the perfect residence for La Spice, should she ever decide to relocate back to the UK that is

This is the Spice Island Inn on Portsmouth quayside... formerly known as The Union Tavern.

Can't you just imagine the inimitable Spicy playing host to the massing throng? Best to beware of blokes with pink chariots though...

Let me introduce you to Alice... despite her somewhat dowdy appearance, she's really quite a lady.

Alice
Now my guess is if I just showed you this image you'd take a glance and say, oh yeah that's a neat old lugger or something equally nondescript...

But what if I told you the image had been heavily edited? Maybe then you'd look a little more closely... what would you see?

Perhaps it would help if I showed you my original shot... I hasten to add here I'd always intended to edit this image.

Alice was moored adjacent to the Spinnaker Tower in Portsmouth and was surrounded by 'stuff' that I felt detracted from her uniqueness. I sat and looked at the original image and worked out an editing plan... an hour later I had the above result... not perfect by any means, but not too shabby... at least it kind of shows what I'd originally intended.

What do you think?

It's just started raining... the weekend must've arrived!

Nope, nothing to do with the 1965 Donovan song, good as that song was.

Nothing to do with the bunch of guys who spend their time making windsocks, spinnies, kites and other wind reliant toys.

Spinnaker Tower - Portsmouth
Spinnaker Tower on the Portsmouth waterfront... love it, or hate it?

Right then... who can tell me where this is located?

Work out where this fine chap resides and you'll know where Usky spent part of Wednesday.

I really did ought to chop some of my pondy bits down/thin out/dredge/exfoliate/do something drastic... before the fish start complaining!

I really can't ignore it any longer... the acer has spread, the yelow flag irises have spread, the purple irises are spreading (not yet in bloom), the Japanese maple is out of control, the 'dwarf' spruce is 8 feet tall... I think maybe I just need a bigger pond!

...mines bigger than yours!

Well how would you know... it might be... you've never seen it have you? Mine might be ENORMOUS compared to yours!

Of course it's a bit manky... and yellow... and black at the end... probably means it's got frostbite... or worse!

I posted this in a comment to Ravingad the other day... and thought I'd share it with the rest of you.

Hengoed/Maesycwmmer Viaduct
A sepia-toned version of my reworked viaduct image... hope it takes you all back to Victorian times.