Day 198 - Eyup...

...me duck

They say that a lot around Leicestershire way, where I used to live. 

Eyup, me duck!

It just seemed like a long winded way of saying "Hi!"...but generally I found it to be sweet and affectionate.

All that said, they weren't talking about this sort of duck at all...

This is a Mallard, a female.  She's been hanging around a bit, with her mate, for a few weeks now.

Mostly, they've been on the little pond over the road, but on several occasions recently, I've seen them on the verge over on our side of the main road...and when I got home this evening and pulled off the main road, here she was, wandering along looking a little confused and alone.  

I'm quite concerned...our landlords in their (utter lack of any kind of) wisdom (whatsoever), have employed a local farm building company to replace the septic tank and drain system at our property...it's a long and very painful story that I won't inflict on you...

The long and short of it is that today they started in earnest, and they've completely destroyed large chunks of hedgerow and general wilderness, alongside the stream.   The amount of damage they've done in a day has to be seen to be believed...

Anyway I'm concerned that me' duck's mate has somehow become a victim of the hurricane that apparently passed through whilst we were at work today...

Here's another photo for no reason other than that I was experimenting with cropping and framing, and saved it:

walks like a duck

I'm too angry to talk about the havoc outside, so I'll just leave it there...

I will of course let you know if the drake shows up again...

Fingers crossed!

:-/

Day 197 - Seven Words

as exciting as it looks

I found myself in church today, at a christening, for the first time in a few years...

I honestly can't remember the last time I was in a service of any kind - I try to block it out!

I've realised that being in church, or more specifically, being in a church service, pushes a whole bunch of buttons for me...it's not a pleasant experience. Consequently, I've learned to try to simply disengage with the whole thing, to try not to listen, turn my mind to other things. 

I was mostly, but not completely successful...

For instance, at one point the priest said "Of course, there's evil in the world, we know that...", and then went on to talk about protecting the child from this evil.

I bit my tongue and resisted the urge to say, "Now hold on a minute, back up there...evil exists - we know this?!"...

I wanted to demand evidence of this strange substance, or at least a conversation about how reasonable it was to treat this as given...although I knew that all I would get would be examples of humans doing unsavoury things that aren't in accord with the Churches position, and no real debate at all...

Anyway, it was my first time in a Catholic church, and I will confess(!) to a mild curiosity as to whether it would be more passionate and intense than my experience of other Christian churches...but alas, I found the building and the space within to be as dry and flat as all the rest...

Given the doctrine of the Christian Church, I find their houses of worship to be oddly soulless places.

To distract myself, I spent a few moments counting the number of pictures of Christ on the cross, or carrying the cross, or on his knees being beaten by Roman soldiers...the irony of celebrating new life whilst surrounded by over a dozen images of torture and execution was not lost on me.

Which got me thinking...what if Jesus had been hung, drawn and quartered?  What if he'd been electrocuted?  What if he'd been guillotined?!   This would raise some interesting scenario's...

Most obviously, what symbolism would have been used in places of worship?

A hangman's noose, or an electric chair?  A statue of Christ's head on a stake?  Would scale models of Madame la Guillotine be placed reverently around the room, complete with neat little baskets to catch the detached head?

And I wonder how god would have got round the problem of how to resurrect Jesus, had he been dismembered, or burned, or had a broken neck?

I have these images of some kind of nightmarish, Frankensteinian zombie staggering out of the cave and scaring the bejesus (do you see what I did there?) out of the locals...

Somehow it doesn't fit the narrative, does it? 

Anyway, the day was not entirely lost...at the gathering afterwards, we spent 15 joyful minutes giggling like children, whilst writing "rude" words with the actual kids fridge magnets:

fun with words

There are seven words in this image...a bonus fun-point for anyone who spots them all.

I'd wanted to do George Carlin's famous Seven Words You Can't Say on TV, but unfortunately (or more likely fortunately, now I think about it) there weren't enough letters...

B-)

PS All the words in the photo can be safely used on TV...you're welcome!

Day 196 - Ravens Rock

on the lookout

I so nearly missed the opportunity to snatch a photo of this fine pair of ravens!

As you know, I recently proclaimed that I would try to get photo's of all the local corvids, for the blog.

This morning, when I went upstairs to get dressed for climbing, I immediately noticed the two large black birds in one of the trees across the way...we know there are two or three local ravens, and I've seen them in this tree before. 

Ravens look almost identical to crows, except that they're considerably bigger.  Size is not always easy to establish when the bird is a long way away, often in the sky and thus with no reference points...hence our long running debate over which ones are ravens (most of them, say I), and which ones aren't (almost all of them, says Anna).

When I spotted these, I immediately challenged Anna to deny that they were ravens - they're huge!   

To my surprise, Anna agreed...at which point I suddenly realised I was missing a golden opportunity for a shot of them.

I knew that the camera already had the zoom lens on, so I ran downstairs, grabbed it, and rushed back up, removing the lens cap and turning it on as I bound up the stairs...

I felt the pressure of the possibility for missing the chance, as I hurriedly opened the window, and started to try to find a solid, stable position.   Settling in, I looked through the viewfinder at the blur, and started trying to find and focus on the ravens. 

Once located, I zoomed right in and refocussed...brilliant, I'm going to get them!   

I clicked the shutter release...nothing!  Huh?! 

I clicked again...still nothing, argh! 

Did I forget to switch it on?  No, because it just focussed!

Hang on...what's that flashing symbol in the viewfinder?   Squinting, I peered into the tiny screen...

Oh, bollocks, no memory card!!

By this time, Anna was at the end of the bed with a storage crate pulled out from underneath, completely blocking my path...on the bed, May-Z was lurking about looking for some fuss...

Sorry Mayz, I'm coming through! 

I leapt over the bed and ran downstairs again to retrieve the missing card from my PC...I felt sure that I would miss my chance now, but as I leapt over the bed again, past a bemused and somewhat startled looking May-Z, they were still there. 

I rattled off a couple of shots, before one of them dropped down away from the tree:

spotted something

I lucked into this nice profile of the first one to leave.  There's a pleasing amount of detail, given that they were 100m or so away from me as I leaned out of the bedroom window.

incoming

I hoped to get a shot of the second one leaving the tree, but I mis-focussed on the sky at just exactly the wrong moment, and as I was trying to get back to focus and find the remaining raven, he too dropped out of the tree and flew out of sight into the far fields.

Oh well, I did get a nice profile shot of him just beforehand:

lethal weapon

Look at that beak!  He is a big, impressive bird, probably my favourite of all the corvids, although I do have a soft spot for crows too.

So I've learned some lessons about being prepared, and acting quickly once the opportunity arises.

And I got some nice shots - they're not going to change the world, but they were going to be the most difficult corvid to capture, except maybe the jay.  We see the jay much less frequently, but when we do he tends to be much closer - in the garden somewhere. 

So we'll see...

For now, I'm just really pleased to have had the chance to get my local raven buddies into my blog!

B-)

Day 195 - Slug and Swallows

birds on a wire

I'd like to think that one of these little fellows is the one who had the lucky escape from Loz the other day. 

In fact, I think it's the one on the left, the one who's looking at the camera.  I imagine he's looking at me with gratitude, for saving him from the jaws of the beast...that's probably it, don't you think?

That's my theory, and I'm sticking with it!

Otherwise, I have that Friday night thing going on again, where I'm tired, my brain is fuzzy, and writing is hard...and writing anything interesting is even harder!

Fortunately (for all those who won't read this), very few read the Friday night entry...and who can blame them?

That said, there are benefits to having a lesser read post now and then.  

For instance, here's an interesting photo of a strange and slimy creature, which many of you may find somewhat unpalatable. 

So I'll sneak it in here where nobody's really looking...

terrestrial gastropod mollusc

I get to add another cool creepy crawly to my collection of critters, and you all get to keep your dinner down...

Double bonus!

B-)

Day 194 - Rogue's Gallery

We had a family gathering this evening, and my mum asked me to get a selection of photo's, much to everyone's annoyance...

It's late and I'm tired, so it's going to be primarily pics, tonight...

First up...Mum presides over the proceedings...

...with her minions at her feet: 

And of course, not far away is Mike, waiting for mum to tell him to do something: 

Kim was there too, looking cool, calm and collected:

Even Roob manages to not look too distracted by having a camera shoved in his face:

Jools and Siobhan were there...here's a rare shot of Jools not pulling a face at the camera: 

Ollie is quite a challenge, being perhaps the most annoyed at being photographed, but I luck into this peach of a shot of the kid: 

Tembie is so photogenic, she's no problem at all: 

Harry and Chris vie for the I'm taller than you crown...Chris's hair is winning, but in actual height I think Harry still has him: 

James, Brad, Bird and 'Arry - the Grandma Crew:

Rosie offers a sweet smile, presumably making a play for the cake:

Of course Riz' wants in on everything:
  

Even yours truly gets a sneaky look in:

And once more with feeling:

That's all, folks!

B-)

Day 193 - Herd of Sheep?

in the frame

For a while, I've been meaning to study photography a bit more, learn the next steps, technically, toward competence...but I never have time (because, you know, blogging!), so in the meantime I'm just taking lots of photographs and waiting for the magic, which surely must start happening soon?!

Tonight it was nearly 7pm when I arrived home after working late, then shopping.  Anna is out all evening bat bothering, so we had an early tea, before Anna headed off at 7.30pm, and I took Jazz out for his nightly constitutional. 

Of course, my main priority was to get some sort of photo for the damned blog. 

I've pretty much photographed everything around here now, so I've had to, on occasion, resort to looking for unusual perspectives (which is an interesting proposition in its own right). 

I found this hole in the hedgerow, and realised that if I stood in just the right spot, the hole made a natural frame for the trees in the distance.  I played around with focal length and f-stop for a few minutes, but guess what...the first one I took was the best. 

There's some kind of lesson there, but I'm reluctant to try to unravel it!

one for sorrow

Moving on...I spotted this Magpie way up on top of a large Ash tree down the lane.   It was a long shot, but nicely in sunlight.   I cropped this from a much larger image (the bird was quite a distance away), but I like the framing, and the blurry oak leaves in the foreground. 

I've talked about corvids in the past, and you may remember I'm quite fond of them...it would be nice to get the full collection on my blog, as we have all of them locally...although the jay might be a challenge...

Consider the above image the official start of the Smart Birds series.

lepidoptera magma?

Next up, I spotted this little chap scurrying across the road, and stopped for a brief photography shoot.  I had all the wrong gear of course, so this was taken at full 300mm zoom from about 1.5m away...really not ideal, and I think the lens is actually incapable of focussing that close. 

But what the heck, he's another in my growing collection of animals, which is getting pretty extensive now - I must start to catalogue it all soon!

I've just spent 15 minutes trying to identify him, but can't pin him down...possibly some sort of fritillary, but I'm not at all sure on that.  If anyone out there has the patience and/or expertise to name that species, please leave a comment...

Muchas gracias! 

(nope, there was absolutely no reason for that to be in Spanish...deal with it...)

of course I've herd of sheep

Finally, these lovely, ever-cooperative sheep, always ready to pose interestingly at the slightest provocation...here, they're going for the caught in the spotlight look...

I think they've pulled it off admirably!

Incidentally, I was a'pondering...if a group of sheep is a flock, then why is the person who looks after them a shepherd?  If the herd is the verb, then he's a herder, not a herd.  And if it refers to the fact that he looks after a herd, well he doesn't, it should be flock. 

So why isn't he either a shepherder, or a shepflock?

You see, these things niggle away, pointlessly, at my OCD...

:-/

Day 192 - International Swallow Rescue

bird on a wire

I'm on a roll with my challenges lately, even if I'm only half ticking or repeating them.

Today, as I was pottering around unpacking bags and stashing gear away after our weekend adventures, I noticed a little commotion in the lounge as I was passing.   All the animals seemed interested - the focus of their interest quickly became clear, when I found a swallow flying around the lounge!

Loz was on the arm of the sofa, looking for a chance to leap, and the bird was suitably panicked, flying round the room in desperation, whilst Jazz and Maisie watched with interest. 

My entering the room only served to panic the bird more, and push it towards the far windows, even though I tried to keep low to give it passage above my head...

It flew into the window by my desk, and dropped down onto the window sill.  I dashed over to open the window for it to escape, but somehow Loz beat me there...

I swear she has the reflexes of a cat!

Before I could intervene, Loz had the swallow in her mouth, and made to depart with her prize.   I blocked her exit, and hassled her into putting the little bird down, whereupon it immediately tried to fly away.  As Loz began to paw (claw!) at it, I grabbed her and pulled her away, and the swallow took to the air again. 

This time it flew into the opposite window, but with better anticipation, I just about caught Loz before she got there...holding her away (as she wriggled frustratedly), I opened the window and tried to nudge the swallow out.  

Unfortunately, it panicked and made a dash for the darkness and cover behind the curtains...and then dropped down behind the sofa before taking refuge in a dusty corner behind the bookcase.

I shooed all of the animals out, shut the door, opened all the windows, and cleared the furniture out of the way.   Once done, I took this quick photo (I had the wrong lens on, natch), as the bird had clearly decided its best bet at this point was to hunker down and hide where it was. 

As I was pondering how to tempt it out, Loz came back in through the open window, so I scooped her up and threw her out again.   Maisie discovered that the door had opened a couple of inches, so she snuck in too, and of course this prompted Jazz to follow on, to see what was happening.

Shooing them all out again, I used a short bamboo cane to nudge the bird out of its corner, at which point it gave me another brief, poorly lit photo-opp, as it landed on the Kinect:

bird on (x)box

It was covered in cobwebs at this point, but seemed in reasonable shape...there were no obvious signs of injury, and it could clearly still fly. 

Sneaking in closer, to try for a better photo, the swallow spooked again, and took off once more...this time, after a couple of near misses, it found the opening in the window and flew off into the great outdoors, a little shaken up no doubt, but still alive and flying...with a smidgeon of luck it should be ok to resume its life on the wing.

So I (literally) rescued a swallow from the jaws of a dangerous predator...that's at least two ticks for my rescue an animal challenge, after the successful rescue mission a few weeks ago.

Maybe I can offset this extra challenge point against some of my recent half-ticks?

Mi juego, mis reglas, I reckon!

B-)

Day 191 - Half a Tick

one word from me...

Apparently, 'tis the season of the half-ticked challenge...

Having been up early this morning to start packing before breakfast, we were loaded up and ready to leave the yurt by around 10.30.   Our horse ride on the beach was booked for 12.30, so we spent a couple of hours exploring the back roads along the coast, and hanging out at the beach.

Our trek consisted of a half hour walk to the beach, followed by a half hour or so trotting up and down, and a walk and trot back...

They allowed me to attempt to get my horse, Nelson, into canter...although not without first telling me that he's really hard to get going - unless you're a really good rider.

Although I'd passed their little riding test in the ring before we went out, I hadn't ridden for 15 years or more before today, so I was a little rusty, to say the least.

Nelson, as well as being barely big enough for someone of my size, was as advertised...pretty lazy, and almost impossible to cajole any energy out of.  He really had my measure - I couldn't remember the nuance of getting a horse into canter, and have since realised I was giving him quite a few mixed messages.   He had clearly decided that unless I gave him very precise, clear and specific instructions, in all the right ways, he was just going to resist.

(somewhat prophetically, the only climb I've fallen off this year was at Birchen in April, and it was called Nelson's Nemesis...which is how I felt as though Nelson viewed me).

The instructor, presumably in the name of Health and Safety gone mad, refused to give me any assistance, apparently on the basis that I was only allowed to canter if I knew how.  When I was told I had to ask Nelson more firmly to pick up the pace, and I enquired exactly how to do that, seeking a few reminders, I was told to "just generally ask him more firmly."   

Great, thanks...

So whilst it was brilliant (as we descended onto the beach I found I had a huge grin on my face), I failed to get a full tick on my challenge.  The challenge states a preference to ride the horse to gallop...I would have accepted canter, but as he wasn't having that in the only two short attempts they let me have, I can't with clear conscience claim the full tick. 

Whilst in the Lakes, then, I've got a half a tick for climb a long mountain route, half a tick for sleep in a tent, and now an additional half a tick for ride a horse to gallop...

Still, they were all great fun and I'll seek the full ticks as and when the opportunity arises!

Riding on the beach is ace, though!

Anna rode really well, for a novice...and her horse Pandora is a bit of a celebrity, featuring as she does on the opening credits of Country File!

I'm special, so special

Here's Anna riding away from me as Nelson puts in the least possible effort to keep up:

look at the arse on that

As a little bonus, perhaps to make up for the lack of cantering, the Universe offered me another great example for my dead animal collection - a lovely fresh jellyfish.

jelly, baby

After the trek we headed back to Warrington to collect Jazz, who seems to have had a brilliantly chilled few days with Cathy and Phil.  After a lovely early tea, we set off for the last long leg of the journey back to South Warwickshire. 

On the way, we took a detour to collect Loz and May-Z from the cattery before arriving home at around 9pm, incredibly weary and with a number of significant sore points setting in...that riding session is going to make itself felt over the next few days, I'm sure...

Anyway, check this further bonus photo opportunity that the Universe proffered whilst we were waiting at the cattery:

when you see it....

On first glance this may seem a fairly innocuous and perhaps confusing photo of a cat run...but look a bit closer, right in the middle of the picture...

soon...

I give you....

Cat in a Box!

Now please excuse me whilst I go collapse in an exhausted heap somewhere...

B-)

Day 190 - St Bees

king of the hill

Another adventurous day today...this time, down by the sea.

Just south of Whitehaven, on the Cumbrian coastline, is a place called St Bees.   Steep cliffs of ruddy sandstone tower above a rocky, red platform, dotted about with a myriad boulders of all shapes and sizes.

It's unlike anywhere else in the UK, so we were really keen to visit, whilst staying only a few miles away in Wasdale.

According to the guidebook, there's a 15 minute walk in to the boulders...which, it turns out, is misleading in the extreme.

First you have to skirt around the edges of Whitehaven, before turning off into a private, single track road.  This road winds and weaves towards the coast, through grassy, featureless fields. 

After several miles, somewhat improbably, you come to a couple of dwellings and a farmstead. 

The farmer charges £2 to park in his yard, and from there, although the road continues, you have to walk...

So with my bouldering mat on my bag, and Anna carrying a bag of shoes, food and drinks, off we set, sweating in the midday sun...after half a mile, we reached a lighthouse and associated buildings on the cliff top, before the road runs out altogether.

Following a cliff top path northwards for a quarter of a mile or so, crossing a style, we eventually found ourselves at the top of a thin path disappearing steeply down the bracken covered upper slopes towards what appeared to be a 50 or 60m drop to the rocks by the sea.

Heading tentatively down a path so steep it seems only suitable for goats, we nervously picked our way down, all the while aware that every steep step downwards had to be climbed back up to get out!

Here's a photo looking up at Anna halfway down the path...

path less travelled

And another looking down on me from Anna's position...

path to enheavyenment

Neither of these remotely do it justice, or give any impression of how precarious the path was. 

This one is closer to our experience:

uneven ground

This doesn't show the actual path, which was just to the left, but it's similar in size, steepness and general characteristics...imagine a small path picking it's way straight up to the top... 

Anyway, once at the bottom, we then had to scramble over a variety of huge boulders for about 100m to get to the boulders we were aiming for.   

The claimed fifteen minute walking must have taken an hour or so...

Still, when we got there, it was worth it...fun (though hard!) bouldering, warm sunny weather, calm seas, and almost nobody around.

tiny boulder

After spending a little time orienting ourselves, and trying to hydrate, we pulled on our bouldering shoes and threw a few shapes.

tiny boulderer

It's curious how boulders that seem huge at the time, suddenly look a lot smaller when I'm on them...fortunately, Anna makes them look the proper size!

mantle

Here Anna is mantling up in the hope of being able to reach a decent handhold...a precarious move where you don't feel as though you're really holding on, more just balancing on whatever contact points you have. 

sunny climbs

Here, and in the top photo, I wasn't bouldering, I was simply clambering around for fun, finding a good vantage spot to see whether I could spot any seals...which I didn't...

After a couple of hours in the hot sun we were fried.   Aware of the difficult scramble back along the shoreline, before the steep, committing climb up the tiny path, we packed our bags, hydrated some more, steeled our nerve, and set off for home. 

Fortunately the climb out wasn't as horrendous as (I) expected...Anna hadn't been concerned at all, but having struggled up several steep approaches with very heavy bags of climbing gear over the last few days, I was wary of it.   

However, with just the relatively light weight of the bouldering mat, it really wasn't too bad, and before long we were back, hot and soaked in perspiration, at the cliff top.

As we got to the lighthouse, we saw another couple walking towards us, laden with bouldering gear...three mats, and two or three bags between the pair of them.  The girl just had a bouldering mat, but the guy had two bouldering mats, one on his back, the other in one hand...he also had a loose bag hanging around his neck, flapping about in an uncontrolled manner, and a plastic shopping bag of food in the other hand.

And he had flipflops on his feet...

Alarmingly, he asked us if we knew the way down to the bouldering...we told him the way, and pointed out that the descent, with no free hands and in flipflops, (not to mention the hard scramble over broken rocks along the shore) was going to be interesting, at the very least...the girl said she'd told him all that, but he just shrugged as if to say, "It'll be alright...".

As Anna said, if we don't hear about the rescue operation on the news, it's because they thought better of it when they got to the top, or they stashed most of the gear in the bracken before descending... 

wast water

Having survived another adventure, we decided to head up Wasdale towards Scafell Pike, taking in the Wast Water along the way.  

Anna took this lovely photo - lakes and mountains seem to be a speciality of hers! 

Finally, just to add to my collection of animal photo's in this blog (and either more interestingly, or more disturbingly, depending on your sensibilities), to my collection of dead animal photographs, here's an odd creature we found on the rocks...some kind of giant water louse... 

having a louse-y day

And here's a dead crab, which, of course, no self respecting blog should be without.

he's a bit crabby

One last note...one of the problems I climbed today was graded V2 6a - I'm not sure if the 6a is font grade or English tech grade, but in either case, I think it ticks off my challenge of climb a font 6a boulder problem...

Bonus - yay me!!

B-)