Dog house!

I'm in the frikking dog house for going out drinking.

You know the score.... one of them afternoon sessions turns into one of them evening sessions .... turns into one of them playing on the Nintendo Wii sessions.... and I promised to sleep over but it's too late and there's no way I can drive anywhere and I bit my tongue eating a Nik-Nak crisp sarnie..... etc etc.

There were surely something much wittier and humorous than this to write, but you also got the bum rush.

Sorry!!

If you leave me now!! - Still life or a landscape.... whatever the frik you want to call it. It's a bunch of leaves in the woods at Upper Greetland - Let's call it art - the glossy finish on them makes it all the worthwhile of course!!

Back to black!

No, don't worry, I haven't softened and started to like Amy Winehouse.... I still think she's a waste of space and ought to relinquish her grip on oxygen for someone who might use with more gusto.

I have in fact returned to Black Moss reservoir for the first time September 16th 2007 - I know this is the date because I took photographic evidence of my journey there and the maintenance work that was going on at that time. I am pleased to say that on this particular occasion, the weather was better, my camera was better, and the reservoir was all fixed and full of water.

We managed a really lovely seven mile stretch of the Pennine Way, which of course wound up in Marsden at the Riverhead brewery tap..... and after a walk around Black Moss, what better finish than to find that they had Black Moss Stout on tap.... delicious!



I know Dawn will kill me for uploading this picture - it's not the most flattering picture I have ever taken of her!!! What this picture DOES manage to convey (on my behalf) is: This was taken moments before I realised that I had left my bottle of water on my kitchen table; Dawn and Stevie both enjoyed the walk with me; This is where we sat to eat our lunch on the sandy bank of Black Moss Reservoir; Blue skies; Black water; Autumnal shades of peaty moorland; Note the hat, it was deceptively chilly in the breeze.

You can of course read about my original trip and see the photos here!

Careful what you wish for.

Yesterday I was bemoaning our indecisive weather patterns. Today in a reversal of barometric pressure, we've had sunshine (and lollipops) and rather mild weather.

Woken with sun screaming around my curtain, directly into my eyes, where it would take until the afternoon to reach in summer, it now reaches by nine in the morning. I'm not complaining, but I notice how far round and how low in the sky, the old orange ball has really managed to let itself go.

I leapt out of bed (in my own inimitable fashion) and set off to buy myself some serious wet weather walking equipment. Although the weather's better today, you just know that underfoot it's going to be.... soggy, to say the least. I buy some nice wellington boots and some gaiters - I pay too much for them and say a little prayer that I might be able to persuade someone to contribute towards them by way of a christmas gift??

I can't remember the last time I wore wellington boots.... they take some getting used to and they're very tiring to walk in, but I manage a little outing to Pighill Woods and Nettleton Hill, from where I can see Drax power station (some thirty five miles away) whilst standing in thick leaf mould with dry feet!! Lovely clear, sunny conditions.



I'm very pleased with my attempt at putting the leaves back on the trees in this picture. I hope that this makes up for posting a picture of some scary trees yesterday. Pighill Woods walking in wellies!! This is one of those images that you really need to click and view at full scale to appreciate the colours, details and depth.

Fogging hell.

I've (quite rightly) spent the day at home behind closed doors keeping out of the dank.

A day when the fog came down and it never went back up. A day when the bare branches of newly shorn trees dripped relentlessly. Muffled sights and deadened sounds sucked up into piles of leaves in the gutters.

Getting ready for the fire service's most busy night of the year!!



Landscape two - Looking into Llyn Llydaw - crystal clear, freezing cold, sunshine on water. Halfway up Yr Wyddfa (Snowdon to me and you!!)

Snappy Samhain!!

Well, happy Samhain to you non-believers of the imported and vastly inferior trick-or-treat based shoddy version of our celebration of the dead.

It's our old new year.

It's a celebration of the dead.... of the change between life and death.... autumn.... winter....

You can't beat those four seasons in one day sort of days, and that's what we had on a guided walk around Castle Hill.

A guided walk... followed by a beer festival.... imagine!!!



A view over Honley.... warm and sunny after a brief cold snowy shower. No pumpkins, skeletons, or trick-or-treating!!

Full moon.

Hurray..... I am unable to contain my excitement at the coming of the Harvest Moon of 2008 - At least that's what we call it here in England!!

It is, of course, too cloudy, too rainy, too blustery, too wet, too miserable to be able to SEE the moon, but trust me, it's up there somewhere. I saw it last night and it was already VERY bright.

Hello to my mum, who landed in Australia today - I got a text at about midday to say she'd arrived and all was well.

Been out walking in Beaumont Park today - never been there before but it's a nice enough place with scope for adventure. Two strange things that attracted my attention whilst there: A young lad walking across the park removing a pair of latex gloves and discarding them in a flower bed (Possible solvent abuser?) - Two young Asian lads watching each other's backs while one of them sauntered up to the main steps and jumped into a car (no doubt trading in some sort of substance or other) - I am such a sceptic!!

Walking in dogshit was the downside of my day.

Eating Dixons ice cream - the world's finest!!



Autumnal bounty - grid ref SE 11475 05025 - walking around Riding Wood and Ramsden reservoirs. A nice circular walk through the village of Holme. There's a bit of something for everyone on this ramble - woodlands, open moorland, streams, reservoirs, a great little village with a pub and a hobbit house underground with a round hobbit door.

Adopt a Geordie accent now.

Day two in the Big Mother's house. Fox is trying to photograph birds in the garden. Unfortunately, it's not his garden, and the birds are none too pleased at being pursued by a peeping tom, and in due course call the police. It's the price you pay for being a novice photographer.... A well known member of the paparazzi may well have requested a payment in the region of three-hundred-thousand simoleans for the effort!!

I am thinking of buying a "freeview" box for my mum's house. The choice of five channels is such an alarming, disarming contrast with my hundred and odd usual choices, that I don't think I will make it through the week without a little more choice. Hell, I don't even think I will make it through the night knowing that I am missing next week's episode of "Heroes" on BBC3.

The folks finally made it to Australia... their final destination. Mum called at around midday today, which of course, is eleven at night, tonight, in their time in Sydney. How strange is that? They had quite a rough journey, but then a whole day on an aeroplane is not many peoples' idea of fun, is it?

I seem to have mislaid (pardon the pun) a chicken already. I am reliably informed there should be nineteen, but I have only managed to find eighteen of them. At this rate, I'll be out of a job within a week.

Grey.... That's what we have today.... a cloak of greyness. Grey skies, grey clouds, grey light. Flat and very uninviting. I am disappointed that the weather has not been conducive to getting out and about with my new camera..... not that there is any software to do anything with the sodding photos when I've taken them. I am thinking of bringing my old laptop up here, just so I can touch some familiar software......

Note: You can not touch software!! The old rule of computing thumb is.... If you can kick it, it's hardware. If you can't kick it, it's software, unless of course it's firmware, which is software you can kick!! Got that?? Good!

And now.... I have been trying to find a positive out of house-sitting here at Pole Moor, and you know what?? I think I may have found it. As you may know, it's halloween tonight. I won't be celebrating. The nearest neighbour here is a good few hundred metres away, and the likelihood of half-hearted adolescents in hoodies knocking on my door for sweets, in breach of their ASBOs, is negligible. That's my positive.

Oh, bugger, you've probably just realised that while I am sitting here at my mum's house in peace and quiet, there is a ninety percent chance that the ingredients for Yorkshire pudding are being plastered across the front of my own house because I wasn't there to fire my air rifle at the delinquents of Outlane!! Negative!!

Two stupid dogs.

Well, I'll say there are two idiots today.

I'm an idiot for contributing to "Blog Action Day" by writing something about the environment.... But I forgot to register on the website, so I guess my efforts were in vain. That does, of course, depend on how much influence you would credit my next idiot with.....

Idiot two for today, is awarded to those lovely people that run the "Blog Action Day" website. They're either too busy drinking nettle wine, or reclaiming jumpers from those little tufts of wool that you find on barbed wire to notice:

a) If you are going to hold an event on a specific date, then your promotional materials (specifically the banners and buttons provided) ought to at least carry the date that the event will be held....
b) For at least a day or two after the event, it might be prudent to NOT delete or move the webpages that you have encouraged all your participants to link to. The following day "Blog Action Day" decided to remove all their promotional graphics, and of course if you look back at my October 15th posting, you'll clearly see at the top of it..... well, nothing, and that's my point. Bloody idiots!!

Question: What would happen if every blog published posts on the same topic, on the same day? One issue. One day. Thousands of voices.
Answer: I, for one, won't be participating in such a poorly run "event" again. That's not to say I won't talk about the environment, but I don't need the help of someone else to do it.

Can you tell they've annoyed me a little? I've been spitting feathers. Choking on my own bile. Too upset to write a word. Not true, of course, but I AM annoyed by it.

I'm also slightly annoyed that, at some point, early this morning, I turned over in bed, briefly opened my eyes and saw the most amazing golden autumnal sunrise that you could possibly imagine. The thought of jumping out of bed and grabbing my camera and running into the street skimmed like a flat stone across the surface of my brain, before it sank to the murky depths below. I turned over and went back to sleep.

I'm looking out of the window now, at the flattest, most grey, windless, unphotogenic October morning in the history of evolution.

I guess there is a lesson in there somewhere.... I know there's a lesson about photography and that you have to catch those "golden" moments for great pics, but there's something deeper.... .... I don't know, I'm sure it will come to me as soon as the nurse has given me a bed bath and put cream all over my bed sores.

Hibernation.

Following the unseasonable warmth of a Sunday just passed, the weather, and mood, have taken a decidedly sombre downturn. A couple of extremely wet, foggy, and accident strewn M62 mornings leave a distinct taste of moorland grime in my mouth.

These are the days that I would expect from October as opposed to the short sleeved, sweat beaded temple times that had me heading out and onto the hills in search of cardiovascular stimulation and stretched Achilles tendons last weekend.

Finally, the ash tree in the garden has released its sappy hold on the leaves. They say the ash tree is the last to receive and the first to yield its leaves. I think the sycamore beat it slightly this year, and there are already the first few golden leaf strewn pavements to walk amongst. Seems the slight breeze, and the extra weight of fog and rain has finally tipped my ash. The rake will need to be wielded in arboreal anger before too long.

The distant whirr of a council owned road sweeper heralds the official start of autumn as a disinterested man power-washes the leaves into the road for the vehicle to subsequently collect.

Me, I'm disinclined to venture outdoors in this weather. I pull up the metaphorical drawbridge, and baton down the imaginary hatches. Turn on the TV and watch a couple of films. Drink coffee and eat baked potatoes. It’s a full time job keeping the fog from creeping under the doors.

This morning, the house feels decidedly cold and grey. I grab one of the books that have been hanging around partly read, turn up the central heating, and dive back into bed. It's not a lie-in, you understand!! I am reading, and for once, I do not fall asleep after the first paragraph. I finish a book.

It's three in the afternoon, the sun is shining now, and I am still in my pyjamas. Lazy, hazy days.

(you can view and of course comment on any of the films I have watched in the order that I watched them - most recent first.... Here!)

Lazy....

... but that's how it goes.

Another day, another blog missed. I really must try harder. You know I won't.

Not much to report.

Winter is coming. The first frosts have arrived this week. Each morning I have been treated to clouds like milky white flaked fish covering the sky. Beautiful washed out sunrises. Crisp, crunchy leaves underfoot. Shadows of trees cast in white across the fields, where the watery sun has yet to reach. The frost brings with it, a palette of colours that make the leaves burn.

I love autumn, but the two seasons (autumn and winter) really DO seem to be merging into one.

I am looking forward to a good walk this weekend.

Work's hacking me off at the minute, and I am taking a few moments out to write my blog. It's nice to be thinking about the sights, sounds, and smells of outside while I am sitting in the sterile fluorescent lighted office.

Pogo badges this week are thankfully wrapped up, and in bed. Very easy.

Work's still hacking me off.

Anyone know a good shop for cowboy hats?