Weekend Break
Posted: Sun 3 April, 2005 Filed under: Animals, Photography, Thoughts, Travel 4 Comments »Well, we’re back. The weekend was fantastic, although it was altogether far too short. Then again, weekends always are.
We stayed in West Quantoxhead (also known as St. Audries, for reasons unknown to me) close to Minehead. But not too close – probably 10-15 miles away from Minehead, which is just fine with me. I used to go to north Somerset with my family years ago, to the same kind of area, but we worked out that I hadn’t actually been back for at least twenty years. And it’s amazing how little has actually changed.
Saturday dawned – for me – bloody early. In fact, at dawn. The site had a pheasant that insisted on squawking it’s way through the morning loudly. So by half six I was dressed and awake. As The Hound was also awake and perky, we went down to the beach, leaving Herself to sleep more. Besides, I’d got my camera, which has been woefully underused so far this year, so it’s time to recitfy that. Sixty photos later, yeah, it’s back to being well used. I’ve got some thoughts on cameras and so on which I’ll probably write up for tomorrow, but for now it’s safe to say that some of the stuff was stunning – including finally figuring out for myself how to take successful shots of waterfalls with that shutter speed that makes the water look like mist. It’s a photographic cliché, I know – but it was a shot I’d tried to take on several occasions before, and failed abysmally. But now I’ve got a few – OK, I’ve got a lot – but they work, and I’m well pleased with them as a result.
For most of the day we went over Porlock Hill and Countisbury Hill to Lynton and Lynmouth, which was fantastic. We spent a large proportion of time knackering The Hound, spending at least two hours on the beach playing catch, and getting her to dive into rockpools in order to retrieve the tennis ball. For some reason this also gained us a bit of an audience, but there we go. We also travelled up to Lynton on the funicular railway, a water counter-balanced system which is ace, if rickety as hell.
Travelling back, we then ended up spending another hour on the beach, wandering along and getting yet more photos I’m really pleased with, and a couple that are going to get printed out at A4 size and mounted/framed properly, we’re so chuffed with them.
Today has involved a trip to Watchet, which is still nothing special, and driving home. Knackered – utterly, utterly knackered. But also ultimately happy – it’s been lovely to have a truly relaxing weekend, even if it has involved about 120 photos, all told. But it’s been great.
Away again
Posted: Sat 2 April, 2005 Filed under: Animals, General, Travel Leave a comment »This weekend we’re away down in Somerset, and this time we’re taking The Hound, which should make life interesting. Walks along the beach, Hound chasing seagulls into the sea, all that kind of thing.
Of course, what this also means is that there won’t be many updates over the weekend. I’ve left a couple to go up at various times, but no, it’s going to be quiet for the weekend.
Have a good one!
Quiet
Posted: Thu 3 March, 2005 Filed under: Animals, General 3 Comments »We’ve got guests here this weekend, so The Hound is in kennels from today. I’ve just come home and wow, is it quiet without barking, door scratching, and all the noises you come to get used to with a dog in the house.
Definitely going to take some getting used to. Still, it’s only ’til Sunday afternoon…
Remember, Remember
Posted: Tue 9 November, 2004 Filed under: Animals, Domestic, Thoughts Leave a comment »First of all, I have to say that I do like firework displays – not just due to being born on November Fifth, but I do find that a proper display can be a joy to see. Yes, even when it’s getting cold and damp, I still like seeing them.
However, and I say the same thing every year, I do feel that they shouldn’t be sold to the public. Not just because of the number of stupid little bastards that think it’s funny to fling lit fireworks into houses, through letterboxes, and into busy pubs (as happened to Gert this time last year) but alse because, frankly, too many people are too self-obsessed and stupid, and insist on firing them off all through the fucking night.
This year, we had the additional joys of a barmy dog that hates fireworks – and goes slightly mental when they go off. So I’ve been more aware than usual of what utter cocksuckers some people can be. We’ve had people letting off fireworks all the way through from about six pm ’til gone midnight – not the same people, obviously, but there’s been sets of *cough* displays throughout that time. And not just on Friday and Saturday, but all through the last week, and also on Sunday. And that’s just the “proper” displays, ignoring the scallie little fuckheads with their three or four rockets or bangers.
Supposedly this year there was a new law restricting both the purchase and use of fireworks. Well frankly, you could’ve fucking fooled me. There’s been the same number of divvy little shits setting them off in the streets, the same news stories of people dying in fires caused by fireworks being dropped through letterboxes, the lot. In fact the only difference between this year and all the others is that I didn’t see a Government-sponsored “firework safety” advertising campaign.
I don’t think fireworks should be banned outright – done correctly they can make for a fantastic piece of entertainment as the nights draw in at the start of November. I just don’t think they should be on sale to the public, and that anyone who does sell them to the public should be fined thousands of pounds. Instead, there should be official public displays put on in towns and villages across the country. In fact, the government could fund a lot of it, simply by being able to transfer it’s budget for firework safety advertising, putting the money instead towards those public displays. Safe, enjoyable, fun, and with a more manageable and reasonable timescale.