ATTACK!

I know, I know. I got too close. But it was a fantastic opportunity, and it looked so placid. Guess I was wrong.

I knew I needed to get out of there when it started hissing, and then it opened it's beak. Did you know that those things have teeth? Small, hacksaw like teeth.

This picture may be slightly blurry, because I was making my getaway as I snapped it.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

More Pit Wheel Pics

Do you remember that I posted pics of the pit wheel at the memorial garden for miners last week? Well, here are three more. I was back there yesterday, and I took these. Actually, this is the other wheel in the garden, but I thought it was worthy of three snaps.

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Reclusive Swan

I was at Herrington Country Park again this afternoon, in Sunderland. The weather was absolutely fantastic, and we'd been for chips at the chippie. So there we were, on our picnic blanket, eating chips and watching people feed the ducks. All of a sudden, I notice a swan hiding behind a massive rock. So I creep over to it, Nokia N95 in hand, and stealthily take these shots.

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Top Hats-My Speciality

Alrighty There! Here is an image of some tasty treats that I made tonight. They're called Top Hats-melted milk chocolate with a gorgeous marshmallow on top!

The reason? Tomorrow we're taking part in MacMillan's Big Coffee Morning, and we're hoping to raise money for the cause, especially as we've just lost a colleague to cancer. So I'm selling these treats to raise that little bit more.

But I just had to snap a picture of them before they all got eaten!

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Blue Fountain, Seaham Hall

Today I was at a conference at Seaham Hall and Serenity Spa. It's a very posh place, with elegantly styled rooms and posh names for humble food. So grand is it, in fact, that Westlife stayed there when playing at the Metroradio Arena in Newcastle. But I digress...

Set in a roundabout that is the driveway is the fountain that you see above. The water has got to be dyed, it's not naturally that colour. But the effect of the water overflowing from the container, with the cyclone-like column, was fantastic. I'm not sure how it's done, but it looks great.

So yes, I felt like a bit of a plank as I stood there and casually took out my N95, but I had to take this shot. For my progeny.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

There Once Was An Ugly Duckling...

Okay, so I guess you need to know the nursery rhyme to get the title... But anyway, this is a picture of a cygnet. It's quite a large one, so I think that transformation to swan is imminent.

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Fire

So I was in the garden the other day, and I decided to burn some stuff-you know, garden waste, junk mail, that kind of thing.

I hauled out the little cast iron burner, chucked in the goods, some white spirits for good taste, and whooooom, ignition. Burnt the hairs off of my hand too...

So there we have a nice little fire burning, so I decide to whip out the N95 for some photographic action... Here are the results.

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Pit Wheel

Friday night I took a bike ride around Herrington Country Park, Sunderland-it's a fab place that I'd never been to, with cycle tracks, ponds, play areas, monuments and great views.

As I was riding around, I came across the Miners' Memorial Garden, and a monument there was a massive pit wheel, presumably from the Herrington coal mine.

Taking out my trusty Nokia N95, I took this picture.

What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Beach at Whitburn

I was out walking with friends last night on the beach of Whitburn, Sunderland. It was around 6pm, the weather was absolutely gorgeous, and the views from the cliff top were stunning.

I just had to get out the Nokia N95 and take this picture of the sea coming in, it was awesome.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Convertible Piaggio

I spotted this in Pisa, Italy, when I was there in July this year. There were lots of these Piaggio's around, most of them with faded paint and either a flatbed to the rear, or a small panelled area. None were as cool as this-a convertible Piaggio, with cream leather seats and stunning blue paintwork. I wanted to take it home. What do you think?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Arches

This is another shot from Fountains Abbey. It was taken inside the ruins of the Abbey, looking up at the arches. I think it looks pretty creepy, and would certainly not want to be there on a night. What about you?

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

The Petrifying Well

This is a picture of The Petrifying Well at Old Mother Shipton's Cave. Apparently, anything that was a source of water back in the day was called a well, so even though this is pretty much a waterfall... It's called a well... Okaaaaaaay....

Anyway, the water is so rich in lime or something that if you hang something up there, as you can see in the picture, within three months it is 'petrified', or turned to stone. But really it's just coverered in slime...

Oh, and you see the two lumps sticking out halfway up? Well, those are hats that belonged to a man and woman, and were put there 150 years ago! Woohoo!

I love this picture because the colours in the dripping lime are brilliant.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Ye Olde Park Bench

As I was walking along by the river the other day, I came across this park bench. It really stood out to me as different from the usual three-plank benches that we see nowadays.

The green paint, the sweeping curves, the gentle setting-it all made for a fantastic picture opportunity that I couldn't pass up on. So out came the Nokia N95, and this is the result.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Knaresborough and Nidd

On Sunday, whilst visiting Old Mother Shipton's Cave at Knaresborough, I managed to snap this image on the Nokia N95.

I was in front of Knaresborough Castle at the time, and the view across the river Nidd towards the viaduct was simply amazing.

I like this shot because it takes so much in-greenery, people, river, boats, cafes, houses-it's fab.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.

Fountains Abbey, Yorkshire

On Saturday, I went down to Fountains Abbey, a National Trust site in Yorkshire.

It was a sunny day, there were lots of people around, and it was great. This is just one of the many pictures that I took there-it's a view of the Abbey. It was so colossal and majestic, I would highly recommend it.

Comments, as always, much appreciated.