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.