Into 2016…and it’s still raining!

Well, it is here anyway!

It’s not even the end of January and we have got to “J” in the alphabet. Not sure what I’m talking about? Well, some bods in the Met Office a little while ago thought it’d be a good idea to name all the storms that hit our country through the year…this apparently makes us more aware of the weather and the populous more likely to protect themselves when it arrives. Or keeps us in fear of something else, whichever you believe. So, when the wind was blowing the rain horizontally last winter, we were wandering in vests and shorts with gay abandon, it seems. Good Lord.

Anyway, the wind and rain we have now is called Jonas and is the tail end of the snow that deluged the eastern seaboard of the United states not so long ago, resulting in scenes like this. Alas, no snow here (so I still had to go to work, more’s the pity) but lots of wet and windy weather as the warm Atlantic melted it all before it got here. Maybe next year. Not entirely sure where Jonas was chosen from….the character in the Book of Mormon, the town in the Netherlands? Maybe the Jonas Brothers? Let’s hope not, as they are truly awful. Talking of awful music, when I was listening to the radio in bed for a while last night, I encountered possibly the worst cover version of “Heart – How Do I Get you Alone” that I have ever heard. I found, consequently, that it was one of these blooming reality show stars who murdered it. Honestly, it was so bad, I wished that I had suffered from a bout of tinnitus for the short period it was on for (I only heard the end). Should you hear this song, find it and kill it with fire.

Anyway, I am no music star, so best post some pictures huh? This lot are from a walk about when it was less wet around Blackpool Mill, Llys-y-Fran and the surrounds. Hopefully, some of you may recognise the places from earlier posts…

The exposed roots of the trees along the banks of Blackpool Mill

Another random train of thought, looking at this root system again. I’m a fan of The Walking Dead and this picture is almost skeletal in appearance. In a way, like the ribcage of the tree, but under the earth, exposed by many feet passing over it. Pretty cool though.

Further on along the path, there is the (abandoned) Blackpool Mill. Still owned an maintained by the welsh version of the National Trust, Cadw, it used to be a nice quiet cafe and museum. You possibly don’t recall the last time I posted a picture here, but notice the lower roof on the left is brand new. Last time I saw it, it had a hulking great hole in it. Nice to see it is being fixed, even if it stands derelict….

A newly fixed Blackpool Mill

If it interests you, the bridge I stood on to take this picture is is Grade II listed and is single-span bridge, built about 1825 for the de Rutzens family, previous owners of the estate.

Sadly, fixing is not what is happening with the actual workings of the mill which stand all silted up and slowly rotting into the mud. The smaller wooden bridges are fixed to allow pedestrians to pass over, but other than that, the channel and waterway are pretty much just abandoned..

Anyone got a dredger?

On to happier and more used structures now, Llys-y-Fran County Park owned by Welsh Water, where I took this image of the dam on a bright sunny day. I’m no fisherman, but I can attest to the good walking around the edge of the reservoir…about 7 miles in all. Be careful to choose a dry day though, it can be very damp!

Perfect conditions for a nice image of the dam in flood…..

Now, a couple of pretty pictures of a sunset for you. I have loads of these, I must admit, so I will continue to shoehorn them in. I was recently painting my girlfriends bathroom and the fact she must choose a picture for a wall somewhere in her flat to brighten the place up was mentioned. Quite how I’d choose, I have no idea! I’m having sunset withdrawals at the moment though; I can only recall 1 or 2 sunsets I even thought of picking my camera up for of late…in fact, to count good sunny days would possibly use less than ten fingers of late. However, things are looking up I’m sure and I plan to stash the camera in the back of the car, having recently missed a nice show of Asperitas at Saundersfoot beach…

A molten orange sunset over Llangwm

This picture was just a little later on and in the landscape format to capture a bit more contrast. Apologies for the curvature of the foreground, that’s just an effect of the optics…I only have a small kit lens.

Once the orange goes, then emerges the pink. Lovely.

However, a small kit lens sometimes come in handy when needing to take still life pictures of, say, a cat. Indeed, the most handsomest kitty in Pembrokeshire, Mischief, is once again showing his modelling skills. This is the “all I survey” look he perfects during the Summer. Mainly because he is downright nosey and looking at all that is going on in other gardens around him!

Mischief, posing as ever. In real life, he is far less intelligent than this image suggests!!

You’ll excuse the age spots and such, I’m sure. he is getting on after all! Bless his furry paws. Still going strong though and I’m sure he will feature further as the days get longer and he insists on following me of out the gate!

Well, try to stay dry through Jonas. If you do, I hope to see you again soon. If you don’t, I expect you to use another computer to come and visit me! Thanks for dropping by.

2015 in review

Hello All…and a Happy New Year,

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2015 annual report for my blog. Clever monkey!

Have a butcher’s hook if you like…

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 720 times in 2015. If it were a cable car, it would take about 12 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

Hope to keep seeing you all in 2016, I have many more pictures to post and intend to keep going!