Bewildered Jim's Photography

Montgomery Castle

2010-03-12T16:57:00.006Z

Olivia and I had a chilly and grey walk around Montgomery Castle the other week.
Briefly: the castle was built in 1223 for Henry III by Hubert De Burgh. It was destroyed in by Parliamentarians in 1649 during the civil war.
The views on a clear day are spectacular.

A Seemingly Unremarkable Field

2010-02-21T21:29:00.006Z

I went up to Montgomery Castle on Thursday and took some photo's (next blog post), and one of the photo's was this one of an unremarkable field. This unremarkable field however, it turns out is the site of the Battle of Montgomery that took place in 1644.

The battle was between Royalists and Parliamentarians and cost the lives of about 700 people.

Amazingly despite living only 8 miles away (and my oldest daughter living just a few hundred yards from it) I'd never heard of this battle. This I thought was quite sad, that this field had been littered with the bodies of hundreds of our brave ancestors and people nowadays walk by it and even through it and have no idea of it's history.

Blood spilt for what?

Lake Vyrnwy

2010-02-07T20:36:00.012Z

Olivia and I went up to Lake Vyrnwy recently and I took these photo's.

She brought her binoculars to look for 'Peregrine Falcons'. We saw one but the shot was no good.

A very mossy stump.

This shot has an in camera filter on - I'm not sure which one!

The weather was cold but bright.

There was the remains of some snow on the hills.

The bridge and some nice red chimneys.

And a nice Robin to finish off with!

Flying

2010-01-15T21:01:00.004Z

Tried to capture some birds 'in motion'.

Didn't work out great but there you are.

They are a Feral Pigeon and a Sparrow by the way!

Sledging

2010-01-07T20:02:00.006Z

We went sledging yesterday. It had snowed (and blowed) the night before.

It was a beautiful day.
I was a bit heavy to pull!

Olivia complained that her sledge was full of snow.

I love these old Georgian chimneys.

The Long Mountain

2010-01-03T20:46:00.009Z

Myself, my wife, youngest daughter and our two dogs went for a walk on The Long Mountain - about two miles from where I live - on New Years Day.
We drove up there and there was no snow at all until we got to about five hundred feet and at the top (thirteen hundred feet) there was about eight inches - and frozen solid.
The road had been ploughed but was still icy in places and I had to at one point ditch my car to avoid a head on with another vehicle!
The temperature at the top was -2c (28f) and down 'in town' 3c (37f) which was a bigger difference than I thought it would be.
Tracks in the snow showed we were not the first there that day.
Paragliders had beaten us to it!
As you can see the dogs had a very good time!

The hill in the distance on the right is more or less where I work - it's part of my postal delivery round and stands seventeen hundred feet and has a few hundred houses scattered on and around it. Getting to some of them at the moment is as you can imagine a little slippery!

Local Churches No 2: Llandrinio

2010-01-01T19:07:00.011Z

This is St Trinian, St Peter and St Paul Church in Wales Church at Llandrinio.
The font apparently is about 900 years old!
The Church was built in the 13th century with bits added in the 18th and 19th centuries and there has been a Church on the site in one form or another since the 6th century.
While I was photographing the Church there was a very loud Pheasant shoot underway close by which led my 5 year old daughter (who was with me) to say 'do you think that they're shooting Red Kites Dad? If they are that's awful!'

Happy New Year

2009-12-31T19:44:00.013Z

Thanks to you all for your kind comments in 2009 and and a happy new year to you all for 2010!

Here are my last pictures from 2009 taken today. They are: Blue Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Pied Wagtail, Starling and Woodpigeon.

Local Churches No 1: Pool Quay

2009-12-28T18:20:00.010Z

I think that Churches are wonderful historic buildings and are of course very photogenic (as are the graveyards). So I'm going to - over the next few months - photograph as many of my local Churches as possible. I started today in the freezing fog!
This is the first: St John the Evangelist, Church in Wales, Pool Quay. Built in 1862. I don't know any more about than that I'm afraid!

Pied Wagtail

2009-12-27T21:53:00.001Z

Taken in my garden today.

A nice little bird.

Boxing Day Walk

2009-12-26T19:18:00.009Z

I Went for a Boxing Day walk today with my daughter along the Montgomery Canal which passes literally about 50 yards from my home.

The photo's for some reason looked okay on my camera but transferring to my PC were all underexposed!

Still, I've fiddled about with them a bit to try and get them looking passable.

Hope you like them.

Weather report for the day: 5c (42f) with a stiff and chilly breeze. All the snow has now melted but more is predicted for Tuesday.

Happy Christmas

2009-12-24T20:26:00.005Z

I was hoping to take some nice photo's today as there is quite a bit of snow about locally, but after a pretty hectic morning at work (I'm a postman) followed by the Christingle service at my local Church it was well after dark before I'd settled down. I had to pop out in my car at about 6pm (it's dark at 4) and decided to take my camera with me.

The weather was foggy and the temp was 1c (33f) and all I could take was these couple of gloomy pictures of the gloom.

Personally I like fog (not good for driving in though obviously) but there is something eerie and very still about it.

Anyhow - happy Christmas!

Starlings

2009-12-18T20:52:00.003Z

I took this shot a few months ago and stumbled across it yesterday. It's not much of a shot really but I think that it shows a little bit of the 'character' of Starlings.
A lot of people for some reason don't like Starlings, they say that they are 'dirty' birds and somebody told me recently that he shoots Starlings because they spread diseases!
But I like them, they are very colourful (especially in sunlight) and real characters with their squabbling and whistling.
I have some in my garden at the moment and will look out for them and hopefully post more 'Starling shots' soon.

Breidden Woods

2009-12-11T20:26:00.005Z

On our way up to Rodney's Pillar last week we walked through the Breidden Woods.

In this area there is apparently an Iron age hill fort with connections to Caractacus. Although I didn't see it (maybe I should have looked harder).

Hope you enjoy the few pics I took

Rodney's Pillar

2009-12-05T19:04:00.008Z

I went for a walk today with my five year old daughter to Rodney's Pillar.

This is a monument on the Breidden Hill to the Admiral Rodney of the British Navy and was built in 1782 to celebrate the Admiral's victory over the French fleet in the West Indies. The ships used in the battle were apparently built from the oak trees of the Breidden Hill area.

It was a seven mile drive from my home followed by a walk up to the top of twelve hundred feet.

And it never rained until we got back to the car!

Out and About

2009-12-04T21:51:00.008Z

Out and about with my youngest two children last weekend I took these few photo's.

A Dark Day at Lake Vyrnwy

2009-11-22T18:21:00.011Z

I went to Lake Vyrnwy today. I tried to take pictures of some birds there from the bird hide but the day was so very dark that I really needed a tripod because of the slow shutter speeds. I didn't have one but managed to salvage one bird pic. It's a Chaffinch.
We've had lots and lots of rain here recently and I photographed the water coming from the dam (which was built in about 1880 I think). It's still raining as I type this four hours later actually and more is forecast for tonight and tomorrow. It was by general opinion a 'miserable' day with rain, wind and a chilly 5c (41f), but as I may have mentioned previously I have a bit of a soft spot for the so called 'poor' weather - although when you don't see the sun sometimes for weeks on end it can get a smidge depressing!

The Last Days of Autumn

2009-11-19T11:01:00.007Z

We're being battered by some pretty dark and stormy weather at the moment. There's a mixture of blue skies, dark skies, drizzle, heavy rain, occasional (very) glimpses of the sun - and all accompanied by a seemingly permanently howling gale (gusts up to 80mph reported). This has been going on for about a week now with no let up apparently for at least several days more - but at least it's mild with max temps around about 13c (55f).
But I for one love the stormy weather, it's traditional British autumn weather, so here are a few pictures taken over the last couple of days by myself - during breaks in the rain!

Look Around

2009-11-14T18:40:00.010Z

On making the short journey today from my mother's house to the local park (200 yds?) with my dogs and two of my children I took these photo's of some of the rickety old buildings in my town. I don't normally take much notice of them as I'm used to them and never give them a second look really. But I think that in future I'll have a bit of a look around and take some more. It's surprising what's about!

School Run

2009-11-06T15:11:00.007Z

I took these having dropped my daughter off at school yesterday morning - always handy to have the camera in the car!

The railway line is the Welshpool to Llanfair light railway (steam).

River Severn and Offa's Dyke

2009-11-02T19:25:00.011Z

These photo's I took on Saturday about one mile from my home. The river is the Severn and the 'mound' (in the second photo down) is Offa's Dyke.

It was an unseasonably warm autumn day with the temp around 16c (61f) rather than the average for this time of year of about 12c (54f).

For those who don't know, Offa's Dyke was a ditch/earth mound that was built by King Offa of the ancient English kingdom of Mercia. It was built around about 785 AD and was designed to keep the marauding Welsh out of Offa's kingdom.

Apparently it was originally about 90 ft wide and about 25 ft deep/high and used to stretch about a couple of hundred miles long but now only something like eighty miles of it is left. As you can see from my photo what's left is little more than a grass mound but in some areas it's a bit more impressive.

Halloween

2009-10-31T20:26:00.003Z

My daughter Olivia aged five.
And my Jack Russell Terrier, Zac, aged one.

We had a nice night trick or treating by the way and came back with £2.50 and three bars of chocolate...

Christ Church, Welshpool

2009-10-26T09:46:00.011Z

Following my previous post and the nice comments made by 'Kelly' regarding the architcture in one of the photo's I decided to expand a bit on the church in that photo. The Church is Christ Church, Welshpool. It was built in 1839 (modern by local standards!). The funeral services for both my paternal grandparents were held in this church.Nowadays although the cemetary is still in use the church is not. Somebody actually lives in the church now!

I took these photo's today.

Autumn

2009-10-16T18:27:00.009+01:00

I haven't had the camera out for a little while now but with the coming of some nice autumnal colours I've been snapping again!

Kayakoy

2009-09-06T20:03:00.009+01:00

These are some more of my Turkish photo's.

Kayakoy is a Turkish village which was inhabited by Greeks until the Turks kicked them out in 1923.

It has been deserted ever since.

There are apparently 3,500 houses there (and a church).

Ludlow

2009-08-30T18:22:00.007+01:00

Went to Ludlow, Shropshire on the 28th (my birthday).
The weather was awful - it was windy with heavy showers and the temp was just 12c (54f)! Not much of a summers day.

We had a brief sunny interlude and I took these ordinaryish pictures, but I think you can see how pretty (and old) the town is.

I'll go back and take some more on a nicer day.

Kadyanda

2009-08-21T19:39:00.007+01:00

Kadyanda is a ruined (Lycenian I believe) city above the village of Yesiluzumlu, Turkey.

It has a stunning mountain setting at about 2,000 feet.

It is about 2,500 years old and is accessed by a very narrow and quite harrowing in places mountain road.

It has baths, tombs and amphitheatre et al.

It is more or less 'undiscovered' with very few visitors although there is a 'guide' who sits there alone in a hut (he was sleeping when we arrived).

Turkish Mountains

2009-08-14T20:08:00.006+01:00

We stayed (in Turkey) in a villa in the mountains.
Here are a few pictures of the mountains.
Notice the clear skies - something we don't see much of in Britain! But all the same I do love the British weather for some strange reason.

Home

2009-08-11T19:27:00.005+01:00

Back home from Turkey.

Nice country, very picturesque. Friendly people and very hot weather.
Took quite a few photo's and the first two I'll post are of the humble House Sparrow!

More pics to follow, hope you like them.

See You All In 16 Days - Off On My Hols!

2009-07-24T15:56:00.005+01:00

Thanks for all your very kind comments over recent months, most appreciated.

I won't be blogging for sixteen days now - I'm off to Turkey on holiday.

I'm going to a small village in the hills near Fethiye called Yesiluzumlu.

I've been to this village before and there are plenty of photo opportunities in the area.

Hopefully, all being well I'll be sharing some of them with you in early August - happy blogging!

PS For all you bird lovers out there I leave you with this shot of a couple of very colourful ducks taken by myself on the Montgomeryshire canal near to my home.

Bon voyage...

My Camera Returns

2009-07-16T20:01:00.004+01:00

Well I'd been without my camera for over week - but I've had it back today!

I'd got several dust spots on the sensor so I bought a sensor cleaning kit but failed to remove even one spot with it, so I sent the camera away to get it seen to.

And so, today, over a week later I got my camera back.

But the weather here today is so wet and dull all I've managed to take is this rather strange shot tonight of my rain specked washing line.

A Day At The Beach

2009-06-30T19:20:00.011+01:00

Clarach Bay, Mid Wales.

My two youngest (16 & 4).

My youngest - having a mad (hair) day!

I don't know who these two poor unfortunates are (taken at Aberaeron on the same day) but I'm sure that they could have found a nicer spot!

Wind Farm, Aberystwyth

2009-06-28T19:26:00.003+01:00

I took this photo of my son Adam, standing next to a wind turbine at Rheidol Wind Farm, Aberystwyth.
As you can see the turbines are huge.

I think the whole wind farm thing will fizzle out in years to come as they are definitely NOT cost effective. Landowners and the energy companies make a lot of money out of them via government subsidies and the government gets to feel good about itself regarding green credentials etc.

Many 'green' campaigners (notably James Lovelock) don't go along with the whole wind farm industry and I think it will be looked back on with horror in years to come.

Welsh Coast Birds

2009-06-27T21:05:00.007+01:00

Herring Gull

I went up the coast today, and these are some of the birds that I photographed.

Herring Gull

Black headed Gull

Rook

Red Kite

Shades of Green

2009-06-26T10:11:00.002+01:00

I took this the other day because I liked all the different shades of green.

Sealed Knot 'Moments'

2009-06-23T19:44:00.009+01:00

Some 'moments' from the Sealed Knot event that I attended at the weekend.

Yes, that's the best that I can describe these shots.

No offence intended to anyone.

Sealed Knot

2009-06-20T19:01:00.011+01:00

The Sealed Knot (English Civil War re-enactment people) came to town today and these are some of the pictures that I took.

It was very noisy with cannon and musket and lots of shouting and screaming and I thought at first it was all a bit silly, but by the end I really enjoyed it and appreciated just what they do.
My main problem in taking these photo's was the backgrounds.

They were mainly brightly coloured security fencing, modern dressed members of the public, cars and vans etc. It was hard cutting them out.

The weather was grey and breezy with a max temp of 17c and a couple of rain showers and very little sun but still I managed to get a sunburned head!!

The Simpsons

2009-06-18T19:56:00.003+01:00

I know, it's a nothing sort of picture of clouds really.

But I took it because when I saw these clouds they reminded me of the clouds at the start of The Simpsons TV programme!

Little things please little minds I suppose.

Upside Down

2009-06-12T19:23:00.003+01:00

Flicking through some photo's I took and downloaded a few weeks ago I noticed that this one 'looked odd'.
On closer inspection I discovered it's upside down.
I suspect my son's involvement in this - but I sort of like the effect!

Canada Goose

2009-06-08T18:58:00.002+01:00

Nothing spectacular but I quite like the water and the lillies!

Enjoying Nature's Shower

2009-06-07T18:28:00.003+01:00

Two Collared Doves spotted by my four year old daughter Olivia this morning and snapped by me.
They were just sitting like this on the telephone line, lifting first one wing and then the other, enjoying the cold summer rain.
Nature's shower!

British Summer

2009-06-06T20:46:00.005+01:00

The view from my bedroom window today, Saturday the 6th of June.

It was wet, windy and the max temp of the day was just 11c (51f)!

Cow Hair Styles

2009-06-05T13:17:00.005+01:00

Whilst out riding my bike (cycle) this morning I took these pictures of some cows.

But I never realised until I got home and looked at them that cows actually have 'hair styles' on their heads.

The brown one below even has a sort of nice tussled 'ginger' style!

Thin Legs

2009-06-04T19:30:00.003+01:00

I took this photo of a Robin in my garden this afternoon - and have never noticed before what thin legs they've got!

Powys Castle Blooms

2009-05-31T19:44:00.006+01:00

Some of the 'blooms' I photographed at Powys Castle yesterday.

I don't know the names of them - English or Latin - but I think you'll agree they were very nice!

New Name

2009-05-31T16:17:00.004+01:00

Okay, in recent weeks this blog has been more about my photography than anything else.

So I've changed the name of the blog to reflect this.

Seems like the right thing to do!

This picture is one I took at an indoor kayak exhibition. It didn't turn out anything like I thought it would but I hope it has a certain appeal!

Powys Castle

2009-05-30T21:19:00.007+01:00

Taken by me, today.

A lovely day, 23c and barely a cloud in the sky.

It's just one mile from my house - I should go there more often.

A Watery Welsh Hill

2009-05-29T19:30:00.002+01:00

Lake Clywedog, Wales.
I took this a couple of months ago and thought I'd give it an airing!

House Sparrow Emptying Feeder

2009-05-27T10:27:00.002+01:00

The Sparrows in my garden empty this feeder about every two days.

Here's one of them in action.

Starling Silhouette

2009-05-26T20:41:00.003+01:00

Yet another Starling I'm afraid!
Taken at sunset in my back garden (again).

I think I'm getting soft on them!

Stretching

2009-05-25T18:32:00.002+01:00

A Starling stretching his wings in my garden.

Ginger Welsh Hills

2009-04-09T21:37:00.002+01:00

Being 'ginger' myself and with a ginger daughter to boot, I was delighted the other day whilst walking at Llanrhaeadr, Wales, to see these 'ginger' hills!

A Welsh Sunset

2009-03-20T20:45:00.001Z

Taken by myself this evening, on a walk with my son.

It grew a bit chilly soon after!

Youngest

2009-03-15T19:29:00.002Z

My youngest, today, at Clywedog Dam, Wales.

Having 'a moment'.

Herring Gull

2009-03-14T14:49:00.002Z

A Herring Gull, taken by myself at Borth, Wales, last week.
It was after my left over chips...

Ynyslas

2009-03-07T19:12:00.003Z

Had a day out at Ynyslas today.

Windy and cold but nice and quiet before the crowds of Easter and summer arrive.

The pic I took amongst the dunes today.

Deviant Art

2009-03-03T19:00:00.004Z

Check out Deviant Art a great site if you're into art and particularly photography.

I'm posting on it and the photo with this post is one of mine.

Starling Fixation

2009-02-20T20:22:00.001Z

Since buying my new camera I've had a bit of a Starling fixation.
Here's my latest offering.
This one was eating some of my home made (sad I know) fat balls.

Electric Cables Again

2009-02-14T17:10:00.003Z

More proof tonight in my house has emerged that 'Electric Cables are Alive' (and working against me).

I opened up the bag to get my beard trimmer out and the cable had actually tied itself into a knot!

Yes a perfect knot - and pulled tight at that.

Alive. Proof.

Winter Starlings and Chimney Pots

2009-02-13T19:13:00.003Z

Since I got my new toy (see two posts ago) I seem to be getting a bit of an obsession with Starlings of all things.

Here's my latest offering, hope you like it...more to follow I fear.

The Slide of Life

2009-02-11T18:32:00.005Z

I got to thinking today that life is like a big slide, a great big slide that you slide down.
It's a huge slide that is so big that it takes years to slide to the bottom, but at the bottom are spikes, and when you hit the spikes you die.
You can't get away from it, you can't get off the slide and you will hit the spikes and die.
So?
Enjoy the ride I suppose.

New Toy

2009-02-10T18:07:00.003Z

Bought a new toy, a Pentax KM digital SLR camera.
This is one of my first 'efforts'.

Starling Against a Winters' Sky.

TV Sport Fans, and Snotty Footballers

2009-02-08T19:56:00.004Z

Two things came to my mind whilst watching sport on TV today.

One: Very annoying is when sports fans (rugby today actually) are shown in close up by the TV cameras they always immediately realise what's happening (watch the bloody pitch not the big screen) and start waving and flapping madly.

I say to the TV companies 'stop showing fans in close up to avoid this constant annoyance to the viewing public', and to the fans who flap and wave I say 'stop it you fucking idiots!'

What if the players did it as well?!

Two: Why is it that seemingly every time a footballer is shown on TV in a close up shot he invariably at that precise moment empties his nose? I wait for it every time and it always seems to happen!

It must be nice for them all slipping about in snot.

Hands Off Zola, Chelsea

2009-02-07T18:23:00.003Z

Chelsea fans want Zola.

Sod off Chelsea!!

Snow Killjoys

2009-02-06T19:04:00.004Z

I for one love the snow and have really enjoyed the recent wintry weather.

But the snow brings out the killjoys in society I'm afraid, we all know them, they say when it's snowing such things as 'it's not sticking' and 'it's turning to rain'.

Bastards!!

Electric Cables Are Alive!

2009-02-04T16:47:00.006Z

I took my laptop out of it's case last night and the tangle that the charger cable and mouse cable had got into led me to believe that the only possible explanation for the insane and extremely intricate tangle that presented itself to me was the fact that these electric cables are actually alive and tangling themselves on purpose.

They couldn't get tangled like that by accident just sitting there surely. They weren't tangled when I put them away so they must be alive!

Scary.

Google Earth

2009-01-28T19:09:00.004Z

If you never have, then I suggest you have a look at Google Earth.

Pretty amazing really.

Download here.

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

2009-01-25T15:39:00.004Z

Well yesterday was RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch Day.
I duly sat in my kitchen window for an hour and this is what I saw:

6 Starlings

3 House Sparrows

1 Robin

2 Blackbirds

1 Song Thrush

1 Pied Wagtail

1 Great Tit

1 Blue Tit

1 Blackcap

The Blackcap apparently is very rare in Britain at this time of year.

I'm not a bird watcher but I do watch birds if you know what I mean.

Stick some food out for them and have a look - you'll be surprised just how many different species come into your back garden.

Football Contracts

2009-01-23T10:40:00.006Z

Apparently, according to TalkSport this morning West Ham have received an offer of £6 million for Carlton Cole.

Now a few weeks ago I'd have said 'take it' but now with Bellamy gone and Cole in fine form I'd say 'tell 'em to stick it!', but that's not the point, the point is that Cole has just signed a five year contract with West Ham.

Do legally binding contracts count for anything in football nowadays?

Seemingly not, but they should, and if they really don't count for anything then why have them in the first place?

Kaka

2009-01-20T16:56:00.003Z

Kaka is not going to Man City after all then.
Good.
Money is not everything then - even in football.
So now City will have to rely on Mr Reliable himself Craig Bellamy.
Good luck to them!

Craig Bellamy

2009-01-19T20:30:00.003Z

Confession time - I'm a West Ham fan.

That wasn't hard.

Craig Bellamy has left the club today (of particular interest to me because like Bellamy I'm Welsh).

Good riddance I say, and after Sunday's great result - who needs him?

I believe he's going to be made a mug of going to Man City because with all their money he's only ever going to be a stop gap or fringe player.

You reap what you sow I'm afraid.

Another Fake Big Chill

2009-01-19T19:46:00.003Z

Another 'big chill' is on the way according to the press today.

What nonsense!

I read about it in The Daily Mail and they then quoted some temperatures for the coming few days the lowest of which was 2c!!!!!!

The average daily low for this time of year is 0c, so what they are actually predicting is temperatures 2c above the norm - some big chill!

I think the media should desist in talking about the weather forthwith!

Cows on Mars?

2009-01-16T19:30:00.004Z

Widely reported in the press today is the fact that methane has been detected on Mars.

Now this means, according to the scientists, that the methane is produced either by geological activity - or life.

Life!

Does this mean (and I may be mistaken) that there are cows on Mars, farting?

Kate Winslet's Tears

2009-01-12T21:03:00.004Z

Kate Winslet was SO upset at winning her Golden Globes (she certainly has) that I don't know why she bothers.

Why put yourself through it love?

If it upsets you that much don't do it.

Give it up.

Go and work in a supermarket or something.

Bad luck for Somali Pirates

2009-01-10T10:49:00.003Z

Oh dear, read here for details.

Bad luck or Karma?

Although I must admit to having a sneaking sort of admiration for these fishing boat gunmen who seem to be holding the world's multinationals to ransom.

UFO's in Lincolnshire

2009-01-08T16:29:00.012Z

There's UFO's in Lincolnshire then.
link
A giant wind turbine has been severely damaged, two of it's blades being bent and a third actually severed.

UFO's seem to be getting the blame, with most bizarre of all Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity, the company who own the turbine saying "Until we have some idea, some plausible explanation that it was not a UFO, I don't think we should rule it out".

It is a perfectly rational explanation of course. Technically superior beings fly billions of miles to have a look at us and despite all their technological wizardry that must be far beyond our comprehension they (after all that skill, time and effort) crash into a giant wind turbine and scuttle off home with their tails between their legs (if they have tails or legs) utterly embarrassed.

The clumsy bastards.

The Freezing Weather in Perspective

2009-01-06T20:37:00.011Z

Well, all this 'Big Freeze' talk in the press and on TV (local media seem to be going nuts over it) is getting me down.

I've been keeping weather records since 1980 when I was just seventeen and I've decided to look back at these to put this cold snap into some kind of perspective.

I have a maximum minimum digital thermometer in a home made Stephenson's Screen and keep records of temperature only. So here goes.

(I live in Wales by the way so that's obviously where the temperatures are taken).

Record Low: -25.1 Dec 1981.............Lowest this winter so far: -7.6

Most Frosts: 1985/86, 75 frosts............Frosts SO FAR this winter: 28

Most below -10 minimums: 1981/82, 6..........Below -10 minimums this winter SO FAR: 0

Most Sub Zero Maximums: 1985/86, 11..........Sub Zero Maximums this winter SO FAR: 4

You get the picture, it's cold but not exceptional.

The winters this century have been remarkably mild so far but even then there have been lows of -10 in Dec 2000

-9.1 in Jan 2002

-10.1 in Mar 2006

and -8.3 in Febs 07 & 08.

The average number of frosts annually between 1971 and 1990 for my part of Wales according to the Met Office was 62.

The average according to my figures since 2000 is 46. Quite a drop. That's why this year when we're getting probably somewhere near average again it seems a lot.

The most this century is 59 in 2000/01, and the least was 31 in 2006/07.

We'll see how many this year brings.

That record of -25.1 in Dec 1981 has never been touched. The closest to it (according to my figures) was -13.1 in Jan 1985, and I reckon it'll be pretty safe this year.

Sorry for all the geeky stats but I hope you'll agree that the media (as usual) are getting carried away.

It's winter and we're having some frost - hold the front page?!

Cheryl Cole's Battle of the Bulge

2009-01-05T21:11:00.004Z

So Cheryl Cole has been having her own personal 'Battle of the Bulge' according to reports today (no doubt circulated by her).

Battle of the bullshit more like!

The only bulge she's got is her nose (and that's quite a bulge) - notice you'll rarely see a picture of her face side on.

The woman is a stick insect creature and thus in my view a bad role model, but the press for some bizarre reason seem to love her and are putting her up as a role model for vulnerable young girls, which is wrong.

The same press will next week be banging on about the horrors of anorexia.

Keep smiling that forced smile Cheryl - all the way to the bank - and mind you don't eat anything on the way pet.

Global Warming and The British Weather

2009-01-01T17:05:00.007Z

What do the global warming lobbyists make of the current cold snap in Britain?
I went for a walk today with my daughter Olivia (left) and everything was coated with frost at 2.30 in the afternoon!

And what do they say about last years appallingly cool summer? Yes I know that last summer's overall average temp wasn't far below the norm but that was because there was so much cloud cover that the temperature didn't fall much at night. The daytime highs were extremely poor.

Last years cool summer and this current cold snap it could be (and will be by some) argued, are proof that global warming is a sham.

My own opinion is that the earth is warming, and has been warming and cooling and warming and cooling since time began.

Politicians, I think, have somewhat discredited global warming by making it a cynical tax raising vehicle.

Global warming is happening but that doesn't mean that it's man made. It may or may not be.

The cool summer and current cold snap in Britain is to do with weather and not climate.

Weather is all important. Last summer the weather was dominated by westerlies which equal cool (in summer) and wet weather.

Currently high pressure prevails over the country, which means (in winter) cold cold cold.

Global warming doesn't come into it one way or another. This is good old fashioned weather!

New Years Eve Revellers

2008-12-31T19:34:00.006Z

Revellers will 'flock' tonight and 'gather' and 'brave the cold' etc, we are told by the media (wonderful media).

But what the hell is a Reveller?

Is it a person in a crowd - or the actual crowd itself - who/that gathers in a public place to wave and shout at TV cameras?

I think it's both.

These Revellers surface at various times of the year, for example when the England football team play a big (usually losing as it happens) game, or recently the X Factor final night, and of course there is tonight, the big one, the Revellers Revellers night - New Years Eve.

So, if you're out and about tonight you'll see them (whooping and shouting and often throwing bottles or glasses) or if you're in and you happen to catch the TV news you'll also see them - in Trafalgar Square, Times Square in New York and in every town centre in Britain - some with TV cameras or local newspaper photographers present, some without - so, look out for them and happy revelling!

Personally I'd rather stay in blogging...

USA Holidays With Barack Obama

2008-12-28T14:35:00.008Z

Apparently 13% of Britons that have booked a holiday to the USA recently have done so because of Barack Obama's election victory (why do I keep getting his name mixed up with Osama Bin Laden?).

This scares me.
How can people think like this?

Are we becoming a little bit like American tourists, some of whom (rumour has it) come over here on holiday in the hope of getting a glimpse of the Queen?

Or is it that somehow people think that the USA is suddenly going to become a much better place since the election of his holiness?

I don't know but I think one way or another the whole Obama cult thing will end in tears.

Last Christmas

2008-12-27T19:45:00.004Z

I pulled my settee out from the wall at home today to retrieve something - and amazingly found a Christmas present that had been there since last Christmas!

I opened it, it was a puppy.......

The Queen's Christmas Message

2008-12-24T20:39:00.006Z

I'm not going to go into details of this years Queens Christmas Message or any other years for that matter.

What I'm concerned with is just the Queens Christmas Message in principal.

I know she doesn't write the thing herself and just pretty much goes along with the order of the day and more or less toes the party line of whatever government is in at the time.

So that makes me wonder if a real bunch of true nutters got in and ordered the Queen to say absolutely anything, would she?

For example would she say that her legs were made of chocolate? 'My legs are made of chocolate'

or, perhaps, that goats are in control of us all and that they have written the speech for her?

Would she say these things (and with a straight face)?

I think she probably would.

Remember that if you listen to her message this year.

BBC News

2008-12-22T18:46:00.004Z

I have just watched the BBC Six O'clock News, not something I often do - and now I know why!

The 'headlines' tonight were the story of the British hostages in Iraq who have been held for something like nineteen months.

Now this is a sad story for the families of these men granted, but there were no new developments today and the story was pretty much just reminding people of the plight of those involved - but it was NOT the main news story of the day in my opinion.

Another report on the news was about Dementia - and the reporter for this one, for some bizarre reason was standing on the street!

Why? Did she hope to grab a chance interview with a passing Dementia sufferer? I don't know.

And then, when reporting the fact that car giant Toyota has made a loss for the first time in history the newsreader referred to our current economic catastrophe as 'an economic slowdown'!

Wow!

A very sudden and disastrous slowdown I'd say - like what happens when a car hits a brick wall.

BBC News? I don't think I'll bother again for a little while...

Rachel Nickel and Crackers Police

2008-12-18T14:03:00.005Z

It seems that the police investigating the Rachel Nickel murder used a psychological offender profile put together by the "real-life Cracker", psychologist Paul Britton to pursue and trap the innocent Colin Stagg.

Oh dear. The poor fools.

A year later the real killer Robert Napper, struck again killing Samantha Bisset and her young daughter Jazmine.

Good old fashioned honest police hard work would have caught Napper before he killed Nickel or Bisset because his mother had tipped off police that Napper had admitted to a rape.

They didn't follow that up of course.

But my real annoyance with all of this is that instead of police getting stuck in and grafting so to speak to find Nickel's killer they went for the glamorous option of using the aforementioned 'real life Cracker'.

Now we all know that watching too much TV is bad for you but the police took this to the limits by copying this faddy populist bullshit.

Shame on them all.

Blind Sign

2008-12-17T18:51:00.004Z

I was sitting in a hospital waiting room today (long story) when I noticed on the wall a sign with a telephone number for blind people to ring.

But how would they know about it?

House Price Madness

2008-12-15T17:43:00.003Z

House prices are falling and will, according to reports today, probably plummet next year.

Now forgive me if I'm wrong but to my way of thinking this whole fiasco has been caused by estate agents (rather than the usual suspects the banks).

The higher a property sells for the more money an estate agent earns - and who values the properties? Why estate agents of course!

So they are actually writing their own pay checks with other peoples money.

How could this ever work?

But who's to say that when things recover that it won't happen again?

It will.

X Factor Winner

2008-12-13T23:08:00.003Z

Alexandra - no surprises there then.

Let's just hope that she turns out better than previous winners Steve, Shane and Leon.

She can't do any worse.

X Factor

2008-12-13T21:00:00.004Z

Watching the X Factor final tonight (it's now 'half time) a few thoughts have struck me.

Cheryl Cole is a false bitch with fake tears a fake smile a fake 'long blink' and a fake hug.

JLS are probably the best act, Alexandra a shouter and Yogan (I know) an almost perfect stereotypical Irishman.

Thinking back to a previous episode when Britney Spears was the guest and refused to mentor the acts and refused to have her picture taken and refused to allow anyone on set to make eye contact with her.

Then when she finally appeared on stage on the night she mimed really badly and was amazingly given a standing ovation by the judges - the false creeping shallow bastards!

If I was Simon Cowell and Britney had been playing up then I'd have said to her 'fuck off Britney' and have had a Slade night or something.

Spineless X Factor twats!

Soap Opera Rubbish

2008-12-09T20:20:00.004Z

This has long been apparent to me but I think I need to share it.

Every plot and story line in every soap opera is centred around one basic principle. And that principle is this:

we, the viewer know something that a key character in the story line does not, ie: Bill is having an affair with Bob's wife. We know about it but Bob doesn't, so we watch and wait to see Bob's reaction when he finds out.

And, just before Bob finds out he will be in a really good mood!

Think of any plot in any soap and it's the same.

I don't watch soaps (but I used to) and I've sussed this out - why can't regular viewers suss it out and dump the brainwashing rubbish?

Kidnapping Her Own Daughter??

2008-12-05T19:06:00.007Z

Karen Mathews, the mother of Shannon Mathews has been found guilty of kidnapping her own daughter.

Kidnapping her own daughter - how does that work?!

We all know what a bad egg she is, and what she did, but surely the offence must be attempting to receive money by deception or maybe endangering her daughter or attempted fraud or wasting police time etc.

But kidnapping her own daughter how does that work ???

Severe Weather Warnings

2008-12-04T20:19:00.007Z

So once again we have severe weather warnings that to say the very least are WAY over the top.

Heavy snow and high winds (ie: blizzards) and of course 'The Big Freeze'.

The severe weather of this weeks warnings only really happened in Scotland and the north (nothing unusual there) and it is after all winter!

What do we expect in winter anyhow?!

The met office have been on the defensive since the Michael Fish 'it's not a hurricane' forecast of 1997.

But Fish was of course technically right - the severe winds we had back then were NOT officially a hurricane - but he/they were very blase in not making enough of the storm force winds that were to cause chaos and death the next day.

So since then, afraid of being caught out again, the met office have over egged every weather pudding they've cooked. And the sensationalist media are only too happy to go along with them.

But I fear we shall soon see a 'cry wolf' scenario if they're not careful.

Crazy West Ham Solution!

2008-12-04T20:10:00.004Z

In this weeks Mail on Sunday, respected sports writer Ian Ridley has come up with a 'solution' for the long running and bitter Sheffield United v West Ham legal battle.
Briefly (very briefly) Sheff United have been awarded £30 million (and rising) against West Ham.
Ridley's solution to all of this is for West Ham to give some players to Sheff Utd on loan, until the end of the season, free of charge.
That would be instead of the £30 million of course.
Do that he thinks, and all will be sorted.
Sounds good to me, BUT...
For starters does he really think that Sheff Utd would accept that over the £30 million?
Does he think also that the Sheff Utd supporters would really take to the (of course by now hated) West Ham players?
And does he think that the West Ham players would willingly go and then give of their best?
Speaking as an avid West Ham fan I think that in all honsety while admittedly saving the Hammers a packet the idea stinks!
I think we should pay the £30 million and have done with it.
Possibly in instalments.
How about forty quid a week?

Quantum of Solace Editing

2008-12-04T20:08:00.004Z

Big film of the last few weeks at the cinema - Quantum of Solace.
It's been pretty much slated by the critics but I went to see it yesterday and I think a lot of the criticism is a bit unfair.
Having said that I have a major beef with the film.
And that beef is the quick 'cut cut' type editing thing going on in the action scenes.Each shot in any of the action scenes lasted no more than two seconds with most of them (yes I timed them) about one second or less!
This technique made it impossible to actually make out what was going on.
It was like having a load of photo's thrown in front of you very quickly - confusing!
This technique seems to be all the rage in action films at the moment (can you imagine them trying to film an action scene with one camera in one take like it was being done on the stage!) but I've never seen it done to this extent or so badly really.
To sum up - a half decent film with crazy, flashing, fit inducing, eyeball spinning, baffling action scenes!

No More UFO's?

2008-12-04T20:05:00.004Z

During the 1950's up until the 1990's really, UFO sightings were all the rage.
They would crop up on the news and in the papers every week.
People would even be interviewed on (mostly local) news saying how they'd seen lights in the sky etc or 'discs'.
But then, something changed that has pretty much (as far as I can make out) stopped the sightings.
And this thing is? Mobile phones with cameras.
Most mobile phones nowadays have cameras on them, and nearly everyone nowadays has a mobile phone, so, if someone 'sees' a UFO the question will be asked of them 'why didn't you film it with your phone?'
Good question. No answer.
So people have stopped seeing them - which would suggest that it was all aload of bollocks in the first place.

Phoning Bin Laden

2008-12-02T14:24:00.006Z

A radical preacher - Abu Qatada - who has been dubbed Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe, has been returned to jail (in Britain) after judges agreed he might abscond.

So far so good.

Nothing odd about that, (except for the fact of course that he seems to be getting locked up for something that he might do) but what caught my eye about this story was the original bail conditions dating back to June.

One of those bail conditions (there were many) was that he does not phone Osama Bin Laden!

What!?

Don't phone Osama Bin Laden?!

How would the police know if he did?

Would they nick his phone off him and have a look at the address book for 'Osama' or perhaps 'Oz' or maybe 'Bin' and see if he'd phoned him.

Maybe they could check for text messages (also not allowed) to 'Oz' 'hi oz, txt bk plz cul8r. ab'

Come to think of it would the authorities honestly allow anyone to freely phone Osama Bin Laden?

And would Bin Laden himself happily take the calls anway?

A bizarre case all round.

Chemical Ali to Hang Again

2008-12-02T13:58:00.004Z

It has been announced today that Ali Hassan al-Majid also known as Chemical Ali has been sentenced to death - again!

He's already been given a death sentence in February and today gets another one!

How does it work?

Will they hang his corpse after the first hanging has been carried out?

I wouldn't bet against it.

Embrace The Dark!

2008-12-01T19:26:00.006Z

I've just been for a walk round and about my local town.

At night that is.

And in my part of Wales a walk at night, even in a built up area means a walk in the dark.
The local council (Powys) have turned two out of three street lights off to save money.
And do you know what - it's brilliant!

We've read (well I have at least) plenty of articles in recent years about light pollution - well my local council is doing something about it!

We've heard plenty recently about the depleting natural resources of the planet - well my local council is doing something about it!

We've heard for many years about our money being wasted - well my local council is doing something about it! (£230,000 saved by turning the lights off to be exact).

You don't need so many street lights as we've been used to having - two out of three turned off is about the right level of light as far as I'm concerned.

We've become coddled pussy cat's.

We leave our boiling hot centrally heated houses and get into our stuffy heated cars and drive to our stuffy heated offices and then back into our stuffy heated cars and drive back to our boiling hot centrally heated houses - we've become detached from reality.

And of course we even expect it to be light at night!

Fill the world with lights eh?

Let's have no dark.

NO.

We are a part of the planet, like it or not.

The earth turns, it goes dark, get over it.

So get back to reality - and embrace the dark!

And well done of course to my local council!

Groundhog News

2008-11-27T14:28:00.007Z

What is it with the TV news nowadays that when they're talking about a big story (ie the Indian terrorist attacks) at length, they show the same clip of film over and over and over and over and over and over and over again?

The coverage of the 9/11 attacks was the first time I noticed this - I'm sure they never used to do it before - now they do it all the time.
I'm sure I'm not the only one who is driven absolutely insane by this.

It's the bloody Groundhog Day news!!

Bewildered Jim's Photography

Montgomery Castle

A Seemingly Unremarkable Field

Lake Vyrnwy

Flying

Sledging

The Long Mountain

Local Churches No 2: Llandrinio

Happy New Year

Local Churches No 1: Pool Quay

Pied Wagtail

Boxing Day Walk

Happy Christmas

Starlings

Breidden Woods

Rodney's Pillar

Out and About

A Dark Day at Lake Vyrnwy

The Last Days of Autumn

Look Around

School Run

River Severn and Offa's Dyke

Halloween

Christ Church, Welshpool

Autumn

Kayakoy

Ludlow

Kadyanda

Turkish Mountains

Home

See You All In 16 Days - Off On My Hols!

More Camera Problems & Snowdon

My Camera Returns

A Day At The Beach

Wind Farm, Aberystwyth

Welsh Coast Birds

Shades of Green

Sealed Knot 'Moments'

Sealed Knot

The Simpsons

Upside Down

Canada Goose

Enjoying Nature's Shower

British Summer

Cow Hair Styles

Thin Legs

Powys Castle Blooms

New Name

Powys Castle

A Watery Welsh Hill

House Sparrow Emptying Feeder

Starling Silhouette

Stretching

Ginger Welsh Hills

A Welsh Sunset

Youngest

Herring Gull

Ynyslas

Deviant Art

Starling Fixation

Electric Cables Again

Winter Starlings and Chimney Pots

The Slide of Life

New Toy

TV Sport Fans, and Snotty Footballers

Hands Off Zola, Chelsea

Snow Killjoys

Electric Cables Are Alive!

Google Earth

RSPB Big Garden Bird Watch

Football Contracts

Kaka

Craig Bellamy

Another Fake Big Chill

Cows on Mars?

Kate Winslet's Tears

Bad luck for Somali Pirates

UFO's in Lincolnshire

The Freezing Weather in Perspective

Cheryl Cole's Battle of the Bulge