Last week was a pretty busy week for me, so I thought I would snap a few pictures along the way and see what I ended up with at the end of the week. Below is the result, a photographic snapshot of my week. You can click on the little pictures to enlarge them and check the details of each picture in the numbered list below.
1. Friday. Looking out across the Irish sea from New Brighton as Friday (12th) draws to a close.
2. Turbines of the Burbo Bank offshore wind farm as seen from New Brighton.
3. Saturday. A Welsh ‘wiggle road’ snakes it’s way over the hills near Carno in Wales where I would spend a couple of days with my friend Jeffrey.
4. Massive wind turbines serenely rotate on the Welsh hills generating clean renewable energy.
5. Arriving at Romy’s cottage. You have to drive through several gated fields to get there.
6. Romy’s cottage is in the middle of the picture obscured
by trees, however you can see her barn.
7. Romy’s beautiful stone cottage. Romy herself was not there but I joined my friend Jeffrey Hyman who had escaped from London for weekend in the Welsh sun.
8. The cottage kitchen.
9. The view from my bedroom window at Romy’s cottage.
10. A dragonfly that must have just hatched because it attempted to land on my head and had absolutely no concern with the close proximity of my camera lens.
11. Looking around Romy’s cottage you can bet that every item has a story.
12. Flower pots outside of the stone built barn next to the cottage.
13. Sunday. Jeffrey and I headed out for a drive and stopped in the little bay town of Aberdyfi where we strolled along the banks of the mouth of the River Dyfi and had ice cream.
14. A little boat tied up at Aberdyfi.
15. Cottages on a narrow road in a Welsh village.
16. A small Welsh chapel (Sorry, I don’t know where this was).
17. With no particular plans or agenda Jeffrey and I simply threaded our way though the breathtaking mid Wales countryside on the ‘wiggle roads’ that lend themselves well to such relaxed driving.
18. Wales in full of remote stone built dwellings. Part of me would love to live in one out there in the wild countryside, another part of me wouldn’t.
19. Mr posing with my car.
20. Jeffrey and I chatted away as I drove along roads chatting away merrily and stopping regularly to get out of the car and look at the scenery.
21. Me posing with my car again! It was fun driving onto the beach and doing donuts in the sand.
22. Another little village road, and another opportunity to wonder what it would be like to live in one of these houses.
23. Painted homes in the beach town of Borth.
24. To call Borth a town is perhaps overstating it somewhat. The ‘town’ practically consists of one road with a row of houses and shops. Jeffrey commented that it looked like a film set.
25. Happening upon Borth was a trip down memory lane for Jeffrey. In his twenties he had camped there with a friend so we both walked to the top of the hill for ‘old times sake.’
26. There was a telescope at the top of the hill that overlooked the sea and the town. This is a picture through that telescope. I knew I wouldn’t get a close up, and in truth my camera could easily zoom-in to the same degree, but I wanted to take the shot to see what the effect was like.
27. An accidental shot as I walked down the hill. I was going to delete this picture, but there’s just something about it that I like.
28. Monday. Passing through another Welsh village at the start of a long day behind the wheel heading south to Essex.
29. The weather was beautiful until I got to the city of Birmingham which stood under a heavy black cloud of doom.
30. Having gotten so much sun over the weekend I elected to wear a hat as I drove with the roof down in the sun. That’s the only downside to owning an open top car, you really have to be mindful of sunburn.
31. A picture postcard English cottage in North Essex.
32. Tuesday. After Yogi’s funeral Mom, Dad, my sister Louise, and I got changed then went out for something to eat. This picture was taken by our server at the Five Bells pub in the sleepy Essex village of Colne Engaine.
33. Clouds. (Well dah!)
34. A red telephone box in Colne Engaine.
35. A sun/moon face thing. It probably has some kind of name and meaning, but to me it’s just a sun/moon face thing.
36. Leaving Essex and heading North on the A14 to the midlands the clouds were amazing. However, it’s difficult to capture vast expansive scenes like a spectacular cloud filled sky. Not to mention the fact I was doing 70mph while taking this picture one handed!
37. I spent Tuesday night with my friend Andy who happens to live near a Ferrari dealership. I had to stop and look at them because there is just something mesmerizing about Ferrari’s isn’t there.
38. Wednesday. Wednesday morning I headed over to Will’s place and then over to Sainsbury’s cafe for ‘Blunch.’ (‘Blunch’ is a breakfast that is so close to lunchtime you can’t get away with calling it ‘brunch.’)
39. In traffic I spotted a van on which someone had written ‘Wish my wife was as dirty’ in the dirt on the back of a van.
40. A trip to the Apple store in some boring shopping mall.
41. Will’s birthday dinner was at some expensive restaurant in Birmingham. The meal was good, but the company was so much better. In the quartered picture… Top left: Graham, Will, and Andy (Aka ‘Orange Andy’). Top right: Andy and his girlfriend, Louisa. Bottom left: Crazy Sue and I. Bottom right: Polly and Geoff.
42. An arty shot of me taken by Andy
43. Thursday. Will was once famous for drowning everything he ate in ketchup and not eating anything that hadn’t at one stage had a heartbeat. These days he’s become something of a food ponce, but this always means that you’ll get good food when you stay with him. Last time I was there he cooked a knock-out curry.
44. Presenting slow cooked free range tofu fed chicken eggs and spa treated champagne washed bacon served with organic virgin baked fresh bread.
45. Friday. The day draws to a close as I watch the sunset at Hoylake where there is, curiously enough, no lake.
46. Saturday. An afternoon cook-out at my friend Dom’s. Vast quantities of meat washed down with beer, what’s not to love about that!
47. Wild offspring at Dom’s cook-out.
48. There’s just something great about cooking meat on a grill in the open.
49. It might look like a picture from night out but this is actually work for me. Once a month I go out and take pictures at a local nightclub.
50. Clubbing regulars Roxy and Penny pose for a picture with me.
51. My friend Hillary’s younger sister Denise showing off her pearly whites.
52. And finally, in the early hours on Sunday morning a drunk man is ‘restrained’ by nine police officers after he ‘air punches’ a little fat cop. Despite missing her completely, losing his balance and falling face first to the ground, the brave cops restrained the violent man who I think was actually snoring at this point. Well done bobbies, that’s another dangerous menace you bravely managed to apprehend!
After doing this I am tempted to embark on a photographic project to take and upload one picture each day next year, from the first day of the year until the last. I think that might be interesting, a mosaic of 365 pictures that illustrate something of the year.
Looking at these pictures it’s hard to pick a favorite. I like number 23 (which has nothing to do with the 23 enigma) but then I like 26 and 27 too.
Digital photography is great. I just love the fact that we don’t have to take pictures sparingly being mindful of the cost of getting them developed. These days you can just go crazy, point, click, review, and repeat until done. It’s great!
So do you have a favorite picture?
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Wow, nice photos.
You’ve managed to make Willy’s birthday party look really glamorous too :-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 7:45 pm
love #16
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 8:20 pm
#12 is my favorite. They’re all great pictures as usual though. (You still look very pleased with your little sports car too.)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 8:51 pm
2, 10, and 45 are beautiful! My boyfriend wants to know what camera(s) you use to take these. I said it was probably a fancy, expensive one since you do this for a living, but hey if you can share… =D
Also, can I use 45 as my computer background? I’ll put your name on it! =D
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 10:24 pm
So organized! As always, love the pics. I have to invest in a good camera this year.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 24, 2009 at 11:45 pm
48 is real food for real men. 44 is gay!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2009 at 8:38 am
43 and 44. There should be more photos of fry ups!
Say hello to Will for me!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2009 at 8:59 am
Harley man, I must protest. While I love a nice plate of meat as much as the next carnivoure, sometimes you needs something a little lighter and healthier, especially for breakfast. Incidentally, eggs cooked at 60 degrees for about and hour are very tasty. The ones in the picture were actually slightly overdone as I’m still playing with the timings :-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 25, 2009 at 3:57 pm
Picture number 52 made me laugh. Such a typical picture of a British night on the town. You look mischievous in 50 but number 12 would be my favourite.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2009 at 12:07 am
I broke out in sweats looking at 3,4,and 5…some kind of post traumatic stress thing… ;)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2009 at 2:03 am
31 is where i will be living in my dreaming of england. 19+21 are the cash-money-money cha! :-P
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2009 at 9:31 pm
I’m going to start talking like Yin.
“How was your dinner dear?”
“It was cash-money-money cha!”
Wrote the following comment on Jun 26, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Hi Simon. Great blog mate! Fantastic pictures.
I found your blog while doing some research on surfing at Borth in North Wales. I have no idea why Google thought your blog would tell me anything about that, but I’ve enjoyed this find anyway.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2009 at 12:42 am
14 is my lucky number, the day of my birth and my favorite picture. Perhaps too much info, but there you go.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2009 at 2:30 am
Favorite picture? That’s easy dude, without any doubt, 51! I mean, come on!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2009 at 1:22 pm
Just to answer the question of what camera I use, it’s a Canon G10 – a point and press camera. A lot of people assume that my pictures are the result of a good camera, I think the person using it might have some part in the quality of the pictures too. ;-)
Wrote the following comment on Jun 27, 2009 at 1:53 pm
Well i too have to say 51 but because its my beautiful baby sister (Simon may you be forgiven!!), have to say though, what is with that mega cheesy grin?!! :)
Enjoyed all the photos, your snaps are amazing, as always.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 28, 2009 at 11:05 am
aberdyfi!!!!
you’ve made me homesick for the first time since leaving blighty!!! the smeths and the mcgraths were having a gab the other night and mentioned your blog so i thought i’d have a little look. my family have been going to a little place plas talgarth in pennal, about 15 mins north off aberdyfi, for about 28 years each summer. we meet up with about 7 other families from all over britain and beyond and i guess have all grown up together. good times! many a happy day spent at aberdyfi and at the beach beyond the golf course a bit further down. i could tell you a tale or two about aberdyfi, you’d probably lose the will to live, but it would make a newly adopted kiwi very happy!
Wrote the following comment on Jun 29, 2009 at 12:35 am
So many beautiful pictures, but I think the best picture is the one of the dragonfly, #10.
Wrote the following comment on Jun 29, 2009 at 1:15 pm
Jeannie, you can tell me stories anytime :-) How about the next time you are over at Phil & Kerry-anne’s you see if I am on Skype and if I am we can all video chat :-)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 1, 2009 at 10:17 pm
I love this entry. My only question is was the eggs, bacon and bread good? :D would be great if when u click the description appears under/next to the pix so i don’t need to scroll down to match the description, like my fav Yahoo! Yahoo! This week in photos
taking a pix each day 365 days a year is a GREAT idea, i will try it when i leave England :D a new beginning
Wrote the following comment on Jul 2, 2009 at 12:03 pm
sure thing jones. they’re actually coming over to our massive (?!) pad on saturday evening to see us off on our tour of both islands. i think phil is more excited about our camper van than i am. slightly worried he’s going to try and smuggle them both on and will suddenly appear a few days into the journey. kerry anne would be a lot easier to hide, and phil would probably only last about 3 hours because he’d have to eat! ha ha.
Wrote the following comment on Jul 2, 2009 at 9:27 pm
@ Jeannie – I’m tempted to make a sign and have it put on his gate “Please don’t feed the Philly!” :-)
Wrote the following comment on Jul 4, 2009 at 2:32 am
They are gorgeous pictures! Makes me badly want to go travelling again… Sigh…