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Hello Richie. I'm new too, but the activity in this group appears to be high enough to keep me motivated. Good luck.
Enjoy.
vertseven's year in photos 2011
Posted 17 months ago.
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Scarycrow invited me too! Youre right, it is a challenge but Ive realised its just about taking your cam everywhere and shooting anything and everything within your topic. and like its said, there's tons of beautiful inspiration! Have fun!!
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Welcome!
Posted 17 months ago.
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saturday 1st january - richie_rocket 2011/01/01
hello twenty eleven! celebrating the stroke of midnight with sparklers, champagne and good good people in kalken, belgium. the guy in mid shot is my friend nic, a.k.a. the crazy swiss. his beautiful german girlfriend christina is to the right of the picture.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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sunday 2nd january- richie_rocket 2011/01/02
gathering in ghent. I worked as a divemaster in malaysia with most of the people in this shot back in 2007, we had a great time together and maarten (the tall guy on the right) invited us all to his home in belgium to see in the new year and catch up on times past.
I realised as we were walking by this bizarre shop window that we were all reflected in the glass as we were wondering exactly what was going on with the stuffed squirrels nutivity scene. a photo opportunity too good to miss.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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monday 3rd january - richie_rocket 2011/01/03
symphonie mechanique, bruges. a bitterly cold day of sight-seeing in bruges with maarten, nic and tina. strolling through a side street, we came across le symphonie mechanique, tuning up their weird array of musical machines for a performance later that afternoon.
we returned after some food to watch an hour of the strangest and most wonderfully eclectic music I have ever seen, coming at us from twenty or more different places around the square. these guys looked like they were really having fun with their bottle machine, pressing buttons and pulling levers on top of a shipping container in front of one of the beautiful brugge buildings.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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tuesday 4th january - richie_rocket 2011/01/04
amsterdam day trip. tina and I escaped from belgium for the day to spend the afternoon in amsterdam. I found my favourite coffee shop still standing and much unchanged after a gap in visits of maybe 15 years and the rest of the day was spent in a giggly haze, wandering around the city in awe of its beauty.
as dusk was falling we happened upon this small terrace of houses nestled in behind oude kerk. we were struck by the ingenuity of the dutch, who managed to squeeze in a bit more living space below the cathedral windows and still make them look impossibly stylish.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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wednesday 5th january - richie_rocket 2011/01/05
welcome home boyfriend. after a much delayed train journey home, I managed to get through the door again just over an hour later than expected and much lighter in the wallet. the hat and belgian trappist beer were amongst the gifts matt received as recompense for me not being with him to celebrate new year's eve.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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thursday 6th january - richie_rocket 2011/01/06
back to work. new year, new powers for the environment agency. I found this on our internal website after going through the 107 emails awaiting my return. I was glad to read that we can actually do more work without lining the already fat pockets of legal professionals, however in my job as an environmental monitoring officer I'm unlikely to be using them much.
nonetheless, to be granted new powers at work for the new year did bring a strange tingly feeling to my fingertips... when will our new green capes arrive and will the men at work have to start wearing tights?
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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The photo of the nativity scene is hilarious. Great shot.
vertseven's year in photos 2011
Posted 17 months ago.
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Welcome! Your photos from the 1st and 2nd are hilarious. That squirrel nativity is outrageous :) Looking forward to the rest of your photos!
(Oh, and I'm a big fan of Belgian beers :)
The Other Side of the Fence [2011]
Posted 17 months ago.
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thanks for the comments and encouragement :o)
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friday 7th january - richie_rocket 2011/01/07
today's main achievement. Not a great day today, the rain was incessant and I started to come down with a cold and sore throat so I wasn't feeling at my best. fieldwork planned for north of the brecon beacons was put on hold due to snow around where I was supposed to be working.
my main achievement for today was making a big fish pie with lots of different fish in it, steaming some broccolli and pouring a couple of whiskies for matt and I to try and keep the germs away and prevent the development of fully blown man flu.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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Mmmmmm Dalwhinnie 15 yr.
The food looks good too! ;-)
Posted 17 months ago.
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Hi Richie and welcome to our little group. Nice start to your diary.
Fish Pie and Whiskey, what time is dinner?
Mr. P de Panama
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saturday 8th january - richie_rocket 2011/01/08
snowy and binks. our old cat died back in november last year and ever since the house has felt very empty without her paws padding through it. we decided that we would wait until the hectic holiday travels were over and then go and find one or two rescue hats to re-home to make the house feel more occupied when one or other of us isn't around.
the cats protection league kennels on gower is full of beautiful cats all desperate to get out of their cages and move into a nice warm house with comfy couches etc. first stage was to go and meet some cats, after which someone from the CPL comes round for a visit to make sure the house is ok for cats to move into. after that comes the tough part - choosing which animals to come home with us. snowy and binks were matt's favourites, typically I preferred a different pair.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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Hello Richie, let me add my welcome to the group. Loved the Nutivity scene and the reflection of your gang. Anyone who has two booze pictures on his thread in the space of a few days is going to get my respect. (Don't let Lee and Peter loose on your whisky, they're insatiable).
Cheers, see you around.
Robert: What i Did in 2011
Posted 17 months ago.
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Man - you blink around here and we get a few more ! This is very good news !! Welcome - let us know if there is anything you need help with.
Posted 17 months ago.
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Hi Richie! (I'd say, "Welcome," but you've already come by to visit my thread, so we're old friends now)
Ah, adopting stray kittens--how to choose? Me? I went for the one who came up to me and tried to untie my sneaker laces...
My name is Cynthia. This Is What's Going On
Posted 17 months ago.
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oky im intrigued. we'll be tuning in next week to see which cats will be starring here this year. welcome
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Looking forward to lots of pics of your new pair. Good on ya for rescuing!
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I'm eagerly awaiting news of which cats you end up choosing!
The Other Side of the Fence [2011]
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sunday 9th january - richierocket 2011/01/09
mark finds snow. the sun has been shining gloriously here in wales all weekend and spurred on by the weather matt, paul, mark and I all met up and set off up a hill in search of a fine view. we walked part of this path a few weeks before when the snow was all new and fresh, but without mark who was snowed in at home in the valleys. rumour has it there is a plane wreck rusting next to the river somewhere along the path we trod, but we didn't find it today.
most of the hills were clear of snow today but a few patches remained in the hollows. since mark had been stuck at home when the snow covered south wales last month, he didn't get a chance to throw any snowballs at his mates. the evil grin on his face was followed by a snowball that landed in my hood and went straight down the back of my neck.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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ok I've just downloaded this icon reply thingummijig so I hope this works...
hey rob, thanks for the advice about preserving my whisky, unfortunately lee and peter don't stand much of a chance - good single malt never lasts very long in this house!
thanks collard, will do.
it's such a difficult choice cyn, we still haven't made up our mind which pair to go for! we have another week to decide yet so watch this space...
see above jonathan, hey we did some river-walking today too :o)
thanks leesure, I'm sure they will be duly represented on here once they have become part of the family
you and me both iramiro!
Posted 17 months ago.
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Nutivity. Oh, good lord. Welcome aboard. You're obviously in the right neighborhood... have you met Ricko?
I'd love to see the symphonie mechanique. That sounded like a great time.
Good luck with the kittens! We've got two young kittens and an adult cat. They're so much fun.
Meanwhile...
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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~A0e3sy [deleted] says:
Welcome to the group Richie! Love the Jan.9th photo but not you mentioning snow down the back of the neck....brrrr I'm shuddering! ;D
Posted 17 months ago.
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So glad your doing the project Rich , great pics keep em coming !
Posted 17 months ago.
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Looks like a great walk you had yesterday!
If you enjoy cooking, you might like to check out the recipe thread... it's a great way to share what you enjoy making, as well as pick up a few cool recipes from around the globe!
- Sunshinecity - My (un)typical Italian year -
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monday 10th january - richierocket 2011/01/10
testing water quality. today was my first proper day of fieldwork so far this year, driving around central wales. my work over winter is primarily water quality monitoring. usually I take a run of between 6 - 15 sites, depending on how lazy or energetic I'm feeling on the day. today was an 8 site run and this was the first and furthest away of them all.
the silver bucket is filled with water from the sample point, usually as in this case a river. the meter is then dipped into the bucket and wiggled around a bit in the water until the dissolved oxygen and pH (acidity / alkalinity) probes have settled. I then jot the data down on the form and fill my bottles with the sample water. at the end of each day, the crated bottles go into a fridge in the swansea office and are collected by a courier who takes them to the lab for analysis. definitely not rocket science.
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tuesday 11th january - richierocket 2011/01/11
typical welsh weather. I was out today on my favourite run in central wales, almost as far as llyn brianne - an artificial reservoir created in the early 1970s. this region is the source of the wye, severn and teifi rivers, as well as the river irfon which snakes below the road here.
it's a fantastic journey up to this point, through wild and empty countryside and beautiful ancient and plantation woodlands, made even bleaker by the intensive sheep grazing. there are many birds of prey in the sky above and the weather is usually foul, if it's raining anywhere in wales, then usually it's raining here. today was no exception.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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wednesday 12th january - richierocket 2011/01/12
winter sunbed therapy. I suffer with seasonal affective disorder, in other words lack of sunshine in winter turns me into a miserable old sod, with an almost overwhelming urge to hibernate beneath a duvet from october to march. the best therapy would be to live somewhere warmer and sunnier than the uk, unfortunately that's not really possible at the moment.
second best therapy for me is to lie beneath a sunbed, shut my eyes and for six minutes to pretend that I'm on a sarong on a white sandy beach whilst a warm breeze whispers in the palm trees of a tropical island paradise. after I have my clothes back on, outside on a dark and rainy british street, that brief glimpse of my own personal nirvana keeps me smiling for a good few days.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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Love the pic of the sunbed, and even of the rainy gloomy countryside. I know someone with SAD, and can certainly vouch for the "miserable old sod" remark!
The Other Side of the Fence [2011]
Posted 17 months ago.
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Hello
Love your Welsh weather photo .
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hehe good on you for treating you to a 6 min bliss!
LOL
- Sunshinecity - My (un)typical Italian year -
Posted 17 months ago.
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Beautiful shots on the 7th and 11th. Cool one in the sunbed. So you test water in your occupation. In Panama City they just declared the water unfit for consumption. Too much rain has somehow polluted the reservoirs. Doesn't affect us here in the mountains but we made sure not to order salads yesterday while in the city.
Mr. P de Panama
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thursday 13th january - richierocket 2011/01/13
llangorse boat hire. I happened upon this place at lunchtime, the lake is on a new sample run for me this year. it's been raining a lot here in wales this week - not as much as it has been over in australia, but definitely enough for the 'lakeside' boat hire hut to be a good distance from the actual side of the lake. I hope they don't have carpets and low electrics in there.
Originally posted 17 months ago.
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friday 14th january - richierocket 2011/01/14
concrete railway sleepers. this is part of the old cwm coke works in beddau in one of the rhondda valleys, currently used to store old railway sleepers. planning permission has just been granted for a massive housing development here, but I'd be surprised to see that getting off the ground in the current economic climate. the rhondda valleys are quite a deprived area and housing is cheap around there.
I have a water quality sample point in the river behind the railway sleepers in this shot. I only manage to get to it rarely when the barrier at the top of the site is open. The key is kept in an old office building guarded by cujo, a big, scary alsation dog, but today some guys were working on site and I managed to get in and fill my bottles.
Posted 17 months ago.
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Hi, Richie! Nice taking a walk in the Welsh countryside with you here.
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saturday 15th january - richierocket 2011/01/15
scooter hiding out. after much deliberation at the kennels, we finally settled on bringing scooter and bella home with us to join the family. binks and snowy were lovely too but snowy shed so much long, white hair in the time we were with them that we both had visions of all of our clothes being covered in a white furry blanket. scooter has white hair too, but is much less fluffy.
bella has already settled in, she has no fear of us at all and within an hour had explored just about every space she could find in the house. scooter is much shyer - he's still on antibiotics from the vets so isn't feeling at his best anyway. he's been hiding out, first behind the sofa in our living room but since that proved too noisy, he's been under the bed in our spare room. bella keeps cuddling up next to him to make sure he's ok.
Posted 17 months ago.
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thanks tricyrtis, see below - we now have two new additions to the family :o)
thanks visual feast, snow's all gone now - more rain today but at least no more snowballs down the back of the neck!
thanks davey! it's been good fun so far interesting to try and find an image to represent your day. loving your diary too.
thanks for the recipe link sunshine, we have a deal in this house - I do the cleaning and matt does the cooking. living with mat is like living with linus from the peanuts cartoon but he's a grea cook so it's a good deal all round.
lol and thanks iramiro, hopefully the sunbed sessions stop me being quite such a miserable old sod, does your friend do anything similar to top up winter uv levels?
thanks ohfl, you need to get used to rain here in wales but then it's what makes it such a green and pleasant land...
most of my water testing is for the benefit of the river ecology here mr P, water for human consumption is tested differently and much more rigorously after it's withdrawn from rivers and reservoirs by the water supply companies. i'm guessing if you have a lot of farming around your reservoir watersheds, agricultural chemicals can get in there and cause problems.
thanks cyn, similarly it's a great pleasure to see NYC through your eyes! xx
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sunday 16th january - richierocket 2011/01/16
raindrops keep falling. today was a happy first - my quest for a daily photo for this thread actually made me leave the house on a rainy day! the light was crap though so it wasn't the best day for taking photos but hey, it was good to have a reason to get dressed and go out.
I only made it as far as the supermarket, next to the river tawe here in swansea. the orange lights reflected in the rainy puddle are from the supermarket's 'sainsbury' neon sign. the plan was to buy a free-range chicken to roast, preparing the meal gave me something useful to do for the rest of the afternoon and also managed to tempt the new cats into the kitchen from their hiding places around the house.
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monday 17th january - richierocket 2011/01/17
craig goch dam. I was back working in the beautiful elan valley today, it seems to be different every time I go there. all the reservoirs were over-topping after all the rain recently so the dams all looked even more spectacular than usual.
my colleague susan and I came up to collect some kit which had been left dangling over the wall of one of the reservoirs into the water for the previous month. unfortunately almost all of the gear had been stolen by the time we had returned. it was a three hour drive each way to install the kit and again - in theory - to collect it. nonetheless, it was a stunning place to work for the day.
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I gotta spend more time here...well done !
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tuesday 18th january - richierocket 2011/01/18
playing with light. I was back in the office today, involved in a round of negotiations about my job which, given that I'm employed by an oversized british government institution, were crazy and ultimately pretty dumb. I had a chat with a few of the more sensible people I work with and between us we managed to sort out covering the work of two women away on maternity leave from next month without any silly half-baked top-down management decisions.
what I was really looking for for today's picture was some machinery, wheels within wheels to represent the machinations of all the office politics I have been through today. a minefield would have been even more appropriate. the best I could come up with around the house was these lamps - strange angles and perspectives, keeping a bright light shining through negotiations whilst being conscious of all the overlapping wire hoops of other peoples' work responsibilities and empires. sometimes what you need is not immediately at hand, but with help you can always find a good solution. sorry if that all sounds a bit cryptic and mystical, it's just been one of those days...
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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I love the 17th pic man!
great eye you have
Posted 16 months ago.
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On Jan/15: I can see him flying while he meditates... very nice story. :)
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wednesday 19th january - richierocket 2011/01/19
jack frost returns. now here's a sight I haven't seen in a few weeks, frost on the roads and windscreen of my van this morning and a bright blue crispy sunny winter day. it made the scenery look magical this morning.
the town of builth wells is in a valley with the river wye running through it and as a result was a small island of freezing fog all day. driving down into it was like driving into a misty crystal wonderland. the red picket fence marks the edge of a beer garden, next to the place I stopped for coffee and some lunch.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Great shot of the dam on the 17th. I hope your Scooter comes out and joins the family soon. Maybe already?
I like the perspective on this fence post above.
Mr. P de Panama
Posted 16 months ago.
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RobW's diary inspired me to have a go at pummelvision, such a cool idea! check out my last three years on flickr in just over 3 minutes here and have a go yourself if you have lots of pics on flickr or facebook.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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thursday 20th january - richierocket 2011/01/20
frozen fractal reflections. a miracle of nature's winter beauty, between a busy road and a river sample point just south of rhayadr in mid wales. the river wye at glynn road bridge to be precise.
there was a pool of water, caught in the lee of a slope which had frozen overnight. the patterns were incredible, I took a whole load of photos, it was an amazing sight. the first sun in a couple of days was breaking over the layers of frost and ice when I luckily happened upon the place.
Posted 16 months ago.
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The photo of the dam from the 17th is stunning!
Re: my friend with SAD. As far as I know, he just has one of those small table-top lamps, but he's so stubborn that I don't know if he even uses it regularly. I think he's just come to accept the fact that winter is not his season and decides to go into hiding until the snow melts and the flowers start to bloom. But I've also noticed that for the last couple of years he's started to travel more during these colder months. He's a professor, so he's certainly got a few weeks to do it during the Christmas hols.
The Other Side of the Fence [2011]
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friday 21st january - richiericket 2011/01/21
swansea street art. I didn't manage to really get out and about today so I snapped this shot of the grafitti at the end of my road on the way home. we must have some pretty talented local artists out there in swansea, the standard was higher that the usual scrawls and tags.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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I LOVE that shot of the lamps! I LOVE that shot of the frozen puddle!
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saturday 22nd january - richierocket 2011/01/22
behind the waterfall. our frends tim and resi came to visit from north wales for the weekend and we realised that in all the times resi has been to stay with us down south, we had never taken her out on our trophy walk, around the waterfalls in pontneddfechan. it's a wonderful half day stroll with six waterfalls to see along the courses of two rivers which meander their way through some beautiful ancient woodland.
the waterfall in this picture is my favourite, it's called sgwd yr eira and there are more shots of it in my photostream. the most amazing thing about this falls is that there is an old drover's track behind, so you can actually get in at the back of it and watch the water coming down like a curtain in front of you. resi started to get cold quite quickly - there were lots of icicles around the place too to give you some idea of the air temperature! - and wandered off back into the dry after a couple of minutes. tim stayed longer with me taking in the sights and sounds of the place.
Posted 16 months ago.
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thanks collard - I'm enjoying the project so far, it's a great excuse to get outside with my camera.
thanks fella, loving your daily shots too
hey ernesto, scooter is actually quite manic - I think he's still settling into the place. this was a rare moment of quiet contemplation from him!
thanks Mr P, both cats seem to be settling in pretty well, they even coped admirably with a couple of new people about this weekend who dared to sleep in their newly adopted room!
thanks leora, we usually try to go away somewhere warmer in either november or february, the best therapy for SAD is definitely to get more sunshine on your skin whenever possible through the winter.
thanks cyn, i'm sure I'll be catching you up on the cat photos by the end of the year with two of the little beauties to show off!
Posted 16 months ago.
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awesome fotos here. the raindrop ripples were a great reward for going out - the frost on the fence too
and behind the waterfall! damn, another beautiful corner of the world with waterfalls... adding it to the list...
Posted 16 months ago.
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The colors on the hillside on the 11th are amazing, and I love the orange with the droplets on the 16th!
How are your new cats settling in? Always nice to have some critters around for comfort, cuddling, and humor.
The waterfall reminds me of two here along the border of Oregon/Washington. There are many falls around that area, and I had never walked behind a waterfall before moving out here. Pretty unusual experience.
Eye of the Magpie
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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sunday 23rd january - richierocket 2011/01/23
foxhole sunset stroll. matt has a new filter for his camera that he wanted to go out and play with, not sure what it does but it's something to do with making water look all fuzzy. I wanted to go for a walk on the beach to catch the sunset, so we ended up here at foxhole on the south gower coast.
the sunset was a symphony of colours and the sky looked amazing. foxhole has many rock pools and sandy hollows to catch the reflections of the sky along with the changing colours of the sea. I try to keep sunset shots to a minimum really - they become a bit of a cliche after a while - but it's hard to resist trying to capture the beauty of it all when I have a camera in my pocket. I love that each and every sunset is different, you never know quite what to expect.
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Checking in on the progress - glad to know someone in the water business...must be interesting!
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I really like colors and composition of your shot on Jan23. Very nice shot!
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Really enjoying the last week's shots. Looks super cold, tho.
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Loved your photo on the 20th - gorgeous!
DutchRosie: Looking & Learning in 2011
Posted 16 months ago.
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Cliche or not, I'm glad you took that one on the 23rd. I love the contrast between the sky and water colors.
Insert memory card
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hello Richie
I love your cliché shot of the 23rd !!! As much as the frozen fractal from 20th and the lonely road from 11th.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hey those lamps from the 18th are cool!! Great perspective shot!
Minefield - LOL!
Love how wonderful the frost looks on that red fence! Wonderful capture of the "texture".
Loce the graffiti.. with the character from "Up".
Btw, stop swearing at us... oh, that's Welsh!
; )
Well might be cliche but that sunset shot is wonderful... and i love the couple (?) you captured too...
- Sunshinecity - My (un)typical Italian year -
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monday 24th january - richierocket 2011/01/25
screw you bridge. appropriately for a monday, I found this on my sampling run today on the support of a bridge on one of the river wye tribs. who knows how many years or decades of dripping it took to make this stalagmite.
quite a suggestive shape in any case, I guess you could either see it as definitely a male bridge or one that was giving me the finger as I walked past.
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tuesday 25th january - richierocket 2011/01/25
angry red vow. I quit smoking two weeks ago and wanted to find something red to photograph today. the physical addiction went after the first three hellish days but giving up the habit is much more difficult, so many times I have found myself with gritted teeth in those 'I would be smoking now' moments when a red haze seems to settle over my vision...
so as I was driving into work this morning, gritting my teeth that I wouldn't be smoking a rollie when I arrived, an office supplies truck cut in front of me. I tracked him down like some furious road rage driver to another part of the industrial estate I work on, stomped out of my van with my iphone in hand and took this shot. the driver genuinely looked quite scared.
ps: how do you know when someone has an iphone? because they tell you (thanks to paulie for that one)
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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richie rocket edited this topic 16 months ago.
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Great joke!
Hi there, I am loving all your pictures of water, and of the natural landscape of Wales.
Congrats on quitting smoking. Keep it up!
Frédérique
Posted 16 months ago.
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Beautiful reflected sunset on the 23rd.
Good luck with your quit smoking decision. I was a 2-3 pack a day guy 15 yrs ago and was successful. It can be done. The "I want a cigarette" thought will pass after 60-90 seconds. Resist the temptation. Those "I want ...." thoughts will get spaced farther and farther apart as time goes by. Good Luck.
Mr. P de Panama
Posted 16 months ago.
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wednesday 26th january - richierocket 2011/01/26
first snowdrop flowers. occasionally my work takes me back across the border to england, the land of my birth. the site I was visiting there was a residential care home for old people, where I have to sample their sewage treatment works to make sure nutrient levels in the outfall are low enough not to cause problems in the river where it discharges. my work isn't all gorgeous scenery and blissful solitude.
after filling my bottle with processed old man / lady wee, I drove back through the grounds and noticed these flowers, the first snowdrops I have seen blooming this year. snowdrops are always the first of the annual bulbs to come out here in the UK, it was great to see signs of the land breaking out of hibernation.
Posted 16 months ago.
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thanks collard, my job is interesting - I love the variety, hopefully you'll get to see some of that through this diary.
thanks ernesto.
yep leesure, it's been nobbling here - we had a brief balmy respite and now the frost is back again. not as cold as nina's pics of finland tho.
thanks rosie, it was a lucky find.
thanks mario, it's a beautiful spot.
cheers olivier, loving your shots of the city of lights too. I can see you are one of the many frenchmen who truly appreciates his food!
thanks for the compliments sunshine, the 'couple' was actually matt crouching down with his tripod!
thanks for the encouragement, 17 days off the evil cancer sticks now, it's getting easier...
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hooray for the first sign of spring. Seventeen days, good for you, the physical cravings should be gone by now. Remember its a 60-90 second window when you think about lighting up. Be cognizant of places & times where you always smoked, bars, after meals, etc. Be extra cautious when drinking.
Cheers mate.
Mr. P de Panama
Posted 16 months ago.
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Ah, snowdrops! I couldn't think of the English word for them. I love seeing these flowers - they promise that winter will end some time.
I'll add my cheers to your decision to quit smoking!
DutchRosie: Looking & Learning in 2011
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hi Richie....
my first trip to your thread... I don't know how I've missed so many threads...
Jan 8... aww... good for you adopting kitties.. <3
Jan 12... cool shot from the tanning bed... glad it helps....
Jan 16... nice shot... i love the rain..
Jan 22... wow... that's pretty neat...
Jan 23... Gorgeous!!!
From the Backseat
www.flickr.com/groups/mdpd2011/discuss/72157625726154280/
Posted 16 months ago.
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January 24th reminds me of Avatar. The last remaining colony of the Na'vi in a withering Pandora...
vertseven's year in photos 365
Posted 16 months ago.
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thursday 27th january - richierocket 2011/01/27
distorted llanstephan bridge. I took this using camera plus on my iphone with the flash setting on, which transformed my view into this weirdly distorted picture of electric trees and fuzzy orange banks with something of the hipstamatic about it. not sure if I like it, but it's all I have to offer for today so what you see is what you get.
the bridge itself is over the river wye and my reason for being there was, as usual, to fill some bottles with river water. the bank down to the site was fairly steep and I slipped up on my arse coming down to the river. thankfully travelling back up to my van with a full bucket, glass and PET bottles was less eventful.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Congrats on your quitting!
Snowdrops... not quite time for that yet here, but close...
Eye of the Magpie
Posted 16 months ago.
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friday 28th january - richierocket 2011/01/28
bella's radiator hotbed. another crappy iphone pic - I'm guessing most of you are using the iphone 4 and not the 3GS with crappy camera that I have? anyway, it's good enough for instant captures.
I had a terrible night's sleep and subsequently took the day off on leave to catch up some zeds. the cats were around to keep me company and bella found a nice warm bed on top of the drying laundry on the radiator. she managed to stay there for about 15 minutes before retreating to the relative cool of underneath the seat scooter was more sensibly sitting on.
Posted 16 months ago.
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saturday 29th january - richierocket 2011/01/29
do not disturb. the sun was shining today but it was bitterly cold outside and I really wasn't in the mood for any of the sociable plans I had agreed to engage with today. feeling far too antsy and anti-social.
matt wandered off into town and returned with the newspaper. I spent the whole day in bed reading it, with brief forays to the kitchen for sustenance. vacuuming and laundry have been my only other achievements for today. sometimes it's good to kick back in my own space and just do nothing of major significance.
Posted 16 months ago.
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sunday 30th january - richierocket 2011/01/30
up the ladder. we borrowed a big tall ladder from one of our neighbours today which meant loads of high up things could be done. drainpipe is now fixed, the front of the house is clean and algae free and our neighbour's guttering has been de-gunked. i'm still not very comfortable at the top of one of these.
Posted 16 months ago.
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First visit to you. Wonderful shots, love it.
Have to come more often.
Those flowers for the 26th look beautiful.
:))
Loca's 2011 in pics
Posted 16 months ago.
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Really beautiful shots, thanks :>)
Posted 16 months ago.
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Those electric trees look quite wonderful!
DutchRosie: Looking & Learning in 2011
Posted 16 months ago.
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monday 31st january - richierocket 2011/01/31
toxic rainbow pollution. the discharge at maendy east smells horrendous, the solvent fumes almost knock you out when the inspection hatch is lifted. there is a certain beauty in the colours but it's safe to say that nothing lives beneath this murky film.
all we can do at this site is monitor the discharge to find out what exactly it is that is heading towards the local watercourse. the pollution is so extensive here that it is beyond our budget to repair the damage. the leachate is from a quarry which was landfilled back in the time before such sites were properly regulated here in the UK.
Posted 16 months ago.
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tuesday 1st february - richierocket 2011/02/01
cardiff grounds west. we do a lot of work at this site, starting with collecting mussels on the foreshore here in early february. we also set fyke nets here each spring and autumn to catch and identify adult estuarine fish and the mud is sampled by boat further offshore to assess the local marine invertebrate population.
when we arrived at the shore it was raining and we struggled to find any mussels. by the time the tide had started to come in, the sun was shining and we were finding mussels all over the place - as with most biology work it takes a while to get your eye in. a good start to the marine fieldwork season.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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richie rocket edited this topic 16 months ago.
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thanks for the wise words Mr P, quitting smoking is still hellish but kinda getting easier. my sleep patterns are returning to normal, which is making me less of a demon to be around hopefully.
hey dutchrosie, I like snowdrops but my favourite signs of spring are the daffodils, a special flower here in wales. the ones outside in my front garden are nearly up already.
hey kristen, happy belated birthday, looks like you had a ball! thanks for checking out my thread and for all the comments about my pics, loving all your portraits.
not quite sure how you see avatar in my 'screw you bridge' shot fella but then the mind works in mysterious ways...! I want some of what you've been taking ;o)
thanks magpie, hopefully the snowdrops are nearly peeking out for you in oregon by now.
thanks for calling by loca, glad you liked the snowdrops. I'm really looking forward to all the spring flowers.
cheers knobler, loved the shots on your photostream but couldn't find a thread of them on here??
Posted 16 months ago.
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wednesday 2nd february - richierocket 2011/02/02
changing the locks. hmmm. some enterprising young person decided to steal my house, car and work van keys from inside my house whilst matt and I were in at home. we normally hang them up in our porch and, being foolishly trusting, only locked the front door at night before we went to bed. we've been living in this house for five years and never had anything stolen here before, suffice it to say that now we are locking the door behind us every time we go through it.
the first I found out about the theft was when the police called to say that my work van had been found unlocked, several miles from my house, later that evening. I spent the next day at home until a locksmith arrived to change the lock on the front door. around £2,000 worth of kit was missing from the back of my van. the cost of its storage, recovery and key reprogramming has yet to be added to that total. apparently this type of opportunistic crime is becoming much more common around my local area.
Posted 16 months ago.
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thursday 3rd february - richierocket 2011/02/03
swansea bus station. so with my work van in the police pound and matt off at work in our own car, my only means of getting into work today was to take the bus. work itself was quite a round of phone calls to sort out the chaos from the theft of my van, including a trip to the police pound to find out exactly how much stuff was missing from the back of it.
swansea council finally demolished the old 1960s concrete nightmare bus station early last year and just before christmas our spangly new bus station was unveiled. it's all glass and big metal structures inside, I really like the curviness and light in the new building. it's a much more pleasant experience catching a bus from the town centre now.
Posted 16 months ago.
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friday 4th february - richierocket 2011/02/04
capitalism and culture. the newest edifices to both capitalism and culture opened in cardiff city centre last year. john lewis, a famous uk department store chain, opened its first branch in wales in the new st david's 2 development. they claim to be never knowingly undersold, which they mostly achieve by selling their own, usually good quality, brand goods. that and, controversially, offering two year guarantees on electrical goods when almost all other stores only offer a year.
the new cardiff library is a fine building, colourful and spacious and located in easy access for public transport. it also has a great new wagamamas restaurant on the ground floor, very tasty food. I actually watched the some of the installation of the new spear and hoop sculpture in front of the two buildings when I happened past it late last year.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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richie rocket edited this topic 16 months ago.
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If Atlas had a hula hoop...
Posted 16 months ago.
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saturday 5th february - richierocket 2011/02/05
tulips from amsterdam. today was a day at home, running through a few household chores. I brought matt back some tulip bulbs from amsterdam when I was there at the beginning of this year and the rain stopped long enough for me to plant them in a few big pots in the back yard. I still have heaps of them left, not quite sure where I'm going to put them all yet. It felt good to get out in the garden again and have soil defrosted enough to take a few bulbs.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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richie rocket edited this topic 16 months ago.
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sunday 6th february - richierocket 2011/02/06
porthcawl lighthouse spray. it's been powerfully windy for the past few days and chatting to a friend of mine in west wales over the weekend inspired me to get out to the coast for a face full of raging sea spray and crashing wave action. it was so windy my glasses were covered in salt within minutes but soooo exhilirating to be out on the shore in all that wildness. I've never been to porthcawl, which is famously rhymed with "f*** all" by most of the local people I've ever discussed it with. it used to be a popular holiday spot for south wales miners and their families before the advent of cheap international travel in the UK. it's actually quite a decent place, some lovely sandy beaches and lots of rock pools to explore.
the light was starting to fade by the time I arrived at the harbour and even if I had brought a tripod with me, I think it would have been too windy to get a really clear shot of the waves breaking over the lighthouse. this was the best I could manage from about half an hour of lying flat on my stomach, bracing my camera against the elements, listening for the boom of the biggest waves with a finger on the shutter button.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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richie rocket edited this topic 16 months ago.
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I would imagine this is the first time you got stolen, right? Not nice.
I would like to tell you that I've been "lucky enough" to find my hose open, without furniture 2 times in my life... such is life in the tropics. :\
I like the shot of the lighthouse.
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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ErnestoCL edited this topic 16 months ago.
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Ah, tulips, yes! Will they still grow when you plant them this late?
That's really unfortunate, about your key theft. Locksmiths kind of have you at their mercy, don't they, with what they charge you.
I like that spear and hoop sculpture. Bet it'll offer plenty of additional photo ops in the future, too.
DutchRosie: Looking & Learning in 2011
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hi Richie! My first visit here, but I enjoyed reading through all your entries. I'm sorry to say, but that bridge "finger" is what's stuck in my mind at the moment. What a funny find! (btw, I'm sure vertseven was actually referring to your "behind the waterfall" shot on the 22nd.) Looking forward to more of your adventures, which hopefully feature no more thefts.
ebilflindas :: It Goes to '11!
Originally posted 16 months ago.
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ebilflindas edited this topic 16 months ago.
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~A0e3sy [deleted] says:
Yay Tulips!
Posted 16 months ago.
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Hooray for Tulips from Amsterdam. Unfortunately, the squirrels in me neighborhood systematically dug up and ate almost all the bulbs I brought back. :-/
Nice timing on the lighthouse shot.
Posted 16 months ago.
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Oh, man, I'm sorry about the key theft. Seven years ago someone broke in while we were sleeping and stole a laptop and my wallet from the kitchen. It took me a while to feel safe in my own home after that.
That's a lovely library you have there!
Posted 16 months ago.
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sucks about the key and subsequent car theft. Nothing to unnerve you like having your home invaded. We've had a a few home invasions here in the mountains and it's gotten people riled up to varying degrees. We're on our own here, police and indifferent and ineffective and also far away. We've taken to being more diligent in locking up. Of course three dogs are also both a deterrent and an alarm system.
Great shot of the lighthouse and I like the composition on the 4th.
Mr. P de Panama
Posted 16 months ago.
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sadly not ernesto, I used to live in london... had a couple of burglaries there that were much worse than this one so I'm counting my blessings this time, at least all the gear stolen belonged to my employers and is easily replaced. sorry to hear you've had smiliar experiences, it's never a good feeling afterwards hey.
I hope so rosie, usually we don't have tulip flowers until around april anyway or even into may, some of the bulbs I planted were late season ones too so with any luck they should flower after the early ones are past their best. don't get me onto the subject of locksmiths, it's like being robbed twice...
welcome chap, glad to hear you appreciated the finger! it was a crazy thing to find and made me laugh out loud when I saw it. mother nature is amazing, whatever we build she makes it evolve. the avatar comment about the waterfall makes much more sense too.
you inspired me to plant them angeleah, I still have a few more to put into the ground yet :o) I'll be sure to take some shots of them when they come up since I know you love them so.
oh wow leesure those squirrels must have been hungry, I didn't know they ate bulbs as well as nuts. I dug my tulip bulbs up in late summer and brought them indoors so that the frost wouldn't kill them off but I guess that's much easier to do when they are in pots on a patio and you know where they all are.
thanks friuduric, new locks in the front door made me feel a lot safer but it was pretty unsettling waiting in at home on my own for the locksmith to arrive, knowing some thief was out there with my keys. losing your laptop and wallet must have really sucked, two things full of personal stuff you can't get back - sorry to hear that.
dogs must definitely come in hand where you are Mr P, I don't think that with any amount of training I'll be able to convince my new cats to launch themselves with claws bristling at unwelcome house guests! the police here have been fantastic, forensics turned up within 24 hours to fingerprint house and van and it was them who told me my van had been recovered, arranged for it to be towed to a safe pound since it couldn't be locked afterwards and I've had a lot of phone and personal follow-ups from them afterwards to keep me informed of their progress. not much hope that anything will come back to me but nonetheless, it's hard to beat the british bobbies. I have even more respect for them now.
Posted 16 months ago.
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My 2011 Daily Photo Diary /
Discuss
hey rob, thanks for the advice about preserving my whisky, unfortunately lee and peter don't stand much of a chance - good single malt never lasts very long in this house!
thanks collard, will do.
it's such a difficult choice cyn, we still haven't made up our mind which pair to go for! we have another week to decide yet so watch this space...
see above jonathan, hey we did some river-walking today too :o)
thanks leesure, I'm sure they will be duly represented on here once they have become part of the family
you and me both iramiro!
hehe good on you for treating you to a 6 min bliss! 
thanks tricyrtis, see below - we now have two new additions to the family :o)
thanks visual feast, snow's all gone now - more rain today but at least no more snowballs down the back of the neck!
thanks davey! it's been good fun so far interesting to try and find an image to represent your day. loving your diary too.
thanks for the recipe link sunshine, we have a deal in this house - I do the cleaning and matt does the cooking. living with mat is like living with linus from the peanuts cartoon but he's a grea cook so it's a good deal all round.
thanks ohfl, you need to get used to rain here in wales but then it's what makes it such a green and pleasant land...
most of my water testing is for the benefit of the river ecology here mr P, water for human consumption is tested differently and much more rigorously after it's withdrawn from rivers and reservoirs by the water supply companies. i'm guessing if you have a lot of farming around your reservoir watersheds, agricultural chemicals can get in there and cause problems.
thanks fella, loving your daily shots too
hey ernesto, scooter is actually quite manic - I think he's still settling into the place. this was a rare moment of quiet contemplation from him!
thanks rosie, it was a lucky find.
thanks mario, it's a beautiful spot.
hey kristen, happy belated birthday, looks like you had a ball! thanks for checking out my thread and for all the comments about my pics, loving all your portraits.
not quite sure how you see avatar in my 'screw you bridge' shot fella but then the mind works in mysterious ways...! I want some of what you've been taking ;o)
thanks magpie, hopefully the snowdrops are nearly peeking out for you in oregon by now.
thanks for calling by loca, glad you liked the snowdrops. I'm really looking forward to all the spring flowers.
cheers knobler, loved the shots on your photostream but couldn't find a thread of them on here??
welcome chap, glad to hear you appreciated the finger! it was a crazy thing to find and made me laugh out loud when I saw it. mother nature is amazing, whatever we build she makes it evolve. the avatar comment about the waterfall makes much more sense too.
you inspired me to plant them angeleah, I still have a few more to put into the ground yet :o) I'll be sure to take some shots of them when they come up since I know you love them so.
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