Aug 03 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Himalayan (f***ing) Balsam

Sunday 3rd August 2014, 2.30pm (day 1,074)

Himalayan Balsam, 3/8/14

Looks nice? It isn’t. This is Himalayan Balsam, Impatiens glandulifera, introduced into the UK by some Victorian gentleman who, if he was still alive, should be made to crawl around the country stuffing the consequences of his marketing opportunity up his bottom. This is the major invasive weed around here, possibly even the biggest local environmental problem we have right now. I’d say ‘if you see this plant kill it’ but apparently the expert advice is that even that might just make it worse (as if it were a hydra, or something). The only answer seems to be to develop a taste for eating it — which no other UK species has yet managed, hence the problem.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Aug 02 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

Asleep in the cafe, Liverpool Lime Street station

Saturday 2nd August 2014, 11.05am (day 1,073)

Asleep, 2/8/14

This is also how I felt this morning after our night out in Liverpool. I hope this woman didn’t miss her train — she was asleep in the cafe at the railway station for some time.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Aug 02 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Interior

In the Tate, Liverpool

Friday 1st August 2014, 2.05pm (day 1,072)

Tate Liverpool, 1/8/14

As if there hadn’t been enough art last week, a trip to the Mondrian exhibition at the Tate in Liverpool. “Please don’t take pictures of the art,” we were told, “but you can take pictures of the view from the windows.” Well, OK then — here’s a bit of both.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jul 31 2014
1 Comment
Daily Post, Landscape

Pendle Hill, from above Mereclough

Thursday 31st July 2014, 7.35pm (day 1,071)

Pendle Hill, 31/7/14

Had my evening meal with my parents over the border in Lancashire and captured this on the way back. Pendle Hill is 1,827 feet high, but to be honest, looks higher, particularly when one is closer to it (this image is taken from many miles away). Its name is actually the same word repeated three times; Pen from Celtic languages, ‘dyl’ from ‘hill’ in Old English, and then ‘Hill’ from Modern English. So its name basically means ‘HillHill Hill’. It is most famous for its association with the Pendle Witches, one of England’s more notorious witch-hunts.

Tagged , , , , ,
Jul 30 2014
1 Comment
Daily Post, Flora/Fauna

Cat portrait

Wednesday 30th July 2014, 9.05am (day 1,070)

Cat close up, 30/7/14

Wandered out this morning on some inconsequential errand or other and took a shot of some random vista with a cat in the middle distance. Said cat then came straight over to me and virtually demanded that I did its close-ups. Well, who am I to refuse.

Tagged , , , , , ,
Jul 29 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Hebden Bridge, Portrait, Stranger

Outside the tourist information centre, Hebden Bridge

Tuesday 29th July 2014, 5.10pm (day 1,069)

Tourist info centre, 29/7/14

A day at home, no work, no responsibilities, no worries. I have no idea how to caption this photograph — so I’m not going to worry about that, either.

Tagged , , , ,
Jul 28 2014
1 Comment
Daily Post, Urban scene

Blast from the past

Monday 28th July 2014, 11.00am (day 1,068)

Cockpit entrance, 28/7/14

Located under the arches of one of Leeds station’s approach roads, the Cockpit is surely a familiar place to anyone who has been a student at Leeds University in the last 25 years or so. I had my 30th birthday party in this club — quite some time ago.

Tagged , , , ,
Jul 27 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Portrait, Stranger

The Last Pizza?

Sunday 27th July 2014, 12.05pm (day 1,067)

Last pizza, 27/7/14

She’s certainly going for it as if it might be. Like us, this lady was in the departure lounge of Fiumicino airport, but, I suspect, leaving her home country rather than returning to it.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,
Jul 26 2014
Leave a comment
Daily Post, Urban scene

The Forum

Saturday 26th July 2014, 11.35am (day 1,066)

The Forum, 26/7/14

Last full day in Rome. The Forum was the heart of the ancient city and this picture is meant to epitomise some kind of glorious decay, the ruins of the Eternal City left to moulder pleasantly away, returning to nature or whatever. Of course it’s nothing like this. Really it’s just a big park with thousands of tourists swarming over it daily. But it does have a certain grandeur. It’s been a good trip here, a fine city, I recommend it should you ever get the chance.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Jul 25 2014
2 Comments
Daily Post, Interior

Inside the Vatican

Friday 25th July 2014, 1.10pm (day 1,065)

Vatican, 25/7/14

I said a few days ago that this blog would soon feature its 20th country, so here you go — the world’s smallest independent state, the Vatican City. Also the state with, almost certainly, the highest proportion of tourists to residents. And probably the world’s largest art gallery. This is one of the ‘Raphael rooms’, decorated by said artist in the 16th century, slightly before Michelangelo painted the more famous (and even more crowded) Sistine Chapel.

And is the Vatican worth a visit? Well, it’s certainly the most sumptuous interior decoration in the world. But it does depend how much you like looking at a) excessive displays of wealth and status and b) other people.

Tagged , , , , , , , ,
← Older posts
Newer posts →