Clandeboye Swan

This was taken on the part of the Ulster Way which runs through Clandeboye Estate. A causeway crosses the small lake here. The swan seemed happy enough to let me get close enough to take this photo 

Donaghadee Lighthouse

This was taken from the far pier which is accessible on foot only at low tide. Donaghadee is worth a visit for the fantastic food in the Pier36 restaurant right on the harbour. If you like seafood it is hard to find a better place to eat

Experi Mental

I tried to get some photos of the eclipse this morning but unfortunately from Bangor there was very little to be seen. I got a few photos of the sun but the moon's disc crossing the bottom was so small as to be almost invisible. The QUB pictures weren't that much better IMHO. Instead, as they say on Blue Peter, 'here's one I prepared earlier' (a light trail photo, created using an led torch and a laser pointer)

Light Relief

 

Close your eyes if you don't like spiders

See, I warned you. Here is a photo of a spider close up. I would have preferred to have got a picture of him from above rather than below, however beggars can't be choosers and I had a fence, bushes etc. in my way

One from the archives

Groomsport Sunset

I took this one at the end of last summer in Groomsport, Co. Down. Sunsets are easy because it's not hard to be there at the time, unlike sunrise pictures which take a certain amount of dedication in that you have to motivate yourself to get up at the crack of dawn when you are off work and could be having a lie-in

 

Lazy Sunday

River Quoile, Downpatrick

Today was Mother's Day so Lynn got her breakfast made by me and the boys brought it up to her. She went out with the Mother-in- Law this afternoon to Donaghadee Garden Centre as they have a nice coffee shop. It came on rain (very heavily) just as I was about to leave the house to go out for a walk so instead I just stayed in the house getting things ready for dinner. We had dinner late and Lynn is relaxing with some of her chocolates while I'm just doing my usual computer stuff 

Down in Co. Down

Downpatrick Cathederal


I had to go to Downpatrick early this morning so I grabbed the opportunity for a photo of the cathederal. Later on I had to go to Crumlin and came back over the top of the hill via Nutt's Corner. There were some good views over Belfast but unfortunately it was too hazy to make it worth my while taking a picture. Traffic was heavy and there wasn't really a suitable place to pull in so that photo can wait for another day.

Splash

Today was another one of those grey, wet and windy days. 

Comber Co. Down

This is a view of Comber Co. Down, looking over towards the Mountains of Mourne. The fields you can see in the foreground are where the tastiest spuds in the world are grown. This picture is quite similar to the one I sent in to the BBC when they were running the Digital Picture of Britain series and which was on their website for a while (it might even still be there) 

The Tunnel of Goats

I think it was in the very first episode of Father Ted that the fair came to Craggy Island. The announcer was heard to say over the tannoy 'a small child has been lost in the Tunnel of Goats'. Other attractions at this famous 'world's worst travelling fair' included The Crane of Death, Spider Baby, Freak Pointing and of course, Goading the Fierce Man (I can't remember the other wonderfully ludicrous attractions). Anyway we came across this tunnel while out walking. There was no road, railway or any other purpose that Martyn and I could determine, for it being there, it was just a tunnel, on it's own, for no reason. It made me think of the Tunnel of Goats

Tarzan

It has been years since I climbed a tree so on Sunday when we were out walking I did just that. Martyn decided to have a go too and this is the result - note the look of concentration as he deals with this difficult task. Please be aware that for health and safety reasons climbing trees is not recommended. The owner of this website (me) cannot be held responsible if you climb a tree and fall off. Trees are dangerous and best left to the experts, if you are in any doubt please remain on the ground. 

Going up in the world

I'm usually the one taking the photos, not in them. Martyn took this one of me with a view of Strangford Lough in the background. 

Scrabo Tower

It turned out dry today so Martyn and I headed off to Scrabo for a bit of a walk. The last time we were there, after walking up to the tower we had returned to the car park and taken the path through the woods towards Comber. This time, for a change, we headed down the long path to the old sandstone quarries for a look around. We walked for a good 2hrs after which it was all uphill on the way back (we'll both sleep well tonight, but especially Martyn, who had to start work at 5pm). Fortunately we found a shortcut, a steep and narrow winding path going up the side of the hill which brought us out right at the tower where this picture was taken. The tower was closed today. It is open from Easter through to September and it is worth climbing all the steps to the top for the spectacular views of the surrounding area. On a clear day you can see Belfast, Scotland and the Mourne Mountains without even moving from where you are standing.

Dawn today at Islandmagee

Islandmagee near Larne, the sun had just come up as I was heading to Templepatrick and I stopped to take this. It was taken with the Casio QV-R40 I always carry in the car (I didn't have the Nikon with me)

Gardening World

It will soon be lawnmower time again. I spotted these snowdrops in the corner of my garden and my daffs are coming up too. There used to be crocuses as well but Lynn pulled them up in one of her 'it's green, it must be a weed' blitzes on the garden - I think she missed the bluebells under the living room window though, so they will be out in a week or two. The council delivered us a new green bin to chuck our garden rubbish in. I'm no Alan Titchmarsh or Percy Thrower and it will most likely take me all summer to fill it.

Snowdrops (wonder why they're called that?)

 

I'll Huff and I'll Puff

No blog yesterday as the server was down for maintenance. Anyway today a group of us from work skived off to the Chelsea Wine Bar on Belfast's Lisburn road on an extended lunch break to celebrate my friend Peter's 6oth birthday. We had originally planned to go elswhere but we had a couple of bad reports about the place we had chosen so we decided instead to go for the Chelsea. It proved to be a wise choice as the food and service were first class - we'll definitely be going back again. Now who's birthday is next?

Peter is glad there weren't 60 candles

 

The 39 Steps

Wasn't that a book and/or film?
 

Third time lucky

It all seems to be working OK now. I had written a wonderful paragraph to accompany the photo, which I'm sure you would have found rivetting, but two attempts vanished and frankly I don't want to type it all in again in case it happens a third time.









Bangor Marina on a cold and grey Winter's day 

The vanishing post

Tonight in Internet land a very strange thing happened. My two attempts to post photographs have disappeared , dragged off deep in the wilds of cyberspace by forces unknown. They may appear later, who knows? This afternoon my reply to a poster of a comment went astray and later 4 copies of it appeared as if by magic.

Ghosts in the machine?

Fixed

Oyster Catcher in flight (as promised)

 

The Happy Mondays

That's the name of a pop group. It is a description that could also be applied what it's like to where I work (not). Anyway it was back to the grind this morning. Unusually for a Monday they all turned up for work but Tucker had been tramped on at football on Saturday and his foot was up like a bap so I had to go and drive for him. Might have to do the same again tomorrow. Here was going to be today's picture, an Oyster Catcher in flight, but Blogger's photo server seems to be knackered tonight. I'll maybe try later

Sunday Evening

Just had dinner and I'm relaxing with a Carajillo (that's a Spanish coffee consisting of 50/50 espresso + brandy). So far so good, no phone calls, Monday is usually the day for sickies. I think I'll get my bits and pieces ready for the morning then off to bed with a book for an early night

A Splash of Colour

 

Digital vs Film

I just had a look at the photo on my earlier post. Clicking on it takes you to a bigger copy on which you can actually make out the sign on the Bangor Bay Inn over 1/2 a mile away. I'm impressed with the capabilities of this camera, it's as good as my old film camera, if not better. All I need to do now is keep up the practice with it. Anyone want to buy a mint condition Nikon F65 ?

Depression is starting to set in

Not too much to say today. I'm back at work on Monday and already the phone calls have started. I haven't made my mind up what to to this afternoon. My walking partner Martyn is off to the pub with his mates to watch Ireland v Scotland on the big screen. Maybe Lynn fancies a walk - I was thinking of Scrabo, if not I'll go by myself. REMINDER: Put a new battery in the mp3 player ! (I forgot to check the battery yesterday and ended up walking around with silent headphones on my nut and a dead mp3 player in my pocket). I might watch the rugby myself though I'd rather be out making the most of the dry day.


Bangor Marina, taken from Pickie Bandstand

Tonight I think I'll chill out with a bottle of red wine and a dvd. There is only the usual Saturday night stuff on offer on telly i.e. programmes that require no more than the attention span of a goldfish. CSI and Law and Order on Five aren't bad but I'm outvoted by the ITV crowd, Lynn, Gary and Anne (bummer) - even Dean has the sense to get offside. Might as well make the most of tonight (a Hennessey or 3) as it's back to the early nights again from tomorrow for me. 

At last

The weather changed for the better today and I was able to get out for a while. I parked at Bangor Marina and walked round the North Down coastal path to Stricklands Glen then back catching a few photos on the way. Below is a picture of a local bar - something about the decoration caught my eye

Interesting decor 

Oh Bugger!

I just spent the last hour (on and off) chatting to the nice BT helpline people. My broadband DSL signal has been disappearing in the evenings for the last 2 1/2 weeks or so. The whole thing went walkies for a week before deciding to turn itself back on again (possibly it was on holiday). I suspected it was a contention issue but had to go through all the uninstalling/reinstalling nonsense with the modem, computer, phone lines , microfilters etc. etc. before phoning them. Finally they agreed to run a line check which means no broadband for the next 2-5 days. My old dial up connection with DN@ (now UtvInternet) is still active so I'll be using it but it kind of puts paid to any fancy ideas I might have about posting photos. It has not been my week really - I had hoped to get out and about to get a lot of practice in with the new camera but it has rained every day- and now it isn't even worthwhile sitting in at the computer as dialup is so slow. Ah well, it's probably time to start reading a new book anyway

Lovely weather for ducks

I was able to get out earlier today for a while then the rain came on again. My youngest son Dean wants me to copy some of his LPs on to CD so I'm going to start that shortly. I'm fed up in the house and I'm convinced daytime TV is designed to bore the unemployed into going out and getting themselves jobs. Most of it is pure shite, in fact the only thing worse than daytime TV is Saturday night TV. Just close your eyes for a moment and listen to the moronic hoots and howls of the 'Dancing on Ice' audience - you'd almost think you were listening to the babboons or chimps on some BBC2 wildlife series. Thank goodness for music and headphones.

 

Spring has sprung

The first signs of spring

This was taken in Ward Park, Bangor, a couple of weeks ago. Today it's raining again, even more heavily than yesterday. So much for taking a week off work to get out and about to take a few pictures. I'm not bothered too much by the rain but my camera doesn't like it - so much for modern electronic wizardry. I'll have to do something productive, unfortunately while I like taking pictures, setting up studio still-lifes is not for me so I may just have to brave the weather 

Stuck in the house

Shells at Ballymacormick Point (Groomsport)

It was rather wet today so I stayed in at the computer which meant I was on hand just in case Martyn or Dean needed lifts. I'm off work this week and had hoped to get out with the camera and get some pictures, in fact I was rather hoping for a bit of snow (Rain does not make for good pictures, snow, on the other hand, does). Martyn and his pals have volunteered to head off to the Mourne Mountains with me this weekend. We are overdue a visit to Blue Lough but if the weather turns out good and we can get set off early enough we might even head up over the summit of Slieve Donard and down the other sideto the Bloody Bridge car park

 

A new departure

My son Martyn and I like taking long walks at weekends. It helps me relax after working all week and he needs to chill out as he is a student and we all know how hard they work. Sometimes the weather is fine, other days we just get soaked, frozen or whatever. I always carry my camera for there is usually something interesting to photograph. A friend had asked to see some photos so I copied them to cd for him. I had also some posted some on an old website. Another friend asked why did I not just post them on the web. This is the result. I make no claim to being a good photographer - the images I post here were taken because I liked what I saw at the time. If you like them (or not) feel free to comment and if you want to use them go ahead. The picture below was taken at Bangor Marina a couple of weeks ago. It reminded me of the boat from the film Captain Ron