Meet Usky's new friend

I spotted this guy while out cycling this morning, took a shine to him and stopped to pass the time of day... then I thought you might like to meet him too. Let me introduce you to The Celtic Warrior

The Celtic Warrior

Pretty impressive isn't he? Carved from a single hunk of tree by a local artist - you can view him at the end of Isca Road, Caerleon.

Facial Close-up

 Seeing this guy today reminded me of an old friend I haven't spoken to in ages... her name is Rosemary and she's an artist and sculptor who I know would appreciate this piece of work.

In other news I got my India Badge recently for having walked 1997 miles in my attempt to get fit!

India Badge - 1997 miles walked

Crossing the border

It was a lovely morning for a quick trip over the border into England...

Second Severn Crossing

Sadly you can't cycle over the Second Severn Crossing, but you can grab a nice image of it from Blackrock. Fortunately you can still use the original Severn Bridge (M48) to cross back and forth over the water.

Bound and drowned, but not beaten

Walking with Tilly along the Severn flood plain this morning and simply had to capture a couple of images of this piece of flotsam...

Ivy-bound tree

I just love the way ivy had bound this old tree, no doubt helping suck the life out of it. However having fallen and been floating around in the Bristol Channel for lord knows how long, the tree has finally washed up on the Welsh side of the Estuary where new life is slowly taking over.

New life takes hold

I find I am always impressed with the way Nature works... in this case the ivy having made perfect footholds for new plant growth. Neat, eh?

Welsh humour...

Loud but Fun!

I had an interesting evening out at Tramshed in Cardiff with the Daughter last night and properly enjoyed myself in one of Wales' newest rock venues. On the bill were three bands, Alestorm (Bacon Powered Pirate Core) from Scotland and Bloodbound (Power Metal) and Sabaton (Heavy Metal) both from Sweden. I just thought I'd share a little of their music with you...








Just a little taster of course, but you can always look these guys up on YouTube and explore more of their music.

1600 miles = Great Barrier Reef

Since I started wearing my free Fitbit Flex fitness band back in July last year it seems I've clocked up something over 1600 miles just walking... that's the same as walking the Great Barrier Reef from end to end apparently, not that you can actually do that of course... wouldn't mind swimming along some of it though.

Anyway to commemorate my 1600 miles Fitbit have awarded me this badge:

Great Barrier Reef badge

Am I supposed to be the fish d'you think?

A pig in a poke?

Tilly had an encounter she really wasn't too sure about earlier and it had to do with one of her favourite food groups... sausages! Oh yes dear reader we really do love a nice sausage, especially those of the pork variety. So anyway we were walking along enjoying some all too rare sunshine when we came across this lady sunbathing in her wallow.

Let Sleeping Pigs Lie

At first sight Tilly was somewhat less than impressed, but the very mention of Old Spot sausages soon gained her attention! There was a wire fence between us and the pig, which Tilly poked her nose though to get a better sniff of this slumbering lady. I suggested to her she may want to move back, but no... Tilly had a little growl at which point Pepper Pig woke up and did a little 'growling' of her own.

I'm awake, but you can't see my piggy-eyes

The snuffly growl followed by a couple of loud grunts soon had Tilly running for cover... well you can't really blame her, Pepper Pig was at least 50 times Tilly's size. I have to say if I'd had a length of rope I might have been tempted to take Old Spotty for walkies... straight into my backyard where I'd unleash my Great Uncle Sid's pig-sticker... after all, I like pork sausages too!