B&W photo of 2 black and white dogs, looking up at the camera expectantly (I have treats), next to them is a guitar and amp. Both the older dog on left and puppy on right have ears up.
Puppy update.
Unbelievably, at 5 months, Dash is now almost the same size as Lucas... and still hasn't quite grown into his paws or tail.
Wishing you all best wishes for a speedy recovery, Rob - look forward to reading the piece.
That's nearby but further down the valley - the house is quite a bit newer - I'd guess 1930s, and a lot more substantial - it's been in a steadily poorer state of repair for at least the last 15 years or so - it's quite sad to see as its a beautiful place.
www.geograph.org.uk/photo/1519573
Looking west to a darkly silhouetted and rocky Dartmoor ridge about a half hour before sunset. A shaft of bright evening sunlight breaking through dark clouds like a searchlight.
Last light over Row Tor.
Night all...
I've been a dad for 16 years now and same tbh 🤣...
It's all good though.
A stream cuts a narrow gorge in the cleft of a bare Dartmoor hillside. Scars from tin streaming and erosion visible on the valley side. Pale bleached yellow winter moor grass in the foreground. Wan winter light, rail clouds lifting but still leaving the valley in hadow.
In the bottom left of the photo you can just see Steeperton Brook - the subject of probably one of my favourite photos, taken 3 years back in very similar light conditions from Oke Tor.
I sold a framed print of this at the @dartmoorcollective.org exhibition - would love to know where it ended up.
Thanks Paula - was such a lovely light up there last night. So grateful to be able to get back out there.
Clouds lifting and illuminated by low setting sun over a conical hill at the head of a wide and shadowed Dartmoor valley. The moor still in winter mode - washed out yellow and dun brown.
Looking towards Steeperton from Winter Tor on yesterdays evening walk.
That said Halfords do also do some decent kids bikes - their Boardman and Voodoo range etc - some of the other stuff is dire though.
Yeah - it's such a false economy - on a lot of them the components are proprietary so when they break they can't be replaced and the bike just goes to landfill.
We've always gone for decent cast-off bikes from mates with older kids - Islabike, Frog etc
I've literally just split my thumb open on a knife sharp edge fixing the chain on a 5 year old's bike which was bought from a shop 10 days ago.
Honestly - if you want to get your kid a bike, seek out a decent second hand one or visit your local bike co-op - you'll save money, a lot of stress and years of scraped knuckles and sweary muttering.
I somehow seem to have ended up running an ad-hoc bike maintenance clinic for the kids in our close.
This has firmed my belief that cheap supermarket BSOs (Bicycle Shaped Objects) are the works of the devil, and, I suspect, the reason most people don't cycle into adulthood...
Is Keir Starmer saying it's staggering and unforgivable that he wasn't told Peter Mandelson was Peter Mandelson?
I didn't get that close but @notquitelight.bsky.social reported strange lights inside...
A cracked and mossy window with a weathered frame on an overgrown slate clad wall, glimpsed through tree branches.
Heavily overgrown frontage of the house.
A dormer window, faintly lit by setting sun and glimpsed over a hedge - similarly cracked and weathered. Numerous slates missing in the roof.
Does anyone know the story behind the dilapidated, overgrown house alongside the track up to the moor at Watchet Gate, Belstone?
It's been getting steadily more decrepit and overgrown over the last few years, but was starting to show faint signs of life when we walked past last night.
#Dartmoor
You're very welcome - glad you enjoyed it, I did too - was really good to catch up.
Granite-lined steps lead down to a dark, barred doorway to an underground chamber in a Dartmoor hillside - a former water treatment works. On top are some damaged glass tiled panels and grid covers. Rough grass and gorse beyond and a ridge of hills rising under a dramatically clouded sky.
Visited the entrance to the underworld on this evening's stroll on the North Moor with @notquitelight.bsky.social
Sadly, the portal is now closed to visitors...
If you're in need of a lift from the unremitting grimness of the times we currently find ourselves in then I very much recommend going to see @joshuaidehen.bsky.social live.
Wonderfully uplifting, joyous and fun gig at the Phoenix in Exeter tonight.
Great support set from Kate Ireland too.
Struck this morning by how the remarkable can become mundane.
I walk here most days. Rarely visited by anyone but locals, the remains of the largest stone circle on Dartmoor, bisected by a Bronze Age reave, with a WW2 mortar pit dug into it. Layers of human history overlapping in one thin place.
I was literally screaming at the screen when I found this.
Also the weird thing where you have to do it within a specific 4 week period - WTAF? - it's almost as if they were scared it was all so shonky that it would fall apart completely if too many people tried it at the same time.
God YES.... it's an absolute technoshambles.
No, but I have cake.
I'm imagining the results of a high impact collision between a branch of Ratners, a tanning salon and the bins outside of Maccy D's.
The decor would be shocking for a start...
Which reminds me - I passed by this place last week - sadly didn't have time to stop as we were rushing for the last ferry but definitely on my list for our next visit to Falmouth.
cornishbookshops.wordpress.com/2016/04/19/b...
I have more faith in cake than crypto.
Had a bit of a challenging day... but much improved just now by receiving payment for some ad-hoc IT support in the form of a home-made Victoria sponge.
