This game is a lot lot harder than I remembered.

Boxes of Kleenex at the moment have this fun sheep pattern. It’s cute.

I seem to have let this slip for a week or so.. apologies due for anyone kept waiting. I’m going to try more from now on to post photos that have actually been taken on that day, as opposed to random photos from the past. We’ll see how regular I can make it.

Gorgeous.

I keep on posting photos of L.A. because I’m still sorting through them from my trip there last summer.. so apologies for the lack of diversity but most of my time with any photos at the moment is revolving around these so they’re the only things in my mind. This is the Griffith Observatory, looking out to Downtown.

No-one knows what these buttons do; they just twiddle them and press them in the hope that sights and sounds get transmitted. Occasionally it works. Mostly it doesn’t.

This particular version of a tortoise is notoriously hard to photograph due to their blistering speed and massive shyness so I count myself particularly lucky to have managed this photo. It’s a testament to my patience. That’s what we wildlife photographers are made of.
(*ahem* Marwell Zoo)

The old zoo in Griffiths Park is now a pinic area, and a glorious place to spend an afternoon. After finishing sandwiches and ice cream, we took the liberty of breaking into some old zoo areas to explore.. it’s mostly depressing that they used to keep animals in these cages.

On Bournemouth seafront, by the pier.

From a helicopter, you get to see the Los Angeles that the poh-poh get to see. It’s actually really nice; no wonder they insist on shining big spotlights when it’s dark – they want to see how pretty the city is. This power station however, is quite ugly from any angle.

I don’t know why but this looks like a giraffes or something to me. I realise it’s not, don’t get me wrong. But it has that foraging feel to it. Possibly. Or maybe I’ve not been getting enough sleep lately.

It’s definitely warming up here in Bournemouth.. before you know it, it’ll be the summer and the air festival again. Joy(!) Although, at least it’ll bring the red arrows who are undeniably amazing. I would say that I’d like to be a red arrow pilot but I doubt I have the stomach for it.

I’m sure other people must have noticed this slight spelling mistake on Venice Beach. Clearly it’s a lot of paintwork there, but it baffles me that the owner hasn’t changed it.. or maybe it’s a selling point now.. like a gimmick that gets the punters in.. or maybe they haven’t noticed anything wrong with it(?) Odd.

Sort of. This is the hallway leading into his restaurant in The London West Hollywood. He wasn’t there. But the food was gorgeous (burgers with champagne is always fun) and the hotel wasn’t too shabby either – we stayed there for a night a couple of days later.

This is Skye, one of our hens. She likes being out in the garden, but was apprehensive about the snow. Then she went out in it and loved it, but was annoyed that she couldn’t scrape up the ground because it was frozen solid. Poor Skye.

The cold weather has prompted me to spend quite a bit of time playing Assassins Creed 2. I have little other choice. But I don’t mind – it’s a lot of fun . Wondering around Venice, watching fireworks and carnival is awesome and should bode well for my trip to Venice later this year.. though I wont be doing as much assassining.

It’s warming up a bit in Bournemouth today, though the forecast is for more snow so who knows what the week will bring. I can safely say though, that I probably wont be going to the beach again this week, as it offered no shelter at all and wasn’t the most comfortable of places to be on a snowy day. Though it did look pretty.

It’s good to have all bases covered when you’re anywhere near the sea, and I for one, was relaxed in the knowledge that if i HAD fallen into the ice cold, dark, mental sea, someone could’ve thrown this little plastic ring to me and saved my life.

It’s odd how much your visibility is reduced by even the smallest amount of snow.. You normally get a really great view out to the horizon, but today it was like the pier extended into nothingness.

Stood on Boscombe pier, about 10 minutes before they closed it because of the ‘danger!’. It was a little slippery, but wasn’t bad enough to close it. Unless they were closing it because of the hideous lack of protection from the wind at the end of the pier.

Pretty much deserted.

You wouldn’t've got me in that water for a million pounds. Well, actually, you probably would. But the vast majority of that money would then have to go toward some sort of thermal bubble to live in for the rest of my life afterward.

Magnifies the view 10 times apparently. Normally, you can see a lot more of the pier – sometimes even as far as the Isle of Wight but definitely not today.

En route to the beach during the ‘big chill’ 2010. It was cold.

Slightly earlier than usual, we took down our christmas decorations today. It’s normally a solemn occasion, but today, I was grateful to get them down. It’s not that I’ve felt un-christmassy this year, just that we put them up the same weekend that we moved into the new house and oddly, we’d never really seen the house without them. Now we have. It’s nice.

Possibly the least attractive omelette ever made, but this was easily the nicest tasting egg-based, quick-to-make meal that I’ve had all year. Really, it was superb. Made all the better for knowing that the eggs were freshly laid that morning by my very own hens

Lazy as I am, and with my predilection for the warmth – there’s no way I’m ever going to go to London for New Years Eve. So, this year, as with the past 7 years or so, I sat in and took photos of the telly. The fireworks looked a bit poor this year actually. A night in well spent

I’ll make this the last in this mini Hawaii series.. and, due to the festive period, the last post for a short time while I’m off overindulging. Anyway, this statue is on the beach in Wakiki and I’m sure has been photographed by millions of people. I think there’s a story behind it – some famous surfer maybe? – but it escapes me. Still, looks cool.

Another photo from our open-door helicopter trip. The 15 minutes or so above Kīlauea volcano and the lava stream that it’s continually been pumping out for nearly my entire life (since 1983) was the definite highlight of the experience. The heat, smell, and the smoke is unbelievable, and seeing the remnants of entire villages occasionally peek through the lava crust is jaw-dropping.

This cruise ship was moored for the day in Hilo so we took a brief flyby in the helicopter on the way back to the airport. It looks tiny from above and it’s hard to picture it as the 20,000 people carrying, 14 million ton weighing behemoth that it is (* figures approx.)

We went on an open-door helicopter ride from Hilo, over Kilauea volcano and to the coast where the lava is trickling into the sea (pics on the way!). It was utterly terrifying for the first 10 minutes or so (I’m not great with heights) but as soon as I began to trust the flimsy seat-belt, it was amazing. Definitely recommended.