CityHillsAndSea
photos prose & poetry
Category: Sunday Shots
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I have long had a habit of getting lost in the hills around Yugawara. On occasion, this can be partly my fault. I have a tendency to just blast on through using my natural sense of direction and not fully double checking where I actually am. On the other hand, the trails tend to be…
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Lady Shizuka was a famous dancer in 12th century Japan. She was also romantically involved with Minamoto no Yoshitsune. If you know your Kamakura period history, you will probably recognise this name – he was the younger brother of Minamoto no Yoritomo, Japan’s first shogun. Yoritomo and Yoshitsune had something of a falling out and…
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As you may have surmised from the previous post, I took a trip back to Japan over Easter. Expect continued photo dumps for the next few Sundays. This week, it’s the turn of Meigetsuin, 明月院 – a little haven of peace set back aways from the trains that thunder through the temple grounds of Engaku-ji…
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Fuji from the viewing platform at the Shonan Monorail terminal, Enoshima. I’d recommend making your way here at sunset – it’s oddly deserted, almost as if nobody knows it’s there. The views are spectacular. A little candid through-the-railings-peek at the best looking volcano in the world. A lone surfer at sunset, just down the road…
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Hey there. It has certainly been a while. Things got very … lifelike around this way for a bit there. Should be returning to a more normal pace imminently. In the meantime, have a photo of this monchin munchkin wots I mets today.
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Met a couple of parakeets while wandering the canal up near Apperley Bridge today. There were a few more regular ornithological residents of the area too: Also encountered this chap who was watching the ducks with profound interest until I reminded him he couldn’t swim.
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A very chilly February day up on the famous Ilkley Moor. The skies were overcast but not in the fun wintry way where you get all those lovely detailed textures in the clouds. Still, the rocks were all craggy and rugged. Oh, and you’ll be pleased to know that I remembered my hat, thanks to…
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The North Antrim coast is absolutely stunning in winter, but only misinformed tourists and mad eejits would bother to venture up that way; there’s nothing but horizontal rain, wind that could sweep you into the sea, and cold that cuts right into your core. Still, if you’re lucky, you might end up getting some nice…
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Dunluce Castle sits atop a rocky outcrop on the Antrim coast. It is not a particularly hospitable looking place, but there was once a bustling market town here. Unfortunately, it was destroyed in the uprising of 1641. There’s been a castle on this site for centuries; an Irish fort probably existed here before the first…
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Over the course of the last couple of weeks, a group of set dressers have been busy transforming my neighbourhood into what I initially thought was just going to be a bomb site on one street; there was a bit of filming happening last year with London Blitz kind of vibes, I assumed this was…
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A couple of birds having a bath. As you do.
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As you may have gathered from the amount of time I have been online this year to date, things have been … rather busy round these parts. Deadlines, project deadlines, new projects… forms and bureaucracy… colds and sniffles. (Pretty sure this time wasn’t COVID.) Yesterday saw me stuck inside all day, working. Usually around 3pm,…