just rambling about … enjoy the "post"-cards
A British summer sunset at 9.30pm in Brighton. Glorious. I don’t usually have my camera to hand for sunset shots and it was a mighty leap when I saw this scene out of the window.
I have a Snap Chat post about taking sunset images, titled “Why are sunsets notoriously difficult?“, that you might want to check out. It’s reminded me that I haven’t done a Snap Chat post in ages.
~ Spotted Cow
There is a big doughnut-shaped sculpture on the Brighton seafront, called Afloat. There’s something about the doughnut hole that makes people want to look through it, and this is a mum lifting her son into the aperture. I liked the lines and textures of the sculpture’s bronze segments and the mum’s puffer jacket sections.
~ Spotted Cow
There’s always time for a coffee break … especially after the week we’ve had in the UK !
hen, Brighton
~ Spotted Cow
On the weekend, The Actress and I went for a walk at Devil’s Dyke, just outside Brighton. It was a 15-minute ride on the happy bus to get to the lush countryside. Devil’s Dyke is a deep, steep, mile-long valley. The legend goes that that the Devil, in a mood, dug a big groove in the earth to drown the local parishioners. The scientific explanation starts from the Ice Age and is a much less exciting story, albeit more informative.
We chose the Histories and Mysteries walk from the National Trust site, which was a moderate figure-of-8 amble up and down the valley, with a few interesting stops. It starts and ends at the pub, and there is a tea room in the middle, which was a thumbs up for both of us. I should add that The Actress is a much hardier walker than I am, and would probably have favoured a circuit five times as long. She was humouring my Saturday afternoon out in the fresh air.
~ Spotted Cow
7 Day Nature Challenge. Day 4
I was walking along the chalk cliffs near Brighton, noticed these flowers growing out of a ledge and thought how miraculous nature can be.
The lovely Joanne from Coffee Fuels My Photography invited me to the 7 Day Nature Challenge, and I urge you to join too.
~ Spotted Cow
I’m rounding up my Brighton Pier amusement park series with the carousel down on the beachfront. I set the camera on shutter priority with a 1/50s shutter speed, so that I could capture it’s movement. It makes it look like the carousel is wending it’s way round faster than it’s ordinarily sedate pace.
~ Spotted Cow
Continuing with my Brighton Pier amusement park series. It’s my third.
This is Galaxia, best described as a lurid octopus which swings its arms around and up & down. I haven’t had a go even though I think I’d probably be alright on it. Something about it’s round & round nature doesn’t appeal to me. But look how much fun the kids are having !
~ Spotted Cow
This is the second in my series of the amusement park on Brighton Pier.
This ride is called Air Race and you wouldn’t be able to get me on it. I don’t know why it’s dives and flips and upside down turns make it different from riding a roller coaster. Maybe it’s the sensation of being hurled around in the air. I felt a bit ill just watching and taking pictures. I do, however, like the brightly coloured aeroplanes with their Batman motifs.
~ Spotted Cow
This is the first in my series of the amusement park on Brighton Pier.
I love roller coasters. The Turbo is a short, terrifying ride but I love it. I like the sensation as your head – and stomach – go all funny when you loop around the loop. I’m usually trying to persuade someone to get on the ride with me … and someone else to be the designated handbag-holder.
My advice is not to get on the rollercoaster following a big meal. It is not a good idea.
~ Spotted Cow
I’ve just come back from 5 days by the sea in Brighton. Is that a long weekend or a short week? Anyway, it was a restful time where I caught up with sleep, caught up with friends and generally hung about.
I managed some photography down on Brighton Pier, trying to capture the mood of the amusement park. I’ll post the pictures as I organise them. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with an image of the Victorian station clock which greets you when you arrive into Brighton by train.
~ Spotted Cow
21st December. The shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.
Every year on the winter solstice, Brighton has its Burning the Clocks festival. Last year, I got some of my friends together and bought the kits to make the willow & paper lanterns, accompanied by music and mulled wine. We joined the parade through the streets of Brighton. There was an amazing array of lanterns and ours weren’t half as creative as the regulars. The evening culminated with a huge bonfire of all the lanterns and a fantastic firework display down on the seafront. It was a wonderful and warming atmosphere in spite of the cold.
~ Spotted Cow
Ohhh, everyone’s gone home for the day. The deck chairs look lonely billowing in the breeze.
~ Spotted Cow
Today, I’d love to be one of those seagulls, sitting atop the sign.
~ Spotted Cow
My happy place is outside in the sunshine, watching the world go by. This picture is on the Brighton beachfront … although I have to add that this is not me – that would be a remarkable selfie !
Weekly Photo Challenge: Happy Place
~ Spotted Cow
The Brighton Pier lights. In the lighting sequence, you have two seconds to grab the picture where all the letters are lit up !
~ Spotted Cow
Brighton Pier. October is still deck chair weather !
~ Spotted Cow
My muse. I’ve picked the Brighton seafront. I’ve taken to going down to Brighton on spring and summer weekends. Autumn is lovely too because there are fewer tourists. Every time I’m on the seafront, there’s something about the sea air & the light which draws me to taking a photo. The walkway is long and there are lots of aspects to shoot pictures – landscape, social and architectural, are but a few. I don’t think I’ve exhausted the universe yet.
~ Spotted Cow
Another bank holiday – long weekend for my American friends – is upon us and I’m going to the Brighton seaside again … although the weather forecast doesn’t look as good as it did for Easter holidays ! Never mind. I’ll just be happy that I’m not in the office.
~ Spotted Cow
Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge Picture 4/Story 4 This was my favourite photo of the day shot when I did the cliff walk outside Brighton. There was a little old lady trundling down the path in her motorised wheelchair. A young lad decided to give chase on his scooter and he raced on after her, causing laughter to erupt from his family. The little old lady must have stepped on the accelerator because he didn’t catch up with her and he gave up!
~ Spotted Cow
The rules of Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge require you to post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo (It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or simply a short paragraph) and then nominate another blogger to carry on this challenge. Do try it !
Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge
Picture 3/Story 3
In the last post I told you about the walk I did under the chalk cliffs at Brighton. You are constantly reminded that they are chalk cliffs because the sea wall is punctuated with sequences of graffiti and drawings that people have made with loose white stones lying around. I came across this one that says “Just Smile’ and it instinctively made me smile ! So I took a picture.
~ Spotted Cow
The rules of Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge require you to post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo (It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or simply a short paragraph) and then nominate another blogger to carry on this challenge. Do try it !
Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge
Picture 2/Story 2
I discovered a lovely walk that starts from the Brighton Marina, which runs along the sea wall and under the chalk cliffs for about 4½km to the village of Saltdean. Not many people seem to know about it and it’s a lovely respite from the tourist crowds.
The white limestone cliffs against the rest of the monochromatic landscape is beautiful. The exceptional feature about it is that there is a motorway above the cliff and you cannot see or hear it. Walking along the path, you might imagine cows and fields. This is even more impressive if you realise that the cliffs are continually eroding and the road sits right on top of it. I kept looking up to see if I would witness a Mini and a bit of cliff hurtling toward the sea. In the event, nothing happened and I lived to tell the tale.
If you want to look it up, the walk is descriptively called the Brighton Undercliff Walk.
~ Spotted Cow
The rules of Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge require you to post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo (It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or simply a short paragraph) and then nominate another blogger to carry on this challenge. Do try it !
Juliann from Browsing The Atlas nominated me to do the Five Photos, Five Stories challenge. The rules of Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge require you to post a photo each day for five consecutive days and attach a story to the photo (It can be fiction or non-fiction, a poem or simply a short paragraph) and then nominate another blogger to carry on this challenge. Accepting the challenge is entirely up to the person nominated, it is not a command. I nominate Wright Outta Nowhere because I love the tales that go with her expat-life images.
Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge
Picture 1/Story 1.
I am consistently and wondrously surprised at the unflappability of English beachgoers. Not only do they have to contend with a pebbly beach. But one sunny Brighton day that turned misty, I noticed that everyone stayed on the beach while I started to make tracks to leave. There was no packing of the bags when the mist descended, not even when the temperature dropped. They stayed on with their picnics, carried on with their gossip and played at making pebbles skip in the sea. It’s hard core.
~ Spotted Cow
Did I mention that most English beaches are pebbly beaches? Brighton beaches are pebbly. It was one of the things that perplexed me when I came to live here because I didn’t think it was physically possible. My definition of beach – at the time – was sand and sea. Well, that has since shifted because my world is now broader, which is always a good thing.
~ Spotted Cow
Wandering Cows 
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