It's a perfect October weekend. The rivers may be closed for trout fishing but a walk along them early in the morning brings a zen like calm to the soul. Mist from the river surface coiling skywards with smokey snake-like fingers, interspersed by faint splashes as tumbling bars of orange and gold are loosed by bankside arboreal guardians. The ground crunches underfoot as our first proper frosts of the year arrive and all seems peaceful.

As the day warms up, the noise of people stirring from their duvets intrudes on the peace of the day and soon the pealing bells of the valleys assorted churches begin. Beckoning the faithful (joyful and triumphant?) to church. Being the open minded guy that I am, I followed the noise of the bells into Salisbury. Straight past St Pauls, past St Marks, past the turning to the Cathedral, straight to the church of coffee where I prayed to the god of Starbucks for a cosy half hour. Tucked up safely with my hot chocolate and my muffin I pretend to read the paper as I watch people scurrying about. It never ceases to amaze me that at 10:00am on a Sunday morning that there is a queue of people desperate for a double espresso AND a latte... Me, I'm decaffeinated these days, unless you count the odd cup of tea that is the only real companion for a fried breakfast. Paper finished and excuses for sitting in my corner running out in my head I decide it's time to make a move and mosey on home.

I'm hoping to head out for a shot at some pike one morning this week, lets hope my fingers remain intact this time. The small jack last week gave me a bit of a slice from it's gill covers as it writhed and leapt to get back to it's murky home. Justification, I guess, for me disturbing it's day.

Anyway, going to move logs, think it might be a lit fire kind of night tonight.

~ malcolm

Now, I've been to allot of different parts of the world. I can't say I'm done seeing new things, don't think that's possible, buuut, there is nothing, and I mean NOTHING to me that can beat the views in West Dorset. Perhaps it's having grown up there, having seen it in hurricane, snow, downpours, beautiful sunshine and pretty much everything in between. Whatever it is, it just can't be rivaled.

Click on the picture below for a bigger version, it'll open in a new window so you may need to hit your back button to come back to this page. I'm making no excuses for the shoddy photomerge on the shot by the way, I know it's shoddy and I'm still putting it up as to my mind the view from White Sheet Hill across to the coast is worth it.



Started the new job and so far it's simply fantastic. Met great people, visited some amazing properties already and within a week feel at home in the job. I never believed people when they said that things happen for a reason, now I'm not so sure. If someone up there wants to see good people go through the crap I've been through in the last 2 years they have a really screwed up sense of humour. As the Depeche Mode song goes, 'I don't want to start any blasphemous rumours, but I think that god's got a sick sense of humour, and when I die I expect to find him laughing'. That said, if I was by some tortuous route supposed to end up at this place and time I probably wouldn't change a thing. On the whole life is pretty peachy. Nothing finding a yummy 20 something archaeologist with a penchant for balding fly-fishing snowboarding guys wouldn't cure :)

Anyways, it's late, it's been a busy week and I've just got the usual couple of photies for you all. Enjoy

~ malcolm