Monochrome beacon

This was very ordinary until I took the colour out of it and tweaked the levels a bit. I really like it now - especially those crazy cloud shapes. I'd like something eye-catching in the foreground but you can't have everything can you?

If I'd managed to get my act together sufficiently to capture this shot of a touring tandem couple properly I'd have used it instead of this one, but I still had my aperture shut right down for the landscape and forgot to check it so they came out all blurred. I wish I could say that'll teach me but the disappointing truth of the matter is that it won't. I guarantee I'll make that mistake again.

Hand in hand on the Downs

Today I took the kids to Ditchling Beacon, from where we strolled a mile or so east, as far as a pond that's so circular it's kind of scary. We were accompanied by Simon and three year-old Matilda, who bore up pretty well until ten minutes from the end of the walk, when she decided she'd had enough. Ah, the joys of parenthood...even other people's parenthood.

It's easy to take for granted the extraordinary view there is from the Beacon - I cycle past it regularly during the summer months and rarely pause to take it in properly, but when you're with small kids the pace is irresistibly slow, which is often deeply frustrating, but when you have such breath-taking scenery to take in it seems churlish to complain about anything.

Eventually we made it back to the car, which we then drove to the Jack & Jill pub in Clayton for beer and peanuts. Simple pleasures...