Who would have thought Dorset such a hot bed of scandal?

Some good news for fans of The Beast, I’m not sure if it was the damn good talking to I gave him, based around the whole “Taking part is just as good if not better than winning” (Who believes that rubbish?) or it might have been after a couple of days of reading through the manual that I found out how to reset him. Whatever - The Beast is back and taking great (well, in my biased opinion) pictures. On a similar subject I am rather glad that I had used a clear filter on all my lenses, as the filter on the 70-200mm lens somehow shattered. I hate to think how sick I would have been feeling if that had been the glass of my lens……

This weeks photo competition, over at “In a yellow house” is Water. I was foxed for a second, especially as the publicity shot she used is so awesome and so I thought of not entering this week. Then I remembered some shots I took last year, when we went white water rafting. The Beast had been locked in the car while we were rafting – sometimes I fear he might have rabies as he does not react well when he is around water – but afterwards he was so pleased to be out and off the leash he was up for anything.

The power of man v power of nature -

There was only ever going to be one winner

Well done that Beast...

Cycling in Dorset
It seemed like a good idea at the time when we loaded the bikes onto ElleGee but our suspicions were realised when, on our return from our first bike trip, Mrs B read out the description of the journey we had just undertaken which involved words such as: strenuous; highest point; rolling hills; steep inclines. It didn’t mention Olympic training, altitude or even sickness but it can’t have been far below the surface of the article or at the very least between the lines. We should have guessed when ElleGee struggled on the journey to the cottage that we were staying at, often having to drop into second and on one occasion first gear but your mind has a way of blocking these things out (It took ages to get the bikes loaded so I was determined to make use of them). I’m sure some of the views must have been stunning; it’s just we were both so knackered that once we reached the top of what had seemed like a never-ending climb all we could manage to do was roll down the other side. I would like to say we bravely let the bikes run but it was all we could do to keep the brakes on and even then we were still topping 30 mph. 26 miles of this were more than enough for one holiday and so the bikes were put out to pasture for the rest of the week and we let ElleGee take the strain - when it came to using wheels at least.

The Bikes going for a ride on ElleGee....

Now why didn't we think of that earlier? 

Oh no, more dodgy content
After last week’s Bee porn ordeal I had hoped that we would be able to run a relatively clean BlackLOG this week but alas, it is not to be. Among the many magnificent sights that Dorset has to offer we came across some rather seedy ones. The first being what appeared to be a glamour shoot for octogenarians*. Fortunately they were so craggy that when they did strip off they blended into the surrounding rock faces and so we were spared from the worst of it. There were a few disturbing grey tufts that suddenly appeared along the cliff face but I managed to switch my mind off to what they really were and substituted seagull nests instead….

* Please note for modesty’s sake I am steering well clear of using the term Sexagenarians. Sorry, despite recent experiences, it’s just not that sort of blog…..

For those of you with exceptional

observational skills you might be

able to pick out some odd looking

grey nests and some crinkly bottoms.

Then there was the Cerne Abbas Giant

Cerne Abbas is a beautiful little village which just happens to be over looked by a chalk picture of a naked man with a very large appendage.  I guess because it is historic, over 1500 years old, it somehow becomes acceptable. I just wonder what the Puritans and latterly the Victorians made of it. Face it, anyone who took the trouble to cover table and piano legs, because of how immodest they found legs in general must have been beside themselves with shock at seeing that plastered all over a hillside. There are stories that the Victorians allowed the undergrowth to cover the offending item. Now that would have been a bush to witness…..

Look away now if you suffer from

excessive Victorian sensibilities…..

 

We were going to buy the clock but the

appendage was clearly second hand....

Sorry could not resist that one, it was much

funnier when I said it in the shop....

More TV fun
The TV at the cottage that we had booked in Dorset was not huge but was a darn site better than last weeks dolls house effort in Deal. So what if it was an old fashioned type…?. Only when I turned it on the colour was blown……I phoned up the emergency contact number (Come on, this was in the middle of the World Cup! What more of an emergency could there be?) The owner promised to come over the next day to see if he could fix it….. Now, how good is this? He brought over his own large flat screen TV from home and some fresh grown strawberries to sweeten the deal. I felt a bit guilty until he assured me he was going away so didn’t need it. It’s just a shame the England performance against Algeria didn’t live up to such a generous gesture. If I thought it would have helped I would have called up the emergency line again to see if he could fix England for me but our short term landlord had gone away…..How selfish is that?

Other highlights of the week were the fake Tutankhamun and history of mummification museum. I’m not entirely sure what that had to do with Dorset but it was fascinating all the same and has fired up our desire to go back to Egypt and take The Beast with us.

Photo finish
So the new section I launched last week has made it to a second publication, any more of this and there is a danger that it might become a permanent fixture. To end with in the traditional way, some pictures taken on our trip to Dorset....Hope to catch you all next week...

Scottie dog guarding the deck chairs - I love this little fellow

"It's a beautiful bay..."

Apologies to U2 & the Levellers for 95% plagiarism of

their song titles. I  Emailed both groups and asked if they

would mind doing a rework of their songs for this weeks

BlackLOG but I figure they must be busy since neither

group has got back to me.  So I'm sorry to say I have had

 to use the original versions for this weeks Blog....

Seagulls having a Water Cooler moment,  only they

don't talk about last nights must see TV, they talk

about direct hits and near misses.... 

If you have ever had a flyby splat attack, as you strolled

along the promenade you know what I'm talking about...

Mrs B sure looks like a happy bunny....

Is it just me but does this sum up a beach holiday in

 the UK? All a bit sad and in decline but you can't

beat it on a warm sunny day....

Lulworth Cove, this is what I thought of the  

stupid sign not to take any pictures....

I'm sure they will get over it....

More stunning views across Dorset - this

time without the grass & chalk porn....