Halloween Theme 2019 ~ Pop Funko #13

I could not think of a better way to complete this year's Halloween Pop Funko theme than by photographing the infamous Michael Myer's from John Carpenter's classic horror film - Halloween:

All they took was some Halloween masks, a rope and a couple of knives.
Who do you think it was?"

"He came home!"

Halloween Theme 2019 ~ Pop Funko #12

"Here's Johnny!"

"Wendy, I'm home!"

Berserk! Chapter 7. Final Draft.

Halloween Theme 2019 ~ Pop Funko #11

My blood-spatter version of Ash , from The Evil Dead:

"What’s out there knows that you’re alive, and it wants you to be… un-alive."

Halloween Theme 2019 ~ Pop Funko #10

Continuing from my last photograph in this year's Halloween photography series, here is another character from one of my favourite films - Pan't Labyrinth. This time it's the turn of The Pale Man!

Berserk! Continuing Work on Chapter 6. Final Draft.

Battersea!

A quick pic of the old Battersea Power Station building as it is being transformed into apartments. Captured on-the-fly as we drove past on our way home from our holiday weekend in London:

Berserk! Starting Chapter Six. Final Draft.

The Thames ~ Old and New

I had a bit of a wander along the edge of the Thames this afternoon and happened upon these lovely wooden structures erupting from the shingle and mud. I particularly liked the contract of this decaying old building with the modern high-rise blocks on the other side of the river at Canary Wharf:

Berserk! Completing Chapter 5. Final Draft.

Field Recording - London Underground

Stick a good pair of headphones on, close your eyes, and immerse yourself in the chatter and ambient sounds of the London Underground:

Berserk! Final Draft. Continuing Work on Chapter 5.

Berserk! Draft 3. Chapter 5.

Commencing work on the the final draft of Chapter Five...

Off on a weekend break...

Leaving rainy old Wales for the weekend. And as we cross the Severn Bridge, lo and behold, out comes the sunshine :)

Halloween 2019 Theme ~ Pop Funko #9

Finally found a spare ten minutes to take another photograph for my Halloween 2019 Pop Funko series. Tonight featuring the magickal faun from the Del Toro's classic Pan's Labyrinth:

Gower ~ Fading Light #13

Passing through Penclawdd after visiting my brother on his birthday, I stopped of at a couple of the village car parks, which are located along the edge of marsh there, to take some photographs of the setting sun. I think they might well be good candidates for my upcoming Gower ~ Fading Light photobook :)

The Sounds of Hakin

I really really enjoyed my weekend holiday in the old fisherman's cottage in Hakin and have harvested some truly lovely memories from the few days I spent there. Perhaps my most haunting memory of the location though was the sounds of the sea, the coastal bird-life and the distant mechanical hum of Milford Haven port that permeated the house and which I was lucky enough to record for posterity here :)  As usual, this was recorded in stereo on my Tascam DR40 field recorder and is best listened to with a good pair of headphones :)

Berserk! Chapter Four. Draft 3.

Woke early to make the most of my last few hours in our weekend holiday retreat and used the time to start the third draft of Chapter 4 of Berserk!

Berserk! Chapter 3. Draft 3 Completed.

Writing as my son plays his Nintendo Switch

Completed the third draft of Chapter 3 of Berserk!

During my stay at our weekend retreat at Hakin (you can book the cottage for yourself here if you fancy it yourself), I was particularly fond of sitting on the large windowsill looking out over the northern aspect of the sea. Writing in this spot was a difficult endeavour however, given the dramatic view that demanded my attention of the opposite side of the window pane:

Having a Quiet and Creative Afternoon

Returning to our our coastal cottage after exploring Hakin Cove, my wife and I settled down to a quiet and creative afternoon attending our various individual projects.

Beachcombing at Hakin

I have been truly spoiled on our weekend retreat :) Taking stroll along the cove below our weekend holiday cottage (pictured below), I was delighted to discover the place was a beachcomber's dream!

Yours truly beach-combing in Hakin

Hakin Cove - a beach-comber's dream

The first thing I discovered amongst the pebbles there was this odd thing - a Portuguese Man o'war!

A Portuguese Man o' war

Close-up of the Portuguese Man o' war

My next find was just as rare - a huge chunk of black Sea-glass!

A large chunk of black sea-glass

And the rarities did not stop there! Check out this beautiful piece of yellow sea-glass I happened upon there too!

Rare yellow sea-glass found at Hakin Cove

Close-up of my yellow sea-glass discovery

As you can see from the above two pictures, I found enough sea-glass on Hakin Cove to more than fill every pocket of my coat and trousers and had to make several trips to the beach in order to collect more of the treasure.

Amber sea-glass

Amber sea-glass

Over my ten years of so of collecting sea-glass, there were two scarce items that I really wanted to find whilst beach-combing. I discovered the first of those last year whilst scouring Ogmore beach - a glass bottle stopper. And on Hakin cove I finally found the second of my coveted grail items. In fact, I kind of found two of them:

I found this one first - a glass marble, which would have originally been found within a vintage cod-neck drink's bottle.

And just a few metres away from this lovely find, I stumbled across this beautifully frosted gaming sea-marble. Just look at the weathering on this gorgeous item - the marble would have needed to have been tumbled in the sea for a good few decades to get that degree of frosting:

A gorgeously frosted sea marble 

My two sea marble finds from Hakin Cove

I found two other unusual items whilst searching the cove, which are worth mentioning here. First, there is this bottle top, which is made from Vulcanite - a material (or process) I had never even heard of before researching my find. This top is around 90 years old and was the stopper for a vinegar bottle produced by the company T. E. Hughes:

And lastly, there was this odd little find:

An odd little find along the shore-line of Hakin Cove

After much research, I discovered this to be a Canister Ball, a.k.a. a Case Shot Ball. A number of these items would have been packed into a metal cylinder and fired from a canon during 18th and 19th Century warfare. When fired, the soft metal container would disintegrate, leaving the shrapnel balls inside to spread out at high velocity in a conical formation towards their target. These weapons caused a great deal of widespread damage to the enemy and were particularly effective during the Napoleonic War and the American Civil  War. A somewhat grisly yet somewhat fascinating find, eh?

Hakin Cove turned out to be the best beach-combing beach I have ever explored. Despite being a rather diminutive cove, I gathered more sea-glass and other interesting artefacts during my short time there than every other beach I have visited combined over the last ten or so years. If you a beachcomber and happen to be visiting West Wales, then do yourself a favour and pay this place a visit. One word of warning though, check the tide times as the cove disappears completely at high tide!

Early Morning Writing

An early morning writing session on the balcony of my weekend holiday retreat, overlooking River Cleddau, Hakin:  

Hakin Cove, Looking Towards Milford Haven Port

The Incoming tide at Hakin Cove, Looking Towards Milford Haven Port

A Weekend Retreat