March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Movement” — The Caped Crusader joins the challenge. Our current weather forecast predicts snow. The dark banks of clouds have that worrying tinge of blue that means an umbrella won’t be enough. However, yesterday brought a welcome burst of sunshine. It wasn’t warm, but it was bright and had the Caped Crusader acting half her age. Although usually…

March Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Movement” — After exercising, don’t forget to stretch. Stretching has all manner of benefits both physical and mental. It can increase flexibility and reduce stress. The time to stretch is after exercise, not before. Guidance has changed on this as we’ve learned more about the body. The advice these days is not to stretch before exercise. It used…

February Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Love & Hearts” — More does not always mean better. I don’t know if it was Valentine’s Day that sparked the request, but the 5-year-old drew a small heart on my whiteboard and asked me to draw a large one next to it. …

February Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Love & Hearts” — Abundance of flowers lift the mood. Our local garden centre has prepared for Valentine’s Day with a dazzling collection of flowers that greets customers as they enter. …

January Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Hometown Pride” — Best place names in the world. The UK is known for the strange names of its streets, villages, and towns. Many come from times when places were known for the activities carried out there. These days, there is general acceptance that some activities are better not telegraphed with written signs. Grape Lane, for example, is a…

Remembering Sunny Days: “December Freestyle” — No more sun for the dinos. The photo was taken earlier in the year before the entire flock received a custodial sentence. Initially, they were required to be “housed” because avian flu was raging across the country. They were essentially in open prison which kept them out of contact with gulls who seem to be the…

A Fancy Phenomenon: “December Freestyle” — Fancy pigeons gossip on the rooftop. A neighbour keeps fancy pigeons. We chance on them all around the area, bathing in rain puddles, blocking the road as they take advantage of a grain spillage, or swooping overhead before returning to their loft to settle for the night. On this occasion, I came across them gossiping on…

November Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collecting Smiles” — Environmental sustainability and social justice — now! I recently paid a visit to a university where I used to work. Some things had changed; some hadn’t. The roads through the campus were partly blocked for maintenance work (no change there). Whoever placed the diversion signs had been called urgently away mid-task, leaving the signs and the people…

November Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collecting Smiles” — They will be dry by February. The photo doesn’t do justice to the dampness of the day. Although it wasn’t raining, moisture hung in the air, and there wasn’t a breath of wind. Hanging out the washing was pointless, but it made a change from gathering apples. …

Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle — Horse’s head? What do you think? Walks at this time of year are a game of How-Wet-Can-We-Get, with whole minutes sometimes standing under makeshift cover while a storm blows over. A benefit to being out in the thick of it is seeing these rain puddle reflection images form. When a sudden downpour catches me, I run…

November Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collecting Smiles” — Would she really eat this toadstool? Would she? I admit it looks tempting and fresh, but it’s probably deadly poison — I have no idea. I’m not a mushroom/toadstool gatherer these days. But she’s a Labrador and it certainly looks tempting. In all our adventures over the years, the Caped Crusader and I have encountered many…

October Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collections” — Bedraggled collection queues for boiled rice. The weather has been dismal — wet and windy — but a dino collection can be relied upon the gather at the sight of a treats bowl no matter what forces nature brings to bear. They can be warm and dry if they want. They have an indoors with comfortable…

October Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collections” — Egg doubled-wrapped in a crinkly bag. We don’t get many eggs like this, perhaps one every couple of months. It’s not in a crinkly bag, of course, it’s in a robust crinkly shell, and it’s a whopper. There are many reasons for misshapen eggs. It can happen with immature hens, but we don’t have that problem…

October Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Collections” — Unstoppable rivers, no matter how small. Walking along the beach as the tide goes out is an adventure. The sea always leaves something new. It’s not necessarily dramatic — the new pebbles often look pretty much like the old ones — but it’s unpredictable. …

Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle — Imagine if flowers could wake up. They can! The flowers in the picture have only just woken up. If I look closely, I can see one yawning and another stretching. The box was long and thin and had a notice on it: Shhh — your flowers are sleeping. They were too. Flower heads encased in little…

September Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Comfort” — It’s pome harvest time of year. There is comfort in bringing in a good harvest of pome fruits, knowing that we’ll have fresh apples through winter, and pears too, though they won’t last as long. Pome fruit get their name from pomum, the Latin for apple. …

September Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Comfort” — Still clear water with only birdsong. Water has many faces — turbulent, noisy, dangerous (a crashing waterfall, a storm at sea); quiet, peaceful, and comforting (a still lake, a warm bath). The photo shows an unexpected sanctuary tucked away down an unassuming track. There's a sign, but it’s small and doesn’t invite scrutiny — and it…

Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle — Ha ha. Just our little joke. This is the Caped Crusader. She’s posing by the sign to make herself look tough. In reality, she’s the least aggressive dog I’ve ever known. Most non-aggressive dogs of my acquaintance will have their moments — defending their owners against attack, or their food bowls against intruders. Not so, the…

Six Word Photo Story Challenge: Freestyle — How many puffins make a trail? We unexpectedly met a puffin while wandering along a local town's seafront. It wasn’t labeled, so we weren’t sure why it was there. Investigations revealed it to be part of the Puffins Galore project. And the answer to how many make a trail is 42, which sounds Douglas Adams-ish. …

Summer Six Word Photo Story Challenge: “Shine!” — “No chance. Your ally’s on holiday.” The Caped Crusader loves raw eggs and is always on hand to clean up accidental spillages. I have been glad of her services over the years. Our egg store is in an awkward corner. If I slip when reaching in, any eggs that escape my grasp fall into an all-but-inaccessible…