Review of the year #Project366

I took part in #Project366 in 2012 and this is a flashback review of own personal favourites.

January- Trip to London and my favourite shot where the cranes and the Shard are rising into the air.
February-One of the many spiders in our garden.
March-Camilia after the rain.
April- Ashley ready for bed.
May-Monmouthshire-Brecon Canal, a lovely walk.
June-One of favourite spots in Cardiff. Memories of my childhood.
July-My favourite macro shot. Raindrops on the conifer.
August– Oldest son and his son.
September-My boys before the youngest went to Australia (news today that he’s now engaged to his Australia GF!)
October- Ashley – cheeky monkey.
November– Molly the cat!
December-Last shot of the year!

Linking up to The Boy and Me – Flashback of 2012

Check out my other Project 366 pictures so far.

If you’d like to read more about the project please click on the 366 badge.

137/366 Along the Canal – Journey 2

May16

Today we drove to Cwmbran to link up with the Monmouthshire – Brecon Canal for another walk. We joined it at Five Locks and walked back towards Cwmbran town centre.

This stretch is mainly the Five Locks that would have taken the barges from Cwmbran up the hill towards Pontypool.

First up – some floating leaves -These are yellow lillies.

Next is a duck that was perched on an old branch.

Quite a deep part here!!

The one above is my picture of the day. 137/366

Check out my other Project 366 pictures so far.

104/366 Along the canal – part 2

Apr13

Today hubby asked if I would like to walk along the canal that he rode along yesterday. He was keen that I took my camera as he thought there were some good photo opportunities. It’s been quite a bright day and reasonably warm so I agreed to go for the walk – I could do with the exercise!

We started where he ended his bike ride yesterday – (read more about that here). The canal is part of the Monmouthshire / Brecon canal and stretches from Rogerstone to where we joined it at Malpas and on to Cwmbran, Pontypool and Brecon.

We parked the car and with him and camera in tow we headed from Bettws Lane towards Cwmbran. This stretch is no longer used for boating and is very pretty – although it is spoilt somewhat by litter – there are lots of ducks with chicks in tow, moorhens and swans. The towpath is used by cyclists, joggers and walkers. There is one patch that we passed that had lots of red duckweed over the surface. The ducks swimming along seemed to be leaving vapour trails. There was also a female duck trying to rustle up her chicks – it made me giggle watching them.

There are of course lots of bridges over the canal and each one has an over and an under path. The under path was for the horses that pulled the barges and the over path for people. The locks along the canal are very deep and you wouldn’t want your kiddies to be running too far ahead or walking too close to the edge.

Just past the bridge above there was a great opportunity to snap some reflections. This one is my favourite and will be my #project366 photo for today.

We walked for about an hour and reached a road that passed over the canal. We decided that we would turn around at this point.

The walk bought back happy memories of my childhood. Most school holidays were spent walking along this stretch and also in the opposite direction to Rogerstone. I’m sure my mum and Nan used to worry about us as we were probably gone for hours, often taking sandwiches and a bottle of pop with us. We were oblivious of course as most kids are!

I hope it’s made you think of your childhood too.

Check out my other Project 366 pictures so far.

If you’d like to read more about the project please click on the badge below.

103/366 Along the canal – Part 1

Apr13

Yesterday I dropped my hubby and his bike off at a joining point at the local canal. He was to ride along the canal bank whilst I did the weekly shop. We agreed to meet up near where I grew up.

We moved to my childhood home when I was 5 and I lived there until I got married at 21. I have very fond memories of the canal. Part of it called the Brook runs through the estate and I remember spending many hours walking along the canal path and we quite often walked in it with my siblings and friends. The waterway was very clean and free-flowing. Some parts had sloping walls built to stop surrounding earth falling in.

While I waited for hubby I had a short walk to go to see what the Brook looks like today. Well I can tell you that 40 odd years have certainly taken its toll. All the trees and grasses have grown over the lovely waterway. It’s contaminated with rubbish, plastic bottles, cans and even household items. Although you can still walk along it, I felt very sad that it has not had the upkeep it so rightly deserves.

I’m posting 2 pictures today – one showing the overgrown trees and one of a poor duck that has to swim about in all this c***.