I Have really fond memories of summer 1994 when I did a summer job in Ipswich. (Yes, I’m talking about Ipswich in a blog entitled “Oslo.” Bear with me.) Now Suffolk isn’t a glamorous location necessarily but it was a good time for me and it was a great, hot summer. A few years ago I stopped back in the town on the way back from a wedding. I really wish I hadn’t. Maybe it was the grey and the rain or maybe the years had not been kind, but Ipswich just wasn’t what I remembered.

The difficulty with this weeks challenge, “Countryside,” was which picture to use? I’m not really patient enough to be a great landscape photographer but I’ve got lucky a few times, including this time in Ireland.

I’ve not posted an entry for the last week or two, so there’s no suggestion to vote for my entry this week!

This weeks PhotoFriday theme is “Clothing.”I had a few options for this one — including a few people dressed in outrageous clothes at the “Protest the Pope” rally in London — but in the end I went for this picture of drying clothes in Havana, Cuba.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks PhotoFriday challenge, “Geometric.” I’m entry number 142.

Having spent a little time in Jordan, Egypt and Moorish Spain, the word “Geometric,” this weeks PhotoFriday theme, says “Islamic architecture.” The above picture was taken in the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Grandeur.” I’m entry number 118.

There are no guarantees when travelling in the UK. Even in May the weather can be all over the place, beautiful, bright and sunny one minute, drab, grey and miserable the next.

There are no guarantees when travelling with a five month old baby. They can be bright and cheery and laughing one minute and crying and screaming the next.

Both of these things made my trip to the Lake District rather different to most of the travel I’ve ever done. Except when I travel with a tour group, I normally have a pretty relaxed schedule. That was more-or-less mandated this time!

I’ve just been away for a week walking in the Lake District, so “Walk” should be the ideal PhotoFriday theme for me. Unfortunately I forgot my USB cable and can’t download my photographs. Instead, this is a picture from a walking holiday a couple of years ago in the south of Spain.

Please also vote for my picture in last weeks challenge, “Detailed.” I’m entry number 101.

I don’t “get” many of the current entries to this weeks PhotoFriday challenge, “Downward,” so I thought I’d go for a very simple, very obvious interpretation of the theme. This is a view from the Eiffel Tower, looking downwards at the road below.

Please also vote for my entry in last weeks challenge, “Portraiture.” I’m entry number 147.

I’m not sure whether a “Crimson” sunset is too obvious an interpretation of the theme, but I couldn’t find a better image so you’re stuck with this one(!).

It was taken in Malta, just outside where I was staying in St Julians. The picture was taken on… gasp… actual film.

“Rain” is a good PhotoFriday theme for someone, like myself, who lives in the UK. I could have taken a picture on pretty much any day, but this way taken in August last year. Um, actually, in Ireland rather than at home…

There’s no need to panic and rush to vote for my entry in last weeks challenge since I didn’t enter.

• http://yfrog.com/nxqygvp – Thanks Xcode, very helpful. http://t.co/sYay95eo
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLfghLQE3F4 – Re. the privatisation of the Police… Fry and Laurie got there first in the eighties… http://t.co/VmYwnb20
• http://m.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/hitchens-201201 – @pdparticle Not necessarily. http://t.co/wnaNlFaj
• http://www.macworld.com/article/165587/2012/02/yahoo_facebook_in_intellectual_property_dispute.html#lsrc.rss_main – I guess this means that Yahoo! are officially on their way out. If you can’t compete, sue over vague IP rights. http://t.co/jCcILiUS
• http://instagr.am/p/HtVldeyQoU/ – Donkeys of Greece calendar: March 2012 http://t.co/UQe7wGzO
• http://bit.ly/ycpIfz – Unite Leader calls for competency on ‘a day of actual action’ http://t.co/OdrDQDjL
• http://geekpanic.com/post/18376086580/the-2-0-paradox – Interesting post on “The 2.0-paradox.” Thinking through this exact problem now. http://t.co/cqLqd2Ni
• http://pinboard.in/talks/biz.pdf – Interesting talk by the founder of @Pinboard. http://t.co/UwAHIHP6 [PDF]
• http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Scoopertino/~3/ntGLHzoJc6U/ – Apple takes the wraps off OS X Cowardly Lion http://t.co/9wM2DYVt
• http://j.mp/wW9h2u – “Apple’s share value hit an unprecedented $500bn… this morning, making the company worth more than Poland.” http://t.co/lkNP7zFY
• Cycling from the Czech Republic to Germany – I’ve updated all the images on my Prague to Meißen cycling trip blog. I’m better with Aperture than I used to be… It was a good trip; can’t believe it was in 2008!
• Rant: I Love Photography – Well said. Plus some great pictures!