These two uncomfortable bedfellows share our home. Harry the lab was planned and is now an old fellow at 10 years. 'Mofo' the cat came to us as a stray who decided he would move in. Harry hates cats and so Mofo has his own bedroom with a country view and never the 2 shall meet, Mofo gets the best of both worlds, a great area to live and a safe bed when he needs it
This frequent portly visitor to our garden doesn't seems to mind having his picture taken, although the porridge oats help a lot. Phil took these shots this morning, his first ever go at using our new Lumix camera.
These are the very first point/zoom and click pictures taken with the FZ38 camera, already I'm pleased with the results as try as I might I was never able to capture our cheeky robins's antic's in the back garden. The 18x zoom lens helps alot I guess.
These photo's were taken from the back bedroom window
Today we mourn the sad demise of this Fuji camera. It was bought 8 years ago and has taken some fantastic photos over the years. I was unfortunate enough to drop it this morning, snapping the lens off
About five months ago whilst walking our dog on the beach at Southport, Merseyside we spotted a lonely coke bottle sat in the sand which was stuffed with what looked like paper. On closer examination it turned out to be a true message in a bottle. The note had been written by a young Irish couple and had been tossed over the side of the Rosslare to Fishguard ferry.
Seeing Crafty green poet's Christmas cards got me thinking that although I get many cards each year I don't ever recall receiving a handmade card from anyone. Ahhhh shame I hear you say;-) My mum on the other hand has received many from her friends and each Christmas gets them back out again with a big appreciative smile on her face. Handmade cards give you the feel good factor don't they. I once made a cross stitch card for the Morgan family up in Guisborough, it was a labour of love and took me ages to finish. It nearly didn't get sent as I'd grown quite attached to it in the end. However to cut a long story short here's my favourite Christmas card which was sent to me by my mum about three years ago, I've told her not to send me anymore because its nice enough to just dust off and enjoy all over again. As you can see I'm a bit of an old magpie when it comes to all things glittery and shiny.
Inspired by T Bruce's Rose.
Usually wet fur means Harry the Lab has been out walking or swimming but not on this occasion. Apologies if this turns out to be a pine or spruce tree :-)
Okay so they ain't sunflowers, but pretty as a picture nonetheless.These little rays of sunshine really woke me up on a wet chilly morning stroll through Pleasington cemetery's nature reserve garden.
The most frequent dreams I have tend to involve water, particularly heavy seas and tsunami experiences. On several different occasions I have dreamed of a beach location, the image of this place is etched in my mind. Id like to think the beach existed and is out there waiting for me to find it one day. Now I know what your thinking, really its not Sandsend :-)
These two lovely fairy pictures were bought during a family trip to Dawlish over twenty five years ago. Having decided to post them on my blog I sparked a long discussion between my Mum and brother Mick as to how old we were when we actually bought them. I think it was Michael who first got me interested in mythology and fantasy books. Not surprisingly, The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien comes top of my all time favorite reads.
The flower that's climbing round the drain pipe and the daisy were snaps from the Raithwaite estate in Sandsend. The lovely white and yellow climber could be Solanum jasminoides 'Album' but i'm no expert on these matters.The evergreen Viburnum is planted just outside my front door and was a propagation success from my dad who seems to have the knack when it comes to getting new plants for free. The large showy mophead Hydrangea was spotted whilst taking a stroll through the local cemetery, I've not seen many of the white flowered variety in the surrounding area, mostly the colours tend to be blue, red, pink and purple. I think I've read somewhere that the colour depends on the PH of the soil.
Today I tried my hand at making nut taffy, the recipe comes from Jan Orchard's "The Hedgerow Harvest". Although a quick and easy recipe I managed to overboil the syrup leaving the toffee with a slightly burnt though not unpleasant aftertaste. I think the colour of the toffee would have looked more golden had I done the job properly. To be more thrifty I wanted to forage the hazel nuts but learnt too late that the optimal period for picking was around September14th. Consequently the early squirrel had beat me to the hazel nuts so mine were shop bought which made the cost more expensive than I would have liked. Not to be put off I'm going to try another of Jan's recipes from natures storehouse, fingers crossed the elderberry wine will be a success come christmas time. Watch this space.
Here we have a distant shot of Whitby Abbey from Sandsend. It took 199 steps to view the abbey up close in the mist. Master Mariner William Mead's gravestone is only one of a few legible gravestones as many have been eroded by weather and time.
A Funeral in Worsley
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I've not been posting much recently as my Dad died, and we were down in
Manchester for his funeral. It was a nice funeral and very well attended.
It was ...
Skywatch Friday - 18 April 2024 Edition
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[image: IMG_0427] Sunrise in April, twelve years ago. I have no rembrance
of what I was doing up so early. It is totally unlike me.
You are invited to the...
Where happiness is lurking
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It's my birthday today, I'm 76. 🙂 I love being my age. Every stage of
life brings new joys and challenges and now is no different. I know some
people ...
Summer Speed
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Hello! Just popping in very quickly in amongst wrapping a big parcel,
making a packed lunch, sorting laundry, dashing out to the shops, and
packing for a f...
Drowning in cucumbers
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Still here! Everything is growing so fast these past few weeks. Long hot
days have seen a lot of activity inside and outside the greenhouse.
I found a P...
Working hard on the cottage
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Slave Sis has been staying for about ten days now. All of the major work
has been completed – it’s just the tweakings. However these have thrown up
probl...
Coastal Pandanus
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Pandanus Tectorius aka Screw Pine, an iconic sub-tropical evergreen tree,
native to Australia and found growing abundantly along the coastline of
Queensl...
2018 My Year with Cancer
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First of all, apologies to anyone who commented on the last post I did and
didn't get a reply. For some reason all the comments got lost.
This is the firs...
Scale by Jason Freeman
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Scale by Jason Freeman
[image: Scale by Jason Freeman]
Friday, 24th February 2017
PhotoCompetitions.com Find photo contests to enter sorted by deadline and ...
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What Brings Us Home.... So many times we stray from the path that we are
traveling. Sometimes what distracts us is something that can bring
insight, clari...
The Trouble With Goats and Sheep
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Some folk say that we spend a lot of our adult lives trying to recapture
the moments in our childhood when we were truly happy, before all the
baggage an...
DNA testing Foreign Dogs
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Over the past few years there have been an increasing number of street
dogs being brought to the UK for rehoming. Just in the past year I have
noticed a...
Wheel of the Year // Samhain Blessings
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Brightest blessings for a wonderful Samhain one and all. B and I are
currently in New York so it's tricky to celebrate right now but we'll make
sure we hav...
no blogger for now
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I have had this blog since December 2007. Now Blogger has decided I have
used all of my available space and is not allowing me to post photos. Oh,
sure I c...
Watery Wednesday #176
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Hi guys! I'm sooo sorry I'm late. I've been so busy I don't even know what
day of the week it is. I've got an interesting shot for you this week. I'm
still...
Please follow the link to Weekend Reflections
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I've changed Weekend Reflections web address since I no longer live in
Newtown.
Click HERE to go to Weekend Reflections.
Also please remember to update you...
Merlin...
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Hello everyone, are you all enjoying that small glow of sunshine peeping
through the mist?
(Well that's what it's like here anyway...)
The beautiful pictu...
Walk Around Wortley
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I've still not had chance to have a proper go with my new lens, a 3 hour
walk around Wortley and a big heavy lens don't mix too well. I took the
70-300mm l...