Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone who visits me in this space and I hope that 2010 brings good health and happy times ahead.


This photograph was taken a year ago on New Year's Day 2009. I like the way the path is visible for a short distance and after that we can't see what direction it takes. It seems particularly suitable for a new year photograph, we can see just a little way ahead and we think we know the direction we are heading but we can't see into the future.


I used to think New Year's Eve was all about resolutions and making plans for the new year but this evening I find myself thinking back over the last year, grateful that it was such a good year for me and my family. Lets hope that 2010 is a good year too.

Happy Christmas

A photograph of some holly for Christmas although this was taken before the recent cold weather.  The birds have stripped the berries from the hedges over the past few days. This morning as well as the usual blackbirds I saw two Redwings in the garden. They are not very regular garden visitors here and many years we don't see them at all although they are probably in the surrounding woods.


The snow is melting very rapidly now as the temperatures have started to rise.  I think there will still be some snow for Christmas Day but not that much, more of a sludgy muddy Christmas rather than a white one!


Happy Christmas to everyone. 

More snow

More snow turning the woods round us into a fairy tale scene.  The silver birch trees were bent to the ground with the weight of the snow.

Traffic and road conditions were dreadful last night but today things were improving although the roads were very quiet. The road surface was very slippery, snow on top of ice, and we saw many vehicles sliding sideways.

I am lucky that I have had no need to drive anywhere and my car is on the drive covered with six inches of snow while I venture out on foot. The snow is inconvenient, my husband is staying near to work for the second night to avoid travelling and I have a rather grumpy teenager who isn't able to see his friends, but I do like to photograph it.

Shortest Day

Today is the shortest day in the northern hemisphere and is traditionally thought of as the first day of winter. These two photographs were taken yesterday afternoon when the sun was low in the sky shining through the trees.

Today though we didn't see the sun at all and it has been snowing again. This was how my garden looked this afternoon - appropriate for the first day of winter.

Luckily I haven't had to leave the house this afternoon but I hear that the winter weather has caused a lot of disruption to travel in the area, I hope everybody stays safe in the snow.

Snow

Very beautiful today, soft and fluffy, sparkling in the sunshine.

The chickens were not so happy though.  They wouldn't walk on the snow at all and even on the path where the snow had melted, they minimised the chance of touching it by standing on one leg!

The snow was fun today when I didn't have far to go although it was slippery driving to work and there wasn't much evidence of gritting but tomorrow I want to collect my son from university. So, no more snow please, at least not until I've got him safely home.