End of the Summer

The end of the Summer. One of my favourite times of the year. Time to hunt in your wardrobe for those hoodies that you adore and that save you from the sometimes bitter early morning chill and time to find your fingerless gloves for morning explores with the doggy. Every year, autumn comes and I find myself making preparations for the winter.

Today whilst walking Monty in the south fields, I spied a branch of Sloe Berries glowing a radiant dark blue amongst the green leaves and after hunting in my pockets found a cloth bag in which to stash some of the autumn fruits. After a half an hour of getting spiked by the thorns in the hedgerow, I had a full bag of the berries to show for my efforts and that is always a good feeling.

I plan to make Sloe Gin with the berries which is always a long process. I adore the fact however that after the Sloe Gin is made you can drink it and remember picking the berries (and caring for the cuts on your hands from the spiky bush, afterwards) and the drink tastes even better for having been made at home. Most of the Liqueur will probably be given away as Christmas presents but I probably have enough berries now for two bottles. Another couple of berry picking sessions and I shall have enough to get started!

Now all I have to do is find some small empty wine bottles with screw cap lids... I think its time for a trip to Sainsburys to sample some of their miniature wine bottles!

Long Time, No Winter

Greetings folks! I must apologise for the shamefull absence of blogging coming from my computer of late. there was no real reason for this other than lack of inspiration and a rather un-usefull habit of forgetting to take my camera anywhere. it has therefore been languishing and getting used to a life of long snoozes and occasional brief outings Since my last post was a good few months ago, I thought I would post a few photographs of the winter and spring, which came all too soon but which has brought happiness to many after a winter of "road grit rationing", and near record low temperatures. (yet again, I seem to be left longing for a return of winter which was glorious and once again did not last long enough.)

Fishing on a calm, very cold December morning

The morning after the first snow storm of the year. this snow stuck around for roughly a month

Lauren finds the first Snowdrops of the year (Feb 17th)

Snow still on the mountains. Fitz park, Keswick

Hill and Forest walks with Sue in Cumbria

My aim is to start blogging again a little more regularly. wish me luck in my endeavour!! the world is full of things just waiting to be discovered and with a little nudging from my sister Stephanie, I'm sure there will be more posts on their way some time.

My Sister and I go to LONDON!!! = D

Tower Bridge All 311 steps at the monument! (we were TIRED at the top!)

Me at the top of the monument

Pippa at the top of the monument. (st pauls cathedral over her shoulder)

The view down to the ground.

St Pauls Cathederal

The River Thames

Tower Bridge! = D

Pippa and I on Westminster Bridge

The houses of parliament and Big Ben

The blue man!!

(the Embankment is FULL of some AMAZING street performers!)

The London Eye and the Houses of parliament, taken from the golden jubilee bridge

Me in Trafalgar Square!

We went to see the queen! LMAO!(she wasnt in though hehe!)

Buckingham palace is amazing. very beautiful and I love watching the guards

St James's Park

St. James's Park with a view of Buckingham Palace

Dinosaurs in the Natural History Museum

Philippa and a Diplodocus

The Seashell.

This sculpture is one of my favourites.

Stuck on a beach on the suffolk coast, this piece of art can either be swamped by people coming from all around to see it, or it can be devoid of human life. These are the special days. Just you, the metal, the sea roaring a few feet away, the gulls calling down the beach and the elements that are blown into your face. Wind, rain hail; none of these detract from the beauty of the scene.

Many people are dissappointed that the seashell was put on this beach but on a quiet day, you can go and sit on a sheltered part of this sculpture and you will not care because the ocean is there and that is all that matters.

A long time gone.

As I sit down to write my blog post today, I feel a sense of coming home. I have not written in ages! My camera has not been idle by any means however. I have had many opportunities to excercise my artistic side which has made me very happy of late.

These pictures were taken in Aldeburgh, a little fishing town on the Suffolk coast which, despite the tourists and modern times, still feels like it is in a different era. There are fishing boats on the beach, surrounded by winch cables, old nets and plastic crates to load the catch into. On the waterfront are the old fish huts where the catch of the day is sold. I find that the fish you buy from here is always better than fish stalls on markets because you are getting it right from the source. over your shoulder you can smell the salt of the sea, the crash of the waves, and the vessels that brought the catch home are stood just over your shoulder. The fish is never more than a couple of hours old so it is that much more tasty when you get it home and cook it for your tea. It is perfect. The sign on one particular fishing hut in Aldeburgh is quite the most photogenic signs I have ever seen. It must have seen some weather in its time, that is for certain. Scratched and beaten up, It makes you think of those grey, windy, stormy days when even the gulls stay tucked up and anyone foolhardy enough to venture outside does so huddled against the chill and wishing they were back in their warm and cozy house .

There are always pictures to be taken beside the sea and that is maybe why I love it so much. it can be picturesque whatever its mood and I never care which sort of mood that might be.

Have fun everyone!

Morning Comes

I have been meaning to post this picture for a few days now and finally I have been motivated by my friend Kimberly to get my act together. This image was taken a few days ago when I got to bed at 2:30 in the morning. Dawn was already breaking in the East and there were the most fantastic clouds haunting the sky. These fascinating, vaporous ghosts hung in exactly the same place for two hours and I couldnt help but watch them from my window as I failed completely to sleep. They caught the light of the rising sun beautifully and I am sure that at one point I even saw a small rainbow grace their delicate waves.

Eventually they dissappeared and all within about five minutes. I looked away from the window momentarily to read some more of my book and when I next looked up, I was surprised at their absence and almost missed them. Somehow they had something close to personality. This picture does not do justice to what I remember of that morning. There was a magic in the air punctuated first by a lone herring gull waking up and flying overhead towards the town where it would forage for food, its quiet morning squawks waking the rest of bird-kind to start their morning chorus, and then Mr Fox running down the road to get home before the humans woke up to drive around in their noisy metal vehicles all day.

I did not stay up much longer after they left and I think I eventually got to sleep at 5am. Needless to say, I was tired when I woke up 3 hours later to start my day.

Mature Summer

As summer nears its mid point, I find that it has developed a sense of maturity. It is no longer in a furious hurry to appear hot and fiery as of a few weeks since. Outside today is a near constant slow rain, a cover of clouds and a cool breeze. I love these days as I am able to wear a hoodie to keep off chills but I am still able to walk in the garden bare foot.

My feet (after a few months without being cosseted in boots) are now hardened and can walk on almost anything so pebbles and twigs or rough pavement dont bother me anymore. If society would let me, I would probably walk bare foot everywhere but unfortunately, funny looks and broken glass prevent this. My Boots therefore, sit forgotten under my bed feeling jealous of the small shoes I wear out and about.

The Photographs here were taken today in my back garden. My dog Monty kept me company as I snapped away and enjoyed just watching me (quite obviously wondering why on earth I was "watching" the flowers and bushes so closely).

He loves it when I spend time with him outdoors and days like this with weather so perfect are wonderful for my camera. It seems my camera loves damp, green, moist weather. It brings out colours that are easily captured and enhanced (given the right settings of course).

Everyones idea of a perfect summer is different but I wish you all good weather and happy days wherever you are.

Home by sundown

Hey guys, I am trying to get back into my photography which has taken a back seat for a couple of weeks. I am now striving to remember my camera whenever I go out like I used to because I keep running into wonderful scenes that inspire my imagination and never have anymeans to capture them! Wish me luck with this endeavour In the mean time, here my pictures after a fabulous sunny day yesterday. this week has been hot and last night the weather broke. It cooled down and we were treated to not only a lovely sunset, but a moon rise AND a terriffic thunderstorm much later.

I guess Summer isnt all THAT bad : )

The longest day

The Longest day of the year is coming up very soon. I keep being amazed at how long the daylight hangs around now. The picture that I took last night at about 10:30 pm illustrates what beautiful things the evenings now are.

A bonus of the light evenings is that one can go outside when the day is cooler. The heat of the day is gone, but some of it remains stored in the paving stones of our patio. you stand on the warm stones, even though it is almost midnight you stand on the warm stones and look up at the numerous stars and the constellations that you were taught the names of when you were a kid. Summer might have its bonuses after all. For all my moaning, it is a beautiful time of the year and one should not discourage mother nature from having a fun time.

At this time of the year, The sun only just dips behind our horizon at night I think as there is always a corner of the sky that is paler than the rest and you can always see the silhouettes of the trees.

~ my desktop says we shall have "t-storms"... I hear distant booms, the breeze is appearing, the sky is dimming..... im keeping my fingers crossed. ~

Storms on the horizon

~our rope swing which hangs about 25 feet from the tree~

~Foxgloves~

Our Back garden is beautiful tonight. The sun, bright between storm clouds is shining through the leaves of our Ash tree creating a brilliant green glow, Perfect conditions for a spot of photography. We have the most amazing Foxgloves in our garden! Ever since I was a child Mom would grow millions of them and one of the first things I remember from when I was little was her telling me that I was NOT to touch them because they were poisonous. That (as you can imagine) scared me quite a bit so I never ever touched them (and I still dont!). There are just some things you never forget.

Today has been very warm. Not my favourite of weather types as you propably know but the one good thing? It has spawned SO MANY stormclouds! Everywhere you look tonight in every corner of the sky are clouds blossoming high in an attempt to "hit the roof" as it were. I am keeping my fingers crossed for some storms tonight as so far this year I have been unlucky.

I leave you with a stormcloud and a happy wish for a good FRIDAY tomorrow!!!

Field gates

Sometimes I find that the simplest things can be photogenic.

Today I was having trouble with my camera. Nothing looked good in its viewfinder. Eventually I gave up and went home but on my way back, I stopped at a field gate to watch a bunny grazing on some grass. I leaned upon the fence and sudenly realised that I was very close to a perfect picture!

Ivy is probably my favourite plant. (creepers in general really). The new shoots that curl their way through anything are so delicate but can force their way through most things. Our garden fence has rotted away completely now but since it is covered and interwoven with this tenacious weed, the fence has stayed upright for years after it should have fallen over!

As I eyed this young tendril of Ivy, I realised that to get to it, I would have to wade through a bank of stinging nettles. I considered this problem and then decided "what the hell." I therefore made my way into the deadly stinging nettles and obtained a photograph! the one thing that had been eluding me all afternoon!

Photograph obtained, I went home feeling much more satisfied with my afternoon!

(p.s. I didn't get stung once!)

First storm photos of the year!

I am thrilled today because we FINALLY got a storm!!!! not a proper one, Not much lightning and only distant rumbles of thunder but we got some spectacular clouds. I therefore grabbed Mr. Camera and RAN into the sheets of rain to get some pictures.

I ADORE thunderstorms and I was complaining just today that we hadnt had a good thunderstorm yet this year. Admittedly we still havent.... there was a definite LACK of significant electrical activity, but I got the excitement of watching the stormclouds roll over and curl in their own unpredictable patterns.

As I stood outside and got slowly drenched in the rain the thought occurred that the daylight was diminishing. I love when this happens. A faint tinge of brown/green came over the clouds and the birds who had been singing quite heartily in the trees suddenly grew very still. this darkness lasted untill the clouds had passed over and the rain had eased. The birds then continued in their evening songs and I decided that the chance of lightning and thunder has vanished. I therefore went back indoors to finish my supper... only to see a flash and hear from outide a boom of thunder.

Missed opportunities!!! Life is like that though I guess.

British Summer

Everyone seems to be cold today! Jumpers are being worn instead of T-shirts and when taking Monty for an evening walk with Steph today I was bombarded with the

"How are you not COLD!"

question from her. I was fine however. No cold can reach me!!! (theorhetically).

One of the wonderful things about Britain is its summers. Garunteed rain and chilly weather for a good period of time, Britain can be sometimes the best place to keep cool.

One worry is that with a roof now installed above the Wimbledon centre tennis court in time for this years competition, the rain might decide there is no point in falling!

For years, the wimbledon weekend has been hilarious because of so much rain, thus making tennis impossible. I hope it still rains. It will not be Wimbledon without rain.

I hope that wherever you are, whether you have sunshine, rain, heat or cold, you have a brilliant weekend.