New Years Eve Snack

Chalk And Cheese

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

He's Back

This little guy doesnt seem as puffed up here as on previous photos, looks like the frozen days arent delivering as much food as usual

Love Snow

But not too much because I ain't picked up my turkey yet. Don't fancy the prospect of a long country hike.

Fat Pudding

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.

Early Days

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

The King Is Dead!

Here we have the camera purchased today to replace the much loved Fuji. A panasonic FZ38, it has big shoes to fill, watch this space

Death Of An Icon

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

Trimmed Up

Just finished trimming up so now I can relax and put my feet up.

Message In A Bottle

 Watery Wednesday

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.

Weather Vane

Not the best quality shot but..... it's quirky.

Funghi Phil

Two For The Price Of One

My Favorite Christmas Card

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.

OK, Who Took A Bite!!?

Wet Fir (Watery Wednesday)

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 :-)

An Autumn Stash

Eat your heart out Vincent

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.

Subtle reflection of the house at Pleasington cemetery

Time And Tide Wait For No Man

                                                                                               

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 :-)

Sandsend Row Reflections

Dawlish Fairies

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.

Beautiful Autumn Colour Without A Sniff Of Fiery Red And Orange

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.

Is a walk out of the question?

Lobster pots (Weekend Reflection)

In search of the goodlife

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.

Sandsend and Whitby

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.