Confused

When walking about one can be forgiven for thinking it is March as the daffodils are out, however, these little crocuses are more in keeping with the flowers that should be out at this time of year, although I think that even they may be a little early!



















Worse than that is the plum blossom, it seems to be coming out in full blossom beauty, who can blame it under such a fabulous blue sky? 
The problem is should there be any other frosts this year, ( and that is highly likely as we are only in January) then the possible new fruits will die; I am assuming that as it is so mild that the bees will also be out looking for food and this blossom with provide just what they are hankering after.

It is all very confusing for plants, insects and me.

The snowdrops are out in profusion, I think they are about right for the time of year.

Changing Coastline

We all know how the sea, with the relentless waves is able to change the coastline.
Here is dramatic footage from a drone showing how some homes are now just a little too close to the beach. What a shame, they did have a fabulous view.

Slipping cliffs

Whereas further along this mighty coast are these far more substantial cliffs, yet, even these have been slowly worn into over the millennia. 

Could You Guess

Would you be able to guess where this is?

I think it rather looks like a movie set!
There are so many odd angles.

However, it is not. 

It Takes A Village

The saying goes 'that it takes a village to bring up (raise) a child'.

This story proves that point.
If you have time read it all, if you are short on time read the 4th and last paragraphs.

It takes a village

Rainbow of Vegetables

Today we had a rainbow of home grown vegetables.

Beetroot, carrots, butternut squash, parsnips, (overgrown) courgette, Brussels sprouts, onions and (not pictured) potatoes and leeks!





The brown specks are pepper, not home grown, all ready to be roasted. 
Delicious!!!

Weather

While the weather here is rather confusing, there was no confusion about winter in the NE United States, where they had copious quantities of snow.
These pictures are taken from the before and after by the Washington Post, Washington Post who had the presence of mind to send photographer Linda Davidson out to do this!

I snipped them together.

Night Feeding Swans

Sorry about the photo quality, however, hope this gives you an idea of the numbers, all from either the Russian Arctic or Iceland.

They will return to their cold lands in a couple of months to breed.

Hoar Frost

Yesterday we had a hoar frost. The temperature was just below freezing and some atmospheric 'something' cause this fabulous cold crisp winter morning with every little twig, blade of grass and leaf covered in a delicate tracery of white frost.
I went out and took photos.

Which is your favourite?

Beads

I think I mentioned that I am doing embroidery, or textiles or something like that!
An adult version of fun, well, FUN in my book!
My thought process is 'what do I have to loose?' I know nothing so am bound to learn something!

Today I learned about beads.
Little tiny beads that can fit on sewing threads.

I know that you are supposed to have a 'beading needle' it is very, very thin so it can fit through the holes in the beads. 
I do not have one but found a fairly thin needle that worked on more beads than not, so every third or fourth bead got stuck as I threaded it and had to come off, however, I had enough that did slide down the needle and over the eye bump, which is wider than the rest of the needle, to make a strand about 5 inches long.
It was most impressive and I was thrilled.
This took a mere 2+ hours!

I took the strand of sparkling beads and folded it in half then tried wrapping it round some fabric, to make a pretty twist with little twinkles from the beads. 
I was quite pleased with how it was going, when....

disaster...


the thread snapped!!!!!

Hundreds of tiny beads created a very real replica of Stephen Hawking's 'Brief History of Time, Big Bang Theory' and spiralled, and twisted and spun into the vast space that was 'the void'.

However, as it was only the sitting room gravity took hold quite quickly and they descended in amongst the sofa cushions, onto the floor, on the table where they bounced and ricochet in yet more directions.

It only took about another hour to locate and collect up all the beads from the explosion.

The lesson learned from this is, there is apparently special 'beading' thread!  Should I attempt beading again, I shall have acquired 'beading thread' before I bead!


On a side note, in my experience, when things 'explode' the go in all directions, I assume there is some amazing and totally incomprehensible mathematical paragraph that gives a reason why the cosmos is 'flat' like a plate rather than spherical in shape which would be what I would expect.

Sunrise

The sunrise this morning was quite pretty in the east, however, the colour mixture over towards the west as the sun caught the mist was quite beautiful, such gentle colours.

Snowdrops

Picked some snowdrops yesterday, they look wonderful, and had a drink from my snowdrop mug.

Ah, it's the little things.

Snowman and Sheepdogs

While it was cold enough for snow in London and at least one snowman was built, and had his own plinth!

We had fresh cold sunshine and went to watch young sheep dogs learning how to herd sheep.
The dogs seemed to love it and the sheep were a wiley old bunch of Scottish black faced sheep and seemed to know they had trainees and led them a merry dance.  

Just look how many there are altogether.

At the end all the sheep had to be driven back down, one experienced sheep dog took the lot all on his own, it was marvellous!

June Flowers In January

I would expect to see these flowers out in June, however, these took the mild winter weather as a sign of summer!
Ah well it is all changing now as it is so much colder.

There is snow in several parts of the country.

Stunning Trees

The weather has finally turned cold.

On a crisp and sunny winters day these paper white birch trees looked particularly stunning.

Other flowers that are beginning to show also looked splendid.

I HATE CANCER

It is bad to hate, 
however, there is one thing that I hate....
CANCER.


This week saw the death of 2 men both the same age, both masters of a new personality.


David Bowie, back in the day we pronounced it Bow as in take a bow, Bowie. Guess it morphed as he did.
I always loved his style, the make-up, those cheekbones and of course the music was superb!

AND

Alan Rickman

Another man capable of character change and yet intelligent and caring. 

 

What a waste.

Early Garden Daffodils

The mild weather that we have had, thus far this winter, has led to plants being rather confused,

Here is a daffodil open in the garden in January. 
Most years we are hoping that there will be a few daffodils will be out by St. David's Day (1st March). 



















The more worrying part of this mild season is that plum or greengage blossom, not sure which, is also out.

This is BAD news as we are due much colder weather and the frost will kill the blossom and there will be no fruit on those branches later in the year.

Planting Sunburst

Dug the hole.

Placed the tree in the hole.

Covered the roots with soil.

Watered.

Let's hope for yummy cherries later in the year.

More Food

This is an interesting test.

Which diet is right for you?

However, it did not seem to mention exercise at all just diet.

I am sure that weight control is about intake of calories and energy used.

Saw this Street Workout.  looks exhausting, but, you would be so fit at the end of a month of doing that daily! 

Black Pudding Super Food

NOW  people are thinking our Full English (or should that be full Scottish) breakfasts are a good idea.

Just goes to show you never know when you are actually a trend setter.

CES Las Vegas Bendy TV.

Bendy TV


While I do not want a bendy TV screen, 

I DO want one that is this thin.

The article fails to mention if this is the whole thing or if there is a load of gubbins elsewhere that helps make it work.

Carousel.

Saw this and wished I could send you the music that goes with it.

What a lovely thing to listen to while you are shopping.

Red Sky in the Morning.

You know the saying about the red sky in the morning?

Well it was a lovely red sunrise this morning, and now,
it is bucketing with rain!

Before the rain, I replanted some tatty looking lavender that had been in a tub, hope it fares better outside in the rain.

Marrow Chutney and Cheese Slices.

Gave some of my marrow chutney as a gift!
Look at the wonderful cheese slices that it was used for.

December Daffodils

This was taken while in the car at a stop light, so not brilliant, however, it shows that in December 2015 daffodils were flowering.