Wednesday 20 March 2013

At Last!






At last I have managed to
'get around' to writing another post!
I hope, also, that I will start to be able to visit you...
It feels like a long time....



At last I have managed to
get some photos of one of the.... 
Greater Spotted Woodpeckers
that visit our feeders several times a day



They are so shy
that as soon as you move to get a camera
they are off!!




I have had yet another chest infection
These continual infections are dragging me down
so I haven't felt like visiting or writing!
Sorry!!


Last week I took the road to the hills
(covered here in snow clouds!)...
to visit my favourite retreat



I just love the shapes of the trees 
when the leaves have fallen
so, I'm afraid...
I have just had to try and show you a few
that I saw on my way



Another favourite is this little stream


I always have to stop my car
and open the car window to watch and hear
it's sound as it rushes over the rocks.




Somehow it quiets my soul
and any turmoil inside is just quietened
as I sit there in the fresh air 
of the hills....



Do you have a place like this
that you go to....
just for a few minutes......that's all it takes..
to unwind and relax?



I just love to look at trees in winter
they have shed their leaves and another busy season
is over
now it's time to rest!


It makes me think!
Although we just see the bare branches
inside the sap is starting to rise
ready for a new spring

Somehow
it seems like a fresh start
old things have passed away....like 
the old dead leaves
and inside is a stirring...no one can see
yet it's going on...!!
The first anyone will know is when the buds start
poking out their heads.

It gives me hope
that, for each of us, there is a time of
refreshing and renewing
that might mean just a few moments out
but, after, there is a stirring inside
and a readiness
to start again on whatever life has for us!



On the way home I came through 
the snowdrop woods



Each one looks so perfect
like individual drops of snow.......




A perfect end
to... a perfect 'time out'!!



Friday 8 March 2013

On Guard.....or .... Waiting for Food?!






I was driving along a lane.....
on the way to pay a visit



when I noticed 3 cats sitting on 
a gate jamb.

They looked so funny that I stopped to 
take a picture.
As soon as I stopped one of them ran off
into the buildings



2 hours later I was on my way home and 
looked to see if they were still there.

I noticed the cat that had jumped off earlier
running around the gate




closely followed by the other two.

I thought that they were so pretty that my eyes focussed on them!


Then I noticed


The state of the barns and thought.....
They must have been built such pride and used,
probably daily
for animals or farm implements etc
but they have been
just let go...
What a shame!!


Had you noticed
that the cats in the first photos
were sitting with this
pretty friend?

So perhaps they were not on guard....
or waiting to be fed....
but
keeping company with their friend!!


On a totally different subject....
I returned 
from staying a few days with my mother


To find this lovely surprise!!
I had won a Giveaway
from




My hands won't know what's hit them!!

Do visit her.
Her blog is full of good ideas
and 'finds'!
It's like sitting down over the kitchen table 
to chat with a good friend!


Another change of subject
My cousin was kind enough to drive me to see Mum.... 
as I'm not allowed to drive distance at present.
She and I stayed in an hotel...
just around the corner

I just had to take this photo


How long is it since someone....
cut you soldiers
to eat with your boiled eggs??
I just loved it!!!