Time

Already into February! 

And yet in some respects, I am not too sorry.

Winter certainly does feel like a time,

 to hibernate in the comfort of your home!

It's so good to see the morning & evening light increasing,

 as I dislike going to work in the dark

 & returning in the dark.

A pet hate is also having to de-ice the car early in the morning.

causing the fingers to go numb,

 regardless if you're wearing the thickess of gloves.

~  ~  ~  ~

But, dispite these aggravations,

I do believe in the quotation that my daughter has,

 displayed on a wooden plaque.

A Happy Weekend to You All!

Compare....

Winter certainly not all dull grey horrible days!

~   ~   ~   ~

As I approached my front door,

I was reminded that the daylight is starting to draw out,

& therefore,

 fortunate enough,

 to witness the last of the sun's rays settling,

  before the night sets in.

The colours of the late afternoon hours,

 mirrored the colours of the indoor growing hyacinths

With the close-ups of the plants,

it's certainly makes one aware,

 to appreciate the colours,

 represented again towards the end of the day!

Frosty...

Frosty weather certainly do transform

the plants in the garden....

And even the leaves on the ground.

Seasonal Red

It's that time of year,

preparing the home with Christmas decorations,

featuring the warmth & brightness of the colour Red

With the latest weather,

 snow helps add to that christmas feel,

 as the snow wraps itself around the many clusters of red plump berries.

The Christmas season blending together,

 with the manmade efforts & the ways of nature.

Muted Shades

With the sun lowering earlier in the afternoons,

wintery muted shades of colour spread across the sky.

Individual sences emerge,

 wonderful to savour before the sun finally falls into night.

Winter Colour

Although in recent weeks,

 the main colour to emerge this winter has been the white stuff,

 Snow!

There is definite evidence of the lovely warm colour of red.

So many shrubs & plants with red berries,

 a sign of an extreme winter?

Clusters of Rosehips

All of this mixed in with

 the last of Autumn colour foilage

And, such a surprise on a very bitterly cold day,

 following a recent snowfall,

Small, but Bright Pink roses in full bloom!

Only just surviving I'm sure,

 due to the shelter of the thick stone grey garden wall.

But a welcome sight nevertheless.

Droplets of Water....

Snow & ice lingers,

 not rushed at all to de-thaw....

A Touch of Frost

Very chilly mornings with the frosty weather,

but what an effect on the plants.

 

A Changing Season

Signs starting to show,

 that the winter season is beginning to change . . . .

Hints of growth begin to emerge.

From blossom to catkins. . . .

From Snowdrops . . . .

To Pussy Willow.

A fallen flowerhead,

 showing how beautifully detailed & colourful the inside of a Snowdrop really is.

The teasels that remain from the Autumn & Winter add to the charm.

The days of daylight becoming longer . . .

Very encouraging. . . .

A Stroll

With a visit to one of the town's oldest parks yesterday,

I was amazed at the amount of mistletoe that adorned so many trees.

Not just a sprig of mistletoe, but huge balls of the plant.

The plant attaches its roots deep into the tree trunks.

From earliest times in history,

 the plant has been associated with European Folklore,

 where it has been considered to be a magical,

 mysterious & sacred plant.

With Christmas tradition,

 it is now more associated with 'kissing under the mistletoe.'

Strolling around the park,

I noticed some of the shrubs starting to come to life,

 with its first flowering of the year.

A welcoming sight!

Just a Glimpse

Just love this combination of photo's, all taken on the Somerset Levels.

The sun trying to enter the daylight from behind the clouds.

The sun certainly did make some effort on that day.

All of the same scene but taken at different  zoom lenghts.

Very effective as a collage. 

Floods & Reflections

Completely surprised by the extent of the flooding

on the Somerset Levels. . . .

Evenso, due to the watery  change of the landscape,

this created some very scenic viewing. . . .

Just love the reflections of the trees & bushes,

 that were edging the individual fields,

which had now been overtaken by the vast amount of flood water.

Quite breathtaking in this bittersweet setting.

Ivy & Lichen

Visited Burrow Mump on the Somerset Levels,

mainly to see the extent of the floods,

But I can't resist taking an interest in some of the lichen that you see growing.

Such lovely colourings,

 which is of no surprise to learn that these plants have been used for dyes,

 & even medicines.

There are thousands of species to be found.

A plant which  is also very slow growing.

Another favourite is Ivy, an evergreen which also likes to invade trees.

The lichen I had found nearly covered every single branch of the thorny tree.

I just wonder how long that process had taken.