A Touch of Frost

Very chilly mornings with the frosty weather,

but what an effect on the plants.

 

Stray Feathers

With another walk around Slimbridge,

Wetlands for Geese, Ducks & Birds,

plenty of loose feathers can be sighted on the ground,

 or even more eyecatching,

becoming caught in plants & trees,

 often delicately blowing in the wind.

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. . . .

Happy Valentines Day

~   ~   ~   Enjoy Your Day   ~   ~   ~

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!

Out of the Blue

Saturday, a quiet day in due to winter germs!

Quite frustrating, as although a cold day,

 the sky is beautifully blue & bright with no signs of rain,

which has inspired to seek through my archive of photos,

to find anything associated with the colour blue.

A mixture of flowers to blue skies with trees or grasses aiming high. . . .

Even a resting Peacock taken at Kew.

And, the Statue of Liberty, New York,

 looks outstandingly supreme with its deep blue backdrop,

(Photograph taken by my daughter)

The blueness of skies & sea,

 from the British coastline at Portland, Dorset,

to a photo taken in Tobago a few years ago,

 with its blue sea hightlighting seashells.

Tranquil & warm.

From Winter to Summer, what a thought. . . .

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.

After the Thaw

Although the snow tried to linger,

a bit of rain & the snow went as quick as it came. . . .

The trees stand high & tall in total bareness once again. . . .