Fading into Winter

November already and here are my 30 photos.  I thought I'd do something different and mute the colours to show more texture.  There is still lots of colour about but the leaves are blowing away and with this recent cold blast, the colourful berries are disappearing fast.   

Mrs Blackbird has now come to meet Mr Blackbird - she was sat hiding in the Pieres on Saturday when snow was forecast.  It was icy cold here in the south but we had no snow.

Only one more month to go then I will have completed the whole year.  I'm thinking of printing each month out and creating my own calendar, then I can admire the photos all over again.

Thanks for looking and take care everyone.

Elaine xx

All the leaves are brown

Well the leaves are nearly all brown except for the orange ones, yellow ones and red ones but there is still green out there.  I love this time of year (along with Spring) when everything changes.

My photos for October are all nature based, Birds have arrived back in the garden - we'll ignore the pigeons and magpies but we've got Mr Robin, Mr Blackbird, Bluetits, Starlings and a squirrel who seems to think he's a bird by his antics on the birdfeeder!!

   

My Blackbird tale - over the years a blackbird has arrived in my garden then a month or so later, it goes really cold and snows.  I was telling someone this tale and they said they have blackbirds all year.  There was I thinking they migrate from Africa or some such place  to my garden when it's getting cold.  No, they've been hiding half a mile away all summer.   I'm most disappointed but we'll see, when it snows!!

Now my Oak Tree tale.  About 20yrs ago we picked up an acorn at Wakehurst Place and planted it in a pot to see if it would grow.  Well, it's grown as you can see, it's about 6ft tall, the wind blows it over occasionally and it loses a branch but we keep picking it up, potting in larger pots and this year it had 2 acorns!!   In the set of photos above there is a set of oak leaf pictures - over 2 weeks they've got from green to brown and today they have blown off totally.  That's nature for you!!

Thanks for looking and see you next month..... still thinking of a theme.....

Elaine xx

Seasons change

 Another month has gone by and it's now October - 9 months of photos down, only 3 to go before I complete the year.   I think I started enthusiastically - the photos are getting a bit samey but then maybe that is what I am interested in - sky, clouds, plants, nature etc

The month started off sunny and nice but these last few days have seen  Autumn arriving - it's been windy, wet, foggy with dew on the spider's webs.   I know we talk about the weather too much but it's everchanging and you're never quite sure what you are going to get.  Just a case of open the curtains and see.  Wednesday was lovely with white fluffy clouds, but yesterday, not so much so it's a photo of berries on the pyracanthus!!

Unless anything major happens in October then I think it will be focused on nature - trees, leaves, bark.  Watch this space!

Elaine xx

August was Cloudy!

Well here are my photos for the month of August.  The garden is very flowery but nothing different so I seem to have ended up with a set of Clouds.

This is the view from my kitchen window in the evening - I wandered in there to make coffee one night and thought, those clouds are interesting so got my camera.   The same happened the next night so I decided to do a series of clouds from my kitchen - it's amazing how different they are from one evening to the next.  Sadly after 5 nights it's just been grey!!   The weather did brighten up again but then finished on a solid grey note!!

The month started off with fireworks in the local park, watching the Vuelta, the Olympics and the Hundred cricket and finished with the Edinburgh Tattoo.  I've been a few times and having watched the review on TV, I definitely need to go again. Other than that a few flowers, some cooking and a new book - my friend Lynnda has published a book so if you like romances then try Batting for Charlie by Belinda E. Edwards.  It involves cricket but really its a romance.

Well thats me for August -  thanks for reading.   I now have to think of a new theme for September unless I do 30 photos of clouds from my kitchen.  We shall see 😀

Elaine xx

It's August

Another month of photos for the Photo365 Challenge.  I didn't think in January that I would still be doing this - I thought I would have lost interest but I'm still photographing something everyday.   I've tried to vary the subject matter, use different techniques and make it colourful!!

July has been a month of sport mainly - watching the Tour de France and now the Olympics which is always an opportunity to watch a great selection of sports.  It's amazing how you can become an expert on so many sports just from the comfort of your sofa.   I've also been watching The Hundred Cricket - really I find cricket a bit boring but these matches are only about 4hrs long (so one evening) and have been very close at the end so you get involved in the will they/won't they/can he hit that last ball for 6. Very entertaining!!

Not sure what I am going to do when the Olympics finish so my August photos could just be the garden......again!   Watch this space.......    Anyway thanks for looking and see you all in September.

Elaine xx

 

Mid Summer already

I can't believe how quickly this year is going - mid Summer and July already.   June was a nice easy month with 30 days so I needed only 2 wide photos and 7 seem to fit on a line so they all fit an A4 sheet - I think I will print them off at the end of the year and make an album. 

I've been busy doing exams so the photos are a little samey although a lot happens in the garden at this time of year.  The rose has flowered and as you can see from the last photo, the white petals are falling like confetti. We have lots of beneficial wild flowers in the lawn (thats my OH's excuse for not mowing it) and we've been watching all the tennis starting at Roland Garros, Queens, Eastbourne and now Wimbledon.  

We did have a day out to The Big Cat Sanctuary which was great but a bit of a hot day and the cats did what cats do and lazed.  The place is only open one week a year and we'd booked it in November 2019 but of course last July it was cancelled. It was definitely worth the wait.

I can't believe I've managed to keep this going for 6 months - I wonder what the next 6 months have in store!!  Thanks for visiting and take care.

Elaine xx

Jolly June

Well May seems to have flown past and now we are into June.  The weather has been weird - cold and windy, downpours and now this week it's over 20 degrees.  Usually we go away with friends at the Bank Holiday and it's cold and wet and not nice.  This year it's lovely and we are at home!!  I have at least had chance to do some gardening, planting up new pots and tidying up the shrubs etc.   

To summarise May, well I've been doing exams for 3 solid weeks, testing for covid etc - the only thing I managed to catch was a cold and I have absolutely no idea where that came from.  Nobody else had one and I gave it no-one.  The students were great - out of the 230 I looked after very few were absent and those that were missing had either broken their writing hand, on crutches or dropped the subject.  We Invigilators even managed a trip to the pub - first time in 14months!     

Other than that, more photos of the garden, birds and the sky - a hedgehog one night and a pigeon that seems to have made his nest over our front door.  I also took a photo of my rocks in the downstairs toilet - I pick up quirky stones when I go to a beach and that's where they live!!   It made a nice long narrow photo as May has 31 days and it's a bit tight on an A4 sheet of paper.

Anyway that's my photo diary for May.   One more month and I'm halfway through the Photo365 Challenge and some days I can assure you it is a challenge. Fun to look back on though!!

Thanks for reading and see you in a month

Elaine  xx

 

Merry Month of May

 Hello Readers

Here's another montage of photos for the month of April.   It's lots of flowers but then I think a lot happens in April in quick succession - the bulbs flower,  trees start to bud up, leaves come out and the sun has been out which always makes you feel cheerful.  

The lowlight was the calendar where the only thing I had written on there was cancelled.  The highlights, well there were a few - an orange supermoon,  an exam,  meeting friends in the park etc.  

I've been researching a Pape family who moved to York, Ontario (now Toronto) in 1844.  My Papes are from East Yorks, UK but there is a Pape Avenue, Cemetery, Subway Station in East York, Ontario and it's taken me years to pin the family down.  Apparently 3 generations of Papes (Joseph James and his 3 sons John Joseph, Joseph James and James Joseph) were market gardeners and florists in the area of Leslieville and were so well liked they named Pape Avenue after them.  I found an old photo in the Florists Magazine so have included it.  Sadly I don't think they are relatives of mine but still interesting!

So what will May bring?   I have 3 weeks of exams/assessments so guess I won't get out much to take photos but we will see.  I'm definitely starting with Bluebells.

Take care

Elaine  xx 

April and Spring is here!

 It's April, the weather is vastly improving and all life seems to be improving.  I've been busy with my camera everyday and here is my March set of photos - a reminder of what I've been up to during the last month.   They are mostly in order although I have moved some wider ones to the top - February was easy with 28 days, March more tricky as I really need 5 rows!!

To sum up March, well lots of Spring flowers, blossom and walks in the countryside and local park where one day I spied the Shire Horses that had been used to tow a glass funeral carriage. March has been a good month - we went to Sheffield Park (NT), we were vaccinated, we did the census, the clocks changed and the last days were very warm.  

The Bench at the top and the Memorial Wall near the end were both featured in the town's remembrance on March 23rd of all those who have died in the last year.  The wrought iron bench features various people and words remembering the pandemic.  

Let's hope April continues to stay warm, bright and normality resumes soon!!

Elaine xx

March News

 Actually February's news but it's March and things are looking up!!  The best resume of my February is to look at the photos..... we had snow, we had sun, we had birds in the garden and the best bit is all the Spring flowers coming out.   We planted about 100 snowdrop bulbs a couple of years ago and we have one paltry flower .... admitted the bulbs were very dry, but they were a present so we planted them!  Crocus's are flowering and daffodils too - it just makes the place so much more cheerful.

Exciting things I've done in February - it's going to be a short list.  Photographing flowers and birds in the garden.  Walking in the local park.  Taking random photos in the house. Watching Biathlon and Andre Rieu on TV.   All these things are a reminder of life at the moment but March looks promising. 

East Grinstead where I live is famous for Archibald McIndoe and his pioneering facial reconstruction of burns casualties, mainly RAF in World War II.  He worked at the local hospital and if you'd like to read more my daughter wrote a piece for the West Sussex Record Office -  Queen Victoria Hospital Archive Project: the Guinea Pig Club and the people of East Grinstead – West Sussex Record Office (westsussexrecordofficeblog.com)  The statue of him (top row) has been in town a few years now but this week they have also added a bench nearby as a reminder of all those who have lost their lives during the covid pandemic.   That's a photo for March!!

Yesterday was sunny again so we decided to venture out to our local National Trust property Standen.  The last photo shows the house which is closed at the moment but it was decorated by William Morris so very stylish!  The gardens are just starting to colour up - uplifting for the soul - even if it is still a little chilly.

Well that's all for now - see you in April!!

Elaine xx

February already

 

The question is where does the time go when we're all having so much fun.   I guess it goes slowly at the time but January has gone already.

I decided to do a Photo 365 challenge this year.  Having looked online there are loads of places to find daily hints and upload photos but none appealed so I'm going to add them to my monthly blog posts.  I've downsized all the photos but a bit tricky to get 31 photos on one A4 sheet of paper.  February will be better with only 28 days so 4 rows of 7 snaps.   I can't say I'm the best photographer but I try!   Most of the photos are in the house or from the house into the garden but a few are of the local park - just something that catches my eye that day, nothing too deep, just random stuff.  

As I said .... very random and very small but it beats writing a diary and hopefully I can keep going all year.   We really just need the weather to improve and then we can enjoy being outside a bit more.  The bulbs are coming up so shortly there will be more colourful flowers. The last photo shows a small bunch of cyclamen that I spotted in the local park!

I'm not sure that I have any more news, so will just keep my camera to hand and while away February. Stay safe everyone!! 

Elaine xx

Happy New Year

 

Happy New Year to one and all!

For some reason I seem to have missed writing a post in December but then again what was there to write about - same old news etc   So now we are into 2021 - a new year, hopefully a new start on life and things can only get better.   We've got to stay positive!!

We treated ourselves to a new set of bird feeders plus mealworms, peanuts, niger etc to see what different birds we could attract.  We've had 3 blue tits, 2 robins, 1 goldcrest, 1 magpie, 1 blackbird, a family of sparrows and 2 fat pigeons.   We also seem to be atrracting a hoard of starlings - as soon as my OH fills the tray with a handful of mealworms and returns to the house, down swoop 15 starlings squabbling over them.  Well I think I've counted that many - they are on the feeder, on the tray, on the ground etc. I have no idea where they live,  where they are sitting but it must be close as they are obviously sat waiting for brunch!!

The other day it was cold but sunny so my daughter and I went for a saunter round the local park.  There were people everywhere but well spread out.  There were squirrels everywhere too - we must have counted at least 40 out and about.  Why is it that they seem to hide on the far side of a tree as soon as I get my camera out.  This one I did manage to catch eating his nut but there were 3 others chasing around the tree too - so fast as well!

Going back to the blackbird, we have a pair in the garden every year.  The male arrives first, and then about a month later we have a bit of snow.  The bird that has arrived was a little too brown to be the same male so I'm wondering if it's the baby from last year so maybe we won't have snow.

Snow makes everywhere look lovely and in this day and age of the pandemic I really feel it would be good to keep everyone in.  Anyway, to repeat myself, surely things can only get better. 

Stay safe everyone.

Elaine xx