Deep Snow

It's been a very cold spell, lots and lots of snow, ice, freezing conditions. There's lots of friendly chatter about just how cold it's been, -14 was mooted by one shop assistant, -17 by another person.
However the snow has been enjoyed by lots of people, sledging with their families ,
children experimenting with just where is the best and slippiest slope to try out with their friends.

Even my pet cats have strangely enjoyed exploring and discovering their new cold world.


Woke up one morning a few days before Christmas to find the path and gateway, wrapped in snow.
It's all been very beautiful, with christmas trees in windows, people's christmas lights
outside draping snow covered trees.
At on point i started to wonder if I'd ever be able to dig my car out in time to complete my Christmas shopping.
Luckily, I managed with spade and salt to get free, made sure I put a flask of hot water and plenty of blankets, to make sure.









The living willow trellis, took on a faery land beauty, 
Mittens the cat loved it, padding through the snow, weaving in and out of the willow.
His favorite hobby is climbing and balancing from the long end branches,
swaying wildly from side to side.
Then he's off down the garden to his favourite haunts around the village.
Despite the very cold weather, the air itself freezing, creating magical snow icicles and castles, he always makes his way home, looking warm.
I noticed when i picked him up the other day he smelled of greenhouse potting compost.

The sand

It's time for a day out to the beach, I've waited all year, and I can finally 'hear' the sea calling me, the thought of letting the dog race along the beach, sand between my toes, the smell of the sea air . I also like  eating chips with the kids, and maybe even shopping.
But even so, I love to take pictures of things I can make into canvas' to decorate the house, to remind me of  beautiful places.

Crowd of Cornflowers

These flowers fascinate me, they grow in the country park. There's an artist's
installation there, a series of mounds, they look like tiny hills, dotted in a line.
 One of the hills are covered in cornflowers, incredible deep blue colour. Looks like they were planted by the artist, along side the hills are masses of multi-coloured lupins, beautiful things ranging from blue,rusty red, cream and pink. They grow alongside a pond, so some days they're reflected in the water.

The apple cart

There's a village I drive through on the way to work each day.
There's lots of old buildings, barns, farmhouses and also orchards.
In one orchard in particular, there's a lovely old wooden cart, underneath the apple tree, perfect for catching windfalls.
The village dates back to medieval times, when all the farms worked together as a cooperative. All the villagers helped each other out, with sharing their produce, exchanging harvests, and just generally being a close community.

It's a great plant,the clematis, scrambling up the willow fence and over the wall.It was once pink, but has gradually become  a creamy colour. After studying   I like to sit  out in the garden and relax, especially in the evenings when the scent from the clematis is an amazing rich musky scent.
The cats love climbing through the willow fence, up into it's highest reaches, with the living branches bending over and swaying.

Horse drawn sleigh

I work quite a way from home, it's a beautiful journey, through woodlands, over hilly farmland, the views are amazing, the villages each have their own character.
One in particular had this  horse drawn sleigh, just in someone's garden.
It reminded me of something out of a fairy tale.

Apple Blossom

Malus domestica, one of the names for the domestic apple, orginated in Central Asia, and is also a member of the rose family.

This particular apple blossom belongs to a tree growing in my garden,

which is about three or four years old. She's blossoms regularly and bares plenty of fruit, which my last hound used to eat from the tree!
I particulary love the scent of Apple Blossom, which when combined with the Cherries  also in bloom smells amazing. The bees also love the blossom and Spring is alive with droning and humming.
The gaelic name for the apple is Quert, the apple tree is one of the commonest to host mistletoe and is known as one of the sacred trees to the Druids.

Just read that 55 million tons of apples grown world wide!! Which is an enormous amount of orchards.