Snow Storm

We were walking around the lakeside at Trentham again on Thursday  - our second walk there this week.  (see my post of earlier today about Tuesday's walk)

It was cold and slightly damp in the air as we set off along the path.  I was fascinated with the reflections of trees in the puddles

 We passed the bottom of the lake and set off back along the woodland walk

The skies went darker and then the snow came covering us with wet, white flakes that so quickly made us look like walking snowmen.

It did make for some wonderful, atmospheric photos though - worth getting wet for.

By the time the snow had stopped it had turned a brown, wet landscape into a winter wonderland.

The trees looked frozen

Even the willow snowdrops seemed to be bowing their heads against the swirling snow

The dandelion fairy looked quite magical

Time to take a last look at the newly changed landscape

and set off for home to get warm and dry

Have a great weekend everyone.

The Heron's Lunch

Brr, it's cold today

 Feels like lunch time

 If I wait here long enough it may come to me

 Yes!  Didn't take long

 Gulp - that was a bit hard to swallow

 Mmm... - that feels better

Where's mine?

Photos of the heron taken near the lakeside cafe at Trentham Estate on Tuesday.  Photo of the Little Egret was taken further round the lakeside opposite the heronry.

Looking Back - One

I've been looking back at photos taken last year and realised that there are quite a few places that I took photos of whilst on my travels that I haven't shared with you so I though that whilst I'm not going out very far I would look back on some of these places.  But first, before we step back in time,  I'd like to say thank you to all of you who stopped by and left such lovely and thoughtful comments on my last post, normally I try to reply to each one but I find sitting at the computer for too long is still a bit uncomfortable but getting better every day, so I hope you'll forgive me for not replying this time.

In June last year we visited the childhood home of the Romantic poet William Wordsworth.  It was a stop off point on our way back from Scotland.  It is a lovely Georgian House which is easily found on the main street in Cockermouth in Cumbria.  There were road works all the way up the main street which were to do with the installation of flood defences after the town was seriously flooded in November 2009.

William Wordsworth  his sister Dorothy and their three other siblings Richard, John and Christopher  spent their early years in this house.  It was a house of great happiness and of great sorrow too.

In 1765 William's father John Wordsworth who was a lawyer moved into this house as tied, rent free accommodation because of his job as land agent to local landowner Sir James Lowther.  In 1766 he married Anne Cookson, daughter of a wealthy draper of nearby Penrith and the couple lived there in contentment until 1778 when Anne died followed by John in 1783.  The children had now lost both their parents

The children had to leave their happy, childhood home to live with relatives.  William and Richard were sent to boarding school and Dorothy to live with relatives in Halifax.  It would be nine years before William and Dorothy met again.

The garden was a small town garden full of beautiful flowers and vegetables. 

The house itself is delightful inside and even after such tragic events doesn't feel sad at all.

Below are more photos

I loved this blue cupboard I found in one of the bedrooms and could quite happily live with it here at home

Did you know that the scarecrow above, known as Fletch the perchcrow has his own blog?  Here is a - link

I've really enjoyed visiting Wordsworth House again

I hope you have enjoyed looking back with me

Lately......

I've been feeling low and rather fragile.  I'm putting it down to the January blues.  They were bound to hit some time or other.  

 

I've also done something to my back which isn't helping things.  My fault for helping to move a piece of rather heavy furniture.

The garden, like the weather, is looking grey and gloomy although there are some little, precious shoots appearing here and there - precursors of the season just around the corner.

I haven't been feeling very much like writing anything on here or elsewhere for that matter but I have been reading your blogs and commenting on your posts where I can.  I have been reading a lot immersing myself in the novels of Mapp and Lucia by E F Benson and in contrast the Roger the Chapman Medieval mystery novels, set in the 15th century, by Kate Sedley.  I have been watching a little television and have been enjoying the return of Spiral on Saturdays, Foyle's War on Sundays plus Broadchurch, Last Tango in Halifax and Silent Witness.  

The photos on here bear no relation to the words, they are just photos I've taken recently.  We went for a walk along the Monsal Trail on Friday (which I needed to do for the exercise but it did aggravate my back) and a short walk around Trentham lake this morning - the days in between I haven't left the house. 

I'll still be around but not as much as usual.  Take care everyone.

Five on Friday

It's time for my week of 'Five on Friday' and this time I've chosen garden birds as a topic.  Towards the end of this month we will be participating, as we have done for several years now,  in the RSPB's Big Garden Bird Watch. 

 We feed the birds all year and as we have hedges on two sides of the garden we have lots of sparrows - consequently we also have visits from their grim reaper aka the Sparrowhawk.  We have regular visits from blackbirds, great tits, robins, blue tits, coal tits, goldfinch, chaffinch and the occasional green finch and wren. Also in the colder weather we have visits every morning from a pair of thrushes who wait for their breakfast around 9a.m. and come looking for it close to the conservatory if we are late serving them.

At this time of year we sometimes top up the feeders in the afternoon as the sunflower hearts and suet nibbles are especially popular and can quickly disappear when the starlings descend as they often do.  Wood pigeons and magpies  are also regular visitors and of course we often find squirrels on the feeders too.

 Here are photos of five of the most regular visitors to our garden.

Song Thrush

Sparrow

 Blue tit

 

Robin

Blackbird

Below is a collage of five more photos of other visitors including more Sparrows, a Wren, a Bullfinch, a Goldfinch and a Starling. 

I am joining in Five on Friday, taking five minutes from our day to enjoy five things.  Please go and visit the other people who are also blogging about Five on Friday this week.

Amy from Love Made My Home
Helen from Woollybluebells

Gina from Fan My Flame

Joanne from A Whole Plot of Love 

Debbie from Saylor Street Cottage 

Lil from House With Hearts