Day by day

Geraniums

2010-06-12T14:47:00.000+01:00

Peach blossom

2010-04-04T10:55:00.001+01:00

Views from Yr Eifl, North Wales

2010-01-01T16:22:00.000Z

The Roman Steps, near Harlech

2009-12-31T18:06:00.002Z

A glimpse of Christmas

2009-12-25T16:35:00.000Z

Advent calendar

2009-12-24T16:27:00.000Z

Snow village

2009-12-23T19:54:00.001Z

DD and I have been building a miniature snow village to decorate the newly-cleared shelf in the living room.

Mistletoe

2009-12-22T16:42:00.000Z

Solstice candles

2009-12-21T16:17:00.000Z

At long last the year turns and the days will start to get longer.

Snowman

2009-12-20T20:15:00.000Z

No comment...

2009-12-19T20:27:00.000Z

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

2009-12-18T10:38:00.002Z

Today's Christmas photo obviously had to be of the snow. This picture is of the village green, taken at 11 p.m. last night when the snow was falling thick and strong. You'll notice that even at that time of night there were people building a snowman!

The favourite card

2009-12-17T18:54:00.000Z

The gift star

2009-12-16T21:48:00.000Z

All wrapped up

2009-12-15T22:39:00.000Z

'Santa with cat'

2009-12-14T20:47:00.000Z

A daughter's Christmas cards

2009-12-13T20:11:00.001Z

Cranberries

2009-12-12T17:44:00.000Z

Village green Christmas tree

2009-12-11T08:49:00.000Z

A foggy morning on the village green.

Christmas pudding cake

2009-12-10T12:28:00.000Z

A little festive something from the village bakery.

Christmas bauble

2009-12-09T09:03:00.000Z

Christmas crackers

2009-12-08T16:38:00.000Z

Cyclamen

2009-12-07T15:52:00.000Z

We always have a red miniature cyclamen on the kitchen table at Christmas.

Chocolate coins

2009-12-06T16:25:00.001Z

In our house, no Christmas stocking could possibly be complete without a bag of chocolate coins from Santa :-)

Poinsettias

2009-12-05T21:25:00.000Z

At the local garden centre this afternoon.

Bauble

2009-12-04T21:54:00.000Z

Holly

2009-12-03T16:00:00.000Z

Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without holly.

Christmas angel

2009-12-02T14:01:00.000Z

Poinsettia

2009-12-01T13:40:00.002Z

Christmas photo time again. As in previous years, I shall endeavour to post one a day. So as a starter, here's the first bit of Christmas in our house. Enjoy!

Socks!

2009-11-27T09:06:00.001Z

Finally finished the latest pair of socks - about time too, given the holes that are developing in some of the older pairs (darning will only get you so far...). Yarn is a hand-died one that I bought off the Internet ages ago, can't remember the details.

Guy Fawkes night

2009-11-05T21:35:00.000Z

A fire to sit around and eat hot dogs.

The leaves are falling

2009-10-22T10:26:00.001+01:00

Out on the village pond today.

Hedgepig

2009-10-16T12:26:00.002+01:00

A spiky little visitor to our garden this morning.

Autumn beauty

2009-10-13T13:58:00.002+01:00

A glorious tree down in the 'new' woods this morning.

Milly

2009-10-07T15:16:00.000+01:00

Another shot of madam.

Cotoneaster

2009-10-07T14:53:00.000+01:00

Some Autumn colour from the garden today.

Milly

2009-10-06T16:38:00.000+01:00

Lulu

2009-09-17T21:44:00.000+01:00

Out for a ride today on my stepmother-in-law's new horse, a gorgeous, sparky Irish Draught/Thoroughbred cross mare called Lulu. She's a real sweetie, and I'm sooo jealous!

Autumn is coming

2009-09-07T16:51:00.003+01:00

A few shots from a walk across the Gogs on Sunday.

Milly has arrived

2009-05-29T11:54:00.000+01:00

An English country garden...

2009-05-26T21:00:00.002+01:00

Well, an English sort-of-country, sort-of-semi-suburban garden, anyway. Some photos from a somewhat rain-battered garden today.

Honeysuckle

2009-05-11T15:22:00.000+01:00

Something from the garden today.

Down to the woods

2009-05-06T21:00:00.002+01:00

The 'new' woods are so beautiful now. How they've grown since that freezing December day when we planted the bare sticks in that ploughed field!

Arrested Development socks

2009-02-12T12:16:00.002Z

I began these socks for DD back in the summer, but then we got a kitten and all knitting had to cease for a while (because kittens and knitting wool make such a great combination...).

Anyway, I've finally finished them, and before summer came round again!

Interested whiskers

2009-02-07T16:26:00.002Z

Isn't he gorgeous?

Max meets snow!

2009-02-02T09:25:00.001Z

Max has met his first snow this morning, and he's been hugely amusing, chasing snowflakes and trying to pounce on them. He certainly doesn't seem at all bothered by it - although his camouflage is shot to pieces!

Cottage on the Green

2009-01-18T20:05:00.001Z

Two shots of one of the cottages on the village green.

Moel Hebog

2009-01-03T20:36:00.007Z

Climbed Moel Hebog (or Mount Hedgehog, as DD decided it should be called) on a bright but freezing day.

Walking above Beddgelert

2009-01-02T18:58:00.008Z

A day spent wandering in the hills above Beddgelert.

Climbing Cnicht

2009-01-01T21:01:00.006Z

A fine way to start the new year - climbing a mountain on a bright, crisp, clear day.

Llanbedrog

2008-12-31T17:03:00.010Z

A day at the beach.

North Wales

2008-12-30T19:28:00.005Z

The venue for our New Year holiday. With a breadmaker, broadband Internet access, and sheep, but without central heating.

Thetford

2008-12-28T21:00:00.004Z

A family walk in Thetford Forest to celebrate my birthday.

A frosty morning

2008-12-27T10:19:00.002Z

A frosty morning on the village green.

Milton Country Park

2008-12-26T15:06:00.010Z

Some shots from our Boxing Day walk.

Family Christmas

2008-12-26T10:03:00.002Z

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T14:48:00.000Z

Christmas baubles

2008-12-24T10:29:00.001Z

My aunt has this beautifully delicate Christmas arrangement of twigs and baubles in the corner of her living room.

Santa

2008-12-23T11:35:00.003Z

From Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Bavaria.

Christmas lights

2008-12-22T13:45:00.001Z

A simple photo today - the fairy lights over my aunt's mantelpiece.

Christmas tree

2008-12-21T08:41:00.001Z

The Christmas tree is up and decorated.

Pink Poinsettia

2008-12-20T10:34:00.003Z

Usually I prefer my Poinsettias to be a rich, festive red, but this one is a gift for my aunt when we visit for lunch tomorrow, and the more subtle colours will look beautiful in her living room.

Christmas tree corner

2008-12-19T16:07:00.001Z

Waiting for the Christmas tree to arrive...

Cyclamen

2008-12-18T14:04:00.000Z

Christmas cake Santa

2008-12-17T15:18:00.001Z

The Christmas cake is finished and is sitting on the side waiting for the icing to dry. I feel accomplished :-)

Christmas wrapping

2008-12-16T17:18:00.001Z

Gnome

2008-12-15T13:23:00.000Z

Snowflake

2008-12-14T17:17:00.000Z

Golden snowflakes at my window.

Snowman

2008-12-13T21:00:00.000Z

Just playing around!

Christmas cards

2008-12-12T20:54:00.001Z

We've put the first of our Christmas cards up on the wall.

Cranberries

2008-12-11T20:56:00.001Z

I adore the colour and the shine on these. So festive :-)

Edmund Gonville

2008-12-10T16:21:00.000Z

Just like last year, the students of Gonville and Caius have been at it again. Only this year it's poor old Edmund Gonville, one of the founders of the college, who gets the Santa treatment. This is him, up above the Great Gate of the college this afternoon.

Christmas crown

2008-12-09T21:17:00.000Z

I'm ahead of myself this year - I've actually checked that the fairy lights work before we've put them on the tree...

Penguin buddies

2008-12-08T21:00:00.000Z

I've been sick in bed all day today (24-hour tummy bug thing, thank god for wireless internet access and kids old enough to entertain themselves) so these are a couple of characters from last year. Something cheerful is definitely needed today!

Christmas lights on the village green

2008-12-07T21:00:00.000Z

Every year the Parish Council put up Christmas lights on the village green. They're very simple, only a single line of bulbs strung between the trees, but they reflect beautifully in the water of the pond and add that touch of Christmas magic.

Christmas cards

2008-12-06T14:08:00.001Z

The children have been writing Christmas cards to send to their schoolfriends.

Christmas birthday cake

2008-12-05T22:05:00.002Z

It's DD's birthday party tomorrow (even though her birthday was last month), and she decided she wanted a 'Christmas birthday cake'.

Christmas lights

2008-12-04T21:56:00.001Z

Christmas lights outside a house in Ely this evening.

(Snow)men on the moon

2008-12-03T19:38:00.002Z

The kids started making Christmas decorations for their rooms last night. DS found just the right place on his bedroom wall for his paper chain of snowmen...

Christmas cookies

2008-12-02T21:00:00.000Z

Christmas cookies from the village bakery. Delicious :-)

Poinsettia

2008-12-01T12:33:00.001Z

I've decided that once again I shall try to post a Christmas photo every day between now and Christmas Eve, in the spirit of the season. Some (most, I hope!) will be newly-snapped, but some may be from other years - all will be previously unposted, though. So here's the first - as tradition demands, a poinsettia brought into the house as the first little bit of Christmas.

Autumn on the village green

2008-11-19T19:52:00.004Z

All the trees on the village green have lost their leaves save one, which is a glorious gleaming gold. Beautiful.

Spot the monkey!

2008-11-19T16:58:00.006Z

Thatchers around here often decorate the ridge of a thatched cottage with the effigy of a pheasant made of thatch. The thatcher who did the roof of a cottage in our village recently got a little more creative!

Autumn's last gasp

2008-11-18T19:02:00.002Z

Chillin' out

2008-11-07T13:19:00.003Z

Max (not such a small kitten anymore) relaxing on 'his' beanbag.

Halloween

2008-10-31T20:30:00.001Z

Last year's Halloween pumpkin ended up in the compost, and this year a stray seed from the compost grew into a plant which produced one pumpkin, just large enough for carving this Halloween. I like the continuity :-)

Banham Zoo

2008-10-30T17:01:00.002Z

Three images from the zoo today.

Autumn colour

2008-10-29T15:30:00.004Z

From a walk by the river this morning - a bit of autumn colour.

Autumn sunflower

2008-10-22T21:00:00.003+01:00

A little piece of beauty from my garden today.

Thetford Forest

2008-03-31T19:27:00.011+01:00

The weather forecast this morning said 'Spring!', so the kids and I went over to Brandon Country Park for a walk, a picnic, and some tree-climbing. Loads of butterflies around - Commas, Brimstones and Tortoiseshells - and several Chiffchaffs singing. A glorious day, warm enough in the sun for t-shirts, and with that lovely green smell of Spring in the air.

WWT Welney

2008-03-19T15:59:00.003Z

Up to Welney today for a few hours' birding. The Washes are flooded again, after Sunday's heavy rain, so most of the waders (including the first Avocets of the year, spotted only last week) have gone where the water is shallower, and most of the Whooper Swans and all of the Pochard have left for their breeding grounds. A good range of species present nonetheless, including at least thirteen Snipe.

Peach blossom

2008-03-14T12:44:00.003Z

The fan-trained peach against the vegetable garden wall is just coming into flower, and we're watching the weather forecast like hawks and rushing out to cover it with fleece if it looks like there's any risk of a frost that might nip the blooms. This strategy worked well last year, and we had a good crop of peaches despite the cold wet summer, so hopefully the same will happen this year.

Sunrise

2008-03-14T12:42:00.000Z

Sunrise this morning from my front porch.

RSPB Fowlmere

2008-03-09T20:31:00.011Z

Down to the RSPB reserve at Fowlmere for a walk this afternoon, dodging the showers and enjoying some late sunshine.

In celebration of sunshine

2008-03-07T13:37:00.004Z

Spring in the garden

2008-03-05T13:57:00.003Z

Some shots of what's in bloom in the garden today.

Milton Country Park

2008-03-03T11:43:00.003Z

Over to the Country Park this morning, to walk in the sunshine while we still have it (wintry showers are forecast for later).

Birds are, top to bottom: Robin, Mallard duck, Long-tailed Tit and Collared Dove.

Knapwell Woods

2008-03-02T17:30:00.008Z

Mothers Day today, and my choice of activity was a stroll round Knapwell Woods this afternoon.

The woods are on the site of an old manor house. They used to be predominantly Elm, but sadly Dutch Elm Disease has played havoc with the mature trees and the trees now are a mixture of regenerating Elm and young Ash, with the occasional mature Oak. The site hosts a fairly major badger set, and it's a good spot for badger watching in the Summer. There is also a rust-coloured chalybeate well, once held to have medicinal powers (not that I'd fancy drinking the water myself!)

Although the woods were bare of leaves today, the signs of Spring were there - new Stinging Nettles coming up, the arrow-shaped leaves of Lords and Ladies (Cuckoo Pint), and shoots of foliage giving a hint of the glories to come - Oxlips and Bluebells later in the Spring.

Almost Spring

2008-02-28T10:22:00.003Z

The sunlight through the dew on the grass caught my eye this morning, more beautiful than diamonds. The other photos are of a hen Blackbird going about her food gathering almost oblivious of the daft human lying on the wet grass, and the first of our Tete-a-tete miniature daffodils blooming in the sun.

Alpine Choughs

2008-02-12T16:49:00.000Z

Alpine Choughs are among my favourite birds - they're such characters. I spent over an hour today sitting in the sun watching them swoop and swirl over Les Deux Alpes, dropping and catching bits of bread and generally just revelling in their total mastery of the air. Beautiful.