Cold Snap

Formed around a dripping hose...

First, I made some soup. I'd already made bread, but I thought if we're going for a walk in this we'll need something warm and substantial on our return. My basic vegetable soup recipe is HERE. That done we dressed up so warmly until we looked like unfashionable Michelin Men and tying boot laces became a laborious task. then we sallied forth.

It's been very cold for a week or so now. This time last year we were languishing in dry, unseasonably warm weather, there was a hosepipe ban in the southern counties and it was due to be very dry into April. Little did we know what was to follow or that our summer had pretty much happened.

Early primroses are showing...

My wife and I just had to get out for a walk though, cold or no cold. We had been working away indoors at the NEC and were suffering from Cabin Fever. It was just 1 degree outside, but a bitingly cold north easterly breeze made it feel more like -5 or so.

Bracket fungi ....

My iPhone captured some of the frozen sculptures that could be found with a watching eye and as you can see from the icicle around the blue hose, it was jolly cold. There was still some life working its way through though; early primroses and hazel catkins were abundant, but the Bluebell buds that were very obviously coming through last year, are pretty much conspicuous by their absence today.

hot soup and warm bread in front of a wood fire was a wonderful treat when we got back home and our faces were soon glowing as we drank our tea and relaxed on the sofa.

But it was good to get out, even in the cold.

Homemade soup and bread

Holland Photographs

A Big Sky

We have just returned from another wonderful few days in Holland, and travelling around with the iPhone is quite fun when you look about you and find some strange, weird and wonderful sights to photograph.

Don't get me wrong, the device on the phone is merely adequate, but the availability of a camera, both still and movie, at all times is a very useful convenience and one I am getting used to having. It certainly means that in these technological times when everybody from the ages of thirteen to sixty have smart phones, iPads, laptops and home PCs, nothing will go unrecorded. George Orwell's Winston Smith would be even more dismayed to discover that everything is on display; all crimes are filmed, all activities photographed, shared and discussed, and there appear to be no taboos, everything is available on the net. 

..well, er...good.

As always, the availability of a camera can be misused as well as utilised  for good and there are many who believe that the advent of total exposure has sinister connotations for Human Rights. Be that as it may it's here to stay and we'll have to get used to seeing everybodys' lives displayed and open for discussion. If you don't want to be talked about or ridiculed, then don't publish it, don't open yourself up to scrutiny. That's why some choose Twitter over Facebook, why others choose neither and why both can be a minefield to the unwary. 

Autumn is here....

I love it because while out on walks I can capture anything that takes my fancy - whether it's scenery, people, a funny shot or a candid one topic for my next blog or a mushroom that's of interest - I can take a photograph with the minimum of fuss, unnoticed and unhampered by a big DSLR which is not easy to hide at the best of times.

Pretty and Still

The shots on this page are a mix of all that I found interesting, funny or picturesque on our recent trip to The Netherlands. The days go by, the seasons change - but I've got it all on my iPhone - ah, but I'm not going to show you all of them am I?

Hmmmm....