AFTER DARK

Carmi's Challenge this week is AFTER DARK

Well, I don't go out after dark much nowadays (poor night vision, so afraid of falling, etc. etc.) but I do love looking out of windows. This photograph is of sunrise over Morecombe Bay, taken from our holiday cottage at Grange-over-sands. We had fantastic view across the Bay, and watching the sunrise, whilst the town was all dark, and mostly asleep, was an enormous pleasure.




The second photo is at the other end of the day. We don't get much of a view from the front of our house, but the sky one evening at sunset was so good I had to have a go!

FAVOURITES OF 2011

This week, Carmi is asking us for our favourite photos from 2011





This has got to be my all-time favourite, but only by a short head! Gereinger Fjord in Norway is quite spectacular, all the way along it. It was faintly misty the day we went there, and another liner can be seen preceding us in the distance. It was a wonderful place!




I fell in love with the Arctic! This is just as we left Longyearbyen, the only town on the Svalbard Islands. Formerly known as Spitzbergen, they are right in the High Arctic, and although we were extremely lucky to have a fine day there, it was still a day to wrap up warmly.




Not quite so cold, though nearly so, I managed to snap these tracks in the snow before the sledgers got all over them! You have seen this before, on Carmi's challenge in July this year.




I love taking close-up photographs, especially when there is texture involved. This is a bread stall at our local monthly market. It really makes your mouth water just standing there!




And lastly, another close-up - this time something you might not guess. Its a Savoy Cabbage leaf! One of the tough, outside ones. But beautiful, don't you think?

THE STRANGER AMONG US

Carmi's Challenge this week is THE STRANGER AMONG US. My two Strangers are here!



Who is she, that old woman in the mirror? Oh no! do I look like that? I don't see myself so old, so grumpy. She's a stranger to me!




What does he see, as he stands alone
Guarding the peas and salads?
His eyes are felt, and his hands are straw
And a felted bird sits on his head.
We laugh as we pass along the paths
Admiring the gardens so carefully tended.
But look again at his impassive face
A felt- and straw-made man.
An uncomfortable thought passes through my head
What does he do at night?

THE ONE

Carmi's theme this week is THE ONE



Wags was the only dog for me, and I was "her" human. Everyone else was just tolerated. I was guarded, accompanied, and generally looked after all the time. She was a beautiful dog, a Border Collie/Springer Spaniel cross and when she died I broke my heart. We've had other dogs since then, but I vowed never to give my heart to one again.

Here she is sitting by the Village Pond, knows she is the greatest, but modest with it!




Well, this gull knew he was the one, sitting on a handy perch in the middle of Windermere. And he was going to keep it and repel all boarders!

SEEING RED !

Carmi's Challenge this week is SEEING RED!

I was actually delighted to see the red of these very late roses in our Park when I took the dog out on a very cold and snowy morning.

The roses glowed against the grey of the stone wall, even though they were battered by the cold wind.

The dog remained unimpressed.

FLASH OF COLOUR

Carmi's challenge this week is FLASH OF COLOUR.

This dark-leaved heuchera, a glorious plum colour, was planted to offset the paler green of the Sedum behind it. However, a sneaky Welsh Poppy decided to give a "flash of colour" to the arrangement!




Bullfinches are rare visitors to our garden,possibly because although our garden backs onto a park, we are really fairly suburban round here, and also they are less common now anyway. So we were delighted to see this pair (the female is on the right) arrive at our seed feeder. I was quite pleased with the photograph, as my camera has not got a brilliant zoom, and I was shooting through the glass of the kitchen window anyway!

But the male made a really great splash of colour in the winter garden.

MUTED

Carmi's Challenge this week is MUTED

I love muted colours, bright and brash is not for me!



And we've had some rather muted weather this week, as fog descended upon us one morning. The overhanging willows on the lakeside always make for a good photo.




As do the trees in the Park disappearing as I looked at them. Unfortunately not only did I lose the trees, I also lost my dog! Because our garden backs onto the Park, he considers the whole park merely an extension of his garden. I eventually found him waiting by the gate!




Beech tree roots - give the impression of strong, been-there-forever, roots. But Beech trees are very shallow rooted, and a strong wind, especially if the trees are still in leaf, can blow them over remarkably easily.

But I think the colours are beautiful!