20/01/2022 Three weeks since my last post - I must do better !

  The maximum temperature here today is 7⁰C, minimum 2⁰C. Blue skies but with quite a lot of clouds. Wind 15km/h North-Easterly winds with gusts up to 33 km/h.  4mm of rain was measured this morning.  We have had a very chilly week, today thankfully it is a bit warmer. 

The Christmas decorations in our supermarket just after New Year....

and the window of my hairdresser with reflections from outside and the lights inside.

Fascinating clouds that just caught my eye.

A Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) on a frosty morning.

A walk around the January garden......

A raindrop showing the house upside down!

European Holly (Ilex aquifolium).  No berries this year!!

Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana).

Hydrangea dried on the plant.

Calendula (Calendula officinalis).

Viburnum tinus.

A surviving but very brave rose.

Camellia japonica bud..

Playing with the Pampas grass. 😉

We have had a few icy mornings.

Eurasian Running Crab Spider (Philodromus dispar) on the poinsettia.

13th January

14 January

16 January about 20 minutes before the Full Wolf Moon.  Clouds moved in about an hour after taking this photo!

19 January after a very stormy day.

A lovely surprise 9 January when this Cirl Bunting ( Emberiza cirlus) was spotted on the verandah.

More photos on my bird blog.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.

01/01/2022 Happy New Year

 The maximum temperature here today is 15C, minimum 9⁰C. Blue skies but with quite a lot of clouds. Wind 16km/h South-Easterly winds with gusts up to 30 km/h.  Dry at present but rain is forecast from tomorrow for the rest of the week.  Thursday morning we measured 46mm overnight!

Some more recent photos, eventually I will get back to all the photos that I have not had time to edit from last year!!

Watching France see the New Year in on TV at Chantilly last night.

A bit of Christmas cheer amongst the potplants.

Friends who could not travel to the UK at the last minute, because of COVID, joined us for Christmas dinner so the table was laid for four.  

The two of us on Christmas day.

27/12/21 a tough rose hanging on in winter.

30/12/21 Top : Viburnum tinus and cotoneaster berries.
Bottom : Calendula and another surviving rose that amazes me.
The centre tree is a Ginkgo biloba,

31/12/21 Calendula.

I think this is one of the Blackbird (Turdus merula) youngsters being bombed by a chaffinch!

European robin (Erithacus rubecula).

The last sunset of 2021

Take care everybody, keep well and please stay safe in these difficult times.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World. 

22/12/2021 I just wanted to say Happy Holidays

  The maximum temperature here today is 10C, minimum -3⁰C. Blue skies. Wind 22km/h South-Easterly winds with gusts up to 42 km/h.  Dry at present but rain is forecast from Friday for every day as far as the forecast goes!!!

I thought that I would have more time to blog in winter, it seems I was mistaken but I could not let December vanish without saying Happy Holidays, Happy Christmas and wishing you all a much improved 2022.

Here are a few of the photos I have taken since my last post, they are very random but I do take one photo every day as I post it on Blipfoto.com under the name of Charente if any of you are interested.  One photo a day is relatively easy most of the time!

11/12/2021 Sunset.

04/12/2021 European Robin (Erithacus rubecula).

06/12/21 Mexican Orange (Choisya ternata) and cotoneaster berries.

11/12/2021 Seeds from one of the Acer trees possibly (Acer pseudoplatanus).

13/12/2021 The winter garden.

15/12/2021 Another view after we spent the day sweeping up leaves.

14/12/2021 A young Common Blackbird (Turdus merula).

17/12/2021 A rose survivor despite the frosts.

19/12/2021 Eurasian blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) on the windowsill

20/12/2021 a day late for the full moon. It was misty on the 19th.

22/12/2021 Tonight's sunset.

 

A photo from a few years back but so apt for this time of the year. Another Bluetit.

I am still using the old camera and the old Nikon 55 -300mm telephoto lens.  The spare part for the Tamron (that I broke in my fall) is available, but with Christmas looming everything is going very slowly.  I live in hopes that I will have it early next year

Take care everybody, keep well and please stay safe in these difficult times.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World. 

03/12/2021 Getting so far behind!!!!!!!

 The maximum temperature here today is 12⁰C, minimum -2⁰C. Grey skies. Wind 27km/h icy South-Westerly winds with gusts up to 53 km/h.  Dry at present but 90% rain is forecast.

Sorry, I am struggling to keep up with everything. I had a bad fall out walking a couple of weeks back, looking at some cattle when my foot disappeared down a pothole. Sadly causing some damage to my lens which we are trying to get a spare part for.  I think I cracked a rib, I did not bother to get it checked as I know the feeling from past broken ribs. Nothing you can do other than wait for it to heal. I was black and blue and very sore. I was on the mend when a carpet slipped under my foot and I opened up my shin from sliding into the bed.  Two days later, I cracked my shin on the wheelbarrow in exactly the same place!! My leg ballooned and turned blue, so an urgent trip to the Dr.  I now have a special dressing on it to prevent it from healing too early and causing a clot, it is also heavily bandaged with a compression bandage, this now has to be dressed daily for the next 10days!!!  I am now on day three.  Herewith are some photos from that walk plus a few others in December.

Before I fell on the fatal day,18/11/2022, I was surprised to see this Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) still around in Mid-November

Dandelion (Crepis vesicaria).

Common chicory (Cichorium intybus).

Gorse. (Ulex europaeus)

European holly (Ilex aquifolium).

Oxeye daisy (Leucanthemum vulgare).

Teasel, (Dipsacus).

Vipers Bugloss (Echium vulgare).

Red clover (Trifolium pratense).

A log of wood - I thought at first it was ET 😀

Cattle when I should have looked where I was going!

Grey heron (Ardea cinerea).

Common Buzzard (Buteo buteo).

Great Banded Furrow Bee (Halictus scabiosa) on the cosmos 20/11/2021 before the first frost.

A welcome visitor to the garden, hopefully in hiding from the hunters!

red-legged partridge (Alectoris rufa).

Autumn in all its glory.  Acer tree.

Hydrangeas.

Possibly Mycena polygramma next to the woodpile.

Calendula.

Mexican Orange blossom (Choisya ternata).

One of the last roses.

A maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba)  golden carpet.

European robin (Erithacus rubecula),

All of the later photos (after the walk), are taken with my old Nikon D3200 camera and the old temperamental Nikon 55-300mm lens, or the Nikon Coolpix S7000.  My D3500 camera is fine and survived the fall, but it does not want to work with the 55-300 lens!

Take care everybody, keep well and stay safe.

My local list of wildflowers. (91 Species 02/12/2021).

See also my

 Bird blog

Joining up with My Corner of the World.