Out and about . . . .

. . . firstly in the garden, where I spotted this flower about to open,



and the dew drops on this leaf.



Then down to town, where the swans on the Crammer (the name of the large pond on the Green) had plenty of pickings,



I spotted these curtains in the Oxfam shop, and have put a "hold" on them - I'm going to need a few sets of curtains for the new house - to collect tomorrow.



And down in the Market Square I was amazed to see this, its actually carved in the brickwork above Lloyds Bank, I cant believe I haven't spotted it before.

26 week challenge

The remit for this two week's challenge was to use a lens that you dont normally use. Well, I've only got a little point and shoot camera, so I cant change my lens. The lens I have is a very soft one and is excellent for close-ups and macro shots, but not wonderful on long distance and scenery shots, so I decided to go for a smallish aperture (f5.6) and stick with that for a while to see if it made a difference. I should have done it for the whole two weeks, but sadly only lasted for the one day.



This is my first shot



my favourite



and my last shot.



Are the shots better than if I'd used the "P" setting? Not really sure, to be honest.

Week 36/52 247-253/365

A week very much dominated by the weather, and weather related events.

247/365 A heavy sleet shower



248/365 A very heavy rain shower



249/365 A calm start to an otherwise wild day



250/365 Overnight storm, very windy



251/365 A sunny day



252/365 New fence panels



253/365 New fence post in situ

For the love of marmalade . . .

. . . which is now only available from Waitrose, we had to go to Marlborough for our nearest branch



We parked in the High Street, right opposite . .



Normally we would have popped in here for a drink, before wending our way homewards, but one of our joint resolutions for this year is to give less of our hard earned dosh to breweries, so instead we drove to . . .



Cherhill (pronounced "Sheryl" by the locals) Down, where we had a little wander around, and then ate our lunch sarnies in the car.









The weather was glorious, a lull in the stormy conditions of the month so far, and so much nicer than sitting in an empty pub.

A walk along the towpath

Having been cooped up indoors for a while, we felt the need for a walk, and decided the canal towpath would be a good idea, being fairly level. We took the car down to Sells Green and parked up.






We walked as far as the new Marina, before turning round and heading back.






At this point the canal runs alongside the now disused railway line, which was "Beechinged" in 1964 but railway architecture is still in evidence. Here is a stream that goes under both the railway and then the canal.



I have absolutely no idea where this footpath leads to, the signpost is so old and covered in lichen, its impossible to read



Almost back to where we had parked.



We were incredibly lucky that the rain didn't start until we were actually back inside the car



The windows misted up as we ate our sandwiches



A nice bit of exercise for the start of a new year.

Happy New Year . . .

. . . to all my friends and followers.

I hope you have enjoyed reading my blog, I have enjoyed writing it, and also reading all of your blogs.

2011 was certainly a year of change for us, we started the year with a bit of a health scare with Rog, who was hospitalized (!!) for a few days after suffering a minor stroke, but was back home after 3 days and has made a remarkable 95% recovery. This was a blessing in disguise, as it prompted his employers to agree to his application for early retirement, which was implemented at the end of February. By the middle of March we had decided that the house we have been in since 2008 was the wrong house for us so we did a quick bit of tidying and tarting up, and put it on the market at the beginning of June. We were off to a false start in July, both with a buyer who later pulled out and finding a house we thought we would like to buy, which turned out, after a survey, to be not the right one for us after all.

By October we had found another buyer and a really lovely house to buy, and were initially expecting all to be done and dusted by December, or at the latest early January. However, we have now come up against a further delay, caused by the people below us in the chain, and we must wait until probably the middle or end of February before we can move.

So we start the New Year with most of our possessions boxed up around us, and having to tread water for a while. I fully intend to use this time as constructively as possible so that its not wasted, I shall be crafting as much as I can and learning more about photography. If you would like to follow my learning progress you can read my "Never too old" blog. I've also started a new blog, specifically for a photographic 366 project, which you can follow here.

I would dearly love for you to comment on any or all of my blogs, although I know from my own experience there's not always the time to comment on the blogs one follows, but please pop in now and again just to say hello.

May all your dreams come true in 2012,

With love from Joy x x x

Today . . .

. . . is my lovely eldest son Eddie's birthday, hope you have a great day x x x