Best Wishes for 2018

Wordless Wednesday

Geranium - Jolly Jewel(tm) Pink

Never Mind Snow at Christmas ....

... this Christmas Eve Sunrise set me up for the day.
No tinkering this time, just a bit of cropping.

From the village crossroads:



From the village school:



From my lane:

Merry Christmas to All

Very best Christmas wishes to all from a few of the locals:




The top title was made in Art Text 3 using the font Holly Christmas. A free for personal use font by Jonathan S. Harris which can be downloaded HERE.

Trees

First a close silhouette shot with the Sun hidden behind the trees:



This longer shot was processed in HDR Efex Pro 2
I really like the atmosphere it created:

A Sunrise and a Scare Car

Just a narrow band of colour for the Sunrise over Manby yesterday:



Is this the 21st Century version of a Scarecrow - a Scarecar?
Seen in the middle of a field along with billowing fabric:



Can't say I've seen this idea before. Is the fabric on poles meant to give an impression of people I wonder?  Certainly there were no Wood Pigeons to be seen nearby for a change.

There are still the usual gas cannons going off round the village. This is the first year Penny has taken little notice of them. She normally reacts badly to sudden loud noises and usually tries to bolt but seems to have got used to them after four years..

Tuesday Teaser - Answer

Last week I showed this XnSketch version of a photograph:




This is the original photo:


One of a pair of artificial holly balls I bought to replace hanging baskets for the Winter. As well as being pretty realistic they also contain some miniature LED lights which come on at night. The battery and solar panel are contained in the small unit on top of each pole.

 

Congratulations to The Weaver of Grass for working out it was holly.
Many thanks to all who had a go at identifying this year's teasers.

That was the last Teaser for this year.
Some time in the new year I will think of something to tease you with.

Frosty Bin

The lid of a wheelie bin covered with frost patterns:

Starlings and Apples

This is the first time I have seen Starlings show interest in an apple:





I don't think they were too impressed as they didn't stay very long.

Tuesday Teaser

Last week's teaser was a Circular Studio rendition:


of this Christmas candle ornament:


Congratulations to Ragged Robin who worked it all out and to The Weaver and Adrian who were most of the way there:

This time I used XnSketch to produce:


What had I photographed? If you wish to have a go at identifying it please leave your guess in the comments. They will be revealed, along with the original photo, next Tuesday.

Sunset

This evening was one of those rarer occasions when there was very little cloud in the West while the Sun was setting so all the gorgeous colour was on the cloud formations towards the East:



As for the dire warning of snow for us yesterday. It was almost a case of what snow, here anyway. Some very fine snow with an hour of the fluffy stuff which started to settle and then vanished. Mainly sleet and rain.

I Dare You ......

Nothing captures Penny's attention faster that a squirrel making a dash for a tree:

Wordless Wednesday

Oily Reflection

Tuesday Teaser

Last week I used Circular Studio to produce:


from  this:


A photograph I took many years ago of the Maud Foster Windmill in Boston, Lincolnshire.
This is a working mill and details can be found HERE.

Well done to Roy, Bettina, Adrian and Ragged Robin who could see it was a windmill.

On to a new Circular Studio concoction for you to identify:


As always, if you want to have a guess as to what this is you can leave your guess in the comments. They, along with the original photo, will be revealed next Tuesday.

December Cold Moon

A clear frosty morning gave an opportunity to see the December 'Supermoon':





As predicted it was large and bright, too bright for the little Nikon to cope with as detail was burned out. I tried a bit of burning in Affinity but the detail just wasn't there.

Winter Moth

Spotted resting on my front door this morning:



For once it was one I managed to identify very quickly.
A Winter Moth (Operophtera brumata)
For detailed information about them visit The Garden Safari HERE.

An Apple a Day ......

.... is one of the surest ways to attract Blackbirds to my garden:

A Tale of Two Robins

Or to be exact one with a tail and one without:



More than a bit surprised when I was scanning the video captures to see what had been visiting the bird table. Born like it or the result of an altercation with a cat or another Robin? We will never know.