Brrrrr

It's definitely still winter.
Today's temperatures, so far:



Just put out the third lot of seed for the birds.
Always a toss up who will be waiting nearby, Robin or Blackbird:



Also had to change the pot of water I put out in cold weather. It soon freezes over.

Something I don't see much these days, icicles.
These have been slowly forming during the afternoon:



Though snowfall here has been sporadic, when it has come it is like blizzard conditions.
Yesterday it nearly all melted but not today.

Beam Me Up Scotty

Mid morning a few days ago all that was visible to show there was a Sun somewhere were these weak Sunbeams:



Sunday's Sunrise looked more colourful, brightening up a cold Winter morn:



This morning we are getting a taste of things to come - light snow showers.

Orchids

The mid size Cymbidium plant has been in flower for about four weeks and seems to have reached its best colouring:



Another of the Oncidium Twinkle miniatures is also starting to flower.
These blooms are about 10mm at their widest:



The buds on the larger Cymbidium plants are still developing.
All being well some should open about the middle of next month.

Saturday Stretcher

Last week's slit scan / stretched photo:



was a rear view of:



which Glo, Ragged Robin and Adrian correctly identifies as a remote control.
My thanks to all who had a go at guessing.

I don't think this week's puzzle photo will cause too many problems with identification:



We shall see ....
Please leave any guesses in the comments.
They wil be revealed, along with the original object, next Saturday.

For some unknown reason Glo's comment last week went in my 'spam' list and when I tried to move it to the right list Blogger decided to publish it straight away. 

Whoa. It's Not Spring Yet

I just spied one of the tiny flowers opening on the Corkscrew Hazel bush. It's a bit on the early side to say the least. The catkins haven't started to open up yet:



It looks like a couple of weeks ahead with temperatures hovering around 0C while the weather system brings cold air from Siberia. Snow warnings have already been issued for next Tuesday on this coast.

A Walk on the South Side

The last time we cut through the back of the churchyard I noticed some of the grass round the South side had been cut to make a path all round the church. That is the first time I have been able to get close on that side. For many years the old part of the graveyard was fenced off as sheep were allowed to graze there.  Then for a few years it just went wild with long grass and weeds.

I was able to see two old doorways which are now sealed.
One on the South side near the East end:



The other at the West end which would have opened into the base of the tower:

 


I was also able to get closer shots of the grotesques and gargoyles on that side:

    

   

   



One of two stone carved crosses at the East end of the roof:



Some of the grave stones, like this one, have fallen over:



The few stone tombs are well weather worn:

 





A look back at the newer part of the churchyard with its Snowdrops and Winter Aconites:

Of Moggies and Badgers

Last Friday:
Nothing of outstanding interest on the latest batch of 200+ photos taken by the trail camera at the bottom of the garden. Penny, moggies and Wood Pigeons mainly. Madam always knows what has walked where:




Greyhounds may well be known as sight hounds but she spends more time at home, and out and about, following scent trails.

The day after I wrote the above:
6 a.m. Penny needed to go out in the back garden. Once out she spent ages carefully following scent trails all over the place. A quick check of the automatic video recordings showed the badger had visited again just an hour earlier.

That should be the last Badger visit to my garden for some time to come. Much as I really like to have wildlife visiting there was too large a chance of Penny going out while a Badger was there. They can inflict bad wounds with their front claws when threatened so I must put Penny's safety first. To that end I found the only gap in the fence where one could get through and, hopefully, made it secure.