Thorn Apple

I went out early this morning with my camera and took some beautiful sunrise pictures, which I will put on Flickr at some point. However, the GOG got there first and was already taking sunrise pictures when I went outside, so today I have chosen this frosty Thorn Apple seed head.

This morning I completed writing letters and finished ordering things for Christmas. One present has disappeared and a replacement has been ordered. I also discovered when wrapping presents yesterday, that one item has not arrived from Amazon; they have said I have to wait until Tuesday 16 December, before any action can be taken.

I am never this organised and except for a few items, everything, including the Ocado order has been completed. I will now spend the next few days wondering what I have forgotten!

A busy week ahead with two full days speaking with students; I expect to lose my voice on one of the days as the first tutorial is booked for 0830 hours and the last one will not finish until 1900 hours. I did schedule in a lunch break, but that now looks unlikely as some students have had to change days.

The sun has been shining and although it was frosty it did not appear to be as cold as it has been some morning as it has been some other mornings.

Sunrise

This is not the spectacular sunrise that occurred earlier in the week, but it is the one I saw this morning. It was taken from my daughter’s front garden after I had been to feed the cats and fish.

I have spent the while day wrapping parcels and writing Christmas card. I have also started on some personal letters, to people who I keep in contact with at Christmas; I will finish those tomorrow.

Mallards

A quick trip into Saffron Walden today with my daughter to get our nails done. We did not stop for breakfast as the family are off to Sheffield again as both of my grandchildren are fighting again this week.

This afternoon I have finally caught up with the MasterChef semi-finals, only one more week to go.

There was nothing much to photograph in the garden, but there were some Mallards and this male and his lady remained long enough for me to take their picture, although they disappeared into the reeds, very soon after this picture was taken.

Driving Wheels

Outside in the cold this morning with several other stupid people train enthusiasts to see the Cathedral Express train and carriages pulled by two Black Fives. I did not take as many pictures as I might have done had I set the camera on continuous! She goes through the station very fast, so I have some as she approaches as well as some of her as she travels off down the line. I chose this one of the driving wheels as it also shows her number and some speed blur. There are others on Flickr if you are interested.

An early blip so not much to report, the building work is continuing satisfactorily and I will spend the rest of the day checking all of the marking to ensure consistency throughout, before send it all back to the students. Then maybe I can catch up with this week’s MasterChef.

Another picture of this Black Five.

Berries and Blue Sky

I chose this picture today to show not only the beautiful blue sky, but also the red berries before they disappear. I have seen one or two Redwings arriving today, so these berries will soon be gone.

The building work is progressing and the building inspector has been again to approve what is being done. I hope the weather stays like this for a few days so that the rest of the foundations can be completed; then maybe we will also have some walls before too long.

It is sunny today, after the rain and wind we had last night, but it is very cold and yes, the sky really was that blue.

Robin

Once again I was thwarted in my quest to capture a picture of a steam train for my blip. One was due to come through at 1255 hours and so as not to miss it I was waiting out in the cold, thirty minutes before she was due. However, as there is a fireman’s strike today, I learnt that the carriages were being pulled by a diesel; how disappointing for those who had paid over £200 for the trip. Here was another problem too, the overhead power lines were down somewhere along her route and although these would not be necessary for a diesel, by 1320 hours, when she had not appeared I came back indoors. There will be another one coming through on Thursday morning; maybe!

Instead I am posting a picture of a Robin sitting on one of the tray feeders. It was taken through a none too clean kitchen window.

This evening I am out for a Christmas meal with some former work colleagues. It has not been much, if at all, above freezing all day and it looks as though it is about to snow, although the GOG does not think so. If it snows, then I will not be going anywhere!

Squirrel

Today I should have been marking student’s scripts, but instead I have spent all morning and much of the afternoon sorting out finances and paperwork. I decided it was too late to start marking so instead I have been sorting out Christmas presents, which seem to be scattered about the North bedroom. They are now all sorted, but one has gone missing, the GOG says he does not remember me purchasing the item, so I have ordered another one from good old Amazon.

I took today’s blip of a European Grey Squirrel through my upstairs ‘office’ window and across the road. He was eating the sloes and obviously knew I was watching him.

Spring?

Clearly not! Although we did not have a frost this morning, it had been raining; later during the morning we had some sleety rain. Now at almost 1400 hours it is almost dark. Both cats have been in most of the day as it has also been very cold and windy.

I saw these bulbs when I opened the gates this morning in order to visit my daughter’s home to feed her cats. The family have been to Sheffield this weekend as Victoria was fighting in the ‘Nationals’. Her coach said she would be pleased with her if she made it into the top ten; we just hoped that she would win at least one fight. In fact she did very well, beating higher graded brown belts, (she is a blue belt) and one girl that she has never beaten before. She lost the fight that would have taken her into the final few in order to fight for a bronze medal. Her coach was absolutely delighted with her; Victoria came seventh out of twenty-six. Next weekend, both Victoria and Oliver are fighting again in Sheffield, so I will be on cat and fish duty again.

Today’s blip shows some bulbs coming through in one of the front borders; there were several more, so not just a fluke. The snowdrops by our gate, which I always blip as soon as I see them are nowhere to be found, although they are usually through the ground first.

Not Oliver Cromwell

This morning I had been given the information, posted the Newport Village FaceBook page that the Oliver Cromwell steam engine, (Cathedral Express and Steam Dreams) would be coming through Newport, leaving Broxbourne (about half an hour away) at 1020 hours. Wrong. I went onto the station just after 1000 hours only to be told that she had already gone through and that it was not the Oliver Cromwell; she and Britannia have both been taken out of service. Another train enthusiast telephoned someone to check that there was not another one later. He also told me that she would be returning through Newport just before 1830 hours; next time I will check for myself.

However, being a disbelieving sod sort of person I stood in my garden, for an hour, camera in hand watching the train line; she had indeed gone. The trains pass by the bottom of my garden and neither the GOG nor I heard her; unusual as they are usually quite noisy.

I pottered about during the day, planting the Christmas tree and filling bird feeders. We had a very late lunch and then I watched the second Harry Potter film, as if I have not seen it enough times. I decided that I would not go out in the cold and watch her come back this evening, but it got the better of me and along with some other stupid people train enthusiasts, we stood on the platform and watched her pass; the coaches were being pulled by two ‘Black Fives’, not a named engine.

There used to be a lot of steam trains on this line, but we get very few these days, there is another one coming through early on Thursday morning; hopefully that will be my blip for the day.

I make no apologises for the poor quality of this picture. I took several as she thundered through at what seemed like a hundred miles and hour. The railway line joins my two small ‘One Streets’ so this is another one to add to my collection.

The Last One This Year.....

That is the last Addenbrookes Hospital visit, not the last Costa coffee or cake. His next appointment is not until 2015, then he has two appointments in the first week of January.

I did a little work this morning as the appointment was during the afternoon, other than that, there is not a lot to say about today except the sun shone briefly although it was cold and overcast for most of the day.