Christmas Eve..

It's Christmas Eve and the moon is full....

for the first time in thirty seven years!

Magic! Can't wait for the next one.....

Merry Christmas to all our friends, family and fellow bloggers everywhere!

Waterside Walking: Wet and Dry

Yesterday it was wet... and the walk along our local brook proved to be a bit of a challenge in places...

We were surprisingly lucky with the weather today and managed a walk along the Ribble at Clitheroe - in between showers..

However, the river was still swollen and turbulent..

You can see the strong flow of water round the base of the bridge supports..

Gulls and Rooks circled above us..

 Where the rive bends there was a sizeable area full of debris - branches, tree trunks and other flotsam and jetsom...

The wire fence on the right is "filled in" with debris left by the floods. Had Colin been on the path, the water line would have been above his head....

The sunshine was a welcome sight...

As were the reindeer sculptures bedecked with tinsel!

The rain clouds were gathering as we ended the walk

And we drove home in a downpour!!

Christmas Wishes 2015...

As we have done for the past few years, in place of Christmas cards and costly postage, we have made donations to charities which are close to our hearts, namely 

Epilepsy Action https://www.epilepsy.org.uk/and Headway http://www.headwayprestonandchorley.org.uk/

We trust that this way of  passing on our good wishes for the Christmas season causes offence to no-one and will benefit those most in need

Wishing one and all the most joyful of Christmases 

and a Happy and Peaceful New Year

Colin and Elizabeth

xxxxxxx

A Year On..

A year ago today, my best friend, Christine, lost her battle for life.

Her family lost a wife, a mum, a soon to be Grandmother, an auntie, a daugher in law.... and so on...

But they didn't lose all the wonderful memories she gave them and their resilience in the face of such a tragedy is truly humbling.

This little treasure may never have met her grannie but she will grow up knowing what a lovely person she was. And she will be truly loved.. A real star in the darkness!!

"Death leaves a heart-ache no-one can heal; Love leaves a memory no-one can steal..."

Rest peacefully, Chris.

Christine Cutner

12th March, 1955 - 12th December, 2014

Return of the Brambling

It was lovely to see our old friend the Brambling appear - through the fog - on the bird table today...

But when things started getting crowded....

he went out on a limb...

and then onto the bird bath...

We were even more delighted this afternoon when the female Brambling appeared!

But their peace was soon shattered...

No wonder he's looking a bit down in the mouth!!

Rock Chick!

If you are a frequent reader of our blog it will not have escaped your notice that I have a fascination (some might say "fixation") with stone/rocks/pebbles...

Whether it's polishing them, as seen here, here and here

Carving them...

or simply collecting them,

So it will probably not come as a surprise to know that fossils float my boat, too! Sorry Colin but you do! ONLY JOKING!!!!!

As Braye-sous-Faye was once submerged by an inland sea, we find many fossils in our garden but this one in particular caught my eye....

 

Every face of it is full of fossils. Such a good specimen, in my eyes. 

Yes, I'm easily pleased - give me a pile of rock and I'm a happy rock chick! (I wish!)

Freezer Blitz...

We are trying (with limited success) to reacquaint ourselves with the bottom of the chest freezer, last seen in 2011 when it was purchased.

This has led to some interesting and mysterious meals but also to a sense of shock at the amount of fruit two people can pick and freeze...

Having already given away many, many pounds of strawberries for jam and ice-cream making and thrusting other soft fruits upon any neighbours too polite to refuse, we still have kilo after kilo (note the mixed units of weight - or is it volume?) of blackcurrants, redcurrants, whitecurrants, blackberries, plums, apples, pears, cherries - sour and sweet, raspberries and strawberries.

So yet more jam and jelly making was called for..

That still leaves us with a good stash to get through as we're way off the bottom yet...

Surprisingly we are still able to pick enough for our meals each day, though I suspect after last night's frost (-3.6) these picked yesterday may well be the last.

We will get to the bottom of that chest freezer one way or another, and then we'll start on the upright!!

Rilly-sur-Vienne: Randonne

We have our friends, Paul and Mary, to thank for a most enjoyable walk yesterday afternoon, setting out from the village of Rilly-sur-Vienne.

Here's a photo diary to give you a taste of the area...

The start of the walk was through undulating countryside, still with plenty of colour despite the date

Then into woodland, where the acorns crunched under our feet as we walked...

Growing in a garden we passed were these Medlar...

The geese sent a welcome (?) committee...

and then changed their mind...

The canopy of oak leaves was spectacular..

but further on, it was these two leaves which caught our attention.. They looked like two balloons put out to indicate a party.

The sunlight also lit up the Old Man's Beard or Traveller's Joy (Clematis Vitalba), known in France as Herbe aux Gueux - the beggars or rascals herb.

You have to wonder when was the last time this door was used and how small must the occupant have been?!

Finally back to the sweeping fields, still under the bright blue November sky..

So "Thank you" Mary and Paul for introducing us to this lovely walk. It's sure to become a favourite with us.