The final view - Lucky Snapping in 2013

And so we come to the end of a year of 'The View' at Lucky Snapping in 2013.  In many ways the view doesn't change very much, we were just commenting on how green the grass is in December. Let's see just how the View has changed.

January 2013

February 2013

March 2013

April 2013

May 2013

June 2013

July 2013

August 2013

September 2013

October 2013

November 2013

December 2013

Thank you for staying with me through the year and watching my view change through the seasons.

Frosty Day

We woke up this morning to a white world, there had been a really hard frost and everything was tinged with sparkly white frost - so pretty!

Even my little plastic fox had frosty ears, he is supposed to keep the rabbits out of the garden, but they are just not that stupid!

This little bird was hopping around in the shade of the Ash tree, you can see that the frost never really went away in the shaded areas, hard going for birds.

This little robin (on top of the post) looks a little bit thin, possibly a young robin. 

Some birds are getting fed though, if the hips on my Rosa Rugosa are anything to go by!  Many of the hips have been eaten but there are still plenty left as well as quite a few holly berries.

It was actually really warm when you found a sheltered spot in the sun, and the frost soon began to thaw and drip.

Have a good week everyone.

The view and a walk by the river

The sky was blue and even though there was a cold north east wind blowing, I decided it was time I went out for a walk down to the river at the bottom of our fields.  I've posted this photograph of the flying ducks (just like the little ornaments your gran had on the wall) as it is my favourite photograph from today.  I took my DSLR today and was glad that I did, the compact is great and nice and light to carry but you don't get this kind of shot with a compact!

More ducks, they were all swimming about at the edge of the river, but took off when they noticed me.  I think they are more used to a different kind of shooting and are wary of people.

Here they are minding their own business until I pitched up!

And here are the sheep, studiously ignoring me  in favour of a bit of autumn grazing.   I love that tree, it is such good shape, proper tree shape, if you know what I mean.

And here is The View in November.  I had to take it from the back kitchen window rather than from upstairs as we are using that room as a bedroom at the moment as we have had to evacuate our bedroom due to dry rot, it's a long story and the work won't be compelted until February.  Anyway, my dressing table is in front of the window so I can't get close enough to take my usual View photo. 

It was pretty frosty yesterday morning, the first time we have had a white frost this autumn, later it turned out to be a horrible wet, windy day.

In my garden in October

Between the showers today, I popped outside to take a few quick photos.  The one above is of my 'Beauty Bush', I've had this shrub for about 15 years and although it has occasionally decided to flower, I have never had berries on it.  Aren't they an amazing colour?  I'm sure it's in the wrong place but I don't think I'll be moving it now.

The leaves are falling from the trees now, particularly as it has been really windy today.  Here in the south west of Scotland we are missing the worst of the storms predicted for the south of England, however we did have 50mph gusts and lots of leaves had gathered between the path and the grass.

 

Lovely Gentian, still blooming despite the weather.

 This Polyanthus also provides a splash of colour.

The glorious blue skies make this look like a summer day but the brief spells of sunshine were interspersed with very heavy showers and sometimes the sky in front of the house was blue and the behind the house it was very, very dark!  You can see that our field is full of water, the usual 'pond' is about a third of the size of this, fortunately it is far enough away from the house not to cause any alarm.

Stay safe everyone.

Friday Fruit

Fruit

I can't claim to have taken this photograph today, being back at work rather limits my photo opportunities.  But I wanted to finish the week with another 'Things we Eat' photograph for Lucky Snapping in 2013.  These were the fruits I used to make my Summer Falls into Autumn Pudding a couple of weeks ago, I love the way the look and can imagine again the sweet and sharp flavours

Happy Birthday Daring Cardmakers

It's the 7th Birthday of the original card making challenge blog, Daring Cardmakers.  I used to be a regualar card maker for this challenge and have also been a guest host.  As I had a few days off, I thought it would be rude not to join in the celebrations.  Take a look over at the Daring Cardmakers blog to find out more about the Birthday Celebrations and the lovely prizes up for grabls.


W is for Walnuts and Wednesday

The Lucky Snapping in 2013 photo prompt this week is Things We Can Eat featuring the letters of the days of the week.  I enjoy eating a few nuts as a snack and also love to bake with nuts which was what I was doing when I snapped these walnuts.

Irresistible

The word for this month's 'Let's Reflect' at Lucky Snapping is IRRESISTIBLE and it's supposed to be about things that are irresistible for me. One of the things I never tire of, is taking photographs of the wildlife around the farm and this morning there was an irresistible opportunity right in front of me.

Two swans had come to visit our flooded field, remember how irresistible it was to the cattle?  They were paddling about in it last week and still are, although the water has gone down a bit now.  There are often swans down at the river but they rarely come onto our little bit of flooded field so this was a bit of a treat and totally IRRESISTIBLE! 

It looks like they were finding something irresistible to eat under the water.

The ducks were pretty happy with whatever they were feeding on too.

Now back to the photo prompt for this week 'Things we can eat'  Yesterday was Mince Monday and today is Tomato Tuesday.

Sliced Tomato

And here is the Bagel BLT that I made for our lunch.  It's so much easier to do these challenges when I am not at work and lunches are so much more fun. I'm sure you don't need a recipe to make this, but here is how I made this 'irresistible' sandwich.

Bagel BLT

1 Bagel, split and toasted

2 tsp mayonnaise

3 rashers bacon

1 tomato

2 leaves of cos/romaine lettuce

Cucumber (Bread and Butter) pickle, or other relish

1. Grill or fry the bacon until crisp.

2. Spread the mayonnaise onto to both sides of the toasted bagel

3. Top the base of the bagel with the bacon, then lettuce and tomato.

4. Add the pickle or relish.

5. Top with the bagel lid

You will need a napkin or piece of kitchen roll when you eat it as it oozes out!

The things we eat - M

M is for Mince

I'm trying to  take part in this week's photo challenge for Lucky Snapping because it's about food! Here is the challenge Anne set for us:

"As of our photo challenge, let it be a bit more " challenging " this week : Let's take a photo of things we can eat, starting with any of the letters of the week days : M, T, W, F, S and if you want to (no pressure), you even can upload the recipe."


Mince doesn't seem very inspiring but I have to say this particular recipe which includes tomato puree, soy sauce and balsamic vinegar is very tasty indeed.  It will be featuring with the recipe soon ,as part of a pie recipe on Farmersgirl Kitchen, my cooking blog. 

The View - October 2013

I can't believe how close we are to the end of this challenge, only two more views to go!  As you can see the patio furniture has been stored away for the winter although the flowers in the tubs are still providing some bloom.  This was taken in the morning and the mists of autumn are definitely swirling.  The week started well with some cold misty mornings followed by pleasant warm days, but soon deteriorated into rain and wind.

When we got up yesterday morning the field had filled with water and when I returned from work last night, the cows were having a lovely time paddling about in their pond.  As it's been such a good summer, this batch haven't had much flooding in the field so I think it was a bit of a novelty for them.

They won't be with us much longer, they will be going off to market next week, heading to another farm to be fattened up, so it was nice to get some good shots of them before they go.

Swallows

This morning started out very misty, a typical start to a sunny autumn day.  If the weather wasn't enough of an indicator, the swallows had gathered on the wires ready to fly south for the winter.

I love when the swallows arrive early in the summer and am always a little sad to see them go, because the days are really beginning to get noticeably shorter now.

What are your signals for spring/summer and autumn/winter?