Saturday, January 2, 2010

A New Decade, 1st January 2010. Icy Photos.

Will this cold weather never end? We have been threatened with minus 10 tonight!! That's unheard of. Fingers crossed that the water doesn't freeze this time.

Jim and I ate ourselves into the New Year! We had my favourite meal, egg and chips!! Plus dips first and mince pies and cream for dessert. We then did a jigsaw puzzle of a butterfly. It was one of those with lots of colours the same and we finally finished it about 5am! How daft are we?

Looking back to Christmas and Buster's present, this is what happened to his rugby ball:

The insides! The sad looking doll on the mat is Emily, who Buster has had since he was a puppy - she has no insides either!


There's a touch of irony about the badge on the ball don't you think??

Yesterday I also managed to get out into the garden for a while. Not too long as it was very cold. I tidied here and there and even did some willow pruning. Jim took this rather unflattering shot of me!


It was amazingly windy the night before and the wind had brought down a very attractive willow tree which is next to our tool shed. Jim's going to take some cuttings from it.

Jim rather foolishly let Buster on his lap (well, as much of him as would fit) the same evening and he drove us nuts yesterday evening trying to get back up on the settee (which he isn't supposed to do).


How have we managed to create such a daft dog?

Today we got up late of course and as it was sunny, took Buster for a walk to the lake. It was very cold and we wrapped up warm. As my camera has broken, I used Jim's but it's rather like driving another car, it doesn't feel quite the same. I'll have to get used to it though. Here are a selection of photos.

The sun had melted some of the frost but you can see the crystals on the oak leaves in the foreground.

There was some thick ice around, luckily not too much on the road. I loved the ice that had formed at the edge of Kevin's field.



We met a couple who had walked down from their house up near the main road. They were lovely and we had a long chat. They had wonderful faces and I asked if I could photograph them:

This is Terry (originally from the UK)

And this is Clare. Isn't she lovely? Now we know where they live, we will go and call on them.

They had 2 dogs with them, a little terrier and a very large almost white Labrador. Buster had a wonderful romp with them, especially the lab, who it turned out wasn't theirs, but they walked him for a neighbour. It's good to meet new people.

Jim and I continued to the lake side. The lake was much more frozen than it had been on my last visit and some of the patterns of the ice were amazing. Here are two of the shots I took:#


The lines of ice look like the contours I used to draw on a map for geography at school.


Kevin's yard was very icy but there was a path we could tread that was dry. Here is the icy stream running down:


It was strange, you could see the water underneath this ice running down the slope!

Buster walked out onto the fishing stand and we were worried he might try and walk on the ice and fall in. He came back when we called him luckily.


Lough Graney with a pink tinge and tree reflections.


Jim all wrapped up against the cold.

On the walk back, Jim and I were pretty cold - both our hands and feet had frozen and as soon as the sun went down the temperature dropped dramatically, so we rushed home to our lovely warm fire.

Jim made a lovely curry (turkey, would you believe), and we watched the last episode of the wonderful David Tennant as Doctor Who. He died in this episode, which was rather sad and a new Doctor appeared. David Tennant is a very hard act to follow.

That's enough for today. I am hoping to be able to get some good photographs tomorrow if the frost is as hard as they say it will be.

Happy New Year Everyone.

18 comments:

Twisted willow said...

Great pictures of Terry and Claire. Not so sure about the one of me!

BT said...

Oh thank you sir! I like the one of you.

Rachel Green said...

Lovely shots. Claire is very pretty.

Matt Smith looks more than capeable of taking over from David Tennant:

http://io9.com/5438526/your-first-glimpse-of-matt-smiths-new-doctor-in-action

Renee said...

BT your photographs are wonderful just like aways.

Happy New Year.

Love Renee xoxoxo

Jason said...

Ohhh looks cold, we have a thin layer of snow, but bright and sunny so dont think it will last. Been a good holiday, only one more day left!

Happy New Year, from the Green's,

xxxxx

HelenMWalters said...

I love the irony of the rugby ball! A very Happy New Year to you x

The Weaver of Grass said...

I like the one of Sir too! You don't think he might be fishing for compliments by saying he is not sure about it? (sorry Jim)
Buster undoubtedly steals the show - he holds centre stage on your header - what more could he want (other than another sit on Jim,'s knee!) Those ice photos are fantastic - there is an embroidery there somewhere. Keep warm.

Heather said...

Don't be too hard on Buster - maybe he is a soccer fan and you gave him the wrong shaped ball! Love the pic of him on Jim's lap. The ice photos are amazing and the frost crystals so lovely. Keep warm and safe - it will be spring one day.

Jinksy said...

The portraits of your neighbours are stunning. I always like close ups of head and shoulders, as the character if the subject really comes out.

BT said...

Thank you Rachel, she is isn't she. I think we have to give Matt Smith a chance! I'm sure he'll be fine.

Thank you Renee, you're too kind.

Hi Jason, I'm glad you've enjoyed your holidays. Even colder today, twas -8 last night!!

Thanks Helen, I'm glad someone appreciated it!! Happy New Year to you too.

Ha ha Weaver, he probably is, you know what men are!! I'm glad you liked the ice photos I was amazed by the patterns there. You can do an embroidery Weaver, it's not my forte!!

Thank you Heather, I'm glad you like the photos. Buster would like to be a lap dog! He's just a bit too big. Gosh, how long will this cold go on?

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I love the new header photo. I bet Buster has cold toes. Your neighbors look quite handsome.

kj said...

at first i couldn't believe that was a lake, gina. just beautiful.

i sympathize with your weather.

Peggy said...

Hi, visiting from twisted willow blog.You are really having a hard time in Co Clare this year with flooding and now very cold weather which we do not normally get.I am in the south in Cork, parts of which were badly flooded but we escaped.We would expect a couple of days of 0% -2% usually around feb so this year has taken us completely by surprise!

BT said...

Thanks Lisa, it's the first time I've put a header on!! Buster the star as ever.

Thank you kj. I took loads of lake photos today. I'll have to cull them though.

Hello Peggy, so lovely to meet you. We almost bought somewhere around Cork. I heard you had bad flooding. We were ok but a bit cut off for a while. Now it's just ice and fog and frost! Crazy weather indeed. I'll pop over to yours later.

steven said...

another brilliant newsy post bt!! my favourite part though have to be the pics of the ice with lines in it. i have never seen that before. it's stunning and mesmerizing!! have a warmer evening. i know your pain. it's minus twenty eight here right now!!! steven

BT said...

minus 28 steven? MINUS 28? That's madness! I'm so glad you appreciated the ice pictures, I have never seen ice quite like it either. I thought it was amazing. We are keeping warm. I now have curtains up in my new studio. Hurrah!

DK said...

I'm loving the layout of your blog now, best picture choices!

The ice photos are amazing, sooo beautiful. I reckon Matt wotsit'll do well, once the orginal shock is over :D

Love and stuff from the Greens up thisaway too! LOL

So looking forward to seeing you soon :D xxx

BT said...

Oh K, I hadn't seen your comment there. Thanks re my bloggy layout, I think it works quite well now too. I'm so looking forward to my visit, I just hope the airports at either end are functioning. xxx