Day 77 – Colour On A Dreary Day…

I hate the fact that the garden is usually so dreary during the winter months, with all the herbaceous plants dying back, and few shrubs keeping their leaves. So this year I planted up some pots and containers with plants and bulbs to show colour all through the winter. I’ve arranged these such that they can then be replanted for the summer… What’s not to like!

Planter – Sony A7iii & 24-105mm

Day 74 – Full Steam Ahead…

One of my winter ‘evening’ projects this year is to build a small model railway. I’d made a half-hearted attempt to build one previously, but it didn’t really work out… The challenge this year is to build a completely portable layout, so this one measures just 50cm x 50cm. It means that realism is somewhat compromised, but it’s still possible (just) to have a continuous track, with a couple of sidings.

009 gauge layout – Sony A7iii & 24-105mm

Day 71 – What A Difference…

… a day makes. Yesterday was chilly, but with blue skies and bright sunshine, very much a spring day. Today however is even colder, the sky is dull grey, and it’s raining pretty hard just now. Those hardy souls venturing out are all carrying umbrellas. Feels more like November than March!

Cheshire Street, Market Drayton – iPhone XR

Day 70 – Spring Has Sprung…

It may still be a little chilly in the mornings (just 5°C this morning), and the wind is ‘fresh’ to say the least, but Spring is definitely on the way. Daffodils everywhere, and lots of white and pink blossom on the trees. Beautiful…

Daffodils at home – iPhone XR

Day 67 – Red or White Rose?

Blore Heath, just a couple of miles from where we live, was the site of a bloody battle on the 23rd Sept 1459 between the Lancastrian and Yorkist armies. A relatively small skirmish in the War of the Roses, some 3,000 of the 15,000 in the two armies were killed over the 2 days the battle lasted.

Blore Heath, Market Drayton – iPhone XR

Day 64 – Who’s Looking At You?

Spotted this stone gargoyle on the side of a bank here in Market Drayton. The building is otherwise unremarkable, and even though it dates from the mid 19th Century, isn’t listed as having particular architectural merit. Scary though!

Gargoyle, Market Drayton – iPhone XR

Day 63 – Threatening Skies…

Today’s plan was to get some jobs done in the garden, but the weather had other ideas… Several times I went outside, got set up with tools etc, only to have to beat a hasty retreat when the heavens opened. The changeable weather did however yield an interesting sky. This was the view from the top of our garden.

Farmland, Peatswood – Sony A7iii & 24-105mm
Farmland, Peatswood – iPhone XR

Day 62 – Cooking On Gas…

Our first BBQ brunch of the year – sadly the unseasonably warm and dry weather we’ve seen for the last couple of weeks has given way to usual March weather – cold and rainy… Still, good fun anyway and a taste of what’s to come.

BBQ brunch, Peatswood – iPhone XR