Winter Colour

Yesterday wasn't a brilliant day weather wise but I decided to risk the forecast rain and head up to Anglesey Abbey for a spot of winter colour.

First of all I walked up to the water mill,

then through into the Winter Garden.  The birches were almost glowing.

Round the corner come the dogwoods - many different species and colours

The snowdrops were just starting to appear

The grass heads work well with the red dogwood stems.

And I just love this hedge of dogwood!

The garden isn't just about colour though, it also champions winter scent.

It's a place that's worth visiting at any time of the year, but especially on a winter day.

Making and Walking

Well here we are, 2017.   I've had a lovely few days off, in the period between Christmas and New Year when no-one knows what day of the week it is.

First of all I build some wooden covers for my wheelie bin.  They used to be hidden behind a screen fixed to a pergola but the pergola was rotting so I decided to take it down before it fell down.

I thought it would be a quick job to put them together but it actually took all day.  They are very sturdy though.

Next I've been making some jewellery.  A few months ago I bought some limo (polymer clay) and yesterday I made beads - it's very therapeutic!

Today I had fun laying the beads out and finding other beads to go with them.

Quite pleased with the finished result - I'm especially pleased with the marbled blue beads.

While I had the beads and bits out I decided to make another necklace with some beads that I'd bought ages ago.

But it's not all been building/making - I've had 2 lovely walks.  One day Celia, her husband and I went to Mersea Island off the Essex coast.  We'd seen a Channel 4 program called Britain at Low Tide a few months ago and they'd shown the earthworks of a tudor blockhouse  which was commissioned by Henry VIII in 1543 to protect the strategically important Colne estuary.

We found it!  The triangular earthworks are all that remain, and eventually, due to the changing coast line here, even these will probably be lost forever.

The other walk I did was on New year's Day, when it was grey and murky but it wasn't raininng so I walked down by the river to the mill on the water meadows.

The reeds were rustling in the wind and I watched a kingfisher darting about for ages.

Finally I walked home through the town, past this little gate, which was open but clearly not used much.

I hope you all have a wonderful 2017!