St Nicholas Ickford

 

This week the Church Explorer features St Nicholas Ickford  a church I only spent a few moments looking around but have intentions of returning to

A New Dawn

 

Thursday 21st Jan the morning after  Biden was inaugurated  President of the United States I woke up to this beautiful dawn with the sun just coming up. After looking out the bedroom window and seeing this view I went and got my phone and took a coulpe of photos

 

Zooming back I captured the houses in the dawn

 

Hours later a the New Dharma Bums would be getting up to this in California 
 Happy Skywatch

Snow Dragons

 

 

Snow Day

 

Sunday was a snow day, first thing in the morning it snowed for a few hours, a welcome sight for some and dread for others. Personally I love seeing snow and have done since I was a kid but with climate change it does not happen often and when it does is not around for long. Once the snow had stopped I had no hesitation in going outside and getting a few photos around the garden before it disappeared.

 The patio was well covered as it snowed and sitting at the table did not look like a good idea

 

The holly tree looked good for a Christmas Card

The red berries showing for the birds if the needed them

The rose hips took on a coat of snow 

The Olive tree changed colour with the snow

And the apple tree had a layer along the branches, the bird feeder in the background providing food for Birds when they came down. The snow lasted a few hours but was mostly gone by the afternoon. I'm not sure when we will get more or weather is not so predictable now but at least for a few hours the snow was there to enjoy.

There is a bit more to Manor Farm but I will write another blog on that another time.

Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone

A Church Tower View

 

This week the Church Explorer takes you on Top of a Church Tower to show the view from on the top, not something you get to do every day but something I have been able to do in a few occasions 

Farm Skys

 

Tuesday I Featured a barn at Manor Farm I stopped quickly beside the Church Entrance and looked over towards the meadows opposite and spotted a superb sky

 These are the meadows where I look over the meadow towards the Chiltons in the distance

Turning around This looks towards manor Farm and the barn I was visiting

Heading home I could not help take one more skyview  looking back through the village.               Happy Skywatch

Take Care everyone 

Churchyard Snowdrops

 

The Barn

 

Sunday as it was a nice day I thought I would go out and get a few photos of a barn on the outside of the village. It was once a working barn but with changes in farming did not seem to be used as much. One day on the way home from work I noticed it was being converted and eventually was converted into two office spaces. The barns were empty for a long time before a gym opened up on one side, it became very successful and they soon took on the other part, now the barn is one huge gym. I had long wanted to get a few photos of the place with no one around and Sunday provided the opportunity.

This is Manor Farm where I was heading, the barn in question is the longer one to the mid right. The one on the lower right is a dovecote. The signs on the end advertise the building is for rent. The photo was taken from the top of the church tower back in 2008. I do have an older photo one taken from the same place but I need to look it out and scan it.

Looking from ground level on Sunday towards the barns

Standing opposite to get a photo is impossible dues to a garden so this was taken from a driveway

This is the barn from around the back where the entrance is

This is one of the entrances

And this is the other which I think is the main one

There is also an outdoor gym

A relic of the old farming days

This is what the gym looks like looking through the window down the barn

Weights just inside one of the entrances

Looking through the main entrance

The place is called the Barn Fitness Club and from the number of people you walking to the place from the village or exercising when you drive past it is very popular. If you click on the link you can see more about the place.

There is a bit more to Manor Farm but I will write another blog on that another time.

Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone

2020 Review Pt2

 

This week the church explorer  publishes part 2 of the 2020 review in which I did manage to visit 30 odd churches during the year, more than I expected.

Stay Safe everyone

Seven Days

 

 Lockdown here in the UK has it's up's and downs , trying to know what to write is becoming a problem but one day Friday and Skywatch I always know what I can show.  This week I thought I would show the sky from by my kitchen door taken over seven days. They were taken from Monday to Sunday at slightly differing times.

Above this was Monday I took the photo about 15:30

Tuesday I went out after 8:30 as the sun was rising

Wednesday I took the photo around 12:30

Thursday there was a slight fog in the air just after 9am

Friday there was a dusting of snow at 8am

Saturday the fog was there at 11:45

Sunday was at least a little clearer at around 12:25. The following day was more interesting so I will feature the same view at different times of the day. Take care and stay safe everyone.

Happy Skywatch

 

January Rose

Walk in the Garden

 

 With the pandemic we have going on at the moment I have been reluctant to go out wandering around taking photos so today I thought it would be nice to look around my garden and see how things are developing. I was pleased to see things were starting to grow again.

One of the first things you notice outside the back door is this magnolia which has buds on it

Roses look healthy and this one is growing well

There are buds on this Clematis even though it looks dead

I spotted the tree peony was growing well 

Quite pleased with the broad beans which are growing in the raised bed

The daffodils in the lawn are coming through the grass

But the flower that brings the most joy is seeing the Snowdrops popping up which means we will be having a beautiful display soon.

Taking Part in My Little Corner of the World  Our World Tuesday and Imag-in-ing, you can find all the links in the right hand column Take care everyone