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Misty and overcast, branches and twigs reach out like witches fingers. Darkening mist twists and turns. Hidden eyes watch as the gloom deepens. Footsteps trail through the bracken. Water lies in droplets across the dead and dying wood.
She had seen light from the footpath. A cottage.. A campfire? What was there. Goaded by her imagination she stepped off the path. Feet tangling in blackberries and vines. She stumbled and the branches reached down….
Ignore the time on my weather station, I haven’t changed it since the clocks went back for winter. Look at the inside temperature in here, my living room. 15.6°C inside (7.8°C outside). I wondered why I was shivering. I’ve been trying to keep the central heating off most of the time to save money, but I’ve just relented and put it on. I’m still shaking while I type this. As heat rises I expect the ceiling to get warm first. My feet and legs feel the coldest……Now think of all the homeless people who don’t have shelter. I might be cold but I’m thankful to have a home.
I don’t know what the equivalent in Farenheight would be… I’d categorise it as ‘chilly’…
This is where we walked today, up the hill, across the valley of the Trent. Part of the city laid out across the view. We are a long but thin city. Countryside all around us. A lot of green spaces despite the terraces. Not huge and grey like Manchester and Birmingham. Yes we get traffic jams and pollution, our infrastructure is poor, with many bottlenecks for cars and lorries, particularly when the nearby motorway gets blocked and all its traffic hits the cities dual carriage ways. Then again we can be completely blocked up by snowfalls. Ah well, that’s life…. The tree looks out over all of that and just ignores it and carries on growing…
Mid November and there are still yellow daisy flowers growing. They may be a weed plant but I don’t care, its just good to see nature breaking through the old tarmac and concrete.
Taken near Etruria Industrial Museum, Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent. Photograph taken on my smartphone.
Almost too bright to look at, our small halogen heater is in the living room combating the cold of our old terraced house. Rather than putting the central heating on, or switching on the gas fire. I don’t know whether it is cost effective. Would running a blow heater be less expensive. I wish I knew where there was a comparison site to check on?
For instance, for baked potato’s I now part cook them in the microwave then bake the outside of them in the oven. But is this fuel efficient or should I just microwave them?
One pproblem is that the previous owner had the two reception rooms turned into a through lounge, plenty of space but more difficult to heat. As climate change increases and a move from fossil fuels is instigated what will be the new means of heating?
Talking to a friend about our outdoor cat I explained that he’s generally in our garden which is about the size of two terraced houses and their yards…. There are lots of other cats about that come and go (I fear for the bird population but they have plenty of cover). There’s a shed and a summerhouse, two cat beds and cushions. He’s a big cat, twice the size of my other two, well-groomed. Tidy, but not a dominant cat which is why I think they can integrate…
He comes in and sleeps sometimes but he’d found a space on the settee and now the indoor boy cat sleeps there. I will have to find him a new space, it all seems to be about territory. I also think he gets too hot when we have our heating on. He will eat, then mooch over to the back door and yowl to be let out… Such is the life of an abandoned out door cat, we want to love and care for him, but he hadn’t made his mind up fully about us.
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Looking out of the window this afternoon, the sun came out and the sky cleared. Much more sparkle than my drawing first thing in the morning. Soon the view will clear further when the trees shed the rest of their leaves. Mind you, the rate the ivy is climbing up the wall the window might be covered over!
Tonight is meant to be very cold and the outdoor cat won’t come in, he’s busy running round the garden, but he’s got a warm bed in the shed. Tomorrow it’s due to rain again… No more blue sky….
Hubby ‘rescued’ this, but I think there is no chance of survival. Its a blackened mess of sagging stems. The result of a particularly cold night and a very tender plant. I’m afraid it’s going to be relegated to the compost bin tomorrow after rescuing some spring bulbs that have started to grow even before the winter arrives. I have even seen blossom on the apple tree a few weeks ago. Gardening is tough at this time of year. The day length and cold kill the annual plants and shut down perennial ones. Can’t wait for spring……
They are wilting…
Every day they are declining, wilting, leaves and flowers crumpling. We still haven’t had a frost but we have had cold rain.
Once they are gone we won’t have flowers till April or May. A few plants might be able to overwinter. I’m still thinking of getting some winter flowering pansies and a few cyclamen.
The main decline is amongst the plants are the begonias, their soft stems hold lots of water but I think their cells are only thinly walled and they split in the cold weather. Fushias are stronger, their woody stems hold out against the cold….
And then I’ve got baby raspberries… Weird!
I went out to take photos of our hanging baskets and took a photo of these at the same time. I was lucky to see them because they are a bit further into the garden.
I was surprised because they didn’t flower earlier in the year. I’m sure they won’t ripen, but I’ll give them 10/10 for trying!
I never know which bits of a flower are stamens bur whatever the little bits of fluffy stuff are, but you can clearly see where the ones that have been pollenated have started to turn into green fruit.
I’m pleased the photo turned out so clear, it was windy and hard to get the phone camera to focus.
Mallaband-Brown