On This Day, 12th of the 12th of the 12th

Just got back and been starting to catch up with my fav blog posts Delores over at 'Feathered Nest' mentioned today's date. Actually I did read a bit about it in today's paper and took a few pictures of my day today starting at 12 minutes past 12 and through the day.  Everything was white over this morning. By 12 o clock the freezing fog was just starting to lift. so this is how my day was :-

This pic was taken at 12 minutes past 12

And this one

The trees and the hedges along the main road were all covered in hoar frost. In the half light they looked really beautiful.

Spider's Web on the holly tree 12 minutes past 12 on 12th December 2012

The floral display at the entrance of the Outpatients

Because one of the scanners in the Radiotherapy Dept was being serviced, the appointments for this afternoon had been moved to the evening. This meant O/H's appointment was put back until 6.35pm. We started out at 3.30pm in order to travel in the light. Fog and ice are not a good combination although it had started to lift quite a bit  by then.

Knit one

Purl one

And then, tucked in the corner of L2 waiting room, someone had knitted a nativity scene. These crafty people are so clever in what they can do. Meeting up with the other patients being treated too was good. You do seem to form a camaraderie between you as you meet up each day  sitting around in the waiting room. The support from each other is amazing.
When we came out, ice was glistening on the pavements but the fog had completely gone. Yes, for me, it is starting to feel like Christmas after all.

One Sad Christmas

Scotch on the Rocks

One Christmas when we lived at our other house at Bayston Hill, Other Half walked all the way down to the pub. Walked all the way back with a bottle of whisky. Got to our front door and then dropped it.

Learning As I Go

In August 2011 I posted my first video on You Tube.  I was outside in the garden, when I noticed a minute little snail climbing up an aquilegia leaf. For those of us with too much time on our hands, I grabbed my camera and just watched him go. He was amazing. The wind blew, but he kept going. One strong gust and he fell off. Well let's face it, not everyone lives happily ever after do they?
I have been playing around tonight, doing a bit of editing and putting it to music. I fell off a few times, but it's getting there. Not only that, I've done a bit of online shopping and SORNED (Statutory Off Road Notification) the old banger parked up the yard without having to move out of my comfortable chair.
Loving all this technology. It's good here ...... I want to learn more.

Mistletoe and Holly

All in all, it's been a bit of a day today. But not as bad as the folks down south have had.We must have had quite a storm during the night. The muddy torrent was torrenting down the road past our house this morning and I wanted to go out.  I zipped up the track to where a certain person's drain had blocked yet again and poked it free with a stick. Then freed the rest of the drains down the lane except one. Couldn't free that one - a gaggle of unenthusiastic road repairing council workers had recently tarmacked over the grid and the water was gliding effortlessly over the top. Ah well! Anyway I did manage to get out which was OK.

Mistletoe on an apple tree at the Mill

A few years ago O/H was at a farm sale with the intention of buying a rotovater. He missed the final bid but got talking to the person standing next to him, who was also hoping to buy one. His own had packed up and had no idea how to fix it. The conversation culminated in an invitation for us to visit.

Honestly, I have never seen such a fantastic garden. This dear, generous old man was well in his eighties and his eyes lit up as he showed us round. He lived at a place called Stiperstones. His little terraced house was built at the foot of 'Peggy's Hill'. I thought it was steep where we lived, but nothing like this. He'd got a little grove of hawthorn bushes with masses and masses of mistletoe on them. At Christmas time he sold it to eke out his pension. He also had 500 little fir saplings which he also sold as they grew bigger. He insisted that we take an armful of vegetables and a bundle of mistletoe. He said to make a small insertion in the bark of a tree and gently rub the white berry into it.  It was such a thrill today to see that some of it had actually started to grow. Apparently it takes quite a few years to grow a sizeable amount. I don't know whether he's even still alive now. I hope he's still enjoying his garden.

Holly tree growing at the back of the garage.

Another nice thing today. We used to go for walks around the single track roads. O/H is not too well now and can't walk too far like he could then. Sometimes we'd take little  holly cuttings from hedges along the fields. We stuck the stem in the ground planted one of them at the back of the garage. This year it's loaded with berries and is beautiful. Apparently you have to have both male and female plants for the female to produce berries so we must have hit it right somewhere along the line.

A fair sized chunk of a broken oak branch came floating down on the rush of water. More logs for the Rayburn.
Thank you God.

Icy roads and nothing to say

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less travelled by,
And that has made all the difference. 

Robert Frost

 I love this poem by Robert Frost. I travelled this road today. The ice and the frost (oops! sorry Robert) were about with a vengeance this morning, but later on when the sun came out it was just breath taking.

It's my hundredth post today.

Happy day

Feels cold, outside tonight

Night, night xx

The Silence of the Night

It's over a year ago since we had a power cut. A storm brought the power lines down for practically the whole weekend.

We're better prepared now  (I think) than we were then. If you can ever be?

Got the survival gear in hand.

It's not 'if' but 'when'
And it certainly gives you a different perspective on how to entertain yourself.
Thank you God for electricity.

Let there be light.