Hoar Frost

Beautiful hoar frost yesterday, starting with pink and orange hues reflecting in the ice crystals as the sun rose going to deep blues hues. I wasn't able to get out and photograph as I had other commitments but enjoyed the silver birch outside the front door!!

Mist and Frost in Cambridge

Great photographic conditions for Keith's photoday in Cambridge. We started at the American War cemetery as the fog always stays longer on Madingley hill. The muted colours and misty backdrops were just right for tree photography. The fourth image is a composite of how I think the avenue should have been placed, rather than with the heavy hedge and conifers on the right side.

The mist mainly lifted in Cambridge during the day but still enough to give soft backgrounds to the river images and the frost muted all the greens - my unfavourite colour. We stayed on into the evening to do a bit of low-light photography until our hands and feet couldn't be felt!

Waxwing Flock at Last

 Coming back from Cambridge spied a flock of 20 or so Waxwings on the Madingley Roundabout area. Rushed home to get camera and managed to track them down in nearby trees. They were too far away and too much in the bushes to get good portraits but very happy to have got even this close.

Winter Returns

 A fairly light sprinkling of snow but enough to transform the landscape in Toft. More forecast for next weekend but we will see.

Lights Come On in Margate

 A few shots of Margate's older quarter as the lights came on.

Turner Gallery Margate

 The warmth of the Turner Gallery was very welcome after spending time on the promenade.

Margate

We visited Margate on a very grey day - ideal for a bit of slow shutterspeed work on the waves.

Hazel Catkins

 It is great to see the Hazel catkins and female red flowers out in our Toft Wood.

Very Mild New Year

Enjoyed a walk with Millie (now over 11 and slowing down) round by the Church in Toft. Amazed at the variety of flowers in bloom - violet, aconite, cow parsley, dandelion and white dead nettle) but then it has been very mild since before Xmas.

Woolwich

The trip to Woolwich was a nostalgia trip for me as I was born in Woolwich and lived in Charlton close by until I was 18. 

• We visited  the Woolwich Royal Arsenal, which had carried out armaments manufacture, ammunition proofing and explosives research for the British armed forces since 1670s until its final closure in 1994. It is now being developed as a residential area. Assembly is a sculpture by Peter Burke made up of 16 hollow figures standing in a cluster. The cast-iron quarter-ton body moulds give the optical illusion of a convex face - the fact that the right and left sides are in focus while the face is slightly out shows the concave nature of the sculpture.
• We stayed in the newly opened Travelodge which occupies the The Royal Arsenal Co-operative Society (RACS) building in Powis Street.  This store opened in 1903; the statue is of founder Alexander McLeod (1832-1902).  It has been empty for a decade. The front of the Italian Renaissance-style grade II listed building, its clock tower and dome have been restored and incorporated into the new hotel.
• Opposite an Art  Deco extension was opened in 1938, designed by the company architect SW Ackeroyd. The metal Crittall windows are a notable Art Deco feature, the same firm did windows on the Titanic. It is semi derelict but there are plans for its redevelopment.We sampled the excellent fooed in Woolwich's Choice Cafe and travelled back north on the Woolwich Free Ferry.