LET ME OUT!

I took this back in the summer - you can tell because there's sunshine outside and we haven't seen much of that lately!

LICHEN

This frilly, silvery lichen is so pretty. A bit like coral but not under water.

RAINDROPS

There's definitely a reflection in these raindrops, but I'm not sure what it is. I can't remember where I was when I took the photograph so nothing to give me a clue. Looks like it could be a fence or a gate. Any ideas anyone?

Have a great weekend!

BEAUTY...

...can be found in the dirtiest of places. This lovely, delicate blue flower in amongst the litter and cigarette butts transforms a dirty corner at the side of a street into a place of beauty.

ONE LAST PUSH

That's what these dead beech leaves need - one more push from the new buds so they can fall off and enrich the earth for the next generation. The great circle of life!

TEXTURES

I like the combination of textures in this image. The smooth metal of the sprung hinge against the rough wood.

SPIKY!

This is another of the early flowering plants in my garden. I don't know what it's called but the leaves are very, very spiky. It's a little invasive and not easy to get rid of, but I don't mind that as it's in the dogs' part of the garden so it doesn't matter much. In the autumn it has the most amazing purple coloured berries with a pretty white bloom on them.

RENAISSANCE

Everywhere I look now I see spring, regrowth, renaissance. This is such an optimistic season even though it's still raining pretty well non-stop. The signs are all over the place and I'm finding it very difficult to find any of my lovely dead things now!

SNOWDROPS

A wonderful sign of spring. We used to have a huge amount of snowdrops in our garden but needed the ground where they lived to build a shed. So I dug them all up and transplanted them at the bottom of the garden. It took years for them to gain a hold again, but this year there are at least half a dozen clumps down there.

STRAINING

Signs of spring coming
Hydrangea looks up to the sky
Its buds straining

KNITTING

I'm not a very accomplished knitter but when I saw a book called 'Knitting Block by Block' by Nicky Epstein I just had to have a go. Originally I decided to make a throw of knitted blocks but since then I've modified my ambitions to make a cushion!

DO YOU REMEMBER THESE?

Rain, rain, rain
And mud, mud, mud
I'm getting a little tired
of trying to clean up my dog

This photo is one I took last summer and, having just read Justine's blog on Lightroom presets, I tried out the Creamtone one and fiddled with it a bit. I like it better this way. The original rose was pink and, although pink roses are beautiful, it's not my favourite colour.  The rule of thirds went completely out the window on this one!

DRAGONFLY

Dancing on the breeze
Precious jewels flashing in the sun;
Spirals and globes hinting at sinuous movement.
I put down my camera and stop dreaming.

DUCK SHAKE

A lot of water disturbance for such a small duck! I watched it for quite a long time playing around on its own, dipping its head under the water then coming up and shaking vigorously. I wasn't that sure about posting this as the duck is pointing in the wrong direction, but I thought it quite a good one to demonstrate Kat's Rule of Thirds.

HANGING ON

You can see the buds forming but these dead leaves are clinging on until the last moment before giving in. Stubborn!

KING'S STANDING CLUMP

This clump of trees, high on the Ashdown Forest, is named King's Standing as it was believed to be the site of a stand, or hide. It overlooks a valley through which deer would have been driven, to be killed by the hunters waiting in the stand. It is supposed that Henry VIII hunted here.

Don't you just want to join that M up to make a heart?

HEATHER IN BUD

It's a beautiful day today - the wind has dropped and the sky is blue, and I went for a walk up on top of the forest with Misty.  We met an old dog-walking friend who, like us, has owned many Wolfhounds and she told me of the death of her beloved Flora at the weekend. Flora was only just over 6 and died of bone cancer. Wendy has lost three Wolfhounds to bone cancer and, of the six that we've owned, we've never had one case. Isn't that strange? I felt so sorry for her - she just wanted to cuddle Misty and smell Wolfhound. I know exactly how she feels and I dedicate these heather buds to Flora.

WHICH WAY?

I have no idea! Three choices, which is two too many when your mind's in a whirl and you just want a sign pointing in one direction only.

BOTTLE BORDER

I bordered one of my flower beds with upturned wine bottles sunk into the soil. It's very effective, especially when the sun sparkles on the water that collects in the rounded bottoms. But it took forever to do and we had to drink a hell of a lot of wine! Unfortunately one or two have broken and are difficult to replace as they're stuck in pretty well by now and broken glass is difficult to grip.

DEAD TRACTOR

Well, maybe not dead, but definitely not going anywhere anytime soon!

LICHEN

I wish I could say it was yet another blue sky day today but it isn't. It's grey and VERY windy but not (so far) wet. I took this yesterday - this lichen is so pretty when you really look at it close up with its many-coloured frills.

MEDUSA

Today was a day of stunning blue skies - a rare thing lately and not one that's likely to last. So I took photographs of trees with the sky as backdrop. This is one of my 'dead things' and it reminds me of Medusa with that jumble of snake-like branches.

RAINDROPS

Raindrops and buds - spring around the corner but so wet!

HAIR LOSS

I wonder who or what lost this lovely hank of hair I found caught on a barbed wire fence.  It's pretty coarse so it's obviously an animal - a dog I suspect.