Things I am noticing:
1. It is cold. This is for the terminally unobservant who may not have noticed. I felt it needed saying as I am perishing cold and trying to sew with mitts on ... and this is Cornwall!!! Obviously I am a wuss as most of you are enduring far worse than me, but there we are. Playing Christmas songs takes my mind off it for a while (and copious amounts of mulled wine helps - no, not now! I am a responsible parent!!!)
2. There was a chilli trying to ripen in our courtyard, bless it.
I rescued it and turned it into a delicious Thai dish (hmm, not sure that actually constitutes 'rescuing' does it?) with much ginger, coriander and a bunch of spring onions. I would like to say I am telling you this in a manner reminiscent of the wonderfully buxom Nigella, but frankly I am sadly lacking in this department and my shoulder blades would make a better show of it.
3. The ducks are eating as though it were their last meal. The pond has frozen solid and has to be smashed each day to allow them to swim. Why on earth one would wish to dip one's feet not to mention one's nether regions into a punishingly cold pond of mucky water is quite beyond my understanding, but then I am not a duck (though have frequently been called quackers). Groan.
4. There are still plenty of berries left in the garden for the birds and other wildlife.
From where I sew I watch the myriad antics of mice, a sweet shrew and an endlessly changing parade of birdlife including a pied wagtail who hovered outside the window for ages chirruping away that he was starving and would appreciate it if I would supplement the berries with some other stuff. I may not be a duck, but I have a Do-Little-ish understanding of other birdlife and their twitterings y'know.
5. The camera does lie. This fact was brought home to me by two pictures I took of this morning's sunrise which was in fact pink of hue. The camera took my sunrise and changed it to the golden-bathed images you see here
very lovely in a sort of early eighties Tampax commercial kind of way, but not what I was looking at which was more like this:
So, there we are. Enough of my noticings and back to cold and chilly sewing. Normal tone will be resumed next week when I may have thawed a little!
What are you noticing today? x
Poor you! It is freezing cold here but we are cosy indoors - one advantage of having a fairly new house (20 years old) which is really well insulated so much so that even without the heating on during the night I am warm enough under a 4.5 tog duvet!! Have been out to feed the birds who were all waiting with their feathers fluffed up and I am might glad I am not any kind of bird let alone a duck with my bottom in the freezing water but each to his own eh?!! Lovely photos as always. Spring WILL come eventually and you will be regaling us with photos of flowers and blue skies, seashores and sunshine - it will won't it??!!
ReplyDeleteJane
Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeletePoor little birds they need all the help they can get, don't they!
It was -7 here last night and it has snowed again, very pretty to look at but I do have to go out in it unfortunately!
Have a lovely weekend!
Vivienne x
I like your noticing very much. I have noticed that my hands look awfully shrivelled in this cold and my son very observantly referred to my hands as chicken skins!!! Better than a Turkey neck I suppose?! x Your photos are beautiful. x
ReplyDeleteLovely noticings! Thank you (??) for taking me back to 1980s tampax adverts, nearly did the nose-trick with my cuppa over that!
ReplyDeleteBTW Uniqlo do great heattech thermals is the crucial news I'm telling everyone! Have a cosy weekend out west!x
I'm noticing that the birds are frantically filling their little tummies and drinking all the warm water in the bird bath as though stocking for another long cold night.
ReplyDeleteAnd as for ducks nether regions under ice cold water...iut just doesn't bear thinking about....brrr!! Who'd be a duck!!
Also noticing , that for once the shoppers in Asda were predominantly in a good mood....wow!! Crazy panic buying mixed with Christmas shopping and they're happy.....wonders will never cease!
Sue xx
Very funny Pip - you have made me giggle on a bitterly cold day. We have 20 inch icicles hanging from the wisteria which look very pretty and took youngest on the downs for a sledge this morning where I noticed beautiful catkins growing in our hedge. Love your photos as usual. Keep those clever fingers cosy. Karen X
ReplyDeleteYes, Pipany, like other commenters, I am noticing...not for the first time...how funny you are!
ReplyDeleteBest wishes on keeping warm via all your methods, and continued progress on all those Christmas orders.
xo
Oooh keep warm Pip, it's dreadfully cold!! My neighbour has one of those outdoor thermometer thingymajigs and told us quite cheerfully that it was minus 12 out there late last night!!! Brrrr!!
ReplyDeleteI love your photographs, have to agree with you on the duck thing - I paused to watch a couple of them yesterday on the river, in clearly icelandic waters, pootling about like it was high summer with not a care in the world!
Sending love, have a good weekend
Julia x x x
Lovely photos, Pipany!Seeing the ducks paddling around in the icy water always amazes me too and makes me shiver! Your sewing looks beautiful - and I hope you feel warm and cosy again soon!
ReplyDeleteHelen x
Completely thawed here now Pipany and I almost missed the bright crispness today as everything has been grey (plus it's raining now) but was cheered to see two seals weaving seamlessly through breaking waves parallel to shore, not 20 feet away on Porthmeor Beach this afternoon! What a treat!
ReplyDeleteLovely noticing. Ducks make me laugh (and wince when they head to the pond). That is such a beautiful sky and I loved seeing the work in progress on the notebook (lucky Nicola). Today I'm noticing the cold too and a hot bath beckons. xx
ReplyDeletegreat photos as always
ReplyDeletePipany! you are back and have sneaked in with several posts while I was otherwise engaged!!
ReplyDeleteSo much loveliness in your noticings - your photos as ever are wonderful. So good to see the children having fun in the snow - very unusual for your part of the world but at least the cold weather is a good excuse for keeping warm with the help of mulled wine!
Jeanne
x
Lovely as ever.
ReplyDeleteNo thaw yet!
These all sound wonderful. I love Thai food, ducks and berries and meeting new friends like you.
ReplyDeleteHello Pipany
ReplyDeleteThank you for visiting it was lovely to hear from you :-)
Oh I am loving your photo of the sunrise even if it is the wrong colour and reminiscent of certain advertising! It has been exceedingly cold here of late but today the frost has melted and we've even got some sunshine and blue stuff! Yay! I'm happy with that!
I hope it's much warmer for you today too,
Denise x
Always amazes me how we moan about the cold and stay inside as much as possible while the poor wildlife just gets on with staying alive!
ReplyDeleteBack again to let you know that there's a giveaway on my blog Pipany - hope that you'll take part and also spread the word. Thanks, Lesley
ReplyDeleteI enjoy looking at your blog and your photographs are lovely. It's cold up here in Scotland too with more snow forecast for the weekend! Keep cosy.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year Pipany - I hope it's a good one for you!
ReplyDelete