A Picture for Sunday - The View From The Top

Having climbed to the top of the tower at Sissinghurst, I had to take a picture of the beautiful Elizabethan brickwork.

A Picture for Sunday - Ightham Mote

Every time we go to stay with my brother he makes sure we have an outing.  The latest trip was to Ightham Mote in Kent.  This has to be one of the most beautiful courtyards I have ever been in. 

A Picture for Sunday - Sissinghurst

Dazzling orange and yellow under a pale grey sky at Sissinghurst Castle Garden is strangely relaxing, far from the usual reaction I have to 1970s colour combinations.  Perhaps with a blue sky it would all have been too much.

My guest photographer this week is my husband.  We have just spent the best part of a week with my brother in Surrey, and took a trip out to Kent on Thursday.  Sissinghurst was an absolute treat as it is one of the best known gardens in England.  I have seen it countless times on television, and this was the first time I have seen it in real life.  

A Picture for Sunday - Peacock

At last!  I have been trying for years to get a picture of a peacock, but they are very skittish butterflies and fly off too readily.  This one settled on the path in front of me when I was out walking, so I zoomed in on him.  Now I have to aim for a photo of a peacock showing all four eyes.

A Picture for Sunday - Green Eggs

On the back of an ivy leaf - rather there than on a plate.

A Picture for Sunday - Artichoke

You have to make harsh decisions sometimes - eat it or let it flower?  I'm torn.

A Picture for Sunday - Ford Model A

Motoring in the 1930s must have been such a stylish affair.  This is a Ford Model A Tudor saloon, first registered in November 1930, which cost £98 15s  6d  new.  Here it is perched on a hill in County Wicklow at a country fair.

A Picture for Sunday - Toadstools and Daisies

Only three inches tall, the toadstools only last a few days, but such a delightful sight!  A brief glimpse of Fairyland.

A Picture for Sunday - Wise Owl

You wouldn't want to be a mouse with this owl watching you.  He posed nicely on a stump at a display at a country show in County Wicklow, and kept a careful eye on everything going on around him.

A Picture for Sunday - Pumpkins

Not quite seasonal, but I like the colours.

A Picture for Sunday - Sad Engine

Having a long mournful stare at the old engine, this solemn little group of railway children were snapped by their granny, my sister in law Mary Ann, when she took them on an outing.

A Picture for Sunday - Chaffinch

Easily the chirpiest little bird around at the time, this chaffinch was singing away at the top of a hazel tree and kept me entertained while I was busy digging the other day.

A Picture for Sunday - Double Rainbow

One of the brightest rainbows I have ever seen.  I was just heading home after a long walk, suddenly realised this rainbow was behind me and ran across two fields to get a good view before it disappeared.  It was the fastest I have moved for months.

A Picture for Sunday - A Green Evening

Days are getting longer, so I can enjoy evening walks with low sunshine lighting up the young crops and the blackthorn blossom in the hedges.

A Picture for Sunday - In the Stables at Tyntesfield

Usually horses are more relaxed when feeding.  This must be a highly strung thoroughbred to be kicking back in this way.  Perhaps the St. Pancras Ironworks wanted to attract only the wealthiest customers.

A Picture for Sunday - Frost on a Gate Post

Crystals arranged in lines, following the saw marks on top of a gate post. 

This picture was taken in December, when we had two or three days of frost.  A little bit of excitement in an otherwise dull, dreary, monotonous, grey, wet and muddy winter.  The last time we had a decent snow fall was in January 2010.

A Picture for Sunday - The Suspense

Great ending.

A Picture for Sunday - Young Crop

One of the most boring photos I have ever taken, yet strangely fascinating.

A Picture For Sunday - Interrupted Reflection

Not a hundred percent accurate with the colours, because the camera sees dazzling orange as pink, but beautiful nonetheless - yet another sunset over the Bristol Channel seen from Clevedon.  I was puzzled by the rectangle of light immediately below the sun, and thought it was the effect of mist or low cloud.  Once I got home and looked at the photo on the computer screen, and was no longer dazzled by the sun, I could see that it was because the reflection on the estuary had been broken by a sandbank at low tide.

This sunset was especially enjoyable because a couple from Michigan were down on the jetty taking in the view.  It was her (and possibly his, too) first visit to Britain, and they had only landed in England a couple of hours previously.  They had just had time to settle in at their hotel and then go out for a stroll.  What a wonderful start to their trip!  Moral of the story - if you have never been to England before, come in on a flight that doesn't land at Heathrow. 

A Picture for Sunday - A February Sunset

The hole in the clouds made this sunset even more magical than usual.