Thursday 6 January 2011

Of This And That



Of Rivers


What a difference a week makes.
These two photos were taken from the same spot
of the same part of the river.


I am not at all sure which view and temperature I prefer.
Muddy brown meltwater, dull skies and drizzle,
or last week's frozen river and clear, cold days.


Of Gardens


The water in the water butt is still frozen solid.
The butt measures three feet by two feet
and holds over 200 litres of water.
It was toppled by its own weight.

Wonder how long it will take to melt?



Of  The Twelfth And Last day Of Christmas

This was once the most festive day of the twelve, its celebrations ruled by the King of the Bean and the Queen of the Pea - respectively the man and the woman who found the concealed bean and pea in their slice of Twelfth Cake, If a woman chanced on the bean, however, she could choose the King; while a man, who got the 'pea slice' could select the Queen.


Of Molehills And Snowdrops



The early snowdrops are very late this year, 
The last few years they were out and in full bloom by Christmas.

But molehills have appeared everywhere.

To destroy moles, take some white or black hellebore, the white of an egg, some wheat flour,
milk and a little sweet wine, or mead, make it up into a paste and put pellets of the size of a nut into their holes, which being greedily eaten by them, will occasion their death.

The New Gardener's Calendar 1779


And, finally, of Labradors : first there were two,









then there were three.













25 comments:

  1. I love taking a pic of the same spot in different seasons, yes, what a difference a week makes, for sure, they are both so nice, Friko !!

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  2. Our stream at the bottom of the lane has become brown and swollen and threatening to swamp the road alongside it. The snow is very scenic but of the two, I think I prefer the latter. Being housebound is sometimes too much of a thing!!

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  3. I love the photos of the dogs, of course, but the river is wonderful, too. I think I like it better when frozen, rather than brown, but it must be very pretty in late spring or early summer.
    -- K

    Kay, Alberta, Canada
    An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

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  4. You have had some weather extremes there in the UK, haven't you?
    Thanks for the recipe that gets rid of moles (and probably other creatures as well!) I wonder if just wine all by itself would do as well? What is hellebore?

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  5. Oh that snowy bridge sure makes a beautiful photograph. And who could resist a cluster of tail-wagging canines?

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  6. that's amazing how fast the river thawed and the ground greened up. I happened to notice today that the daffodils are starting to poke through.

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  7. Nice mixed bag, Friko. The countryside around here is looking pretty tired just now, too.

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  8. You're on a roll today. (Quaint American expression for you're doing a great job). I enjoyed this post very much. Hard to tell whih part I liked best. The dogs are nice, but I like the river scenes too, and the story of the pea and the bean.

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  9. nice...love the snowy frozen river pic...and nice looking labs...

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  10. I too love both photos and your story about the 12th day of Christmas.

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  11. Such a contrast between those pictures. First I will look up what a "water butt" is purely out of curosity then I will check out "hellebore". My ground is soft from all the mole hills and I need help since "shoo" doesn't work. Thanks.

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  12. Me? The snowy river pic and goes without saying, absolutely the dogs....
    XO
    WWW

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  13. Wow, that is a huge difference in temps and scenery in just one week. I'm pretty sure I'd prefer the muddy water and green grass to the snow any day :-)
    Stay warm, jj

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  14. what an array of moments! each rich and delightful. my favourite would have to be the two pictures of the river. my favourite of those two pictures would be the wintry one. so blue. steven

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  15. This is one of my favorite sorts of posts. I am nosy enough to thoroughly enjoy a look at someone else's everyday. When the news serves up horror, mayhem and emergency as daily occurrences, the day-to-day is what I long to learn about.

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  16. I don't know which picture of the river I prefer, either, as they are both beautiful. In fact, all t he pictures are so nice. :)

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  17. Oh I love the frozen snow river - and the person on its edge is the very special something. What a great picture !

    Please have a wonderful Friday you all.

    daily athens

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  18. Love the snowy bridge picture! I never heard of the pea and bean royalty -- a quaint custom!

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  19. I love the photos of the bridge and surrounding area, Friko. And the labs! What can I say? I never put bumper stickers on my car, but if I did, it would probably read something like this: "Happiness is a Labrador Retriever."

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  20. There is something Norman Rockwell about a fresh snowfall...the bridge is lovely.
    The recipe for deterring the moles is a keeper. I do love the Snowdrops...they are such a sweet surprise in winter.
    BlessYourHeart and the pups

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  21. Enjoyed this miscellany and all the photographs--which brings to mind that I've meant to compliment you on the new header photograph. The single warm light in the snowy world is lovely--perhaps Friko is in that room, I thought, musing on her world!

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  22. I think everyone liked your snowy bridge. It is lovely to look at but I don’t think it is easy for walking. Do you have 3 dogs now? Or you just met them while walking? They must be very active. I read about the bean and pea tradition when I was reading about the Saturnalia feast – and this became the King’s cake in New Orleans and the gallette des rois in France. It’s still hard for me to realize that so many Christmas customs come from pre-Christian times. I was reading my Norwegian friend’s blog and he was talking about the Yule tradition which pre-dates Christianity by thousands of years. I’ll try to read more on the subject for a post next year.

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  23. the photo of the frozen river is great - love that

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  24. Great photos but now.....Snow again! Wipso thinks I jinxed the weather with my new blog header pic!

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  25. It's amazing the difference that the weather makes. The melt-water is a bit more threatening than the snow, I think. But each has their own beauty.

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