Photo Friday - Best of 2011

I was hard pushed to choose my favourite, but I rather like this one of the Alport Stone at Alport Heights in Derbyshire.

Photo Friday is here.

Reasons to be cheerful, part F

For this round of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, I thought I would take a theme which might loosely be entitled 'Reasons to be Cheerful, Part _', after the 1979 hit single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3).

J

For everyone, the reasons will be different, but I wanted to search around for some of the things which brighten up my day; things for which I am thankful.

F is for firelight.

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There are obviously two faces to fire but, when it is controlled and burning in the garden on a cold autumn evening, I love firelight.

The flickering and dancing of the flames mesmerises.

The heat comforts and the smell of woodsmoke evokes memories of childhood.

The embers glow and fade like something living, slowly consuming and turning to ash.

Shapes stand out in stark relief.

While a change of material brings a sudden hint of gentle blues and greens.

I love firelight!

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At the moment, f would also appear to be for furlough.

I've published less posts in the past month than at any time since I started blogging almost two years ago. Life has been fast and inspiration slow.

As soon as I go somewhere interesting or see something of note, I will get my camera busy and return to more regular posting. In the meantime, I do think of my blogging friends :)

Incidentally, did you know that the word 'furlough' comes from Dutch verlof (Danish vorlov), meaning permission? The gh spelling reflects the original f sound ending, which was lost in the early 1800s.

Reasons to be cheerful, part D

For this round of Jenny Matlock's Alphabe-Thursday, I thought I would take a theme which might loosely be entitled 'Reasons to be Cheerful, Part _', after the 1979 hit single by Ian Dury and the Blockheads (Reasons to be Cheerful, Part 3).

J

For everyone, the reasons will be different, but I wanted to search around for some of the things which brighten up my day; things for which I am thankful.

D is for dawn!

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By now, I'm sure you've gathered that I hate dark mornings but love sunrises. On these grim mornings, the dawning of a new day is always welcome, but the dawning of a new day by means of a glorious sunrise is a special reason for cheer.

Last Friday, we had an absolute beauty which prompted me to grab my camera yet again before leaving for work.

It was noticeably stripy!

Delightful!