It Gets Me Out Of The House

I know it's hard to believe, but the sun doesn't always shine in England. Sometimes, as described in unforgettable terms by Bill Bryson, it's like "living inside some Tupperware". And during the last few days a lid of thick cloud has been firmly clamped down upon us. But, if you've got a camera, there's always a reason to get out and about.

Here's a fairly typical wintry scene near Malton Farm, which is within walking distance of home. That little building on the left is an old dovecote dating from the seventeenth or eighteenth century. There used to be a village here at Malton but all that's here now is the farm and a few houses.....

....and a field with some Highland Cattle. They don't usually do much except stand and think, but I got lucky....

.....and found a particularly expressive shaggy beast.

I have no idea what attracted me to photograph this arrangement of poles and wires.

Or indeed these fences and sheds! Except that England is a worked-over (and overworked) land; barely an inch of it has not been changed in some way by the presence of humanity. It's silly to always search out scenes that look natural and untouched.

There's still a tinge of autumn about if you go and look for it.

Oak leaves are beginning to pile up under their trees. I've taken loads of these "forest floor" pictures but I don't think I've included many on the blog this year. So here's another taken in the last week.....

I think this is the leaf of a White Poplar shining out on the fast decaying leaf litter. And occasionally you can still come across real autumnal scenes like this.....

But it is really winter that is holding sway. And as I squelched my way across a watery meadow beneath a gloomy sky....

That's no pigeon perched up there and if you're a small mammal you'd better watch out - it's a Kestrel keeping watch for anything that moves in the grass. But sometimes the sun does come out, then you can keep an eye open for.....

Twenty-two degrees to either side of the sun on a chilly morning or evening you may see "sun-dogs". These bright, colourful spots in the sky are caused by sunlight being refracted by ice crystals in the atmosphere. No one seems to know why they are called "dogs", though I've always assumed it was just because they appear either side of the sun, like dogs being walked. 

If you haven't got a dog then take a camera for a walk.

Take care.