Peek-a-Boo

This morning Beeston celebrated the Chinese New Year, which this year's animal is the horse.

It is also the first time that it has been staged at Broadgate Park, as usually it takes place in the Square. But with the ongoing tram works, and now they have started updating the shopfronts there, it has become a bit of a no go zone for people.

It was nice that the sun decided to make a rare appearance too, as it has rained on an off all week. But it  was a bit breezy and cold.

There was the usual mixture of music and dancing. It does seem to be the same every year for some reason. So instead of showing you something similar to last February, here's a shot of a Asian baby all wrapped up against the cold.

Cat On A Hot Tin Radiator

A bit more snow today, so I didn't bother going out, as I had a few jobs to do around the house.

So here's a shot from yesterday of Marmalade, who had made himself comfortable on top of the radiator in the conservatory.

But don't worry, the radiator wasn't on very high. But then I don't suppose Marmalade would be laid there if it was.

A Winter Shade Of Pale

Who would have thought it? I woke up this morning and saw that our back garden looked like this. It's hard to imagine that yesterday's photo was taken about the same time last year. What a difference.

It was strange, slushy snow, not the normal dense stuff that makes for good sledging and firm snowmen.  It also seemed to be thawing too, and the roads were very slushy as I cycled into Beeston.

I don't know if it was my imagination, but I seem to have been coming across Christmas references all day long. It first started this morning on Facebook, when a friend had posted a photo of Santa fighting with the Easter bunny. Then I heard the Spice Girls song "When 2 Become 1" in a shop that I was in, that was number one in the charts during December 1996. Then there was a fake Christmas tree that was for sale in a charity shop.

Some parts of the country have had it worse than us, but tomorrow is going to be bad, as all the slushy snow turns to ice during a very cold night tonight. I don't think that I'll be going anywhere.

Ice, Ice Baby

I am presently going through all my photos on iPhoto and deleting lots, as it's something I should have done ages ago.

I took this photo more or less a year ago. What a difference to today, with icy winds and snow showers. There's certainly no blossom on the trees in Highfields at the moment, and with the bad weather that's expected over the next few days, they are unlikely to sprout the little white flowers for a while.

It's the new born lambs and Easter chicks that I feel sorry for, as it's going to be very difficult for them. I know the farmers will do their best, but of course they will be struggling too with the poor weather conditions.

Who knows how long this spell is going last, but I don't know about you, but I'm a bit fed up with it now, as winter seems to have lasted forever.

Day One

Well the first day in my new job passed fairly well. I cycled in with a slightly heavy heart, as I wasn't going to my old job and to see all my friends anymore.

The day didn't start that good either, as it had been snowing during the night, and it was very, very cold. It took me ages to get to town as the wind was blowing against me all the way. There were a couple of heavy blizzards during the morning, but it had melted by the time I took this photo of the place where I am now employed.

I have to look to the future now and my new life in a different job. I am hoping that it works out well for me and I have as just an enjoyable time as I had before.

A Matter Of Life And Death

We met up with some fellow Flickr photographers this morning at the Rock Cemetery in the centre of Nottingham.

The Rock is one of Nottingham's oldest cemeteries and full of very interesting headstones, mausoleums and statues, or 'Weeping Angels' as they are now known, thanks to Doctor Who. Blink and you're dead!

It was cold, but lovely and sunny, with hardly a cloud in the sky. Although we've past the graveyard many times, neither Gail or myself had ever been in to have a look around. Some of our Flickr friends have been before, but it was all new to us. We spent around two hours walking about and photographing the graves.

Although the sky was very blue, I quite like this sepia effect that was produced in-camera, as I took my little Olympus with me. I think the lack of colour and shadows of the figures adds a sense of menace.

We snapped a different sor of angel this afternoon, as we met up with Jurgan, a photographer friend of ours and his model Bryony up at Wollaton Park. We actually met them by accident in the cafe, as we were both hungry and thirsty after our walk in the morning.

On entering the cafe, a tapped Gail and pointed, as I could see Jurgan sitting at one of the tables near the entrance. He's a big lad, so he was easy to spot! We ordered a Devonshire style scone and a hot chocolate and then sat with them and chatted for a while.

Jurgan said that he wanted to shoot Bryony down by the lake. So we all got up and started on the long trek downhill to the very large lake. There's no boating on it, but there are lots of ducks etc. Loads of people were there too, throwing bread to them. Although I have had read somewhere that you shouldn't feed birds bread, as it expands in their stomachs, and so isn't very good for them.

So we went to a more quieter part of the lake, and Bryony stood, sat, crouched and laid in a variety of poses. The temperature had really dropped and the poor girl was freezing.  But she kept with it, not really complaining at all. Jurgan used an off camera flash for his pictures. I took this one with no extra light at all, even though the sun had completely disappeared by then.