Friday 6 December 2013

over the hills and far away …

 

I seem to spend a lot of time looking through the windows of one room or another – and although we have lived here for many years I never tire of the view.  I must have photographed and painted it hundreds of times.  Where we live is very high up so we are surrounded by hills and valleys and the view changes every day depending on the weather and the seasons.

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It was good to come home yesterday after a morning of push and shove, and the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping in town.  The peace and quiet might drive some of you ‘townies’ mad, but for me it offers a sense of peace and calms my frayed nerves.

The sunrise on Thursday morning was superb and at 7.30 a.m. I was clicking away like David Bailey on ‘speed’ with the accompanying – quick come and have a look,  wow, and such like – it took ten minutes for it to change from this -

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SDC19219 to this – I hate to use this word but it was ‘awesome’.

Last evening during the worst of the storm our electricity failed and we sat by candle light for two hours.  All very nice I’m sure, but reading and sewing by candle is no joke – luckily, I had a plentiful supply in stock, but  I will be buying more this weekend – over the last two days it has cut off over a dozen times – really annoying when you have electric clocks that need re-setting each time.

This morning I spotted a sparrowhawk sitting on the trellis looking for his breakfast, he was really well camouflaged, the picture isn’t very good as it was taken from a distance, but you can hardly spot him in amongst the bare branches – he wasn’t lucky on this occasion but he makes several fly pasts every day.

SDC19224And whilst I was out walking the other day I was accosted by a local chap who said they were raffling home made produce to raise funds for the village hall and would I contribute and seeing I have a cupboard full of pickles and chutneys I was happy to oblige

SDC19238  Finally, I bought a lovely pink cyclamen to cheer up the kitchen, it is so unusual with feathered petals – I do love to have flowers about the place – how about you?

SDC19235 Have a good weekend and keep warm!

21 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  2. I would dearly love to have a house out in the countryside - especially with views over fields. Maybe when I retire....?
    That sunrise sequence is truly beautiful. (I also detest the word "awesome" - so American, and so over-used!)

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  3. You are lucky to have such a wonderful view - our view is just what we make it in the garden!

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  4. It really was a beautiful sunrise. Strange, as the rest of the day turned out to be awful! How annoying to lose your electricity so many times. Ours was off for a whole day a while ago and I didn't know what to do with myself!

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  5. I'm glad I'm not the only one that who marvels at the sunrise and stops what I am doing to capture it, when I should be really getting ready for work! Your pictures are wonderful and I love the views that you have over looking those fields and hills.
    Sarah x

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  6. You do live in a gorgeous place Elaine. I would never tire of those views either.

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  7. Wonderful views Elaine and that sunrise is stunning.

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  8. If there is one good thing about this time of year, it's that we get to admire sunrise and sunset. Yours was beautiful!

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  9. Like you, I adore looking out each morning. Just me, the landscape, and probably a couple of dogs. I never tire of it.

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  10. Talk of power cuts always takes me back to being small. It seemed to happen a lot then (it must have been the time of Edward Heath and the three-day week). If you were a child candles and shadowy rooms seemed great fun.

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  11. Lovely photos. I envy you your peace and quiet which I rarely ever get here.
    Thanks, and you too. Flighty xx

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  12. Your window view is wonderful. We live on the great American prairie where the land for the most part is flat, where the deer and the antelope roam and the buffalo used to graze. Where the plains Indians hunted. Mostly farming land now, so naturally I am attracted to the English countryside, my ancestral home. Your photos are as you say awesome.

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  13. It's a blessing to live somewhere where you never tire of the view :)

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  14. What lovely views you have there! I can't live without my green spaces and countryside either and like you I'm desperate for them after being in a crowd. I don't know, now, how I ever managed to live in London.
    Lovely photos of the sunrises and well done for capturing that Sparrowhawk. They are impressive birds but I love my little song birds too much to want to see them!

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  15. I do love your views, how lucky you are. I only feel relaxed when in a little greenery too, towns aint for me, small doses only.

    Oh wow....fantastic Sparrowhawk, what a majestic bird.

    I'm SO impressed that you have home made chutney just sitting there looking pretty to give away.....respect that woman. When we were on the boat we used the wind up lamps and torches, they really do give off a good light and most can be manually charged as well. Maybe try one of them during the next power cut, the light is good to read with.xxx

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  16. Your views are great! I am really fond of England and as a coincidence "Over the hills and far away" is one of my favourite books about the escapades and winning ways of Harford Logan and his border collies.
    Sometimes I am looking forward to go to town for shopping but when I am there I want to return home within a couple of hours, I think we are really country women.

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  17. Lovely views, indeed ~ and I how wonderful you have been able to enjoy them for so long. A sunrise like that would definitely start the day off right ~ nice about sharing your preserves, and the cyclamen is very pretty. Apparently they do well watered from the bottom ~ I have a glass tube thing that I fill and poke in the soil and so far I haven't killed the plant that I've had for a few years. That sparrow hawk does blend in to its surroundings very well...

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  18. We've had such a variety of weather over the last few weeks. The gales have been very bad. I often lose power too, living in the country. Your sunrise photos are lovely.

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  19. Goodness, with views like that, I'm not surprised you're often photographing it or painting it or just gazing at it! Boy did that local chap find the perfect one for donations!

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  20. I miss having a view, I used to live VERY rural in Norway, at 700m above sea level and with ½ mile to neighbours in any direction in an farming community, I loved it, it was quite a shock to the system moving to London! We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets here too but no view, just buildings everywhere. Thanks for sharing your view with us, lovely photos. I agree about having indoor flowers too, not just in the garden. My orchids are just starting putting up flower stalks, 3 of them so far, looking forward to lots of orchids soon :-)

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  21. That's a lovely view Elaine, no wonder you photograph and paint it so often, and magical seeing a sparrowhawk like that. And how nice to be able to contribute your produce to the raffle.

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