Gull

Out and about again this morning, we decided to brave the threatening skies and struck out for Straw's Bridge and to see if the footpath through Pewit Carr had dried up a bit.  Thankfully, it had, so we soon found ourselves walking around Swan Lake to the accompaniment of a hoard of squabbling gulls.

As always, it only takes the appearance of a bread bag, for the Black-headed Gulls to accumulate in large numbers and to attempt to dominate the scene.

The battling had begun.  Even the couple of Mute Swans seemed to be intimidated and a little bemused by all the squawking and fighting going on around them.  It was all very exciting.

Treacherous

The title of today's blog post was suggested by Malcolm. It came to him as we were both slipping and sliding our way back home after walking through the nearby farmland this morning. The mercury was still below minus 1 when we set out and as it was still so frosty, we decided to try a path, some of which is often too muddy to tackle in the winter. We were fortunate that the mud had frozen hard enough for us to walk on without sinking in.
Our route took us along the old West Hallam Colliery lines towards Head House Farm. Normally, the fields here are full of cattle, but this time, they were given over to sheep.

Most of the sheep seemed to be enjoying the bright sunshine as they lay on the ground or nibbled the frosty blades of grass. It all made for a beautiful, wintry picture.

Carrying on the 'picture' theme, I wondered what the same scene would look like with a little digital manipulation, to turn it into an artist's impression....

Not bad!
Time for us to turn for home and tackle those frozen puddles, leading to some impromptu and pretty good impressions of Torvill and Dean and the title of this post.

Wet - Wetter!

It must have rained quite a lot during the night. That much was clear as I gazed out of the window first thing and saw the footpath opposite our house, under water. So, we decided not to tackle a long walk through Shipley Park in favour of a short walk through Pewit Carr once again. Recently, it has become impossible to walk to Straw's Bridge along the designated pathways as the District Council has started doing 'necessary water management works' to the area and in the process have completely destroyed the paths and the surrounding grassy areas. With this in mind, we would take the 'detour' through Pewit Carr - or so we thought.

It turned out that this way was blocked too, by water from the surrounding, flooded woodland.

No getting through that way either!  Crossing the old Nutbrook Canal, it was clear that water levels had risen much higher than normal and the canal was doing its best to expand its boundaries into the surrounding trees.

It all looked rather muddy, dirty and misanthropically chilly.

Realising we were not going to get any further, we had to curtail our walk and return home for coffee instead.

Icy Blast

Following a night of heavy rain and high winds, this morning dawned bright and breezy - and very cold. So it was a rather chilly walk around Pewit Carr and along the Nutbrook Trail. The wind was bitterly cold as it seemed to slice through us, so it was nice to get out of the wind as we walked through the trees of Pewit Carr.

It's almost impossible to imagine the railway lines running through these woods and the trucks and trains which rumbled along them in days gone by. A touch of 'black and white' might help the effect...

Out of the trees and heading back towards the Nutbrook Canal and the views across the wild flower meadow was 'wintry' to say the least - as well as wet and very muddy.

Out onto the Nutbrook Trail as we headed for home, the tall willow trees were creaking and groaning in the wind as we passed, hoping they didn't drop on us as walked by.

Time for a warming cup of coffee..!

Luna

With space exploration once again hitting the headlines and with talk of the possibility of landing on the Moon again, it was rather appropriate that we were treated to the glorious sight of the Moon as it rose last night.

The major drawback of astronomy at this time of year, is the cold.  To be in with a chance of seeing anything at all, you always need a clear sky and at this time of year, that usually means freezing to death.  So it was a huge relief to be able to get such good views last night, from the comfort of our bedroom window - even if that meant having to contend with a few twigs of the Hawthorn tree getting in the way as in the picture above.
Managing to overcome that difficulty I still managed some fairly decent shots, despite being taken through the double glazing (with gas prices as they are, I wasn't risking opening the window and heating the street).

My camera, although perfectly good for my usual, general photographic needs, is not really equipped for astronomical photography, but in spite of this,  I was rather pleased with the outcome.  Many of the lunar features are perfectly clear and I have listed a very few here...

• A: the Mare Crisium or Sea of Crises
• B: The crater Tycho, named after Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe and measuring over 53 miles across.
• C: the Mare Serenitatis or Sea of Serenity. On the Eastern edge of this area, both Luna 21 and Apollo 17 landed.
• D: the bright crater Copernicus.  Some 58 miles across and of course, named after Nicolaus Copernicus.
• E: the Mare Tranquilitatis or Sea of Tranquility.  This was the landing site for the first manned mission to the moon in 1969 and from where Neil Armstrong said "The Eagle has landed".
• F:the dark spot of Plato, a lava-filled crater about 68 miles across.
• G: the very bright crater Aristarchus. This crater is named after Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos and is about 25 miles in diameter.

And all that, visible from our bedroom window.  Who would have thought..!?

Reflections

The sunshine, which has been in such short supply recently, was most welcome this morning as we turned our feet towards the lakes of Straw's Bridge and Pewit Carr. We were not the only ones enjoying the sun.  This Greylag Goose seemed to be very contented just floating around on 'Swan Lake'.

So contented it was, that after a few minutes it appeared to start nodding off.  Eyes closed and head drooping, all was peace, tranquillity and reflected glory.

On the grassy bank, a pair of Mallards were equally somnolent in the sunshine... at least the female was, while her partner kept a sharp look out.

Out on the water, the Mute Swans which give this lake its name, bobbed about as well.

After a while, this magnificent bird (and its reflection), began to give in to the drowsiness induced by the sunshine.

Looking Back

Following a few days of mild temperatures, things have returned to something nearer normal this morning, so it was a rather chilly walk around Shipley Hill. The stiff breeze didn't help much either, but looking back at what we were enduring four years ago, we have nothing to complain about. Back in 2010, we had this...

 ...And this...

It all looked very festive as we prepared for Christmas, but the plunging temperatures were not so good for the gas bill!

At the time, the thermometer was struggling to get above freezing even during the day.  All very nice to look at - especially from the comfort of being four years away!

Speaking of 'festive', the Christmas tree was hauled out from under the spare bed and installed in the living room this morning.  With new lights, an extra length of tinsel and Malcolm thinking of changing his name to 'Ebenezer', it's all getting very exciting!