A walk in Wetherby

Walked today with a friend - our usual monthly meet - and, in fact,  for what has become our usual Winter walk.
Between Wetherby and Spofforth is a disused railway track. It was originally built as a station on the Leeds - Harrogate route in 1902 but was one of the victims of the Beeching axe of the 1960's. A headline of the time referring to the cut, which involved several other stations on the route said 'First Lamb to the Beeching Axe ' !
Whatever its history, the redundant track has become a welcome route for cyclists, dog walkers and (r)amblers such as my friend and I. Its cinder base is walkable in all weathers and its hedges and edges have become a haven for wild flowers and birds - and presumably other livestock, though we haven't seen any of those .
We saw a tiny tit pecking at the crab apples still hanging from one of the wayside trees and though I attempted to photograph it, I'm afraid my equipment is not up to the job. I ended up with quite an atmospheric view of the sky and part of the tree. You will have to take my word for it that the tit was indeed pecking - it is behind the lowermost bunch of fruit on the right of the photo.

Just to show you that the weather wasn't quite as dismal as it looks here, I took another picture of the
whole tree .

Green Man

I have had rather a run, so to speak, on Green Men lately and last October I went on a course to make both a  plaster cast Green Man and a clay one to be fired. I have eventually got the clay one up on the wall outside my back door, though I think I might have to find a better screw - it has the look of Frankenstein about it ! I haven't done anything with either of the plaster casts I made, though I did incorporate a wire hanger in one of them. I think I may use some paint on that one and then varnish it as I have a feeling that plaster eventually dissolves in the rain. If it doesn't work, they could always join the grotesque I sculpted in the summer and live in the sitooterie !

Hurrah for Marmalade !

On my walk this morning I was cheered to see on the noticeboard outside the greengrocer this announcement of the arrival of Seville Oranges, complete with little brochures of information about the oranges and the groves where they are grown.
I am a big fan of homemade bitter marmalade and the oranges to make it are one of the few truly seasonal delights left in these global food market days !

They rank along with pink rhubarb (Yorkshire of course, not the Dutch stuff which infiltrated our market in December ) and Evesham Asparagus .
I don't often make my own marmalade (too easy to be a glutton ) but know that the ladies from the Methodist church will be a-shredding and a-boiling so I will be able to buy proper homemade jars from them !

Winter Cheer

This morning I walked around the Churchyard and was delighted to see snowdrops and aconites pushing through the leaf litter. Those of you in the 'soft' south have no doubt been enjoying these flowers for weeks, but for us who are north (ish) they are newly arrived and very welcome !
I came home to inspect my own garden but though the leaves of the snowdrops are poking through, there are no flowers as yet, and of my aconites not a sign. Do hope I haven't killed them off with last years garden changes. The new snowdrops I bought last year at Colesbourne are in a pot so they don't get lost among my common ones and have chance to bulk up a bit before I plant them out. Two of the varieties are growing, with a pleasing number of shoots, but of a third variety there is no sign. The label tells me that it is a double called Titania and that it is mid season. I am taking that to mean that it is not deceased, merely awaiting its season - hope so anyway as I also see from the label that it cost me £6 for a tiny plant !

There is quite a large area of the older part of the Churchyard that is kept as a conservation garden and it will soon be carpeted with snowdrops and aconites, followed by daffodils and crocus then bluebells and a froth of cow parsley in May.

Thwarted walk !

I walked down to the river this morning to see what it was like underfoot - didn't expect what I saw ! We have had gales over the last couple of days, but rain in the wind rather than total cloudbursts. They have obviously had more further up the Dale as you can tell by today's pic - the gate onto the river path !

This shot of the river itself shows our normally placid river turned into a torrent .

Hello 2015

Well it has been a long time since my last post, but a combination of 'gentle persuasion' and meeting a visitor in the churchyard this morning have encouraged me to give blogging another go.
The visitor I met this morning was in search of a photograph - he and his wife had decided yesterday at the last minute that it might be good to go away overnight, have a nice meal, a few drinks and see in the New Year in one of the hostelries in our town. They had only come from Kippax so not a million miles. Anyway, he had been challenged by a friend to take a photograph every day in 2015 and post it on his blog. This evening, it came to me what a good idea that might be. Unfortunately, it is too dark now to take a pic - no flash on my tablet - so today's photo was taken was taken last year - though to be fair only a couple of days ago ! My hare looks very chilly !

Local Wildlife

Yesterday I saw a beautiful dragonfly over my garden pond - it was quite large - about 8cm and very green. I looked in books and on the website of the British Dragonfly and the Yorkshire Dragonfly conservation sites (did you know such things existed ?) and have come to the conclusion it is a female Aeshna Cyanea, otherwise known as the Southern Hawker. I watched it for ages and not having a camera to hand, took many pics with my small tablet, most of which missed the dragonfly entirely -, and the few that didn't were mostly out of focus and rubbishy. You have to make a leap of faith to see my beautiful dragonfly in this pic

If you look carefully on the edge of the pond under the willow bird's head, you will see its wings over the water and its green body curled over the edge of the stone. You'll have to take my word for how lovely it was.
Then, this morning, as I was pounding the mean streets to clock up my daily quota of steps, I saw two peacocks. To be fair, they are not wild ( they belong in Lady Masham's garden just down the road ) and they are frequently grubbing in the gardens and streets and I see them most days. However today I had my phone with me so was able to take pics.

There are usually four white ones - I don't see the blue one so often.
Visitors always think they are a delight but I think they can be mean - and they make a mess !