Thursday 13 December 2012

Hoar frost & only 12 more days


On the first day of Christmas 
my true love sent to me:
12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords a Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids a Milking
7 Swans a Swimming
6 Geese a laying
5 Gold Rings
4 Calling Birds 
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree

60 comments:

  1. Great photos Rosemary,
    Every plant looks like a stick of candy that sugar has been sprinkled on them.
    It sure looks very very cold.
    love the twelve days of christmas.
    I started yesterday to decorate ..a few thing around,not much
    It was always on the 12th that my mother ,my father and sister would decorate the christmas tree and our home.
    I have my candles lit at night ..
    only yesterday, was i thinking of the song the 12 days of christmas.. i love it.
    wishing you a wonderful day Rosemary.

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    1. Dear Val - yesterday the countryside looked magical, mother nature had painted hoar frost over everything. Unfortunately I could not take any photos of the countryside as I was driving and had too many jobs to complete.
      Wishing you a very special Christmas Val with all of your family.

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  2. Hallo Rosemary!!You have a lot of frost in your area!Your photos are fantastic as always!!And this Christmas carol is my favorite song by Big Crosby!!Wishing you a lovely weekend!Thank you for your comment!!
    Dimi..

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    1. Dear Dimi - I guess you must be back online again, and for that I am sure you are delighted. The frost is very pretty making everything sparkle, very Christmassy.
      Hope all is well with you and that you are all set for a lovely Christmas with your family.

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  3. Beautiful photos Rosemary, the berries ones would make lovely Christmas cards.

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    1. Thanks Paula - wasn't the countryside beautiful yesterday? just like a magic winter wonderland.

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  4. Hi Rosemary, great photos catching the frost! I love how a usual surface of what I assume is a garden table looks entirely new, fresh and different. Frost certainly turns our common world into a land of wonders!
    Christina

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    1. Dear Christina - very well spotted - yes that is our garden table. It was sparkling like a diamond in the frost yesterday, but unfortunately I wasn't able to catch the shine. Thanks for your visit and comment.

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    1. Dear Olive - yesterday, our world here look magical under a layer of wonderful glittering frost.

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  6. Dear Rosemary, Only a practiced eye such as yours can see beauty everywhere. I especially like the second berry photograph. Another winner.
    What kind of berries are they? Do they stay on their branches thruought the winter? Nothing survives here expect pine cones and pine needles.
    You have come up with another original. Your roundel is fun and whimsical and very clever. ox, Gina

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    1. Dear Gina - the berries are on my lollipop standard Buxus microphylla which stands at the front door. It is the same as the normal Box but has a smaller leaf. It has creamy blossom in the summer which turns to these navy blue berries. I do not think that they can be edible because the birds have left them alone.
      The countryside looked like fairyland yesterday, but I was driving and busy, and unfortunately did not have time to stop and photograph it.

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  7. Beautiful pictures,I particularly love the second and third one.
    Sarah x

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    1. Thank you Sarah - I was sorry that I missed photographing the countryside yesterday - it just looked so perfect. I was on the road getting jobs done, and had no time to stop and snap with my camera. It was a special day I do not think that we shall see another like it for a long time.

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  8. You show us such beautiful photos, Rosemary. I really loved the detail in these. Now I have the carol running through my head. :-)

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    1. Oh gosh!!! I hope it is not there running through your head for too long Perpetua. Glad you liked the photos, as I have mentioned before I much regret not getting photos of the beautiful countryside yesterday, it was a magical winter wonderland.

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  9. Dear Rosemary,
    Beautiful photos of the frost!
    Let's hope the bad weather is now in December and not in January.
    Here we are preparing for the storm and my husband has driven to pick up
    my parents (We prefer to have them at our house during the storm).
    Everything is fine, but my fingers are so stiff at this time of the year and I'm
    not able to blogg or visit/comment as much as I want to.
    Wish you a wonderful weekend.
    Mette

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    1. Dear Mette - I remember you saying last year that you had a problem blogging during the cold months. You are really a girl made for the sunny south not the snowy north. Hope that the weather does not take too long for you to start feeling better.
      Take care of yourself.

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  10. Beautiful photos, we woke up to a lovely hoar frost yesterday and I was so excited that I had to go into the park which was a magical winter wonderland. Took lots of photos which I did intend to blog, perhaps tomorrow. Suzy x

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    1. Dear Suzy - lucky you to have captured the hoar frost. I was on the road yesterday and did not have time to stop and take photographs, however, I kept wishing I could because the countryside looked so beautiful. I shall look forward to seeing yours.

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  11. Hello Rosemary! Thanks so much for stoping by and leaving comments..............it has given me the chance to meet you, become a Follower, and enjoy your beautiful photos from the Cotswolds. My SIL's family live in Cirencester just down the road from Highgrove. Over the years, when visiting home, I've spent a little time in that area, which is really beautiful.

    The heavy frosts make me realize I need to pack warm clothes for my trip home to Devon next week - bet it's cold there too after all that heavy flooding. So that's where I'm headed NOW - off to pack!!

    Happiest of holidays - may your Christmas be filled with beautiful moments.

    Mary (in North Carolina)

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    1. Dear Mary - thank you for your visit - although the weather is very crisp we have had some lovely sunshine with it and bright blue skies, however, warm jumpers and scarf would be appropriate for you to bring.
      Wishing you a happy and lovely trip for Christmas.

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  12. Rosemary - your photos are truly artful - I literally feel the cold and frost! Really amazing! Christa

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    1. Thanks Christa - the weather has been lovely - very fresh, sunny and crisp.

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  13. Beautiful images Rosemary! We must have had the same idea ;-) although I think you did have sun today, we didn't, there was a bit of mist hanging all day and a very still, mysterious world was created because of that.
    Love those blue berries with their layer of frost and the close- up of the iron structure all frosted which makes it look so special.
    Bye,
    Marian

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    1. Dear Marian - hello there, I think that we are both on the computer at the same time.
      I love your frost photos, and yes we have had the sun. The iron structure is our garden table which has taken on an extra sparkle over the last couple of days.
      Yesterday, the countryside here was so beautiful, and I was stuck in my car being busy and unable to photograph it - ah well, never mind.

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  14. I love your photos of hoar frost on the berries and the metal lattice. The latter remind me of the the pastry ribbons with icing. Its great that you can see the beauty in everyday things and captured them beautifully.

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    1. Dear Stiletto - you are right it does look like those pastry ribbons, it is actually our garden table. The frost has been magical, like a fairyland.

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    1. Thanks for your visit - I like your description.

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  16. Ah, the countdown has begun. Your frosted berries look like sugar plum confections!

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    1. They do look edible but aren't. Not much more time to wait, or in my case to finish being organised.

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  17. Very nice Rosemary. I especially love the frost on your garden table. The berries are really pretty, too!

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    1. Dear Marie - we had a magical hoar frost when we awoke the other morning, and unfortunately I was too busy to take photographs it in the countryside, it looked like fairyland.

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  18. Beautiful photos - full of frosty lovliness - the cold perfectly captured brrrr - the berries are gorgeous and look just like icing sugar ready to top a cake.

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    1. Thank you - glad that you enjoyed the frosty photos.

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  19. Beautiful sugar sprinkled scenes Rosemary. The frost fairies have been hard at work. Your photography just gets better and better, loving it!

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    1. Dear Paul - that is very kind of you to say Paul - Wednesday's hoar frost was magical.

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  20. Gorgeous photos, Rosemary, especially the berry ones. Have a good weekend!

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    1. I am sure that you too were entranced by the hoar frost last Wednesday Linda, what a beautiful day it was.

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  21. Hello Rosemary, What exquisite textures you have captured. I apologize if I've missed a few posts recently, but I have been under the weather and unable to spend time at the computer. I hope to be back in shape soon. Jim

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    1. Dear Jim - that is not very happy news, do hope that you are soon feeling better soon. Glad you enjoyed seeing the frost on the berries, but please take care of yourself.

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  22. Perfect photos for a winter day. Beautiful, Rosemary !

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    1. Thank you Dani - the frost has been lovely this winter.

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  23. Rosemary, if you would have posted this yesterday the world might have indeed ended, 12-12-12, or whatever it was they predicted was going to happen. Safer of you to have waited one day later :) Your third photo brings to mind "...visions of sugar plums danced in their heads," from Twas The Night Before Christmas, putting me in a holiday mood!

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    1. I was wishing that the 12 days had fitted in with that date, but was disappointed that it did not. I loved the idea of 12.12.12 never to be seen again. This will be the last of those dates for this century, as we have one each year since 2001, can you believe those years have gone so quickly? The berries look quite juicy and edible but alas they are not.

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  24. Dear Rosemary,
    Thank you for another beautiful post! My husband has just returned from a business trip to Kendal and described waking to a beautiful frost-covered countryside... It must have been the same day you took these beautiful photos... Lovely. We cheerfully join you in the countdown to Christmas!
    Warm regards,
    Erika

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    1. Dear Erika - I wonder if your husband managed to take any photos? It was last Wednesday, and the countryside looked like a magical wonderland, it was breathtakingly beautiful. Unfortunately I had to go out and was only able to admire it from the car, I had no time to stop and take photographs. I just managed to photograph the berries before leaving home.

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  25. Just fantastic pictures Rosemary.

    Greetings from the Caribbean,
    Filip

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    1. Thanks Filip - you are enjoying a fantastic time.

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  26. Hello Rosemary

    Greetings from Ireland

    I am sorry that I am only getting around to visiting you now
    but I am having computer problems and have to grab my son's laptop
    if I want to comment
    roll on next week when I will have a new one as mine has died :(

    I love your photos they are just wonderful
    and the frost is so lacy and romantic looking,
    all lovely photos.

    Wishing you a good weekend and I will be back to visit soon

    Fiona x

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    1. Hello Fiona - thank you for your visit.
      I am sure that you are really keen to get your hands on your new computer. If my computer doesn't respond sometimes, I think that it feels tired from time to time, then I get in a panic and wonder what I would do if it died.
      Glad you enjoyed the photos, and look forward to visiting you.

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  27. How wonderful photos! Those berries are marvellous!

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    1. Thank you Lise, the berries looked wonderful in situ.

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  28. Dear Rosemary, The hoar frost is beautiful, but I can't help thinking how cold it must be when you first step out in the morning! Your photos bring out such detail - lovely.

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    1. Dear Betty - the weather is totally unpredictable at the moment. Today is mild, and sunny, like a Spring day. Yesterday was gloomy and rained the whole day. The day previously was delicious with the world covered in a magical frost - the weather seems to have taken leave of its senses!!!

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  29. Oh Rosemary, I always enjoy your photos of frost on nature. So original and great photos.

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    1. Dear Pamela - thank you and so pleased that you enjoyed seeing them.

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  30. What can I say?!?!?!?! Magical photos!!!!!!
    I'm your newest follower!!!

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    1. Thank you for your visit - so pleased that you enjoyed seeing the photos.

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