Monday 5 January 2009

It was really cold!

In order to blow the cobwebs my husband and I decided to visit Wakehurst Place which is not too far a drive from our house.  It was just a couple of days into the new year and the weather, though dry, was really cold!

One of the views we had promised ourselves was that of a huge tree near the main house which had been decorated with loads of light bulbs which were to be lit every afternoon just prior to the closing of the park.  We got there around 3.30pm to walk around a little whilst waiting for the lights to be switched on.  Boy, was it cold! Last of sun at front of building It was OK at first as we were well wrapped up and the sun was still throwing its last rays on the house and surrounding areas.  Amazingly, there were still a number of visitors walking about looking like us, waiting for the lights to be switched on!  across iced pond to buildingHere you can see a view of the front of the house from across a lake with about three quarters of an inch of ice.

Even the birds were finding it hard work.  At one stage we saw some seagulls fighting over some bread that had been cast on the ice only to be slithering all over the place!

birds on lake picking bread off ice

Ducks and moorhens were trying to manoeuvre across the ice to reach the bread that visitors had thrown for them.  moorhen eating bread crust off ice If you look closely here this moorhen has found a large crust!

All this was all very well but when were the lights going to be lit?

 

tree catches last of sunlight at top Here the sun was shining on this tree and creating a lovely pink colour accentuating the branches towards the top of the tree.lit tree with moon in background better

Finally!! The lights were switched on!  It was hard to photograph since the sky still held the last of the daylight.  Still, you could see vestiges of the moon to the upper right and judging by the clear blue sky with not a cloud in sight we were due for a very cold night.

Best to return to the car to put the heater on and whilst driving home we looked forward to a hot cup of tea and the remainders of the Christmas cake to warm us up!

3 comments:

Kim Caro said...

wow what a beautiful place to hang out.

ARTISANNE DESIGN said...

Gorgeous, what a wonderful place!!... and I'm with you on the tea and Christmas cake... yum!!

Nuvofelt said...

It's a lovely place, isn't it. We are selling at Ardingly in July. Maybe we'll get to meet at last?

Sale Corner!

Occasionally I will show items that are for sale from me direct which can be paid for using Paypal. Always check to see shipping charges which will need to be added to the item amount!

For regular prices check out my Etsy shop, as well as my sister shop on Etsy which also sells encaustic art http://onawhimsey.etsy.com

Some paintings can be bought directly from my website http://onawhimsey.com

Some samples of my present & past work to give you inspiration for that special gift!

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