December Month of Extraordinary Light

“Above the cloud with its shadows is the star with it’s light”

— Pythagoras

December was a month when I noticed beautiful light. Light is more precious during the winter when the days are so short and often, like today, so murky that it seems as if there is no daylight at all.

Three days shone out for me in December. On the first I visited the Christmas Tree Festival at the medieval church of St Thomas in the centre of the city. Different organisations and charities decorate trees in a multitude of ways and the results are stunning.

What absolutely made the whole thing was the afternoon light streaming into the church and casting a golden glow

The medieval 'Doom' fresco was rendered vibrant by the light

The second day of extraordinary light was just before Christmas. We had friends staying and took them on a trip to explore Cranborne Chase a little known but amazingly beautiful part of North Dorset. The weather forecast had been poor so we were delighted to find a sunny and slightly misty day which made the countryside look magical.

The village of Ashmore the highest point in Dorset

We ended the day in the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury watching the sun go down

The final picture in this set is Gold Hill, made famous by the Hovis advert and the Oliver Read / Julie Christie version of Far From the Madding Crowd in the nineteen sixties.

For the the final set we're off to Brighton for our post-Christmas visit to my 94 year old mother-in-law. It was freezing cold and blowing a gale but I ventured down to the promenade to capture the sunset - and boy was it worth it!

The final photo of the post is a tad grainy but I like it because it shows both piers, The West Pier in the foreground and the Palace Pier now known as Brighton Pier. You can also make out the starlings that gather there every evening.

New Discoveries

One of the great things about moving to a new place is discovering new things about the environment. Today we went for a country walk in the city and the possibility of doing this is one of the things I love about Salisbury.

We started off on familiar territory going through Elizabeth Gardens on our way to the industrial estate. There we followed a grassy track down the side of one of the units which led to the river. It was like entering another world, green peaceful and a million miles away from the industrial estate we left behind. During this part of our walk we only came across two other groups both walking in the opposite direction.

On the other side of the river were stunning views of the cathedral across the water meadows.

There were lots of wild flowers but my favourites were these yellow 'flags' or irises

Then there was the wildlife, families of geese with their goslings,

I love this one with mum (or dad) eating a fish,

A beautiful grey heron,

and last but not least an egret.

Across the river we entered a more wooded area where we spotted some magnificent fungi

Finally on the way back more views of the cathedral this time with sheep!

In all a fabulous country walk without leaving the city boundaries, or having to get into the car.

If you are in Salisbury and would like to try this walk it is detailed in the Salisbury & Wilton Walking map available from the Tourist Information Centre

A Sparkling moment Captured!

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add colour to my sunset sky.”

— Tagore

On Monday I had to go to London for a meeting. I took the train from home and arrived back in Salisbury at around 4:45. While on the train I had become aware of the beautiful light and wondered if there would be a stunning sunset to see on the walk home from the station?

The Walk home takes me past Elizabeth Gardens, which run down to the water meadows, and as soon as I got there I realised the sunset was shaping up to be something quite special.

I was completely taken by the fact that I was still in the middle of the city, on a routine walk home, and all this beauty was unfolding around me as if I were in the middle of the countryside.

In the distance the trees were highlighted the ridge of the hill displaying their pink tips like ladies fans,

but what really caught my eye was the way in which the reeds were lit up by the setting sun

This effect intensified as the sun sank lower until everything was aglow

As I resumed my walk home after this short detour I really felt that I had captured one of life's 'sparking moments' Hope you found some this week too!

Independence Day

“Where liberty dwells, there is my country”

— Benjamin Franklin

Last week we had some American cousins staying with us and on the days I wasn't working I offered to take them out and about. On Thursday we did Bath and on Friday 4th July it was the turn of Stonehenge and Salisbury.

Stonehenge is in the middle of Salisbury Plain and I love the big skies you find there

Although we had driven past it many times, I had only visited on one other occasion when our school trip stopped off at the stones on the way home to Dorset from London. It was quite magical, the sun was setting and we were able to wander around inside the stones to our hearts' content, it has become a cherished memory.

Later, driving past on frequent trips to visit my parents in Somerset, I saw a large wire perimeter fence had sprung up separating the visitors from the stones - I had no wish to stop as I felt it would only spoil the memory.

Last year, however, English Heritage changed the access to the stones and opened a new visitors' centre as befits a World Heritage Site. The transformation was radical! Gone was the fence, visitors are able to get really close to the stones in some places and, to my great surprise, it was fairly easy to take photographs without hordes of people in them.

It's hard to know if the stones are more impressive in colour or black and white

The stones and the visitors' centre explored, we set off for Salisbury where another stone edifice was the main attraction - the cathedral.

After exploring the main church we set off through the cloisters to the beautiful Chapter House where one of the two original versions of the Magna Carta signed at Runnymede in 1215 is displayed. Again I have only been to Runnymede once, under similar circumstance to my trip to Stonehenge, on the way back from a school trip. We stopped at the Airforce Memorial in the early evening and were infused with such a sense of beauty and peace. Since my visit there a memorial to JFK has been added.

The exhibitions showed links between the Declaration of Independence and Magna Carta and had quotes from various individuals in history who had paved the way to freedom, such as Martin Luther King. I think we all felt it very special to be viewing this historic document on American Independence Day.

“Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up, and shake off the existing government, and form a new one that suits them better. This is a most valuable - a most sacred right - a right, which we hope and believe, is to liberate the world.”

— Abraham Lincoln

A Salisbury Saturday

Last Saturday we headed off to Salisbury for the day - one of our favourite places! First stop was Fisherton Mill ,a local craft centre, for lunch,where we saw this sculptor at work.

This was my favourite of the set of pictures

Then we headed off to the cathedral, passing on the way this wonderful old tiled shop front.

and this vibrant scooter - you could almost imagine you were in Italy!

I took lots of photos of the cathedral in the wonderful afternoon light - these were my favourites

Especially this one!

On the way back to the car park I noticed these young people hanging out (am wondering if that is a very dated expression?)

I loved the light on this girl's hair

and on the way back to the car park, what else but Christmas lights!

Hope you have a great week!

Pot Pourri

“You can become blind by seeing each day as a similar one. Each day is a different one a miracle of its own. Its just a matter of paying attention to this miracle. ”

— Paul Coelho

A bit of a mishmash of things this week with no particular theme. On Saturday we went to the National Theatre in London to see 'The Light Princess' a new musical. The sets were absolutely amazing and the choreography stunning. The music however was pedestrian, sounding like pretty much any other modern musical and certainly no tune you came away humming. However I would recommend it as a stunning visual performance and the lead Rosalie Craig was superb.

Another of the leading actors was Clive Rowe who my son and I met at a restaurant in The Cut about 10 or more years ago. The tables were very close together and both Clive and my son were reading Terry Pratchet and struck up a conversation. Turned out we had seen him in Peter Pan when my son was four and that he was currently in rehearsal at the Young Vic. He was absolutely charming and we have followed his career ever since!

Sunday saw the start of the Brene Brown e-course Gifts of Imperfection. It combines the material from the book with art journalling. Three key words from this week's intention are 'courage, compassion and connection'

One of the first exercises was to take the perfection pledge - the idea was to write it on your hand and then take a selfie but this went a bit wrong in my case and I ended up with a rather messy hand so I made this heart instead!

Another course I am taking is Sebastian Michael's photoshop artistry. This week he challenged the group to make something special for Kim Klassen and her husband John who is seriously ill with leukaemia. It was Kim that introduced me to both Photoshop and Lightroom and guided my first faltering steps in her classes, so it was a pleasure to work on this piece which I also dedicate to a dear friend I have learned this week is fighting cancer.

I do realise of course that I am in grave danger of over-using the Scarlet angel - but I can't resist!

Finally we have been starting to think seriously about where we might move to when we retire in a couple of years. At the moment the top hit is Salisbury which we visited last weekend, but watch this space!