Winter light

The light outside has changed, and the sun hovers above the horizon, especially in our house as the back garden is on a hill behind the house.   Even though our conservatory faces south, the sun appears briefly in the south east, and then drops down quickly behind the neighbours' trees.  But mostly this does not matter as we see no sun anyway, due to the cloud cover, which covers the sun for days on end.   England specialises in grey skies I think.

 However, when the sky is clear, then it is best to go for a walk, and really enjoy the wonderful light that comes from the very weak sun.  And even better when one can walk in the wood, through a carpet of fallen leaves, in the stark light, just on dusk, which now occurs between 3 and 4 p.m.

But I digress a little. The first photograph was taken at 8 a.m.   A very red sunrise, causing everything o look orange.   I thought at first that it was my bleary morning eyes that made everything appear orange, but no it was the morning sun.  Yes the old saying of 'Red sky in the morning, shepherds' warning' was certainly correct.  The wind sprung up soon after this, although we did not get the storms that people experienced in the north of the country.

But back to the stark light at 3 p.m.  The blue sky, dusk falling and the dark outlines of the birch and everygreen shrubs standing starkly against the blue background made quite a dramatic scene from our conservatory.

So I decided to go for a walk in the woods, accompanied by my new camera.

  I must admit that once through the gates, I was a little distracted by the gardens on the edge of the wood.   And what is this?  A cow? Not a real one, of course.  But I am always fascinated by the ornaments in this garden.  Mostly animals.

The secret garden!   A walk along the path in this part of the wood, is always a time of peering into the lives of the people whose houses back onto the wood.   No garden is the same and all reflect the interests and enthusiasms of the people who live there.   A few are not keen gardeners!

  But back to the stark light at dusk.  Actually the trees in the wood, were softened in the late afternoon light, however the dimness is certainly noticeable.

 Once out of the wood, the solitary trees really showed up against the sky.   Fascinating.

  And home again, the sky was even darker, although it was only about 3.45.

 The weak sun and early dusk is a reminder that there are only about two more weeks until the shortest day.