TINY TUESDAY - SPIKY

I often take part in the various challenges, but being the hot-headed cool and calm person that I am, sometimes forget to see if there is a theme to the challenge.  Today was no exception.  

Mr. HCB was out for breakfast with our friend, Keith, so I got up in a leisurely fashion and had had my first cup of coffee before he got home.  He said it was bitterly cold although the sun was shining, so that put me off going out as I had planned.  I was going to be good this week and do my homework for AYWMC - my friend, Gill, has put me to shame because she has been very diligent in doing hers, so I was going to surprise her next Monday.  However, I decided that a little wander round the garden - without my pink robe - I do get fully dressed sometimes (!) - would be a good idea.  

It was a very frosty morning so I took lots of different shots using both my Canon camera and my iPhone and rather liked this one.  Only when I looked at the theme did I see that for once I had “hit the nail on the head” without even realising it!  Thanks to mindful_life for this month's TT challenge. 

This is the handle on the lid of our chiminea and it always looks good when there has been a heavy frost.  Interestingly, I went out about ten minutes later to see if I could get a better shot with my little Panasonic camera, only to find that the sun had melted all the frost and it was just wet, so it was a good job I had got out there early.  It’s amazing how much we see when we really look - and I realised today that there is a lot of cutting back that needs doing, preferably before we go away.  Better get those secateurs sharpened!

Not quite sure what we will do today as Mr. HCB feels a bit off colour - so it may be a day at home in the warm.

“Afflictions have the same use 
     and end to our souls,
          that frosty weather hath
upon those clothes
     that are laid and bleaching,
          they alter the hue
               and make them white.”

John Flavel (c.1627–1691)
English Presbyterian clergyman, puritan, and author.