Goldcrest

OK, so it's a very poor picture to start a new year, but it is the first time I've ever seen a goldcrest and I only had my phone and it was at the bottom of my bag. (my excuse and I'm sticking to it) The beautiful little bird was hopping all over the tree showing off his best side. They really are tiny and apparently weigh just 4-5g, the same as a 5p coin. The minute he saw the camera he decided to face me full on for a portrait before flying off. His choice of pose meant that I got a brown blob instead of the beautifully patterned brown, green and yellow stripe of its wings. Of course, like all good subjects he knew to keep his chin (beak) up, so you can't even see his lovely crest. Ah well! I've enlarged the image and played with the contrast and brightness, but it's no better. I've put that in as an extra anyway! The sky was a lovely colour!

Here we are in a new year, and we are no longer members of the EU. It was a cold but sunny day and we did little but go out for a walk to enjoy the sunshine in our local streets. Many others had the same idea. The north facing pavements are still very icy and slippery - which made avoiding others tricky especially as many of the drivers seem to have forgotten about leaving extra space for people and driving at 20mph in residential streets. Ah well.

Back home we cleared the rest of the turkey crown. We decided we didn't need a big meal today to celebrate New Year as we have so much food in the house. So turkey fricassee it is, perhaps served with sprouts rather than the peas called for in the recipe. Sounds rather nice actually. We thought we might go so far as starting the Christmas pudding too. Clearly I found shopping for and feeding 2 not 10 at Christmas rather challenging! We're eating our way through though, I'm determined not to throw anything away. Talk about a first world problem.

I've sent off my Race at Your Pace end of year total, in 2019 I did over 1200 miles, 2020's total is just 890. I'd like to blame my knee, but it's not just that, I've been far too lacking in motivation although I did do my couchto5k. Ah well, I've signed up for 2021. Walking at the end of January and the beginning of February may be a challenge so I'll just have to do more at the start of this month to make up.

Onwards and Upwards.

Keep safe and well everyone. I keep seeing questions on Facebook (which I ignore) saying things like - Will you accept a Covid Vaccine? What a silly question.

Happy New Year to everybody in blipland. Thank you for your ongoing support and encouragement. Here's to the next year's wonderful photographs and some face to face blipmeets.