Snow cap

Yesterday's sleet and snow had frozen solid by this morning - forming little frosty caps on many of the seed-heads. My blip is the seed-head of a Jerusalem sage, a magnificent shrubby member of the mint family, which has clusters of large yellow flowers in summer, much loved by bees. I liked the texture of the sedhead, and the warm golden colour contrasting against the cold snowy cap. This is probably best viewed large,

We went along to our Home Educators' Christmas party this morning - a fun occasion, although numbers were somewhat depleted by illness. However, by the time we 'd been there a couple of hours I found my head beginning to pound - as I get older I seem to notice the noise much more.

The weather's been brilliantly sunny, but freezing cold, and when we got home I decided to take the dogs along the river, to help me unwind. As I was walking along I could feel the restorative powers of the peaceful valley flowing through me. Although it was cold, I felt as though I could have walked for hours. There was a fair bit of wildlife around, and I had excellent views of three herons and a greater spotted-woodpecker, though all were too far away to be photographed.

I'm off now to put a pot-roast chicken in the oven and to decide which of the remaining Christmas preparations to do next. I hope everyone else is further ahead with theirs than I am!