Amelia's photos

This thrush had been pecking around the roots of a small box hedge, eventually unearthing a large earthworm. Spending about 10 minutes in roughly the same place, it allowed me to get the camera focused through the window to get some interesting photos, but I missed the worm capture.

Our first block of ice taken from the water container we put out for the birds yesterday. The second block is ready and the third block is freezing again.

Erithacus rubecula, robin redbreast, taken through glass. Note the snowflakes on his leg.

Walford and North Shropshire College pond, icy and covered in a thin layer of powder snow.

The castle was built in 1295 by Roger Mortimer de Chirk, uncle of Roger Mortimer, 1st Earl of March as part of King Edward I's chain of fortresses across the north of Wales. It guards the entrance to the Ceiriog Valley. The castle was a symbol of English power and might, controlling the border and it dominated the surrounding land. When first constructed it was a military fortress, apparently important enough for King Edward I to pay a personal visit during its construction. The location of Chirk Castle was carefully chosen to maximise its defensive capabilities. Constructed on a rocky escarpment at the head of the Ceiriog valley, the castle was also able to control the neighbouring Dee Valley and trade along the border. Chirk Castle had the most up-to-date defences for the time, with round 'drum' towers that allowed archers a wide firing field and created a 'killing zone' where the fields of fire overlapped. Information from Wikipedia, and The National Trust. We actually visited here to follow the snowdrop walk.

Coloured pencils in a glass container

It's a lovely day so we're going walking. I'll explain more about this rainbow when we come back. Had a lovely walk, but the day has been enhanced by the exciting news that I'm being promoted to being a Great Grandma sometime in August. :-))))) Had a really nice time making rainbows this morning. I tried the glass containing a mirror (substituting the back of a shiny spoon for a mirror). Not bad but not particularly good. Then I tried the glass of water with a thin beam of light passing through it, making a rainbow on a piece of white paper. This was by far and away the best option. The low angle of bright sunshine combined with closing the curtains in the dining room to create a narrow beam, produced excellent rainbows, although not the right shape. Still celebrating our good news. Back in working order tomorrow.

Narcissus obvallaris, Crocus tommasinianus, Helleborus × hybridus

This week's Saturday Self Challenge, SSC: Create your own triptych using the subject and processing of your choice. After spending some considerable time yesterday looking at videos of how to create a triptych using Photoshop, and this morning taking 3 quick photos of 3 stages of a Hippeastrum flower, it took almost 2 hours to follow all the instructions from videos. I was so nearly giving up, but ...... here is the result. I had another try with flowers in the garden. It was much easier to do second time around. The 3 garden flower photos are Narcissus obvallaris (the Tenby daffodil), Crocus tommasinianus which profusely seeds around the garden and Helleborus x hybridus (the Lenten rose).

Norwich lies at the centre of a great agricultural area, and it was for many centuries an important centre for trade. The Saxon market was located in Tombland area of the City, and after the Norman Conquest of 1066, a new market was established in the area known as the 'Mancroft'. By the 1300s, the main market in Mancroft stretched from Guildhall Hill very nearly to St Stephen's Church, which can be seen on the right. Fish, meat, cloth, vegetables, shoes, livestock and many other items were each sold on their particular pitch or place. By the end of the 1600's, the market was becoming so congested that a new site for livestock sales had to be found, but it was not until 1738 the livestock market was moved to the "Castell Dykes", which is the area below the castle mound. It's no longer there now.

The school chapel, located next to the Erpingham Gate and the west door of the cathedral in what was the west part of the cathedral cemetery, was originally the chantry chapel and college of St John the Evangelist built in 1316 by John Salmon, Bishop of Norwich. The chapel is constructed from stone with a plain tiled roof. The building has changed very little over the last 700 years, as can be seen using the link below. upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/1712_illustration_of_Norwich_School_%28schola_regia_norwicensis%29.jpg

Macro Monday: Cut a vegetable and show its inner life. There are some lovely, colourful red and green peppers in the fridge, but they are, strictly speaking, fruits, and being pedantic, I chose to cut open an onion. I also tried celery, but the vascular bundles didn't show up well. I would have needed to place the cut ends in coloured ink, which I didn't have. It's a pity there wasn't a red onion in the veg basket this morning. ;-) Frank Sinatra - Under my skin

The Sunday Challenge for this week is Black and White, I made it fairly simple by choosing mainly black and white items (apart from a small green sprout on the garlic and the silver top on the pestle), and placing them on the black glass of the cooker top. So I have grey and silver here too. Apologies for lack of visits and interaction for the last 12 days. The computer has been out of action since a week last Thursday, and then we were away. It was repaired, and we picked it up on Friday afternoon, when I was able to find out what the challenge was. Rudy Mancuso & Poo Bear - Black & White