A Saturday up with the in-laws’ to celebrate Carol’s 70th birthday (happy birthday to her…). Dalton Square, the ceremonial centre of the city of Lancaster, looks rather festive — the impression being that these lights were put up for Christmas some time ago (see also this shot) but everyone rather liked them, so since then they’ve been a permanent fixture.
A day of significant family happenings, but they were all digital and so left nothing to photograph. Meanwhile, out in the world, the week’s fine weather has brought out these buds: they weren’t here a week ago. A year ago today, it snowed substantially in Hebden Bridge, but no danger of that this February 28th.
I have no idea what the weather’s been like in the rest of the world but in the UK this late February, as anyone round here will tell you, it has been extremely pleasant. Even 7.55am on a Monday morning looked OK in these conditions. It’d be nice to think this is spring arriving and bedding in, but it must be recalled that this time last year, it snowed.
It’s an attractive view, for sure, but I’m seeing it quite a lot lately. I feel a little hemmed in… I need to move around more. The weather forecast is good tomorrow though — time for a walk.
One of those cases where I looked up, saw the moon was just heading down behind the trees on the other side of the valley, and pulled (or, is it pushed) out the big zoom. I could say more, but that’s really all there was to this one.
Hopefully the ‘autumn colours’ theme isn’t stale yet. Hard to avoid at the moment, really. Clare indulged me today by coming along for the usual Saturday non-league football fetish, here at Todmorden Borough FC in the wild uppermost reaches of the Calder valley. There haven’t been many portraits of the family on here lately, but let’s change that today. Her blue top against the background is a good contrast. And I like the way the railing stops halfway along.
Maybe it’s all down to the same combination of conditions that have produced the fecundity of fruit and fungi, but the autumn colours this year are very fine. This is not another football shot, honestly.
The further north you go, the earlier the trees turn. Those who want to see displays like this in late September, come to northern Finland. The back of the traffic sign gives nice contrast.
A double meaning in the title of today’s post. The good weather continues, that’s the first thing. But it’s also a time in which I am sticking around familiar places for a good long spell. There has always been a steady drip-feed of new locations on the blog. The only previous sustained period without them was spring 2016, broken when we went to Portugal that summer. Football matches in obscure places have kept up the run of new locations in 2017-18 too. But since the season finished at Poulton on May 19th (the last new location) every shot has been from somewhere familiar and this is going to stay the case until well into August.
Still, in such lovely weather — familiarity definitely does not breed contempt. It’s nice to be here.
On the return home, a healthy dosage of the white stuff. This being a maritime British winter, not one of these more robust continental versions, by tonight it had all gone.
