I couldn’t resist nipping out this morning to photograph the dawn skies. When Jackie opened the bedroom curtains she saw what she later described as ‘this loony standing in the middle of the road in his dressing gown and slippers. He must have been freezing’. The first two pictures above are looking down Christchurch Road at the front of the house. The others are from the back garden.
The wind was eerily still after several weeks raging.
Even the Ballerina just outside the rose garden held a motionless pose.
Sub-Zero temperatures overnight have not killed off the pelargoniums, although some are looking a little crinkly at the edges;
and their hardier relatives, geranium palmatums having been fooled, by the earlier temperate weather, into a fresh flush of flowers, remain resilient.
This morning, Aaron and Robin completed the pruning of the griselinia hedge,
then cut down a self-seeded beech tree that was threatening our neighbour’s fence. In cutting inserts for rain, Aaron had a stab at engraving his own initials.
Here is the link to my posting on http://livelytwist.com/2015/11/22/shifting-gears-3/ today.
I pasted the recycling section into the garden album, and printed up the next section.
This evening we dined on chicken and bacon pasta bake, cauliflower, carrots, and green beans, followed by Post House Pud. My choices of filling for the meringue nest were lemon cheesecake and vanilla and toffee ice cream. In case you are wondering, that wasn’t a great mix. I drank Bardolino classico 2013.
Love your loony photos!
Thank you, Ann
Fabulous dawn skies, Derrick 🙂 And I am glad that your flowers resists to Sub-Zero temperatures
Thank you, Monica
Another great day and dinner to top it off!!
Many thanks, GP
A purpliciously beautiful sky.
Thank you, Susanne. 10 minutes later it had gone
Good on you 🙂 Are you still feverish? As you know I have been out there in my pjs photographing the moon; fellow loony. Sorry that the coffee, lemon and meringue combo did not work out. It might have been a new sensation 🙂
Many thanks, Mary. I’m fine.
When I read the title of your post, my first thought was “Do they have Loons in England as well as Canada, or have they had a visitor from Canada who left them a Loonie (one dollar coin)?” Then, all was revealed, it was a really big loony.
Thank you, Yvonne
I thought you had found an exotic bird – but then again, maybe it was! Great article Derrick – painfully honest really 🙂
Many thanks, Pauline
I just read the livelytwist post. Now I understand ‘how do you get up and down\ comment.
A shame you didn’t get a shot of a loony. (http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/birds/common-loon)
Thanks, John. Especially for the link
I am so hungry for that chicken and bacon pasta bake!!! And the dawn photos are so lovely. That is all I can write as my cat Kana is biting my hands so I stop typing!
Thanks, Luanne. I’m glad Kana let you write that much
Now, I assumed you were going to talk about someone who was a bit touched. It does make me wonder about the etymology of the loon’s (the bird’s) name. Does it rive from it’s maniacal call(combined with one that sounds like someone being murdered) or come from a native language and only sound a bit like “loon” so … Anyway, I’m glad you risked looking like a loon for those gorgeous pictures.
Many thanks, Lisa. I am grateful to my friends for describing a loon to me
Forgot to mention I read your Lively Twist post. Some might think you were loony to do all that running, but it was a lovely post. I hope your knee heals in time.
Thanks, Lisa. The knee is good enough for non-loony activities
Like your Lively Twist post; not sure why you didn’t post it on your own blog:)
Thank you, Mary. It was an invitation, and I knew my friends would pop over if I provided the link
I seldom have time to read posts that bloggers did not write. My priority is: original posts first, reblogs maybe (especially if there is a good comment or introduction) and posts of other people’s work, almost never. Never enough time or energy though I do visit Arts and Letters Daily’s website to find something worthwhile reading on topics of my interest.
That’s pretty much my approach, so I appreciate that you took the trip. Thanks
I have always suspected Jackie to be always right, and at last the point has been proved!
Thanks for that, Bruce 🙂
Loons are plentiful, here in New England, but they don’t wear slippers, nor do they look a bit like you!
Thank you, Cynthia
What a sky … Worth the cold and all the loony behavior, I’m sure! 🙂
Thanks, Ashley 🙂
Chicken, Bacon, Pasta … perfect combination!
Jackie’s comment cracked me up 🙂 I’m sure that many of us have been outside dressed similarly in order to catch the morning sky. Lovely!
Thank you, Laurie
Great photos, as always, beautiful sky – quite understand the need to grab, run and shoot! The image of the loon taking them is very funny though. Is there a hint of eccentricity Derrick? 🙂 – off to read your Lively Twist post!
Many thanks, Rob. My eldest son, Michael, 51, has called me eccentric for as long as I can remember
The best of fathers in my book then! 🙂
Thank you, Rob, my friend
Loony photos? No such thing when you are recording a sunrise as nice as this one. Keep it up!
Many thanks, Rich
Loony? Eccentric? Would such a person have put a dressing gown on and matched it with slippers? I think not. No, this is just a case of a man being misunderstood by his nearest and dearest. Dressing gown and slippers are a perfectly rational choice. 😉
Absolutely wonderful photographs.
Many thanks, AJ