So glad to be back. Thanks all for being so good while I took a break. Happy New Year and here's to a great set of your wonderful Photos!

Welcome back Sara!

In quickly with some new year fireworks. I realised stills weren't much use after looking back and switched to video, but you get the general idea.

On Christmas afternoon we were treated to several supercell storms in quick succession. Very scary stuff! I photographed the evening sky at the time my guests judged it safe to drive home. Apart from roof leaks, my home was undamaged, but several suburbs to the north had extensive property damage from large hailstones.

A wonderful picture, if a bit scary Auntie. Glad you are safe!

I havn't had much a chance to get out with the camera lately, so here is a shot of what my garden looked like at this time last year. It was about -13C daytime as well. Thankfully nothing so extreme this winter (well not so far anyway)

All the Best for the New Year everyone

First sunset of 2012

Auntie, that photo looks more like a painting. Very pretty.
(And I'm glad you didn't have more damage than you did.)

We found 4 of these beauties thrown onto the village rubbish tip. Repotted and perked up, they all survived. They cost about 10 pounds each, even here, at this time of year.

Lovely poinsettias Ren, what a fortunate find! In the same vein I have my eye on a small dog kennel which has been abandoned on a kerbside near me. It would make a good shelter for one of my chooks who needs a few days isolated in the Sin Bin to break her of perennial broodiness.

I'm always amazed by what people throw away!

Here's what Toronto looked like on Friday, around three in the afternoon when I was passing through on the train.

The A3 going through Claygate south of London

The silvery lutung, also known as the silvered leaf monkey or the silvery langur, at Labuk Bay Proboscis Monkey Sanctuary, near Sandakan, Borneo.

Precious wants to wish everyone, including the silvery lutung, a Happy New Year!

Happy new year Precious!

Another straight road, but this one goes nowhere but to the field at the end of it and a muddy path through it we got half way along and had to turn back.

Happy New Year from my two ageing felines as well.
Liz, if I didn't know better, I'd swear Bijou was Precious' Evil Twin!

Funny how innocent looks mean not a thing. This is the villain who pulled down Xmas decs from the tree , batted them around the floor, tried to pull down the whole tree, and "thought that a plate of turkey on the coffee table was for her-honest".
Age means nothing either, Rosie is now 12.
evidence

They certainly could be twins, auntie! Wonder what mischief they're cooking up?

The moon has been clearly visible in the bright blue winter afternoon sky the last couple of days. It has also been very, very cold.

I love all the pictures of our feline friends. Here's Crookshanks chewing on the tinsel as we were trying to dismantle the tree.

A friend of mine has just opened a gallery in rural Tasmania where she sells her own range of teddy bear creations together with dolls, jewellery and photography by local artisans.
I'm about to gladden the hearts of five little relatives with these zipper bags, meant for storing treasures. The pink one has a cord for use as a girl's handbag.

The rural path from Monday where we had to turn back at this point due to the mud.

I expect Crookshanks thought he was "helping" I love the Teddy bear bags!

Here's Precious this afternoon. It wasn't really very cold, but she always wants me to know just how she feels about putting her feet in the snow.

A rather impressive Sainsburys supermarket in Chingford

I was rather pleased with this photo I took from a moving vehicle whilst we were travelling through Sabah. It turned out much better than I thought it would.

We saw a lot of water buffalo, always surrounded by egrets. The egrets have a commensal relationship with the water buffalo, feeding on insects and small vertebrates disturbed by buffalo in the grass.

Yes we have egrets. When I first came here there were buffalo in use for ploughing,etc , not now, and they are now wandering around in such 'wild' as is left, occasionally straying onto the main road and causing a hazard.
Poor Precious! I might knit her some boots.

I told Precious about the boots, ren, and she said "Meow!" Looking again at the pictures of kitties with Christmas decorations reminded me that I had some taken on my little camera that weren't on the computer yet. Here's one of them.

For anyone who hasn't been to England, here is a typical suburban view, another from yesterday's visit to Chingford.

'Cheers' to the New Year to all of you:



Impossible to visit Belgium without sampling some beer ... LOTS of beer (in a pub on the Groenmarkt (vegetable market), Ghent)

Lots of felines time for a canine. Mollie in inquisitive mood

Mollie is just lovely!

I spotted these birds this afternoon as my bus crossed a bridge. I then walked along the river path to get some photos of them on their little ice floe.

Awww! Maybe I should knit them boots too?