Today’s picture is a snowy scene. I hope this is not the start of two months of bad cycling weather like last year.
Although the scene in the garden looks quite snowy, there wasn’t enough snow to coat the hills round the town as you can see from this picture of Whita Hill.
There is a threat of snow for tomorrow and Monday but the main problem for cyclists is the fact the temperature is not forecast to get above 2º for the next five days. I have put my spare bike on the stand for indoor cycling in the garage. This is a good start. I haven’t actually got as far as getting on it and using it yet because cycling on a stand in the garage is very, very boring indeed. It is the ultimate expression of getting absolutely nowhere. I will try to get myself motivated tomorrow.
It is possible to put on headphones and listen to music which does help to pass the time but some music clashes so badly with the rhythm of the pedalling that it makes it almost impossible to listen and pedal at the same time. Traditional jazz is good because it tends to have a rhythm of 72 beats per minute which is a quite comfortable training speed for me.
I had another curry dish today (mushroom and pea curry) out of the new book but I don’t want to overdo it so I went up to the butcher’s to get the makings of a nice stew for tomorrow and, at the same time, I ordered the turkey and trimmings for the Christmas feast.
It is annoying that my back and hip are improving enough so that I could walk to the shops and back without pain, just at the time when it is impossible for me to cycle. Wiser people than me might think there was a connection between not cycling and the reducing pain.
In the afternoon, I took the Archive Group books round to our new treasurer and got the opportunity to look at her husband’s new camera. I am now suffering from camera envy. He took some lovely pictures after only having had the camera for a week but then he does have an artist’s eye. You may be able to see them here if you have a facebook account. Bob’s pictures
Later on, I watched Scotland scrape past Samoa at the rugby and Andy Murray fail to scrape past Nadal at the tennis so it was a mixed day for the sports fan in me.
The snow and the good weather in the morning made it possible to get some good bird shots and I have put four of these below. The different sky colours in the sparrow pictures show just how much you can fiddle about with a picture editor on the computer. I’ve no idea now which of the two more accurately shows the right shade and anyway, I suppose that the effect will also vary with the settings of each reader’s monitor.
Tootlepedal's Blog 
Your Goldfinch photographs are just superb
it is a reed bunting not a sparrow.. beautiful and good garden bird tho
Thank you for this. I have changed the captions.