Relativity

Today’s picture is of the train bringing my sisters and stepmother to Carlisle to spend their Christmas with us.

Only an hour late. Not bad for the weather conditions.

Another icy cold day dawned which seemed to be even sharper than usual,  though it wasn’t notably colder than the last few have been. We had to go  to pick up the turkey so I unfroze the doors of the car to let Mrs Tootlepedal get in but by the time I had parked at the butcher’s, the door had frozen shut again and Mrs Tootlepedal couldn’t get out. When we got home, I wrapped a few presents, while Mrs Tootlepedal prepared for the oncoming cooking marathon. It was another brilliantly sharp, sunny day so I poked the camera at the bird feeder as usual.

 

Goldfinch and siskin, looking at me.

 

Siskin and goldfinch, getting back to business.

The bramblings seem to be regular visitors now. They are quite vigorous in defending the perch on the feeders. I think that there are about four or five of them.

After a light lunch, I took the camera out for a walk to see if the redwings were still there. Something disturbed them as I approached and so I whiled away the time waiting for them by shooting seagulls in flight. I don’t know whether it was the cold or just me but I shot a lot and kept one.

The friendly heron was also in evidence.

After a while, the redwings returned to the cotoneaster and let me photograph them. I was looking for them well hidden among the brown leaves and red berries. They are quite hard to see sometimes.

I noticed some movement and I realised that one redwing was eating the berries that had fallen off the bush and which were lying on the ground.

He/she let me get quite close.

I have put this picture of the redwing near a chaffinch just to give an idea of relative size,

… even though it is not a very good photo.

In the late afternoon, I went to Carlisle to pick up my two elder sisters and my stepmother from the station. Their train had been delayed by a faulty train in front of it and this turned out to my advantage. As I went down the A7, the trees were once again wreathed  in brilliant white and in the late sunshine, this became tinged with a glorious pink. It was almost like a fairytale stage set and it made the journey a real pleasure.

After I returned from this task, I had a cup of tea and a slice of Mrs Tootlepedal’s banana and walnutless cake. It turned out to be a Manx loaf and it was a triumph. I  then returned to Carlisle to pick up my son Alistair and his wife Clare. Their train was also delayed, which meant that there was no convenient bus for them to catch as had been their original plan.

Once we had all gathered, we had a meal and as is traditional, the young folks retired to bed and the old folks sat up playing cards.

As you can see in the picture, they were getting ready to deal while Mrs Tootlepedal was finishing the washing up. In the course of the evening, we got a phone call from my brother in New Zealand wishing us all the best. His Christmas day had started already and he was just off for coffee and then lunch.

 

As a final note, Dropscone tells me that his niece, Hilary, is reading the blog from the USA. Happy Christmas, Hilary if you really are reading this….and the same to all our readers. (I have always wanted to be able to say that.)