Friday, December 10, 2010

frost


A short walk before sunset and there is just time to take a few photos of a frosty lane in mid-Devon before it gets dark again. The sunlight has melted the frost where it can but the shadows still remain frozen. The rectangle on the right hand side of the horizon in photo five is the church at Lapford, which originally dates back to the 12th century. This stone church is believed to have been built by William De Tracey as penance for his part in the murder of the then Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas a Beckett on 29th December 1170. The church was extended in the 15th century.

14 comments:

nobody said...

It's funny you should post this John because here in Oz we're in amongst a lot of frost almost precisely like this. Mind you, what with speaking the Australian Queen's English we don't call it frost, we call it 'humidity', and it's a bit different to yours insofar as it isn't white and doesn't go on the ground. But otherwise it's almost exactly the same thing.

I tried taking a photograph just now to show you what it looked like but it didn't seem to show up very well. It just looked like a normal sunny day. But then I re-read your comments and it seems that this 'frost' of yours is frozen. That's a neat trick. How did you manage it?

Anyway our Antipodean version is bloody relentless and there's nothing anyone can do to escape it. Apart from going to the beach and having a swim that is. And as if you need me to tell you how tiresome that is!

reem said...

Hi john , it seems so cold , I can feel that , did you enjoy walking there ?
we get the same frost in my mountainy town ,but not this year , we just have got the first rainy day ,this morning ,it's csazy weather and moody too ,it's bad so bad this year .

well ,it seems the beginning of very cold winter , the best blessing for us from god ,

enjoy winter .

john said...

Cheers nobody and yes that does sound a lot like frost, possibly in an early vaporous form - though I'm no expert, best to keep an eye on it just in case it freezes.

Ideally for a good frost what you really need to do is to try and lower the air temperature considerably, which might be a bit tricky where you are, but if that isn't possible you can always cover part of the view outside of your window in ice-cream, which will give you a fairly good idea of what it might really be like.

Hopefully this has been of some help to you.

john said...

Cheers Evat and ahlan wa sahlan. It was a good short walk thanks, the air though cold now is also a pleasure to breath as it feels like it cleans the lungs out a bit.
The colours are very muted at this time of year but there is much beauty in the winter light. Sometimes it is difficult to see the cold in photos as it just looks pretty but you don't get the sensation of cold, so it a an interesting thing for me to try and photograph such things.

Did you say that the weather was bad where you are? I'll have to have a look. I hope it settles down for you there and that you have a good winter too Evat.

cheers for now.

nobody said...

Thanks John, that was brilliant. If only the chap downstairs hadn't complained about ice cream dripping on his sill no doubt it would have worked a treat. Still! Worth a try!

reem said...

Shokran ,john , thanks ,

you're all right ,even ti's cold but it's amazing to breath fresh and clean air ,also it's nice to wake up at morning and see the white snow around you ,and run fast into the warm home . How is wonderfull the cold winter ,and how much I miss it.

actually I'm faraway from syria now ,so I can't enjoy the snowy days ,but I'm so glade for my lovely country ,it's the winter there finely ,after three monthes of dry weather ,

can you imagine Devon without snowy winter ? I guess ,you'll say : no no

so you can guess now my feeling .

anyway enjoy life ,john .

john said...

Cheers m'dears and apologies for being absent for so long. I've been rushing hither and thither and just about dodging being snowed in. We had snow here again last night and this morning though nothing like the snow happening in North America and Canada by the sound of it.

It's still a novelty for me though I noticed the youth on the buses much more concerned with listening to drum and bass on ipods and staring at the floor than looking out of the window. The folly of youth perhaps.

Hi Evat. It is very good that Syria is getting a proper winter now and yes you must miss that lovely snow and cold air very much. I hope all is going well where you are.

And nobody if you are there, I had a quick look at the cricket yesterday and crikey those shadows look alarmingly short. It's almost as if it is the middle of summer there or something. Most confounding.

More photos coming soon hopefully.

reem said...

Hi ,mybe you're busy for christmas these days but I'm not ,

but I guess ,I can say merry christmas for you , can I ?

hopefully good new year ,full of successful work .

have good time .

john said...

Hi Evat and thanks. I don't know if you celebrate Christmas but merry Christmas to you too.

Yes, the end of another year. I don't know where all the time goes, it goes so fast. I hope that you have a good year next year too Evat.

I woke up to seven inches of snow here this morning, the most I've ever seen around here. Very pretty indeed though of course the entire country has ground to a halt because the Govt. is being too tight with our money to grit any roads properly so nothing can move.

For some reason saving a bit of money on grit is better than having a country that is capable of traveling or doing anything. Somehow this is good for the economy though don't ask me how.

Amazingly people are actually employed here to organise our Govt. winter response to such rare events as snow (it snows nearly every year or so) if the country grinds to a halt as it has done the plan cannot have been very good but hey! we're not using too much grit so great savings.

The only good thing is that it inconveniences the rich almost as much as the poor, so we have a bit of equality there, though Madonna can get off a plane two hours before anyone else because she is considered important somehow.

Anyway, I'm ranting a bit now so I shall again wish you a happy christmas Evat and get myself orf. Cheers!

reem said...

Hi , john it seems the coldest snowy winter in England for this year, I watch Tv news everyday and see the big problems there ,well ,it's winter ,oh ,crazy ,moody one this time ,and you've got the equality now, it's the same weather for rich and poor ,oh .I liked that .

actually ,I don't celebrate in christmas , but that dosen't mean , I can't congratulate you , it's very nice to say kind words to you ,I'm so glade to do that .

it's new year for all of us so I hope to be good .

best wishes for you.

Penny said...

Hey John!

hoping Christmas went well?
Lovely pictures as usual.
you never let us down when it comes to pics.
Did something different this Christmas, went for a christmas day hike.

Oddly enough, there were more people roaming the woods then I had expected.

It seemed I wasn't the only one wanting to get back to nature on the holidays.

Who knew?

Wondering how is it going with your Dad?


I wish you well john, hopefully the new year will bring some peace of mind.

take good care

john said...

Thanks Penny. I have lots of photos to put up, I find it difficult to keep up with them so new photos coming soon I hope.

It's nice to hear that others are getting out in the woods for some good air over Christmas, it is good to connect with this stuff.

It has been a very swift decline for my Dad, from the diagnoses only a few weeks ago to us taking him to a hospice on Christmas Eve.

None of us have had time to get our heads round any of it really, but there was nothing we could do other than try to look after him the best we could. It has been especially awful for my mother who has done most of it and we will have to try to look after her soon, they have been married for over fifty years.

You take care too Penny and all the best to you and yours for next year. Cheers.

Penny said...

John all the best in the New Year.

I know it is not likely to be happy, but, things will improve,after a while, of that I am sure.
Best Wishes

john said...

Thanks Penny. All the best to you too for the new year and many thanks for all the hard work you do at your blog, it is very much appreciated here.

It is not likely to be happy, but we try to support each other and there has been some laughter even during these difficult times and much love shared.