Author Topic: Seasons Greetings (Read 5734 times)

NightHawk · « **on:** December 12, 2011, 04:10:03 PM »

To all of our members from Kathy and Laurie .

ideasguy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 12, 2011, 10:39:31 PM »

And a Merry Christmas to you both, and all our members

(Nice work on the graphics Laurie

)
We did the bulk of our Christmas Shopping today. It will be nice to get that over, and then enjoy the true spirit of Christmas. As usual, the family are gathering at our home in Dromore for Christmas day.
Its my favourite time of year.

Merry Christmas everyone!

NightHawk · « **Reply #2 on:** December 12, 2011, 11:12:56 PM »

Apart from food items, we've got all of our Christmas shopping done.

It's always such a busy time of year, more traffic on the roads with everyone scooting about for last minute bargains, queues in shops - so we like to get our shopping done early morning and NOT last minute

Went out for a Christmas meal with some of our new neighbours on Saturday evening at a local restaurant. Hired a couple of small mini-buses so none of us had to drive. We were glad actually because there's no street lights on these narrow, winding country roads, so it can be a bit scary.

It's exactly a year since we moved in so it was a double celebration for us

Got horrendous winds and rain here at the moment, so I've not been able to get our outside Christmas lights installed.

Our Christmas tree went up today though (a small artificial one with lots of flashing coloured lights), so we're getting into the spirit of the season now.

Our thoughts are with our friends and other people we know for what is a sadder occasion for them this year due to recent family losses. We've been through this ourselves so have a particular empathy for them.

Kathy & Laurie.

Palustris · « **Reply #3 on:** December 13, 2011, 12:23:17 PM »

And from us too. Have to say that we no longer bother much with Christmas. The family come over in dribs and drabs, but that is about it.

Eric Hardy · « **Reply #4 on:** December 17, 2011, 08:41:03 AM »

A very happy Christmas to you too, Kathy & Laurie. I am afraid personal circumstances have been keeping me from contributing the forum for a while.

May I add my greetings to everyone by adding a photo I took of a stained glass window dated 1899 in the lovely church at Huish Episcopi in Somerset. It was by Morris & Co and was designed by Burne Jones.

It is a shame about the lines of the protectiong mesh outside the window but a stone through the window would be a a tragedy!

NightHawk · « **Reply #5 on:** December 17, 2011, 08:55:46 AM »

I hope things are working out for you Eric.

The stained glass window is indeed beautiful.

It's a pity they couldn't have fit plexi-glass to protect the window outside, or some other shatter-proof material. Although the wire mesh is doing its job, the shadows cast on the window lessen the aesthetic effect.

It's sad that such lengths are now necessary to protect wonderful works of art

Laurie.

Eric Hardy · « **Reply #6 on:** December 17, 2011, 10:36:02 AM »

Quote from: Kathy & Laurie on December 17, 2011, 08:55:46 AM

It's a pity they couldn't have fit plexi-glass to protect the window outside, or some other shatter-proof material. Although the wire mesh is doing its job, the shadows cast on the window lessen the aesthetic effect.

The wonders of photoshop, Laurie

I had forgotten that I had already dealt with the problem. Please substitute this as greetings from Anthea and me.

Lyn and Malcolm · « **Reply #7 on:** December 17, 2011, 10:52:55 AM »

Lyn and Malcolm

ideasguy · « **Reply #8 on:** December 17, 2011, 11:09:54 AM »

Nice work there Eric and Malcolm

It would be very interesting to know when that mesh was fitted Eric. Was there a time when such things were given the respect they deserve?

NightHawk · « **Reply #9 on:** December 17, 2011, 11:53:14 AM »

Quote from: Eric Hardy on December 17, 2011, 10:36:02 AM

The wonders of photoshop, Laurie
I had forgotten that I had already dealt with the problem.

That Photoshop job you did has been a great improvement Eric.

If you haven't already done so (and you have the time), it would be a nice little tutorial for you to give us on how you achieved it, in the Computers section

A nice wintery scene there Malcolm - brrrrr!!!!!!

ideasguy · « **Reply #10 on:** December 17, 2011, 01:27:13 PM »

That tutorial would indeed be much appreciated. Its exactly what I need for the Photoshop project I'm working on (a new CD label and CD cover for Bank Genie 4)

ideasguy · « **Reply #11 on:** December 24, 2011, 10:19:14 AM »

Breezy but frost and snow free here in Ireland, and we are all looking forward to Christmas day.
The weather men tell us it is something like 25 degrees C more than this time last year

Mind you, this time last year it was down to -15C.

I think the plants are responding to all this mild weather!
I can see bulbs beginning to push through, Hellebore's in bloom, Argyranthemum Jamaica Primrose is STILL in bloom but not surprisingly some of the flowers are withering (amazing plant).
Fuchsia Genii (very distinctive foliage - one of my favourites) still going, some blooms on the ends of Erysimum Bowles Mauve, I can see the white tails of Exochorda x macrantha 'The Bride' (it was in full bloom a few weeks ago)

. And, of course, the winter pansies.
Need a wee walk around the garden to make a full list.

Merry Christmas everyone!

NightHawk · « **Reply #12 on:** December 25, 2011, 11:27:19 AM »

Confusion reigns in buckets here too George.

Unusually mild climate for this time of year is encouraging our Camelia to flower profusely (at least the one in the front garden that gets the most sun.) The same one down the east side of the house is a bit more shaded by a wooden fence, so although it's got loads of buds on it, none are flowering yet.

Our Erysimum Bowles Mauve is also blooming. Haven't done a full garden reccy but these are the most obvious plants currently in bloom.

No white Christmas here. Sunny, dry but a cold wind.

Our Christmas meal is on schedule to be ready for 1pm (just the two of us), so no great mad panic of lots of people to feed

This is pretty normal for us anyway.

Best wishes again for our members to have a very Merry Christmas, and try not to eat too much though

Palustris · « **Reply #13 on:** December 25, 2011, 12:50:29 PM »

One or two things in flower today. Wallflowers, Sweet Williams, Muscari. Primroses, Gentiana acaulis, Cyclamen coum, 3 different Viburnum bodnantense, Lonicera fragrantissima, L. Winter Beauty, L. Budapest. Galanthus Barnes, Daphne tangutica. Antirrhinum molle. Arabis. Achillea, Jasminium nudiflorum. There may be more but it was beginning to rain so I came in.

Happy New Year everyone.

Palustris · « **Reply #14 on:** December 25, 2011, 01:30:26 PM »

Tried to show a picture but it won't do it.

Lyn and Malcolm · « **Reply #15 on:** December 25, 2011, 09:19:14 PM »

From met Office Website

Provisional figures suggest that the UK as a whole has seen its third warmest Christmas Day on record with Aberdeen reaching 15.1C. Only 1920 and 1896 were milder at 15.6C. Northern Ireland has broken its record of 13.0C set in BELFAST in 1988, with Murlough reaching 14.3C. Issued at 1731 on Sun 25 Dec 2011.

Malcolm

NightHawk · « **Reply #16 on:** December 26, 2011, 09:47:00 AM »

Breaking with tradition this year, I'm the one to 'spoil' Christmas in our household - I've started to get a sore throat (the prelude to the common cold for me)

Kathy's usually the one to get a cold, but mine started yesterday.

I'm officially the 2011 'party-pooper'

I'll just go into a quiet corner somewhere, sulk and feel generally miserable. Ho-hum

ideasguy · « **Reply #17 on:** December 26, 2011, 03:09:37 PM »

I had a very persistent cold which had me shivering and feeling miserable this past two weeks Laurie, but I managed to shake it off and feel better on Friday, just in time for Christmas.
Hope you feel better soon.

Thanks for posting those statistics, Malcolm. We had a walk before dinner yesterday afternoon and it was very pleasant.

We had a lovely Christmas Day - think I may have had too much to eat Laurie, but then that's to be expected when you have a feast.
Mild and dry again here, and we are off to Julians house soon for dinner.
Hope you are all having a nice time.

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