The annual event is now very much on it’s way, Christmas is fast approaching and everywhere is beginning to look festive. Here in our quiet corner of Dorset they are set to switch on the Christmas lights this weekend and, wandering the town this afternoon, it’s evident that traders are getting into the swing of things. Premises up and down the thoroughfare are being festooned with lights, baubles and decorations, as the song say’s ‘It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Christmas’.

All the hard work certainly adds some colour and cheer on these dark afternoons and I can’t wait to see the lights on the large tree in the middle of town switched on and twinkling in the darkness come Saturday evening. For all it’s obvious consumerism I still enjoy the spirit of Christmas and it’s trimmings even if I’m not particularly religious about it. I’m sure that my attitude towards the celebrations will irk some who would say that we’ve lost the meaning of Christmas and that the story and celebration has been lost to commerce and capital. That may be so to some extent I would admit but I can hardly imagine that many will be unfamiliar with the origins of the story that we celebrate each year whatever our religious leanings and outlook. Bring on the season and let’s all try to be happy and jolly, if we can spread a little kindness and cheer along the way so be it, the world can only be a little better for it.

This afternoon has been a very serene affair, almost flat calm and extremely peaceful, if very damp underfoot. The muted afternoon colours and the rarest glimpse of momentary brightness reminded me of a winters landscape, despite being in deepest, darkest Dorset we might have been for all the world in some winter wetland nearer the coast or estuary with the wildfowl doing what wildfowl do best, swimming, diving, searching for food or shelter in the increasing gloom.

The reflections of the trees and bushes in the cold water of the lake were what first attracted me to the scene, an almost perfect mirror image only disturbed by the slightest of breezes which did enough to move the surface of the water and disturb the illusion. My eye was then drawn to the swan who had glided silently into the picture, falling into the clear area between the reeds, its bright, white plumage a beacon, making it stand out as it slid silently across the scene.

He, or she, swam to and fro across the watery landscape, unhurried and seemingly without a care for any of the other wildfowl or the anglers on the bank sides, oblivious to anyone or anything, calm and confident in it’s watery kingdom not a care in the world on this serene Sunday afternoon in this very watery corner of the county.

Just a little something to brighten this morning’s gloom. The creativity of people never fails to amaze me, how some can see beyond the everyday object and create an item of desire is both fascinating and infuriating, fascinating in as much as they have seen something that entirely passed me by and infuriating because I failed to see the potential myself. That said, creating something like these lamps requires a certain level of practical skill…..I don’t do ‘practical’ skills, I am more a ‘Heath Robinson’ man myself and I admire those who can turn their hand to such matters. I run to changing the odd fuse now and again and not a lot further.

I am fortunate in as much as my wife is a talented and skillful ‘ creator’ and as a result of her talents and skills I’ve become more aware of the clever talents and skills that abound in our local area ( and beyond ) and privileged to meet and mix with the ‘ creatives’ who fill their days, and our lives, with such wonderful things. People who craft in glass, in wood, with leather, clay or simply with the pen and brush ( I say simply only in as much as the pen and brush are simple tools ) and create such incredible things have talents that I can only wonder at.

I do wonder what life would be without such things, in my mind it would be a far more bland and impersonal existence if all we had were factory produced items, where flair and individuality were sacrificed for expediency and the balance sheet, where everything came down to cost, pure and simple. I salute the people who have ‘lightbulb’ moments and create things that delight and brighten our existence…especially on bland and uninspiring days such as today.

Today’s challenge has been not to talk about the weather! Now, some things in life can be difficult, some awkward and others almost impossible, however, a challenge is a challenge. I do hasten to add that I’m not usually one for challenges, they’re often far too much like hard work and can sometimes get you into trouble, best left alone in the majority of instances I find, rarely do I rise to one but on the odd occasion it has to be done.

This morning I stood on the top of Okeford hill, the road a shiny silvery thread illuminated in soft diffused light and watched the rivulets run down the hill at a speed which was far faster than it had been safer to drive at. In fact the rivulets were the fastest things on the road at one stage this morning, running and tumbling down the verge sides, gathering leaves and then galloping onwards once again into the downhill distance. I moved on in search of different views.

Along the chalk strewn ridge, down into the valley to Turnworth then back again, rising through the narrow lanes once more to the ridge and the viewpoint at Bulbarrow, no chance to walk today, far more appropriate by vehicle given the circumstances and the climate. Even here, on the edge of Bulbarrow, one of the highest points in the county the view was at least consistent, a silvery thread of tarmac ribbon tracing it’s way downhill accompanied by racing rivulets which, in places, resembled small rivers. My nemesis, which I shall not mention, proved to be a great leveller today.

Looking back through earlier posts I was struck by the fact that such a lot of my writings ( word used for editorial purposes ) are often influenced by the weather, so typically British wouldn’t you say. The simple fact of the matter is that so much of what I do photographically is governed by the stuff, if it’s wet it curtails my travels, if it’s grey and gloomy I find that’s sometimes restrictive and if , like this afternoon, it’s grey, gloomy and wet, well, being out there is positively a no-no.

In saying that it might make it sound as though I didn’t get out today, I did, fairly early, but it’s fair to say that conditions weren’t conducive to taking photo’s, coupled with the fact that after a while it gets difficult to find different locations to shoot, especially as I have this ‘thing’ about staying loyal to the locality rather than trecking half of Dorset to find a shot. Most of my pictures are taken within 15 mins of home whether that be on foot or in the car,believe me, after a while it can be challenging to find something new or, at least, a different take on something familiar.

So, today has been a more reflective day ( excuse the pun where the photo is of, or includes, the river ), a walk in the relative gloom, a coffee and a catch up in town ( a pleasant diversion to say the least ) and now sat typing this in the gloomy, fast disappearing daylight of what’s left of the afternoon, all very reflective and not necessarily overly positive. Tonight there’s a visit to the pictures, hurrah, it promises to be one of the bright spots of the day, despite sitting in the dark.

The winds have returned, the atmosphere is cool, mean, thin. A bit like inspiration which was a bit thin on the ground this morning, unlike the leaves which have been blown down in droves overnight. On the ‘rec’ this morning the breeze was blowing a small, restless, ocean of them around, making them scurry and rustle as it picked them up and then dropped them down again several yards away, then repeating the process all over again. The groundsmen were nowhere in evidence, nor. I would expect, were they going to be gathering those leaves up any time soon.

I walked the ‘rec’, no other living soul to be seen save for a lone dog walker and a black Labrador doing what Labrador’s do best, searching for something to eat whilst disguising it as ‘working’ the long grass and bushes in the hope of finding something, anything, tail wagging and happy as larry, oblivious to the cold unlike it’s owner who was hunched against the bite of the wind gusting across the playing field as they moved on towards the mill.

By now I’d had enough, I was happy to leave the elements to braver souls, there was little to see and even less to photograph. It was time to beat a retreat and find somewhere warmer and more convivial, although, in reality and all fairness I’d be hard pressed to say that the morning was all that bad or a total write off, after all, it was at least dry although those awful men from the ministry are promising us a shower at lunchtime, they have a lot to answer for it must be said!

Well, yesterday’s sunshine led to clear skies overnight and a good frost this morning, sadly I wasn’t able to take advantage of it but I’m sure there’ll be another one along in due course. Driving out early it was lovely to see the ground covered in white and the mists across the valley turned everything in the distance into a monochrome as the sun rose and warmed things. Unfortunately this afternoon’s weather has reverted to type , the clouds have rolled in and once again there was a hint of rain on the breeze,probably the only bonus is that the temperature has risen and it made for a mild afternoon.

No great colour to be had this afternoon, other than the heavy rolling clouds catching the odd, occasional (very occasional ) glimpse of sunlight and turning the skies a very moody, malevolent, tobacco tint. Underfoot the sodden ground is a quagmire in places, particularly in field gateways where the local farmers have had to access the land to feed livestock or poultry, much evidenced by the deep, cleated ruts left by tractor tyres.

I wasn’t out long today, where yesterday it had been a pleasure ( despite wayward socks in wellingtons ) to be out walking the ridges and the woods today was a very much more muted event, coupled with the odd hint of rain it seemed prudent that discretion should be the better part of valour, far better to be warm and dry than damp, or worse still, wet. There’s always another day!

….is the answer to that most vexatious of questions? How do you keep your socks on when walking in wellingtons? I had to stop and re-arrange my inner footwear ( socks ) on several occasions this afternoon, almost to the point where I considered taking them off, rolling them up and putting them in my pocket! There can be almost nothing so irritating than a bunched up sock in the bottom of your boot choking your toes and bunching under your instep, it’s almost guaranteed to drive you crazy. That said, without said wellingtons some of the pathways in the nether regions would be almost impassable given the rain we’ve had of late.

Fortunately today has been a rather lovely, if crisp and cool, day. The sun has shone almost all day after a grey start and this afternoon’s walk on the edge of the Blandford Forest and into Bonsley Wood was, at times , a spectacle. The deciduous woodlands are aglow, there is still some evidence of green but the majority of the leaves are now in their final autumnal colours ranging from reds, golds, yellows, greens to greys and finally browns as they die away. On outer edges of the forest the wind is stripping the boughs rapidly and on exposed banks where trees have been planted as windbreaks they are now beginning to reveal themselves in all their spindly, sculptural glory, outlined and silhouetted on the skyline in the oblique, low lying, afternoon sun.

I think I shall not go down to the woods again this season, at least not until it changes and we get some hard frost or snow. I have surely seen the best that nature has to offer over the last few weeks, I have seen the glory and the feast and now I’m ready for the famine, the leaves are leaving us for another year but, even as they go, they will be replaced by other opportunities and things to photograph, particularly here in this beautiful corner of the county.

After the malaise of yesterday things could only get better, well, at close of day yesterday I was certainly hoping so. I was rewarded with a frosty start this morning and a muted sunrise, enough to make me want to get out and about and see what, if anything, I could find to photograph and at the risk of becoming boring I headed for the woods. At this time of year in this location there is nothing quite so photogenic, bare with me, the leaves will soon have gone over and blown down so the season’s nearly over and we can move on to new challenges.

On my travels locally I notice things, the way the light falls in a certain place, a fence line, a stand of trees on a hill or a gateway at the side of the road. All these things settle in the subconscious, they get filed away in my brain ( for the most, I’m sure some escape ) just waiting for an opportune moment to resurface and trigger something which makes me think …I Know…and off we go to see if we can turn a memory into something more tangible.

This morning was one of those moments, I’d visited this location a while ago to photograph deer in the local deer park on the other side of the road but noticed a gateway into the woods and photographed it from the road, it made a pleasant picture at the time but this morning I wondered if there might be something more to be made of it. When I arrived I found that the gate in question was open and just a few feet into the woodland along a soggy track the scene unfolded into something quite special.

I set to getting the camera out and setting up my tripod, a rare event using my tripod, it’s a reasonably nice tripod ,however, more often than not it sits in it’s cover and I end up just taking it for a walk. Today I vowed to use it, for one thing using the tripod makes you slow down and think of what it is that you’re trying to achieve, making sure that you focus properly and appropriately and ensuring that your image stays sharp. By the time I’d got sorted and settled and looked back up at the scene I found that I was being watched….by a cock pheasant who’d stumbled into the shot and wasn’t quite sure what to do next. He chose the quiet option and instead of flapping and squawking as they often do he opted for the silent approach and slowly but silently picked his way down the track in front of me but not before I’d managed to include him in my shot.

I know he’s there, if you look carefully you’ll just see him in the right hand rut of the track almost where the tree line ends at the end of the tunnel, in the photo he’s just a small dark blob on the horizon but let me tell you, he was a very distinguished and colourful small blob in reality and one that, in my mind, helped to make my shot. It’s funny how a moment that lasts just a few seconds can make the morning and lift the weekend, it’s always good to get a decent shot.

Saturday’s used to be something special, especially as an adolescent, a teenager and then a young adult, for any number of reasons, nowadays some of the thrill has gone. Age, it appears , tends to blunt one to the excitement of Saturday’s nowadays, maybe it’s simply experience, seen it all, done it all, got it all ( relatively speaking of course ).

Not even a wander about the local haunts this afternoon could raise the spirits, flat, grey and listless spring to mind and that was just me let alone the afternoon! I’ve even failed to get a photo this today ( not strictly speaking true as I’ve taken a number of portraits this morning ), I’ve often said that the best camera you have is the one that you have with you at the time, my tablet camera doesn’t fall into that scenario or category it seems, calling it a ‘camera’ is a little bit disingenuous to cameras.

So, there we have it, no photograph today, instead one from a series taken on a far more entertaining afternoon this last week when the weather decided to play ball and the leaves on, and off, the trees looked glorious, these huge oaks and their spreading boughs carpeting the canopy floor and colouring the afternoon. Hopefully inspiration will return tomorrow, fingers crossed!