Some More Snow pictures!

Just few piccies from our snowy Christmas time!

First for comparison the Sluice gate (See Novembers flood)

The Canal  by the church

 and in the other direction

Holly in the Churchyard

The "Green" Valley from our house

Christmas Eve

Again it snowed - and agian.  I drove home past snowman after snowman today through a landscape that was so beautiful it almost hurts the eye.   Over the last week I have said "it's snowing " uncountable times.  Now I step down from pavement to the flag stone at the bottom of the steps to our house.  It is raised up normally - it is clear of snow, the pavement is not.   

I was reflecting on the fact that no snowflake is like the next , every snow flake that has fallen on us this week is unique.  People of faith dare to believe in a God who could envisage such an amazing thing.  Christians belive that this God became part of the creation, not as some mighy and wonder supernova, a great galatic sphere, but a baby - weak and helpless - surrendering all his glory power and majesty for a food trough to sleep in.   If they are right, then surely this is a God who deserves our love?

Happy Christmas and may the peace and joy of the Christ child reach into every part of your life.

White Valley

Just a few pictures of the town and village in our now white valley, mostly from around the Church by the old school, though one is from my bedroom window.

 

and this little cutie

Martinmere

We went to Martinmere last weekend -  The WWT reserve on what was once the largest lake in Britain is a magnet for the big Wild swan of Winter and for many thousands of Pink foot geese.   We had a lovely time despite the uninspiring food - the wildlife was great.  We spent time in the Ron Barker  hide looking over the frozen scrape and saw some Blackwits in really close and feeding in the grass alongside the Wigeon.

And from time to time  flocks of pink feet would fly over

Later we moved to the swanlink hide which runs alongside the south of the big central "mere".

The pictures come from there, the noise (and the smell) have to be experienced for yourselves.  It was great!

Hi all

All  - I wonder who is reading this one day soon I will get a counter !!

Its saturday - the  frost is beginning to form on the car - I am off in the morning to Blackshaw Head to preach - it is will be the Third Sunday in advent 2009,  Time flies.  It sonly seems last week it was summer andI was walking in the Green Wood - but now we sing sing of Northern Hills rejoicing - our winter home is set in.

Tomorrow after service I might go and look for Winter swans and Pink footed geese - I may even post !

hope I look forward to that - as I might be the only one reading all this!!

Night Night - God bless
Mark

A trip out

I've just got back from the UKOUG confrence in Birmingham - an event when 2000+ database (and the res) techie types occupy the ICC in Birmigham for three days.  We get  to talk to  few old friends, Eat some good food, drink a bit , play with scalextric and attend a selection of nearly 450 seminars on our chosen subect!!

Very strange it is too. As a DBA , it is a fairly lonely position - one or two in most companies and suddenly everyone is one and we get to meet the superstars of our profession - names that echo amongst the blogospheres of the nerds!  No-one outside this little world will know their names or their significance but to us for a few days they are our stars, our heroes.  Then we come home to broken boilers and we all wake up.