Come away with the raggle taggle gypsy-o
I thought I would look back over the photos I’ve taken this year and choose just one from each month, easy right? Wrong, it’s taken ages to narrow down to one that I like, means something to me, shows a glimpse of Devon or may just be a little interesting.
So that was 2014, any thoughts? any smiles? any boos? 🙂
Have a very wonderful Old Years Night and I’ll see you next year.
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for Lucid Gypsy, and I’d like to thank my superstars – exactly the same lovely people as last year!
~~~~Take a bow please ~~~~
Tess http://letscutthecrap.wordpress.com/
Sylvia https://anotherday2paradise.wordpress.com/
Madhu http://theurgetowander.com/
Celestine http://readinpleasure.wordpress.com/
Issy http://isadoraartandphotography.com/
All my visitors are wonderful and I appreciate you so much, you make it all worthwhile!
Here’s an excerpt:
The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 39,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 14 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.
The Byes, in Sidmouth is a gentle and level riverside walk, ideal for all the family. The River Sid is just 6 miles long and the walk follows it from the centre of Sidmouth to Sidford. We began walking at the Old Toll House,
and continued along past the waterfall.
and had a leisurely stroll with two happy dogs 
There are beautiful old trees
The blue sky made the river look appealing 
and there are plenty of bridges to cross 
The weather hasn’t been very wonderful for a Christmas walk, this was only a short distance so I need to get an awful lot more exercise to deal with the excesses. Hopefully New Year’s holiday will bring some opportunities!
After catching a couple of bargains in the sales, we walked on down to the beach
Where the light was quickly fading
into splendid Sidmouth sunset.
The seaside photos were taken with my phone, I’m afraid I was fed up with carrying the big camera!
Check out lots of interesting walks with Jo here, http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/jos-monday-walk/
If you’re like me, living in the upper reaches of the Northern Hemisphere, this is the season where we seek out small pleasures to compensate for the short days and chilly weather: fireplaces, down comforters, hot chocolate (or glühwein, if we must…).
Says Ben Huberman for this weeks challenge at the Daily Post, Warmth. The Thar Desert is without doubt the warmest place I’ve ever been, in a midday temperature of 44 degrees, I was hot and happy, even though it felt like the inside of my nose was burning. Dry heat seems to agree with me, here are some photos of my favourite kind of warmth.
Visit https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/warmth/ to join in.
Merry Christmas everyone! I’m hoping for some sunshine today, like in this photo from Christmas 2012. I hope you all have a good time and thank you for your lovely comments, support, kindness and inspiration yet again this year.
Later on, after a delicious Christmas lunch I’m off for a walk beside the sea – a tradition to blow away the cobwebs, maybe at Exmouth, maybe Sidmouth! Catch you soon xx
Fresh, bright and breezy
As blue as Christmas can be
Exmouth beside the sea
Yesterday my Granddaughter came over to spend some time making some art with me – there’s a lot of art and craft materials in my house! I had a few plans and ideas in mind before she came, so to save time I cut out some paper circles and triangles.
She chose some paint colours to work with and started mixing!
We made some pompoms the old fashioned way with two cardboard circles and some wool, to which she then added some more circles that she had drawn on – Olaf included!
Next, we moved onto a bigger project, abstract circles with pretty paper and glittery pens.
In between we baked cookies – not the best ever but we managed to put ourselves outside of some all the same, followed by lunch and the best piece of all.
Again, I was mainly the labourer here, cutting out, pouring glue and washing paint pots. It was well worth it though, she was so very proud of her creations, and so were her mum and dad when she took them home. Thanks for a lovely day Louisa!
Yellow is an optimistic colour for me. It means one thing in particular – SPRING, my second favourite time of the year. Here in the northern hemisphere we are just two days from the winter solstice, a day that fills me with joy. While I know that we have several months of cold, wet weather, I am reassured that each day will be longer by a barely perceptible minute and in a month’s time the sun will rise before I walk to work. I know that one day in February I will stop in my tracks, t smile at a primrose smiling back at me, its sunny yellow heart blowing a kiss. 
Before long, yellow signs will be everywhere. “There came a time when the risk to remain tight in the bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.” – Anais Nin
The year’s at the spring,
And day’s at the morn;
Morning’s at seven;
The hill-side’s dew-pearled;
The lark’s on the wing;
The snail’s on the thorn;
God’s in his Heaven— All’s right with the world!
Robert Browning
Before we know it, the temperature will rise a few degrees and my favourite spring flowers will take on more passionate yellow hues. The equinox will insist on equality, and I, well I will leave off my gloves, happy that winter has departed.
Oh, to be in England
Now that April’s there
And whoever wakes in England
Sees, some morning, unaware,
That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf
Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf,
While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough
In England – now!
Robert Browning
This post is in response to the Weekly Photo Challenge, where Krista throws out a yellow curve ball as a change form the festive colours lots of us are surrounded by. You can join in here,
https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/yellow/
me, I’ll just wait for spring and its glorious golden yellows!
Bright orange lanterns
lay abandoned on the ground
a wasted harvest?
Lucid Gypsy 