Trick of the Light

One of the strangest things to us about our return to the UK has been the sudden exposure to the extended daylight of the northern hemisphere summer.

Waking up first thing and heading to the bathroom emerging into the light to realise that it’s only 5:30am.

Sitting in the lounge and realising it’s 9pm even though it’s still light.

It’s only two years since this was the norm but you get used to the consistency. If it’s dark it’s either before 7am or after 7pm. The pattern is virtually fixed with limited changes as you move through the year. 

We took the opportunity to go for a walk after our evening meal last night and it was strange to walk through a local nature reserve at 8pm. Twilight here is also significantly longer here than in Mwanza where the sun sets quickly and the transition from daylight to night is less than an hour. It is nice to have the long nights, but I’ve got to get used to sleeping through the early morning light whilst we’re here.

 

Christmas Tree Close Up

Not able or wanting to get a traditional Christmas Tree we decided on a more local tree – a Palm in place of a Spruce. Simply decorated in LED lights I love the way the fronds cast shadows on the wall as the lights illuminate the branches.

I hope the tree does well in the corner of our living room – it is near two windows so I should do. After all potted palms were once all the rage in the UK

Weekly Photo Challenge: Extra Extra Colour

Le Lude – Cats

Le Lude – Zebras

Le Lude – Colours

Here is another submission to this weeks photo challenge – extra extra. These were taken on our holiday in Brittany and the Loire in 1999at Le Lude, where we saw a fabulous Son et Lumière show, the light adding an extra dimension to the walls of the old chateau.

 

Foggy Road Ahead!

T Minus 163

Today’s journey to work was interesting. The familiar journey was shrouded in thick impenetrable fog – like much of the Southern England. This was probably the thickest fog I’ve travelled through for a few years. Luckily I was prepared (a tweet from the met office at 6:15am helped) and left earlier than usual. Even so it was tight timing!

Travelling across  Buckinghamshire along country roads it was often hard to see more than a few metres ahead. Amazingly some drivers didn’t have their lights on which was a surprise but I think this has something to do with having automatic lights.  One of the problems with automatic lights is that they respond to light levels – which means they don’t switch on in daylight even if fog is really thick. I’ve been caught out myself before now. To use the fog lights you obviously need to have the main beams on too. In my car I do this by switching the beams from automatic to manual.

I doubt there’s much fog in Mwanza – though living by a lake you never know. However, as I travelled this morning I  thought about the metaphorical  foggy road ahead for us in the next few years.