Moonstruck.

A full moon last night, and here it is tonight, through the trees and over the water, shining with all its might!

The picture shows the moon through the trees, looking east over Southampton Water, from Hythe, Hampshire, at 18:40 on Saturday 29th December 2012.

Click on the link below to see the current moon phase:-

http://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php

Click on the link below to see "It's Cosmo's Moon", a clip from Norman Jewison's 1987 film "Moonstruck":-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAU4pf0uhoY

At The End Of The Rainbow.

I was ready with my camera to capture this astonishing double rainbow earlier today - at the peak of its vibrancy.  The sections that I could see, arched over the QEII dock and the Itchen Bridge, lit up the sea and sky and disappeared into Southampton Water.... right in front of my house in Hythe. I'm living at the end of the rainbow!

The picture shows a double rainbow over Southampton Water, Hampshire, at 15:45 on Saturday 29th December 2012.

Christmas In Hythe, Hampshire.

Have A Perfectly Proper Yuletide;

Christmas Happiness Running In Streams This Morning Amid Sleighbells!

Happy Christmas from Hythe, Hampshire.

The picture at the top shows the Hythe Christmas Tree at 16:48 on Friday 30th November 2012, decked out for the annual Mistletoe Fayre. The highlight of the Mistletoe Fayre is a rooftop rescue of Santa by the local fire brigade, cheered on by crowds of children, but this year the weather was too wet and windy, so the children cheered as Santa bounced about in a boat on Southampton Water, clinging on with one hand and waving with the other!

The picture below shows St John's Church, Hythe, at 16:42 on Sunday 9th December 2012. I had intended to take photos of the Christmas Tree Festival Christmas Trees inside the church, but I was stopped short by this imposing view of the church and the trees set against the evening sky and, of course, the beautiful stained glass windows.

To see more of my Christmas in Hythe, Hampshire, photos, click on the link below:-

http://susanvale.tumblr.com/post/38785834369/christmas-2012-in-hythe-hampshire

To see the famous Santa Rooftop Rescue at the Hythe Mistletoe Fayre (from a previous year), click on the link below:-

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQE2SPsRN08

Seven Swans A Swimming.

The local swans were on the water near Hythe Promenade this morning and by the time I'd managed to run up two flights of stairs, find my camera, unlock the door and get out on to the balcony, fire-up the camera, steady myself and focus on the swans, they were gliding along by the pier, too far away for a good photo!  I took a few shots anyway and then remembered that I'd seen them a couple of weeks ago, and taken a nice picture (see above).

The photo shows the two local swans and their five cygnets off Hythe foreshore, Southampton Water, Hampshire, at 08:32 on Wednesday 12th December 2012.

So, what we have here are two swans and five cygnets on the 12th of the 12th of the 12th; two and five make seven; Seven Swans, The Twelve Days of Christmas.  How seasonal is that!

To read more the Hythe Swans, click on the links below to my previous blogs dated Tuesday 30th October 2012, Sunday 24th June 2012 and Tuesday 19th June 2012.

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/10/swans-return.html

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/swanupmanship.html

http://susanvale.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/swans.html

The First Cuckoo.

After a long search (six years and counting!), I'm now the proud owner of a cuckoo clock.  I found it on the muji website, ordered it online last Friday, took delivery yesterday and, unusually for me, unwrapped the package immediately, opened the box and heard the first cuckoo seconds later.  It's enchanting, it's charming, it's everything I dreamed of.  I love it.  The cuckoo pops out on the hour and the half hour and the call is soft, throaty, languorous and lovely.  AND, there's an in-built light sensor, so the clock doesn't chime after dark.  It's just perfect.

The picture shows my new cuckoo clock, calling at 15:00 on Wednesday 12th December 2012.

I wanted to add a link to the clock details on the muji website, but when I looked online today the item had vanished; I must have bought the last one! (The bird has flown?)  Here's a link to the muji website clocks page anyway; just in case it turns up again.

http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?Sec=6&Sub=28

My New Shoes.

I have a new pair of shoes and I like them very much.  They fulfill my tick-list of elegant, comfortable, practical and unusual, and they just happen to be black - black sliced leather as a matter of fact.  I bought them from my favourite London shoe shop, Tracey Neuls, and for reasons best known to Tracey, they're called Denis.  They probably look like all the other shoes I've ever bought, but....  The point is, I bought them in August (2012) and I haven't yet worn them!  I want to wear them, but I don't want to spoil them. I want to wear them, but I don't want to get them wet.  I want to wear them, but not for too long.  The first time I wear them I want everything to be perfect.

It's certainly not unusual for me to buy something and keep it for days or weeks before I feel the need to peel off the wrapper, open the box and look inside, but I think this is something of a record, even for me.  Maybe writing about it will break the spell and I'll discover that today is the perfect day to wear my new shoes for the first time.  Or maybe I'll take them out of the box and look at them, just one more time.....

The picture at the top shows my new shoes, beautifully wrapped and stickered, on Sunday 26th August 2012 (three days after I'd bought them).

The picture at the bottom shows my new shoes, unwrapped and unworn, on Thursday 6th September 2012 (two weeks after I'd bought them).

To take a look at my shoe collection (excluding the new pair), click on the link below:-
http://www.susanvale.com/shoes.html

Click on the link below to see the Tracey Neuls website, or visit the shop at 29 Marylebone Lane, London W1.

http://www.traceyneuls.com/