2 yellow tulips, a painting.

 2 yellow tulips, painting by Tessa Bennett.

Painting - ' Birthday flowers', roses and tulips.

Birthday flowers, yellow roses and orange tulips, painting by Tessa Bennett.

A majestic mute swan swims on the river Tweed, Berwick-upon-Tweed.

There are nine species of swan including Whooper, Trumpeter, Tundra, Mute, Black-necked, Black, Bewick, Corsoba, and Whistling. The swans at Berwick-upon-Tweed are Mute swans,  and have a distinctively long s-shaped neck. They are called Mute because they are mostly silent, and their wings make a lovely sound. They have orange bills whilst Bewicks and Whoopers have black beaks with some orange patterns. Estuaries are always popular with swans.   

Winter frost on grass, Berwick -upon-Tweed, England.

On a clear Winter night soft white crystals form. They form on vegetation, or any object that has been chilled below freezing point by radiation cooling, these crystals are called frost.  The interlocking crystals become attached to branches of trees, leafs, hedgerows and blades of grass.  This deposit of crystals is known as hoar frost, and can be so thick that it appears as snow.

Lone swan swims under the 17th century bridge at Berwick-upon-Tweed.

A swan in the river Tweed swimming today under the ancient stone bridge at low tide,  Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Painted French galvanised antique pails, tubs, jugs, and watering cans.

Winter lettuces in the Limousin, France.

Lovely crunchy looking Winter lettuces growing in a vegetable garden in France. Country folk in the Limousin are expert vegetable and fruit growers, in fact they are not really interested in growing flowers or having a lawn. They use their garden for strictly practical purposes - growing things to eat! Very sensible.  They eat 'la salade' throughout the year chopped up with vinaigrette served alongside  - generally -  a  thin soup, and this is how the older generation in rural  France  live so long and are so healthy,  and thin!

Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, on the Scottish border.

Panoramic view of the river Tweed with the sea beyond at Berwick - upon - Tweed.  Photograph taken from the historic 15th century bridge  over the Tweed with view to the left  of 17th  -  19th century houses by the quay side, and Spittal village on the right.