Bits and bobs

Our friendly Robin, gathering food for his chicks maybe?

Finally a blog from me, I am still here and still taking photos, but it has been a bit hectic with my daughter doing her final exams and things like that. My daughter has now finished University, just waiting to see if she has passed her degree (I am sure she has!) and what grade she will get, then she will be on the job hunting cycle.

St Peters Garden in Sandwich, starting to look very summery

 

My daughter and I went down to Rye last month to meet my sister in law on my daughters birthday. My daughter spotted this pigeon in the wall of the Landgate, maybe he is the gate keeper?

Also in Rye we spotted this lovely mouse done in wrought iron, isn’t it lovely?

Elevenses we always start our day in this lovely little tea room, and yes it might be a little early for a cream tea, but who cares??? We go on to do a bit of shopping and have our lunch in The Mermaid, we call this our ‘Ladies wot lunch day’ because there is more food than anything else throughout the day!

The Mermaid, Rye, East Sussex

Mermaid Street, Rye, East Sussex

From my garden, a pansy decorated with rain drops. Like everyone else we have had our fair share of rain over the last few months, we want sunshine and summer but not sure we will get any summer again this year..

I found this flag flying from the beach huts up on the seafront near us. I was on my way to the hairdressers, got engrossed taking photos and ended up being 5 minutes late for my appointment. I lose track of time when I am taking photos…ooops

Strawberry plants in the Library Garden, such a pretty colour

Pansies  in St Peters Church Garden, so cheerful on a dull day.

I spotted this from my garden the other evening, for some reason it appealed to me.

Finally, the yummy scrummy early birthday cake that my lovely friend Pat made for me on Wednesday, in spite of the fact that she has so much on her plate just now!!

Thank you again Pat, you are a Star xx

Moon

Last month I spent an interesting hour or so taking photos of the moon, here you can see the results. They are not fantastic quality but I am very pleased with the photos I did get. I have not photo-shopped any of the photos, I only ever play with the brightness and contrast and of course use the crop tool! 

Interestingly it was supposed to be a ‘rose’ moon, seems that my camera picked up the pink on some of the photos.

 

   

Finally, can you see the bear in the bottom right hand corner in the photo below?

Happy weekend to you all

St Nicholas Church, Barfrestone, Kent.

 

The eastern end of the 12th Century Church, showing the Norman arches and the wonderful Wheel Window.

Detail from the above photo, showing the carving of part of the Wheel Window.

Deep in the heart of East Kent is the tiny hamlet of Barfrestone, where the beautiful Church of St Nicholas can be found. This wonderful little church can truly be called a gem, I hope my photos will convey a little of the beauty of the Norman architecture, and the peace that can be found here.

The South front, note the ‘grotesques’ all along the top of the wall.

The beautiful South Door

As you can see it was a beautiful day, my daughter was busy with her dissertation, so I went on one of my ‘jaunts’ as the family call them. I have visited the church a number of times but not for a very long time, I had forgotten just how beautiful it is.

Looking towards the Wheel window and the Altar. A tiny church but just perfect!

The view from the Altar looking to the western end of the church, the carved pillars are beautiful.

The stained glass in the wheel window.

The stained glass in the church is all relatively modern, I was surprised to find that the centre window of the three stained glass windows below the Wheel Window is in memory of Jane Austen. Sadly not the famous novelist, but I suspect a relative of hers in a later generation!

           

St Nicholas holding his church

The carvings of this church are world famous, with most of the carvings being on the outside of the building. On the North side of the building is a blocked up door, only when you get up close to this do you see the amazing carvings.

The blocked up North door

             

                       

As I mentioned there are carved figures all round the church under the eaves of the roof, below are a few of these, I may have to go back to get more photos of them…..

     

                 

               

This one is my favourite:

It appears to be a wolf riding on the back of a monkey

Below are some of the carvings which surround the South door

One of the reasons I wanted to re-visit this church is because I knew that St Marys Church at Betteshanger had copied at least part of this church when it was built. The Tympanum on both churches is remarkably similar, as are the three small pointed windows and the wheel window on the eastern end of both churches. The Tympanum is the semi-circular carving over the main South door of each church. Below are photos of both church doors for you to see the comparison. Please check out my earlier blog on St Marys Church, taken in April 2012: http://poppysplace-poppy.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/st-marys-church-betteshanger-kent.html

The Tympanum at St Nicholas Church, Barfrestone

The Tympanum, St Marys Church, Betteshanger.