It has been a while since I have posted here but it has also been a few years since we have seen any snow in Crooke at all! I was on my way to capture the fresh snow that had fallen on Monday morning on the 17th Jan but my walk was interupted twice so I was unable to get down. It was about 4 hours later when I did manage to be in the village. By then, there had been a thaw and the snow had been well trodden by then but I did capture some images for your pleasure. I posted the same on friends of Crooke Facebook page. Not quite christmas card snaps but winter is not quite over yet, so we will have to wait and see what happens next? In the mean time, here are the images I captured.

It was a beautiful day on the Tuesday the 18th of october and as I had my phone with me, I took some pictures capturing the glorious sunshine and the change in colours of the trees. The pictures that I took were vibrant and dazzling, but I have found they have lost some of that vibrance in the transfer but I still thought them worth sharing anyway.

Here are a few more images of late April in and around Crooke for your delight.

Here are a few more of the early flowers that adorn our land.

Once again, we are on the opening edge os spring. The Snowdrops are out as are the Crocus and several others, so I have captured a few sceens for your pleasure and i hope delight. May it become more pleasant soon?

2021 is half way through already and blooms have come and gone but there are still prenty in bloom now as well so I though I would share a few blooms on the villge site here as I have on the Friends Of Crooke Village Facebook page. These pictures are different from thos already posted. It just shows how lovely the village is and can be when the flower come out. All the pictures were taken in the village and some were taken while Christine and Derek were here. We sometimes don't stop to take a look when we are passing, we're nearly always in a rush with other thoings on our minds so it's nice, just to stop for a moment, take s breath and just have a look at what is around us. Enjoy the colours.

Wow! A year has passed so quickly! There were a couple of errors on this page in the last posting but I have fixed that now. 2020 has been a very unusual year. We have been stopped in our tracks thanks to Covid-19 which has meant we have all been locked down with the aim of preventing this virus from spreading. After 8 months, we are not much better off but we do at least have some freedom. We can get out and enjoy our surroundings. The pictures I have posted in this post are similar to those from last year. This year has been a challenge because there has not been as much sun and unless the sun is shining, it is difficult to share the lovely colours that nature produces, however, I have managed to capture a few, similar to my previous post, but it is a reminder that I am still looking for the lovely scenes to share. So here are a few I managed to capture.

I went out walking yesterday and although it was cold, it was beautiful. The canal at this time of year is a wonderful fusion of colours and thought it would be lovely to share them on our site. I took a few in Crooke as well but the main feature here is the canal.

Crooke always look lovely when the sun shines and this month, I have a little extra. For a few years now, Crooke has had an allotment and thanks to Mike Smith, He took on the mantle of bringing it back to life. He drew plans and bought trees and some plants and started to prepare it. With the help of Mike, the ground was cleared but before his plans could be fully implimented, he found love and moved away. Since then, other members have jumped in and continued the good work. So I have included a couple of shots to show the improvement. the first as it was and the last two were taken recently to show the difference. Well done to all those involved.

The one thing this country seem to lack the most is lovely weather so when the sun shines, everything in the garden look lovely. I'm sorry if the pictures I take seem repetitive but because we have such a small village, it is so difficult to find something new to take a picture of but I do not apologise for the beauty in what we have and when the sun shines, it seems to make all that dullness fade away. These were taken on the day after the flood warning was at its height.

It's nearly Christmas already! this year has flown by. I hope you have sent Santa your letters? It was quite nice a few days ago with a winter sun which I mangaed to catch, casting its low rays of light into the trees along the canal. Not all the trees have shed their leaves yet so they look quite stunning if you stand in the right place. And the Christmas Tree is in situe, all lit up, even if it is daylight when I saw it. The air was quite still as you can see from the smoke from the barges as it hung in the air like a table. I'd like to take this opportunity to wish you all a Merry Christmas and hope you have a great New Year. Do you think we will get any snow this time? Enjoy the season.

Wow, where has the year gone! time has flown and here we are in October, the dawn of Autumn. The trees are changing colour and the weather has become more changable, the tempreture outside has dropped and it is decidedly more chilly, winter is definately on the way. Evenn though it is cooler, there are days when the sun shines through and shows off the lovely Autumn colours so here are few I captured the other day. Maybe I will capture some more before all the leaves drop, but for now, here are a few. I regret my mobile doesn't do these justice but I cannot turn bck time to take them again, sorry.

We have a very late spring this year because of all the cold and wet weather we have had, so the Daffs are still out and in bloom. They are coming to the end now but they still put on a good display. The allotment too is showing signs of improvement thanks to Mike for his good work. I'm sure it will improve further as time goes by.

Winter has finally gone and Spring, though a little late, if finally here even though we are now almost at the end of March. Over the last couple of weeks, I have captured the blooms growing and thought to share a few with you. I am sure there are better displays around but these are the blooms I shot.

While out walking along the canal with the aim of taking some winter scenes of the trees without leaves in the sunshine, I could see two Swans ahead of me with one of them looking like it was in some difficulty! It was not floating on the water because it semed to be tangled up in something and did not seem to be able to free itself. As I drew nearer, it became obvious what it was doing and thought I would share the experience with you on here! I have never seen this before and maybe you have not either so this is what the camera saw!

Mid November, 2017! Where has the year gone?

Where has this year gone, time and the days seem to fly by. I have managed to catch a few pictures of the change in autumn colours so here they are below.

Mid September, 2017! Where has the year gone?

It is frightening to think that time passes so quickly. It could be your birthday then all of a sudden, it's Christmas! I know some of these pictures can seem a lot samey but we only have a small village and the lower end is more picturesque. And the sun is not always shining as we would like it to so one has to catch it when one can. I have at least caught some fishermen doing their stuff and I must admit, the village does look lovely when it is doused by sunshine? Another week or so and we will be having our AGM and it only seems like a couple of weeks ago since we had our last AGM, but that was last year!! Anyway, here are a few more of our lovely village. I have been working for the last couple of weeks and have not really had time to take something a little more exciting but you never know what is around the corner, so for now, here is Crooke in the sun plus a few others.

Here are some of Dereks' pictures for your delight.

A few pictures taken in late June 2017.

This year seems to have flown faster than ever. The grass has been cut several times already and the weather has been belting, a little too hot really but I souldn't complain because we don't get this good weather all the time. However, this summer has faired better that last year because we had it good in the beginning and then to was not so good whereas this years summer is lasting longer and long may it continue. We are continuing to maintain our surroundings in the village and hopefully, we may be somewhere ready by the beginning of August. In the mean time, here are some of the scenes my camra has caught over the last few days.

A few pictures taken in Mid May 2017.

Spring is now over and the ducks are training their young. The trees are all green again and their blossom is full. Everything is growing but we have been a little short on rain just now. I hope this will not be all of our summer in these weeks.

Keeping an eye on the future, the Hymalian Balsom which is growing in Lawn's Wood, is not yet ready for pulling but will be in a month or so and when the new wood chippings are delivered, they too will need spreading on the footpath but where the Balsom has been pulled in the past, it has not grown again but that will be a job for later. Maybe when it is all killed off, perhaps we'll be able to see the Blue Bells when they grow again?

A few pictures of Crooke taken in Mid March 2017.

We have a lovely village that looks beautiful in the sunshine and when the flowers are in bloom. The Daffs are now all out as well as the Crocus and in another week, the clocks go forward so don't forget to alter your clocks. So here are a few more blooms and village pictures.

A few pictures of Crooke taken in late February 2017.

Well, we have had another mild winter. It may have been wet and it has certainly been cold from time to time but in the main, it has been a gentle winter. I think the threat of snow for this year has passed us by but that may happen yet, we'll have to wait and see? For now, the Snow Drops are out, the Tulips are up, some pansies are in flower and the Daffodils are about to bloom. The day I took these pictures, began very wet and I did not expect the afternoon to be so plesant, so here is another selection of pictures of our lovely village being warmed by the winter sunshine. I have left previous shot on for your pleasure.

A few pictures of Crooke on the 5th of November 2016.

Autumn seems to have come later this month. The leaves began to fall a week or so after I took the previous shots and until the 5th, the weather has not been very pleasant. However, of Bone Fire Day, the sun came out so I took my camera to catch some of the Autumn colours so here are a few for you to see.