Colourful willows

Anyone who thinks that winter is lacking in colour should pay a visit to a willowy part of the world!

This is a similar view to my early morning image taken just six days ago, but today I visited in the middle of the day, when a little wintry sun was shining through high veils of cloud. You can still see the little boat, today without its wood-smoke, and if you look in large you may just see the owner lurking in the bushes, a dark shape just beyond the power walker.

But it was the willows that really caught my eye, gorgeous orange-red twigs which are particularly bright on the pollard willows that line this stretch of the river. These willows were cut back just about a year ago, but the twigs have grown a good 2-3m in the intervening year. The colour is always strongest on new growth, and is much better developed on some trees than others, although all are the same species.

Apart from my lunchtime walk the rest of the day was spent on mundane matters - washing, food shopping and some more painting...all necessary to make the week run smoothly.