ABSTRACT THURSDAY - PAINTERLY

There was a hard frost last night according to the weather forecast given to me by Mr. HCB just as I was waking up, so I snuggied back down under the warm duvet. However I soon got up when he told me that it might be a good idea to go out for a walk and then afterwards he would treat me to lunch. 

We drove to Wichelstowe, a newish development on the south side of the town, where there are very pleasant walks, on mainly flat ground, around some man-made lakes and near to the Wilts and Berks Canal, which has recently been restored.  The canal was frozen over in several places but underneath this bridge, looking towards the lock, the water was flowing quite freely, with a very chilly wind whipping it up and believe me, I was glad I had my woolly hat, scarf and gloves on.  However, the sun was shining and it felt good to be out together.

We enjoyed our walk, stopping on the way round to watch a heron, a cormorant and a few other ducks and geese and then went for lunch at a nearby pub which does a Two for One menu and which will, of course, save me having to cook this evening.  Despite being offered, I was proud of myself for refusing a dessert.  

Interestingly, when we went to Tesco afterwards (not a pleasant experience!) we spoke to a lady who was collecting for The Swindon Food Bank.  I asked if she had seen the exhibition in the town centre and she told us that her late husband used to be the Executive Director of the charity and the angel (in the top right of yesterday's collage) had been made by Steve for her his funeral a few months ago.  Of course, I had to give her a heart - was it a coincidence meeting her?  I would prefer to think it was a "God-incidence."

I know we weren’t out that early, but I rather liked this quote - and I’m sure our walk will continue to be a blessing to us as we remember different things throughout the day.

“An early morning walk
     is a blessing
          for the whole day.”
Henry David Thoreau


P.S.  If you are interested, I took the photograph with my Panasonic camera, transferred the photograph to my iPhone and then used my Painteresque app.