Winter flowering delight

The dark sky and relentless rain dampened down any enthusiasm I might have had for venturing outside. Last night we went to Andy's special birthday party which he combined with the 'official' christening of his elevated rear patio/footbridge across from the house onto the steep hillside of the Slad valley. We had a good time and when we had to be outside in cheering mode, with champagne in hand, the rain held off, although the wind was gathering strength for the stormy night ahead.

We got home quite early and I looked at some odd pictures I had snapped whilst at the party but they were all terrible, so another blip-free day has passed. Today I decided to hover indoors in order to use the natural grey daylight entering the room overlooking the south-facing back garden.

I decided to have another bash with the extension tubes trying out a 35mm, a 50mm and my 70-200mm zoom lens. I do now know the basics of setting up the scene for the various configurations. But I can see why sale of macro lenses will not be hindered by these tubes, just because they are rather tricky to set up; the tolerances of focus and depth of field are so extremely fine.

Earlier today I noticed that the recent rapid growth of my favourite plant, which is unusual at this time of year, had now culminated in a flower actually beginning to unfurl. It is a Pelargonium Ardens, and I have blipped them several times before, as I love the beauty of the tiny red flowers that form in a spray at the end of a long stem. This flower is probably only about 10 to 15mm in length, and the first of about seven buds on this particular spray. The other flowers will be out in a day or so, and there are already two further sprays forming as offshoots higher up the stem.

PS
Sorry for the 'hair in the gate' or similar. I didn't see them till I had them on the computer screen

Some other blips of them, in sunnier times:

Pelargonium Ardens 1

Pelargonium Ardens 2

Pelargonium Ardens 3