After days and weeks of weather that has cloaked the countryside in shades of grey, the arrival of sun and blue sky has been startling. Suddenly the beauty has returned to the landscape.
It also brings us out of hibernation mode. And it’s not just me. Yesterday we walked part-way round Willen Lake – a complete circuit was still impossible due to persistent flooding of the paths – but the paths were busier than I have seen them for a long time. The public had emerged.
The previous weekend we had also visited the same lake – walking then was even more restricted, but there were images to find of the reeds. The second image is the reflection of the first, reversed because I felt that accentuated the abstract feel of it.
LensScaper 
Wonderful reflection shot!
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Thanks Kathryn
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Cool reflection Andy
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Thanks Len
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Beautiful Andy. I love that you reversed the second image. It works beautifully.
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Thanks Edith. It’s always worth reversing a reflection – sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.
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beautiful pictures
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Thank you Shimon
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I do like the second one quite a bit. We’re all ready for spring over here!
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Thanks Rob. Sometimes when I step out the door it feels as if it could be quite close. Despite all the rain and wind, the winter overall has been mild (so far) and some of the Spring flowers and bulbs are well advanced.
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That second photo is such a cool reflection, Andy.
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Thank you Ken. I particularly liked the way the stalks were rendered like thin strands of wire.
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I’ve been windsurfing on Willen lake many times. Beautiful shots Andy!
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What a small world we live in – how long ago was that?
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That would have been the mid 80’s to early 90s Andy when I was a very keen windsurfer. One of my brothers lived in Stony Stratford and worked in MK. Another lived in Newport Pagnell. Willen lake was one of the places we used to go along with Graffham Water. I was living in Stevenage Old Town at the time although away at University term time.
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I live a few miles up the A5 from Stony – small village called Paulerspury just short of Towcester. We’ve been there since ’76. I was one of the local GPs. in ’76 MK city centre didn’t exist, nor was there a main-line station. It’s a bit scary thinking back, you realize how fast time flies.
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It’s a lovely part of the world. To think that communicating the way we do now was nothing short of science fiction, iPads and Skype, blogs and digital photography, the world really has changed at an incredible rate over the last 30 years.. 30 years? Is it that long, jeez.. as you say, time really does fly Andy.
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Way back in 1972, when I was contemplating applying for a three-year rotation through a series of Specialties on the way to gaining the Post-grad qualifications to become a GP, I recall going into the Design Centre in the Haymarket in London to view the exhibition projecting the New City of Milton Keynes that was to be built. I thought that to know something about this planned development might stand me in good stead during the interview process with the inevitable question: Why do you want to come to South Northamptonshire? Little did I realize that I would be spending my entire future career here. It’s a very well connected place to live, but in many other ways it’s not a particularly attractive area of the country.
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I can think of some lovely villages and countryside but you’re right, Northants, doesn’t have the dramatic coastline of Cornwall or the hills of the lake district but I think every county has its plus points as well as negatives. At least those excellent communication links mean it’s easy enough to get to those hills you love so much. 😉
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True indeed.
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Love these beauties, Andy. Great reflections, particularly in that second one. Pretty creative going with the flip. Really came out nicely.
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Thanks Jimi. Not all reflections work when they are flipped – but you only know when you try it out, and with digital it’s so easy to reverse the step.
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A beautiful reflection! I like it very much. What a difference a bit of sun and blue sky makes to a January day!
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Yes – when the sun comes out, the world changes colour. And we all wear a smile!
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