Wordless Wednesday - The Stick

A little over 2 years ago I sent for a free offer from the newspaper for a bare root magnolia tree. I don't know quite what I expected, but when it arrived it was a straight stick with roots on one end.
I duly planted it and throughout the year nothing really happened except it got a bit nobbley.
Last year the nobbles grew a bit bigger and turned into 6 flowers.
This year I should get 12 flowers.
In 50 years time my stick may have become a tree!

I am joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Arctic Circle Cruise October 2019 - Alta part 3, The Northern Lights.

Before I start I must tell you that I did not take these photos. They were all taken by friends we made on the cruise, and who had bought special equipment and lens in the hope of getting photos of the event. They very kindly shared them with me.
As I mentioned in my last post, we took a private tour the first night in Alta but didn't see the Northern Lights. Those who couldn't get on that tour took a shorter one the following night but had to be back onboard by 10.30pm as we were sailing at 11pm.
As it turned out, they were the ones who got lucky.
We did see the Lights ourselves from our balcony on the ship but my photos are very inferior to these and not worth posting.
I lay on the lounger on our balcony in the -12C temperature wrapped up in blankets and fleeces, looking up to the sky and snapping away hoping to get one decent shot, but they all turned out very grainy. At least we did see them though.
So here are the good photos not taken by me!

I am joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the Wordless Wednesday blog hop.

Arctic Circle Cruise October 2019 - Alta part 2

After we had gone ashore we travelled to see some of the local sights.
Once again, the photos will be clearer if they are clicked on.

The Cathedral of the Northern Lights

Sami camp

In the evening we had a private tour booked to hopefully find the Northern Lights.

But all we found was snow!

Our Sami driver /guide stopped for us to have coffee and cake while he rang around to see if any other guides had found clear sky.

We had headed for Finland and then back towards Tromso where we had been the previous day, but no luck.
We had been following the snow plough and this photo shows how deep the snow was.
We did get to see the Northern Lights the next day, but that will be in the next post.

I am joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the Wordless Wednesday hop.

Arctic Circle Cruise October 2019 - Alta part 1

Our next port of call was Alta where we were at anchor overnight giving us two full days there and the hope of seeing the famous Northern Lights.
Part 1 is our approach and views from the ship. I mostly used my camera for photos, but the last three were taken with my phone. It gives good colour, but will often insist on over sharpening the photos.
Click on the photos for a clearer picture.

I am joining Sandee at Comedy Plus for the Wordless Wednesday blog hop.