In the Deerpark

At this time of year when the days are still short, it's wise to take advantage of any sunny spells to top up the vitamin D levels.  These photos are from just before Christmas.  On the way back from a short visit westwards we stopped in lovely Llandeilo and headed up to the deerpark at Dinefwr for a stroll.  With a light sprinkling of snow on the ground, it was quite the contrast from our last visit back in May, on one of the warmest days of the year when the woods were full of bluebells.

On this visit we were lucky to see the herd of fallow deer, who were grazing close to the back of the house.  They moved away as soon as they caught wind of us, and the clatter of antlers echoed across the park as a few of them had a scuffle.  Later in the year you might be lucky and find some shed antlers on your walk around the grounds.  On this occasion we didn't have much time, so we contented ourselves with a brief stroll around the house and some deep breaths of the clean, cold, country air.

Wearing: vintage skirt from charity shop, vintage snowflake brooch from Facebook selling group, gold scarf bought on holiday in Spain, green leather gloves from charity shop, Hampton leather bag from car boot sale, F&F coat from car boot sale, Cara boots, vintage '60s sheepskin hat was a present from my husband.

The skirt was a vintage find in a charity shop, it's a fairly thick fabric, possibly with some wool content, so it was perfect for keeping cosy on an icy day with remnants of snow on the ground.  With the fluffy sheepskin hat, I felt a bit like a snow princess.  Well, maybe the evil twin sister of the snow princess seeing as I was dressed mainly in black...

I admit that I've not seen too much daylight myself over the last week or two, as I am trying to finish a PhD chapter to submit in a couple of weeks.  My weekends are spent at my laptop rather than on nice National Trust days out.  I did take a shortcut back from a work meeting through a pretty cemetery in Cardiff though and was rewarded with the sighting of a Goldcrest a mere metre away (Britain's second smallest bird), and a squirrel falling out of a tree (hilarious!).  Grab those little moments in nature when you can.  Even though I've been working away indoors as I write this, I have still enjoyed seeing the troop of Goldfinches that visit our wild cherry and plum trees on an almost daily basis.

I hope that this second week of January sees you all with spirits not too dampened.  Remember that we've passed the shortest day of the year, and that as the month progresses we'll slowly get an extra 2 or 3 minutes of light each day.  Things are on the up!

Linking up with: #iwillwearwhatilike, Visible Monday, Passion for Fashion, Fancy Friday