Wednesday 29 February 2012

Wednesday 29.02.2012

So there I was on a perfect spring morning doing my Fotherington-Thomas impressions ("Hello clouds, hello sky")* and thinking all it needed was a woodpecker when right above my head came the machine-gun rattle of....yup...a woodpecker. I walked the rest of the way round with a silly grin on my face.
That was first thing: then a bus ride, a film (A Dangerous Method - Viggo Mortensen very good as Freud) and another walk,this time up and through Old Aberdeen, still a bit F-T, but no woodpecker this time.

* Molesworth ("as any fule kno")

Sunday 26 February 2012

Sunday 26.02.2012

Just arrived home from work and must add - what a night! Mild and star-studded with an orange segment of moon sinking slowly below the horizon - at one point so close I was tempted to put my foot down and try and jump over it. Wow.

Sunday 26.02.2012

I do believe the Gods of Weather (I`m with Eponymous Music on Religion btw* but am a firm believer in all the Gods, just to be on the safe side) are toying with us.

Gone the icy wind and sudden sharp downpours. Back to mild air, piping birds, milky sun and blue sky not to mention the evocative smell of freshly ploughed earth and the sight of wheeling gulls behind the tractor.
So what next - we haven`t had a really good thunderstorm for a while...............

* see his post for 24th Feb

Friday 24 February 2012

Friday 24.02.2012

Icy edge to the wind which was strong enough to drown out all that birdsong and had us really scuttling round simply to keep warm. A washing-powder-advert day though - white clouds sailing across a bright blue sky and the sun giving a golden gloss to the stubble fields.

Finished Mortal Engines:










enjoyed it so much gone straight to borrow the sequel.

Wednesday 22 February 2012

Wednesday 22.02.2012

Birds, birds and more birds - skeins of geese, larks hurling themselves skywards, a chatter of small birds echoing all round the woods,the plaintive cry of a buzzard and crows flapping by, squawking about how busy they are.
All sounded - and looked - and felt - a bit like Spring..............

Sunday 19 February 2012

Sunday 19.02.2012

A different kind of winter`s day, much colder but brighter and clearer.
Not much time before work but we left our mark



and enjoyed the colours.

Friday 17 February 2012

Friday 17.02.2012

Working and walking, walking and working, a bit of sheep gathering



(they need regular pedicures)





and a brief spell of Bennachie labrador-sitting so managed a quick foray to the top on a blustery, cold day:



with lots of swirling mist





and the odd ent.











But now, back home and round the woods on a perfectly "ordinary" February day in Scotland: no hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, volcanoes, earthquakes,floods,tsunamis,desperate cold or unbearable heat, no killer bees, poisonous snakes,or deadly spiders and, generally speaking, not much chance of getting shot or blown up.

Sometimes simply not grateful enough for a grey, breezy winter`s day, birdsong and snowdrops and two happy dogs.

Oh - and good books - thank you O, friend of A, for the recommendation of Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve - another ripping yarn based on a wonderfully imaginative, if slightly disturbing, vision of the future.

Friday 3 February 2012

Friday 03.02.2012

Lots of cold clear dry days.Today no exception: hard frost, air so cold it would burn your ears if even the slightest breeze were to stir,bright blue cloudless sky and brilliant sun, piney scents and bird song - a sort of pastoral de-tox, putting a spring in the step
......and the heart.