Wednesday 27.02.2013

Peerless, perfect day,a keep-on-walking-`til-you-fall-off-the-edge sort of a day.

Couldn`t unfortunately (work and all that jazz) but out by nine,drinking up the icy air, the sky as blue as..a very blue thing...with just the odd feathery wisp of white on the horizon.

The last of the frozen snow remains,still solid enough to walk on,still lapping at the fence despite the warmth of the sun.




And in the woods not only was it warm enough to discard hat (one this morning) and sweater



but just as it seemed the day couldn`t get much better (birdsong, sunshine, tra la la la la)..Heavens to Murgatroyd - the unmistakeable drumming of a woodpecker.

Sunday 24.02.2013

Woke to a thin layer of white over everything: looked cold




but the absence of wind made layers of clothing superfluous with the odd snow shower simply dropping the stuff as gently as confetti.

Once in the woods, with the sun out, it was properly warm and the guys on the pulleys upstairs were doing a great job of lifting up the sky - definitely felt like the back end of winter. (Nothing like tempting fate..........)

Wednesday 20.02.2013

Little to recommend this morning it seemed: grey, damp, freezing wind...but hey...went anyway...overtrousers, gloves, two hats plus W.I.H.

Walked very fast and soon in the woods, panting ever so slightly but glowing warmly.

The exposed hilltop still a sea of snow, ebbing away a little each day but frozen enough to skip across without sinking too deep.





Just as grey and damp in the woods at first though with a slightly less freezing wind (two hats off but W.H.I. kept in place to cover the ears) and then suddenly the slightly startling sight of new growth on the softwoods




and, as we rounded a bend, a patch of blue sky.

And as we returned, a watery sun made a brave attempt to break through the grey while the gates serendaded us back down the hill with an atmospheric wind concerto.













So today`s motto: go anyway....as long as you`ve enough hats.

Sunday 17.02.2013

Spring! A false one no doubt, more cold forecast, but today was warm sun in the woods,(jacket and hat abandoned),gently turning wind - er turbines - (I`m told firmly they are not windmills), a higher ratio of grass to snow and deafening bird song.

It was also chippy wind back out on the road (jacket and hat restored), citrus-lemon yellowhammers flitting from gate to fencepost and back again and a skyful of larks.

The wind..turbines..are sprouting like mushrooms,in some cases practically overnight just like mushrooms in fact.

Friday 15.02.2013

Overnight transformation yesterday (and the plough did come through and I did get off the hill, of course, though took a while to get up the drive and on to the road in the first place).




and still today there was warm sun and chirping birds and lots of meltwater gurgling off the fields.

Plenty of snow where it had banked up in the wind: on the one hand a winter workout





on the other a spring stroll



but all round good frolicking weather - and even new sticks!

Wednesday 13.02.2013

A walk, nay a trudge, a stagger even, a little way up the hill.

A fierce and bitter easterly wind has blown all day and swept the relatively small amount of snow into "waves" so that one minute the road`s almost visible, the next we`re wading through two feet or so of the stuff and the snowsuit,two pairs of gloves and two hats (plus woolly Icelandic headband - thank you A) are barely sufficient.

Our footsteps filled up as quickly as we made them and the icy shards that stung the face as we returned are still hitting the windows.

Wild and white and dramatic and there`s no way I`m getting off the hill tomorrow morning until the wind abates and the plough comes through!

Sunday 10.02.2013

So this weekend hasn`t gone according to plan, walk-wise. ("Mann traoch, Gott Lauch?")

Finally out on Friday morning after a week of...well...stuff really.

Good stuff, like a gig at the Old Glasgow Fruitmarket - what a fantastic venue -

to see Salif Keita,the "Golden Voice of Africa" an extraordinary man and musician

and then other stuff.....like work, more work,unco-operative weather and then more ....stuff.

Friday though was cracking: blue skies, fresh wind,larks overhead giving it laldy, crisp snow pretty to look at but not too deep to slow us down

enough green grass to remind us whats to come

and patterns and shapes and shade and colour.








Saturday though got away and this morning...well, it was blizzards of the nasty, wet, down the back of the neck type and frankly deeply uninviting so procrastinated long enough to leave it too late.
And as I left for work the dogs barely raised their eyes from staring at the warm, crackly fire.