Friday 11.01.2013

Starlit,frosty pre-dawn; dull, grey morning; sunny, shiny afternoon; and we eventually set off just after three in the afternoon as the freezing fog was beginning to roll in.

And very lovely it was:

drippy, misty, moisty, all the edges fudged and a slight sense of mystery.....

...and the chickens only just going in when we got back an hour and a half later....the days are drawing out!

Wednesday 09.01.2013

Cold and gloriously sunny, an icy wind blowing away the effects of a decadent weekend in a Southern city............well,a really good one anyway (no harm in dreaming)of which more later.

Long shadows and the patches of frosted grass was a reminder that winter`s far from over,despite the warmth from the sun in the shelter of the woods: wouldn`t have been that surprised to have heard a woodpecker.

All very bright and sparkly though,

with plenty of other bird activity and the odd bunny skipping about taunting the dogs.

It did sweep away the after-effects of yesterday`s 10 hour train trip but in truth much of the weekend in the aforementioned city (Bristol) was spent walking, how else to explore an unfamiliar place?

More than worth it too: old and new buildings jostling for space, a fun market* and good food.**

And on the subject of food, greengrocers galore (why aren`t there any to speak of north of Edinburgh?

With at least three pubs down every side street, or so it seemed, several with fascinating histories***,lots of live music and good beer not to mention a boat devoted entirely to cider, a good time was had by all even if sleep was in short supply.

Then it was on to a nonagenarian birthday (the usual sort of debauched riot you would expect.....the pics are frankly un-publishable.......) before returning to the relative sanity of life on a hill in the middle of nowhere - but then it`s the fools on the hill who see the sun going down and the world spinning round isn`t it?


* http://www.stnicholasmarketbristol.co.uk/

**http://bristolculture.wordpress.com/2010/02/03/cafe-royce-rolls-st-nicholas-market-bristol-cafes

*** http://www.7stars.co.uk/history.htm

Tuesday 01.01.2013

Last night at midnight: bright moon just on the wane and Orion hanging high in the southern sky - not a bad start to 2013.

Nor was today`s walk - cool and blustery,grey clouds but glimpses of white and blue. Invigorating after a New Year`s day spent having a cathartic clear out of clothes hardly worn. Temporarily has you believing that life is under some sort of control.

Monday 31.12.2012

Walks, work, Christmas cards, more walks, more work, Christmas shopping, more walks, more work, Christmas trees,

Christmas lights, Christmas meal,Christmas walk:it all merges into one during the darkest fortnight of the year.

Some walks in air so damp the lichen on the trees seemed to expand and pulsate.

Christmas day, the son et lumiere of a late midwinter afternoon.

On Boxing Day we met an Ent.......

....and suddenly it`s the end of December and the skies put on a pyrotechnic display to bring the year to a close.

So Happy Hogmanay and onwards and upwards as the days draw out and we get more walking time!

Sunday 16.12.2012

Sneezy, coughy cold; shin splints(see previous post);a persistent pesky mouth ulcer; short days;long working hours; a succession of unfriendly weather days: combined they make you feel twice your actual age.
But then, hey presto, the aforementioned ailments clear up, the weather perks up and suddenly you feel half of it again.
Perfect winters day, the snow and ice only beginning to melt where the sun reaches, unmoving where it doesn`t.

Air so still, every sound echoed round the woods as if bouncing off each individual tree. Dogs delirious with the joy of being out again, racing in and out of the trees, disturbing every other living thing in the neighbourhood.

And everything freezing up again nicely by the time we were coming back down the hill.

And by the way, if you`re at all worried about the impending End of the World, might be worth catching up with Saturday`s post on Deadhorse to Ushuaia (link on the right)J & C`s rather brilliant blog, which will allay all fears.
Sleep well.

Friday 14.12.2012

Walked and walked and walked on Wednesday, up and down Aberdeen`s Union Street, hitting the charity shops and later to the Lemon Tree to see Frank Turner who as always was fun, furious and generally fantabidozy.
Worth the subsequent ear worms*(only now beginning to fade) and shin splints** (from too much walking on tarmac)but really too wet and cold even for the dogs to want to go out today so stayed in, wrapped up Christmas parcels..........

.....and hula-hooped.......got to get your exercise somewhere.


*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earworm
**http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shin_splints

Sunday 02.12.2012

Day off on a bright and crisp and even Friday with a thin layer of the white stuff coating everything.
Made a slow start - and a Christmas cake - and didn`t get out there `til gone half two, the sparkle aready gone leaving the icy-blue light of a proper wintry late afternoon. Dozens of geese overhead - going in all directions - and very still air added to the deep midwinter feel of things though it was only the last day of November....

And then came more of the white stuff...and more...and now more due overnight.

Christmas pudding duly stirred with a few proxy wishes for absentees and left simmering as I came to work today, mincemeat nicely marinading and soon ready for putting in jars. That festive aroma of spices and brandy and .......more brandy.

Even the dogs didn`t seem to mind that we didn`t get a walk: they might even agree that the world, or this part of it, should now semi-hibernate in front of the fire until Twelfth Night.

(Oh, on second thoughts, not until after 12th Dec: http://www.boxofficeaberdeen.com/events/frank-turner)

White stuff permitting of course.