Tuesday 24.02.26

 So whisper it but a week on from that last post we have had two days of early springlike weather. The sun`s been out with some real warmth in it, the breeze has been a bit chilly but has helped to dry everything out and the snowdrops are everywhere. The daffodils on the other hand are being a little more cautious as yet. 

Most noticeable has been the bird activity. Yesterday there was a group of male blackbirds hanging out together in and out of the gorse but it can only be a matter of days before they start singing fit to burst from the top of those same gorse bushes and fighting tooth and nail, no, beak and....beak, to mark out their own bit of territory. A couple of sparrows have already taken up residence in the eaves and any time now, hopefully, the skylarks will be giving it laldy over the top of our hill. 

The woods are still "out of bounds" because of the forestry work currently going on but there`s something special about plodding to the top of that hill two or three times a day, watching as Spring finally arrives - though if we get even a little bit of what New York is enduring at the moment it can still be put on hold.  

Tuesday 17/02/2026

 A month on and it more or less stopped raining yesterday. For about 12 hours. Then it snowed.

Positive points today: it may have snowed overnight but it`s been a beautiful day, sunshine, quite warm sunshine; just enough snow to make it pretty but not an existential threat and lots of bird activity. In fact took binoculars out and wandered up to watch the flocks of excited little birds darting in and out of the gorse at the top of our field. Turns out it was a convivial collection of sparrows, yellowhammers, chaffinches and possibly a blue tit or two, keeping each other company as they flitted about. they can obviously sense us edging towards more light and Spring.

Hate to anthropomorphize too much but it was like they were having a bit of fun before the serious breeding season arrives.

 

 

Sunday 11/01/2026

 And so it snows...tiddley pom. And snows  And blows. And snows some more. This has been the real McCoy (who was he): we haven`t seen snow like this for a long time. But, even though snow is the main theme, that can look very different by the day. 

Four days ago the afternoon walk, with one dog who was keen (the other didn`t budge from the fire) was a slow unsteady steal along the road, trying to avoid the ice. The snow banked on either side by the tractors and ploughs that had pushed through had reached heights of 7/8 feet in places and, because they were frozen and vertical, didn`t offer much escape room, should one of those tractors appear. 

On top of that the cloud had descended, creating a slightly haunted atmosphere such that gates and fenceposts seemed to loom out of nowhere and familiar trees took on weird spectral shapes.

We did have to dive out of the way of a 4-wheel car and trailer and later a tractor, moving steadily up the hill, two headlights blazing, but we managed not to get squashed and made it back to the fire.

 Woke up to a completely different scene on the following day - pure winter wonderland. Blue skies, ice-encrusted trees, white fields and obliterated road signs. Still icy underfoot but we made it to the crossroads and back before the sun disappeared.

 Yesterday we had both: a gloomy start and a bright end.

And today we`re at the a*** end of this lot I think. Blowing a hooley, cold and grey, more rain than snow, the remainder of which is beginning to avalanche off the roofs. Most folk will be getting back to normal by tomorrow but up here could be a while before it clears completely......and there`s "sleet" in next week`s forecast. The joys. 😉

Saturday 3.01.2026

 The New Year has roared in like, well, more of a snow leopard than a lion. We are (happily) marooned for the time being, allowing time for reading, thinking, resolving (as is appropriate for this time of year) and acknowledging just how privileged we are to have food, heat and no urgent appointments.

After three days of being battered by the weather, horizontal snow drifting across the road, carving itself into fancy shapes and blocking every entry and exit (something actually exacerbated by the snowploughs that come through every now and again, heaving the excess into any available gateway and piling it onto the verges so the wind can simply blow it across the road again), 

 

so after all of that,  today the clouds parted, the sun shone brilliantly across acres of sparkly white and the wind eased back a little.  

We (me and our two increasingly limpy, tired old dogs) walked to the top of the road (the top field being inaccessible, the snow too high for them to push through)) and savoured the winter wonderland vista, all the while wincing as what breeze there was (moderate the Met Office called it - ha!) threw handfuls of snow at us, mottling the dog`s black hair. 

 

Bracing would be the word, though none the worse for that, refreshing would be another though I suspect the dogs could find others. They know we are about to make one more foray out there and as I write are avoiding my eye and stretched out as near to the fire as they can, playing dead. However, nature calls (for them obvs), I can hear the wind getting up again, there is some blue sky left but the clouds are regrouping and the light is beginning to go so once more unto the breach. 

Meanwhile, the resolutions are the same as every year: good books are still being written, (currently on Ian McEwan`s What We Can Know, an uncomfortable but I suspect prescient account of the dystopian future we might be walking into), there are films to watch, music to listen to, podcasts to stimulate the brain and more winter wonderland walks to be taken. Watch this space.

Postscript: survived the final stroll, just in time to see the moon emerging from behind a cloud. A rather magical moment: icy, momentarily still, a peaceful interlude.

Monday 10.10.25

 A quintessential autumn day: this morning misty and spider-webby, 

this afternoon the sun broke through and there was a couple of hours of warmth, then a sudden drop in temperature as the sky caught fire in the west. Ben Rinnes was a sharp  silhouette on the horizon against the last of the red sunset and there was a suggestion of smoke in the air as we took a last walk around the top field. Storing up these autumnal evening walks to remember when we get days and days of grey.

Monday October 6th 2025

 Such a warm benign day for picking up the reins again....could still be June. After the ravages of Storm Amy (the "first named storm of the season" as they like to say) today has been warm (20 degrees and counting), still and sunny, blue sky and white clouds. The birds have emerged again having presumably survived the storm by hunkering down: playful crows dancing across the fields, swirls of starlings and a buzzard floating lazily overhead searching for supper.

Since the last post there have been festivals, catching up with family, working, much driving up and down, some walks (of which more in a bit), celebrations, parties and the arrival of a new member of the clan: welcome to Ursula who arrived without too much drama just 9 days ago.

One thing that has become clear over the last few weeks is that the old dogs are no longer up to long walks round the woods or up mountains. They could both sleep for Scotland, at home or in the back of the car, they don`t seem to mind, as long as they`ve had gentle trots up onto our back field and have been fed. Thus it is that, left in charge of the homestead for the last couple of weeks, I have accompanied them on their regular ambles across  the fields and, Storm Amy notwithstanding, it has been mostly a gentle way to spend half an hour or so two or three times a day. 

Indeed tonight, making the most of the  ever shortening days and after a brief rain shower, it was almost magical. The sky turned dramatically gold and black and red and it was still very warm, humid in fact thanks to the rain. 

Tomorrow it`s an early start for a long day at work so the "amble" might have to be a bit smarter in the morning but if it stays like this we`ll have time for another evening wander.

Meanwhile I`ve got to start reconciling myself to longer more strenuous walks unaccompanied which will feel very strange.

 

 

Monday 09/06/2025

 The last time I started posting something was ninth of May and we were in the middle of a heat wave. This is what I wrote:

"Drought! Water shortages! Hose-pipe bans! In May? In Scotland? Granted it`s mainly gardeners who are muttering this as yet but it is also true the weather has been quite remarkable over the last few weeks. 

There have been cold winds, there has been some rain but Spring 2025 has outdone itself. The gorse is currently at peak golden just as the broom emerges with a paler shade of yellow (cue song? yellower shade of pale?) but without that rich coconut smell of the gorse when the sun burns into it."

 

At which point life intervened and I never got any further ........

Well the heatwave`s over as is the gorse: even the broom is getting past its best.  As I look out just now it`s raining quite hard but it could stop at any time: we`ve been having random showers for days now.

When the rain isn`t tiddling down it makes for excellent walking. Yesterday it held off all day: fresh breeze kept the warmth of the sun comfortable and the air was thick with the scent of damp earth.  Trees are mostly in full-on summer attire now and suddenly the ground is carpeted in blue speedwells, buttercups and dandelions. There were swathes of cow parsley giving off that slightly sour perfume and a multitude of grasses of all shades and shapes. Butterflies, bees, warbling chaffinches, martins and swallows flitting about over head. Actually felt about right for early summer - seasonal even, or "normal for the time of year" as he weather forecasters sometimes say though truth be told normality may have to be re-defined.

Since the 9th May and today there have been trips away - notably to Dublin for a gig * and briefly to Belfast. There have been visits to one grandchild and the news that there is another on the way. The Festivals are looming - Glastonbury but a week or two away - and a double birthday celebration planned with family gathered who haven`t been able to get together for quite a long time. Gigs with friends ** and enthralling books (see https://splendiferousstoriesheadyideas.blogspot.com) and all the time, watching with dismay some of the things that are going on out in parts of the "real" world.

However, hope springs eternal ........and walking-quite-fast sometimes helps restore equilibrium.   Onward and upward!