Sunday 26.01.2014

The first sleety blizzard apparently straight off the Urals arrived just as we topped the hill at about 9 this morning. The wind wasn`t quite so fierce in the woods (trees...blah....plant more....blah...shelter blah)but the white stuff soon began to settle and the black road we`d walked up was white by the time we turned back.

The snow turned to rain but by tonight, back late from work, it`s all sparkle and crackling frost and zillions of stars in a clear sky.

Friday 24.01.2014

Freezing,eye-watering wind making the wires hum and the metal gates wail mournfully. Dry, though, and good for walking and cobweb dispersal.

N.B. - on the way up the hill on the open road, woolly hat + woolly headband + several layers of clothes only just enough
- in the woods, woolly hat + woolly headband + several layers of clothes a bit too much.....

I refer to Item 2 on my New Year`s Day list of 10 things and rest my case........

Wednesday 22.01.2014

Question: is there a causal link between brain stimulation and physical energy?

After a morning spent reading some really hard stuff felt so full of energy could have run round the woods - if I actually liked running that is. Instead walked extremely fast into the cold and wet, the rain at least easing up long enough for woolly hat and waterproof jacket to come off for a while.
Thought there`d only be time before work to do short version but walking so damned fast managed the full circuit in record time......so here`s the thing....was I so energized because:
a) I`d been reading something that fired up the brain so much it had somehow filtered down to my legs...or
b) I`d been sitting so long the legs were simply crying out for some action?

And who wrote those legs anyway...............

Meanwhile here`s some nice provocative stuff to mull over and get the brain going all over again:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01qcw04

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/sorry-david-blunkett--but-russell-brand-has-a-point-9078393.html

Friday 17.01.2014

First day off this week and weather seriously damp and grey but enough of a break to scuttle round the woods this afternoon.
Wet grass, wet trees, wet dogs, wet feet but even though it was soon raining again it simply felt so much less depressing by the time we got back.
And talking of less depressing: fancy a book about teenagers with cancer, death and the meaning of life? No? Too morbid? Absolutely not. Quite brilliant.

Sunday 12.01.2013

Buttermilk and charcoal sky across which blow darker grey puffballs of cloud in the dry, brain-freezing wind. Ah! Must be back in the north after a week in the Cotswolds:

big skies and pretty landscape.....

........stone walls and hedges.

Today though back to higher, slightly wilder climes and a moon to guide us home

Thursday 02.01.2014

Walking into the twilight on a still, wintry afternoon: woods become magical, the cry of a solitary crow quite haunting and the skies all drama one minute.....





....and serenity the next.

Wednesday 01.01.2014

Not an especially photogenic first day of the year: cloudy and breezy but invigorating, the air smelling of snow but no sign of the white stuff yet, other than on the proper mountains.
In the meantime here`s 10 things:
1. Read more books
2. Plant more trees
3. Drink only good coffee
4. Swim in the sea whenever you can
5. Walk frequently
6. Strive to see live music regularly
7. Watch films
8. Use your local library
9. Read more books
10.Don`t sweat the small stuff



Happy New Year
;)